MxMIndia

Tag: TRAI

  • The introduction of a telecom regulatory regime for OTT service providers would be an act of over-regulation, notes IAMAI

    Demands for imposing revenue share by OTTs smack of ‘rent-seeking’: IAMAI

    By Our Staff

     

    The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has in its counter comments submitted to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on the consultation paper ‘Regulatory Mechanism for Over-The-Top (OTT) Communication Services, and Selective Banning of OTT Services’ said that demands for imposing revenue sharing mechanisms between internet companies and telecom service providers (TSPs) smack of rent-seeking.

     

    IAMAI also flagged demands made by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). The COAI has called for regulatory intervention to ensure “largest traffic originators” pay a ‘fair share charge’ to telecom companies to account for capital investments made by the latter to “accommodate surging data traffic”. Similarly, ICRIER has called for the imposition of a ‘Broadband Infrastructure Levy’ to be applied at 3% of India operations of “significant” OTT service providers based on “specialised contracts” between service providers and network operators.

     

    According to IAMAI members, by requiring “largest” OTT service providers to pay TSPs for data used by consumers, TSPs would effectively be charging twice for the same service – as they already charge consumers for data. In any case, “surging data traffic” is merely data consumed by consumers that they have already purchased from telecom companies. Therefore, the “strain” on infrastructure of TSPs occurs when they sell data to consumers beyond their infrastructural capacity – a fact that has been conveniently ignored.

     

    Opposing demands to bring OTT service providers under regulations typically reserved for telecom companies, IAMAI highlighted that such demands fail to recognise that telecom service providers are subject to a special regulatory and licensing regime by virtue of the control that they exercise over valuable national resources such as spectrum. Therefore, the introduction of a telecom regulatory regime for OTT service providers would be an act of over-regulation.

     

    Over-the-top service providers have provided high quality content for little-to-no cost to users. This in turn has spurred the rapid growth of data consumption and economic activity in India. Mandating revenue-sharing mechanisms between OTTs and TSPs would effectively reverse this phenomenon by disincentivising growth for OTT based businesses, for whom a volume-based revenue sharing mechanism would be a glass ceiling for continuing growth and may prove to be an entry barrier for startups.

     

  • There is little doubt in my mind that IPL's streaming viewership will outnumber that on linear television this year, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Not at all Quiet on the OTT Front

     

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Shailesh KapoorOver the last three years, it became abundantly clear that streaming (or OTT, as it’s called in India) is the medium of the future in this country, even as other media will continue to co-exist. Linear television always had the numbers. But thanks to a mix of factors, ranging from the pandemic, to ever-reducing data costs, to a nosey TRAI, linear television has barely managed to stay afloat. Pressure on revenues has been felt across the board, and that’s never a good sign.

     

    Streaming itself is trying to find its sweet spot. Is it a premium paid (SVOD) medium, as all the promotions of well-mounted web-series suggest? Or is it a medium for the ‘masses’, where free (AVOD) content is going to dictate the future? The jury has been out. And the last few weeks have seen their share of action on this front.

     

    Perhaps the biggest shift in the dynamic has been around the IPL. The 16th edition of the league, which starts March 31, will stream free on JioCinema. That’s a polar opposite to how it was thus far: IPL was a subscription (and hence, revenue) driver for Disney+ Hotstar, not just in India but at a global level too.

     

    Then, there’s the talk of the largest AVOD player in India outside of YouTube, i.e., MX Player, being up for sale. The content side is going through its continuous evolution. For example, price points for acquiring streaming licences to theatrical releases have not stabilised yet.

     

    All these are healthy signs, one would think. A growing category is bound to see new ideas, new strategies, and new alignments. And some of these may shape the future of the category. For example, there is little doubt in my mind that IPL’s streaming viewership will outnumber that on linear television this year.

     

    How did linear television find itself in this situation is a matter of another debate. But it should not have, because it’s still the staple, go-to medium for millions of Indian families every night. But the only way you can fight technology is by building a precise and relevant narrative. The linear TV industry has failed to do that for itself.

     

    Amidst all the positive action, the talk of censorship of streaming content has started again. This week, the I&B minister advocated censoring “vulgarity”. The genesis of this not-so-veiled threat lies in a Delhi High Court judgment will handling a complaint on TVF’s show College Romance. The state and the judiciary playing moral police can be a major irritant in a category that’s otherwise amid a period of high activity and growth.

     

    All eyes, hence, are on India’s streaming story, in its second phase, where the category seeks stabilization and re-alignments. And the upcoming IPL will set the ball rolling on that front.

