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Tag: Esha Media

  • Stockmarket rumour verification: Esha Media says its media tool reduces company response time to Sebi’s questions

    Stockmarket rumour verification: Esha Media says its media tool reduces company response time to Sebi’s questions

    MUMBAI: This one is for communications folks or agencies and compliance executives in the top 250 companies (by market capitalisation)  listed on the stock exchanges.

    There are times when sudden sharp movements in share price  of listed companies can drive managements into a tizzy. An interested group can suddenly either ramp up or pull down a company’s share price by spreading  a rumour and the herd mentality can lead to a run on the stock.

    It is at this time that  the stock exchange  authorities can wag a finger in the company’s face and question its management about the drastic changes in transaction volumes or the spikes in the share price. This questioning can definitely  get the management scurrying all over to get at the source of  the stories and the gossip around the stock. And as per stock exchange laws they have to respond within 24 hours (more of that a little later.)

    It is at this stage where its broadcast media intelligence tool called Clipbyte can come handy, say the BSE-listed  media monitoring agency Esha Media Research. The tool allows companies to facilitate rumour verification and respond to the exchange with concrete details and thus safeguard their brand and comprehending investor sentiment.

    It may be recalled that since  1 June last year when rumour verification rules were made applicable, there  have been  around 170 instances or more as per stock exchange disclosures when these norms were triggered. These norms, which  were so far applicable to the top 100 companies, have been extended to the next 150 companies who will have to keep a close watch on material price movement of their stocks from 1 December 2024 onwards.  The first circular from Sebi was issued in January 2024 and the next in May 2024. 

    While companies need to have a robust in-house framework on leakages of unpublished price sensitive information, Clipbyte’s  monitoring services helps keep a  company’s compliance team prepared and equipped with data and insights to navigate the dynamic media landscape with complete nuggets of the coverage on the subject, says an Esha Media press release.. 

    “Our system detects and evaluates the impact of rumors, helping you track and  differentiate between market noise, significant events and its impact on price by providing real-time data, alerts, and insights, keeping you informed of any significant changes as they happen,” said  Esha Media Research founder Raman Iyer.

    Esha’s stock market vigilance service also offers conversation impact analysis. Companies can  track the influence of market conversations on stock prices.Its research time helps  analyse social media and  broadcast news outlets to help you understand the potential impact on price. 

    Additionally, real-time market updates received minute by minute from market open to close allow the platform to provide real-time data, alerts, and insights, keeping companies informed of any significant changes as they happen.

    In this fast paced corporate world, media monitoring services offer a competitive edge and prevent public relations disasters by keeping managements informed and responding quickly before issue emerge and escalate beyond repair, Iyer said. 

    As per Sebi  norms, a company has to confirm, deny or clarify the rumour within 24 hours once any material price movement occurs based on gossip that appears in mainstream  media.  

    With that kind of a deadline, any tool that can bring down response time should be in the consideration set, believes Iyer.

    True, Raman, but hopefully the corporate managements are listening and believing too. 

  • Esha Media Research may foray into radio monitoring

    Esha Media Research may foray into radio monitoring

    KOLKATA: Esha Media Research, a media monitoring and research company, which currently monitors 140 channels across the nation, in all languages, is mulling to start radio monitoring.

     

    The centre is considering allowing privately-owned FM radio channels to start their own news broadcast.

     

    Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar in an earlier statement to the media had said, “My heart goes out to all the private FM players. I see no reason why it should not be allowed or why only All India Radio (AIR) can air news. Soon the auction for phase III will start and after that, one will hear the good news.”

     

    The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) listed Esha Media already has the system and technology for radio monitoring in place.

     

    “We will start radio monitoring if the privately-owned FM radio channels start having dedicated news slots. We will see how many stations come up and what kind of news slots and contents are created for their news broadcast,” says Esha Media Research managing director RS Iyer.

     

    He pinpoints that since radio can be played while on the move, so if the platform can create good programme schedules, then Esha is likely to do well in that vertical as well. Around 95 per cent of the research agency revenue is generated from the institutional clients, that is, corporate.

     

    “If there is more corporate and current affairs content, it would be beneficial for us,” he says.

     

    Presently, all the FM broadcasters, apart from AIR, are not allowed to air any news on current affairs, except for weather reports, stock market news and local traffic updates.

