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Tag: IBF

  • TRAI seeks stakeholders’ inputs on audience measurement overhaul

    TRAI seeks stakeholders’ inputs on audience measurement overhaul

    MUMBAI: Television audience measurement in India continues to remain one of the key subjects that evoke reactions from stakeholders. Given that advertising expenditures are typically guided by such data and, in the wake of the matter being raised at various fora, TRAI has come out with a public consultation on various facets of TV audience measurement and how the existing system could be made more robust.

    Telecom Authority of India (TRAI)’s move gains importance as stakeholders during meetings with the regulator, leading up to the present consultation, had conveyed that the present measurement system, spearheaded by a joint industry body Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC India), has done a credible job till now, but additional improvements could be made, including making data collection more robust and finding ways to curb panel infiltrations leading to possible manipulations. More so as the industry has already invested in the present system over the past three years and it would be improper to try find alternate mechanisms at this juncture.

    Keeping such views in mind, TRAI has raised issues relating to RPD(return path data) and whether set-top-boxes deployed in the country were technically adept at catching such figures — initiatives that would add to data robustness. The specific questions asked is: What percentage of STB supports transferring viewership data through establishing a reverse path/connection from STB? What will be the additional cost if existing STBs without return path are upgraded?

    Asking whether regulatory tweaks were needed to reduce the impact of manipulation of measurement panels — an issue red-flagged by BARC India itself in an earlier consultation — TRAI has sought comments on the country-wide panel size and also the size of the individual panels in rural and urban areas.

    The consultation paper highlights several such issues, including if BARC India, the organisation presently doing audience measurement, has been able to accomplish its purpose.

    Industry observers said though the regulator may have raised pertinent issues, some of them could be answered by the stakeholders only if they decide to take a firm view on them. For example, TRAI asks whether the present sample size of bar-o-meters employed to collect data is adequate. The answer is, maybe no. But to increase the sample size, the stakeholders need to commit more financial investments and give BARC India the go-ahead — though annually some boxes are added to live up to promises made at the time Ministry of Information and Broadcasting green-lighted the BARC project.

    The TRAI paper also seeks inputs from the stakeholders regarding shareholding/ownership pattern of BARC India and whether its credibility and neutrality can be enhanced further, while highlighting various methods of collating such data in other countries, including the US, the UK and France.

    Some of the other issues highlighted in the TRAI paper are the following:

    # Is there a need to promote competition in television rating services to ensure transparency, neutrality and fairness to give TAM rating?

    # What regulatory initiatives/measures can be taken to make TV rating services more accurate and widely acceptable?

    # Is the current audience measurement technique used by BARC apposite?

    # Does broadcasting programmes that are out of their category or in different languages for some time during the telecast affect the TAM (TV audience measurement) rating? If so, what measures should be adopted to curb it?

    # Can TV rating, based on limited panel homes, be termed as truly representative?

    # What should be done to reduce the impact of manipulation of panel home data on overall TV ratings?

    # What should be the panel size both in urban and rural India to give true representation of audience?

    # What method/technology would help to rapidly increase the panel size for television audience measurement in India? What will be the commercial challenge in implementing such solutions?

    # Should DPOs be mandated to facilitate collection of viewership data electronically, subject to consent of subscribers to increase data collection points for better TRPs?

    # What percentage of STB supports transferring viewership data through establishing a reverse path/connection from STB? What will be the additional cost if existing STBs without return path are upgraded?

    # What method should be adopted for privacy of individual information and to keep the individual information anonymous?

    # What should be the level/granularity of information retrieved by the television audience measurement agency from the panel homes so that it does not violate principles of privacy?

    # What measures need to be taken to address the issue of panel tampering/infiltration?

    # Should BARC be permitted to provide raw level data to broadcasters? If yes, how secrecy of households, where the people meters are placed, can be maintained?

    BARC India, set up in 2015, is a joint venture amongst broadcast and advertising industry bodies IBF, AAAI, ISA with Indian Broadcasting Foundation or IBF being a majority shareholder. India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati also sits on the BARC India board. Apart from TV audience data, BARC India is also exploring rolling out similar figures for digital platforms.