     

  • Here's Shailesh Kapoor's wishlist for related to the Indian M&E industry that I’m hoping to see, some of them only wishfully so, in the new year

    From RRR to TRAI… Five Wishes From 2023

     

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Shailesh KapoorIt’s a new year, and that’s a legit reason to be excited about what one can expect in the year ahead. Here are five things, in no particular order, related to the Indian M&E industry that I’m hoping to see, some of them only wishfully so, in the new year.

     

    1. RRR at the Oscars

    An Indian film being nominated in the main Best Picture category at the Academy Awards is an exciting thought. It’s never happened before, and there’s more than a decent chance that RRR may be the first. The film also hopes to be nominated in some other categories, especially Best Original Song (Naatu Naatu). I’m eagerly looking forward to January 24, when the nominations will be announced.

     

    2. Box-office revival of Hindi cinema

    2022 has been a tumultuous year for Hindi cinema at the box-office, with collections dropping by almost 30% compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019. Other major Indian languages, especially the South ones, have grown or stayed stable, and the overall India box-office has done quite well in 2022, which is only the second year after 2019 to have grossed more than ₹10,000 crore across languages put together. If Hindi cinema is back on its feet in 2023, starting with Pathaan in January, it is almost certain that 2023 will be the biggest-ever year for the Indian box-office.

     

    3. Better non-scripted content

    After all the exciting developments in the decade of 2000-2009, which saw the import of several international formats and creation of a few homegrown ones, non-scripted content on Indian television, and now streaming, has lost its innovative streak. Even the true crime genre, that saw Crime Patrol, and later Savdhaan India, create a category of their own, is languishing. Shark Tank India (Sony) and Indian Predator (Netflix) have come as beacons of hope. But they stand out more as aberrations, because the streamers are obsessed with fiction, and television is happy launching new seasons of their long-running international formats. It won’t be an over-statement to say that along with comedy, non-scripted content is currently the most under-served category in mainstream entertainment in India. Hope 2023 changes that, at least to some extent.

     

    4. Reboot of Indian television news

    I’m now entering wishful territory, by hoping that 2023 can see rejuvenation of Indian TV news. It’s not a realistic wish given the timing of the recent change-of-ownership at NDTV. Indian television news has slowly but surely acquired a spoof-ish imagery, and even though mass audiences continue to watch it, that’s more a testimony to the reach of television in India, than the quality of the content our news channels are dishing out. One would have used the phrase ‘trash television’ for it, but Indian TV news content is often purposefully idiotic or divisive. The good old days of UFOs lifting cows up from the fields suddenly seem quite acceptable, when you compare it to the communal ideas being spread through the news on primetime every night. While digital news platforms attempt to make a difference, they currently don’t have the reach and the budgets to make the larger national impact.

     

    5. TRAI exits the television business

    This is that joke wish, the kind that a media website can run as a Fool’s Day headline. It’s not going to happen (at least not in 2023), but nothing will make me, and the entire television industry, happier than seeing TRAI’s incessant meddling, which has damaged the business in more ways than one can imagine, stop in 2023.

     

  • 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.

     

  • The proposed restraints will result in imposing control on normal business activities, worries Indrani Sen

    Do we really need rules to control cross-media ownership?

     

     

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Indrani SenAlmost four months back on March 12, 2022, TRAI released consultation papers on media ownership, particularly related to cross-media ownership in India. This is not the first time that TRAI has raised the issue. However, after a comment made by the I&B Ministry, all the industry media bodies and associations have responded indicating unequivocally that there is enough plurality in the ownership of media in the Indian market and there is no need to be concerned about making regulations related to cross-media ownership.

     

    The western world has been grappling with the advantages and disadvantages of cross-media ownership over the last few decades. The seeds of cross-media ownership were probably sown during the post second world years during the 1950s when the American policy-makers had realised that control of world media can help to make America a superpower and encouraged transnational expansion of US media.  Since the 1980s, the business practices as well as the economic environment in the world began to change dramatically across industries with companies either merging or taking over other companies operating in the similar field and media industries also followed suit. However, American domestic media saw a dramatic change in cross-media ownership as the media ownership pattern changed dramatically due to mergers and take overs.

     

    “In the United States as of 1985, 90 per cent of all media companies were owned by 50 different companies. Through acquisitions of smaller companies by larger ones, 90 percent of media companies are now concentrated under the ownership of just five corporations: Comcast, Time Warner, The Walt Disney Company, News Corp and National Amusements.” (Source: https://www.lawyersnjurists.com/article/effect-of-cross-media-ownership/)

     

    In India, though the owners of Times of India, India Today, Hindustan Times, as well as some regional print media owners have cross-media ownerships, the magnitude of their holdings are far away from reaching any alarming stage or creating an environment of controlled messages influencing public opinions. In recent years cross-media holdings in India have created a free and competitive environment. The advocates for freedom of speech need not worry about control of public opinion due to cross-ownership ownership in India, particularly when under the present Government we seem to have indirect controls over the content of news media. The media associations’ claim that the plurality in media ownership is absolutely correct.

