Executive Dossier

“The Indian market offers a double opportunity for us”

Published

23 years ago

November 23, 2002

Jonathan Howlett, global director of airtime sales of BBC World, is no stranger to India. He has come to the sub-continent often and is a keen observer of things, issues and trends. So much so that this time round when he was in India, with one of his stopovers in Delhi, Howlett pointed out that the Capital’s air smells cleaner compared to his early visits (the Supreme Court which has been at loggerheads with the Delhi government and transporters over phasing out old fume belching vehicles from the Delhi roads and go increasingly for CNG-driven public utility vehicles like buses and auto-rickshaws can sit back and smile now, probably).

Howlett, who joined BBC World in 1994 from the UK-based Carlton Communications (his posting was in Delhi in the early 1990s), not only sniffs out the cleaner air, but also business opportunities that India presents being in a unique position of having an economy which despite the global meltdown has been “comparatively less effected.”

A former director of sales also at Meridian Broadcasting, having spent his career within ITV sales, the seemingly 40-something Howlett, unlike some of his counterparts in other global media companies, is a soft-spoken and low profile man. Getting information out of him for a journalist looking for a ‘good copy’ is as hard as coming out of an interview on Hardtalk unscathed.

Still, braving the odds, indiantelevision.com’s Anjan Mitra tries to fork out information on BBC World’s new strategies for South Asia, specially India, and other issues in this recent interview with Howlett at the poolside of the Hyatt Regency in Delhi even as the BBC World’s PR people hover round to ensure that nothing too sensitive gets out .

As a marketing and sales person, how do you view the situation at present?
It’s not very exciting, but okay. There still is an element of uncertainty that stems out of economic concerns. The (concerns about) corporate governance issue out of the US has subsided a lot and now there is more business confidence. Asia is certainly coming back as are other markets like Germany and Europe. Japan is still flat, but India is a great market.

The GDP growth rate (of India) looks okay and today there is far more international access to the market here. International companies want to come to India and lots of Indian companies are looking at international opportunities. In a way, we win both ways (where business opportunities are concerned).

Are you trying to say that India is turning out to be a good market for media companies because the Indian economy has been isolated or did not got affected by the global economic meltdown?
I would rather put it that the (Indian) economy was comparatively less affected. The Indian market is more robust compared to some other countries. What’s more, there is an increased interest in India in news channels. The general mind block about news channels (as vehicles for advertising campaigns) is going away and we at BBC find ourselves in a unique place as the channel’s global agenda is different (from the local news channels).

So, you see good growth in India for BBC World over the next few years?
As I said, India has been less affected. But the truth is also that we cannot change the market place. We can explore the challenge to open up new business opportunities. We also cannot always dictate the pace of growth. If one doesn’t recognise that one will end up with a mish-mash (of a strategy).

The Indian market offers a double opportunity for us. First, it is a still growing market for us and, second, there are more interactions between India and the rest of the world. If we understand the market well, we can grow our share of revenue and also viewership in India.

How big do you think the news channel market is in India?
It is difficult to put it in context and I am not sure how big the market is. But here we generally target the upscale viewers in the socio-economic category of `A’ and `B’.

Does that mean that BBC World will be content to confine itself to metros and other urban areas in India?
Not really. We reach into the smaller as well as bigger cities and BBC is building up its distribution across the country. But we do target upscale viewers because lifestyles are changing, purchasing power is increasing as also the availability of products. For example, there are more people here who work for international companies like SAP. In that way, probably, we are also competing with channels like National Geographic for the upscale audience.

“We reach into the smaller as well as bigger cities and BBC is building up its distribution across the country. But we do target the upscale viewers because lifestyle are changing, purchasing power is increasing, as also the availability of products“

Which will be the product categories or sectors that have not been fully exploited by BBC World from an advertising revenue point of view?
If I can give an example, we haven’t taken enough (advertising revenue) out of the telecom sector (in India) as compared to travel and tourism. In that way, do I compete with Nat Geo? Yes, we do on certain category base. What distinguishes the Indian market from others is that there is a broader base across more categories. If you want to build a market, then you must look at each sector and optimise your performance.

