MxMIndia

Category: INDRANI SEN

  • The growth of internet and digital media riding on the penetration of smartphones in India has become another area of concern for climatologists, writes Indrani Sen

    Can Decarbonisation of Media Help to Meet India’s Decarbonisation Goals By 2030?

    Source : https://www.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-brief-profile-india/

     

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Indrani SenIt is estimated that “the global digital industry consumes so much water, materials and energy that its footprint is three times that of France or the United Kingdom.”(https://www.archyde.com/the-carbon- footprint-of-the-media-media-column/ )  The growing digital media has been steadily contributing to the change in the global climate witnessed across the world. Decarbonisation of media with help of a carbon emission calculator has been adopted as a priority for media agencies in western countries, though the issue is yet to arouse interest among the media agencies in India.

     

    Last week, on July 20, 2022, GroupM announced the establishment of a globally scalable approach to carbon measurement. This is a major step the media arm of the WPP group is taking to deliver on its commitment to decarbonise its media supply chain by 2030, as announced earlier by WPP in April 2021. GroupM’s tool will help to calculate the carbon emission of the different elements of the media plan and make adjustments accordingly for reducing the carbon emission. Work for developing tools for calculating carbon emission by media has been going on for some time. In 2021 many agencies in UK including Mindshare and MediaCom of GroupM signed IPA’s Media Climate Charter enabling them to use a common calculator designed to measure and reduce carbon impacts of media plans, particularly the digital media plans. The question which comes up next is to what extent decarbonisation of media will help in the process of reducing the per capita carbon emission of any country?

     

    United Nations Paris Climate Agreement (2016) sets out a path for limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees centigrade. India signed the same agreement pledging to reduce the carbon emission intensity of Indian economy by 33-35% from 2005 level by 2030. India is the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs), after China and the US. In 2015 our per-capita emissions statistics (2.07 CO2e) was well below the global average, but collectively our population made our share high in the global statistics.

     

    The Carbon Brief Profile India

    Source : https://www.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-brief-profile-india/

     

    Our dependence on coal power plants, large scale cultivation of rice and raising of cattle across India continue to be three major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, all of which have been rising steeply even after India signed the Paris agreement on global climate change. The melting of Himalayan glaciers and change in monsoon pattern have added to our woes, making us more venerable to climate change.

     

    Lately, the growth of internet and digital media riding on the penetration of smartphones in India has become another area of concern for climatologists.  Compared to printing a newspaper, broadcasting over TV or Radio channels, audio and video streaming over smartphones have much higher carbon emission. Satellites also clutter up space and along with the non-recyclable parabolas create significant pollutions, yet compared to smartphones their contribution to carbon emission is insignificant.  According to a recent Eutelsat study “Between fibre, satellite or TNT broadcasting and watching TV images via the 4G network, the ratio is 1 to 100 in terms of carbon impact. The higher the quality of the video, the stronger the mobile antenna array and the greater the CO2 weight.”

     

    India has been going through a drive for digitisation based on smartphones which accelerated during the pandemic, introduction of 5G network is underway and all predictions about future of Media and Entertainment Industry are showing high growth for digital advertising. It is doubtful if decarbonisation of media can make any effective contribution towards the overall decarbonization goals of our country. A media hype over decarbonisation of media may divert our Central Government’s attention from taking corrective measures in other important areas for achieving our decarbonisation goals by 2030.

     

  • It's high time that research organisations provide M&E with a comprehensive overview, writes Indrani Sen

    TV Industry Needs a Better Household Establishment Survey

     

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Indrani SenAs per the latest Performance Indicator Report (PIR) released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), subscription to the private DTH service continues to decline. A comparison between Q4 2021 and Q1 2022 shows a collective loss of 1.6 million paid active subscribers to DTH. It seems the various marketing initiatives introduced by the private DTH operators in 2021 have failed to arrest the slow and steady decline of the subscribers.

     

    The same TRAI report shows that the cumulative active pay subscriber base of the top 13 cable and HITS platforms rose Marginally from 4.58 crore to 4.59 crore in Q12022, while the subscriptions to some other smaller MSOs declined. On the whole, it can be said that there is a stagnation in the subscriptions to cable TVs.

     

    The dark horse in the arena of DTH operators is the DD Free Dish. According to various reports available, increase in number of channels available through DD Free Dish between 2017 and 2021 as well as addition of better-quality channels has doubled its subscribers from 22 million in 2017 to 43 million in 2022. Different Government sources have been claiming that DD Free Dish is the largest Dish operator in India covering more than 25% of the TV viewing households. The growth of users of DD Free Dish presents a totally different picture from the slow decline seen in the private DTH subscriptions. However, we have no clue regarding who are the users of DD Free Dish or what is their demographic profile. We often assume that the use of DD Free Dish is prevalent in the lower income groups in small towns or rural areas, but the actual penetration of DD Free Dish may be quite different from our assumptions.

     

    We need to take into account three additional factors for a complete understanding of the source of TV viewing in India. First is the rapid growth of the OTT market in India; the second is the growth of smart TV sets and the third is the partnership of the telecom operators with the OTT players which are providing the TV viewers with alternative platforms for viewing TV content.

     

    According to the Ormax OTT Audience Report 2021, the Indian OTT space has 353 million users and 96 million active paid subscribers. Most of the TV content is available today through various OTT platforms promoted by the TV Channels. The growth of internet and introduction of smart TV sets have eliminated the need for separate subscriptions to the TV content through Dish operators or Cable TV operators. So, the decline in direct subscription to TV through DTH or cable TV needs to be reviewed along with the growth in OTT subscription and smart TV sets by households.

     

    Today, all telecom operators offer free access to more than one OTT platforms along with their pre-paid and post-paid services. A typical telco-OTT partnership is an ideal example of a symbiotic relationship which allows both parties to benefit. The strategy enables the telecom operator to ensures customer retention and adoption and the OTT players to enlarge the viewership of their content.