  • IBF rejigs board; appoints VPs to steer key objectives

    IBF rejigs board; appoints VPs to steer key objectives

    MUMBAI: The board of directors of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has unanimously appointed Siddharth Jain, Rajat Sharma, Sudhanshu Vats and K Madhavan as the vice-presidents to broadbase and liaise with the government and other stakeholders for the sectoral growth.

    Turner International India Pvt Ltd South Asia SVP and MD Siddharth Jain will be the VP for distribution. India TV chairman and editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma shall oversee government affairs in his role as the VP of the foundation. Viacom18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats would be VP—audience measurement and Asianet communications MD K Madhavan will be spearheading the regional affairs portfolio.

    India Today Group chairman and editor-in-chief Aroon Purie shall continue as the treasurer of the foundation till the next AGM.

    In the 19th annual general meeting of IBF held on 31 August 2018, the members unanimously elected Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi S Vempati to the board of directors of IBF. His inclusion in the board will strengthen the foundation technologically considering his prior experience in the IT sector.

    With the inclusion of ABP News Networks COO Avinash Pandey, The Walt Disney Co- South Asia EVP and MD Mahesh Samat, Malayalam Communications Ltd MD and editor-in-chief John Brittas as co-opted directors on the board of the foundation, IBF is geared up to meet the sectoral challenges.

  • NP Singh elected new IBF president

    NP Singh elected new IBF president

    MUMBAI: At the 19th annual general meeting(AGM) of Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Sony Pictures Networks India CEO and MD NP Singh was elected as the new president of the foundation. Singh will succeed Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd ( ZEEL) MD Punit Goenka who held the position for two years.

    Earlier Goenka took over the responsibility from Star India chairman and CEO Uday Shankar in 2016. Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati has been elected as the new  director of IBF board.

    “I am elated to lead IBF at a crucial juncture and will put my best efforts to make the sector invigorating. A strong media and broadcast sector will not only serve as the conscience-keeper of the nation but will educate, entertain and acclimatise the masses. My key objective would be to ensure the larger good of the sector in keeping with the regulatory practices,” Singh commented on his election.

    “Singh has always been a supportive colleague on the Board and his broad insight and acumen will help us deal with the challenges that the sector is facing today,” outgoing president Goenka said.

    Along with India TV founder and chairman Rajat Sharma, Star India MD South K Madhavan, and Viacom18 MD Sudhanshu Vats, Singh was holding the office of vice president for last two years. The media veteran has rich experience of more than 30 years. He started his stint in Sony Entertainment back in 1999 as chief financial officer. The Delhi University alumni also studied in Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

  • Madras HC TRAI-Star case: All parties keep options open

    Madras HC TRAI-Star case: All parties keep options open

    MUMBAI: Even as till late evening yesterday all those connected with the case filed by Star India and Vijay TV against regulator TRAI in Madras High Court kept waiting for the full text of the court order, options for future course of action were kept open, including whether the high court should be asked to clarify on some observations.

    As the high court, by keeping its final verdict on hold, has given two weeks time to petitioners to consider appealing in the Supreme Court, which is already in summer vacation mode with just the vacation bench active, TRAI also cannot go ahead and get its tariff order implemented immediately.

    Justice MM Sundresh, who was assigned to hear the Star TV and Vijay TV vs. TRAI case after another bench had given a split verdict, concurred with the view of Madras HC chief justice Indira Banerjee who, through an order dated 3 March 2018, had held that the TRAI Act confers upon the regulator sufficient jurisdiction to notify the said tariff order and interconnection regulation.

    However, the judge also, reportedly, struck down some other aspects of the tariff order, including an important part that capped at 15 per cent the discounts that could be offered by TV channels.  

    That all stakeholders in this court drama are keeping their cards close to the chest can be gauged from the fact the only organisation to come out with an official statement welcoming the Madras HC order, AIDCF (All India Digital Cable Federation), too had nothing to offer on a time frame for implementation of TRAI tariff order. Efforts made to elicit responses from Star India, TRAI, Indian Broadcasting Foundation or even individual media industry players drew a blank. The common refrain was: we haven’t read the actual order, so can’t comment.

    Still, after talking to various people in the industry a possible scenario that emerges hinges around petitioners going back to the Madras HC seeking clarifications on some of the observations of the court, which may take some time. After those clarifications come through, it would be decided whether to exercise the option of appealing in the Supreme Court, especially because a major pivot of the case is the copyright of TV channels over the content it generates and whether TRAI has any jurisdiction over such copyright issues.