     

    If we examine the advantages and the disadvantages of cross-media ownership, then we find that the advantages probably out weigh the disadvantages in a country like India where media penetrations across traditional as well as new media have still huge scope of growth. The biggest advantage of cross media ownership is reduced cost which allows the media owner either to pass on the benefit to the consumers or to invest in further expansion of their media business and in the process if they also increase their profitability that should be excused as a normal part of doing any business. The creation of synergy is another important advantage of cross media ownership resulting in better products at reduced costs. The expansion of distribution network is another huge advantage along with increase in business security. As far disadvantages are concerned, the misuse of media power, the concern that one particular voice may become too powerful if distributed through different media vehicles across different media segments appears to be the main issue against cross media ownership.

     

    The four industry bodies, the IBDF, NBDA, INS, and AROI, representing TV broadcasting, print media, and FM radio companies, have strongly made the following points:

    1. There is no need for controlling cross-media ownership as there is enough plurality of ownership in Indian M&E market.

    2. There is no requirement for a common mechanism to monitor ownership of print, television, radio, or other Internet-based news media as already different mechanisms exist in different media sectors for monitoring editorial content, etc.

     

    While teaching the subject Economics of Media Business, I give examples of various vertical, horizontal and diagonal integrations done by different media houses in India. The proposed restraint on cross-media holdings will result in imposing control on the normal business activities in the media industry and discriminate against them in comparison with other industries are allowed do all three types of integrations. Such constraints would also violate the constitutional rights of the media houses from transmitting information and would hamper the constitutional rights of citizens to receive information under Article 19(1)(a).

     

    Finally, as the telecom companies have now become the biggest distributor of news and consumers are creating their own news/ circulating fake news on social media portals using the facilities offered by the telecom companies, it is fair to have a parity between the current rules and regulations governing media industry and the telecom industry and the TRAI should review the same before imposing new controls on traditional and digital media industries.

     

  • Hope some common sense prevails, and trigger-happy authorities stay away from shooting at will, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Shailesh Kapoor: Whose Ratings Are They, Anyway?

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    The last few weeks have seen eruption of a fresh debate around television ratings. Before the formation of BARC India, ratings-related controversies in the TAM era were frequent, and different broadcasters, at different times, expressed their discontentment privately and publically, with some like NDTV even taking the legal route. When the currency shifted to BARC India in 2015, these debates expectedly became less frequent. The key difference, of course, was that BARC India is an industry body, and not a private organisation like TAM.

     

    For the last five years, despite stray voices and uncalled-for government interference, there has been an overall sense of calm around TV ratings in India. But trust 2020 to challenge the status quo. One concern after the other, the ratings system has come under the scanner again in recent weeks.

     

    It started with BARC India’s decision to use an algorithm to remove the impact of landing pages on viewership. This evidently-controversial decision has not gone down well with several news broadcasters. Even as we await the unfolding of this contentious piece, the Peoplemeter-tampering controversy came to the fore, wherein the Mumbai police charged certain news channels, most noticeably the Republic TV network, of breach.

     

    In a large, pan-India panel that’s being managed manually at the last mile, some Peoplemeter homes being compromised is not such a surprising development. It’s bound to happen once in a while, and a swift and decisive response it all that such incidents needs, on behalf of BARC India.

     

    But such incidents bring the topic up in the media, and we know that questioning voices don’t worry much about facts and details anymore. By suspending channel-level ratings for the news genre, BARC India has, in effect, admitted there’s a need to get things in order. And that can, arguably, be called a constructive decision.

     

    t the events of the last two months have worked as a perfect trigger for the ever-eager I&B ministry and TRAI to step in. Last week, the ministry constituted a four-member committee to review the existing guidelines on television ratings agencies in India.

     

    The government’s interference in the television industry can be exasperating for any sane mind that has the industry’s best interest at heart. Under the excuse of protecting consumer interest, TRAI has interfered repeatedly by setting the price points and guidelines regarding pay TV subscription. Why TV industry even comes under TRAI is a larger question in the first place. But even if one ignores that by seeing TRAI and the I&B ministry or any other such body as a generic entity called the Government of India, the interference is a blatant violation of the principles on which a free market operates. Why are cinema and live event ticket prices not regulated? I hope I’m not giving them more ideas to widen their interference net, but the Government could have done well to stay away from areas it has no business of being a part of. But that ain’t happening anytime soon. In fact, the latest development, that online news portals and the OTT category will come under the I&B ministry, is a new cause of concern.

