Tag: tariff order

Avinash Kaul on Network18’s news business growth, TRAI tariff order impact & landing page row

MUMBAI: Propelled by the ad spend on general elections, subscription revenue growth and the strength of its regional network, the news business of Network18 delivered solid numbers in the first quarter. The television news business grew 29 per cent as compared to the corresponding quarter last year, with a rise in news viewership share to 10.1 per cent from 9.3 per cent post TRAI’s new tariff order implementation. The broadcaster witnessed a 48 per cent YoY improvement in subscription revenue and a doubling of the Hindi news ad-revenue. From an EBITDA loss last year, Q1 FY20 saw a jump in profitability to Rs 20 crore. For a deeper insight into the network’s performance, future growth and other issues faced by the news broadcast business, Indiantelevision.com engaged A+ E Networks | TV18 managing director and Network18 CEO broadcast news Avinash Kaul in a freewheeling chat.

Standalone news business revenue grew 29 per cent. Can you give us some colour on that?

Primarily, we have been reworking our channels and consolidating the regional and national networks. Our ratings have significantly improved over the last two-three years. All the effect of whatever we have done to propel ratings for in the recent past not only resulted in us being the number one news network, but also came in handy at the time of elections. When you have a large news network in the largest democracy, we were bound to get good traction from advertisers (ad spends during elections). In addition to that, there is obviously the new tariff order (NTO).

The NTO obviously took away a lot of sheen from what our original plan might have been in its initial stages. It brought in some rough weather for everybody especially for pay channels including us. So there is no hesitation in saying that it did create a lot of rough weather for us initially. But thankfully we were able to surmount most of the challenges and by the end of the quarter we were back on top, but we did take a dip. We went down to 9.3 per cent of the overall channel share from around 10.1 per cent because of NTO transition and decision to stay pay. That call though eventually benefited us because it helped fetch us a 48 per cent growth in subscription revenue.

Thirdly, we have continuously been on a path of cost-cutting, that’s been an ongoing effort. We integrated our regional and national networks and analysed the synergies and duplication. Those benefits are now starting to play out.

Which segments have been the key growth drivers within the news business?

Hindi and regional have been at the forefront of this growth. I am breaking Hindi and regional separately because Hindi grew on the back of the superlative performance of News18 India. Languages come second. English has been fairly muted especially because it also comprises business segment which is not an election mainstay. So, very clearly growth was driven by general news and within that, it was driven by Hindi and regional.

Have you identified any standout regional language markets?

Biggest advertising markets are Bengali, Marathi and the Southern states. There are no surprises there. Other markets are relatively small in nature like Assam and Odisha They are not as big as the established markets.

Have you witnessed an advertising slowdown in the months of June and July?

Yes if you see, after a high of the election, there has come a slowdown. There was also the World Cup. There is a certain amount of threshold which got built in the month of June, which also continues in July as well. There are no two ways about that. There are economic headwinds. But the festive season is also not too far away. So we are hoping we should see some revival in August which will continue in September and the rest of the year.

You witnessed a 48 per cent growth in subscription revenues. Will you be able to carry forward this momentum or do you expect some churn going forward?

If you remember the initial NTO days, there were people who did not have a clue what package to take or not to take. Even the subscriber management system, cable headends and the DTH operators were not ready to deliver that diversity. So, the settlement will take time. People will begin to figure out the prices. An aspect that has emerged through my conversations with most of the industry leaders is NTOs on dual TV homes. With increasing cable bills, they have taken a rational call on channel selection for the second TV. Several other factors like the conclusion of the World Cup, children’s holidays will contribute to the churn.

Some consumers will make their choice, while others will opt for broadcaster packs or DPO packs. So, I don’t think everything is settled or everything is perfectly fine. The fine-tuning continues. I am expecting this entire fiscal will see some sort of settlement. The percentage has come down, you will not see that kind of volatility. The good part is despite the challenges, it’s a step in the right direction because subscription has got a boost. We are hoping that will continue in the next quarter. Unlike advertising scenario, which is dependent on events and situation of economy, this is more immune to those kinds of activities.

The growth of business news channels has been fairly muted. How do you intend to deliver change this scenario?

Business channels are facing a challenge not only for us but as a segment across. There is a certain amount of reinvention required in the entire genre whether it’s from a content or advertiser perspective. Now real-estate is in bad shape, automobile is not that great, banking sector has huge NPAs on its books, IPOs are not that great and general economy is not that great.

