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Tag: Times Network

  • Flick registers 42 mn+ views, 100 mn+ impression across social media

    Flick registers 42 mn+ views, 100 mn+ impression across social media

    KOLKATA: The Zoom Studios’ short-format content brand Flick has registered 42 million+ views and 100 million+ impression across The Zoom Studios YouTube channel, Facebook and Instagram. With powerful 40 individual stories, Flick has produced an exclusive suit of short format videos that captures a series of universal moments taken out of our lives and portrayed through a heart-warming narrative. It was launched during the lockdown last year.

    With a central theme on how individual moments from our lives, if placed in a timeline, is nothing short of a film, Flick stories reflect the essence of life and celebrate its little moments. Delivering relatable stories which are brought to life with strong narratives and power packed performances, Flick has featured a talented pool of artists including Priyank Sharma, Benafsha Soonawalla, Harleen Sethi, Namit Das, Karishma Sharma, Shruti Vyas, Aashim Gulati, Mahesh Thakur, Shreya Gupto, Barkha Singh, Archak Chhabra, Ritvik Sahore, Pankhuri Awasthy, Vaibhav Tatwawaadi and many more.

    Times Network COO and EVP Jagdish Mulchandani said: “With the pandemic induced lockdown last year, content consumption patterns and preferences evolved significantly. The Zoom Studios took a leap forward with Flick during this time, exploring short format entertainment, offering viewers a differentiated yet wholesome content that can be watched in one go. We are really excited and encouraged by the overwhelming response from our viewers and the strong brand resonance and preference that Flick has achieved in a short span. I am confident that Flick will continue to resonate with our viewers who are looking for short stories that are real and heart-warming.”

    Building a strong connect with young male and female viewers alike, Flick has not only gained a loyal millennial fanbase but also received appreciation and recognition from the industry. The Flick titled Tape, A Love Story was awarded with ‘Content Debut of the year’ title and Flick was declared ‘Top 25 content brands & enterprises’ at Inkspell’s Indian Content Leadership Awards 2020. The brand also won Gold at the (Drivers of Digital) DOD Awards 2021 in the category of Top 10 Digital Brands/Enterprises. 

    A robust integrated brand campaign #StoriesToTell has also been rolled out across print, digital, OOH and TV platforms. Popular brands like OkCupid, Unilever, Korea Tourism and Tru Hair have associated Flick.

  • 10-15% change in news viewership expected to stay: MK Anand, Times Network

    10-15% change in news viewership expected to stay: MK Anand, Times Network

    NEW DELHI: When it's a newsy year, it's bad for business, said Times Network MD and CEO MK Anand in a throwaway comment at the ninth edition of CII Big Picture Summit. All jokes aside, he can't deny the fact that the crises that popped up throughout the year benefited his news networks by reeling in more viewers.

    “It was a fantastic opportunity, because we really had a period where we knew that the newsiness will be there for more than three to five days. This was also a period when the consumer behaviour changed drastically. They were not travelling and working from home and had more time to spend with family and watch media. Fortunately for the news space, we had the wherewithal and infrastructure to continue providing the fresh content on a continuous basis and in a period when people were interesting in knowing what was happening around,” shared Anand during a one-on-one session titled ‘Changing Face of News Media – Future of Indian News’, moderated by EY M&E lead Ashish Pherwani.  

    It was pretty evident during the lockdown that several genres on the television ran out of fresh content and as news reporters were covering the pandemic, the Sushant Singh Rajput case, elections and other issues and conflicts, the audience’s proximity to news was extremely high. This resulted in the genre having a high viewership.

    “The initial phases of the lockdown were a period where we felt there could be a disruption but we got a very positive feedback from the fourth week onwards. The initial situation was that the cable operators were wondering whether they will be able to operate or connect, all that went away by April and the numbers are there to see,” said Anand.

    He further added that it was a great opportunity for new players, whose success had chiefly to do with the fact that consumer behaviour was in flux and there was a high propensity to spend time in front of channels.

    The question that remains is whether this spike in viewership will sustain or not. “People have a lot of things to do than to only watch news channels. I think there will be a minor lift up and certain things will not change. There will be a 10-15 per cent change in viewership share that can be expected to stay at least for the next year or so,” Anand conjectured.

