MxMIndia

Tag: Mediaah

  • The platform that tracks the Indian media like few others do will be back from Sept 18. No-holds-barred. Bindaas

    Mediaah! will be back. Wef Friday, Sept 18

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    So Mediaah has been around in the last nine years of MxMIndia. But not very regularl. Once in a blue moon.

     

    Given the circumstances in which the Indian media finds itself today, we believe the time is right to be back.

     

    Present the news with Mediaah’s very own style of commentary.

     

    The only difference this time around is that we are considering putting it behind a paywall. So you will need to pay to read. There will be a monthly and annual plan for the same. This is also our way to experiment with content behind a paywall.

     

    Friday, September 18 is the date.

     

    Wait for it. It will be fun.

     

    PS: And, yes: khabardaar!

     

  • Mediaah! promises to be back, more often. No holds barred. Frank, forthright. Like fewothers dare

    Times Now goes partly Hinglish. Will TRAI act on it?

     

    Mediaah! is back, and hopefully more regularly. There are risks involved in writing it, but then, there is a crying need for some no-holds-barred commentary.

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Many moons ago, or so the story goes, a leading detergent powder, trying to impress its clients that it offers more ‘safedi’ with its wash, placed its wares strategically in the sales counters offering white shirts. Nothing wrong in doing this, in fact the innovation was perhaps an Emvie-winning one.

     

    But such things are not kosher in broadcast-land.And perhaps with (some) reason. So last year, the telecom and now media regulator (all media, except ‘holy cow’ print, that is) frowned upon dual LCNs. They tried to frown upon landing pages which many channels had (have still?) deployed, but that didn’t work in right earnest.

     

    Now we hear that regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and BARC have received a complaint of Times Now going to distributors to put it in the Hindi genre in the EPG. While one may wonder that the channel will be the loser given that no Hindi viewer will turn to it, the reality is that it will actually help increase the reach of the channel. This also has an impact on the advertising front, as marketers pay top dollars for their slots in the premium English news space.

     

    We tried to reach the corpcomm of Times Now via Whatsapp to reconfirm the developmentt. The message was blueticked, but there was no reply. Meanwhile, Times Network is said to have deferred plans of its Hindi channel, and is currently relying on the morning Hindi band, and peppering its news bulletins with a bit of Hindi.

     

    A few days back, for instance, we found a noontime bulletin with headlines in Hindi and English. Perhaps it would be good for an all-new genre called Hinglish or Engdi.

     

    For now, our sources tell us that TRAI hasn’t been as quick on its feet on this one, as it has been with other issues in the past.

     

    Times Now is facing some heat ever since it lost Arnab Goswami in November 2016. Although it didn’t slip into oblivion, and has been a good #2 and rated fairly high with some slicing of data, it has lost the numerouno English channel status to Republic. While it has achieved success out of Mirror Now, there’s a view that it should’ve concentrated its energies on just one channel.

     

    Faye D’Souza as the primetime 9pm anchor would’ve been far better than Navika Kumar. And now with Anand Narasimhan gone – pictures of a farewell with his 10pm team posted on Instagram, there is another void that the channel faces. Of course some parts of the channel’s thinktank felt that Narasimhan looked like Goswami so he never really got the 9pm pride of place. Whatever be the reason, and if he actually does join CNN-News18, the channel will need to build an all-new face.

     

    Back to the Hinglishification of Times Now, we think it’s important that before the TRAI acts on the matter or the Courts step in, the News Broadcasters Association gets its members to sit together and have a clear set of ground rules.

     

    PostScript: Will Anand Narasimhan’s move to CNN-News18 change the fortunes for the channel? Despite having maintained a fair consistency in quality and not gone pro-ruling party as one feared it would, the English channel still needs to go some distance in the ratings war. Unlike the Hindi channel News18 India which has taken rapid strides for over a year now. Not yet the #1-3, but galloped way ahead. More on Battleground Hindi News on Mediaah! soon

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari is a senior journalist and commentator. He is also Editor-in-Chief of MxMIndia. The views here are personal

     

     

  • This story by Times Now hit a new low in journalism… and there’s nothing wrong if a political leader chills and takes a break, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Mediaah!: #AreYouSeriousTimesNow

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    I have no special love for Rahul Gandhi or the Indian National Congress. While we have seen some good things happening in the country when the party governed the nation, we have also suffered from years of misrule and corruption. And casteism and votebank politics.

     

    I also don’t think too much of Rahul Gandhi. Okay, let me correct myself: I also didn’t think too much of Rahul Gandhi. But since his US trip a few months back, I can see an all-new persona. Perhaps it’s created by the media, perhaps we are looking at things with a different filter. Or perhaps it’s angst against the Narendra Modi-BJP dispensation that has altered my perception.

     

    While it’s true that it’s the winner who finally matters, this is not a game of tennis or cricket. The fact is the Congress came a not-too-distant second and with some margins being wafer-thin. So while the BJP retained Gujarat, it wasn’t too bad a loss for the Congress.

     

    There have been various attempts by people from across the spectrum – journalists included – to discredit the Congress by saying that only the winner matters.

     

    We know that Karnataka, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh go to the polls next year along with a few others and the general elections are scheduled to happen the year after (2019). And the performance of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress in Gujarat will have a significant impact on the entire political landscape.

     

    It’s quite likely that the 2019 General Elections will see the return of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister. But even the Prime Minister is said to have admitted to aides that a course correction is critical. Like the revision in GST rates helped save the day in urban Gujarat.