    With the present TRAI Chairman RS Sharma’s tenure ending in a few months time, he would ideally like to see the tariff order, issued during his tenure, implemented before his superannuation.

    Also Read:

    Third Madras high court judge gives TRAI tariff order thumbs up

    Madras HC gives split verdict in Star India versus TRAI case

    MSOs move Madras HC seeking relief on inter-connect pacts

    Orders reserved by Madras HC on TRAI jurisdiction case

  • Comment: 3 areas that new MIB minister Rathore needs to target

    Comment: 3 areas that new MIB minister Rathore needs to target

    In a recent reshuffle of his cabinet colleagues and their portfolios initiated by PM Modi, a surprise move was not Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) minister Smriti Irani’s removal, but handing the independent charge of the portfolio to her till-now junior, Rajyavardhan Rathore.

    There is some merit in giving Rathore full responsibility of MIB, which was conceptualised by the nation’s founding fathers to be the government interface with the media and public, in general. That MIB could have lost its relevance in this digital age – an issue being debated in certain quarters – is another story altogether for some other time. Why Rathore at the helm of MIB seems just what the doctor advised?

    First, he is young and suave. Second, he comes with a good pedigree of being an army officer and an Olympic medalist. Third, he’s comparatively young and has built a youth and people-friendly image, apart from his work as independent charge holder at Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports – his latest initiative on Twitter, #HumFitTohIndiaFit , aimed at encouraging fitness by inviting celebs is already a hit on social media.

    As Rathore has served as a junior MIB minister long enough to get to know the complex issues that come with the terrain, it is expected that he is best suited to address the challenges being faced by the media industry. But for that, he needs to aim at the following three areas and hit the bull’s eye.

    Content Regulation

    The previous MIB minister waded into controversies because of her largely perceived unpopular move to create a panel in April this year to explore regulations for online media/news portals and online content. It did not help her or the government’s cause as this announcement, though being hinted at for several months, came close on the heels of a widely protested move to cancel the accreditation of journalists if found peddling fake news, while the government did not define clearly what constituted a fake news. Though the order was rescinded at the behest of the PM’s Office, the online content committee lingers on directionless and with nobody willing to father the baby presently. That this move antagonised not just online journalists, but also social media players (many of whom are backed and funded by government’s sympathisers) and video-on- demand portals is a story in itself.

    Rathore knows media in India enjoys certain constitutional freedoms, including the right to exercise freedom of speech and expression. Therefore, any move targeted at “regulating” such content shall only be interpreted as silencing criticism. That the online committee is packed with government officials with minuscule industry representation and zero presence of online media raises questions on government’s motives.

    What’s more, doubts have also been raised on the jurisdictional propriety of MIB to create such a committee in the first place. The government allocation of business rules that determine the remit of various government agencies clearly highlights that for all “policy matters relating to information technology; electronics; and Internet” only Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeITY) is competent to make decisions. The ambit of MIB is limited only to “the enunciation and implementation of the law relating to radio and television broadcasting in India by private Indian companies or Indian nationals”.

    With multiple laws applicable on online content, there seems to be no need of any additional regulation for online content, though MeITY could think otherwise, but it’s for it to take a call. Still, a self-regulating mechanism that places uniform standards over user-generated content platforms and video-on-demand portals is the need of the day. This shall also be in line with Rathore’s views expressed after assuming full charge at MIB where he stressed upon self-regulation as the only means of regulating media.

    As the final authority at MIB now, Rathore needs to walk the talk on online content regulation and, probably, let the committee set up by his predecessor die a natural death.

    Online content aside, in the world of traditional broadcasting there is a need to strengthen the already established self-regulatory mechanisms such as the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) of the IBF and a similar self-regulatory set-up of the NBA India.

    Ease of Doing Business

    It would be an understatement to say that the past year has been a difficult period for the Indian media and entertainment (M&E) sector what with after-effects of demonetisation of high-value currency notes and a new tax regime of GST rolled out last year. The story remains the same for ease of doing business in the sector as well.

    On this aspect, Rathore could focus on the recommendations made by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on`Ease of Doing Business in Broadcasting Sector’ and implement them in letter and spirit.