    He went on to add that for the media industry, the long-term RoI of Covid2019 will be positive, heavy losses incurred in the last six months notwithstanding.

    Besides fluctuations in revenue and viewership, another dynamic aspect this past year has been the adoption of new technologies and innovations to keep the news cycle grinding away even when the going got tough. The Times Network too was quick to adapt and switch things in terms of processes, new techniques of innovation and collaborations, shared Anand.

    “We have had at least three properties which we would not have probably thought of and executed and which now will be a part of our regular line-up. We have been able to link up our research, finance, ad sales, and marketing people in the organisation and there is some serious amount of collaboration that we have been able to set up, which will go beyond Covid and we are seeing certain properties that are surprising us,” he elaborated.

    On the operations side, the media group plans to keep working remotely, not just in the foreseeable future but in the long-term too. “In 2022, there will be 30 per cent work from office and 70 per cent work from home. A good example is – ET Now at any given day had 200 people in the office, and we were able to operate it with five people on hand. All the anchors were working from home and we had no issues; we have been able to experiment a lot more than what we were able to do before.”

    Anand also pointed that the times have changed and digital will play a crucial role in how we work and operate. “Physical has a charm, more perceived value and glamour. The addition of digital presence to physical will be a lot faster adopted and paid for. I don’t think digital will replace physical, the latter will come back in a very big way, but the acceptance of tech in this area will be a lot better and interesting.”

    Talking about interesting, one subject that has made the news industry sit up and take notice is the alleged TRP manipulation racket, which led BARC to cease news ratings for a period of 12 weeks.

    Anand stated that the scam has led to authorities recognising this menace as a criminal offence and not just a civil matter. Essentially, such malpractices are not fair to competitor, consumers, advertisers and investors, he asserted.

    “We have championed the cause of reach by high cost of marketing collaterals such as landing pages. The fact that it (rigging TRPs) is prevalent and is used to take money off the table from honest and fair players and it’s a competitive problem. No one needs to bleed for competition, but you definitely need to bleed for advertiser as he is taken for a ride. I don’t think it has impacted any ad sales in Oct-Nov-Dec or will impact in Jan-Feb-March,” concluded Anand.

  • Movies Now celebrates 10 spectacular years

    Movies Now celebrates 10 spectacular years

    MUMBAI: Movies Now, home to Blockbusters, celebrates the successful completion of a decade in entertaining its viewers with the best-in class Hollywood content. Redefining the way viewers watch English movies in India, Movies Now that offers a distinctive movie viewing experience, has been instrumental in shaping the consumer appetite for English content. 

    Recording many firsts and exclusives with movie premieres, path breaking initiatives and curated properties as a market leader in the category, Movies Now has reflected on the preferences of Indian viewers, who love to watch popular and universally celebrated blockbuster Hollywood titles. Pioneering the superlative quality viewing of the movies, Movies Now was the first Hollywood Movie channel to launch in HD in India.  Successfully driving immersive consumer engagement, Movies Now led the innovative use of AR for its Spielberg Special property as well as 3D OOH sites for promotions of the movie Avatar. Augmenting the Hollywood experience, Movies Now was the first to present DC and Marvel titles together for its viewers in India. The channel through the course of seven seasons of its flagship property, 100 Mania, has successfully implemented India’s biggest consumer engagement activity.

    Celebrating this iconic milestone, the channel has announced #10YearsofMoviesNOW, a special campaign that brings a line-up of exciting and engaging activities. Presenting movie aficionadas a unique opportunity to be part of the week long celebration, where they can exclusively handpick their favourite movies from a selection of top Hollywood blockbusters that will air on the big day, Movies NOW hosted a movie poll on its Instagram stories which witnessed an unprecedented engagement. Making the celebrations a memorable and collaborative experience for the viewers and the brand, the channel launched a curated game filter on Instagram that allows fans to win exciting prizes by collecting the Movies NOW 10-year special logo to score points and share it on their stories tagging the channel. Recognising and rewarding the channel’ s loyal viewer base, Movies Now has rolled out a ‘Watch and Win’ contest on TV, where participants have to screenshot and tweet the special Jackpot, that will appear on their screens during the movies, spins to 10 10 10. 