     

    A city-based expert on the development says, “Once radio stations start airing news, the way advertisers and audience look at the medium will change. Apart from this, a lot of potential change in programming and tie ups with news agencies could be expected once the guidelines are clear.”

     

    On Esha entering the radio monitoring space, he says, “It is a very progressive and logical step for Esha to foray into a similar business interest.”

     

    Similarly, Incubators Group chairperson Kaushlendra Singh Sengar too feels that it is an innovative and good effort initiated by the company.

     

    He, however, sounded a note of caution. He believes that keeping the future trend in mind it does not seem productive as today one can get news updates on phone, social networking portals and other web portals. “Listening to music on radio is one thing, but we can’t expect much growth in the near future for radio channels dedicated to news updates only.”

  • Esha Media Research to go the TAM way

    Esha Media Research to go the TAM way

    KOLKATA: Esha Media Research, a media monitoring and research company, which currently monitors 140 channels, across the nation in all languages is looking at expanding its services. The company has plans to foray into giving out television rating points (TRP) data soon, like Television Audience Measurement (TAM).

     

    The company, for accurate data, is looking at installing around one lakh peoplemeters, which will be attached to the TV sets in different geographical and demographic sectors.

     

    Also, a venture capitalist (VC) may infuse around Rs 10 crore into Esha Media as it aims at increasing its reach.

     

    “We are working on the TRP project from last six months. We are waiting for the new government to settle,” Esha Media Research managing director RS Iyer told indiantelevision.com.

     

    TRP gives an index of the choice of the people and also the popularity of a particular channel and show. The device, peoplemeter, records the time and the programme that a viewer watches on a particular day. Then, the average is taken for a 30 day period which gives the viewership status for a particular channel.

     

    Iyer talking about the current TV programmes rating system said that at present for the calculation purpose, many states, especially the north eastern region is not covered. “We will install the device in tier III and IV cities as well,” he added.

     

    As earlier reported by indiantelevision.com, Esha Media, which currently monitors News channels is also looking at foraying into entertainment genre channels and other new verticals. “We will use the fund pumped by VCs,” informed Iyer.

     

    The company also has plans to take its channel monitoring number to 200, from the current 140 channels, in the next two months.

     

    At present the monitoring of channels is done using state of- the-art equipment that allows the agency to record, retrieve, transcribe, translate and deliver reports in formats ranging from CD and DVD to immediate uploads via FTP or a customised web page. “This enables the client to log in and access news of their interest, anytime and anywhere,” he concluded.

  • Esha Media Q1 net profit swells to Rs 62.14 lakhs on revenue rise from web-monitoring solutions

    Esha Media Q1 net profit swells to Rs 62.14 lakhs on revenue rise from web-monitoring solutions

    MUMBAI: India’s premier media monitoring agency – Esha Media Research Ltd has posted a robust rise in Apr-June net profit to Rs 62.14 lakhs, up over 4 times from the corresponding quarter last year and over seven times from the immediate preceding quarter of Jan-Mar.

    The profit for the first quarter was driven by 142% rise year-on-year and 18.7% rise quarter-on-quarter in net sales to Rs 702.39 lakhs, aided by the positive impact of the web-media solutions launched during the quarter under review.

    Total expenditure for the quarter grew by 134% year-on-year and 9.6% on quarter to Rs 640.25 lakhs.

    Commenting on the quarter performance, Esha Media Research, Managing Director, RS Iyer said, “The launch of the web monitoring solution of TV content has received a phenomenal response from the corporate world as well as media agencies leading to an increase in revenue during the quarter. The web-based solution has been a win-win situation as it brought down the per unit cost for the subscriber as volume increased for a fixed price while Esha Media was assured of revenue subscription.”

    Going forward, we are hopeful that more corporates and agencies would subscribe to our web-based services and the trend set in the first quarter is expected to continue in the subsequent quarters, Iyer said.

    Esha Media is also in the process of expanding the ambit of its coverage by increasing the number of television channels monitored by it, he added.

  • Esha Media Research’s web solution for media monitoring cuts operational cost

    Esha Media Research’s web solution for media monitoring cuts operational cost

    MUMBAI: Esha Media Research (EMR) has launched a web based solution for monitoring media, cutting the cost of monitoring substantially lower to the user.

    EMR‘s web based solution has simplified the process of tracking video clips relating to the client companies or their competition by revolutionising delivery system compared to the conventional delivery via CD/DVDs.

