MxMIndia

Author: mxmadmin

  • in a way, it's a quiet assertion that even in the hypercompetitive B2B media, independent journalism can survive

    11 and how!

     

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Pradyuman MaheshwariMxM is 11. Thank you all very, very much. To our readers, our team of inhouse staff, columnists and writers, and our advertisers. And mustn’t forget all the people who provide us the news, and speak with us.

     

    At every annual milestone that we complete, we heave a sigh of relief. That we managed to survive. Albeit with a few nicks here and there.

     

    We started out on September 9, 2011 (Onam Day!) with a mission to concentrate on opinion and research. Somewhere soon after that, we figured that research was going to be an uphill task, exceedingly expensive and with industry folk never really happy with what we come up with. We realised soon that opinion was going to be even tougher because much as the media loves to comment on all and sundry, it doesn’t like anyone to critique it. Especially the newswallahs.

     

    We stuck on to our opinions agenda.

     

    Thankfully, we’ve managed to stay afloat despite all of the angst against our critiques. Even those criticised realise that we do not have any specific agenda against them.

     

    We consider ourselves as a platform for free exchange of information and commentary. Constructive criticism.

     

    Ideally, we should be going in for a subscription model and not depend on advertisers. But even though the likes of Ken and Morning Context exist, in India people are happy to pay Rs 20 for a vada pav or Rs 150 for a roll, they don’t want to pay for content.

     

    The volume of ads on our site versus the others is indicative of how many advertisers love us. We wouldn’t blame them. We don’t promise unlimited coverage of even news that’s slightly dubious. We don’t report on weekly ratings any longer. Simply because we don’t trust them entirely, esp when it concerns news.

     

    Many have counselled us saying that we should be kinder to our annadaatas, the people who advertise with us. But our allegiance is first and foremost to our readers.

     

    What does a completion of 11 years mean? Well, it’s a quiet assertion that even in the hypercompetitive B2B media, independent journalism can survive.

     

    Thank you for your faith.

     

    PS:

    A special thanks to all those who write for us, without any expectation of been compensated monetarily.

    Thanks also to those who have worked with MxM through these years. Delayed salaries, cuts at the time of 2012-13 liquidity crunch, the Covid-led lockdown, etc.

    And last, but not the least, thanks to my family. If I had continued to work somewhere, I would’ve (possibly) been able to afford many more comforts and luxuries. Spent more time with them. By indulging me, I know what they’ve sacrificed (and keep doing so). Thank you!

     

  • We can't thank Dr Bhaskar Das and all our columnists enough for writing for us. Here's the September 9 edition of Das ka Dum and his advice for us. Read on…

    Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das | MxM completes celebrates 11 years today. Your views on this milestone? If there’s one thing that you think MxM should be doing, what is it?

    Bhaskar DasWe can’t thank Dr Bhaskar Das and all our columnists enough for writing for us. Here’s the September 9 edition of Das ka Dum and his advice for us. Read on…

     

    If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

     

    Q. MxM completes celebrates 11 years today. Your views on this milestone? If there’s one thing that you think MxM should be doing, what is it?

     

    A. Wow! You completed a decade plus 1. So, 11 years should make you an organisation of Steel. Congratulations to you and your team!

     

    Now is the time to take fresh guard. I can’t give one thing as a solve. Any transformational journey has to encompass every aspect of an enterprise (not business as you may find it pejorative). Hence, I can’t prescribe a broad spectrum antibiotics. So here are my questions which you may like to introspect for the future:

     

    1. Where do you want to go from now onwards?

    2. Is there any space for where you want to go? (market)

    3. if yes, what kind of resources and partnership that you need to forge?

    4. do you have the ambition and desire to win.

     

    Get answers to the above questions and you would chart out a new path for the next 11 years. You would be a company of STEEL.

     

  • It's a testimony to MxM India's value of independent journalism that not once, across these 385 columns, have I been told to edit or qualify anything I have written, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Shailesh Kapoor: 11 years, 385 not out

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Shailesh KapoorMxM India completes 11 years today. This column started in the eleventh month of this website, on Aug 9, 2012, with this piece. The one you are reading now in no. 385. Writing for MxM India has been a very satisfying decade-long journey for me. It’s a testimony to MxM India’s value of independent journalism that not once, across these 385 columns, have I been told to edit or qualify anything I have written.

