Author: Dr Bhaskar Das

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Q. The merger of Star and Viacom18 is a certainty. Assume you have to offer a ‘blessing’ with a ‘Jug Jug Jio’ to the new disposition, what would it be – in terms of an advice?

A. The merger of the Indian media business of Walt Disney with Reliance Industries’ Viacom18 should have a significant impact on the Indian media and entertainment sector. This is to state the obvious. And the combine has been conceived and strategised to achieve a competitive advantage and not to do so some social work for salvaging one company or the other.

It is anticipated that lower tariffs for subscribers are likely to come to a gradual end one day, while the bargaining power of advertisers will be impacted in some form. I can’t predict it on the basis of any assumption as strategic imperatives do change.

Any speculation about business is fraught with uncertainty. And the merged entity would not be business-wise incorrect to misuse the competitive advantage to negatively impact the stakeholders. It would be self-defeating in the long run.

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Q. Indian athletes have performed fantastically in the Paris Paralympics. Better than those who were abled. Yet, our media doesn’t accord the winners the pride of place like they did to those who won even a bronze in the For-Abled Olympics. Does this distress you or is that how the media will always be?

A. Yes, I agree. The performance of Indian athletes in Paris Paralympics is worth a salute from all Indians. The spirit of the athletes is awe-inspiring, as they overcame various challenges to excel and made all Indians proud.

Unfortunately, the euphoria of this achievement didn’t get commensurate amplification in media, when compared to cricket for instance. However, I must admit the coverage/ amplification has received better media attention, than perhaps in the past.

I hope that from now onwards, the Paralympic athletes get more encouragement in every aspect that contributes to their performance.

Yes I agree–the performance of Indian athletes in Paris Paralympics is worth a salute from all Indians. The spirit of the athletes are awe inspiring, as they overcame physical challenges to excel and made all Indians proud.

Unfortunately, the euphoria of this achievement didn’t get commensurate amplification in media , when compared to cricket for instance. However , I must admit the coverage/ amplification has received better media attention , than perhaps in the past.

I hope the Paralympic athletes get more encouragement in every aspect that contributes to their performance, now onwards.

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. If you were asked to prophesise, do you think print and linear television will survive till, say, 2030? Especially if they don’t innovate…

A. Survival of any sector or organisation is a hazardous guess. Why? Simple. How can one conclude the future of organisations/ sectors with a generalised experience. Contexts change, strategies evolve and leaderships make an impact.

Having said that, I would like to add that every strategy has an expiry date. So are business models. Hence, linear tv and print will not be able to continue business as usual as media consumption behaviour is changing continuously with the entry of new consumer cohorts and consequently, business model are getting disrupted. So, the principle of ‘change or perish’ will continue to dictate the core survival mantra. Now, which sector/ organisation would see the writing on the wall, fast, would make a difference between success and failure.

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q. As direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands continue to disrupt traditional retail, do you think this model will reshape the entire marketing landscape, or are we seeing a temporary shift due to changes in consumer habits?

A. Yes, the direct-to-consumer (D2C) model is going to impact marketing in several ways:

For instance,

1. Marketers will have better control over their operations due to the direct connection with the end consumers. This would include customising strategies to various consumer taste/ demographic cohorts.
2. Direct feedback from end-consumers enabling the marketers to innovating product and distribution design. Direct feedback could also reduce lead time in customer service.
3. With the increasing adoption of digital services by the consumers, D2C brands would be able to penetrate deeper for enrolling more customers without incurring the physical cost of servicing them.
4. There would be more cost-optimisation if D2C approach is adopted by the marketers. The complementarity of a classical distribution model is more expensive for obvious reasons. The point about digital connect with the end consumer is also relevant in this context.

In short, the benefits of adoption of a D2C model could upend many traditional practices of marketing and in fact benefit the marketers tangibly.

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Q. With entertainment linear television on its last legs and news TV already floundering, would you say that the rights-dependant sports television is the only hope for major networks?