     

    However, when we try to get an overview of TV viewership in India, we find that we do not have a complete understanding of the source of TV viewing. It is high time that research organisations provide the Media & Entertainment Industry with a Household Establishment Survey which indicates the type of TV subscription along with the ownership of TV, so that the users of the data get a clarity on the total picture. We have come a long way from the time when such household establishment surveys used to provide information on B&W and colour TV sets. We now need to know about the platform used for viewing TV contents, the type of TV set owned by the households as well as the type of subscriptions made by the household. Both BARC and MRUC should plan for household establishment surveys accordingly.

     

  • 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.

     

  • The emerging digital ecosystem is calling for urgent applications of voice and video in vernacular, writes Indrani Sen

    The Future of Digital India lies in Voice, Video & Vernacular

     

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Indrani SenThe IAMAI-Kantar ICUBE report published in 2020 predicted that internet users in India would increase by 45% between 2021 to 2025 and will touch 900 million. The report also made a forecast that the growth will be driven by higher adoption of internet by users in small towns and rural areas. In 2020, two out of every five active internet users in the country came from small towns and there was a 13% growth in the number of rural internet users between 2019 and 2020. The report also estimated that by 2025, the number of rural internet users will surpass the number of urban internet users. In a country with 29 states based on linguistic divisions and 22 major regional languages (including Hindi), the emerging digital ecosystem is calling for urgent applications of voice and video in vernacular to reach out to the new internet users.

     

    An article in Economic Times by Rahul Sachitanand published on October 7, 2018 did an excellent analysis of India’s  changing internet landscape covering its past, present and future (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/voice-video-and-vernacular-indias-internet-landscape-is-changing-to-tap-next-wave-of-users/articleshow/66102478.cms). The article talked about the three waves of internet adoption in India, the first wave (1995-2005) saw the arrival and early adoption of internet and digital content in India followed by the second wave (2005-2015) when internet took the centre stage and a variety of new businesses were built in travel, e-commerce and fintech riding on internet which not only attracted international players and investors but also laid the foundation of Digital India. The third wave, which began from 2015 (2015-2025), saw the validation of Indian Internet market with Flipkart’s sale to Walmart for $16 bn. Data prices crashed as reliance Jio entered the telecom market and mobile became the main device for accessing internet across the country breaking geographic and demographic boundaries.

     

    I wrote two articles here, the first one “The Deep Divide” published on February 5, 2018 dealt with the difference between the language of communication used by our advertising industry and the language understood and appreciated by their target audience across India in the digital age (https://www.mxmindia.com/2018/02/the-deep-divide/); and the second one published on November 4, 2019 dealt with the inevitable upcoming process of localisation of Indian digital market (https://www.mxmindia.com/2019/11/localisation-in-indian-digital-media-market/). However, in 2019 I was not able to foresee how fast the timeframe of reaching out digitally to the rural internet users would shrink during the three waves of the pandemic, national/ regional lockdowns and forced online education at primary and secondary school levels. A lot of water has passed under the bridge during the last two years and today a number of new entrepreneurs are ready to offer AI solutions for enabling Voice and Video in vernaculars for reaching out to the new Indian internet users from small towns and rural areas.

     

    The Indian internet which was initially designed in English for the top end of the market is now going through an explosion of vernaculars enabling usage of voice and video for enabling the new users to graduate from utility services to online transactions. Today, it is estimated that more than 60% of smartphone users in India consume various content in their mother tongue and about 30% consume content in multiple Indian languages along with English. Only 10% of the smartphone users consume content only in English and this percentage is expected to decrease with the increase in the number of smartphone users. According to Google, there has been a four-fold increase in rural internet users. India’s data consumption now can be easily compared with developed countries at an average of 8GB per month per user. The transacting audience kas gone beyond the large cities to touch 170 million. The next generation of Indian internet users would prefer to have content, communication and ecommerce in non-English vernaculars and would be more comfortable with voice rather than typing messages in their mother tongues.

     

    Google has introduced India First and India-only apps to bring in new users to its fold. It has launched support on its Gboard handset keyboard in all Indian languages; its voice assistant can understand and interact in eight Indian languages and its web browser Chrome can translate web pages into eleven Indian languages. More Indian languages would be added to the Google apps in near future.

     

    For over 10 years, Reverie Language Technologies, a vernacular language venture, has been building capabilities for search and discovery in multiple languages. They have gone beyond translation and have built interfaces to engage via voice the need of the new users of internet by focussing on customer relationship management (CRM) of this emerging digital consumer segments. Over the last couple of years, a whole new B2B sector with digital organisations like vernacular.ai offering AI enabled use of voice and video in vernacular has opened up.  VIVA or Vernacular Intelligent Virtual Assistant is one of the services which are offered by vernacular.ai today. All large ecommerce companies operating in India have started voice enabled transactions in vernaculars.

     

    YouTube, Hotstar, Voot, etc. along with first TikTok and then desi versions of TikTok have shown us the operations with videos, particularly videos in vernacular can reach a massive scale. Research has shown that close to 90% of marketing companies use videos as the main tool for digital marketing. More than 75% of all B2C content is delivered through videos which have higher engagement rate leading to greater penetration of the messages. In future with technological developments, search operations will be done through voice search or video search in multiple Indian languages.  While voice and video will be adopted in future by the entire digital world, Digital India will be clearly different market by the use of at least a dozen of vernacular platforms.

     

  • The Wunderman Thompson report can help up marketing investment in various forms of digital media for reaching target consumers, writes Indrani Sen

    The Changing World of Inspirations

     

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Indrani Sen Wunderman Thompson’s recently published ‘Inspire Score: Top 100 2022’ (now in its third year) reflects how people’s ideals and aspirations have been changing with the digital and technical innovations as well as the conditions of the uncertain times that we have been living over the last two years. The Inspire Scores are no longer influenced by the brands’ inherent core values, their relationship with the consumers and their ability to adopt to the changing environment but are influenced by the changing focus in the consumers’ lives, consumers’ wish list for achievements.