     Times Network news & English entertainment cluster business head & strategy president Vivek Srivastava  said, “It’s been a fantastic journey so far and we are absolutely thrilled to achieve this milestone. We set out with a promise of creating an unprecedented movie viewing extravaganza for our viewers and today, we are proud that we have consistently delivered on that. Through the last ten years, each of our initiatives and properties have met with a phenomenal viewer response, which is a testament to our robust and diverse content strategy. As we march ahead, we aim to continue raising the bar and setting new benchmarks in the category.”

    Movies Now has also rolled out an integrated promotional plan that includes special promos across the network channels and social media assets, digital promotions and print ads across Times Group leading dailies.

  • #ActNow for mental health awareness, says Times Network

    #ActNow for mental health awareness, says Times Network

    MUMBAI: In 2017, 197.3 million people had mental health disorders in India (lancet psychiatry 2020), implying that while at least 14 per cent Indians are living with such issues, an alarming 86 per cent is behind a veil of ignorance. India’s mental health landscape presents a grim reality of poor implementation of mental health policies, age old discriminatory attitude towards those suffering from mental health illnesses, compounded with shortage of qualified personnel and low perceived need for care. With the Covid2019 outbreak triggering implications that reach far beyond the direct impact on people’s physical health, there has been an exacerbated spiralling of tension and anxiety, further increasing the load on India’s overtaxed mental health machinery.

    Addressing the rampant stigma and discrimination around mental health problems, Times Network has launched #ActNow, an initiative to spread awareness, normalise conversations around the issue and sensitise people to be responsive to the mental health needs of others.

    A special campaign film #ActNow  takes an outside-in view of the problem and targets the ‘people around’ to act, rather than the one living with mental health issues. Mirroring how societal structures treats a person living with a mental ailment with ignorance, pity, annoyance and utter disbelief, the film unravels the state of mind of someone who is besieged by misinterpreted advice of his near and dear ones as he fights a lone battle. A clarion call to realign our minds to escape from the entrapment of the prevalent social stigma and recognize mental health as an existential crisis for humanity, the impactful film urges public at large to remain receptive to the deteriorating mental health of people around and take appropriate course of action to offer support without prejudice and fear. The initiative launched on a special edition of Mirror Now’s Urban Debate, hosted an expert panel that analysed and discussed the deteriorating condition of mental illness in India.

    The initiative which encourages the essential steps of acknowledging the signs, choosing the right words and urging people to talk to an expert, draws relevance from Times Network’s nationwide research study commissioned to Nielsen India titled, ‘How Urban India Perceives Mental Health’. The study indicates that while awareness levels related to mental health ailments have gone up recently, there is a pressing need to disseminate the factual information to tackle the strong undercurrents of stigma and lack access to quality mental healthcare. Mental health conversations remain the single most important detriment and solution for this issue. The quantitative study that examines the dynamics, culture, mindset and perceptions of the people towards mental health was conducted through three prolonged evaluations based on secondary research, in depth interactions with mental health experts and a survey with India’s cross-section of urban population.

    Key findings as follows:

    ·         70 per cent of urban India claim to suffer/know of someone who has suffered from a mental health ailment

    ·         Among people who are suffering/know someone suffering from mental health ailment, depressions come out as the most prominent at 58 per cent.

    ·         76 per cent perceive that “People are not open to talk about mental health to everyone” and there is still shame and stigma associated around mental health ·          52 per cent of the people face problems in accessing a mental health professional and 63 per cent perceive that there is difficulty in procuring medication

    ·         54 per cent people are not completely aware about the diseases covered in a health insurance policy and 47 per cent of the people are unaware of the government mandate for health insurance policies to cover treatment of mental health ailments

    ·         57 per cent of urban India considers financial pressures to be the leading cause of negative impact on mental health

    The study took a sample size of 2,440 people across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, Patna, Ahmedabad, Mangalore, Vishakapatnam, Bareilly, Guwahati, Raipur, and Mangalore.

