MxMIndia

Tag: Pradyuman Maheshwari

  • The numbers tell the story. Time for the genre to wake up, and stop fighting, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari.

    Present Imperfect. Future Shock. News Channels lose as GECs gain

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Ring-a ring-a ratings

    Claims versus shoutings

    Cops, CBI, advertisers & viewers frown

    And we all fall down!

     

     

    So here’s another take-off on our favourite nursery rhyme, partly courtesy a friend and fellow-columnist. But before you look at the graphs: here’s an exercise.

     

    Fill in the Blank:

     

    The News Channels genre is getting _______.

     

    Since you have to putting the answer in your own language, choose whatever word you would like.

     

    The numbers tell the story.

     

    Here they are:

    Please click on image if you find this unclear

     

    If you prefer graphs, look at these:

     

    May we alert you that these numbers are not validated from BARC. They have come in from two different sources. But we will update if necessary, when we’ve got it from BARC. Btw, we chose 2+ and not 15+/22+ AB one mn plus or all-India, because it was easier to compare with GECs.

     

    The message is clear. News channels – in Hindi, Regional, English and Hindi Regionals (like MP, Bihar etc) need to do some soul-searching.

     

    If they continue to fight, if they continue to not do the right things, there’s bound to be trouble. For themselves.

     

    News channels owners, editors and managers need to stop fighting. The best of political and corporate forces have buried their differences. Many moons ago, India TV had exited the News Broadcasters Association for reasons that are best not recalled now. More recently TV9 quit the association and we heard of some talks of a possible litigation. So there’s no reason why NBA and NBF can’t combine forces. Call it something else if necessary. Rejig the set of officebearers. But it’s important to have a strong, joint force.

     

    Be competitive. Stop fighting. Let’s stop putting each other’s images on telly. Let’s stop group media entities to participate in a ‘maaro saale ko’ campaign.

     

    We’ve seen what’s happened thanks to all of this. It could only get worse. Serious.

     

    Advertisers have not yet said goodbye, but if they see lower ratings, they could.

     

    Enough said. Have a good weekend.

     

    And this Dassera, Dussehra or however you spell it, let’s kill the (d)evils within us.

     

  • Or now better known as the big boss of the agency that created the Tanishq Ekatvam ad. A freewheeling conversation between AA and Pradyuman Maheshwari

    MxM Live with Amit Akali, Founder & CCO, What’s Your Problem

     

    His agency created the much discussed Tanishq Ekatvam advertising, which was trolled and taunted on the social media. These led to threats against the company’s personnel which finally led to the ad being pulled out. Post that there were reports of one or more Tanishq stores being vandalised and with miscreants forcing the store manager to issue an apology. At the same time, there has been a huge outpouring of love for the brand with people resolving to patronise it more than ever before.

     

    MxM Live spoke with Amit Akali, Founder, MD & CCO What’s Your Problem and CCO, Medulla on the advertising. And whether it would impact the creative process going forward. Akali also spoke about some of the work that his agency has been doing, beyond Tanishq.

     

    His very first video interview after the controversy broke out last week.

     

    Watch. Enjoy. Like.

    This interview was conducted on Sunday, October 18, 2020, and published on October 20.

     

  • If channel-owners don’t end this all-out war, advertisers may pull out and the government will interfere in their content, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Peace or Perish!

     

    [updated with India Today Group quote & Republic TV statement]

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Ask present and past TV audience measurement professionals who or what is pulling down the reputation of their business, the response would be an emphatic: news channels.

     

    TAM, a joint venture of Nielsen and Kantar (then owned by WPP and now majority owned by Bain), lost its measurement contracts from broadcasters, advertisers and agencies thanks essentially to news channels warring against it. Premier news network NDTV took TAM to court over allegations of faulty data, and this hastened the effort to set up the joint industry owned body Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC). Eventually TAM sold its measurement business to BARC.

     

    Like TAM in the past, the BARC team faced turbulent times from the news channels, and in a letter to the BARC chairman Punit Goenka, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) is said to have expressed its reservations about the BARC leadership of the past.

     

    There are murmurs that BARC CEO Sunil Lulla too has experienced some angst from news channels.