     

    There have been issues about how serious Rahul Gandhi will be now that he has taken charge as Congress President. Will he take off for longish holidays? This is a question which I heard even being raised by Rahul Kanwal on India Today.

     

    In the context of this, Times Now made a “dramatic disclosure” of Gandhi Jr going for a film – Star Wars – on Monday evening, hours after the results were confirmed in both Gujarat and Himachal.

     

    Personally, I don’t see any major virtue in anyone being a workaholic. It’s important to chill, take breaks. It keeps you healthy. And it’s critical that the country is governed by people who are health-conscious. Nothing wrong if they take a break or watch a movie or step out for a meal.

     

    I didn’t watch Times Now last evening (Dec 19), but my Twitter panel was full of posts damning the channel for a show it aired, hashtagged: #AreYouSeriousRahul. A post on Twitter said:  “6 hours after Gujarat loss, Rahul Gandhi was watching ‘Star Wars’ at a cinema hall in Delhi. #AreYouSeriousRahul Watch @thenewshour with @navikakumar”. There was a good primetime show on it anchored by Times Now editorial head Rahul Shivshankar: http://www.timesnownews.com/india/video/rahul-gandhi-indian-national-congress-gujarat-himachal-pradesh-star-wars-cinema-hall/179827

     

    Shivshankar doesn’t scream and shout, and does try to balance things, but why raise an issue when there is none? Why is Times Now trying to discredit Rahul Gandhi when there’s no need to do it. And does his going for a movie mean that he doesn’t care about the country or his party. On the contrary, I think it made him appear cool (spelt kewl?) and would appeal to the large number of young urban voters.

     

    It’s ironic (and thankfully so) that The Times of India, the popular English daily from the group is significantly more reasonable than Times Now.

     

    One may argue that this is how Times Now has always been and the editorial policy was set by Arnab Goswami when he was President – News and Editor-in-Chief shaping the channel to be a pro-right news entity. But when Goswami left, Times Now had the opportunity to rewire, change things and turn neutral in its political ideology.

     

    That didn’t happen, and things only got worse. Result: while Republic TV launched in May this year, Times Now tried to be a me-too and failed miserably. It boasts of high ratings in sliced age groups and not the relevant viewing mass as released by BARC. While the high numbers in the big cities are significantand perhaps 50-plussers don’t matter, at an overall level Republic TV is far ahead of Times Now. (Do read Ranjona Banerji on Times Now at http://www.mxmindia.com/2016/05/ranjona-banerji-has-times-now%e2%80%99s-news-hour-gone-totally-beyond-journalism-as-we-know-it/).

     

    This story by Times Now hit a new low in journalism, and I’m shocked at the mindset of the editorial thinktank at the channel.

     

    I have spoken with a few people within the channel, and they too aren’t too happy at the stance taken, but then they need the job. And who really cares about their sentiments.

     

    Perhaps the folks at Times Now don’t realise it, but stories like these are doing a great disservice to their own brand. And whatever value it still retains.

     

    There’s only one person who wouldn’t be complaining. Rahul Gandhi. He now appears to be as the leader of a new India. Young, restless. Works hard. And loves his R&R.

     

    The views here are personal

     

     

  • Rather than fighting it out via ads and distribution, both Times Now & Republic TV would do well to concentrate on content

    Time for Vineet Jain & Arnab Goswami to smoke the peace pipe?

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

    There are liars, damned liars and statisticians. And that couldn’t be truer when it comes to TV viewership claims.

    Data can be misrepresented and quoted by slicing and dicing to an unsuspecting public, marking a dwarf look tall. That’s exactly what’s happening in the English News Genre lately.

    There has been a desperate and losing attempt to claim leadership by a phoney claimant whose shrill pitch is pathetic attempt to pass off as relevant. Data is misquoted using irrelevant markets, periods and time bands to selectively project an illusion, much like a silhouette show uses light.

    The trick to read through this is to understand the real currency that matters. In the case of English News it’s the premium NCCS AB, 22+ Male Viewers in the 1 Million+ cities All India. The six Mega City data is also representative. TV channel viewership is compared by all day viewership. Specific time bands are used only when comparing shows and not channels.

    Another way to know, is if the source itself is of highest credibility and known to not resort to such manipulation – someone like Times Network.

    Anything else is simply an attempt to mislead and gain undue benefit.

    No marks for guessing who the ad is targeting. Republic TV, of course. And since the recently launched news channel is all about its founder, editor-in-chief and chief promoter Arnab Goswami, it’s hitting out at Goswami. The phoney claimant whose “shrill pitch” being “a pathetic attempt to pass off as relevant” is hence none other than Goswami, the former Times Now bossman.

    But one must say that the ad has happened after much ‘tu tu main main’ between the bosses of Times Now and Republic TV.

    Sources within the Times Network establishment as well as in the news broadcast industry say that  more than the war of the Times Network (the broadcast arm of the Times of India group), it’s a war of sorts between the group’s managing director Vineet Jain and Goswami.

    Prior to the launch of the Republic, Goswami has compared the battle for supremacy between the two channels like that of a David versus Goliath. There was a controversy around certain trademarks filed for and there was a very clear and loud offensive from both ends.

    At MxM, we have observed each and every move of both channels and both owners, and we can say that both have tried their best to outwit each other. Goswami and his crew have also not stopped short of taking potshots at the Times group, though they may not be be as vitriolic as the text of the advertisement.