    Times Network president – strategy and business head – news and English entertainment cluster Vivek Srivastava said, “The new normal has triggered anxiety and deepened emotional turmoil, consequently leading to a quieter but concerning rise in the number of people grappling with mental health issues. ActNow is our endeavour to spread awareness and drive dialogues to break barriers around the mental health issue. Through our multi-faceted campaign, we urge the society at large to look beyond the happy faces that conceal the sufferings and encourage healthy and judgement-free conversations on mental health.”

    Refining and bringing a comprehensive view on mental health with the expert voices, the Network has onboarded Jaslok Hospital as the knowledge partner. Psychologists and mental experts from the hospital will provide critical inputs and steer the campaign with relevant information and decode the complex challenges associated with mental health crisis. Fostering positive mental health and evoking a sense of response amongst the millennials, Times Network has partnered with youth marketing firm, Viral Fission to drive community engagement through student advocates of mental health.

    #ActNow will be driven across Times Network channels and digital assets, print sds across The Times of India daily and a dedicated page on the network's digital news destination, Timesnownew.com, which will host a curated series of articles on mental well-being.

  • Ravi Shankar Prasad, Randi Zuckerberg, NG Subramaniam, Debjani Ghosh, Anant Maheshwari amongst others headline the 6th Edition of Times Network’s Digital India Summit 2020

    Ravi Shankar Prasad, Randi Zuckerberg, NG Subramaniam, Debjani Ghosh, Anant Maheshwari amongst others headline the 6th Edition of Times Network’s Digital India Summit 2020

    Mumbai, December 02, 2020:  India’s premium broadcast network, Times Network that’s been championing India’s digital transformation agenda with its flagship property, today announced the 6th Edition of Digital India Summit 2020 (DIS).  Taking cognizance of the new reality of the world disrupted by COVID-19, the summit in its latest edition will drive the theme ‘Enabling the New Normal’ and sets the agenda to define a sustainable and superlative ecosystem to accelerate and shape India’s digital future. A foundation for driving India’s evolution into globally recognised digital economy, DIS enables conversations and discourses in the search for digitally empowered solutions for present and future challenges. The summit hosted virtually this year is scheduled to telecast from December 05, 2020, every Saturday and Sunday at 7:30pm  on TIMES NOW, TIMES NOW WORLD, ET NOW and on the Network’s digital news destination, Timenownews.com.

    Envisioned with the purpose to accelerate India’s digital transformation by defining an action plan for progress, Digital India Summit 2020, a seminal leadership platform will witness insightful sessions, fireside chats, panel discussions with key policy makers, thought-leaders and tech pioneers, who are at the forefront of India’s digital transformation. Addressing a diverse spectrum of topics including how technology has enabled Government to fight COVID-19, impact of the virus on the digital world, digital transformation across sectors and living with the new normal, the 6-week long virtual summit will see leading voices including  Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of  Law and Justice, Electronics and Information Technology and Communications, NG Subramaniam, COO – TCS, Randi Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO – Zuckerberg Media, Anant Maheshwari, President – Microsoft India, Randeep Guleria, Director – AIIMS, Debjani Ghosh, President – NASSCOM, Amit Agarwal, Global Senior Vice President and Country Head – Amazon India and S.K Gupta, Secretary – TRAI amongst others.

    The summit will launch with an exclusive chat between Randi Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Zuckerberg Media and Mihir Bhatt, Chief Editor – IPs, Times Network and the engaging conversation will bring forth interesting insights on topics like new ways of working, ecommerce, changing supply chain dynamics, education, entrepreneurship, role of social media, the digital divide and the importance of digital detox.

    MK Anand, MD & CEO, Times Network said, “While COVID-19 pandemic has presented an unprecedented challenge worldwide, it has undoubtedly been an agent of radical change, to rethink and reimagine businesses and lives. One of the consequential implications have been an accelerated adoption of digital technology and solutions across businesses and services that has paved way for quicker digital transformation. Digital India Summit 2020 takes centre stage at an opportune time where Covid-19 has reemphasized the importance of building a robust digital ecosystem to support the nation’s growth. I am confident that collaborative discussions between eminent technology leaders and policy makers will shape decisive strategies in crystalizing the nation’s digital future and support the transformation shift, an imperative in the post Covid-19 future."