     

    According to the report, Inspire is a “proprietary global platform that explores what makes brands inspiring and what inspires consumers, making Wunderman Thompson the world’s leading researcher into inspiration.” Wunderman Thompson has designed the ‘Inspire Score’ based on robust methodologies in order to find out how elevating, magnetic and motivating the different brands are to determine their inspire scores which in turn guide the brands about how they can connect better with the consumers to become more inspirational in their eyes and achieve tangible growth in terms of market share. Within a category, the brands with high inspire scores can charge a higher premium for their products and services enabling them to increase their profitability. Cross category comparisons of inspire scores help in understanding the changing mindset of the consumers.

     

    For the second year running, Google is the most inspiring brand in the world followed by Apple, Samsung and Amazon, who have also managed to hold their positions within the top four. Apart from Nike (37), brands like Adidas (51), Unilever (56), IBM (76), etc. do not even feature in the Top 50 inspiring brands. In the automobile industry, Toyota (16) and Ford (17) lead the pack, followed by Tesla (26), Volkswagen (30), Hyundai (34), BMW (35), Mercedes Benz (38), Audi (43), Honda (45), Nissan (46), Volvo (64) and Mazda (99). The presence of a dozen automobile brands in the Top 100 shows the category continues to be highly relevant to the consumers, though the brands have become comparatively less inspiring than brands in digital, social media and ecommerce categories.

     

    Social media brands have seen strong gains in 2022 over 2021 reflecting their growing importance in people’s lives through social interactions.  Facebook has moved up from 16 in 2021 to 12 in 2022 and the inspiring power of both Instagram and WhatsApp has grown despite various problems. Twitter (83) has gone down the Inspire Score ladder in 2022 due to the controversies surrounding the brand and what the industry has started describing as the “Elon effect”. The Chinese brand TikTok (100) has managed to enter the Top 100 for the first time in 2022.

     

    Streaming brands remain inspiring with YouTube moving up two notches within the Top 10 brands and Netflix’s score has risen from 28 in 2021 to 13 in 2022. Spotify has also moved up couple of notches from 52 in 2021 to 49 in 2022 and Disney+ has entered the Top 100.

     

    It was surprising to find Microsoft has slipped in the inspire score though it has managed to stay within the Top 20 brands. Intel which ranked 87 in 2021, has dropped out from Top 100. The Chinese brand Huawei, a leading global provider of information and communications technology, has gone down the inspire score ladder drastically from 26 in 2021 to 72 in 2022. Does this show a trend where the consumers are taking digital technology for granted and are finding the applications of the technology more inspiring?

     

    In the personal care and beauty categories, Colgate and Dove have gained hugely and have entered the Top 10 in 2022, while Nivea has manged to retain its position within the Top 10 and L’OREAL has slipped one notch from 10 in 2021 to 11 in 2022.

     

    Impulse brands have done well in the post lockdown year, with inspire scores of soft drinks, beer and spirits rising. However, coffee shops and fast-food chains have lost the inspiration momentum which they had during the Covid years.  Except Nestle which continues to feature in the Top 10, other CPG food brands have also become less inspirational.

     

    To sum up,  Wunderman Thompson’s efforts to generate ‘Inspire Score’ year on year would surely help in accelerating globally the growth of marketing investment in the various forms of digital media for reaching target consumers.

     

  • Departure of third-party cookies is likely to be a big challenge for Indian programmatic industry, writes Indrani Sen

    The Cookies are Dead. Long Live the Cookies!

     

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Indrani SenEver since Google announced its decision of withdrawal of third-party cookies, which were a driving force behind programmatic advertising and digital marketing, there has been lot of speculations in the digital industry about the future course of actions for digital media planning and marketing. For years, marketers have relied on third-party cookies for behavioural targeting, re-targeting and data-driven advertising and the decision of Google suddenly shook up the core of existing digital marketing strategies. Before Google, Apple’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP), and Mozilla’s Firefox enabled them to stop the practice of collecting data through third-party cookies which did not raise such hue and cry. As Google holds 60% plus share of the worldwide browser market, it is not surprising that its decision had a widespread reaction. While no one could argue with the need for user privacy, many marketers as well as publishers panicked and scrambled for finding alternative digital marketing strategies for their brands. However, this is not the end of working with cookies as first-party cookies can be a very useful tool for marketers.

     

     

    While the third-party cookies will no longer be available, first party cookies will continue to exist. First-party cookies are set by the websites viewed by the users and are stored by the websites.  First-party cookies help the website owners to collect anonymous data about their users and improve user experiences. Consumers do not complain about these first party cookies as these help in improving their digital experiences leading to higher satisfaction. However, consumers object to invasion of their privacy by third-party cookies which are created and set by third parties other than the publisher or owner of the website which they are visiting and stored at the browser ends.

     

    These third-party cookies became ubiquitous on the internet for behavioural targeting, retargeting, audience extension, tracking and ad serving and at the same time they were the main bone of contention in the crusade for consumer privacy in the digital world. Google has argued that the removal of third-party cookies will not only create more privacy for consumers, but also will provide the marketers opportunities for better digital advertising. First-party cookies will help the advertisers to have a better and more direct relationship with their consumers which in the long run will reduce their dependency on distribution platforms like Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Consumer Relationship Management (CRM) which has been gaining importance over the last two decades, will play a key role in building direct contact with the consumers.  Data tie-ups between advertisers and digital publishers based on first-party cookies can be leveraged for marketing.