     

    The problem is always with ratings. That some of the channels have deep political connections makes matters worse. So every time there is a peeve, news channels flock to the I&B minister for intervention. In the past, matters have also gone to Parliament and there have been committees set up to examine nuances of the business. And if it’s not the law-makers who assert themselves, it’s regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) which intervenes.

     

    Frankly, the government ought not to have role in the business of news television. Except for running its own Doordarshan news channels, its publicity department DAVP which doles out advertising and monitoring objectionable content and addressing the media on issues and make announcements.

     

    But by running to the government often, channel owners have invited the ministers and bureaucracy to step into a territory which they shouldn’t be treading on.

     

    For instance, BARC’s weekly viewership data ensures that advertisers and the agencies make wise media buying decisions. It also helps broadcasters and content-makers better their content, sales and marketing act.

     

    But the ecosystem dominated by broadcasters inflicted on itself the government’s intervention (or interference?) and got BARC to be governed by a set of rules and regulations.

     

    There’s nothing new with what happened on Thursday. It occurred when TAM was around and it’s taken place under the BARC regime. There has been pilferage of information on the placement of set-top boxes, but the machinery is well-oiled to issue alerts when necessary.

     

    That’s what happened when Hansa Research, one of BARC’s vendors on engagement with panel homes, alerted the police about a mess up.

     

    Was Republic named in any written complaint? We don’t know. An FIR shared with MxM has a mention made of the India Today channel. Both Republic and India Today (by way of a report on the site) have presented their points of view.

     

    What we did find last night was various channels shaming Republic TV and founder, editor-in-chief and managing director Arnab Goswami. Newspaper reports today – owned by media companies which also run news channels as well as a few others – have also named Republic and Goswami prominently. The reference to other channels and India Today has been understated or is missing.

     

    So when did it all start? The war of words and ratings began even when Goswami was with Times Now. The channel was doing exceedingly well, on the back of the heated debates that it would air.

     

    But when Goswami quit the Times Network to start Republic, the daggers were pulled out from all directions. All sides are to blame. Times Now had its issues with Goswami for quitting, hiring some ex-staffers and making no bones of the fact that he was taking on his former employer. The others got on to the act the moment Republic shot to #1 in the ratings roster. ‘News without Noise’, became India Today’s credo.

     

    Various attempts were made to isolate Republic, including the rest of the news channels pulling out their watermarks so as to boycott BARC. On its part, Republic too countered the others – and compared its ratings with that of the others. Nothing wrong with it, except that the comparison was accompanied by much bombast. Surefire formula to rile others.

     

    But the war took on a new turn when Goswami launched Republic Bharat. While English news channels are influential and earn fair monies, the real bucks is in Hindi news. Aaj Tak, ABP News, Zee News have been raking in the moolah over the years. While Bharat made its presence felt, it didn’t create much of a dent until the Covid-19 pandemic-led lockdown happened and the Arnab Goswami brand of hyper-aggressive, right of centre journalism took over.

     

    And then came the controversy around actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. The line that Republic Bharat took on the controversy ensured it was numero uno. And not just for one week, but for now many weeks.

     

    Advertisement buying decisions are not taken in a hurry, but buoyed by its success, Republic Bharat has hiked its ad rates.

     

    On Thursday evening, the Mumbai police commissioner named Republic TV based on what appear to be unverified complaints and allegations. Later, on its primetime bulletin, Republic TV showed scans of the FIR naming India Today. The joint commissioner of police is reported on the India Today website stating that while India Today was named in the FIR, neither the accused nor the witnesses supported the claim. “On the contrary, the accused and witnesses are specifically mentioning the names of Republic TV…”

     

    The India Today Group issued a statement late on Friday: “There is a malicious campaign on right now by a few vested interests to drag the name of the India Today Group into the TRP scandal that broke out on October 8, 2020,” adding: “We welcome any probe the police may wish to conduct and are fully confident that we will come out unscathed as we have not acted in any inappropriate manner. What we have right now is nothing but malicious, unsubstantiated allegations by a vested party.”

     

    Republic TV has taken on the Maharashtra government and Police Commssioner Param Bir Singh over the last few months in Sushant Singh Rajput case. Meanwhile, Goswami has threatened to sue Singh.