A. It’s too early to predict the trend for both, as mentioned in your question. While building numbers both in SVOD and AVOD have been challenging for all players, in the Indian context, it may be too premature to write an obit on GECs. It is equally premature to predict with finality that only rights-dependent programming is the panacea for major sports channels. In India, sports, other than cricket, are gaining in popularity, albeit slowly. They may be of niche interest today, but tomorrow could be different.

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Q. When an entity says it has received a few hundred thousand or million views, do you take it at face value? Or do you look at it with scepticism?

A. In today’s post-truth world, where tech has the potential (including AI and deep fakes) of making anything possible, I can imagine that with one genuine post, there would be many more fake posts or data points that could be generated.

In view of this, it better to cross-check such claims with a mound of salt. If one has to evaluate such a claim first authentic and quality decision-making , one has to check the source, the track record of the claimant specially with peer users, if any. Besides, the availability of metrics like engagement and their quality are more efficacious in evaluating their usage. In a commoditised data and claims space, it would be prudent to be wary of any cacophony of hyperbole claims of relevant audience penetration.

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Q. With the rapid rise of the influencer culture, where every opinion is up for sale, do you think journalism is at risk of losing its integrity, or is this just the natural evolution of media in the digital age?

A. Losing? I thought it was past continuous — not an apprehension of a future tense. We form a part of a minority who might be construed as pseudo-intellectuals who can differentiate between fact and fiction. The teeming millions are innocent enough to gloss over such so-called subtleties.

News, in all formats, is dished out to audience to enable them to know how to think. So, it’s rarely to inform audience.

Noam Chomsky’s observation on media has come true as it inspires all news dissemination: He who controls the media controls the minds of the public.

I find uncanny relevance to what Chomsky used as five filters that influence media:

1. ownership
2. advertising
3. official sources
4. flak, and
5. marginalising dissent.

So why tie about what’s happening in news today? Just apply one’s sense of authentic source before forwarding mass weapons of prevarication.

Having said that, I must say that due to lowering of renter barrier, a lot of digital news/ content sources is better than a lot of legacy media as their content don’t want us to get manipulated into a specific line of thinking. It helps audience to develop multiple perspectives. The challenge for them is to gain traction and manage subscription, both SOVD or AVOD. I am sure with the entry of GenZ/ Alpha generation, which has different values, attitudes and lifestyles,  adoption of digital news consumption would only grow and the one to many legacy medium’s influence would further dwindle.

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Q. With the line between news and entertainment blurring, do you think infotainment is diluting the substance of journalism, or is it a necessary adaptation to capture audience interest in a fast-paced world?

A. The die was cast quite some time back, when tech replaced/ complemented authentic readers of content to be an algorithm-based trendspotting/ pattern recognition and predictive modelling of human behaviour. The introduction of anthropomorphism has only multiplied this trend.

Your observation of blurred line of news and entertainment is so valid— news channels, digital platforms like Meta, WhatsApp, YouTube, paid content, lack of investment in quality content, etc have contributed to this realisation. The real casualty is the ‘TRUST QUOTIENT’ of news content generators, and in a creator economy, they are available dime a dozen.

The unfortunate part is that from non-news platforms, entertainment/ timepass might be a dominant logic of consuming their content, but for pure-play news platforms, the blurred line of news and entertainment will only erode the credibility quotient of news.

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Q. A study on happiness found that only 23% of A&M&E employees are happy. From your experience, are our people really so ‘dukhi’?

A. I have a very different view on happiness. I don’t believe that organisations can deliver it to individuals. It’s not a Swiggy order.

Happiness is inside-out and not outside-in. One has to find one’s own happiness.  I am not denying the existence of allegedly toxic environment in many organisations (not unique to A&M&E industry only). It can happen as a culture or due to poor/ insecure leadership, etc. One can’t wish that away.

In fact organisations are not conditioned to take care of the happiness quotient of individuals, though enough platitudes are uttered to address that. These days, even social media, I understand, contributes to growing emotional alienation of individuals.

The only way to handle this growing malaise is to inculcate self-awareness and be incharge of one’s emotional health and defy external negative forces to influence one’s internal thermostat.