Do you think local Indian news channels like Aaj Tak and even Star News are competion to BBC World where the advertising pie is concerned?
Yes and no. I need to be aware and interested in all the new news channels as also the existing ones in India. One benefit of the new news channels is that more advertisers are prepared to use news channels now and see it as actually delivering (the eyeballs). I would say that there is complimentarity between local news channels and BBC.

What is the reason behind a renewed interest amongst advertisers and media planners in news channels in India ?
News channels have redefined their agenda. News channels no more mean only politics. There is news about travel, sports, information technology and business. Now, all these are potential targets (for advertising). When you think of BBC today, it doesn’t really mean that it will be only about politics.

Globally there this is a trend now that because of the cost of providing satisfying news, consolidation is happening. Globally there is lesser number of players.

So, what is the strategy that BBC World is adopting to tackle and exploit the changing ways that the news channels business is managed today?
We are targeting secondary and tertiary markets directly instead of going through London or New York. We are going to (markets like) Philippines and Frankfurt directly rather than having the (advertising) money come from New York or London.

The other places where we are pushing ahead is Eastern Europe, Pakistan (at least four Pakistani companies advertise on BBC World, including the country’s national airline) and Indonesia.

” News channels have redefined their agenda. News channels no more mean only politics. There is news about travel, sports, information technology and business“

Since India is a good market for BBC World, do we foresee more localisation of content on the channel ?
The way we look at it is just focus on India looking at exploiting the channel we have and getting more out of the product instead of going about commissioning more programmes from local players.

If I can given an instance, the idea is to attract viewers through existing top class programming that we have on air. Top Gear for example can generate, and does so too, a lot of interest in India. Today, I see more variety of cars on Indian roads. Then we have this great product in Mastermind India as quizzing has always had a particular place India.

We need also to promote programmes like Asia Business News and we feel that viewership will grow (in India) for such programming over the next one year. If you grow the viewership, you’ll also grow the revenue.

Is that why Tim Sebastian of Hardtalk has been brought to India as part of a roadshow?
Yes. And why not? Hardtalk is a great product (for advertisers).

How has the revenue been growing, or declining, for BBC World ?
Well, I cannot speak on figures as part of policy, but what I can say is that revenue in the calendar year 2002, until now has grown significantly globally. Revenues from India too have grown significantly and it is more a significant market now.

What will be BBC World’s market share in India ?
Very small, just a fraction of the whole market. But being a small player has its advantages. If you are small, then you can still do well if the market is not doing very well at any given time. (BBC World claims to be reaching 11 millions Indian cable homes.).

Has the revenue situation improved since the time BBC decided to do its own airtime sales instead of having a third party like Star do it in India ?
The revenue (since then) has increased manifold and the brand count massively. To sell a channel like BBC World, you have to explain the values to the media. We are getting that message across better now.

How has the last year been in the aftermath of 11 September, 2001?
Last year has been quite intense. Though 11 September had a dampening effect on revenue, there has been an increase in viewership. Now is the time to exploit the increased viewer base.

In a way, the tragic incidents of 11 September, 2001 have actually turned out to be good business proposition for TV channels, is it not?

It’s a very selfish thing to say, but yes. It has not been bad

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Executive Dossier

Game on, fame on as Good Game hunts India’s first global gaming star

Published

1 month ago

January 27, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Game faces on, pressure high India’s gaming ambitions are levelling up. Good Game, billed as the world’s first as-live global gaming reality show, has officially launched in India with a bold mission: to crown the country’s first Global Gaming Superstar.

Blending esports with mainstream entertainment, the show brings together competitive gaming, creativity and on-camera performance in a format that tests more than just joystick skills. Contestants will be judged on gameplay, screen presence and their ability to perform under pressure, reflecting how gaming has evolved from pastime to profession and pop culture currency.

Fronting the show are three high-profile ambassadors: actor and entrepreneur Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Indian cricket star Rishabh Pant, and gaming creator Ujjwal Chaurasia. The winner will take home Rs 1 crore ($100,000) among the largest prize pools for any Indian reality show along with the chance to represent India on a global stage.