    The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) which has the Times Network CEO in its top leadership also got into the act asking for measurement body BARC to not publish Republic TV data because it employed an incorrect trade practice or multiple LCNs. After Republic pledged to the Courts that is not resorting to dual LCNs to shore up its numbers, both channels got into the act of landing pages.

    Landing pages is until now not an illegal practice, but requires a spend of big monies to the distribution trade. According to unverified information that we have received, the collective spends from the two channels per annum would be in the region of Rs 20-30 crore. The bulk of the spends is from Times Now.

    What landing pages helps achieve for both channels is that the viewership numbers leapfrog, but that doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in time spent on the channel. In fact the average could go down as people view a certain channel only for a minute-odd and then switch to the channel of their choice.

    Industry seniors MxMIndia spoke with aver that the amount spent on pushing distribution in an inorganic manner is a waste. I would rather have the monies being spent on newsgathering and improving the quality of the content or even other outreach activities, said one trade captain.

    But the stakes are high for both channels. Republic TV, given the reputation that Goswami had built for himself at Times Now, needed to be on top of the charts to create an impact. And for Times Now, being part of India’s biggest news media company, it needed to show that it’s not dependant on any single individual to stay on as the leader.

    Sadly, the network doesn’t seem to have learnt from its mistake, and in the case of Mirror Now, it is only propping up the channels primetime anchor and editor-in-chief Faye D’Souza.

    Times Now has tried its damnedest to ensure that it doesn’t get affected, but even some insiders concede that the channel has taken a beating post the exit of Goswami. Also, the primetime alternatives that the channel has put up don’t really match up to Goswami.

    However, it is creditable that the channel has not lost out very much, and that has been done thanks to its extensive reach and also editorially, it has ensured that it keeps raising the bar, even though content-wise – and in the pro-Narendra Modi, pro-rightwing genre – Republic is clearly a better channel.

    Sadly, the channels with more neutral content – like India Today and CNN-News18 haven’t been able to measure up on the ratings roster. A more anti-Narendra Modi NDTV 24×7 which has been facing some heat given its financial past has also not been able to put up good numbers on the weekly BARC charts. In fact there was a time when the channel even exited from the Top 5 English news channels.

    According to audience measurement numbers that we have seen, there is a clear inorganic rise of both Times Now and Republic TV. That of the former is very evident given the average numbers it generated before the launch of Republic.

    Our view: For the larger good of the news business, it’s important that both Times Now and Republic TV and specifically Vineet Jain and Arnab Goswami smoke the peace pipe and stop wasting money on pushing distribution. And indulge in this ‘tu tu main main’.

    It’s vital that broadcast trade associations like the IBF and NBA make the two see reason and back off. Let the content do the talking, and not fight via advertising and inorganically generated viewership numbers.

  • Is there a way out of this mess? There’s got to be, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Mediaah! Because the Nation Seeks an Answer to the LCN mess!

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    I have had mixed views on Arnab Goswami’s brand of journalism. But I do believe that there is a market for it. And for the last nine-odd years, his stock has been rising high.

    I don’t think the screaming and shouting on the nightlies is the way to go about things, but I am in huge minority. I also believe that it’s important to have our news anchors ask the tough questions to the mightiest of politicians and authorities and not be a part of a cozy club.

    Also, I must confess, on some issues that I feel very strongly about, it’s a delight to watch Goswami in action, demolishing the other side.

    For instance, as MxMIndia Consulting Editor and senior journalist RanjonaBanerji has said, no one champions the cause of women’s rights as well as ArnabGoswami does. Okay, not in so many words, but you get the sentiment.

    We don’t know the exact reasons why Arnab quit Times Now. The parting was amicable, though he couldn’t do a farewell show. But I tend to agree with MK Anand when he told me that it was impossible to offer a platform (on live television) to Arnab to host a grand farewell for himself.

    But it’s been a war from the day he exited the Times Now headquarters.

    ArnabGoswami has had friends in the right places. I remember how he helped invite Rahul Bajaj to an awards event of the Exchange4media group eight-odd years back. For Republic, he has managed to weave together an alliance of people who were willing to back his project, knowing fully well what his brand of journalism is all about.

    Over the last few years, broadcasters have found a loophole in the distribution system where they manage to increase viewership by being available on multiple frequencies. Deals are struck with various distribution points to manage this.

    Now there’s a government/TRAI regulation on this issue which is going to be finetuned further. But despite that there have been several attempts in the past:

    For instance, when India Today relaunched. And then with the Union Budget for CNBC-TV18. Later Times Now did it around the UP elections.

    According to information that we have, Times Now continues to employ multiple LCNs.

    Meanwhile, ArnabGoswami is livid with the NBA and its functioning. He charges that there is a clear conflict of interest as Ashish Bagga who heads India Today is President and MK Anand, who runs Times Network, is the Vice Prez. It’s not the first time that a channel has complained about the NBA being partial given that its officebearers are from rival channels. In April 2009, Rajat Sharma’s India TV quit the NBA charging bias. According to a report in the Indian Express dated April 11, 2009, India TV had written to G Krishnan, the then NBA President and TV Today CEO stating: “The NBA Secretariat, under the presidentship of the channel head of TV Today group has become the personal fiefdom of the TV Today Group… we stood deprived of our invaluable right of personal hearing and representation through counsel.”