     

    The ratings committee has two months to put up its recommendations. Irrespective of how good a job they do of it, the direction in which this discourse is going is deeply problematic. It’s been a tough year for all industries, and television broadcasting is no exception. Hope some common sense prevails, and trigger-happy authorities stay away from shooting at will. Else, 2021 could spell some more trouble for the business. Trouble that, unlike the pandemic, is eminently avoidable.

     

     

  • It’s time the ecosystem doesn't succumb to government pressure, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari

    Comment: Government must not interfere in TV measurement!

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    MxMIndia has been consistent on its position that the government mustn’t have any role in the television ratings process. We wrote this in 2018, and earlier in 2016 and perhaps a few more times. That the government would appoint a committee to review guidelines on television rating agencies in India, was known. Earlier this year,  on the eve of BARC’s fifth anniversary (https://www.mxmindia.com/2020/04/on-eve-of-barcs-5th-birthday-trai-issues-recommendations-on-tv-audience-measurement/), TRAI issued recommendations on the way ratings should happen.

     

    So while we were appalled when on Wednesday, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting constituted a committee to review guidelines on television rating agencies in India notified by it in 2014, we weren’t surprised. We thought that in the spirit of ‘Ease of Doing Business’, the government wouldn’t interfere. That we guess was asking for too much. It’s the government after all.

     

    It’s time the media ecosystem – broadcasters, advertisers and media agencies – must ask the government to not interfere.

     

    While a review of how BARC is performing is good to do, and what measurement should be like is a must and must be evaluated often enough, did it require the MIB to do it? Couldn’t the joint owners of broadcasters, advertisers and advertising agencies have conducted this? After all, they run businesses of over crores of rupees and are mostly fair in their decision-making. Mostly fair, because we’ve seen some regressive acts in the past. It may be noted that the BARC Board – the meetings of which happen very regularly – is constituted of members of all stakeholders.

     

    But back to our concern that the government shouldn’t be getting involved in measurement. As always, vested interests have evidently got onto the act and prevailed upon the government to do this.

     

    It appears that the genesis of the problem is the unity (or lack of it) amongst and within the three constituents. It is incorrect to let the government interfere. In fact, I may add here that the government’s intervention is a slap in the face of the stakeholders.

     

    The government-appointed TRAI should not have any role in the television audience measurement. Just as it doesn’t have any role in print, radio and internet audience measurement. There is some bizarre view that the reason why the government is involved is because its ads buying arm – the DAVP – loses monies because of incorrect measurement. So what about print which also earns its largesse? The government is scared of the big print players and isn’t able to bully them the way they are able to control the TVwallahs.

     

    The data that is thrown up by measurement is used by advertisers (and hence ad agencies) to decide on advertising and by broadcasters to aid its content and distribution. And since successive governments are aware that the media ecosystem is divided and people love to pull down others, it takes advantage of the situation. Look at print: even though an HT may hate Times, a Dainik Bhaskar may take on Dainik Jagran or Rajasthan Patrika, all rivals are almost always on one page when it comes to warding off government influences.

     

    Frankly, if I am advertiser, I can decide on the criteria for advertising on a certain channel. It could be ratings, it could the colour of the CEO’s shirt or saree, it could be whatever. Why should anyone else decide what the ratings should be. Will the government ask HUL, Amul, Dream11 to give reasons why it is paying XYZ crore rupees to Channel X or Y for its ads? Will the government ask Media Agency ABC why it is suggesting Channel V or W for its advertising. That’s a contract between the advertiser and the agency… Aap Inke Hain Kaun?

     

    Also, there can be multiple ratings agencies that can co-exist. Competition is always good to have, but measurement is an expensive exercise to conduct, and someone has to pay for it. From what I understand, the downturn has already impacted the subscription monies of BARC. It’s alright to talk of the need for competition, but one must remember that it doesn’t come free. That is if you want a quality measurement exercise.

     

    Bottomline: Broadcasters, advertisers and advertising agencies need to do some tough talking with the government. BARC must not toe the government’s line. BARC must not subject itself to the government’s demands.

     

    If BARC doesn’t do its job properly, its joint owners and subscribers will stop paying for its services. That by itself will ensure that it will provide good service. If a channel feels aggrieved, it can petition the association it is a part of to advise/tell/order BARC.