Backed by a planned annual investment of up to Rs 100 crore, Good Game is also courting brand partners, promising a minimum reach of 500 million among India’s core youth audience. The creators position the show as a bridge between entertainment and interactive culture, offering long-format content, community engagement and commercial scale.

Auditions are now open to Indian citizens aged 18 and above, inviting amateur and professional gamers, creators and performers alike. Shortlisted candidates will be called for in-person auditions in Mumbai on 14 and 15 February, and in Delhi on 28 February and 1 March 2026.

With big money, big names and even bigger ambition, Good Game signals a shift in how India views gaming not just as play, but as performance, profession and prime-time spectacle.

Digital

SpotDraft hires new CMO and CFO to fuel global push for its AI contract platform

Published

3 months ago

December 3, 2025

indiantelevision.com Team

INDIA: SpotDraft has strengthened its senior ranks as it gears up for faster global expansion, naming Alon Waks as chief marketing officer and Amit Sharma as chief financial officer. The appointments follow the firm’s $54 million Series B round earlier this year and mark a push to scale across the Americas, EMEA and India.

The AI-powered contract-lifecycle-management platform has posted 100 per cent year-on-year growth in customer acquisition, counting Apollo.io, IPSY, Mixpanel, Oyster and Panasonic among its global clients. The firm processes more than one million contracts annually, with volumes up 173 per cent and nearly 50,000 monthly active users.

Waks, a veteran of Kustomer, Bizzabo, CreatorIQ, LivePerson and ZoomInfo, will steer global marketing and category positioning as legal teams adopt AI-driven tools. Sharma, who has led finance across scaling tech firms since 2016, will guide financial strategy, investor relations and market expansion.

Both hires aim to sharpen SpotDraft’s bid for a larger slice of the fast-growing legal-tech market, expected to exceed $63 billion by 2032. Co-founder and chief executive Shashank Bijapur said the company is focused on scaling go-to-market operations in the Americas, deepening leadership in EMEA, and accelerating AI capabilities for general counsels and legal-operations leaders.

Clients report shorter deal cycles and better alignment between legal and business teams. “What used to take weeks now happens in days,” said Abnormal Security senior legal operations manager Susan Koenig. DeepL head of legal operations André Barrow, said SpotDraft has helped reframe legal “from a cost centre to a generator of revenue”.

Executive Dossier

Outdoor Ads Get Smarter as LOC8 Shifts OOH from Visibility to Attention

Published

3 months ago

November 28, 2025

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Out-of-home ads were once the wallflowers of marketing seen by everyone, noticed by few. But in an age where attention has become the world’s most fought-over currency, even billboards are getting a brain upgrade. Enter LOC8, OSMO’s AI-powered attention engine, quietly reshaping the old OOH playbook by measuring not just who could have looked at an ad, but who actually did. The shift is subtle but seismic: impressions are out, impact is in and data, not gut instinct, is calling the shots.

In a landscape where marketers question every rupee spent outdoors, LOC8 is turning lampposts, flyovers and traffic islands into precision-mapped attention laboratories. By crunching dwell time, visibility zones, perceptual size and real-world obstructions, the platform is dragging OOH into a future where creativity meets computer vision and where the best ideas aren’t just eye-catching, but eye-measured. From automotive facelifts to FMCG novelty and real estate trust-building, the message is clear, outdoor has stopped shouting and started listening. Indian Television Dot Com explores more about it in an Interview interview with OSMO co-founder Nipun Arora.

On how OSMO is shifting outdoor advertising from a visibility-led medium to an attention-led one through LOC8.

Traditional OOH has long been measured by visibility and impressions i.e how many people could see an ad. OSMO, through its proprietary AI platform LOC8, is shifting that narrative more towards likelihood of being noticed. Using computer vision and machine learning, LOC8 analyzes real-world video data to measure visibility zones, obstructions, dwell time and perceptual size; bringing precision to how attention is quantified outdoors. It moves the focus from mere impressions to quality of impressions, making OOH a data-verified, attention-led medium comparable to digital in accountability.