    Very strong words, and even stronger words now from ArnabGoswami (See Television Post report: link)

    Is there a way out of this mess? There’s got to be. All television channels must sit together and jointly agree to not go in for multiple LCNs and any other tactic on the distribution growth that is inorganic. And of course illegal.

    Pulling out of BARC ratings will be counter-productive for television channels in the short run. Channels can’t be investing heavily on multiple LCNs and landing pages forever. A correction is bound to be seen, and eventually it will be quality content and of course marketing and distribution that will work for a channel.

    The Nation Seeks an Answer to the LCN mess. It’s time someone from within the ecosystem steps in to broker a deal. Soon.

     

  • I am not sure how legally tenable the complaint is, but in my limited view, it was unethical, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Mediaah!: Is BCCL right in registering a copyright infringement complaint against Arnab Goswami?

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Is Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited (BCCL) right in registering a copyright infringement complaint against Arnab Goswami? Yes, it is. I am not sure how legally tenable the complaint is, but in my limited view, it was unethical. When the story was first aired on Republic TV on May 8, one couldn’t help sitting up and take notice. But then along with the various questions that Goswami raised in his ‘super exclusive’, there were some questions that I had.

     

    The Economic Times report (Page 3, May 17, Mumbai edition)

    See report in Economic Times on the complaint: link

    In fact, I tweeted about it (see link).

    The fact that it was only retweeted twice indicates that copyright and editorial ethics aren’t considered very critical and holy to many (or most?) in India. Copyright, it’s often joked, is the right to copy!

    But this isn’t about copyright. That’s something for Times Network owners to take up with the Courts.

    It’s an issue of ethics.

    The recordings of the conversation between Prema Sridevi, the reporter and Shashi Tharoor or Sunanda Pushkar’s Man Friday was done when the reporter reportedly worked with Times Now. Unless her terms expressly stated it, or she was just a freelancer with the channel, the recordings belong to work done when the reporter was an employee.I am not sure what is the legal view on it, but it’s not ethical.

    I am not even raising issues of why Goswami and Sridevi, now Editor-News at Repulic,  didn’t air the recording when they were in Times Now, but that’s not really my concern though it’s a question that must be answered.

    The Nation wants to know…

     

    **

     

    All eyes are now on the BARC India numbers that will be out tomorrow (Thursday, May 18). Given all the promotions and distribution via multiple frequencies, it’s quite likely that Republic will be #1, but the question is that it’s not a play over one week. Republic can’t be spending so much monies on distribution as it’s today, so the real story will emerge after a few weeks when it opts of taking multiple frequencies.

    To Goswami’s credit, his equity with viewers is huger than all the other anchors. The MxMIndia-MRSSINDIA poll earlier this week indicated that Rajdeep Sardesai is a close second and not a distant one in the trust factor, but it’s for India Today to use this to their advantage. Possibly promote Sardesai a little more.

    We’re going to see some interesting times over the next few weeks or months. And we aren’t complaining

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari is Editor-in-Chief and founder, MxMIndia. The views expressed here are his own.

     

  • World Press Freedom Day was observed yesterday. But is the danger to freedom only from political leaders and ganglords, asks Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Mediaah! Is the Indian media really free?

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    This comment wouldn’t have been written had it not been for a half-hour show on NDTV last evening and a comment on the same on the Swarajya website.

    There’s a fair bit of noise on the political influence on the media. There are fears that those who don’t support Prime Minister NarendraModi could face a hard time from his government. Or how the PM and his team reportedly didn’t attend a conference organised by a newspaper because of unhappiness over its coverage of the elections coverage in UP.

    It’s very clear that there is a large section of the television news media that is politically biased. Watch a leading English news channel, and it’s evident that it’s pro-BJP. The anchor just doesn’t listen to an opposing view. There’s another which is clearly anti-BJP. And there are a few which offer a mixed bag of views, but there are very few television networks are that editorially neutral.

    The story may be slightly different in the case of newspapers, but there’s no doubting the immense influence that political forces and the governments in power have over the news media, which depends a fair bit on the government for revenues and access.

    The key worry for those who care about the news media is not the fear of the government but the huge influence that advertisers, big business and the non-media interests of owners have on their functioning.

    A mention of this was made by former BJP IT cell head Arvind Gupta on the NDTV show, but given constraints of time, it wasn’t discussed further.

    The media which depends almost entirely on revenues from advertisers doesn’t want to take on anyone.

    There have been many cases – some from even the most trusted names in the country – where advertising has been pulled out because of adverse coverage in a newspaper.

    Then there’s the issue of news organisations getting into organising events – conferences and awards where the presence of industry, political, sports and entertainment biggies is critical. Entites which hold film awards functions face a huge problem of stars backing out if they have stuff written/aired against them. They simply don’t turn up, even though performances at these events earn them top dollars. Some news organisations are known to give away awards to people/ entities in lieu of favours or monies.

    Is there a way out of the mess the news media is in? Newspapers and channels are finally a business and owners will do whatever it takes to stay afloat and not harm their interests. What happens in the bargain is a significant erosion of independence and credibility.

    In the late 1980s, industrialist VijaypatSinghania chose to sell The Indian Post, a well-produced English daily because its reportage was harming his business. He was very candid when he admitted the conflict of interest.

    It would do much good to those owners who are facing the same predicament to just opt out of the news media than let the world know they can be compromised.