There is a certain amount of cyclical softness that emerges and unfortunately, these cycles are not advertising cycles. These are business cycles. There is a need for a certain amount of introspection, cost control measures while trends like movement to digital and other things are happening. The challenge is to reinvent the product and see how we can make certain offerings to advertisers in the market in order for them to see things in a different light. It could also very well mean that more emphasis on subscription than advertising sales than ever before at least for this sector. So, it depends. For a business model to pivot, it takes a longer time and that’s the journey most of us are in.

As a network, what do you expect from the remainder of the year?

We continue to invest and stay invested in content. We have an ambition of not only maintaining our market share (currently around 10.3-10.4 per cent with all channels) but to make sure that we get higher. I would really peg it at 15 per cent by the end of this year. We are the largest player in the segment and by that, we have a certain amount of responsibility on us to make sure we reinvent and grow the genre along with us. That will keep us motivated for this year.

What is your subscription to advertising revenue ratio?

Honestly, this will be a better conversation to have at the end of this financial year. This is just the first quarter and it has several factors like cricket and elections influencing it. There is general stress in most English channels. Some of these models will pivot very differently. Several things like the effect of the best-fit plans need to settle down. So it’s early. Personally, I’m very keen to know what that ratio will be at the end of the year. It also has a bearing on all the employees of the sector.

The ongoing landing page issue has the potential to impact the ecosystem’s dynamics. Your views?

Either it works for all or works for none, we are okay either way. What we are not okay with is the manual intervention (BARC’s data validation and outlier policy), which benefits some people, not others. If it will completely go away, we have no qualms, we will be the happiest. We do want a level playing field. We do not want somebody getting extra benefits because of X or Y reasons. Primarily that’s what our standpoint is.

So, your issue is at a systemic level?

It is a systemic issue. There are channels that launched on the back of these things. Any kind of manual intervention is not good for any system. There is no document to see on what basis this manual intervention is happening. Even the (BARC) technical committee has not issued an advisory to state what the basis of these moderation policies are. We are not comfortable with this arbitrary situation. Why would anybody want to do that? We are not a fly-by-night operator; we want transparency in the system and a level-playing field.

What has been the impact of the new tariff order on lifestyle and factual entertainment brands?

The impact of the NTO varies from genre to genre. Both History and FYI are part of Colors value pack. So, they were available wherever Colors was available. Today FYI is the largest lifestyle channel in India and History is a very close second to Discovery. We cannot take away the fact that Discovery is in existence for more than 25 years now and History is eight years old. These things take time to catch up.

From an advertising front, there are same issues that general English entertainment channels and factual entertainment channels are facing. So, business is not as usual. There is an impact but you cannot attribute it directly to NTO right now because there were elections, IPL and the World Cup. We are hoping for a certain amount of resurgence now. But obviously subscription comes in handy and our cost control measures are always there. So, from a profitability perspective, we are on track.

July 29, 2019
No complaints of DTH companies defying new tariff order received by TRAI: MIB

MUMBAI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has not received any complaints against direct-to-home (DTH) companies not sticking to its new tariff order, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry told the Lok Sabha last week.

“No incidence indicating that the DTH operators are not adhering to the TRAI’s norms with regards to pricing of channels has come to the notice of TRAI.

“As per the new regulatory framework, every broadcaster is required to offer all its channels on a-la-carte basis and declare maximum retail price per month payable by a subscriber,” said Union I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar in response to a written question.

The new tariff order had original come into force on 29 December 2018. TRAI then gave multiple extensions to stakeholders to fully implement the new rules for the broadcast and cable services sector.

“However, keeping in view the consumer convenience and to provide sufficient time to consumers to exercise the options for the new tariff packs, TRAI provided time until March 31, 2019, to consumers for conveying their informed choices to service providers,” he further added.

July 15, 2019
ZEEL’s Punit Goenka on FY19 performance, future of digital platforms, new tariff order

MUMBAI: The changing nature of content as well as distribution has led to a major overhaul in traditional media companies. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd(ZEEL) is also inking partnerships with new-age content distributors, device manufacturers and other digital players in this context. ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka recognising the need for modification of ZEEL’s processes. He said that the media conglomerate is investing in data and analytics capabilities along with traditional functions like marketing and customer service.