     

    So much has changed over this decade. The initial columns were primarily around the linear television business, focusing on GEC, news or sports in most weeks. This column was even called TV Trail in its initial years! In 2015, I first wrote about a streaming shows (TVF Pitchers). Little did I know then that this will be a norm a few years later, and TV-centric columns will be less regular. Over the last 3-4 years, the television columns have been more about industry issues than about the progress it is making. The linear TV industry in India is stuck in a time warp of its own making, and that’s been a pet peeve for me, which finds an outlet here every now and then.

     

    But it’s the rise of streaming, and related aspects such as the growth of dubbed content (such as this piece), that has dominated my writing in the last couple of years. The Indian streaming story has been a fascinating one thus far. And we are, by no means, in a settled phase. Which means there will be a lot more to write about it in the coming year too.

     

    IPL, meanwhile, has been a constant fixture over this decade. I have written about 15 columns on it. The league has grown stronger by the year, emerging as the second-biggest sporting property in the world this year after NFL.

     

    The last five years have also seen the dramatic rise of Instagram in India, including that of Reels within it. I’m that rare breed who is not on the platform, and have often found myself trying to keep pace with the new socio-cultural trends that either emerge of Instagram or find magnification through it.

     

    While so much has changed over a decade, the unique, multi-layered entity called the Indian audience continues to remain fascinating. It’s difficult to second-guess their minds, and yet, one must learn ways to do it, given the nature of Ormax Media’s work. In 2022, the Indian audience is more demanding than ever before. Their rejection of content can be outright brutal (case in point: Laal Singh Chaddha), and their acceptance of content can be whole-hearted (IPL, Marvel films, K.G.F 2, Anupama, etc.).

     

    As this column nears the 400-mark, in MxM India’s twelfth year, it is my love for the Indian audience that will continue to power it.

     

  • The MxMIndia Code of Ethics

    This code of ethics is not meant to be a treatise in ethics. We believe all MxMers are mature professionals, of sound character and have values we agree with.

     

    However, since a Code of Ethics is not really followed in organizations that some of our employees may have worked with in the past, we have a formulated an easy-to-follow set of Dos and Don’ts that each and every employee has agreed to follow. Also, there’s a general belief that many media companies (business-to-business and mainstream) follow unethical practices. It’s hence critical to put the record straight on why MxMIndia isn’t like the ‘many’ others.

     

    1.While the objective of MxMIndia is to be a profitable enterprise, our revenues will not come from compromising editorial standards. Excellence is what we are setting out to achieve, Ethically and with Integrity.

     

    2.We will not be influenced in any way by advertisers – past, present or future, and will write or comment on an individual, service or organisation regardless of whether or not it advertises with MxMIndia.

     

    3.We will not sell our editorial content. Content includes text, photographs or any visuals.

     

    4.Accuracy in presenting facts is of utmost importance and facts must be correctly presented.

     

    5.We will not present any bias in our news sections. If, however, MxM India does undertake a campaign, it will clearly state its editorial policy

     

    6.If there’s any advertisement that could be confused with editorial content in appearance, it will be clearly tagged as an Advertisement and be displayed in a style that is different from normal editorial content.

     

    7.Our reports and features will always attribute sources to people. In case, the source does not want to be named for fear of loss of employment or due to some sensitivity, every attempt must be made to look for an alternate source who could be named. If that fails, every attempt should be made to make the reader rest assured that our source is authentic and this may be done by describing who the source is.

     

    8.We have a no tolerance policy towards plagiarism. Employees may be given a warning if found plagiarizing, but in most cases, the services of any employee found plagiarizing – regardless of his/her seniority or utility to the organization – would be terminated within 24 hours of the Editor-in-Chief conducting his/her investigation on the act of plagiarism.

