MxMIndia

Tag: TV channels

  • Senior journalist and media-watcher Paranjoy Guha Thakurta on what the Aditya Birla investment in the India Today group means for the Indian media

    Loss of plurality is worrying: Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

    Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

    By Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

     

    This sort of an acquisition is part of a growing trend of ‘corporatization’ of the media where big business houses such as the Aditya Birla Group and the Reliance Industries group are investing into existing media groups. Through this process of consolidation, they are also bailing out these groups.

     

    The Raghav Behl-led Network 18 and Ramoji Rao-led Eenadu are now part of one big conglomerate because Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has bailed out both by pumping in a huge amount of money. On paper, it appears as if they are still separate corporate entities, which they are, as per the laws of the land. But the kind of associations they have struck gives an impression that they are now going to work like a conglomerate. Now this is exactly what has happened in the case of Mr Aroon Pourie who heads the India Today group which is also going to be one major conglomerate. So what we are seeing, in that sense, is the ‘cartelization’ of the media. There are cartels being formed, there are oligopolies being formed.

     

    The recession in the west has led to shrinking of advertising expenditures for the media in India and across the world especially after 2008, and this has had a direct impact on the fortunes of media organizations. So this process of consolidation has got expedited. What this means is that the media in India is going to become less plural, it’s going to be dominated by relatively fewer groups. What you are really seeing is, large corporate groups exercising greater dominance on the media. Now there are two implications.

     

    Also read:

    AV Birla group buys 27.5% in India Today group

     

    Birla may use personal money for buy, Mail Today may now launch editions in Mumbai, other metros

     

    Why media purists needn’t worry about Kumar Mangalam Birla’s 27.5 % in Living Media

    One is, of course, you are finding telecom companies (Mr Aditya Birla also happens to be the head of Idea and Mr Mukesh Ambani’s RIL is a major player in the broadband wireless access space), which are providing you communications, are also now playing an important role in companies that produce content. So the content providers and content distributors are coming together. This, in my opinion, is going to result in a loss of heterogeneity, resulting in a loss of plurality. In a sense, the oligopolies that are going to be formed will also impact the listeners of content, the viewers of content, or the readers of content. The content they get will be less heterogeneous.

     

    The other part of the story is that these companies are also big advertisers. Therefore, the clout of the advertiser will go up. As I said, the telecom service providers are now becoming important stakeholders in companies that are producing content. So the distributors of content are becoming stakeholders in the producers of content. Similarly what you also see at another level, the companies which are big advertisers are also now becoming the owners of the media. So in my opinion, these trends towards ‘cartelization’, or the formation of these giant corporate conglomerates is not going to lead to greater plurality as far as the consumers of content are concerned.

     

    The numbers of TV channels and newspapers and websites often give you a very deceptive kind of a picture and the capital is a classic example of that.Delhiis the only city in the world with 16 English language daily newspapers. This gives you a misleading picture, that readers of English dailies inDelhihave a huge choice. But the fact of the matter is that two newspapers, The Times of India and Hindustan Times would account for well over three-fourths of the total market of all English daily newspapers. And if you add to that Economic Times, then these three publications put together would account for more than 80 per cent of the total circulation of all English newspapers in India. So, in terms of numbers it looks good, but if you look at the structure of the market, you see few dominant players.

     

    In India, unlike in other countries of the world, like US, UK or Australia, there are no cross-media restrictions. In other countries, there are both vertical as well as horizontal restrictions. Vertical restrictions mean that the content producer and the content distributor are different companies/groups. In India, the same guys who are producing content are also distributing the content. You have the DMK controlling the distribution channel and also producing the television channel; you have Zee News producing news and also controlling Dish TV. There are clear conflicts of interest that arise if your distributor and the provider are the same. That’s only one part of the story.

     

    The other is what is called horizontal cross media restrictions. That means, the same company dominates all forms of the media, like print, radio, TV, in the same geographical area. In our country we don’t have any legal restrictions on cross media holdings. As far as the media is concerned, the group concept or the conglomerate concept does not operate in our country. So you have Bennett Coleman Ltd which brings out various print publications, and then you have Times Global Broadcasting which brings out the television content. These two companies happen to be controlled by the same set of people. But because the legal restrictions that exist in India apply to individual entities and not to conglomerates, effectively you have no cross-media restriction.

     

    Speaking of editorial content, editors will not publish or broadcast anything that would go against the interest of the corporate that controls; these would become subtle forms of censorship and control. For instance, Living Media which includes, Aaj Tak, India Today, Headlines Today and Mail Today, these publications or these broadcasters are unlikely to publish anything negative that could affect the business interests of the Aditya Birla Group. So that could be an eminent danger, that degrees of freedom that editors and content providers would enjoy, would get curtailed not just because of the pattern of ownership but also because the owners of major conglomerates are also major advertisers.

