BackNiche TV channels go off the air as covid hits ad revenue
Sony Pictures Networks India discontinued AXN and AXN HD across India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh earlier this month, while Star network is slated to take Star World offline soon
PremiumSpecific television genres, such as English language entertainment, infotainment, and lifestyle, have been particularly hit by the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdown, with their limited audience base moving to video streaming platforms.
These niche channels had already lost ground following the new tariff order (NTO) by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), which mandated that channels should not be bundled. Now, the covid-19 pandemic has led to dwindling advertisement revenues, which is pushing them to shut shop.
Sony Pictures Networks India discontinued AXN and AXN HD across India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh earlier this month, while Star network is slated to take Star World offline soon. Star did not respond to Mint’s queries. According to media reports, Sony said, “In keeping with our growth strategy, we are realigning our channel portfolio. Accordingly we have decided to discontinue AXN and AXN HD. This decision comes into effect on 30 June 2020."
Challenges for the genre arose more than a year ago with Trai’s NTO allowing viewers to opt for individual channels instead of the pre-determined bouquets offered by broadcasters, a move that saw the genre’s primarily young, urban audience base move online. The covid-19 pandemic accelerated the process. These channels have since only sold about 30% of their advertising inventory.
Companies get overall revenues from distribution platforms for their bouquets and nothing extra comes in for English channels, so it is likely that some of them will fold up, said a senior executive from a leading broadcast network on the condition of anonymity.
“Covid has led to large-scale individualized viewing as people work from home and there is no doubt that OTT (over-the-top) platforms offer more diverse and targeted content, especially because of artificial intelligence, as compared to television channels," said Kishan Kumar, vice-president, Wavemaker, a media agency.
Indians have tasted blood with OTT, said Kumar. It is not uncommon to see shows such as The Big Bang Theory, FRIENDS, Suits, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which are also available on Zee Cafe, Star World, and Colors Infinity, trending on Netflix.
The audience for this genre watches a lot of original OTT content rather than catching up on TV shows. At the same time, content costs are not going down and the number of channels in these genres is not proportional to their viewership, said Navin Khemka, chief executive officer, MediaCom, South Asia.
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