     

    9.If any attempt is made to influence us by way of a threat to withdraw advertisements, we reserve the right to expose such individuals and/or their organisations.

     

    10.We will not publish photographs off the internet. If a picture is be taken from the internet, it will be done only after written permission of the source. Else, we will own the rights for the picture which may be procured by buying rights for appropriate usage. Ditto for text. If we do carry syndicated content, the source needs to be clearly be stated at the end of the article.

     

    11.Our journalists will take the permission of the interviewee to record his/her comments, especially when the meeting is not face-to-face.

     

    12.Unless approved by the Editor, we do not part with the transcript of any interview. A journalist may however play back a few quotes attributed to an individual.

     

    13.We will allow individuals or organisations adequate time to revert with their response to a question. In most case the adequate time would mean four to six hours. If it’s a non-critical story, then we would recommend holding the story for at most a day.

     

    14.We will not accept any gifts that attempt to influence us. These should be returned immediately. Gifts in the form of chocolates, mithai, flowers or basic promotional material that is of reasonable value (of up to Rs 500-750) is fine. Mementos or promotional material of nominal value may be accepted. No gifts must be solicited. If there’s a doubt, please consult the Editor-in-Chief/CEO. If an organisation is found to influence an MxM India journalist, under extreme cases, MxM India may even blacklist the organisation and/or its products and services.

     

    15.We will not solicit any outstation trips. If however there is an invitation for a junket, we will accept it only if the Editor believes there is a news value in the event. In such a case, MxM India will mention that the journalist concerned has visited an outstation venue at the invitation of the company which must be named. For local travel, all our employees are defrayed expenses towards local travel, and hence we discourage taxi pick-ups or drops, as is the norm in some sections of the media.

     

    16.We will not solicit any invitations for a meal or a drink. We discourage MxM India employees to drink beyond their limits at events, dinners, press conferences etc where they represent the Company. We will also not solicit free books, software, movie tickets etc.

     

    17.MxM India employees are discouraged from moonlighting. If, however, employees do receive requests to write an occasion article for a non-competing publication, the employee could do it after seeking permission via email.

     

    18.Unlike some media houses, we are happy to see our employees — regardless of their seniority levels – to be interviewed and featured in other media. However, prior permission is desired for every appearance on television. Employees must ensure that their work at MxMIndia doesn’tt suffer due to their appearances on TV, radio etc. While tweeting, participation in social networks like Facebook and Linked In are encouraged, every attempt must be taken to ensure that the values and interests of the organization are not compromised.

     

    19.We will ensure that our ethical standards are followed in all that we do — events, conferences and awards. We will ensure our integrity is not compromised.

     

    20.We discourage the use of pirated products and services for official use. We advise our employees to only use legally procured software. Employees using their personal computer equipment for work are encouraged to switch to legal software.

     

    21.MxM India has a no tolerance policy on sexual harassment.

     

    22.Our employees are not allowed to deal in stocks related to the media and entertainment sector. If they hold shares before joining the organisation, they must disclose their holdings in writing to their immediate boss. They could, however, invest in mutual funds related to the M&E sector.

     

    23.While this Code is only applicable towards conduct as an employee, we advise all MxMers to ensure that they are ambassadors of MxM India and all that it stands for even outside of work hours.

     

    24.Over the last few years, there have been question marks raised about the ethical standards adopted by journalists and media organisations. While a lot of it may be untrue, we believe that journalists and others working in various media organisations are also responsible for this perception. At MxMIndia, our attempt will be to reverse this.

     

    25.This Code is applicable for all employees of MxMIndia. Associates, retainers, columnists, regular contributors are also required to adhere to the above Code.

     

    We encourage all our constituents and advertisers to read the above document and cooperate with us and enable us to abide by it. If you wish to report a dishonest act, write directly to pradyumanm [at] mxmindia.com.

     

    Last updated: September 16, 2011

     

  • In the past 11 years, we have collapsed in the press freedom rankings, we have seen journalists killed and jailed for taking on the powers that be, we have seen almost no solidarity for our targeted colleagues. Spaces for independent critical voices are shrinking. And so is our covenant with our reader and viewer, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Total collapse of journalism in the last 11 years

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Ranjona BanerjiCongratulations MxMIndia and to Pradyuman Maheshwari!