     

    Even if on paper, the editors have the autonomy and independence to publish what they like, there could be subtle forms of censorship wherein editors would feel constrained or would think twice before publishing any story that could in any way go against the interest of the promoters of the company that control these media conglomerates.

     

    I am optimistic about the future of media in India but I am also concerned about the fact there is loss of heterogeneity, loss of choices to the consumer.

     

    (As told to Shruti Pushkarna)

     

    Paranjoy Guha Thakurta is a senior journalist, editor and broadcaster based in New Delhi.

     

  • Despite the criticism over the TRAI regulations about ads on TV channels, needless to say, as a viewer I'm a bit un-miserable

    [MJR] Un-miserable about Trai’s ad regulations

    Ranjona Banerji

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    This is actually an “un-grouse” – I go with the current zeitgeist and fascination with the un-dead (vampires) and the unlikely (werewolves).

     

    Despite the criticism on MxMIndia.com yesterday over the TRAI regulations about ads on TV channels, needless to say, as a viewer I’m a bit un-miserable. I understand the need to make money and profits and all that but sometimes watching TV can be an unhappy experience.

     

    TRAI has asked for commercial breaks to be limited to 12 minutes for every hour that there should be at least 15 minutes between consecutive breaks for programmes and every 30 minutes for movies. In addition, there are to be no part-screen or drop-down ads for live sports events. What’s to complain? It’s not as if the TV channels themselves don’t know how damn annoying constant ad breaks can be – they themselves advertise “break-less” movies as a cachet, as if the producer suddenly released a new uncut version of the film.

     

    The worst transgressors are Indian general entertainment programmes. Producers shoot what seems to be about 10 minutes of programming for those popular soaps and serials and the rest of the time is spent on dramatic repetitions of the last two minutes that transpired before the 40-odd ad breaks. Obviously someone in TRAI (or their families) watches these serials.

     

    There can be no one – except for some very brain-dead advertisers – who actually thinks that part-screen drop-down ads which mask action during a live sports events endears one to the advertiser. TRAI has only stated the obvious here.

     

    News channels are no better in particular, NDTV and CNN-IBN. If you catch them on the half-hour or the hour, you can be treated to about 10 straight minutes of advertisement. I keep hearing about how news channels are financially precarious which only leads me to believe that they ought to charge more.

     

    Times Now is terribly smart about this. During prime time, which is when editor-in chief Arnab Goswami conducts his nightly inquisition, there are minimum commercial breaks. The channel knows that people are watching for the drama and are not interested for the moment in Katrina Kaif having sex with a mango. TRPs skyrocket during Goswami’s Newshour (sometimes two hours) and Times Now knows that that benefit can be spread across the other hours of the day.

     

    It must also pointed out that newspapers and magazines also operate under some restrictions about the editorial to ad ratio and this does not lead to general hand-wringing and despair.

     

    Plus, it is also true that some ad breaks are necessary. You can make a few quick calls, run to the loo and check that the dinner is not burning. In between you might also decide that the Appy Fizz is indeed incredibly annoying and a talking soft drink should indeed be un-alive.

     

  • Ushers the power of TV advertising to hundreds of SME businesses

    Amagi announces operations in 35 cities

    By A Correspondent

     

    Amagi Media Labs, the pioneer and leader in smart advertising on television, has announced its recent entry into tier-1 and tier-2 cities across the country with more than 400 small and medium businesses using Amagi platform for local TV advertising.

     

    Since the launch of Amagi platform nationally last year, hundreds of retail and regional advertisers across categories – education, jewellry, apparel, real estate, FMCG, white goods and auto dealerships have flocked to the platform to advertise on premium national TV channels.

     

    Amagi’s co-founder KA Srinivasan said: “Though every business dreams of being on national television, very few could afford it earlier. Through Amagi’s Smart Advertising TV platform, small and medium businesses have now been able to advertise on premium national TV channels at ultra low rates – targeting specific cities or regions.”

     

    Amagi offers smart advertising on TV in over 35 cities, including metros, tier-1 and tier-2 cities. Amagi has partnerships with 15 satellite TV channels, including leading news, music, lifestyle, movie and regional entertainment channels as well as more than 50 cable MSOs acrossIndia. Amagi platform is ideally suited for regional brands that want to reach their target audience without paying for wasted coverage.