     

    Google had been working on developing alternative analytics platforms based on first-party cookies, etc. even before they made the announcement about removal of third-party cookies. Universal Analytics was built for a generation of online measurement that was anchored in the desktop web, independent sessions, and more easily observable data from third-party cookies. With elimination of third-party data this measurement methodology will become obsolete. In mid-October 2020 new version of Google Analytics GA4 was launched as the new default analytics property for Google for the replacement for Universal Analytics. Google has been urging all their users to move over to GA4 as soon as possible in order to build the necessary historical data before Universal Analytics stops processing new hits. As it stands now, all standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new hits on July 1, 2023, and 360 Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new hits on July 1, 2024.

     

    GA4 collects both website and app data to better understand the customer journey; it uses event-based data instead of session-based data. It has been designed with privacy settings at its core, can track consumers across touchpoints and measure their engagements and conversations and has predictive capabilities.  GA4 offers behavioural and conversion modelling to improve ROI with data driven attribution, it can activate consumer insights. Apart from GA4, Google Chrome has also offered marketers the Privacy Sandbox technology for interest-based advertising which will target groups of people with common interests instead of individual consumers. This tool hides individuals “in the crowd” and uses on-device processing to keep a person’s web history private on the browser.

     

    However, elimination of third-party cookies will have certain effects on the publishers as the flow of targeted ads will stop. So, publishers will have to look for alternative ways for monetising traffic to their sites. In order to make up for the loss of ad revenue, publishers may try to introduce Paywalls which in turn may reduce the traffic to their sites as some of their regular customers may not opt for paid subscription.

     

    There will be growth of walled gardens of data collected through first-party cookies. Google and Meta already have their own first-party cookies and logged-in user data, Amazon is also likely to develop such database. Various video and audio streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify also have such first party data and can join the group of walled gardens opening new digital marketing opportunities.

     

    Departure of third-party cookies is likely to be a big challenge for Indian programmatic industry which has been thriving on start up ventures and consultancy outfits. The programmatic marketing and advertising will become more an expensive and difficult proposition. We can review how our programmatic industry is planning to cope up with the new challenges in another article. In conclusion we can only say ” The cookies are dead. Long live the cookies!”

     

  • NDTV shares which were not doing well in the market have got a boost after the takeover bid by Adani Group, writes Indrani Sen

    Adani Stake Buy of NDTV | Indrani Sen: 8/23!

    Indrani SenBy Indrani Sen

     

    The last week was unusually busy for the Indian TV industry. The week began on Monday, August 22, 2022 with TV Industry honchos speculating about the growth in TV AdEx in H2, while the big four got ready for the final fight for the ICC TV and Digital rights. On Tuesday, August 23, our TV industry saw its first hostile bid for takeover of NDTV by Adani group and the ripple effect of the news went vibrating through the nation and across all news media for rest of the week.

     

    Like 9/11 has become an unforgettable date in the world history, 8/23 will become an unforgettable date in the history of Indian journalism. The news of SPN acquiring TV and Digital rights of US Open, which was announced on Thursday, August 25, went almost unnoticed as we were all busy in figuring out about the legitimacy of the Adani takeover bid. Finally, the news of Disney Star retaining the ICC TV and Digital rights for India till 2027 came on Sunday, August 28, 2022 ending all discussions on that front.

     

    The speculations on the takeover bid of NDTV by Adani are alive. There is no doubt that the move by Adani was pre-planned and well-researched with calculated objectives in mind.  As a well-wisher and regular follower of NDTV channels, I would be extremely happy if this attempt to strangulate NDTV news channels who dared to criticise the present government does not succeed, but from whatever information I have gathered over the last week, talking to various people in the industry and reading various reports, the chances of RRPR coming out unscathed from this entanglement does not seem to be good.

     

    If we try to plot the happenings related to the NDTV takeover bid by Adani during the last week, we find that Advani group’s subsidiary AMG Media Networks Limited (AMNL) acquired Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL), which was indirectly owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Enterprises. Almost immediately Adani Group announced their intention to take over indirectly 99.5% stake in RRPR Holdings Pvt Ltd, the promoting company of NDTV, which will give them 29.18% equity shares in NDTV on August 23. RRPR was asked to transfer the shares within two working days. In the same announcement an open offer was made to buy up to 26% of NDTV’s shares from the market.

     

    NDTV management issued an internal circular the same evening claiming that the acquisition was not valid as it was done without their consent or any prior notice.  Subsequently letters have been exchanged between RRPR and VPCL raising the issues of giving prior notice/ getting consent of the promoters as well as prior approval from SEBI for transfer of the shares, both of which have been rejected by VPCL. Adani Enterprises issued a statement on August 26 claiming that SEBI’s approval was not required as RRPR was not a party to SEBI’s order issued on November 27. NDTV on the other hand, cited an order by SEBI which bans both the promoter-directors, Radhika Roy and Prannoy Roy from accessing and dealing in securities for two years and has expressed their inability to transfer the shares immediately to VPCL.  However, the period of that ban will end on November 26.

     

    The route cause of this trouble seems to be a huge unsecured loan of Rs 400 + crore which was taken by RRPR in 2009 from VCPL. Why the promoter-directors needed such a huge loan is another story and will require another article. The loan agreement apparently gave an option to VCPL to convert the loan to equity shares. The details of the small prints of the agreement, like if VCPL was required to give a prior notice to RRPR or get their consent before exercising their rights of conversion are not known. Legal experts in the media industry are of the opinion that NDTV is currently buying time but their chance of thwarting the takeover bid depends on any loophole which Advani group might have overlooked in their hurry to acquire VCPL. However, that is a remote possibility.

     

    The money trail interestingly goes back to Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Enterprises as VCPL in turn borrowed money for financing the loan to RRPR from Shinano Enterprises in the form of another unsecured loan in the same financial year. Shinano Enterprises was co-owned by Teesta Retail Private Limited, which was wholly owned by Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited. In 2012 the ownership of VCPL changed and two companies Nextwave Televenture Private Limited and Skyblue Buildwell Private Limited linked to the Reliance group became its owners. As per current market information VCPL was wholly owned by Nextwave Televenture Private Limited till AMG Media Networks Limited (AMNL) acquired it last week. However, no move was made by the Reliance group to take over NDTV by exercising the warrant as per the loan agreement during the last ten years since 2012 though they increased their stakes in media industry during this period. A complex deal of acquiring Network18 Group by Reliance Group was concluded in 2014.

