Tag: Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das

Okay, we obviously didn’t expect BD to give a ‘sureshot’ answer given the uncertainties that lie ahead, but we asked him nevertheless, wanting his unique take on life. Pssst: this bit of “Please don’t give a philosophical answer” was only to put more pressure on him to go ultra-philosophical. Ha ha. Without any further ado, here’s the May 15 edition of Das Ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das of course. Enjoy.

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

Q. A serious ‘Friday’ question: Given the Covid-19-led mayhem in most of our big cities, do you ever think it’s wiser to live in a smaller, less populous town? But, then, in the M&E sector, that’s not really possible, right? Please don’t give a philosophical answer… puhleez.

A. This question is a classic quest for a kneejerk answer to a question at the spur of a moment. Staying in an urban or rural (small town) area is a choice of life, and not a  reaction to a live event. The quality of life in a small town may be a lure, vis-a-vis a metro/big town, but other aspects of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs have to be glossed over then, almost.

That’s an issue which many people in the business have been raising… that cover price should be increased and how if The Times of India group had upped its price 20-odd years back, the health of the print media would’ve been much better. We asked Dr Bhaskar Das, who a print media veteran and former Big Boss of the TOI group, on his views on the issue. Without further ado, the May 12 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. Assume you are in a time machine. And can travel back in time to Circa 2002. Do you think The Times of India ought to have pushed up its cover price and decreased its dependence on advertising?

A. Business is not a journey in a time machine. Context for a strategy always matters. 2002 contexts were conducive for a winner strategy. Just because the operating environment has been volatile, one can’t surmise that the seeds of strategic transformation, that are relevant now, should have been sowed 18 years back. This is just gobbledygook.

The writing was on the wall and now the latest Indian Readership Survey findings confirms it: that print is declining in India. We asked Dr Bhaskar Das, who is a print media veteran, on his views given the report. Presenting the May 11 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. The new IRS numbers are out, and we now have data for all four quarters of 2019. While a deep dive may show a more nuanced result for some publications, the broad findings (as per the MRUC deck) say that newspaper readership has de-grown. I have two small questions:

1. Do you think the findings are true – that newspaper readership has de-grown? Let me put it in a different way: do you think lesser number of people are reading newspapers?

2. Do you think newspaper publishers are to be blamed for being complacent?

A. a) The meta principle of any research: the findings are indicative, and not exhaustive. Hence, there is no scope of  contemplating that findings are true or not. Secondly, if number of readers is not growing, it must be a dominant pattern from the sample. In fact,  if one observes, one would notice that the younger generation is accessing news more online/ real-time. So news consumption is still high. Consumption methods are varied depending on the demographic/ social cohort one represents. If future research encompasses news consumption across devices and formats, one might get a better indication of news consumer and their ever-evolving preferences.

b) It’s not about complacency. From hindsight, it’s easy to be critical. Whatever strategy publishers have followed has worked. The proof is that print was the largest medium in terms of investment by advertisers. As in the case of every strategy, its shelf life expires. If research trends are indicating a definite pattern interrruption, it may be the right time to calibrate a renewal strategy for news in general and formats of delivery in particular.

Please don’t read too much into the intent of the question. It’s just like any other, on any other day. Okay? Presenting the May 6 edition of Das Ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Enrich yourself. 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. This has no coincidence with anyone in the media, but just a general question of life: Why is that the noisy backbenchers in class are most popular even though they are much loathed?

A. Your question raises a metaphysical query in mid: what is NOISE. What is noise for one can be a signal for others. It is quite possible that some people suffer from decibel intolerance, while others savour noise. Considering noise as a pejorative societal trend and a counter culture is too facile. Noise is an important trait of a thriving democracy where the deprived sections of society can make their predicaments heard by the relevant authorities.

Welcome back to an all-new week of Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Last week, the Indian Newspaper Society issued an advisory to member newspapers to check the unauthorised distribution of epapers. We thought it was incorrect and so asked BD a question on the issue. Without further ado, here’s the May 4 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. Why is that people who are otherwise so rational and progressive often take the most irrational and regressive decisions? Example the advisory by INS to ask member newspapers to declare epapers being distributed by various Whatsapp/Telegram groups as illegal. What’s your view?

A. I couldn’t relate the first part of your question with the second part. There seems to be an implicit bias in the question that the epaper-led directive is irrational and contra-progressive. The first part of the question is a deduction while the logic of the second part is a business decision of a company. One invests resources for creating everyday an analogue paper and due to Covid-19 when distribution became a challenge for reaching the consumer (affecting its monetisation capability), a free distribution of its digital version by a third party impairs the possibility of detecting where it is reaching and how that can enrich the database of the publisher’s brand. I can’t comment in a deterministic manner why the apex body advisory was issued, but I find it to be rational from a strategy point of view.

So for a change we didn’t ask him a question. We just made a statement, and wanted him to react. But he didn’t as we thought he would. Without further ado, Dr Bhaskar Das this question in the April 30 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. May 1 is Maharashtra and Gujarat Day. It’s also Labour Day. It is celebrated in many countries as a traditional springtime festival or as an international day honouring workers. May Day, like SOS, was traditionally used radiot elephony transmissions asking for help. In the current Covid-led context, it appears that workers are making the May Day call across the world. And in India, specifically in Maharashtra.

A. I loved the narration of this statement which masquerades as a question. But I couldn’t understand what was the question. Be-that-as- it-may, labour day is a 365-day affair and whether we celebrate it or not, the possessed club must have realised the dignity and relevance of labour during Covid-19 more than ever as we are collectively running after essentials (need states) rather than aspirationals (want state). It demonstrates that blue collar job is making us survive.

It’s a fact. Digital doesn’t make advertising revenues as much as print does. We asked Dr Bhaskar Das this question in today’s 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. Digital may be gaining much ground, but it still doesn’t generate enough revenues, and even if it does, bulk of the monies go to Facebook and Google. How do you think can individual B2C media entities make sizeable revenues as they do with their print avatars?

A. That digital is becoming mainstream is a given reality. So whether one makes money or not, one had better adopt the new reality. Now coming to making money,  I would say one  can’t make an outcome an objective. One has to work towards working on multiple business models where content stickiness and distribution diversity helps monetisation at the cross-section of content, technology and advertising. The more dependence is reduced on only one source of monetisation, one minimises the risk of revenue turbulence. One definitive prediction I can hazard is that days of print making sizeable revenue from advertising is over due to inter-category migration of attention and cash. Besides, arrival of investment efficient and precision targeting alternatives/ substitutes have queered the pitch for achieving stratospheric level of revenue.

Now we knew we were putting him in a spot with this question, but it’s a valid question,you will agree. Presenting Dr Bhaskar Das in 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. According to yogic technology, it takes 40 days to change a habit. Another theory says that it takes 66 days before a new behaviour becomes automatic. We are on Day 35 of the National Lockdown. Do you think people – at least in some of our metros – will lose the habit of reading the newspaper in physical form?

A. I am sure you would accuse me of skirting direct answers to some of your questions. Actually it’s a human frailty that people expect an answer to be converged with their  mindset. Hence your various postulations about various schools of thought of metamorphosis of habits is deductive perhaps from randomised controlled experiment. But human behaviour can’t be reduced to a single pattern. In that case, one misses the tapestry of diversity of human behaviour. Besides, society consists of multiple social and demographic segments where there is no cohort-neutral response. Having said that, I agree that there would be a probability of different response to newspaper consumption specially amongst the younger generation ( aspiration-wise, and not by age cohorts) and if it happens, that might compel the newspaper organisations to reimagine their business model to be in sync with the unfolding demand pattern post Covid-19.