     

    Hundreds of advertisers acrossIndiahave reaped strong benefits by using Amagi platform. SS Bhamra, Chairman, JLPL said: “I have used Amagi Smart Advertising platform to build my brand in Punjab on national TV channels at a very low cost – my campaign using Amagi Media has delivered overwhelming response from our customers and has helped position JLPL as the developer of choice in Punjab”

     

    Saumil Pandya, Vice President, MAS Financial Services Ltd, Ahmedabad said: “Amagi’s Smart TV Advertising platform is a boon for regional brands. I can now get the best of both worlds – national TV and local rates. Coupled with Amagi’s creative services, this platform has helped me get both branding and response at a reasonable budget”

     

  • For the consumer, it is a chance to view a particular channel in his mother tongue. For channels, it is about expanding viewership base and accumulating additional revenues

    Speaking in tongues, good for TV channels

     

    By Rishi Vora

     

    TV channels are gung-ho about the digital revolution India is witnessing. New launches and the ones in the pipeline – all are preparing to be on DTH or Digital Cable. Well, what this brings to viewers and for the industry is a  novel trend: the rise of language feeds. For the consumer, it is now a chance to view a particular channel in his mother tongue. For channels, it is about expanding viewership base and accumulating additional revenues via local advertisers.

     

    The trend is visibly on the rising side. Big CBS launched Spark Punjabi. Sonic has extended its offering to Marathi and Bengali. History, the factual entertainment channel from the A+E Networks recently launched the Gujarati feed, making it the only channel to be available in seven languages (Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi and English). Discovery serves in English, Telugu, Bengali, Hindi, while National Geographic is present in five feeds: English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil. The trend, quite noticeably is seen in the kids and the factual entertainment genre.

     

    For these international channels, the opportunity is way too big to be missed. The cost of launching a new feed vis-a-vis the return it brings to the table in terms of reach, viewership and revenue, is negligible. All it accounts for is an additional cost on dubbing, which on most occasions, for all channels would be an incremental cost since English and Hindi languages are by most channels, already operational. Sangeetha Aiyer, General Manager – Marketing A+E Networks and TV 18 JV informs that the cost of dubbing varies between 7 to 15 per cent of a programming budget.

     

    “The trend has been around for a while,” says Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Executive VP and General Manager, Sonic and Nick India. She further adds, “For us, since we cater to the kids and the young adults of India, it is important that the characters kids have an affinity towards speak to them in their mother tongue – the language they speak at home. That is the best way you can engage and entertain them.” Aiyer agrees that it brings in more revenue and viewership for the channel, but also calls for a lot of co-ordination with studios which at times can be painstaking. Ensuring quality control, scripts, technicians etc is one part of the challenge, while lack of experts in languages like Marathi or Bengali is another challenge.

     

    Most channels outsource the dubbing work to studios, except UTV Action which contracts its sister company UTV Software on the same. UTV Action, as is known was one of the early movers in the movies segment to offer Hollywood films dubbed in Hindi. The channel later launched its Telugu feed. Manasi Sapre, Programming Head, UTV Action says that Telugu feed opens up a big market for the channel. “We’re seeing a lot of traction from the Telugu market, where the appetite for Hollywood movie watching is constantly increasing. Telugu market is one market where you can be rest assured of a good response, given the fact that the southern belt likes to view content in their own language rather than English or Hindi.”

     

    A separate P&L company within the UTV group – UTV Software, has been in the business of dubbing for more than 15 years now. The company is seen as a pioneer, currently handling projects like Walt Disney, Hungama, Fox Traveller, National Geeographic Wild, NDTV Good Times and UTV Action. The company dubs 40-50 hours of content every month, so considering that content is offered in a minimum of  four languages, it means 200 hours of content being dubbed every month.

     

    According to Rahul Bhatia, Senior VP – Dubbing, UTV Software, the dubbing industry has grown leaps and bounds in the past five to seven years in terms of the number of players. The market still remains majorly unorganised with UTV as a major player as against many small studios that do one-off projects. “Price-points for dubbing have gone down drastically. From what it used to be Rs 1 lakh for an hour 10 years back, it is now come down to Rs 25,000. But, on the brighter side, volumes have increased. Three years back it was only Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, but now if you see, the market is growing to other languages like Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali and Punjabi.”

     

    Quite interestingly, for many channels that bring in international content from countries like Japan, Korea or even China, content is translated to English and then dubbed to various other languages, which is a lot of effort on the part of the studios. Part of the reason for this tedious procedure is the fact that channels are extra careful to ensure that  international standards are maintained.

     

    Given the kind of growth dubbing has seen and that many channels have launched multiple feeds, there are chances that a few broadcast majors would want to set up their own studios. Maybe it is too early to say, or the existing outsourcing practice could well be effective enough as one may not want to get into the business, which could well mean diverting the attention from three major functions: Content, Distribution, Sales. Even for now, Dubbing seems to come later in the priority list of the channels.