    It’s been 11 years of this website and for 11 years, it has covered almost every aspect of the media – journalism, advertising, branding, promotion, public relations, marketing with gusto.

    Little did I know when Pradyuman asked me to write for MxM 11 years ago, that I would be first witness to the total collapse of Indian journalism.

    What innocent days those were.

    I trawled through newspapers. I was forced to watch TV news. I listened to “debates”. I could identify one anchor from another. I was amazed at the crowds that apparently showed up at India Against Corruption rallies until I went to one of those rallies and realised there was no one there.

    There was a UPA government at the Centre and journalists assiduously did their thing. They criticised, they analysed and many worked very hard to build up the opposition as an effective counter.

    And really, that’s what it all began.

    It’s not easy to remember, but social media in 2011 was not quite what it is now. Digital publications were not our only solace against bad journalism. A few print publications stood out. FirstPost was the big English language digital thing. The Ambanis had not yet bought News18. And the BJP funded Right Wing digital sites like Niti Central were introduced to pretend that the BJP was interested in news and not propaganda. Arnab Goswami still worked for Times Now.

    And TV, well TV was all gaga-googoo for India Against Corruption. But it still tried to bring us a little reporting, and tried to keep objectivity the cornerstone of their prime time debates rather than bogus “bothsidesism”.

    Increasingly, however, although not totally evident that the time, the media played a massive role in the projection of Narendra Modi as the saviour of a new India. From 2012 to 2014, the use of the media and organisations like APCO was masterful. Political organiser and manipulator Prashant Kishor’s work in Modi’s re-election as Gujarat chief minister passed under the radar. But his CAG (later rebranded I-PAC) outwitted the media in building Modi’s image.

    Those who were outwitted then are now fully paid up members of the Modi media club.

    A few significant moments stand out in these past 11 years. Some before and some after the BJP and Narendra Modi swept into the Union government in 2014. In 2011, India Spend was formed, and although many in journalism have not yet understood the importance of data journalism, we do see more and more of it.

    The arrival of Scroll and The Wire in 2014 and 2015 both brought the basics of ethical journalism back to a beleaguered profession. Several others followed, all of which opened employment opportunities for young people as well gave those interested in the news a number of options.

    Alt News arrived at the end of 2011 and with it, came Boom and Twitter account Hoax Slayer. This started the trend of fact-checkers, people who exposed lies told by a compromised media. And the enormous amount of fake news which spreads around the world on social media.

    Fact checking is a winner for the consumer, without a doubt. It is also a massive shame for a media which is no longer capable of doing a basic job: assessing the information it puts out in the public domain for accuracy.

    Many media outlets claim to have their own fact-checking departments. But they cannot compete with independent checkers like Alt News which are quicker and more accurate. They have paid a heavy price for their work, but have carried on relentlessly.

    Some hope has also come from independent journalists who have bucked the trend of genuflection and tried to speak truth to power. Many were in evidence during the farmers protests, which much of mainstream media blanked out.

    But these are but small sparks of home in a vast sea of misery as far as the media is concerned. In the past 11 years, we have collapsed in the press freedom rankings, we have seen journalists killed and jailed for taking on the powers that be, we have seen almost no solidarity for our targeted colleagues. Spaces for independent critical voices are shrinking. And so is our covenant with our reader and viewer.

    And there is almost no sign of anything getting better as far as the mainstream media is concerned.

    I must therefore thank MxM and Pradyuman for giving me this opportunity. For standing by my unpopular comments in spite of the potential threat to the website and the organisation. It takes courage and conviction and I know MxM has that in spades!

    Here’s to many more years!

     

  • The tournament will commence on September 10, 2022

    Ceat Strategic Time Out for veterans’ series

    By Our Staff

     

    Ceat Ltd, the tyre manufacturer, is the new Official Strategic Timeout Partner for the second edition of Road Safety World Series 2022 (RSWS), the international T20 cricket league featuring national and international cricketing legends.