    Or is it that a country which is not too fussed on ethics and corruption, passage of time ensures things are forgotten and condoned. We all know of some entities indulging in unethical practices, but do we really shun them? On the contrary, we embrace them. We allow them to flourish. We read or watch them, we attend or speak at their events, we accept their awards.

    Perhaps we deserve such a media.

    And if you think you don’t want such media entities to survive, make a start, and do what you should do.

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari is Editor-in-Chief, MxMIndia. The views expressed here are his own.

     

  • Here they are again: our awards – in jest – for the most outstanding, albeit dubious, achievements in the year

    The Mediaah! Dubious Achievement Awards 2015

     

    Here they are again: our awards for the most outstanding, albeit dubious, achievements in the year. Please do remember this is a fun feature that MxMIndia carries annually and the objective is to enjoy at the expense of others and ourselves.

     

    The Let’s Get This as Wrong as We Can Award: To Dr Prannoy Roy of NDTV for heading the panel that called the Bihar Assembly elections in favour of the BJP. For those who remember, the BJP lost and the Grand Alliance of RJD-JD(U) and Congress won.

    The Let’s Get This Wrong By Saying One Thing and Then the Opposite Without Blinkng Award goes to Shekhar Gupta, for blaming Nitish Kumar for losing the Bihar elections and then immediately changing his tack when it turned out that Nitish Kumar had won.

    The How To Protect Your Friends at the Cost of Your Professional Integrity Award to all senior editors who have tried to protect Arun Jaitley from the onslaught of Arvind Kejriwal and Kirti Azad in the allegations of corruption against the Delhi cricket administration.

    The Noble Peace Prize for bring in harmony and peace in Bollywood to Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan for coming together in a Bigg Boss mega-epsiode on Colors and professing enormous love for each other

    The Nirupa Roy Award for younger sibling gaining over older, bigger one to Zee Entertainment with Zee Anmol marching ahead of Zee in the BARC urban+rural ratings

    The Mera Gaon Mera Desh award to Zee Anmol… how rural ratings just turned things on its head in the broadcast industry

    The What Do You Mean The BJP Lost Award To all Indian News Channels who could not believe the evidence in front of them which went against their exit polls for the Bihar elections.

    The Big Moose Big Bully Award to the broadcasters and newspapers who attempted to bully the measurement agency – BARC and MRUC – on data release

    The Surf Excel Wash in Linen Award to The Times of India and Hindustan Times for washing dirty linen on the IRS issue. Thankfully, better sense prevailed.

    The Roger Federer now I am No 1, Now I am Not Award to:  It’s the leader alright, but 2015 has seen its lead over rivals diminishing and there are weeks when it’s No 2, now post-Anmol, even No!

     

    The Arvind Kejriwal Odd-Even award: To Star Plus and Colors for alternating leadership… Star Plus is no longer the clear leader and has been facing heat in the last six months

     

    The Swachh Bharat Award for Clean-up-in-Waiting Award: FCB Ulka. With Rohit Ohri set to join, even though the agency is doing rather well, there is much talk about a clean-up of operations and the top deck

     

    The Hum Honge Kaamyaab Award:  To Ashish Bhasin and the Dentsu Aegis Network in India for his goal to make his network the No 2. In this case though, it’s Hum Honge Kaamyaab not ek din, but Bhasin wants it happening by 2017.

     

    The Let’s Not Use the One Exit Poll That Actually Got It Right Award to CNN-IBN for not using the one exit poll that got it right.

     

    The Who Needs to Be An Objective Journalist When You Can Gain So Much More by Being a Sycophant Award to all of Delhi’s journalists who spent an entire press briefing with the prime minister taking selfies with the prime minister instead of asking questions.

     

    Also: The iPhone 6S Selfies Unlimited Award to journos wanting selfies

     

    The Threatening to Quit Before Appraisals Award to Kapil Sharma to always threaten to quit Colors whenever questions are raised about the ratings of his popular weekend show

     

    The How to Upset the Management and Government In Spite of Being Ultra-Pro Government Award to firstpost.com for carrying a mildly critical piece on Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely and then promptly taking it down.

     

    The Bumper Diwali Sale Award not to the usual contenders like Amazon, Snapdeal or Flipkart but The Times of India. All the e-com biggies fought full0page wars against each other and TOI was laughing all the way to the bank

     

    The Aamir Khan Intolerance Award to Arnab Goswani. Everyone claims they can’t tolerate him, yet they can’t stop watching him

     

    The Virat Kohli #$$&#@ Award  to AIB.  Why #$$&#@? Well,  %#$^#$&%$&%$&! J

     

    The Mr  India Award to Sony Entertainment… the channel has disappeared from the radar. Even when it didn’t muster top ratings, the buzz levels have always been high… KBC, Indian Idol, etc. Now it appears to have lost its mojo

     

    The Nishaan-E-Pakistan Award to Barkha Dutt, for her coverage on India-Pakistan issues. Pakistan couldn’t have asked for a better ambassador (and friend) in the media

     

    The Nishaan-E-Pakistan Award to Arnab Goswami for how he loves to attack the country even there is good news like Narendra Modi dropping by for chai at Nawaz Sharif residence.

     

    The Kores Carbon Paper Award to the Reliance Jio celebrity management and social media agency for messing up big time on tweets from celebs on the Reliance Jio soft launch

     

    And finally:

    The ShekChilli Award  to MxMIndia. Have you seen any other media website taking on the big and mighty?