In a message to shareholders published in ZEEL’s FY19 annual report, Goenka spoke on the performance of the company in FY19, the journey ahead both in front of traditional and digital business. Here are edited excerpts:

Gearing-up for next phase of growth

Over the years, ZEEL has evolved from a single-channel network into a multi-faceted entertainment content company by consistently expanding its content offering. Till recently, television was the primary medium for taking new content to audience. However, our emerging businesses – digital, movies & music, and live events, provide us new touchpoints for reaching consumers as well as access to audience which was out of reach. This has added new dimensions to content consumption and is allowing us to experiment with new genres of content and create formats which are suited for smaller audience segments. We have significantly ramped up our content investments to capitalise on this new opportunity. Along with an evolving content repertoire, the distribution landscape is also changing with audience using multiple devices and platforms for consuming content. To enhance the reach and engagement of our products, we are stitching partnerships with new age content distributors, device manufacturers and other digital players. In this changing landscape, we also need to modify our processes and develop new capabilities to sustain growth and take advantage of emerging opportunities. Increase in share of direct to consumer businesses, especially digital, and changes in television distribution space give us greater insights into consumer preferences. While consumers have always been the focal point for content creation, these insights will enable us to serve them better. We are investing in data and analytics capabilities to use consumer insights for content creation and product design. Even traditional functions like marketing and customer service are undergoing significant changes and we are equipping our workforce for success in this new environment.

The year gone by

Digital video viewership continues to see tremendous growth as the reach of internet increases and people spend more time watching content. Till now, the growth has been primarily driven by user-generated and TV content which is monetised through advertising. I believe that the next phase of growth would be driven by content that the digital platforms are creating. The themes, talent ensemble and production value of these shows make it markedly different and have caught the fancy of a set of audience which found TV shows too slow. Once digital platforms scale-up their production of original content, it will enable them to drive subscription model. Younger audience, primarily from urban areas, have been the early adopter of SVOD, and digital content reflects the sensibilities of this segment. As more consumers join the pay bandwagon, the content offerings will explode to cater to varied user segments. In a market characterised by low ARPU and aversion to online payments, bundling of SVOD with telecom and other services, tiered pricing and innovation in payments would be key to growth of the paid subscriber base. Though advertising is the mainstay for digital revenues currently, I believe subscription would develop as a long-term revenue driver.

Television remains the mainstay for entertainment in India and continues to see growth in reach and engagement. Over the last 4 years, 50 million households have bought a TV set, but still a third of Indians (~100 million households) do not own one, and this provides a long run-way for growth. Constantly improving choices and quality of content across languages have led to growth in time spent. The new tariff order has further improved television’s value proposition for consumers by empowering them to select and pay for content of their choice. It also gives broadcasters flexibility to price their content which would incentivise innovation. The radical change in content distribution dynamics brought with it several challenges which made the transition to new regime uneven. However, once the transition is complete, it will benefit all the stakeholders. Digitisation of distribution space led to proper accounting of subscriber base and this tariff order provides for fair distribution of revenue across the value chain. This increase in transparency would accelerate growth of subscription market in India.

Our domestic broadcast business delivered another year of strong performance. Strengthening the network viewership share, it consolidated its position as India’s #1 entertainment network. The performance was led by the regional and movie channels portfolio. In line with our strategy of expanding the regional portfolio by entering new markets, we launched Zee Keralam, making our language footprint the biggest in the country. We continued our investments in acquisition of movie rights which will help us launch exclusive movie channels in regional markets and bolster our existing portfolio. There were two major business developments during the year – getting into distribution contracts as per the new tariff order and conversion of our two FTA channels to pay. Both impacted our revenue growth in the short term, but we are confident that once the transitory challenges settle down, they will help us further improve our competitive position across markets. The strength of our pan-India network is a result of our understanding of consumers and the processes built around it, enabling us to replicate success in multiple markets.

Our international business continued its focus on building reach and improving engagement across geographies. Launch of channels on new platforms helped our linear portfolio increase reach and local programming initiatives in some of the markets helped us engage more with the audience. The performance of our Indian and local language channels continues to be strong across markets. In addition to strengthening our linear business, we also started rolling out ZEE5 in select markets starting with APAC countries. We are working on a market by market strategy and selecting partners for taking our product to consumers. I believe that the revenue opportunity for ZEE5 in international markets is substantial.

Our consolidated revenue grew by 18.7 per cent in FY19 to `79,339 million. This strong growth was led by 19.8 per cent and 13.9 per cent growth in advertising and subscription revenues, respectively. Movies, music and content syndication businesses registered an impressive 29.7 per cent growth. The EBITDA margin for the year stood at 32.3 per cent and our EBITDA grew by 23.5 per cent to `25,639 million. The strong EBITDA growth for the year, despite increased investments in digital and other new initiatives and impact on revenue in fourth quarter, reflects the strong underlying performance of the business.