    A unilateral decision by the previous leadership of MIB to impose a processing fee of Rs 100,000 per day/channel on temporary live uplinking of events (such as sports) and the same amount for seeking minor amendments (like change in name, logo, etc) has been causing heart burns.

    What was the rationale behind such moves to review processing fees? Allegedly non-revision for several years and that such a move could bring in some revenue for the government. But, should a government use licensing/permission fee as means of revenue maximisation? Probably, no.

    Another issue that demands attention from Rathore is the denial of permissions by DoS to satellite TV channels using private satellite capacity, especially foreign. Here, the newly appointed minister shall have to display his trademark leadership and try to resolve the concerns of his constituents (TV channels, DTH operators, teleport operators, etc) vis-a-vis DoS.

    Building an Investment Friendly Environment

    In the recently held global Asia Media Summit 2018 in New Delhi, PM Narendra Modi said that Asia has emerged as a promising region for media businesses and offers opportunities for international cooperation. This statement highlights his government’s push for increasing investment inflow across sectors of the Indian economy – including creative industries such as M&E.

    In this respect, Rathore will have to hit the road running — which he has done — and look at all the factors impeding investments in the sectors under him. This could necessitate reviewing licensing conditions and guidelines, which many in the industry believe hamper investments.

    Can Rathore bite the bullet and recreate the magic that he unveiled one fine day years back to get India the first Olympic medal in an individual event? Certainly, he can. Keep tuned in for the next episode.

    Also Read :

    MIB clears TV channel applications; Rathore calls for stakeholder meets

    Comment: India’s NTP 2018 gets digital makeover but needs complimentary policies

    Comment: MIB’s botched whip on fake news akin to testing waters

    M&E to add 1 mn jobs in 5 years: Sudhanshu Vats

  • BARC reacts to malicious statements regarding operations

    BARC reacts to malicious statements regarding operations

    MUMBAI: Recently, television ratings body Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) was slandered with a number of statements which it termed as ‘malicious, baseless and grossly inaccurate’. It said that some stakeholders had publicly commented on its operations and organisation structure.

    Addressing the issue, the company issued a statement that BARC was a joint body set up by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and Advertising Agencies Association India (AAAI), adhering to section eight of the Companies Act. It is a debt funded company, and there is absolutely no foreign direct investment.

    Being an industry body promoted by IBF, ISA and AAAI, BARC India is neither owned by any broadcaster/advertiser/agency, nor controlled by any single company. “Therefore, the question of undue influence of any single entity on BARC India’s operations simply does not arise. It has a strict governance structure as laid down in its Articles of Association, which ensures its ‘arm’s length’ relationship with all stakeholders,” the body said in a statement.
    IBF President Punit Goenka said, “We take pride in saying that BARC India works in an extremely transparent and neutral environment. Its data adds immense value to industry, and we would encourage and support it to remain focused on the great work its team does, and not get detracted by false statements and unattributed innuendos. BARC India has established a measurement system at par with international standards, which should be a matter of pride for the industry.”

    With a sample size of 135,000 individuals across the nation, BARC India operates the largest TV sample/panel in the world – much larger than the US TV sample of 90,000.

    ISA chairman Sunil Kataria said, “BARC India data helps advertisers reach and understand consumers even in the most remote and unexplored areas. It enables the Rs. 25000 crore advertising industry to take informed decisions since the data is truly representative of ground reality.”

    AAAI president and BARC India chairman Nakul Chopra said, “It should be applauded as in these positive and progressive times it provides essential and reliable data that is powering many industries make better decisions towards economic growth.”

    Also Read:

    No reason for GECs to panic as IPL grabs eyeballs

    The era of dance reality shows

    Owning IP not priority for Big Synergy

  • MIB moves to regulate online media: various organisations join issue

    MIB moves to regulate online media: various organisations join issue

    NEW DELHI: Even as a debate on the need to regulate online news media gains momentum, various organisations have moved the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) hoping to be made a part of the committee that will look into various aspects of proposed regulations—a panel that surprisingly doesn’t include, at present, any representation from the sector that is being sought to be brought under checks.

    According to media industry sources, Broadband India Forum (BIF), chambers of commerce FICCI and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Internet and Mobile Association of India and Hong Kong-based Asian media advocacy group CASBAA are amongst some of the organisations that have sought representation on the government panel to add value to the policy-making process. The MIB secretary is the convener of the nine-member panel at present.