    Digital India Summit 2020 is Co-Presented by Tata Consultancy Services, Associate Partners – Amazon, Builder.ai, SAP and Infrasoft Technologies and Tech Partner – One Plus.

  • Will going subscription-based improve news content on Indian television?

    Will going subscription-based improve news content on Indian television?

    NEW DELHI: As per a recent Media Partners Asia (MPA) report, India is going to be the most scalable pay-TV market in the APAC region, with a CAGR of 6 per cent, touching $15 billion by 2024. India will also contribute almost half of the net subscriber additions in the Asia Pacific over the next five years, it highlighted. The increase in consumer awareness, the choices they have, and growing disposable income are a few factors that are going to contribute to this. 

    More and more, Indian news channels are toying with the idea that if they go the subscription way, a course correction in terms of content they are serving will also happen. 

    Certain players like Times Network, Aaj Tak (SD), Zee News (SD), and News 18 Bihar Jharkhand have already made a successful transition from being FTA to pay-TV in the past few years, while still maintaining their viewership and ad revenues. And there are others who are willing to move to that model. 

    Times Network MD and CEO MK Anand also advocated the subscription-based model for news channels at the recent Indiantelevision.com News Television Summit.

    He had said, “When you go the subscription route, there is no need to be ratings-led. The current subscription numbers are 10X of what they were in 2014 when I joined the Times. We have to benchmark ourselves on net distribution income (NDI). When it comes to NDI, a news channel should look at the top of the population pyramid more.” 

    Anand had estimated that 54 per cent of the Times Network’s revenue in FY21 is going to come from subscription. “The total ratings-led business in our topline is less than 25 per cent. Earlier it used to be 90 per cent. Back then we didn’t have branded content or premium-led ground or digital business. Specifically, Times Now’s TRP-led business is less than 11 per cent of the total.”

    In a similar vein, ABP News Network CEO Avinash Pandey had shared in an earlier virtual fireside chat with Indiantelevision.com that he’s quite determined to make all the channels and websites in his network subscription-based – because anything free in this country is taken for granted. 

    “Our regional channels were already on a pay model. We only went FTA because of the uncertain environment caused by NTO 1.0. From a carriage perspective, NTO 2.0 is favourable. In today’s world when you have WhatsApp circulating all the videos you are likely to show in the evening and Twitter already debating views and counter views, before you discuss anything on TV it’s already discussed online. In this scenario, how to build a pay channel is the challenge,” he had remarked.

    Channels like BBC and CNN that have always been subscription-based also vouched for the success of the model, even from an advertising standpoint.

    BBC Global News MD – India and South Asia Rahul Sood noted that having more subscription-based news channels will move it to a point where the players will have to be conscious of which space they want to be in – serious, investigative journalism, or competing with TikTok and cat-and-mouse videos of Facebook. He insisted that going subscription-based will attract the niche audience, thereby helping the pricing. 

    However, the top marketing executives have mixed views on the pay-tv option for news improving editorial content. They were, however, more positive about the impact on ad revenues. 

    Wavemaker India chief client officer and head – west Shekhar Banerjee pointed out that merely shifting to a pay structure will not solve the content issue on TV news channels. He said, “We have seen such migrations in the past. While the subscription model brings in a bit of cushion for the business, the dependence of the channel on advertiser revenue still remains significant and so will be the pressure to top the viewership race. We will see a real impact in editorial content only when a news channel is brave enough to only earn from subscription and not chase popular journalism.”

    Dentsu International CEO – India Anand Bhadkamkar was a bit more optimistic on the impact of subscriptions on quality of content as he noted, “Yes, a course correction in the sort of content that we are seeing today will happen if more and more news channels start moving towards subscription-based entities. And the ad rates will also be reflective of that, considering bundled rates for websites and digital content. Also, it will provide a better return on investment to the advertisers as they will have more breadth to understand the sort of audience they will be getting.”

    As for advertising revenue, Pay channels are in a better position to demand a premium on ad rates because they will have the niche audience, who are also going to be better spenders, according to IdeateLabs MD Amit Tripathi.