    Under the new system, customized web page will be created for companies with the company name and logo and uploaded to their server and the client would be informed by way of mail and SMS every time a new clip pertaining to them is uploaded.

    EMR Managing director Raman Iyer says, “The cost of monitoring media by opting for webpage solution has brought down the average cost for users to as low as Rs 50 per clip almost 70-80 per cent lower than the conventional mode. Further, the format of clips in web based option can be undertaken as per clients‘ choice and are palatable to viewing on mobile phones”.

    Moreover, web clips are uploaded on a daily basis for immediate viewing and it has a grid and can be customised as per the client‘s requirement, e.g. by day, channel, program, personalities, topic, date of telecast, duration and clips can be viewed or downloaded.

    Further, in order to insulate the client‘s website from security and storage of their media clips, EMR has recently launched a web portal termed Newskhazana.com to facilitate uploading of media clips for their websites.

    While TV media monitoring is still a nascent industry in India, EMR has been a leading organised player in this segment accounting for a substantial pie of the market.

    “Though there are no authentic figures on the estimated market size for media monitoring in India, it is broadly estimated in excess of Rs 10 billion. In developed country like Australia, it is estimated at Australian Rs 14 billion”, Iyer concluded.

  • Esha Media to enter TAM territory

    MUMBAI: Mumbai-based media monitoring service provider Esha Media Research Limited (EMRL) is foraying into the television audience measurement space.

    Television audience measurement or television ratings service is currently monopolised by TAM Media Research, a joint-venture of Nielsen and Kantar Media.

    Without revealing its plans in detail, EMRL Managing Director R S Iyer said the company‘s television viewership measurement instruments are being tested digitally.

    “We are interested in the television ratings space however I won‘t be able to reveal much about it at this point,” Iyer tells Indiantelevision.

    EMRL has been formed from the merger of Esha News Monitoring (ENM) with Laser Dot, a Hyderabad-based company listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Iyer was one of the founding promoters of ENM.

    Laser Dot was renamed as Esha Media Research Limited (EMRL) after the reverse merger and has become the country‘s only media monitoring services firm listed on an exchange.

    ENM braved an economic slowdown of 2008 and a failed sale deal with Octant Interactive in 2009 amidst the economic slowdown. It survived to tell a tale.

    The immediate goal before ENM founders was to raise capital to fund their growth plans and they found a way out with the plan to merge with Laser Dot, which was into printing and publishing.

    EMRL has set a two-pronged strategy: to upgrade its existing technology and to raise capital to expand in new areas with a pan-India footprint.

    Apart from television audience measurement, EMRL is also looking to foray into other newer areas which include Online Business Monitoring Report, Television Monitoring Intelligence Report, Online Print Media Monitoring, and Social Media Monitoring.

    “Our desire is to position EMRL as a complete media monitoring company and also have a pan India presence. Therefore, we decided to merge ENM with a listed entity so that it can raise adequate resources,” Iyer states.

    ENRL has already raised Rs 50 million of equity from high networth individuals (HNIs) and is in the process of mobilising another Rs 80 million from HNIs for expansion, says Iyer.

    During fiscal 2012, ENM had earned a net profit of Rs 5.2 million on revenues of Rs 111.5 million.

    “Merging with a listed company gave ENM adequate avenues to raise capital so that it can venture into other areas,” Iyer adds.

    EMRL is slated to also introduce a special product designed to track political developments and events which the company claims will be a first for the Indian market.

    All services will be available online breaking all the delivery restrictions, Iyer asserts.

    Apart from Iyer, ENM‘s founding directors included Jyoti Babar, Chhaya Parab, and Shilpa Pawar. The other shareholders of ENM included Iyer‘s friends and relatives.

    The shareholders of ENM now own 67 per cent of EMRL.

    The four founding directors of ENM would be on the board of EMRL. “The entire management of the listed entity now vests with the new team,” informs Iyer.

    Asked about the deal with Octant Interactive in 2009, Iyer said the agreement could not be completed as the company backed off due to recessionary fears. The hunt for capital finally saw the founders forging a partnership with Laser Dot last year.

    “During the time of recession in 2008-09, the working capital cycle got elongated due to slow recovery from debtors. ENM did not enjoy any working capital facilities from any bank or financial institution. It was a turbulent time as the company was going through an uncertain phase,” Iyer said reminiscing those days.