     

    So what next on this? The news channels business in India is a divided house. There is the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) which comprises most of the big players operating nationally and there’s News Broadcasters Federation (NBF) which is spearheaded by Goswami and Republic. Recently TV9 pulled out of the NBA with the association lodging a complaint with BARC saying that the network had used unfair means to forge ahead on the ratings roster. The network is now back as its member.

     

    Singh was quoted on a channel saying that advertisers may also be called for interrogation. So will Amul managing director R S Sodhi have to make the rounds of the commissioner’s office? Perhaps he will be. Will media agency network bosses Prasanth Kumar of GroupM and Shashi Sinha of IPG Mediabrands also be questioned by the cops? If Sodhi is, surely Kumar and Sinha will be called in.

     

    It suits the government perfectly well to have channels warring each other. But if the police summons advertisers and agency bosses for questioning, there could be trouble. Large, pedigreed advertisers would prefer to stay away from the murky world of news television. Channel owners would do well to smoke the piece pipe.

     

    If warring countries and corporates can get together, surely Arnab Goswami and Rajdeep Sardesai can.

     

    Updates:

     

    Media agency bosses Sam Balsara, Shashi Sinha and Prasanth Kumar have been called to the police station for seeking information. So these may not be summons, but a request from the cops is never for a chat about the weather. There are rumours that names of certain advertisers have also been handed over to the police.

     

    The Republic Media Network has issued a press release: https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/general-news/full-news-release-from-republic-media-network.html. “The Republic Media Network has approached the Honourable Supreme Court of India. We have served notices of our legal action to the Maharashtra Government as well. While we will follow the law, we are determined to seek a legal remedy against this atrocious witchhunt,” the release says.

     

     

    Although Pradyuman Maheshwari is Editor-in-Chief and CEO of MxMIndia, the views here are personal and are not necessarily that of MxMIndia. He can be reached via Twitter at @pmahesh. A version of this has also appeared on The Wire at The ‘TRP Scam’ Could Open the Doors for the Government to Enter the Picture

     

     

  • The two authors, columnists and former A&M honchos discuss Spring: Bouncing Back From Rejection with Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Discussing ‘Spring’ with Ambi Parameswaran & Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    We had already carried a review by Sanjeev Kotnala in his Wednesday column last week. But this was Ambi Parameswaran and it was his Book #10, so we couldn’t not get into a dialogue with him as we’ve done around the release of last two if not three books.

     

    It’s always a pleasure chatting with Ambi, and since he had read the book and he’s an integral part of the MxM family, we also invited Kotnala.

     

    It was an interesting discussion, albeit of just a little over 30 minutes which can’t do justice to a discussion with two ‘maharathis’ of marketing services and business strategy. Kotnala spoke about how it’s essential reading for students and young executives and Ambi discussed about his rejection experience.

     

    Watch. Enjoy. Like… (and I must add: buy the book!)

     

  • The Promoter Director of the Dainik Bhaskar Group in a candid conversation with Pradyuman Maheshwari, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, MxMIndia

    MxM Leadership Series with Girish Agarwaal

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Those who know him would appreciate what a candid conversation with him means. For Girish Agarwaal, Promoter Director of the Dainik Bhaskar Group doesn’t mince words. And is perhaps the Indian newspaper business’s biggest evangelist.

     

    Over the last few months, Agarwaal and his team of over 10,000 people across the country have been working overtime to undo the damage that the Covid-19-led pandemic caused to the newspaper business. And the proof of the pudding is in the eating: Dainik Bhaskar and Divya Bhaskar has had some blockbuster, jumbo editions in the last few weeks.

     

    As part of the MxM India Leadership Series interviews, I had a 23-odd-minute chat with Girish Agarwaal, clearly one of the most influential newspaper owners in the country. When you watch the interview – especially his clarion call to advertisers and media agency folk, you know why he’s like few others.

     

    Watch. Enjoy. Like

     

  • The media agency biggies joined Network Advertising as Executive Directors. Don't miss a conversation they had with Pradyuman Maheshwari, MxMIndia Founder and Editor-in-Chief

    MxM Live with Harish Shriyan & Amit Ray

    By A Correspondent

     

    Harish Shriyan
    Amit Ray

    Media agency captains Harish Shriyan and Amit Ray have a candid conversation with MxMIndia founder and editor-in-chief Pradyuman Maheshwari.

