Back2020: A Year Of Pains And Gains For M&E industry
While TV was hit by TRP scandal, the year also saw a massive rise of OTT services
PremiumWhen Chintamani Rao, advertising professional and former chief executive of Hindi news channel India TV spoke to Mint of the effectiveness of self-regulation being a function of a nation’s culture, little did he know that India’s TRP scandal would take a turn for the worse, engulfing in its mess the former top leadership of the viewership measurement agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India.
Meter-based panel homes work just fine in other markets but not in India because of our inherent inability to self-regulate, he had said in an earlier piece in this space.
Clearly, honestly and integrity have been found wanting among both television broadcasters and the sole agency that measures viewership. And an alleged nexus between Barc and broadcasters and its impact on TV news has been the unfortunate highlight of 2020.
TRP manipulation came to light when the Mumbai Police, acting on a complaint by Barc itself, unearthed the alleged racket. Since news broadcaster Republic TV was named in the case, Barc temporarily suspended ratings for all news channels. TRPs determine the placement of more than ₹30,000 crore worth of advertising money on TV.
Sadly, TV news also made headlines this year for its toxic content—whether through stories around actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death or hate mongering against Muslims. But demand for news about covid among viewers who in any case were stuck at home drove viewership of news channels which saw a 28% jump in revenue between August and November, Rao said.
However, with the recent arrests of former COO and CEO of Barc, the faith in TRP as TV currency may get eroded. “Advertisers are bound to question their media spends on TV with its viewership measurement under the scanner," said Jehil Thakkar, partner at Deloitte India.
This year, the lens was also on another news medium —the newspaper—which saw a dramatic slide owing to the prolonged lockdown which impacted circulation. While some states banned doorstep delivery of newspapers temporarily, many housing societies, too, discouraged newspaper vendors from entering their premises for fear of infection. “It was a seminal year for print. Circulation of physical papers dropped by 50%," said Rao. However, both circulation and advertising has since been on a path to recovery. Ads returned to newspapers with the onset of the festival season. Fortunately, at 30% share, print continues to be the second highest contributor to national advertising expenditure in India after television.
On the entertainment front, the year will be remembered for the massive rise of over- the-top (OTT) video streaming services. According to a report by KPMG, nearly 400 million people watch videos online in India. In 2020, there are about 22 million subscription-based video-on-demand (SVoD) users or people who are paying for online video content. This figure will touch 40 million in 2025, the report said.
“These numbers are only symptomatic of a behavioural change," said Thakkar. “Earlier OTT services had problems even getting people to sample their fare. Now OTT is a legitimate mass medium," he added. Also, most companies earlier focused on advertising-driven OTT models, now they are looking at subscription-led video on demand, indicating people’s willingness to pay for entertainment content.
Theatres, meanwhile, possibly saw their worst year in the history of the film business as cinemas remained shut for the longest time and producers started releasing their new films on digital platforms. Again, the development marks the beginning of a trend that is seemingly irreversible.
“A behaviour reset may be happening as people —especially the multiplex audiences —start watching new films on devices at home," Thakkar said.
Last but not the least the year will also be remembered for the gazette notification that brought digital audio-visual content, such as films and web shows on OTT platforms, as well as news and current affairs online, under the ambit of the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B). Predictably, the move raised concerns around censorship of video-on-demand (VoD) content.
On the face of it, it seemed like an administrative decision to let I&B preside over content on these platforms. Yet it’s difficult to dismiss it as a routine development. Unless the OTT firms come up with an acceptable regulation code quickly, the government will impose its rules. And then these may not just be about restricting violence and nudity on screen but about all contrarian views.
Shuchi Bansal is Mint’s media, marketing and advertising editor. Ordinary Post will look at pressing issues related to all three. Or just fun stuff.
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