    In an order issued in the first week of April this year, MIB had announced constitution of a committee for framing regulations for online media, news portals and online content, which would look not only look into the areas mentioned but also at digital broadcasting, entertainment and other media aggregators. The government justification has been that considering the print and electronic medium were governed by various government-mandated rules and also self-regulatory policies, online media (both news and entertainment) ought also to be brought under a similar regulatory framework.

    Though it’s not spelt out in so many words, industry observers feel that despite broadcast carriage regulator TRAI keeping away from it for the time being, video OTT and social media platforms could be brought under the proposed regulatory framework.

    The panel, despite some representation from overall media industry (Indian Broadcasting Foundation, News Broadcasters Association of India and Press Council of India), looks dominated by the government at the moment with members including secretaries from the Ministry of Electronics & IT, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Law and Ministry of Commerce, apart from the CEO of another government organisation called MyGov.com. What raises some hope is that the convener can add representatives from any other organisation as deemed fit.

    Meanwhile, the Press Trust of India on Monday reported that the Congress attacked the Modi government over its proposal to install a chip in television set-top boxes to ascertain viewership data, dubbing the move a serious breach of privacy and the “next stage of surveillance.”

    Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala alleged that I&B minister Smriti Irani wanted to now know about shows people watched within the four walls of their bedrooms. In a Twitter post, Surjewala referred to the Modi government as “surveillance sarkar” (surveillance government), raising questions over the right to privacy.

    “In a serious breach of privacy, Smriti Iraniji wants to know what show you watch on your TV, within the four walls of your bedroom, without your permission! Why? ‘Ab ki baar Surveillance sarkar’. The right to privacy broken into pieces,” PTI quoted the Surjewala tweets as stating.

    Within its lengthy views on the DTH sector, the MIB had proposed installing a chip in new set-top boxes that would provide data about channels watched and the duration of the viewing. A senior official of the ministry, according to the PTI report, said that the move was aimed at getting “more authentic” viewership figures for every channel that would “help advertisers and the DAVP (government’s media buying agency) to spend their advertising expenditure wisely.”

    ALSO READ:

    MIB forms committee to draft online media norms

    MIB proposes installation of chip in DTH boxes: Report

  • MIB to collect data on satellite capacity needs, digital chatter

    MIB to collect data on satellite capacity needs, digital chatter

    NEW DELHI: The Indian government has not only embarked upon data collation of the satellite capacity needs of TV channels in India but is also preparing to get real-time insights on digital chatter.

    In a letter sent earlier in January to Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd or BECIL, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has asked the sister government organisation to collect data on capacity requirements by TV channels on Indian satellites as also the life of foreign satellites catering to Indian customers.

    Pointing out that the data was needed on an urgent basis, the MIB has directed the BECIL to consult industry associations such as the IBF and the News Broadcasters Association, apart from DTH and HITS players, on information relating to “total estimated requirement” of the broadcasting sector on Indian satellites and “end of life period of foreign satellites”.

    Though MIB hasn’t spelt out the need to collate such data, nudged by the Department of Space and ISRO, the ministry, in the recent past, has been obliquely hinting TV channels to shift to Indian satellites before various government permissions being sought could be given.

    Most foreign satellite companies operating in India, however, have been conveying to the government and regulator TRAI (one such meeting happened in New Delhi about a week back when TRAI called for feedback on NTP 2018) that ISRO has been doing a great job in flying high India’s flag in the space but the dream of Digital India, as envisaged by PM Modi, could get a major fillip if foreign satellites, too, could be used to provide broadband and other related services to Indians.

    Meanwhile, the BECIL has also floated a tender seeking vendors to set up a ‘Social Media Communication Hub’ that would help the MIB keep a tab on trending news and act as the eyes and ears to get insights into digital chatter mostly involving the federal government’s flagship schemes.

    “The tool should have the capability to crawl [the] worldwide web and social media to monitor and analyze various trends emerging, as well as to gauge the sentiments amongst netizens. The tool should be comprehensive with the capability to generate reports and do customizations as per the requirements of [the] Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,” the tender floated by the BECIL stated.

    The platform or the hub sought to be set up should facilitate creating a 360-degree view of the people who were creating the buzz across various topics with an ability to analyse as well as visualise large volumes of data across diverse digital platforms in real time.