     

    Simple. Hai na? Time for the ecosystem to flex its muscles. And say: Hum Aapke Hai Kaun? And Kyun?

     

    This is the communique from the Press Information Bureau website:

     

    Ministry of I&B constitutes committee to review Guidelines on Television Rating Agencies in India

    Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has today constituted a committee to review “Guidelines on Television Rating Agencies in India” notified by the Ministry in 2014.

    The present guidelines issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on Television Rating Agencies in India were notified after detailed deliberations by the Parliamentary Committee, Committee on Television Rating Points (TRP) constituted by the MIB and recommendations of Telecom Regulatory Authority etc.

    It has been found, based on the operation of the guidelines for a few years, that there is need to have a fresh look on the guidelines particularly keeping in view the recent recommendations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), technological advancements / interventions to address the system and further strengthening of the procedures for a credible and transparent rating system.

    A committee has been hereby constituted to study different aspects of the television rating system in India as they have evolved over a period of time.  The Committee shall carry out an appraisal of the existing system; examine TRAI recommendations notified from time to time, overall industry scenario and addressing the needs of the stakeholders and make recommendations for robust, transparent and accountable rating system through changes, if any, in the existing guidelines.

     

    The composition of the Committee shall be as under:-

    i)             Shri Shashi S. Vempati, CEO, Prasar Bharti                 …. Chairman

    ii)            Dr Shalabh, Professor of Statistics,

    Department of Mathematics and Statistics,

    IIT Kanpur                                                                           ….Member

    iii)           Dr. Rajkumar Upadhyay, Executive Director,

    C-DOT                                                                                  ….Member

    iv)           Professor Pulak Ghosh, Decision Sciences

    Centre for Public Policy (CPP)                                         ….Member

     

    The Terms of Reference for the Committee shall be as under:

    a. Study past recommendations made by various forums on the subject of television rating systems in India and matter incidental thereto;

    b. Study recent recommendations of Telecom Regulatory Authority on the subject;

    c. Suggest steps for enhancing competition in the sector;

    d. Review of the presently notified guidelines to see if the intended purpose(s) of issuing the guidelines have stood the test of time and has met needs of various stakeholders involve The lacunae, if any, shall be specially addressed by the Committee;

    e. Any issues related or incidental to the subject;

    f. To make recommendations on way forward for robust, transparent and accountable rating system in India; and

    g. Any other related issues assigned by MIB from time to time.

     

    The Committee can invite any expert as a special invitee. The Committee will submit its report to the Minister for Information & Broadcasting within two months.

     

  • IAMAI has expressed its gratitude to TRAI for upholding the association’s longstanding position that digital services are not similar to conventional telecom services or even comparable to them in terms of regulating them

    TRAI’s OTT recommendations uphold vision of Digital India: IAMAI

    By A Correspondent

     

    The OTT regulation recommendations by TRAI is a progressive judgment that upholds the Digital India vision of the government and will help achieve the vision of the National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP) as envisaged by the Ministry of Telecommunications, states the Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI] while welcoming the recommendations by the Telecom Regulatory authority of India (TRAI) suggesting no regulatory intervention on digital services based on data services by telecom operators, referred to as Over The Top (OTT) services.

     

    Notes a statement: “IAMAI expresses gratitude to TRAI for upholding the Association’s longstanding position that digital services are not similar to conventional telecom services or even comparable to them in terms of regulating them. TRAI has also acknowledged the fact that the argument for economic loss does not hold given digital services lead to added revenues for telecom services in terms of data consumption. The decision to allow market forces to deal with the economic aspects of the popularity of OTT services is a landmark decision that augurs well for the fast-emerging digital services sector in India.

     

    TRAI has also satisfactorily addressed the concerns of security and privacy by giving due recognition to the ongoing developments and has categorically refuted any need for regulatory intervention in this regard. IAMAI had highlighted in its submission that the various new regulatory provisions like Personal Data Protection Bill adequately address all such concerns and hence no further interventions were required.

     

    On the overall issue of Regulation of OTT services, TRAI recognizes the various global development taking place and suggests putting matters on hold till more clarity emerges. IAMAI reiterates that the digital services under consideration are suitably regulated by the Information Technology Act or the forthcoming Data Protection framework or cybersecurity provisions being discussed. The sector is as well-regulated as any telecom service and any future needs can be adequately addressed without stifling its development.

     

    IAMAI expresses optimism that the Indian digital sector will respond positively to these recommendations that allows the sector to evolve unfettered.