     

    Said Arnab Banerjee, Chief Operating Officer, CEAT Tyres Ltd: “CEAT’s mission has always been to make ‘Mobility Safer and Smarter Every day’ and at the same time, we have a long association with different formats of cricket. We are delighted to be a strategic time out partner with RSWS, wherein the nation’s beloved sport focuses on road safety in India and globally. This cricket tournament will strengthen our commitment to make Indian roads safer for pedestrians and vehicles.”

     

    The tournament will commence on September 10, 2022, which will witness eight teams, India Legends, England Legends, Australia Legends, West Indies Legends, Sri Lanka Legends, South Africa Legends, Bangladesh Legends, and New Zealand Legends competing for the coveted trophy.

     

  • The queen's passing has been much discussed in the media over the last few days. But will it impact Brand Britain? After all, QE II has been a constant for the last seven decades. Here's Dr Das's response in the September 9 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

    Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das | Do you think the passing of the Queen will in any way impact Brand Britain?

    Bhaskar DasThe queen’s passing has been much discussed in the media over the last few days. But will it impact Brand Britain? After all, QE II has been a constant for the last seven decades. Here’s Dr Das’s response in the September 9 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

     

    If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

     

    Q. Do you think the passing of the Queen will in any way impact Brand Britain?

     

    A. There are bound to be many changes. Too early to exhaustively cover all. The easy ones are in every government symbols, be it coins, currency, security outfits etc etc, All will have to be replaced with the new King’s image. I can’t comment authentically about its impact on British economy as the country has a new PM and she has to address many issues. Specifically the energy crisis, a sluggish economy and geo-political issues. The seven days of state mourning might slow down a lot of decision-making but that would be temporary. I don’t know if the existing protocols of relationships of Commonwealth countries with the UK would undergo modification. Net-net one has to wait and watch. But one directional movement is a must. That is, the UK has to take a lot of popular and unpopular decisions to restore its glory. The Queen is dead, but Long Live the British Empire.

     

  • He will be reporting to R Venkatasubramanian, President – Investments and Head – Havas Sports, Havas Media Group India

    Havas Media appoints Balachandran V as EVP – Buying – North

    By Our Staff

     

    Havas Media Group India has appointed Balachandran V as Executive Vice President – Buying North. Based out of Gurugram, Balachandran will be responsible for media investments of all North India clients. He will be reporting to R Venkatasubramanian, President – Investments and Head – Havas Sports, Havas Media Group India.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Venkatasubramanian said: “Bala is a seasoned media professional, and this is his second innings with Havas, having previously worked for the agency (then Euro RSCG) in 1997 as the Media & Administration lead for the Chennai market and later on led the investment portfolio for the Reckitt Benckiser Business in Delhi. We are delighted to have him back, this time to lead HMG India’s North Investment operations, one of our largest business units. I am confident Bala will drive the team forward and further strengthen our investments function by hiring talented professionals with domain expertise. We wish Bala a happy homecoming!”

     

    Added Balachandran: “I am excited to join back Havas and lead the media investments function for one of its biggest markets i.e., North. Havas Media Group India has been growing at a phenomenal rate over the years, and I look forward to working with the legacy and new-age brands, collaborating with media partners, and delivering the best ROI for clients by adding value.”

     

  • The appointment is with immediate effect

    Locomotive Global appoints Roshni Ghosh as Producer

    By Our Staff

     

    Locomotive Global Media has bolstered its leadership team with the appointment of Roshni Ghosh as Producer for the company’s original films and series. The appointment is with immediate effect.

     

    Ghosh will work closely with Sunder Aaron and Kanupriya Iyer to identify interesting new projects and collaborators for shows and films for the company,

     

    Speaking on the new appointment, Sunder Aaron, Co-founder, and principal of Locomotive Global Inc., said: “We are delighted to welcome Roshni to LGM. It’s not enough to identify and develop exceptional ideas for original  films and series, and it is equally important that you be able to promote, sell and produce the projects based on these ideas. We know Roshni to be a professional who operates effectively and efficiently across the whole value chain of our production business. Quite simply she is an outstanding creative executive who gets things done!   Her appointment comes at a crucial point as we move towards an important phase of growth in the business.”