July 13, 2019
Megha Tata on transforming Discovery, TRAI tariff order impact, content strategy & OTT play

Megha Tata describes her current gig as a ‘dream job’. She draws parallels between her rise as a top media executive with brand Discovery’s journey in India. “I feel at home. This is the kind of genre I can relate to, not only as a consumer but also as a business proposition,” the American broadcaster's new managing director for south Asia admits. The possibilities of what can happen to Discovery Communication India and its brands in the country are what Megha is most excited by. She's taken up the top job at a crucial juncture with several challenges that need addressing. The disruption in regulation and the overall ecosystem has made matters more tricky. In order to gain a better perspective of how Megha intends to navigate a complex terrain and steer Discovery forward, Indiantelevision.com caught up with her for a wide-ranging chat.

As a company, at which stage do you see Discovery in at the moment in India?

I think Discovery has gone through its ups and downs in the last 25 years. I think more ups than downs, which is fine because that’s how life is. At this stage, for me, it’s more in the space of transformation. There was a transition, and now we are moving into the transformation phase and that is not only true to India but globally as well.

I have spent the last two months observing and absorbing what is happening not only in India but globally. I have spent time with my regional counterparts around the world and it was heartening to see that I’m not the only one who is going through that change which is happening around the world. That's great because when globally the company is moving in a direction and you’re going to be moving along, you know, the pace of that movement will be much faster. So that is where we are, we are in the process of transition and transformation from linear to non-linear.

There is so much to be done. We have to prioritise our focus areas especially in the next 12 to 18 months. We have put together a strategy, which is very clear cut with three pillars at its core that would help to grow our business.

Which are the problems that you have inherited and what problems do you see ariseing in the future?

I see the glass always half-full, that is my attitude in life so I don’t see the problems. I only see opportunities and let bygones be bygones. The future is beautiful and that’s what I’m focusing on.

As part of the whole ecosystem, who is to predict how it will play out? We know what our strengths are and what are our weaknesses, and accordingly, we play to our strengths and that is the plan. Discovery is in that phase now which is great because that only makes our job in India that much more, I won’t say easy, but at least aligned to what the global mandate is as well. I am seeing it as a great opportunity for stuff we can do in India with all our brands.

There is a perception that Discovery’s brand in India has been diluted over the years. As the head of the company, how would you like viewers to perceive the brand going forward?

On the contrary, Discovery’s brand continues to be strong in India. Given huge focus on never seen before thrilling content, we have an opportunity to take Discovery brand to a greater high in the country. You will see emerge even stronger in the time to come!

How do you see each of the brands in your portfolio in terms of their position in their respective segments?

We have identified three key pillars that we want to focus on.

We want to have an unparalleled leadership in the infotainment space. While we are the leaders, we want to scale it up further. Between Animal Planet and Discovery, we intend to do that. That will happen through not only the global content which we intend to bring in a bigger and better way, but also by investing in local Indian production.

Second is the kids’ genre. We have a great play in the Discovery Kids so far. It is the fastest growing kids’ channel. We want to grow that business to become a formidable top three player. So not only our existing IP, but adding new IPs to it which we believe will have a resonance with Indian kids. Little Singham has done extremely well, so we are going to add more episodes, acquire more content, add another IP.

And the third integral part is getting into the D2C space, which is the way to go if you want to survive. We will be coming up with an OTT platform very soon. We are very uniquely positioned to be different in terms of what is out there.

Will your OTT platform work on an AVoD or SVoD model?

Both.

When are you launching it?

Hopefully, early next year.

What sort of content can we expect on your streaming service?

The beauty about Discovery Networks is that we have 300k hours of content and we add about 8000 hours of content every year to it. That is the depth of the library we have. It is huge. We are not going to use all of that and put it up on our OTT platform. We will see what the Indian audiences would like and then divide it by genre. We will be an aggregator of this content. Our partnership with Dailyhunt is a testament to the fact that there is keenness for content like this.

When we partnered Dailyhunt, the audience reaction and consumption we got was outstanding. 400 million views, seven million MAUs and a lot of that are coming from regional content. We decided to invest in languages early on. We are already available in five languages, adding three more. So, Discovery will have eight languages. Kids will have six languages, Animal Planet will have three. It is a big thing for us to be available in so many languages, with rationalisation and localisation of our products.

Does your partnership with Netflix continue to exist?

Yes.

What does the future hold for Discovery Jeet?

Jeet has done its bit and it will play its course out. There is no plan to resurrect it. It will have its own course for an exit at some point.

What about DSport?

It is in a happy place, it is doing what it was meant to do.