     

     

  • After the 7-yr delay, TRAI could’ve waited for normalcy to return before enforcing the cap, writes Indrani Sen

    12 minute ad cap may turn to 12 death nails for FTA channels

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    The right thing at a wrong time is a wrong thing.

    Taking liberty with the words of Charles Dickens, one can say this is not the best of times; this is probably the worst of times in the twenty-first century when we are fighting with the deadly Coronavirus, the total number of COVID 19 positive cases and death caused by the pandemic are going up every day in India, the Indian economy is in recession and Media & Advertising Industry has just seen a huge drop of 65% in advertising revenue in Q2 of 2020 (Source: Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2020 Midyear Review). What a time for TRAI to press for the 12% ad cap on Television by pushing for a hearing of the case at the Delhi High Court!

     

    Dust has not yet settled on NTO 2.0. Indian TV Industry and the Regulating body have been discussing the possible implications of implementation of NTO2.0 over the last few months. It has come as a rude shock to the TV industry that TRAI has pushed the Delhi High Court for an early hearing of the case on 12 min cap per hour on television advertising. The final hearing has now been fixed on 28th September, 2020. If Indian television industry is forced to accept the 12% ad cap during this difficult time, then many TV channels, particularly the free to air channels and news channels may be forced to close their business.

     

    Let us take a quick look at the effect of the pandemic on TV advertising. The Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2020 Midyear Review released last week has shown that against a 65% loss of total advertising in Q2 2020, loss of TV advertising was 61%. The chart below shows the TV advertising market in April, May, June TV advertising revenue over last 3 years. Across all categories, advertisers have spent less on TV during the first half of the year with 25% of the regular advertisers not spending on TV advertising. Even after the boosting of as spend in the second half of the year due to the festive season, IPL, big ticket properties on TV like Big Boss, KFC, the TV industry is expected to end the year 2020 with 12% to 17% de-growth.

     

    Source: Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2020 Midyear Review

     

    Based on consumer complaints in 2012, the TRAI first announced the regulation on 12% Ad cap in 2013. I wrote an article on 12th October, 2015 here comparing the systems of regulations on TV advertising across various countries (https://www.mxmindia.com/2015/10/mediasense-by-indrani-sen-to-cap-it-all/) and requesting TRAI to look beyond the regulatory system of UK to other countries across the world. Since 2015, some of the countries cited as example in my article, have changed their own regulatory frame works and have made it more user friendly for the TV channels. For example in Europe instead of 20% of advertising in every hour, it has been relaxed to overall 20% advertising between 7.00 to 23.00 hours with broadcasters’ own promotions, sponsors’ announcements and product placements not counting under the 20% stipulated time.

     

    As per the last FICCI EY report we had 918 TV channels in 2019 of which 65% were free to air channels.  Out of the registered TV channels in India 386 (42%) are news channels of which many are in the FTA category. These channels depend solely on advertising revenue and will be really badly hit if the 12% ad cap per hour is imposed at this unprecedented time. The eco system of Doordarshan’s Free Dish will also be affected in the process and the viewers will end up getting a raw deal in terms of the channels available on the Free Dish.

     

    It is obvious that it is not possible to attract advertising for the repeat shows after 12 midnight till 6am in the morning when the country goes to sleep. Many TV channels have already petitioned for changing the ad cap per hour to an overall ad cap per day. By relaxing the 12 min per hour cap to 12 minute overall cap during 24 hours, TRAI can allow the TV channels the flexibility to distribute the total commercial time of 288 minute per day in a more profitable manner. Alternatively, TRAI’s purpose of providing better content to the consumers would be self defeating as consumers will get less variety of content with many FTA channels going off the air or will have to pay additional cost for viewing better content with more established GEC channels introducing more ‘pay & view’ content.

     

    Finally, there is a time for taking all actions. If a right action is taken at a wrong time, then it can become a wrong action. After procrastination of 7 years, TRAI can surely wait for normalcy to return to our economy at large and the media and advertising industry in particular before enforcing the proposed ad cap on TV advertising.

     

     

  • Via Twitter, I can watch bits of TV, read a selection of articles, interact with writers and get specialist news, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Traditional news, anyone?

     

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    This is based purely on anecdotal evidence. I don’t even know if anyone has researched these patterns yet, since some of these changes have happened since the Covid-19 lockdowns.

     

    Newspapers have not been delivered uniformly across the country. So, there is a fall in circulation and therefore readership. (This has had another terrible effect on the employees.) Many newspapers, because of the fall in revenue, have retreated behind paywalls. Television has also been affected by revenue losses and have reduced staff. The coverage of the virus itself has not helped. So several TV channels appear to have cemented themselves even further into the mire of government and party propaganda.