     

  • The account was won in a multi-agency pitch involving several rounds of presentations

    Madison Infinity wins Polycab mandate

    By Our Staff

     

    Madison Media Infinity, a unit of Madison World, has won the media AOR for Polycab India Ltd. The account was won in a multi-agency pitch involving several rounds of presentations.

     

    On this association, Nilesh Malani, President and CMO, Polycab India Ltd., said:  “We are excited to partner with Madison Media Infinity as our media AOR agency and look forward to their expertise across the media spectrum which includes media strategy, planning, buying and partnership. This association will help us in our future growth and brand building.”

     

    Abhik Banerjee, COO, Madison Media Infinity, said “In Polycab’s endeavour to be the leading electrical solutions provider, we’re pleased to join forces. Creating amazing work along with Team Polycab will be an incredible experience for us and we look forward to working with them on this journey of growth and success.”

     

  • The campaign film highlights two-in-one benefit of the brand

    Vicks gets Ranveer & Samantha to endorse Roll-On-Inhaler

    By Our Staff

     

    Cold and flu brand Vicks launched a new campaign film for its Vicks’ Two-in-one Roll-On Inhaler where Samantha Ruth Prabhu joins Vicks brand ambassador Ranveer Singh.

     

    Said Sahil Sethi, Category Leader, Personal Healthcare, Procter and Gamble Indian Subcontinent: “In India, Inhalers have been synonymous with Vicks. We are excited to have Ranveer and Samantha come together for the very first time, to share double benefits of Vicks’ Two-in-one Roll-On Inhaler in providing relief from both – a blocked nose and headache.”

     

  • Indrani Sen sums up It is doubtful if we will see another such eventful and colourful decade of ups and downs in M&E industry in the near future

    Looking Back at the last 11 Years

     

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Indrani SenThe second decade of the twenty-first century was perhaps the most eventful phase in the history of the Indian M&E industry, where Indian media played a significant part in transforming Indian economy. When www.mxmIndia was launched in 2011, Indian the M&E industry had just come out of the effects of the economic slowdown of 2008-09 and a new beginning, the start of a digital metamorphosis was looming large on its horizon. Marketers and advertisers were looking forward to the implementation of the Digital Addressable System (DAS) which would transform the regional footprints of the TV channels to national; the only glitch was the delay in execution of Phase 3 of FM Radio.

     

    The three totally different events of 2011 which sums up the whole year beautifully are: the Indian Cricket Team winning the Cricket World Cup which was celebrated across all households in India; the anti-corruption campaign started by Anna Hazare which flooded the country as a movement and last but not the least: the release of the song Kolaveri Di which broke all records by going viral on the first day of its release. All these incidents had one common thread: the power of mass media, both traditional and digital.

     

    In 2012, the digital metamorphosis continued and dream of reaching and engaging with the significantly diverse, one billion strong Indian customers became a reality. The theme for the FICCI Frames 2013 conclave was ‘A Tryst with Destiny: Engaging a Billion Consumers’. However, a global slowdown of economic growth affected the Indian market and advertising expenditure again took a dip. A grewsome incident of rape resulted in the ‘Nirbhaya’ protest movement followed by women’s safety campaigns across traditional and social media and gained widespread awareness and support. The social issues were the main focus of the year 2012, supported by the TV programme Satyamev Jayate; movies like OMG and Vicky Donor; campaigns like Lead India and Teach India, all highlighted various social issues and proved again the power of mass media, both traditional and digital.

     

    In 2013, it was clear that “the Stage is set” for the gradual process of triumph of digital media (which has been around since 1995) though all the traditional media ranging from television to newspapers to films to radio to outdoor continued to connect with various touchpoints in the lives of the Indian consumers. The roll out of DAS in Phase I and II cities were largely completed by December 2013 and the process of digitisation across the sub-sectors of the M & E industry continued but monetising the digital content remained a challenge.  Sony Liv and Ditto TV (ZEE) were launched in 2013 marking the beginning of the OTT explosion in India.