    But does this entail that FTA channels will lose out on ad revenues? The industry doesn’t think so. 

    Bhadkamkar said, “I don’t think FTA channels will have anything to lose even if more channels start going subscription-based. The advertising revenues will still be dependent on the viewership that they are getting and if you see the likes of NDTV and Republic Bharat, they have really benefited from being FTA.”

    Hindi FTA news channels have enjoyed the privilege of quoting higher ad rates because the viewership is high there, Bhadkamkar observed. Meanwhile, it’s the opposite for English news channels. He insisted that it will depend upon the viewership in the future as well. 

    Tripathi also agreed with the sentiment, adding that the type of advertisers might see a little shift with more premium brands choosing to go for the subscription-based channels. However, the final trend will only be decided by viewership numbers as certain premium customers might still be watching FTA channels. 

    As advertisers and viewers alike repudiate toxic, tone-deaf content, the penny has finally dropped for news channels. They’ve realised it’s high time to switch gears and focus on editorial content, and whichever way they decide to go – whether pay or FTA – broadcasting responsibly should be their guiding principle from here on out; if news organisations serve the viewers (and not their own political agendas), they will come to the channels of their own volition.

  • Times Network launches ‘Tales of Valour’ Season 2; docu-series featuring gripping stories of bravery

    Times Network launches ‘Tales of Valour’ Season 2; docu-series featuring gripping stories of bravery

    Following a resounding success of the first season of ‘Tales of Valour’, an authoritative factual documentary series which presented the valiant stories of bravery by the Indian soldiers, Times Network, India’s premium broadcast Network, announces the second season of the docu-series. Featuring 13 exemplary heroic tales from the crucial battles India has fought since independence, Tales of Valour Season 2 chronicles the heroic stories of resilience and sacrifice of Indian soldiers.  Curated and narrated by Maroof Raza, Consulting Editor, Times Network and one of India’s foremost military historian and strategic affairs expert, the 13-part series will telecast from November 28, 2020, Saturday at 7.00 pm & Sunday at 10.30 pm on TIMES NOW & TIMES NOW WORLD and Saturday at 8.30 pm & Sunday at 11:30 am on Mirror NOW.

    Presenting a well-researched account of the crucial battles, the docu-series will bring a clear picture on the military history of independent India. Visually recreating the historic scenarios and circumstances using animation, Tales of Valour Season 2 captures actual locations of the battles, war memorials, reels of unseen archival footages and pictures of the wars. This includes footage of 7CAV tanks on the Zozila pass and images of the terrain and Jaswantgarh Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Nuranang, 17th Infantry Division Unit War log book from the Nathu La and Cho La clashes, audio of Air Vice Marshal Chandan Singh, who was instrumental in helicopter operations of 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh, narrating the events and much more. 

    Featuring the brave tales of valour of Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force officers, the documentary offers a glimpse into the mindsets and emotions of the times with anecdotes from senior officers, military historians and first person accounts including Brig Brar from 4 Dogra, who fought in Battle at Trijunction, Maj Gen PL Kher, who fought with the Chinese at the Gurung Hill, Brig Ravi Malhotra & Brig Jasbir Singh of Hodson's Horse,  Lt Gen Ajai Singh of 17 Poona Horse, eye witness account by Col Attar Singh on Nathu La clash and the interviews of the veterans who participated in Navy Operation Trident (1971) as young officers.

    A historically important and an essential viewing for every Indian citizen to understand and learn the supreme sacrifices made by the soldiers for our country, the documentary will shine light on battles such as Defence of Poonch and Zozilla (1948), Battle of Tithwal & Richhmar Gali (1948), Battle of Nuranang (1962) and Battle of Phillora & Chawinda (1965) amongst others. 

    Watch the epic series that features true tales of our brave heart soldiers, starting from November 28, 2020, Saturday at 7.00 pm & Sunday at 10.30 pm on TIMES NOW & TIMES NOW WORLD and Saturday at 8.30 pm & Sunday at 11:30 am on Mirror NOW.