    The broad features that are required for this social media monitoring tool, as enumerated by the BECIL, are following:

    — Listening and responding capabilities: The platform is expected to not only listen to the standard digital channels listed below but also enable easy extension to integrate proprietary data sources such as the mobile insights platform.

    — The tool should be able to interface with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Play Store, emails, news blogs, forums and complaint websites for the purposes of monitoring.

    — Real-time integration for Facebook and Twitter needs to be demonstrated. Also, the platform will need to demonstrate the ability to configure data collection, insights and response for the platform.

    — The platform should have support for Indian languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Telegu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil, along with English.

    “This software tool should be able to perform like [a] search engine, which will work both as web crawler and social media crawler, and would be able to search various hash-tags [and] keywords across the social media platforms,” the tender document stated, adding that the tool/software should be able to identify fake news with particular focus on such conversations on social media and specialised websites.

    For this hub, MIB is looking at a 20-member strong team (scalable later) of SM analytics and domain experts in social media analysis with experience in handling tools such as Oracle CRM and Brandwatch to be stationed on the premises of the ministry.

    Also Read :

    MIB, DoS nudge TV channel to use Indian satellites

    MIB reverts to earlier norms of seeking nod from ISRO on uplink/downlink of TV channels

    MIB bumps up TV channel processing fee

    MIB categorises all non-Hindi and non-Eng TV channels as regional

  • How agencies deal with defaulters

    How agencies deal with defaulters

    MUMBAI: The history of the advertising industry has its fair share of examples of client default on payments leading to agencies bleeding losses. A classic case is that of JWT Walter Thompson (Now known as JWT), having to wind up back in 1974 due to non-payment by clients. Although the company resurrected a few years later, it still shows that companies aren’t secure especially when clients declare themselves bankrupt.

    In a fresh case that stirred the conversation about defaulting clients, media agency Madison Worldwide and creative agency Leo Burnett have filed a case against Chinese electronic brand LeEco over non-payment of dues in India. It failed to make payments for the period from January-December 2016, for which Madison is suing the company for Rs 39 crore plus interest in a Hong Kong court, while Leo Burnett has filed a case in the Bombay High Court for its dues of Rs 2.65 crore.

    In a typical scenario, if an agency doesn’t pay the media on time, it stands to be blacklisted by the media and will lose its accreditation with the industry. This could be a deal-breaker for them since, without accreditation, agencies have to pay the media in advance for any further business. In such a situation, if the agency does not have a large amount of fund to spare, it might have to shut down.

    Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO South Asia Ashish Bhasin says, “Sometimes clients delay payments because there is a genuine reason but quite often, clients default on the payments deliberately and that puts the agency in a tight spot. Although there is a legal route, it is often cumbersome and long-drawn and agencies don’t have that kind of bandwidth. But if there is no option, that is what they have to do.”

    Calling it unfair and need for stronger laws to be implemented for the same, Publicis Worldwide chief creative officer Bobby Pawar believes it should be illegal for clients to get away without paying for the services they’ve consumed. “It is very unfortunate as more often than not, it is the agency that has to bear the cost of it,” he says.

    For print ads, the credit period is usually 45 days from the month of activity. Here, the agency has to pay media, irrespective of client payment and earns only when the client pays. Non-payment or outstanding can result in blacklisting of the agency and all activities for the agency across all clients.

    For television and radio, the credit period is 60 days from the month of activity. The agency has to pay only after the client pays, and earns only when payment happens. Problematic clients or habitual defaulters are closely monitored by Indian Broadcasters Federation (IBF), the regulatory body for TV and radio. Serial offenders work mostly on advance while tripartite agreements are usually the norm.

    For instance, if a client owed the agency Rs 7.65 crore at a certain point in time which was long overdue, at five per cent media commission, the agency retained only Rs 38 lakh. Now if the client still has an outstanding unpaid debt of Rs 1.56 crores, the net amount is a loss of Rs 1.18 crore.

    Havas Media chief finance officer Pritesh Bhatnagar believes bad debts always hit the bottom line and its impact on P&L is always significant. “Agencies need to be more prudent in agreeing to the credit terms with clients. We ensure we follow our internal credit control guidelines and policies to safeguard our interests,” he adds.