     

    NDTV shares which were not doing well in the market have got a boost after the takeover bid by Adani Group. The private shareholders currently may not accept the offer made by VCPL for selling their shares as the price is below the current market price. An upward revision of the price may tempt them to accept VCPL’s offer which will give Adani group the majority share holdings of NDTV. In that case NDTV will not be the same media brand and Adani Group will have to deal with practically a new launch which is not in line with a successful bid for taking over any ongoing business.

     

    References:

    https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/what-d-street-analysts-said-on-adanis-hostile-takeover-bid-for-ndtv/articleshow/93751027.cms

    https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2022-08-25/takeover-of-ndtv-by-indias-richest-man-worries-journalists

    https://www.thequint.com/explainers/gautam-adanis-2918-percent-ndtv-takeover-

    https://www.capitalmind.in/2022/08/adani-ndtv-not-quite-takeover/

    https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/24/media/adani-ndtv-channel-takeover-bid-hnk-intl/index.html

     

  • Since August 2020 when she wrote on podcasts, it appears the podcast market has done remarkably well in India, writes Indrani Sen

    Indrani Sen: Tuning into Podcasts

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Indrani SenThe FICCI EY Report 2022 on Indian M&E Industry “Tuning into Consumer” has only a very brief mention of Podcasts as a popular audio alternative indicating that

    ►Many radio companies had started to experiment with podcasts, generating millions of listeners per month

    ► Popular categories included comedy, business, news, religion, and storytelling

    ► Monetisation of this content, though in its infancy, commenced at a platform level for a bouquet of podcasts”

     

    The report has a section on music where it indicates that digital revenues were 90% of the total music segment. It further states that streaming platform revenues (including YouTube) increased almost 22% in 2021 to INR12 billion, over 80% of which was advertising driven. It is difficult to figure out if the revenue earned by the streaming platforms include revenue earned through podcasts, most of which have non-musical content.

     

    On August 10, 2020, I wrote my column on the same issue. Link: https://www.mxmindia.com/2020/08/podcast-the-crawling-baby-is-walking-now/. It appears that since then the podcast market has done remarkably well in India. As per PWC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2021-25, India is the third largest podcast listening market in the world with 57.6 million monthly listeners. A closer look at the variety as well as the width and depth of the content of the top Indian podcasts available to Indian listeners on various streaming platforms explains the reason behind the growing popularity of this medium.

     

    From “Hindu in Focus” on Spotify and Apple talking about current developments across the globe to “On The Contrary” on Apple, a India Development Review by Arun Maria, a former member of the Planning Commission and former Chairman of the Boston Consulting Group; from “Kahani Suno” hosted by Sameer Goswami revisiting classic stories written by Jaishankar Prasad and Munshi Premchand on RadioIndia and Gaana to “Indian Noir” a crime, horror and dark fantasy mix narrated and produced by Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner and voice actor Nikesh Murali on Spotify; from “The Taste of India” a recipe and cookery show available across various platforms to “The Mythpat podcast”  created and hosted by Mithilesh Patankar highlighting all the trends in the gaming industry on Spotify; from the “Maed in India” showcasing the best Indian independent musicians hosted by Mae Mariam Thomas available across various platforms to “The Musafir Stories”  hosted by Saif Omar and Faiza Khan talking about Indian travel destinations and allowing the travellers to share their experiences also available on various platforms, there is just no end to the variety of content catering to the interests of different consumers.

     

    Like The Taste of India,  Maed in India and The Musafir Stories mentioned above, many other podcasts are available across various platforms, notable among them are the comedy show “Internet Said So”, the Amit Verma show “Seen and the Unseen” giving in depth understanding of various subjects, “Paisa Vaisa” hosted by Anupam Gupta on personal finance, “On Purpose” hosted by Jay Shetty, a British Indian author, former monk and purpose coach on self help and “Figuring Out – How to grow business and brands” hosted by Raj Shamani, a successful entrepreneur.

     

    Many of the successful podcast shows have been running over last four to five years like Indian Noir (2018), The Musafir Stories (2017), Paisa Vaisa (2017), The Taste of India (2017). Another popular show Tumne Kisi Se Kabhi Pyaar Kiya Hai focussing on falling out of love and finding it again streaming on JioSaavn has entered into season 2.

     

    A recent article in Emarketerdaily has forecast that podcasts will account for more than one fourth of digital audio ad spend in US by the end of 2022.  The article has indicated “Most digital audio monetization will come from recorded music for the foreseeable future, but podcasts’ share of the market has grown so much—and will continue to do so—that it cannot be ignored by marketers. Once relegated to experimental budgets, podcasts are becoming a crucial component of multimedia ad campaigns.”

     

    The above is an indication that Indian advertisers and agencies need to consider more seriously the scope of using podcasts as a part of audio media options available to us. Podcasts also offer excellent scope for advertiser sponsored programmes. FM Radios also need to review how podcasts can help them to differentiate the content of one brand from the other in future.

     

    Acknowledgements:

    https://www.thebetterindia.com/284009/best-indian-podcasts-listen-spotify-apple-music/;

    https://www.gqindia.com/entertainment/content/best-indian-podcasts-of-2021

     

  • Kantar predicts the brands that invest – in data, insight, people and marketing – will flourish beyond the rest, notes Indrani Sen

    Indrani Sen: Media Trends & Predictions 2022

    Indrani SenBy Indrani Sen

     

    Last week, Kantar released its report on Media Trends & Predictions across the world. The report talks about five important trends in 2022, “Video steaming: A complex and ever-evolving market”, “Remodeling the commercial internet: How will successful advertisers and media owners navigate through such radical changes”, “A different approach to data”, “Performance media and marketing: An expanding playground for brands” and finally “Life in a pandemic: And what it means now for brands and media”.