On how marketers can use LOC8’s dwell-time, visibility and perception insights to craft more effective, emotionally resonant OOH campaigns.

LOC8 helps brands understand how people truly experience outdoor media how long they look, from what distance, and under what conditions. By quantifying dwell time, visibility duration, and perceptual size; marketers can plan campaigns that align with real human viewing behavior. This empowers creative and strategy teams to design emotionally resonant storytelling where messaging, visual hierarchy and placement are optimized for how people actually notice and process OOH creatives.

About what LOC8 has revealed through campaigns like Renault Triber and Namaste India on how categories such as auto, FMCG and real estate use attention metrics to drive outcomes.

Each category uses attention data differently but all share one common goal: to convert outdoor visibility into measurable engagement.

• Automotive | Renault Triber

For the new Renault Triber facelift, bold creative met data-led planning through LOC8. By analyzing on-ground video data, LOC8 measured real audience attention across placements factoring in visibility zones, obstructions, traffic speed and perceptual size. This enabled Renault to identify corridors that delivered maximum reach, saliency and engagement, optimizing media efficiency and ROI.

• FMCG | Namaste India

In OOH, innovation is the hook and assets are the bait. But bait often hides the hook. With Loc8’s attention metrics, we ensured the bait wasn’t a hurdle, rather it became the perfect stage for innovation to deliver its full impact! The insight proved that creative novelty, when validated by attention data, drives deeper engagement and measurable brand lift.

• Real Estate

For luxury and real estate campaigns targeting HNI/UHNI audiences, attention patterns differ especially between front and rear passengers, who are often the core audience segment for premium sites. LOC8’s ability to distinguish rear vs. front visibility plays a critical role here. It helps identify sites that offer longer viewing windows and stronger perceptual dominance from the rear seat where decision-makers are most likely seated making it a key differentiator for premium and trust-led categories. Together, these insights prove that auto optimizes for impact, FMCG for recall, and real estate for trust visibility showing how attention metrics adapt to category goals while ensuring measurable outcomes.

On how attention analytics will shape the future of brand storytelling and media planning as OOH becomes more digitised and data-driven.

As outdoor digitizes, attention analytics will inform not just where to advertise but how stories are told in public spaces. This evolution transforms OOH from a static broadcast channel into a dynamic attention ecosystem, where creativity is optimized through evidence-based insight.

On how LOC8’s data-led framework helps marketers quantify OOH impact and make outdoor a more accountable, ROI-driven medium.

LOC8 bridges the gap between intuition and evidence. By quantifying metrics like visibility duration, attention opportunity index, and visual saliency rank, it allows brands to benchmark site performance and justify investment. This data-led approach brings transparency, comparability and ROI measurement to a medium historically driven by perception.

On how OSMO ensures AI and computer vision enhance creativity rather than reduce it to numbers.

OSMO believes that technology should enhance creativity, not overshadow it. LOC8’s attention models reveal what naturally draws the human eye helping creative teams refine design cues, contrast, and visual hierarchy for greater impact. By merging art and science, LOC8 empowers creativity with intelligence.

About the creative best practices and design cues LOC8 has uncovered regarding what truly captures consumer attention outdoors.

LOC8’s visual cognition analysis has surfaced clear patterns across campaigns:

• High contrast and minimal messaging outperform cluttered designs.

• Motion cues draw significantly longer dwell times.

• The first two seconds are critical, creatives must establish focus instantly.

• Contextual alignment between the creative and its environment increases attention by over 30%.

These learnings offer a scientific foundation for creative effectiveness helping brands design OOH that’s visually magnetic and emotionally memorable.

On how attention metrics will integrate into omnichannel planning where OOH, digital and social work together for unified brand impact.

Attention can become the unifying KPI across OOH, digital and social to creates seamless storytelling continuity, where outdoor triggers digital engagement. The future of omnichannel planning lies in attention-led integration ensuring that campaigns don’t just reach audiences everywhere but truly capture and hold their focus.