     

    The next year – 2014 – saw a new government at the centre after a successful general election followed by a marked positive shift in investor’s interest for investing in India. However, in the domestic market there were various unresolved issues like implementation of DAS as the deadline for completing the implementation in Phase III and Phase IV cities got extended to December 2015 and December 2016 respectively. Still, the FICCI KPMG Report was optimist about the future growth of M&E industry and estimated the industry to grow from INR 1026 billion in 2014 to INR 1964 billion in 2019 a CAGR of 13.9% over next five years.

     

    A new era of TV ratings began in India with BARC releasing its first report in April 2015 and by the end of the year they announced their intention of reporting rural TV ratings which would later change the hierarchy of TV channels. Print, which had the largest share of advertising revenue till 2014, finally lost its crown to TV in 2015 (Source FICCI KPMG reports). The entire focus of growth in digital media shifted to the mobile sector as it became absolutely clear that mobile would be the backbone of digital India. Of the 331 internet subscribers, around 200 were mobile internet users. India’s mobile market with over 500 million active subscribers, but had less than 200 million smartphones and low-end phones known as feature phones dominated the market. It also became clear by 2015 that the Central Government had its own rules about allowing criticism of its various policies in mass media. As a result, news media, particularly News TV got clearly aligned to the ruling political party and began taking sides, which was not the characteristics of Indian media.

     

    The year 2016 was marked by the banknote demonetisation at the end of the year which had ripple effects on the entire economy. Jio mobile phone service was launched publicly in September, 2016 which quickly changed the Indian mobile network scenario in the next couple of years. The implementation of GST in 2017 which saw certain adverse effect on the revenue of traditional media. In 2017, the growth in M&E sector was led by digital, film, gaming and events while in TV subscription growth outpaced growth in advertising. Traditional print media began to lose young genres of readers to digital news rapidly.

     

    In 2018 and 2019, the overall growth in M&E sector continued to be led by online gaming and digital. These were two good years for Indian advertising industry. The BJP government at the centre was re-elected in 2019 having a positive impact on trade and commerce.  The last Indian Readership Survey was released in 2019 showing TV reached 77% of Indians above 12 years of age against 37% reached by newspapers. However, towards the end of 2019, the whole world saw a new pandemic, Covid-19, which shook up economies and affected business growth across all countries. In India, the National Lockdown declared at a short notice by the Prime Minister towards the end of March 2020, severely affected all business sectors and M&E industry also suffered severely. Indian Print media, which was heavily dependent on the last mile delivery by hawkers, was impacted hugely.

     

    In 2020, we saw the beginning of the work from home culture, which changed the consumption pattern across media almost overnight. The viewing of content on OTT platforms went up significantly turning the linear TV viewing scenario upside down. Print continued to struggle with both subscription and advertising revenues. Event industry had a most severe setback followed by outdoor, cinema and radio.  The severe degrowth of all traditional media however did not get extended to digital media and online gaming. At the end of the year, it was found that M&E sector performed much worse than Indian economy and it was estimated that it will take 2 to 5 years for traditional media to get back their pre-pandemic advertising revenue of 2019.

     

    In 2021, the M&E industry regained some of its lost business, but the second and the third waves of Covid-19 did not allow proper growth of the sector. The current year, 2022 promises to be a better year with PMAR and TYNY respectively predicting 20% and 22% growth in total advertising revenue. Advertising and Media agencies also are bullish about their business growth. The agency sector had a tough time during the last decade with stress on margins and commissions. Another trend which became prevalent over the last 11 years was large agencies acquiring or tying up with smaller specialised agencies, even promising start ups. Talent and training have become two issues with agencies in spite of the mushrooming of MBA institutes teaching advertising and media.

     

    It is doubtful if we will see another such eventful and colourful decade of ups and downs in M&E industry in the near future. www.mxmindia.com has been closely associated with this interesting phase and has flourished as a platform for exchange of independent views and opinions over the last 11 years. I am proud to be associated with website since 2016.