     

    John McCarthy, Strategic Content Director of the Media Division of Kantar, has said in the foreword: “This year, we’ve tightened our focus to examine five key themes, creating a report that mixes the most notable trends with evidence-guided predictions and insightful thought leadership.” Like the previous years, the report is an excellent mix of knowledge sharing interspersed with comments from senior executives of Kantar across the world tactically indicating how Kantar can help advertisers and media owners to navigate each area with their expertise.

     

    Video steaming: A complex and ever-evolving market

    The findings of Kantar’s TGI Global Quick View study of consumers in 25 markets shows that over half of internet-connected consumers claimed to have used over the last four weeks either Pay TV or video streaming services. Almost two-thirds of such consumers (65%) claimed they watch two or more hours of paid-for streamed content daily. As predicted in Kantar’s report for 2021, the influence of aggregators is continuing to increase and no sign of subscription fatigue is in sight giving broadcasters and platform operators new found confidence. Kantar’s SportsScope data shows a strong upswing in fan attitudes towards the most prominent streaming platforms for sport (and e-sports) over the last 12 months, particularly among younger age groups. Kantar predicts that the subscription model for SVOD will be gradually losing its power to drive long-term growth, broadcasters may get an upper hand as more audience research data are available for VOD content, content will continue to be the king and will hold the key to higher consumer engagement.

     

    Remodeling the commercial internet: How will successful advertisers and media owners navigate through such radical changes

    Over the last three decades, tracking cookies have played a crucial role to help the growth of the online advertising market. Google felt that the use of cookies had been pushed beyond their limits, both technologically and ethically and had planned to end the use of cookies by early 2022. However, earlier this year Google announced that the retirement of the cookies would be delayed by two years and would be a gradual process. Kantar has found through their research that majority of publishers are concerned about the inability to track online media via cookies and more than half of advertisers (59%) are concerned about the inability to track online media via cookies. The tech giants are yet to find a viable technology for replacing cookies, though everyone is experimenting. Kantar has predicted that end of the era of cookies will mark the beginning of an end for uncontrolled tech giants’ explosions, no single solution will be able to replace cookies and the panel -based data may get a new lease of life.

     

    A different approach to data

    Trends in 2021 has shown “marketers are continuing to allocate increasing proportions of their budgets to digital media. Growth in e-commerce and online video is fuelling digital advertising to take a forecast 58% share of the global advertising market in 2021, up from 48% in 2019.” In the survey done by Kantar 65% of marketers said consumer preference is now comfortably the biggest factor influencing media decisions. Kantar predicts that data on competitive intelligence will be a defining factor, brands will look for more first-party data enrichment for unlocking the power of their own data for building better relationships with consumers and data based behavioural planning with attitudinal overlays will be used more by brands.

     

    The survey done by Kantar shows the top-ranked challenges faced by brands globally and the gaps in the current data available to the marketers.

     

     

    Performance media and marketing: An expanding playground for brands

    The report comments “The pandemic witnessed many brands turning to performance-based strategies to survive, but after stunning growth comes a host of challenges – in worlds both real and invented”. As the pandemic continued, the world saw a growth in performance media as brands switched their advertising tactics under global work from home and stay at home orders. The growth of social commerce has been a notable trend for 2021 and Kantar’s survey has shown that 61% of online consumers are likely to purchase from social media platforms in future. Kantar has predicted that growth and sophistication of performance media will empower advertisers and their agency partners to boost efficiency for their campaigns supported by emerging measurement solutions. Kantar further indicated “The metaverse – a collective virtual shared space – will have implications online and in performance media as 5G expands and community-focused businesses, such as Facebook – which aims to hire 10,000 people to build its own metaverse – make serious investments in associated technologies”.

     

    Life in a pandemic: And what it means now for brands and media

    Kantar’s Covid-19 Barometer reveals, for example, just how far e-commerce has become embedded in our lives and similar effects which pandemic had on consumers across the world. After the initial shock of 2020, in spite of a presence of Covid-19across the world, many markets (including India) are on their way to recovery. Kantar’s Brand Z data for 2021 shows that the ‘building blocks’ of strong brands have held true throughout the pandemic, reflected in an advertising growth which is stronger than expected. Kantar predicts the brands that invest – in data, insight, people and marketing – will flourish beyond the rest, TV will continue to be the preferred backbone media channel of many brand campaigns and 2022 which promises to be a bumper year for sports will aid in the overall recovery of advertising investments.

     

    Kantar’s ad receptivity studies since 2001 has shown that consumers are generally much less positive about ads in online channels. This posed a dilemma for the marketers though the pandemic has accelerated the growth of online in every aspect of life including consumption of media. Kantar concludes by proclaiming that “The challenges of the pandemic will pale into insignificance against what unchecked climate change could unleash… Media plans will no longer just be about reach, frequency and driving results. The carbon footprint will be just as important”.

     

     

  • The concept of Valentine's Day has been promoted by national and regional TV channels who have made it an integral part of their content than by advertisement related to the concept, writes Indrani Sen

    Indrani Sen: Valentine’s Day Spreads Riding on Media Wings

    Indrani SenBy Indrani Sen

     

    Today is Valentine’s Day. Inspite of the clash of the concept of Valentine’s Day with our conservative religious traditions, which have been fueled in recent years with the rise of Hindutva, we find media and brands encouraging people to celebrate the day by showing their love for each other. The vigilance of the keepers of the Hindutva seems to be matched equally, if not by a better degree by the aggression of media bent on utilising the opportunity of doing brisk business on the occasion of the Valentine’s Day.

