Given the current scenario of Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) policies, there are some broadcasters who are willing to pay huge money to get themselves on landing pages and then there are others who are not willing to do so as they think this is an unethical approach. Many of these broadcasters are of the opinion that TDSAT’s decision to set aside Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) directions, making it legal for television channels to place their ads on landing pages, defies the very objective of digitization. There is, however, another school of thought that considers investing in landing pages a bona fide marketing activity.

“TDSAT is an appellate tribunal. So this is not a ‘TDSAT policy’. It’s a judgment. This is a case that has been heard by them for over six months, with arguments from both sides and they have taken a learned view on the subject. So, this is not a unilateral ‘policy’. We believe that landing pages are a bona fide marketing mechanism,” says MK Anand, MD & CEO, Times Network.

MUMBAI: Though three months have passed since the implementation of the new TRAI tariff order (NTO), industry stakeholders feel it might take a few more months for the dust to settle especially for the niche genres. Indiantelevision.com spoke to various industry experts across genres to get a sense of the situation on ground. While reports cited that niche channels like English, infotainment, music, lifestyle among others might face difficult times for a couple of months more, 9X Media chief revenue officer Pawan Jailkhani said that eight to ten weeks is sufficient time for the data to stabilise. He added that for them, it has stabilised.

BENGALURU: News ratings across the country in various languages had spiked upwards in week 21 of 2019, the week during which exit opinion polls and election results were announced. Unlike their English language news channels peers, ratings of the top 5 Hindi news channels are almost back to normal in week 22 of 2019 (Saturday, 25 May 2019 to Friday, 31 May 2019, week under review) when compared to the average ratings of top 5 Hindi news channels across 9 weeks (weeks 13 to 20 of 2019) as per Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly data. Combined weekly ratings of the top 5 English news channels in week 22 had peaked at their highest ever so far in week 22 of 2019, surpassing even their ratings in election results week- week 21.

MUMBAI: The uncertainty caused in the cable industry after the TRAI tariff order implementation has helped DTH players gain subscribers. Airtel Digital TV added approximately 391,000 customers in the last quarter of FY2019 reaching a total base of 15.4 million as at the end of March 2019. The Sunil Bharti Mittal-led company sees good opportunity to grow its customer base as a large part of the cable industry is still not digitised but is fragmented. 

“The DTH market is large because there are still about 90 million customers who have cable and terrestrial connections, so there is still a big upgradation opportunity from cable to DTH,” Airtel India MD and CEO Gopal Vittal said in an earnings call after the Q4 results. He added that there has been some uncertainty and challenges of implementing the TRAI tariff order and that may have been one of the reasons for faster acceleration from cable to DTH and stronger customer additions.

People around the world will spend an average of 800 hours using the mobile internet this year – that’s equivalent to 33 days without sleep or pause, according to Zenith’s Media Consumption Forecasts, published today. By 2021 the total will rise to 930 hours, or 39 full days.

This is the fifth edition of the Media Consumption Forecasts, which surveys changing patterns of media consumption since 2011, and forecasts how the amount of time people allocate to different media will change between 2019 and 2021. Across the 57 countries that were surveyed, people will spend a collective 3.8 trillion hours using the mobile internet this year, rising to 4.5 trillion hours in 2021.

MUMBAI: Bengali kids channel Rongeen TV is all set to launch on 12th June at 6 pm. It will be the first kids channel in Bengali. The free to air (FTA) channel is doing a test run from Insat4a satellite at 83.0 degrees east.

Rongeen TV will be the first non-Hindi, non-South regional kids channel in India. Currently, most kids channels are available in Hindi with regional audio feeds.

Sun TV Network is the only company to have kids channels in regional languages like Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. Sony YAY! is the only channel to have a Bangla audio feed.

Market trends show that animated shows are quite popular in the Bangla market with make Bengali GECs airing them to target kids audience.

MUMBAI: Media conglomerate ZEEL is upbeat about the potential of movie genre and is planning to launch three new regional movie channels in the near term. He didn’t provide details of the new movie channels that will be launched.

Speaking with analysts, ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka said that movie is one of the most important avenues of entertainment for Indian consumer and a key long-term growth driver.

He further stated that ZEEL’s strong presence across broadcast, digital and international businesses allow it to exploit movie rights better compared to its peers.

ony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) chief revenue officer – ad sales and international business Rohit Gupta believes that the TV industry will put up a strong show in 2019 as far as Ad Ex is concerned. In the January-March quarter, the TV broadcasters saw a de-growth in ad revenue due to the implementation of the new tariff order (NTO).

According to Gupta, the TV industry will register 10% growth in AdEx despite NTO implementation, which was the biggest reform in the Indian TV broadcasting industry’s history.

Gupta also stated that the broadcasters have a huge opportunity to grow ad rates in the next three to five years. Most big channels have an inventory fill rate of 95% and above, he said, which rules out the possibility of achieving growth by increasing inventory.

BENGALURU: In probably what is a first, Network18’s English news channel CNN News18 headed the Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly list of top 5 English news channels - NCCS AB : Males 22+ Individuals for week 22 of 2019 (Saturday, 25 May 2019 to Friday, 31 May 2019, week under review). Exit Opinion polls and the national election results were announced in week 21 of 2019, a week in which the combined weekly impressions of the top 5 English news channels more than doubled (went up by 122 percent) as compared to the previous week 20 of 2019. However, the combined weekly impressions of the top 5 English news channels were probably the highest ever at 6.442 million weekly impressions in week 22 of 2019, the week just after the elections results were announced.

MUMBAI: In a major blow to direct to home (DTH) operator Independent TV, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has asked it to either pay its dues to Antrix Corporation or face disconnection, in a case that was filed by the former in early 2018.

The tribunal has asked Independent TV to pay Rs 9 crore to Antrix by 12 June or furnish a further bank guarantee of Rs 15 crore by that date. In case the DTH operator fails to do that, Antrix reserves the right to effect the impugned disconnection notice.