     

    Contributed by Ranjona Banerji, Pradyuman Maheshwari and a few readers who have requested anonymity

     

  • By choosing to do so, the Advertising Standards Council of India has failed in its duty, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari in Mediaah!

    Mediaah! Why is ASCI mum on CNBCTV18-ET Now issue?

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

    The stakes are high in the news television business. The winner – in this the leader of the pack – generally takes it all – and given that it’s not an easy business to run, there are just too many claims on counter-claims on which is the #1 channel.

    Earlier this month, ET Now released large ads in The Times of India claiming it’s the No 1.

    On Monday, June 15, we received a mail from a PR agency claiming to represent CNBC-TV18 that ASCI asks ET Now to withdraw the misleading ads.

    Quality journalism requires some no-brainer rigour. You don’t trust the source even it may otherwise be credible. If Company X says it has won a case in the courts, you want to see the Court Order. Ditto with an FIR with the cops.

    But for some, publishing is pure commerce. Like that phrase we’ve been hearing in the ongoing political drama: quid pro quo! This is not the time to shout out loud about the rigour we follow. On to the case…

    So I called the ASCI secretariat on Monday and asked if the advertising self-regulator ever gave out individual dispute orders. The person taking my call said “No”, and was surprised that the channel had done so because ASCI normally discourages the winning party from going to the media about winning a certain dispute.

    In fact the outcomes of each complaint is made public only after allowing enough time for a review request by the losing party.

    I thought it was fair.

    What this basically meant is that while CNBC-TV18 may have had its complaint upheld, the order was conveyed officially but privately to both parties (CNBC-TV18 and ET Now) and not expected to go public… ASCi would do that after two months (on June 2, we received info on upheld complaints of March 2015).

    I asked ASCI if it had indeed issued the order restraining ET Now. I got no comment. I could approach either CNBC TV18 or ET Now for more, I was told. I thought that it was a strange reaction, but then ASCI is esteemed Self-Regulator.

    We dug into ASCI’s CCC reports over the last six months and did not find any complaints against both channels.

    The story was simple until Tuesday evening. Yesterday, that’s Wednesday, June 17, The Times of India’s Mumbai edition had an ET Now ad under the paper’s masthead (on Page1) claiming the channel is #1. It was similar to the earlier one which was contested by ASCI. Now. while technically, ET Now is required to withdraw ads by June 22, the operative word is ‘by’ and not ‘after’.  In all fairness, after hearing of the ASCI order, it should have stopped carrying the dispute ad.

    My immediate response was to write to ASCI, the Advertising Standards Council of India.

    My questions:

    1. What steps does ASCI take if and when an advertiser violates its advisory and continues with its advertisements even after the advisory has been issued to the advertiser?

    2. Has ET Now contested the ASCI advisory/order on withdraw advertising that was found to be misleading.

    I waited all day only to be told by the Secretary General late evening by mail that I will not get the answers. The reason: “In our last conversation I have very clearly indicated that as a policy, ASCI does not comment on individual cases. Your query below not being generic, it would not be right to comment on the same. Our request would be to not quote ASCI since this news has not been issued by ASCI.”

    Needless to say, I was surprised with the ASCI response. At MxMIndia, our intent in approaching ASCI was simply this: “If CNBC-TV18 made a false claim on Monday, it must be exposed and if ET Now has mocked at an ASCI advisory and gone ahead with an ad, then it must be exposed too.”

    By not responding to our query, and possibly because it doesn’t want its name dragged into a controversy between two powerful media groups, we are being compelled to look at motives behind ASCI not being transparent on the incident, even if there aren’t any. As my namesake ACP Pradyuman would say in the serial CID: Kuchh toh gadbad hai!

    Also, clearly, ASCI – as a body needs to be vigilant in its attempt to lay standards in the business and craft of advertising. Perhaps it makes sense for ASCI to have in its fold some non-advertising/media industry biggies who would not be soft on erring members of the fraternity. And be strong and aggressive with advertisers who are incorrect and do not honour the ASCI code in letter and spirit.

    By not doing so, it’s only doing great disservice to the industry that has set it up.

    Remember, it was not very long ago that a minister of the central government had raised questions on ASCI’s efficacy. Some industry commentators had even raised questions about whether ASCI can deliver.

    We believe it can, but not if chooses to stay mum on key decisions such as these.

     

    Here’s the press release we received from a PR agency representing CNBC-TV18:

    ASCI asks ET NOW to withdraw misleading ads

    June 15, 2015, Mumbai:

    The Advertising Standards Council of India, (ASCI) has upheld CNBC-TV18’s complaints against the advertising campaign released by ET NOW news channel on May 31. ASCI has advised ET NOW to withdraw or modify appropriately the said ads by 22nd June 2015.

    Their campaign, launched on 31st May, 2015, was declared to be based on BARC data and their ‘internal data’.  In its ruling, ASCI made the following observations:

    On ET NOW’s claim – “India’s No. 1 Business Channel.”