     

    Valentine’s Day, which is popular across the world, has its origin as a Christian Feast Day in honour of Saint Valentine. There are many legends associated with Saint Valentine, who died (or was executed) on February 14 in 269 AD in Rome. The Feast Day was established by Pope Gelasius in AD 496. Apparently, the day got associated with romantic love during the 14th and 15th century and gradually grew into an occasion for celebrating universal love by the 18th century in England. In modern times, it stands as an interesting example of cultural capitalism which has spread across the world riding on mass media and ably supported by marketers/ advertisers and their agencies.

     

    Very recently the concept of Valentine’s week is being promoted by giving a name to each of the day preceding the Valentine’s Day in that week and creating more opportunities for marketing and advertising (https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/valentines-week-from-roses-to-promises-everything-you-need-to-know-about-valentines-day-2751803). This concept is yet to catch on in India where it would be very difficult to promote Hug Day (February 12) and Kiss Day (February 13), but I am sure that chocolate manufacturers and toy manufactures would live to promote the Chocolate Day (February 9) and Teddy Day (February 10). The Rose Day (February 7) also holds promises for doing brisk business for flower sellers, but as it is not an organised industry, they may not be able to utilise the opportunity to its full extent, unless e-retailing comes to their rescue.

     

    The concept of Valentine’s Day has been promoted in India more by the national and regional TV channels who have made it an integral part of their content than by advertisement related to the concept. Each and every general entertainment (GEC) channels, be it in Hindi or in regional languages, plan to have special programmes on the Valentine’s Day as an integrated part of story in one of the serials running on the channel. The same is promoted on all channels owned by the TV Network and if it is a part of the marketing campaign of the TV channel, then the special programme on Valentine’s Day is advertised across other media, newspapers, FM Radio and hoardings. The viewers across tier II, tier III cities and even in smaller towns and rural areas, thus get educated about the celebration of love on the Valentine’s Day.

     

    The movie channels organise special screening of age-old romantic movies round the clock on the Valentine’s Day. This day is also considered to be a good day for launching a romantic movie online. The news channels try to do special features and grab every opportunity of broadcasting a news related to the Valentine’s Day celebrations. On the whole, Indian TV industry invests a lot of time, energy and money to promote the Valentine’s Day. There is no ready analysis of the ADEX available to assess if their efforts are being rewarded by the advertisers.

     

    The print industry, particularly the newspapers, do not have much opportunity for promoting the Valentine’s Day through their regular content. If Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, then we find articles on the same in their weekend supplements. Years back, in the late eighties and early nineties, many English newspapers used to carry special supplements of classified ads where people could book space for sending Valentine’s Day messages to their loved ones. That practice has become obsolete now.

     

    Still, we find special Valentine’s Day advertisements in newspapers, usually from medium and small size manufacturers. This morning (Feb 14), I was surprised to find an advertisement in Bengali of “Khukumoni Sindur” in Ei Samoy, Kolkata, indicating that the concept has been integrated into our traditional symbol of marriage. The ad has a headline which when translated into English reads ‘Celebrating that colour’ meaning the red colour of sindoor, followed by the copy inside the heart which says “and all its power”. The brand signs off with just two words “With love Khukumoni Sindoor”.

     

    FM Radio also utilises the Valentine’s Day for holding sponsored programmes on various channels. It is also quite common to find activation programmes by FM stations in malls, etc. on this day.

     

    On the whole, traditional media in India is ensuring that Valentine’s Day becomes a day for celebrating love across the country. Needles to mention that their activities are supported by advertisers, some of whom also create special advertisement based on the Valentine’s Day theme.

     

  • The name of the company would surely create an illusion of a monopoly, writes Indrani Sen

    Indrani Sen: Monopolising the Metaverse

    Indrani SenBy Indrani Sen

     

    Seventeen years after he launched Facebook from his university dorm in 2004, Mark Zuckerberg announced in a virtual press conference on October 29, 2021, a change of the corporate name of the company from Facebook Inc. to Meta Platforms Inc. which is being referred in short as Meta.

     

    A recent Amul topical ad on the ‘Meta’ change

    As explained by Zuckerberg, internet technology has moved on and the corporate name Facebook no longer fits in with the future vision of the company which is being built around the metaverse. “Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards,” Zuckerberg said.

     

    The rebranding of the company name would align better with the objectives of the company at this stage when it plans to broaden its reach beyond social media into areas like virtual reality (VR). The various social media platforms owned by the social media giant, i.e. Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram would continue to retain their individual names and brand identities under the corporate branding of “Meta”.

     

    The metaverse a virtual-reality space in which users can interact, meet and play with a computer-generated environment and other users using virtual reality glasses, smartphone apps and other devices. The word “metaverse” has been coined from the two words “meta” and “universe”. Loosely defined, it is an extensive 3D online world where people interact via various “digital avatars.” The word meta is generally used as an adjective or as a prefix to a name, often indicating a change or a transformation or a great futuristic idea. Example of uses of metaverses, in some limited form, can already be found on platforms like VR Chat or video games like Second Life.

     

    Current development on use of metaverse is centred on addressing the technological limitations with modern virtual and augmented reality devices as well as expanding the use of metaverse spaces beyond business to retail applications, entertainment and education. Many digital technology organisations as well as entertainment and social media companies are investing in metaverse-related research and development for future usage.

     

    The metaverse in many ways is still a speculative future iteration of the Internet part of shared virtual reality, to be used in social media and other applications. The metaverse in a broader sense may not only refer to virtual worlds operated by social media companies but the entire spectrum of augmented reality across the world wide web.

     

    Critics of the metaverse are arguing that as a speculative concept it is overhyped. Same concept is being used as a part of public relation campaigns by organisations having vested interests. Privacy of user’s information and user’s addiction to platforms are concerns within the metaverse, as already found in the current challenges being faced by the social media and video game industries across the world.