    Shriyan was until earlier this year, Group CEO of the Omnicom Media Group. Prior to that he held leadership positions in MediaCom and has managed the portfolios of global giants like Renault, Nissan, HP, Volkswagen, Beiersdorf, Vivo, Sony Pictures, Johnson & Johnson among others and Indian biggies like Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra, Arvind Mills and Parle Agro. Ray has headed media agency operations at Mudra and Lintas Media Group, among others and worked with multinationals like Unilever and Nestle and Indian corporations like ITC and Reliance Jio. He has been the longest-serving Chairman of the Technical Committee at the MRUC and is a specialist in measurement science. Watch. Enjoy. Like.

     

     

     

  • Subscribe to the MxMIndiaTV YouTube channel to receive an alert on the interview

    MxM Newsmakers: Preeti Reddy, CEO – South Asia, Insights Division, Kantar on BrandZ 2020

    By A Correspondent

     

    Preeti Reddy
    Preeti Reddy

    On Friday, leading media services conglomerate WPP presented the BrandZ report of Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands.

     

    At 6pm today on September 18, Preeti Reddy, CEO – South Asia, Insights Division, Kantar spoke with Pradyuman Maheshwari, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, MxMIndia in an exclusive interview

     

     

     

     

    Here’s the interview:

     

     

  • If you see the dark clouds behind our anniversary emblem, it’s because these have been tough times, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari

    MxMIndia is 9. Delighted

     

    It’s our ninth anniversary. MxMIndia was born on Onam 2011, September 9, to be precise. Committed to prove to the world that it’s possible to conduct oneself in B2B journalism without compromising on integrity. Sans any quid pro quo.

     

    If you see the dark clouds behind our anniversary emblem, it’s because these have been tough times. Very, very tough. The pandemic-led lockdown could’ve virtually killed us. Our revenues were down to 25% of what we were pre-Covid. And as you would know, the economy was in a shambles even before Covid. In fact the lockdown has been a facesaver.

     

    We didn’t retrench anyone. Yes, we did request for some pay cuts, but no job cuts. No furloughs. We used up our reserves in the lockdown period to pay salaries, and rent. We partnered our industry partners through this. We owe it to them. We gave up our office space last month, but only after we figured that there’s no stopping the pandemic scare.

     

    We also started doing video interviews. We didn’t do a webinar a day, but we chose to plough back our energies on content. We introduced new columns. We are proud of the fact that along with core A&M issues, we also look at concerns like disability and media literacy.

     

    But it’s not easy to survive in the mess that prevails (and proliferates). Several times, we have been told that without favourable content, we won’t get any revenues. A few months back, the marketing head of one of India’s largest news television networks told our sales team that the PR head has instructed not to advertise on MxM given that we’ve been critical of its content. Yes, we were actually told this.

     

    It would’ve been easy for us to give in. We didn’t. We’d rather give up on advertising revenues than let our content be compromised. We are very keen on making monies but we are clearly not for sale. We are happy to embrace advertisers to sell our advertising inventory. Not our editorial…

     

    MxM is decidedly not meant for the media professional looking for news on appointments and account announcements. We aren’t into pop analyses asking five people to comment on an issue. Instead we offer commentary from top professionals in the business. And some superior young and discerning folk too.

     

    It’s our ninth anniversary. We wish to thank all the people who’ve been associated with us through this period. My sincere thanks to all our staff, columnists, writers, the industries we deal with, friends in the media, our technology partners and of course our advertisers, our benfactors. The families of all those working with us. And mine.

     

    Our primary allegiance though was and will always be to our readers. They come first.

     

    Here’s wishing all of us the very best, until our tenth.

     

     

    Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Founder, Editor-in-Chief and CEO

    MxMIndia

     

    Mumbai, September 9, 2020

  • #1 yet again, the Republic Media Network MD & editor-in-chief in a freewheeling chat with Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Arnab Goswami Unplugged

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    For the second consecutive week, Republic Bharat has been the numero uno Hindi news channel as per data provided by BARC. In Week 33 – which is August 15 to 21, 2020, Republic Bharat is ahead of all other Hindi news channels in terms of weekly impressions in the overall, rural and urban segments as per info on the BARC website (see chart below).

     

    Source: BARC India. Week 33: Aug 15-21, 2020. HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals

    The Republic business team also furnished us with data which highlights its performance given some slicing of demographics and we’ve requested BARC to ratify it. If and when we get the approval, we will carry it here.