Any other partnership you have struck for content distribution?

Not specifically with content distribution but there are many conversations on, with big players wanting to partner with us especially after what they saw with Dailyhunt. Now that we are saying that we will officially be launching our OTT, so more conversations are building up. It is pretty positive.

How did the TRAI tariff order impact your subscription and advertising revenues?

It is still playing out, there are many moving parts to it, and maybe it will take another few months before it settles down. So, we have also been impacted like any other company. We fared well given that we are a special interest proposition. We could have had the worst impact, but the main reason it didn’t was that our brand pull is so strong that the consumer demand remained high.

With the TRAI order and the explosion of digital content has some of the advertising money moved out of TV?

I think overall there has been a movement from linear to non-linear. Advertising is moving to digital but there are areas of challenge. An independent research mechanism does not exist in the ecosystem, and that becomes a question mark for a lot of marketers in terms of how the money is getting spent. There are many questions related not only to us but at an industry level and the issue which is being discussed in many forums. In our case linear has been our mainstay of revenue whether it is through ad sales or affiliate sales. OTT is yet to happen, it just recently happened. We are very new to the digital revenue space.

What’s your take on advertising expenditures on television for the year?

I think there is a positive story and I feel overall there is going to be growth. There were lots of cricket happening and elections were a positive spin. There is an India positive story. That will translate into advertising growth.

Are you facing a challenge in selling your inventory?

I think for Discovery, FCT is a challenge and that’s true for every genre, not just us. But what’s unique for our genre, I think we are probably the other genre after news which has the possibility to create branded content through branded solutions. I think there is an opportunity for growth there. We have done a bit, but we have really touched the tip of the iceberg. There is a huge opportunity for us to drive revenue from branded solutions.

We are doing some of it. We have a dedicated team to deliver that content and promise. It has to go beyond content. I think it’s an opportunity to bring brand solution as a proposition far deeper and stronger connect with a brand, so the brand looks at you not from a transactional point of view but as a partner.

Ok. What’s your take on the current TV audience measurement system?

Let's put it this way. From where it was to where it is, there has been growth. They are now in 40,000 odd homes. That’s much better than 8000 homes. Is that enough? Not according to me. In a country of over a billion, 40,000 homes is not a benchmark. In that, special interest channels lose out because you know your allocation of boxes is so minuscule. If a person puts off one box, you have a huge drop in ratings, it does not make sense. It is an evolving conversation. BARC has its own view, there's a cost angle to it. So, it’s multiple layers of conversations.

You’re now making a move into digital. How do you view the current scenario around a unified currency for digital measurement?

Absolutely the need of the hour. Because that is what is missing in the whole digital economy. I won’t take names, but you know there are only two players making money on digital in the country. So, is there actual revenue out there in digital? That’s the question.

What has been the rise in your topline?

I can't say exact numbers, but we have a good growth story and we are a profitable company in India. A lot of our revenue growth has come from affiliate sales. And we have a good mix of revenue which is coming from affiliate as well as ad sales. It’s a good healthy mix, it’s skewed towards affiliate sales.

Your vision for the brand in the next two-three years?

Unparalleled leadership in the infotainment genre, among the top three positions in kids segment, and to be the number one real-life entertainment OTT service in India.

For the ecosystem at large, are there any potential hurdles that need to be solved to amplify the growth?

I think the biggest is the NTO and TRAI challenge that every broadcaster is facing. That needs to be addressed in some form or other. There is so much ambiguity right now that needs to be addressed very quickly.

Has the TRAI tariff order resulted in adding more pressure on a network like yours?

In the new regime, content has become a bigger king. The proposition has to be very distinctive. If you are one of many you, may lose out. We are so distinctively different and our proposition is so specific and so strong, that we continue to have a strong pull even after NTO.

Going back to your OTT proposition, how do you see India’s OTT landscape? Is there space for all or we will see consolidation?

There is bound to be consolidation. There are bound to be some exits in larger OTT space. I think five or six could be a happy mix in the existing play out. What we propose is very different. We will be the only one to come out with that kind of proposition. Hence, we believe there is a good opportunity, audience out there for us to offer such a proposition. But I think some form of consolidation or exits might happen.

In terms of OTT content, there seems to be a gap on the documentaries front. Do you feel you are uniquely positioned to fill that gap?

Yes, definitely. If you look at the existing players, the kind of content they have in their real-life entertainment, all of them put together would be ranging between the 600 to 1200 hours of content. We will be launching with 8000-10,000 hours of content. Our repository is so huge. So, that's our edge, that's our USP.