    ASCI has upheld the complaint against this claim. Firstly, the data provided by the Advertiser is for leadership among English Business channels only and it does not consider the other regional business channels. Hence it was concluded that this declaration is misleading by omission on the advertiser’s part and contravenes Chapter I.4 of the ASCI Code.
    Secondly, the source quoted is of BARC covers only two weeks of data. It refers to TV audience in the 10 to 75 lakh town class and this does not constitute the whole of India and this contravened Chapters IV.1 (b) & (d) of the ASCI Code.
    On ET NOW’s claim – “Built on Expertise. Monthly Positive Stock Calls: ET Now – 1044 CNBC TV18 -326”

    ASCI has upheld the complaint against this claim. The proprietary data source quoted for the claim, “Monthly Positive Stock Calls: ET Now – 1044 CNBC TV18 -326” was “Research – Consult Kraft | Period: Nov ’14 to Apr ’15 | Based on Avg.  Monthly Positive Stocks recommendations All Market Days, 7:30am to 3:30pm. This data period does not overlap with the viewership data period referred to in the advertisement.  The data provided therefore, was likely to mislead by implication and ambiguity and this contravenes Chapter I.4 of the ASCI Code.
    On ET NOW’s claim – “Built on Speed. 6 out of 10 Business Stories Break on ET Now”
    ASCI has upheld the complaint against this claim. This claim was not substantiated with evidence to prove that the Advertiser was indeed able to break more stories / break stories faster than others and was therefore misleading. This contravened Chapters I.1 and I.4 of the ASCI Code.

  • Even if it's not intended, the same progressive English news channel companies and those who run it are stereotyping women into what they quite definitely are not

    Mediaah! It’s time English News TV ecosystem stops being sexist and considers women viewers watching Eng news + BARC Data Watch

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    The news channels keep debating about how women get a raw deal in our country. How India is a male-dominated society. Anchors and activists get your blood to a boil, an Arnab Goswami makes kheema out of anyone even talking about women in the negative.

     

    But these very broadcasters and their advertisers and media agencies who buy advertising on these channels keep pushing a regressive perception that only men watch English news channels and that advertisers buy spots on English channels because men watch them.

     

    This belief also suggests that women are typically not viewers of English news channels, that they don’t consume serious content and current affairs etc. Even if it’s not intended, the same progressive English news channel companies and those who run it are stereotyping women into what they quite definitely are not.

     

    A quick look at the English news channel viewership data from BARC  for Week 22 and Week 21 clearly indicates that women can’t be dismissed in terms of viewership numbers of English news channels (See Table Below). In fact, Times Now has an equal number of female and male viewers. India Today Television has women scoring a little less than men and even in the other channels it’s not that women form a miniscule viewership.

     

    Time that English news television ecosystem takes our women viewers seriously!

     Data Source: BARC

     

  • Ironically, Goafest high priests may swear at Economic Times (and its glossy pull-out Brand Equity) for now, but they can’t do without the paper when it comes to giving leads on important news

    Mediaah! Was Brand Equity unfair in damning Goafest?

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Last week, Brand Equity in The Economic Times did a hatchet job on Goafest. Unfair for a publication which comes from a group that ought to have lost all reason to point fingers at people. Remember it’s the same media conglomerate that pioneered the concept of paid content for brands and lifestyle companies and individuals in its publication. Economic Times is the same publication which published the leaked results of the Abby at two or three successive Goafests not too long ago. The Times of India is the same group which has been a major benefactor of the event and allowed its top executives to give the Ad Club quality time as its President.

     

    The Times of India’s television arm, Times Now, was the presenting sponsor of Goafest 2015 and the channel’s Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Director Arnab Goswami was allowed to defend his act at a leadership session. Goswami, being one of the most sought after names in Indian news media, was a huge hit.

     

    That it’s time to take Goa out of the Goafest has been discussed for a few years now, perhaps the author of the article – Priyanka Nair – would do well to ask her senior colleagues (albeit on the business side) why they put in such huge monies on the event and also sent their mascot Arnab Goswami to deliver a keynote. If the event is indeed a damp squib as the article tries to suggest, then why do all of this? Why unveil your channel’s new identity to a group of people who may seem uninterested in the content of the event.

     

    I agree that not all is well with Goafest. It needs an overhaul. There are several things going wrong with it. Regrettably, the bosses at the AAAI and Ad Club haven’t been able to think too laterally on this one. They fashion themselves as out-of-the-box ideawallahs, but have done precious little in the formatting. Adding on broadcast/ publisher and PR categories last year was of course an out-of-the-box idea.

     

    The 2015 edition was more efficient than the last one, and the Abby Awards have indeed been cleansed, but the format is predictable. Many speakers were great and Jaideep Gandhi put in his bestest. But organizers AAAI and Ad Club weren’t able to pull in all their members to attend.

     

    Ironically, Goafest head priest and organising committee chairman Nakul Chopra and some in his team may swear at Economic Times (and its glossy pull-out Brand Equity) for now, but they can’t do without the paper when it comes to giving leads on important news.

     

    There are some adpersons who are aware of this unpredictability of Brand Equity and have been at the receiving end of the frequent reverse sweeps.

     

    Trying to force-present an event’s ugly face often exposes your own, and this is what the Brand Equity report has done.

     

    As for the Goafest bosses, they should use this article to clean up their act. Professionalise the set up… if necessary bring in professionals to curate the event for you.

     

    PS: A tip for those who read the B’Equity story with glee: remember, the same weekly could do the same to you with a Bekaar!

     

  • Did Arnab Goswami and his channel overdo the nationalistic bit post India's debacle in the World Cup? Ranjona Banerji & Pradyuman Maheshwari comment

    Down with Times Now, #RejectArnab

     

     

    Time to #Reject Arnab

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    In 2008, well before 26/11 or the Mumbai terror attack, I had written that Arnab Goswami is a lot better than Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt (and of course a host of other stars on NDTV). He asked the tough questions, he spoke for you and me. There were no holy cows in his book then.