     

     

    While the reason for this red hot interview was the success of Republic Bharat in the ratings roster and hence the emergence of Republic as the #1 news network in these two key languages, when you are chatting with an Arnab Goswami, you can’t not stray into issues like his journalism, the noise factor on his shows, charges of his BJP bias, etc etc.

     

    So did we do an Arnab on Arnab? No, we didn’t. We let him speak. We didn’t interject. No change in body language to put him on the defensive. This interview was done in a flash. We had to set up the Zoom call in less than five minutes. So we weren’t armed with specific instances when he has stretched himself on telly. So if were to judge it ourselves, yes, we could’ve have been tougher on him. Grilled him.

     

    But, then, we aren’t Arnab Goswami. MxMIndia editor-in-chief Pradyuman Maheshwari interviewed him the way he normally conducts other interviews. Asked him the relevant questions, joked around a bit.

     

    It’s not an Arnab on Arnab. It’s an MxM with Arnab. And Arnab let Pradyuman speak. Ha ha. Watch. Enjoy. Like.

     

    If you’d like to share this others, you can share this link. Or if you want to only share the Youtube link, please take this: http://bit.ly/mxmwitharnab

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • In the fifth episode of the MxM Live Leadership Series, TV9 CEO Barun Das speaks on how it’s incorrect to make allegations on rigging ratings

    MxM Live: TV9 CEO Barun Das responds to naysayers

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Over the last few weeks, there have been rumblings in the news broadcast world given the sudden rise of Hindi news channel of TV9 Bharatvarsh. The network’s CEO Barun Das spoke with Pradyuman Maheshwari, Editor-in-Chief, MxMIndia on specific allegations levelled by rivals.

     

    Watch the video for more

     

    Das is an alumnus of IIT Madras, IIM Calcutta and the London School of Economics and has over 25 years of experience in the media sector, both in India and abroad.

     

    His last corporate assignment was with Zee News Ltd (now Zee Media Corporation Ltd) as its CEO where he held that position for five years. Prior to this, he held leadership positions at MCCS (now ABP Network), the India Today Group, ABP etc. He has worked as Head of International Business at Astro All Asia, Networks Plc. Kuala Lumpur. After his stint in Zee, Das turned an entrepreneur and build his start up focusing on the convergence of technology, content and healthcare.

     

     

  • A freewheeling chat with Piyush Pandey, Sukesh Nayak, Kainaz Karmakar and Harshad Rajadhyaksha

    MxMLive with Creative Leadership at Ogilvy Mumbai

     

     

    Ogilvy Mumbai bagged the accolade of being the ‘Most Creative Agency of the Decade’ amongst Indian agencies last week (end-June 2020). The recognition assumed significance as it was announced by Cannes Lions, no less. Additionally, ‘Savlon Healthy Hands Chalk Sticks’ (which won Ogilvy’s first Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix besides seven Lions) featured amidst the ‘Iconic Work’ in this report.

     

    To discuss the Ogilvy India way of doing advertising, we spoke with Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman India & Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy, and Chief Creative Officers Sukesh Nayak, Kainaz Karmakar and Harshad Rajadhyaksha. The discussion was moderated for MxMIndia by Pradyuman Maheshwari.

     

  • A freewheeling chat with Partho Dasgupta, the former big boss of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) and now a management consultant

    Reminiscing the BARC set-up days

    Partho Dasgupta: Screengrab from Video

     

     

     

     

     

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Over the last five-odd years MxMIndia would’ve done over a hundred-odd stories on television audience measurement and central to all of them was Partho Dasgupta, former CEO of BARC India.

     

    Dasgupta joined BARC in June 2013 and in November last year handed over operations to his friend and former colleague, Sunil Lulla.

     

    He is now using his experience and learnings to various places in the world, setting up BARC-like entities as an expert. He is also consulting broadcast and new media companies as a management consultant. And overseeing performance management. He of course continues to be President of the Advertising Club.

     

    Earlier this week, we interviewed Sunil Lulla, CEO, BARC India on the eve of its fifth anniversary. We now speak with Partho Dasgupta, the former CEO of BARC India and get him to reminisce the days before operations began on April 29, 2015.