Where will OTT consumption happen going forward – small screen or larger one?

More small screens, more mobile phones, data getting cheaper, more people will be watching it on mobile.

June 21, 2019
Independent TV assures TRAI of compliance with new tariff order after subscribers complain

MUMBAI: Direct-to-home (DTH) operator Independent TV has clarified to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that it has taken several measures in order to ensure that its current tariff plans are in conformity with the regulator’s new framework for the broadcast sector.

TRAI had earlier sought an explanation from the DTH operator, formerly known as Big TV, over the tariff plans offered to its subscribers post the implementation of the new regime.

TRAI, in a letter on 26 March, had directed Independent TV "to ensure that the new regulations are followed in letter and spirit with no violations…ensure that all new connections booked are provided in a time bound manner…and ensure that all outlets of Independent TV Ltd do not provide any package which is in violation of new regulations".

This regulator’s action was a direct result of several complaints from Independent TV subscribers concerning the break-up details for monthly charges and an overall lack of clarity in terms of the operator’s new tariff plans.

"In regard to our current tariff plans being offered by Independent TV, we would like to assure the authority of our complete compliance with the NTO (New Tariff Order). Pursuant to our meetings…and the discussions…we have realigned our product offerings,” Independent TV told TRAI in a letter written last month, according to news agency PTI.

The operator also apprised TRAI of all its current plans and packages on offer, along with details of the network capacity fee (NCF) and distributor retail price.

"There were some complaints that their franchisees were offering annual plans without clarity on break up…So, Independent TV has said it has not activated any annual plan after implementation of the new regulatory framework, and that in case any of its franchisee is offering such plans, it will take necessary action," a TRAI official said.

Independent TV has also upped its communication strategy crafting advertisements and clearly stating its policy on withdrawal of the legacy offers and other details like channel packs and pricing on its website.

"With regard to any ambiguity on the old annual offer (Freedom 1999) from Independent TV and its current availability, we have taken the following steps…We have run a campaign on our website informing all prospective customers of the withdrawal of all our LDPs (Long Duration Packs) including Freedom 1999 pack. We have aggressively engaged in educating and explaining the same to our channel partners," the Independent TV letter further said.

The operator added, "Every complaint forwarded to us by the authority with regard to this issue is being verified one-on-one and any delinquent behaviour from any of our channel partners is being dealt with appropriately."

April 8, 2019
Tata Sky vs TRAI: Discovery concludes arguments, Delhi High Court lists matter for 11 April

MUMBAI: The Delhi High Court has adjourned the petition of top DTH operators Tata Sky, Discovery India Communication, Airtel Digital TV and Sun Direct challenging Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and its new tariff regime to 11 April. According to a source close to the development, Discovery India concluded its arguments, which commenced on 4 February, on Thursday. The long-running court battle is likely to conclude by the end of this month, as TRAI and all interveners in support of the regulatory body will commence their arguments during the next hearing. The matter is being heard by Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V Kameswar Rao.

Notably, the extended deadline for consumer migration under the new regime expired on 31 March. While the TRAI has repeatedly said most consumers have moved to the new regulatory framework, with a reduction in cable bills, several reports have claimed otherwise.

Earlier, the regulatory body in February extended the deadline to pick new channels under new regime till 31 March as well as gave a directive of Best Fit Plans. The subscribers that don’t opt for new channels would be moved to ‘Best Fit Plans’, which would be developed as per usage pattern, language and channel popularity, the sector regulator said in its statement.

Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Rajendra Menon on 13 February questioned TRAI for altering the implementation process of its new tariff regime without informing the court. The chairperson of the sector regulator had also been directed to file an affidavit within a week explaining these changes.

While the regulatory body has continuously declined that cable bills would go up under the new regime, several reports, as well as surveys, have indicated the hike in the monthly bill. Due to the change in pricing, many experts predicted that consumers would shift to OTT platforms eventually. To decrease the churn rate, some of the DTH players have removed network capacity fee for long duration packs.

In 2017, Bharti Telemedia, Tata Sky and Discovery Communication India had filed petitions against TRAI, challenging its tariff order and the interconnect regulations. Unlike the position adopted by Star India wherein it questioned the regulatory powers of TRAI, the matter in the Delhi HC questions the regulator’s power to wipe out deals that operators enter into to fix commissions and rates for customers.

April 4, 2019
In TRAI-BARC India stand-off, flashes of regulatory overreach

MUMBAI: One of the most intriguing side acts during the implementation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) new tariff order has been the sector regulator's face-off with TV audience measurement firm BARC. The latest flashpoint in this impasse involved TRAI issuing a show-cause notice to BARC.