     

    Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement to change Facebook’s name to Meta has caused a massive uproar in Israel as the word “meta” sounds like the Hebrew word for “dead”. There is also a news that a US-based Meta Company is contemplating to sue Facebook Inc. for Infringing on its it’s company name. Meta was founded by Menon Gribetz, then a student of Colombia University in 2013. Though the company met with some initial success, it had to declare itself as insolvent after its primary lender foreclosed in January 2019. It is doubtful if they have the financial strength to launch a legal battle against Zuckerberg’s company. A Berlin based migraine app developed by Newsenselab M-Sense Magazine has given a backhanded compliment to Facebook who seemingly has been inspired by the logo design of the e-magazine. It is unlikely that Facebook was aware about the existence of that app or its logo and the similarity id the logo design is most likely a creative coincidence which at times happen in the advertising industry.

     

    The change in the company name is an extremely clever move by Zuckerberg which can help his company to monopolise “the metaverse” space, though many other companies will be using such technologies and operating in the same space in near future. To a lay internet user, Meta Platforms inc. would appear as the original provider of metaverse technology and therefore would have an edge over many of their future competitors.  Meta Platforms Inc. would not be able to monopolise the metaverse, but the name of the company would surely create an illusion of a monopoly.

     

     

  • It is high time that the advertisers and the agencies take a stock of the situation and take corrective measures for ensuring the way forward for conducting cross-media audience research, writes Indrani Sen

    Indrani Sen: Is Indian Media Audience Research Going Backward?

    Indrani SenBy Indrani Sen

     

    Media Audience Research in India for the traditional media has definitely not moved forward over since the onset of Covid-19. The Indian National Readership Survey was last published for Q4 2019, MRUC’s contract with Nielsen ended along with it. In November 2019, a request for proposal (RFP) for conducting IRS was made by MRUC from various market research agencies for continuing with the study, but it appears now that no progress has been made in that direction over the last two years.

     

    In July 2020, MRUC had officially suspended IRS 2020 and had decided to return the money paid by the shareholders for that purpose. There has already been a two-year gap in the print audience research, which is likely to be extended further as MRUC has not yet selected a research agency for conducting IRS, let alone finding a solution for conducting the fieldwork in the new normal. I came across a news item on October 31, 2021 which indicated that MRUC is starting from scratch by inviting fresh proposals (https://www.allaboutnewspapers.com/mruc-inviting-research-partners-to-conduct-indian-readership-survey-irs/).

     

    BARC, which has been continuing during the pandemic with its regular TV measurement research through peoplemeters, also took a few backward steps with criticisms about its methodology and the silent death of its Digital Media Measurement Programme, Ekam, before it had a chance to be tested before implementation. In 2016, BARC announced with a lot of fanfare its intention of measuring digital media viewership and after a few months in 2017 tied up with Nielsen for two years in order to develop a neutral and independent cross-platform measurement solution.

     

    The contract with Nielsen ended in early 2019 with BARC officials unofficially commenting that it would develop its own digital measurement solution. After Nilsen’s exit, various advertisers started expressing doubts about BARC’s intention and capability for doing the cross-media research with TV and digital media. In October, 2019 Partha Dasgupta, then CEO of BARC resigned from BARC and the plan for Ekam, which was largely his brainchild, also got buried.

     

    After a year, in October 2020, Mumbai Police began investigating a possible tampering of TRP data by certain news channels. The entire episode made a severe dent in the reputation of BARC as a fair audience research agency. The case is yet to be resolved. Following this incident, in November 2020, Ministry of I&B set up an expert committee to review the guidelines for TV Rating agencies. The committee submitted its report to the MIB in January, 2021, however, the ministry is yet to make any announcement about the findings or any proposed new guidelines for TV Rating agencies.

     

    In October 2020, BARC Board announced the suspension of audience estimates and ratings for a period of three months after requesting its technical committee to review and augment the standards and methodology of measuring, estimating and reporting the TV Ratings data. The suspension has got extended beyond three months showing hardly any effect on the advertising revenue of the news channels. In September 2021, NBF (News Broadcasters Federation) again appealed to BARC for resuming the release of News Channels’ ratings, which however were not released before the festive season of 2021 (https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/the-curious-case-of-missing-tv-news-channel-ratings-11631127883629.html).

     

    Meantime, comScore continues to conduct independent audience research for digital media in India and Google and Meta (earlier Facebook) continue to provide the industry with their own analytics about digital audience. Nielsen and Kantar, two of the large international market research agency networks operating in India have announced their capabilities in conducting cross-media research. Earlier in 2021 https://www.printpower.eu/insight/cross-media/ wrote “The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) is spearheading a global ‘North Star’ initiative to standardise cross-media measurement through a panel and census framework that will help the industry get a greater understanding of reach and frequency. Such valuable multi-channel insights could prevent billions of dollars being wasted and improve customer experience through avoiding excessive ad frequency.”

     

    The same article also reported about the contract for the first world-wide total cross-media solutions project across TV, digital, radio and published media being awarded jointly to Kantar and Ipsos working in partnership with National Media Onderzoek (NMO) in the Netherlands. The article commented “This ground-breaking cross-measurement solution will deliver the building blocks for cross-media planning, allowing advertisers to better understand their consumers, improve the targeting of brand messages, determine how media triggers consumer purchase decisions and maximise ROI.”

     

    It is a pity that in India, where initiatives about media audience research were taken as early as in late 1960s with the first National Readership Survey (NRS) by ORG published in 1970 followed by second NRS in 1978 jointly by ORG and IMRB, the third NRS in 1983-84 by IMRB and the fourth NRS in 1990 jointly by IMRB and MARG before Indian Readership Survey (IRS) by MRUC began its journey, has failed to go forward in this field. It is high time that the advertisers and the agencies take a stock of the situation and take corrective measures for ensuring the way forward for conducting cross-media audience research.

     

    Indrani Sen is a veteran advertising professional and a media specialist. She is now an academic, and writes on MxMIndia every Monday. Her views here are personal