  • 3 Reasons why news industry is miffed with BARC

    3 Reasons why news industry is miffed with BARC

    NEW DELHI: The recent TRP manipulation scam has reopened old wounds that news channels and Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) had been mending. The genre had never been absolutely satisfied with how the authority is measuring ratings and the recent sequence of events has once again brought the matter to the fore. At the recently concluded News Television Summit hosted by Indiantelevision.com, several speakers from the news world pointed out the errors that they feel BARC is making in measuring news TRPs. Here is a comprehensive overview:

    1.  Incorrect Sample Size

    Zee News CEO and editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary pointed out, “I think the main problem with BARC ratings is that the sample size is so small. Statistically speaking, we are a 32,000 crore industry and BARC has its meter in just 44,000 homes. As we traditionally say that of the overall sample size only 10 per cent watch news, we are left with just 4,400 boxes, which is very less for a huge market like India.”

    2.  Incorrect Data Points 

    ABP News Network CEO Avinash Pandey, who has been an open critic of the BARC measurement systems, stated that he’s against the minute-by-minute stock market-like analysis of news shows, where BARC points out at what precise moment the TRP took a jump. According to him, this is prompting all the news channels to run a similar sort of programming and picking up a similar tone with its stories. He said, “Until and unless BARC effectively manages the impact of news, and not just the number of people watching the channel for a certain time, unfortunately, we all will be in the rat race of chasing the ratings and it will destroy our businesses, people’s lives, and our country.”

    3.  Improvement Needed in the Backend

    Times Network MD & CEO MK Anand stated, “From what I’ve seen in the last four years, fixing the back-end of the measurement mechanism is required. BARC CEO Sunil Lulla has been trying to bring a lot of sense to the process. He has been continuously improving it. But whether it is inside BARC or outside, there are people who break ranks and resort to corrupt means. We have seen them use shortcuts to get to the numbers and that is not acceptable.” 

    According to the industry, these drawbacks have also degraded the quality of programmes that news channels are running these days. They highlighted that the blind contest for maximum TRPs has prompted news outlets to run similar shows with little to no differentiation, which in turn is harming the industry as a whole. 

    While BARC under Sunil Lulla is making strides in streamlining the measurement process for the better, there are still loopholes that need to be filled. 

  • Times Network’s MK Anand prioritises subscription over advertising model

    Times Network’s MK Anand prioritises subscription over advertising model

    NEW DELHI: On day one of the News Television Summit  2020, Times Network MD and CEO MK Anand had a few words of caution to offer: monetisation by ad sales is a huge steroid that the news business is running on and which it needs to get out of. Instead, he advocated subscription.

    “When you go the subscription route, there is no need to be ratings-led. The current subscription numbers are 10x of what they were in 2014, when I joined Times. We have to benchmark ourselves on net distribution income (NDI). When it comes to NDI, a news channel should look at the top of the population pyramid more,” he said during a virtual fireside chat with Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.

    For instance, Times Network focuses on the top of the pyramid as it believes this is something the organisation needs to cater to, not because of a single-minded determination to chase numbers. “We are numbers-sensitive in the sense that we believe our ratings, our reach, our penetration has to be high. But I absolutely do not consider time-spent (TSV) as a driving factor at all,” he claimed.

    Reach is a good driver, said Anand, adding that Times went from 300 headends when he joined the group to 3,000 plus in just two years.

    Anand went on to reveal that 54 per cent of the Times Network’s revenue in FY21 is going to come from subscriptions. “The total ratings-led business in our topline is less than 25 per cent. Earlier it used to be 90 per cent. Back then we didn’t have branded content or premium-led ground or digital business. Now 14 per cent is from digital while 14-15 per cent is branded content. Specifically, Times Now’s TRP-led business is less than 11 per cent of the total.”

    Wanvari quickly asked Anand if there’s a scenario where the Times Network converts its business model to 90 per cent subscription-led? Anand disagreed with that train of thought for the reason that the network’s audience is hot property for advertisers.

    “Our audiences are premium and our reach management is very aggressive. For advertisers, 40-45 per cent of the top-end audience can only be met through Times Network’s English movies or English news channels. We may not depend on them for survival but that’s a very solid audience for us to monetise and one advertisers can’t do without,” he explained.