At the core of this issue is TRAI’s insistence on BARC publishing its weekly findings on its website and the latter's sustained inaction on that front.

While BARC continues to supply data to advertisers, broadcasters and agencies, it has stopped publishing weekly ratings of shows and channels on its website due to vagaries linked to the rollout of the new regulatory framework for the broadcast sector.

The decision was taken after due and appropriate deliberations to protect the interest of trade, subscribers and consumers, BARC had said.

TRAI’s argument, however, is that data at any given point in time reflects ground realities and there’s no valid reason for not putting it out in the public domain. TRAI, according to sources, believes consumers will use the ratings on the BARC website to make channel selection.

With this stand-off now stretching into its third month, it’s important to understand what really is at centre of this controversy. Is TRAI right in directing BARC to publish the data or is the TV ratings agency justified in taking the position it has on the issue?

To answer these questions, one must look at what BARC and TRAI have been entrusted to do as industry watchdog and TV audience measurement body respectively

Like any regulator, TRAI’s mandate is to devise and implement policies factoring in market realities for growth of the sectors it oversees. Ensuring free and fair regulation that is pro-consumer and aimed at sending positive signals to the investment community should be hallmarks of any policy it conceives. The new tariff order and consultation paper on improving BARC’s measurement system are two fine examples of responsible regulatory behaviour. These initiatives are aimed at benefiting consumers and growth of the TV broadcasting and distribution business at large.

Encroaching into the operational domain of an independent and self-regulatory body, or even privately held entities for that matter, is a measure any regulator should try and avoid. Therefore issuing multiple directives and a show-cause notice to BARC could be categorised as a regulatory misstep by TRAI.

BARC is a joint industry body founded by stakeholder bodies that represent broadcasters, advertisers and media agencies.

Its job is to own and manage a transparent, accurate, and inclusive TV audience measurement system. It is mandated to ensure efficient media spends and content decisions in a highly dynamic and growing television sector. Hence, publishing weekly web data (for non-subscribers) isn’t actually a deviation from its standard operating procedures or a move away from conducting business as usual.

In fact, publishing ratings on the website found no mention in the Amit Mitra committee’s recommendations, endorsed by TRAI post consultations with the industry, to form joint industry body (BARC) in 2013. These guidelines were then notified by the MIB in 2014, resulting in the formation of BARC.

BARC India had registered itself with the MIB and was to conduct its operations on a self-regulatory model. Applying this fundamental tenet to the current scenario, BARC is well within its rights to not publish the weekly data on its website as long as it continues to service its subscribers.

Based on evidence in the public domain, BARC neither seems to have flouted any norms nor hampered the seamless functioning of the broadcast or advertising sector in any manner. In short, BARC not publishing its weekly data on its website, pre or post the tariff order implementation, bears no impact on the operations of industry stakeholders. TAM, BARC’s predecessor for 15 years, too, did not follow the practice of publishing web data.

Prima facie, BARC’s stance on the matter cannot be termed as a violation of the guidelines and/or the TRAI Act as the former does not come under the purview of the said act.

BARC is yet to confirm the date from when it intends to publish the weekly data. In both its statements so far, the company has cited reasons behind applying restrictions to public consumption of its data without offering a clarification as to how it intends to tackle the regulator’s constant questions.

It now remains to be seen what approach both parties adopt in breaking this deadlock. With both sides not backing off at the moment, the matter could soon take a serious legal turn.

April 4, 2019
TRAI show-cause notice to BARC India for not publishing TV viewership data on website

MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has reportedly issued a show-cause notice to Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC India) for not having adhered to the regulator’s directive of publishing weekly TV viewership data on its website during the new tariff order rollout.

According to a report by news agency PTI, the sector regulator has, yet again, asked the TV audience measurement firm to explain why action should not be taken against it for contravention of sections of the TRAI Act. Earlier, the industry watchdog asked BARC to publish ratings and TV viewership data for the week ending 8 February and subsequent weeks with immediate effect.

TRAI’s directive came in the wake of the latter's decision to release the weekly data only to its subscribers as opposed to publishing it on the website.

The show-cause notice dated 29 March also noted that BARC India did not comply with TRAI’s 22 February directive seeking the release of viewership data with immediate effect.

Following the show-cause notice, BARC issued a statement reiterating its position on the matter.