    Ad agencies must compulsorily approach the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) to recover outstanding debts but with no assurance of recovery. At best, the AAAI can prevent the media from taking any new contracts from the same client.

    Extended credit lines are vital to maintaining a competitive edge and brands may be required to have credit insurance as part of a tender, to reassure stakeholders or satisfy the bank. Advertising and media companies face risks when selling and often rely on future bookings for media space and general advertising from a number of different providers. While credit checks are routinely conducted on new clients, it is impossible to track their status for the duration of the agreement. Remarking that the industry is starting to get a little more organised, Bhasin makes a point that stringent actions against such clients need to be taken not just by agencies, but also by involving various industry bodies. “It is important for agencies to do reasonable credit rating check for clients.”

  • Broadcasters, DPOs to crack down on piracy, analogue transmission

    Broadcasters, DPOs to crack down on piracy, analogue transmission

    NEW DELHI: There is general agreement among broadcasters and delivery platform operators including direct to home (DTH) as well as digital cable operators that a joint industry task force should be set up to check and report cases of piracy in the third and fourth phases of digital addressable system (DAS).

    There was general consensus that certain states – particularly Andhra Pradesh and Telengana – had high levels of pirated material on local television channels.

    Such were the thorny issues being discussed in a meeting held between the All India Digital Cable Operators Federation and the DTH Operators with the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) on Wednesday.

    As senior AIDCF member Ashok Mansukhani said that it was more appropriate for the stakeholders to meet in this manner than in courts of law.

    Among others, the meeting was addressed by IBF President Punit Goenka, Jawahar Goel of Dish TV, AIDCF President Rajan Gupta and senior office-bearer S N Sharma.

    Goel said there was an attempt by Punjab and other states to bring back what he termed as the ‘inspector raj’ by imposition of local taxes. Furthermore, he said broadcasters were free to give content to OTT or YouTube, but this should not be live as it would directly hit the DPOs like the DTH players and digital cable operators.

    The larger multi-system operators (MSO) said the inefficient handling of piracy by broadcasters was the cause of their suffering. Broadcasters neglect to take actiom against operators carrying analogue signal. There are small MSOs who do not have CAS & SMS system and do not follow TRAI QoS guidelines so broadcasters should refrain from giving content to them. Hence a joint industry task force should be made to raid such operators / MSOs and initiate legal action against those operators. The News Broadcasters Association should also be made part of this.

    Issues were also raised relating to OTT, Doordarshan’s FreeDish, and Reliance Jio and the DPOs alleged that providing signals to these entities led to huge losses to the digital cable and DPOs.

    Answering various question in a presentation, Goenka said OTT rights and digital cable rights were two different issues and should not be confused. OTT was an interactive and on-demand platform and in any case was never free being part of a subscription bandwidth. Thus this should not be compared with other platforms.

    YouTube content are only the ones that have already been broadcast and therefore, there was no conflict of interest. He denied any concessions to Reliance Jio and said it was in fact paying more than digital cable.

    He expressed concern by the Jio announcement that its mobile phone could receive the signals of not only new LCD/LED television sets but also the old sets. AIDCF said that this would bring Jio under TRAI’s regulations.

    Goenka said he will advise IBF members to take up the issue with OTT providers, especially Reliance Jio. In any case, he said the present contracts forbid such activity.

    He said broadcasters are not offering OTT content on television screen by connecting Reliance Jio phone through a cable and they prohibit such an activity. But agreeing with the concern of the AIDCF, he said this would be rigorously monitored and action will be taken in case there is any violation.

    Referring to the AIDCF charge that pay channels were being given as Free to Air (FTA) to Doordarshan’s FreeDish after paying huge carriage fees, Goenka said that broadcasters like Star and Sony are offering paid live content free on Freedish but with a time lag of one year. He agreed that this should be implemented across all genres and it should be completely free to all platforms.

    He said that in any case digital cable had more channels than FreeDish which primarily comprised FTA channels and so it was unreasonable to compare the two especially as the content was also being provided to digital cable operators.

    The speakers from AIDCF said MSOs have invested around Rs 200 billion in digitisation and are yet to get the return on their investment. This is primarily on account of the growth in rates that the broadcasters demand every year. Hence it was now the question of viability and survival of the MSOs that broadcasters should come out with their MRP based pricing.