    He went on to qualify that the ratio of ad sales (including digital) to subscription will settle at 40:60.

    Anand also upheld rival channel CNBC as a solid example of a subscription-based brand, adding that when it comes to business news channels there isn’t a high degree of dependency on advertising.

    “For niche channels, ratings do not matter. At Times, I have never, ever called up my editors and asked them why the ratings were up or down in any given week. I don’t believe that ratings are the be-all and end-all of right content,” he said.

    Touching upon the television ratings measurement mechanism, Anand asserted that he genuinely believes in the process – it’s only certain unscrupulous players who are trying to manipulate the system and they must be dealt with.

    “Whether it was Tam or BARC, I agree with the statistical and sampling processes. Lapses can happen anywhere but 99 per cent of the time it works. I don’t have a problem with the process. But content sensibilities are very different going down the population pyramid and it’s so much easier to get great numbers by continuously lowering the focus from the top of the pyramid to the bottom,” he added.

  • MK Anand asserts that advertisers are reposing faith in news channels

    MK Anand asserts that advertisers are reposing faith in news channels

    NEW DELHI: Times Network MD and CEO M K Anand believes the TRP scandal couldn’t have come at a better time. In a virtual fireside chat with indiantelevision.com’s founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari during the NT Awards 2020 Summit powered by TVU Networks, Anand said the incident has given the TV news industry a time to pause to step back and evaluate itself. And the events that followed in light of the probe have presented a great opportunity for the entire system to put its house in order.

    “From what I’ve seen in the last four years, fixing the back-end of the measurement mechanism is required. BARC CEO Sunil Lulla has been trying to bring a lot of sense to the process.He has been continuously improving it. But whether it is inside BARC or outside, there are people who break ranks and resort to corrupt means. We have seen them use shortcuts to get to the numbers and that is not acceptable,” he said.

    Anand stressed the need to have legal remedies to deal with instances of tampering or malpractice. The Mumbai police’s investigation and action against those caught in the TRP racket was an unprecedented move, which should serve as a deterrent to wrongdoers."It is now a criminal offence to tamper with the ratings," he said. "In several instances in the past, when we wanted to register a complaint with the police, it was not possible. Hence it is good that it was registered as a police complaint for whatever reason."

    But if we were to dive deeper, what precipitated this problem in the first place?

    Gamification, coupled with a flux in the market, are major factors that contributed to the "TRP race," said Anand.

    "A brand is built over a period of time with activities, groundwork, standing up for causes. But new players don't have the luxury of quarters and years that established brands – like Times Now or Aaj Tak – have. They try to break into the noticeable set by getting the numbers. It’s easier to use numbers to make the argument that they’re as good," he explained.

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    The current break in measuring TRPs for news channels, while a welcome decision by BARC, is not on account of content quality, claimed Anand. “Had the TRP scam not been unearthed, there wouldn’t have been a break. I wouldn’t connect the two. A player like us hasn’t been besotted with ratings from a time spent viewing (TSV)  point of view.”

    He illustrated how, when the network lost its “prime asset” in 2016-17, that being the News Hour host Arnab Goswami, it dealt with that huge loss and managed to reach its current position in the market.

    “We have never, ever been time-spent focused, we have always gone the 'reach' route. We are content-focused and responsible to the viewers,” he added.

    Consequently, Times Now has not peddled the kind of lower end content that the industry, in general, is currently being ridiculed for, Anand stated. However, he went on to assert, it’s not fair to tar all journalists and reporters with the same brush, and social media is responsible for propagating this herd mentality.

    “Technology-empowered idiots are now dissing the experts in all fields. Same applies to journalism. People are coming onto social media with half-baked views and opinions and making the journalists out to be idiots. They get trolled by idiots sitting in an echo chamber – because that’s what social media is,” he said.

    But journalists should take heart. Smart reporters shouldn’t get directed by social media, they should just do what they’re good at, not pay attention to the noise, and they will enjoy the work, directed Anand.

    He pointed out that October advertising revenue numbers for his news channels and for those his industry colleagues are running are bouncing back. This despite the fact that the ratings are not being dished out. "Year to year the numbers are up clearly showing advertisers are reposing their faith in the category of news channels."