“BARC India is a joint industry body, and operates under self-regulation model, in compliance with Ministry of I&B Guidelines. In the NTO transition period, due to distribution disruptions (which have been well documented in media reports), there is significant volatility in data. Due to this, and the fact that data in this period does not truly reflect viewers’ choice, BARC India Technical Committee and Board took a decision to temporarily suspend placing the limited set of data our website,” a BARC spokesperson said.

“Putting such misleading data on the website would be against public interest and could be misused by vested interests. BARC is constantly monitoring the ground situation on this. We have made detailed submissions to TRAI and MIB, backed by data, on several occasions. Also, we would like to re-iterate that there has been no stoppage of data to our subscribers. Every week, our clients have been receiving weekly data without any disruption,” the spokesperson added.

An earlier TRAI directive read, "BARC India has modified its Fair and Permissible Usage Policy in February 14, 2019, even after being repeatedly asked by the authority to not stop publishing of rating data and viewership data on its website during the migration to new regulatory framework until and unless explicitly permitted by the authority and are thus, in contravention of the direction of the authority dated December 21, 2018 and January 14, 2019.”

According to the TRAI, BARC has ignored its previous directives of publishing ratings and viewership data for television channels. The regulator said that the audience measurement company had argued that disruption due to migration to a new regulatory framework could prevent consumers from gaining access to channels of their choice, thereby running the risk of an inaccurate portrayal of TV consumption trends in the country.

The TRAI, however, is opposed to the idea of not publishing the data, which, it feels, is a true reflection of the market changes. BARC’s decision to "withhold" the data is not justified, the regulator pointed out.

The TRAI also highlighted that BARC "failed to furnish any cogent reason for not publishing the rating and viewership data" and that "such action on part of BARC India reflects poorly on the creditworthiness of the data published by them."

"Now…the authority…hereby directs Broadcast Audience Research Council to immediately release and publish viewership data for the week ending February 8, 2019 and weeks subsequent to it, on its website without any further delay and not to stop it in future also without explicit instruction/direction from the authority or Ministry of Information and Broadcasting…," said the previous TRAI directive.

April 1, 2019
Dish TV re-launches duration packs with special benefits

MUMBAI: Amid the ongoing change in the cable and broadcasting sector, direct-to-home (DTH) operators are coming up with new plans to keep subscribers satisfied. Major DTH operator Dish TV has introduced new offers which will provide extra days of subscription with long duration packs.

The subscribers of three months or more long duration packs will get seven extra days to their credit whereas on purchasing a long-term subscription of six months or more, they will get to enjoy 15 additional days of subscription. Moreover, users who buy a long-term plan of 11 months or more will get 30 extra days on their plan.

Its other brand d2h had previously also introduced similar benefits on buying long-term plan but with more choices. Along with these mentioned three slabs of Dish TV, d2h users will get 60 extra days on 22 months subscription, 90 days on 33 months subscription, 120 days on 44 months subscription and 150 days on a long-term subscription of 55 months.

March 30, 2019
TRAI tariff order to drive people to online consumption

MUMBAI: Of late, there have been several speculations on the impact of the TRAI tariff order on consumers including hike in monthly cable bill and migration to OTT platforms.

The research agency YouGov conducted a study to find its impact among 1,020 respondents. As per the study, 92 per cent are aware of the new TRAI tariff order while 76 per cent have already made alterations to their DTH subscription as per the new guidelines.

“In general, 3 in 5 (62 per cent) of North India residents look at the new TRAI framework favourably. On the other hand, a third of residents from South India (32 per cent) are not so optimistic about the new regulation and more than half (54 per cent) feel they may have to spend more on their subscription going forward,” the report says.

However, despite TRAI’s onstant claim that the new order will bring down cable bill, 54 per cent of those who have made modifications to their channel subscription said they pay more than what they paid earlier. On the other hand, 32 per cent feel they pay lesser than what they paid earlier. Only 14 per cent feel there has been no change as they pay the same amount as before.

Interestingly, 59 per cent of the customers who have already switched to new plans think this rule is going to be favourable for end customers like them. Even among those who haven’t yet upgraded their subscription, 58 per cent look at this change favourably.

The research also shows that 49 per cent of the respondents feel that the new regulatory framework will increase the amount of time they spend watching original content on OTT. In addition to that, two out of five people feel this move will increase the amount of time they spend online watching TV content.

“The countrywide implementation of the new regulation is bound to have an impact on viewership and advertisers need to revisit their media plans in accordance with the changing consumer behaviour. Although TV viewing may not change drastically, we see the likelihood of people moving online. Advertisers thus need to carefully align and study how they can reallocate their budgets,” YouGov India general manager Deepa Bhatia commented.

March 30, 2019