     

    Social media however is booming, in the sense of public attention and engagement, not revenue. The reasons are obvious: nothing else to do, even as we are now in the partial lockdown and total confusion stage.

     

    If newspapers do not get delivered and then want you to pay online for access to the best articles, then most readers will stay away. If they have subscribed to the physical form of the newspaper, regardless of whether it is delivered or not, they are wary of paying twice for something. So those readers are lost.

     

    Most newspaper readers, especially in English, are older so the idea of paywalls is double anathema. Some banks, like ICICI, send PDF format newspapers to their customers. However downloading this massive file and then reading it is again somewhat troublesome.

     

    And what newspaper managements have evidently not factored in is the enormous amount of information, fake and real, that is circulated via Whatsapp for free. All day, people send each other a wide variety of information and thus, willy-nilly, you get a summary of what’s happening around the world. The use of Whatsapp amongst older generations in India is worthy of a study of its own.

     

    Then there’s TV subscription. I am sure TRAI meant well when they asked us to choose our own packages. But the end, the result was that many people realised the amount of rubbish that they had subscribed to. In the new system, you realise that even free-to-air channels just take up too much mind space. And this leads you to narrow your choices to what you believe in. Thus, the system allows or encourages you – perhaps not intentionally – to slip into your own ideological bubble.

     

    The climate has ensured that some “news” channels have got even screechier and more propagandist, pushing the government line far better than any government agency. The removal of the smorgasbord of options suggests that a vast number of TV viewers watch only those news presentations that they agree with. I hear from friends that even NDTV 24×7, always seen as balanced compared its rivals, has become more pro-government than before.

     

    Since the schedule for TV news remains the primetime screaming matches, that leaves reporters who work for these channels on the backfoot. They may do great work but that is lost in the abusive entertainment of the evening bouts. The fact that a retired army general can use choice Hindi abuses on Republic TV’s Hindi channel and people are just amused gives you a clue as to how much Indian society has changed. There was a time when Sushma Swaraj, as I&B minister, objected to Doordarshan newsreaders wearing sleeveless sari blouses! O tempora et cetera!

     

    As an aside, there is therefore a building ideological divide between those who read and those who only watch these TV “debates”. Without a range of news, people get even more set in their ways.

     

    And then, social media. I can spend the day on Twitter (and I have to confess, sometimes I have spent all day there) and find out what’s happening all over the world in “real time” as they say. I can watch bits of TV, read a selection of articles, interact with the writers themselves, and depending on who I follow, get specialist news. This makes all other forms of news almost redundant. I do read a couple of newspapers in the physical form. In my neck of the words, they only stopped for about a month.

     

    Webinars, podcasts, Youtube videos, the future is already with us. And there’s traditional media, stuck in the past.

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. Her views here are personal

  • Coming up: a win-win proposition for viewers as well as channel owners in the post Covid-19 scenario, writes Indrani Sen

    The Silent Coup by Prasar Bharati

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    In February 2019, post TRAI’s NTO, big broadcasters had pulled out their Hindi mass entertainment channels from DD Free Dish which subsequently led to loss of viewership, weekly GRPs and ad revenue for those channels. The four big broadcasters, who submitted fresh bid invitation for vacant MPEG-2 slots by Prasar Bharati and won the e-auction held on June 2, 2020, must be sighing in relief now after getting five channels back on DD Free Dish. With effect from June 10, 2020, DD Dish TV subscribers would be able to view Star Utsav, Sony Pal, Zee Anmol, Colors Rishtey and Zee Anmol Cinema. It is definitely a win-win proposition for viewers as well as the channel owners in the post Covid-19 scenario.

     

    Considering that these channels were earlier earning on an average 100 times more that the average carriage fee of Rs 6 to 8 crore paid per annum to DD Free Dish and most of them lost 50% + of their ad revenue after pulling out from DD Free Dish, it is no wonder that they have all boarded back the DD Free Dish Band wagon at the first available opportunity. The five channels are in dire need of restoring their ad revenues in the post-Lockdown stage and cannot do without the viewership numbers which DD’s free-to-air platform promises to add. It is a silent coup by Prasar Bharati for making DD Free Dish an essential part for the survival and growth of these private channels.

     

    In most of the statistical analyses of subscribers of DTH providers, DD Free Dish is not included which makes the advertising and media Industry forget about its existence. While Doordarshan does not have the built in mechanism to measure the growth of DD Free Dish connections, estimates available from government sources as well as private consultancy firms unanimously agree that DD Free Dish is the leading DTH service provider in India.