     

    Around November 26, he did the smart thing of sticking around the studio and not getting out on the field. Whether it was because he feared for his life or whether it was by intent, it worked well for the channel because it had its best man in the studio helping in the packaging of the channel.

     

    Over the years though, the success has got him to turn arrogant on television. If you don’t agree with his line of thinking, even the gods won’t be able to save you. If we thought that Karan Thapar would heckle his guests and often speak more than the people he was quizzing, Arnab takes this art to an all-new level. He just doesn’t allow them to speak beyond half a sentence.

     

    He’s aggressive. He’s offensive. Sadly, he’s also repulsive.

     

    But all of that has worked for the channel and him. He attracts maximum ratings and political leaders love to be on his show because it gives them great visibility.

     

    Ad spots on his show are a few x times more expensive than those on some other English news channels. It’s all going right for the man. And his channel.

     

    But many of us find him crossing the limits for a few years now. The problem with Arnab is that he doesn’t believe in half-measures. He goes on the rampage. I would like to not offer any analogies with the behaviour of other beings, but anyone who comes in his way, is mauled.

     

    Bottomline: Arnab is getting obnoxious. And needs to be tamed soon. If the The Times of India group doesn’t do it, the law-enforcers could.

     

    Ideally of course he should be subjected his fate by viewers who could reject his channel and watch others. But, then, the alternatives aren’t energetic enough. So there are many who still consider him the best of the lot. Plus it’s entertainment. Since the next season of Bigg Boss is still some months away, Newshour is the show everyone loves to watch. There the inmates scream at each other, here the studio guests do that. And so does the master of ceremonies: Arnab Goswami.

     

    Now, as Ranjona Banerji writes alongside, even his lieutenants are doing it.

     

    On the evening after India was humbled by Australia in the semi finals of the 2015 World Cup Cricket, after various elements on social media had converted their dismay to jokes and jibes, one would’ve expected an Oxford-educated Arnab to put things in perspective and not fuel the cause of the lumpen elements.

     

    But what we saw was an unnecessary whipping up of nationalistic passion. Stuff that we can do without. Time to Reject Arnab. Let’s hashtag it, as he loves to do. #RejectArnab

     

    		  

    No longer any connection to journalism

     

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Ding dong ding dong… hear that? It’s the death knell of journalism being rung in India thanks to Times Now. That Times Now is on a collision course with both good sense and reality is well known. But did the new channel reach the end game on Thursday, March 26, after India lost in the semi-final of the Cricket World Cup against Australia in Sydney? The answer could well be “yes”.I can safely say that I have never been as appalled with a pair of journalists in 30 years in the profession as I was with the display that Anand Narasimhan and Tina Sharma Tiwari put up on television after the semi-final. People reacted with so much anger to their “#ShamedAtSydney” hashtag running across the screen that #ShameonTimesNow was soon trending on Twitter and continued to do so up to Friday morning.

     

    Fans react with irrational anger when their favourite team or player loses. But for journalists to outdo badly behaved fans deserves the strongest condemnation. Not only were the two anchors foaming and frothing at the mouth but they seemed unable to distinguish between their roles and that of a fan ready to burn an effigy. It almost seemed as if they were egging fans on to misbehave; and suggesting that any such behaviour was justified.

     

    Some of the panellists on Times Now just after the loss, like Charu Sharma, Atul Wassan and later Zaheer Khan tried to inject reason and sense into the discussion. But neither the anchors nor Saad Bin Jung were having any of it. For them, India capitulated, Dhoni should have cried like AB De Villiers of South Africa, Kohli was distracted by Anushka Sharma’s presence and the team played like “stupid amateurs”.

     

    The trouble is that all these are believable as reactions from loony fans. Not from journalists who are either supposed to report on proceedings or, as in the case of TV, ask other people to analyse them. The spectacle of Narasimhan and Sharma-Tiwari screeching at the guests was unedifying and appalling. The two of them are supposed to be sports journalists but there was no semblance of any understanding of sport visible from them. Narasimhan had a mega tantrum over the rights of fans versus sense and Sharma-Tiwari had her own hissy fit about Dhoni’s apparent lack of emotion at the loss – as determined by her.

     

    What viewers might have wanted to see was some analysis of what went wrong. The panellists on the side of reason (the wrong side as far as Times Now was concerned) argued that the Indian team had played well so far, mentioned how well Australia had played, pointed out that there was no reason for the Indian players to purposely play badly. But the anchors were having none of it.

     

    The defining moment for me was Sharma-Tiwari questioning the lack of application by the Indian players. The irony was that neither she nor Narasimhan showed any application to the tenets of journalism. It is tempting to blame Times Now’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami for this behaviour. By manipulating The Newshour as his personal soapbox, he appears to have encouraged his staff to become rabble rousers and instigators. Even if he did not instruct either of them to behave in this manner, he has clearly inspired them. I did not watch Goswami himself on Thursday because I had had enough of the channel by then. But my colleague Pradyuman Maheshwari had his own share of heart attacks watching The Newshour.

     

    I have defended Times Now and Goswami before, if only because I felt he had a finger on the pulse. But I fear that I have to concede defeat. Times Now may provide entertainment of the lowest and basest kind but it no longer has any connection to journalism.