     

    On June 23, 2019 at a programme to launch distribution of DD Free Dish TV set top boxes in Kashmir, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar claimed that (https://www.indiantelevision.com/dth/dth-operator/dd-free-dish-has-35-crore-subscribers-prakash-javadekar-190623) Doordarshan was the biggest DTH service provider in India with 3.5 crore (35 million) subscribers of DD Free Dish.  He further claimed that there are total 5.5 crore (55 million) DTH connections in India. The 2019 FICCI-EY report estimated 30 million subscribers for DD Free Dish and predicted that it would cross the 50 million mark in near future.

     

    It is evident from the activity related to DD Free Dish on various private e-commerce sites that their business is doing well. From the sale of DD Free Dish set-top boxes on Amazon (https://www.amazon.in/STC-DD-free-Dish-Set-Top/dp/B07FNKDGGC ) to installation of DD Free antenna on Indiamart (https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/d-d-free-dish-antenna-installation-5874029873.html) to sale of remote  on Flipkart (https://www.flipkart.com/mase-remote-dd-free-dish-controller/p/itmfdcbspgtjqmgg) , e-commerce sites are doing brisk business due to the popularity of the DD Free Dish.

     

    DD Free Dish is available in Ku-Band on GSAT-15 (at 93.5°E). It has been upgraded from time to time. The number of channels available increased from 80 to 104 in 2019, of which 26 channels are reserved for Doordarshan. Currently 104 SDTV channels along with 40 radio channels of AIR are available to the subscribers. DD Free Dish has been the greatest contribution which Prasar Bharati has made to broadcasting in India since the satellite TV’s invasion from the sky and privatisation of TV channels. If the set top box for DD Free Dish can be made technically enabled to receive WiFi signals then a new vista of media consumption will open to the vast audiences belonging to  “Bharat”.

     

     

  • Going forward, it will be beneficial to plan for TV and Digital by the same media agency, writes Indrani Sen evaluating the findings of IRS2019Q4

    The Internet Gets Mainstream, Finally

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    On May 8, 2020, the Media Research Users Council India (MRUC) released its findings of the last and final quarter of Indian Readership Survey 2019. Fieldwork of IRS 2019Q4 covered the period from December 2019 through March 2020 and the report has data based on a rolling average of four quarters of IRS 2019 data i.e. Q1+Q2+Q3 and Q4 2019.

     

    The highlights of the readership trends among English and vernacular titles have already been reported and analysed by different industry websites. The highlights of the survey- presented jointly by Nielsen and MRUC – has noted that: “Newspaper readership, is on a slow decline and is a trend seen across Hindi, English and Regional languages”. Vikram Sakhuja, IRS Technical Committee Chairman and Group CEO Madison Media & OOH, Madison World has noted in the press release: “(The) ability to read and understand English has increased and while overall print readership is holding, daily readership has started showing signs of decline.”

     

    According to the highlights of the report, a “rapidly evolving media landscape with multi-media adoption is seen across consumer strata resulting in large media markets, both traditional and digital with substantial increase in Internet penetration lifting it to mainstream along with TV and Print.” Moreover, the report has acknowledged “There was more number of internet users (Last 1 month) in rural now then urban.”

     

    Source: IRS2019Q4

     

    If we consider that the fieldwork for March 2020 ended before the National Lockdown due to Covid-19 was imposed on March 25, 2020, we can easily guess a further surge of internet users has happened across urban and rural India in the last seven weeks. Unfortunately, as the IRS fieldwork also is on hold now, we will have to wait for sometime before we get a clear indication of the media usage during the total and subsequently partial Lockdown enforced by Covid-19.

     

    IRS2019Q4 highlights have also given us a glimpse of how Indian consumers today are more equipped and more connected than before as shown in the following chart. There would not be significant change in the connectivity except during the lockdown both ‘shop from modern trade’ and ‘online shopping’ may go down and ‘access social media’ may go up substantially.

     

    Source: IRS2019Q4

     

    This calls for a total change in the approach of media planning where TV and Digital would have to be planned simultaneously now supplemented by Print, Radio and OOH plans. It would also be beneficial to plan for TV and Digital under the same roof by the same media agency than to distribute the business by traditional media and digital media to two different media agencies.

     

    Unfortunately, we still do not have single source data for TV and Digital media users which is essential for preparing cutting edge media plans. BARC’s plan for providing such data have been shelved indefinitely reportedly due to non-cooperation by Google and Facebook and instead of finding a solution to that problem, TRAI has now created other problems for the ongoing research on TV viewership with their new directives about TV viewership research. So, as internet continue to surge ahead as a mainstream media, media agencies will keep struggling with data and insights for doing justice to their media plans.