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<ul><li>With the industry changing at a rapid pace, throwing a new set of challenges every day, experts are hoping that 2021 will be a game-changer that will help them redefine a lot of rules in advertising, with smarter marketing techniques. </li><li>We spoke to a few industry experts to identify these new opportunities that 2021 will bring forth for the broadcast industry and here is what they had to say. </li></ul>In 2020, the <keyword id="34937" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="media-industry">media industry</keyword> changed a lot and because of that, 2021 will see a far-reaching impact on consumer behaviour and their viewing habits. While some changes will take us back to the ‘old normal’ like on-set shoots, going back to office, etc., some would accelerate digitalisation in the media industry and push us forward at least by 2-3 years. When the whole country was confined to their homes, consumers turned to OTT platforms and TV channels to entertain themselves. TV sets and mobile phones became the only sources of connection with the outside world. News channels also benefited as people stayed glued to their TV sets to catch on COVID-related updates and lockdown measures. As a result, consumption of content increased like never before. There is no denying that the future is digital. Technology will continue to play an important role in redefining the business operations and broadcasters will also focus on delivering aggregated content and device experiences this year. During the lockdown, the return of old mythological shows like Ramayan and Mahabharat from the 90s led to an exponential rise in viewership and advertisers count on TV. These shows soon became the main source of entertainment among Hindi GECs as it contributed about 43% to overall viewership of the genre, revealed BARC. The re-telecast of Ramayan alone garnered the highest-ever rating for a Hindi GEC show since 2015 at 1.20 trillion minutes and Doordarshan’s average daily viewers grew by 62 million. As the lockdown was lifted gradually and the economy started limping back to normalcy in July, television continued to be the screen of the household and an important medium for advertisers to reach their consumers. After seeing a lean few months, IPL brought the much-needed cheer for the Indian advertising industry and consumers in September. Dream11 IPL 2020 set a viewership record with an overall consumption increase of 23% than 2019. IPL’s Television viewership reached an outstanding 31.57 million, revealed Star India. It was the biggest IPL carnival the nation saw. According to BARC, return of original shows on TV along with the festive season and live sporting events boosted the ad volumes, taking the overall growth in ad volumes to 34% as compared to H1, 2020 and eventually minimising the reduction in volumes to a marginal -3% for the overall year than 2019. After facing unprecedented turbulence in the year 2020, broadcasters are now looking forward to seeing what 2021 has in store for them. Here is what they are expecting: <keyword id="3387826" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prathyusha-Agarwal">Prathyusha Agarwal</keyword>, Chief Consumer Officer, ZEEL: <div type="image" title="Prathyusha Agarwal" msid="80617012" hostid="261"></div> I see "Thriving VideoVerse of The Soaring 20s" as the biggest trend in Entertainment that will shape 2021. As a whole generation hit by the pandemic will kick into hyper-active mode to rebuild lives, economy and a whole new world, consumers will demand entertainment not as an earned indulgence at the end of a hard day's work but an always on entitlement. It will be a need as essential as the daily bread, acting as food for their souls, sparking their minds and a reservoir of emotions that they can dip into as a respite from the hard reality that a post COVID world will be. Viewers will share their dining tables and living rooms with our content on television satisfying the craving for anticipation of a new story, the first bite to savour the emotion and form a firm bond engaging with our characters every day. They will then stretch it across multiple screens, platforms and interactions, micro-dosing, binging on it, dipping in, dipping out and gorging on it through time and space. As broadcasters, we need to gear up our backend to tailor-make our content such that it is adept to the multiple platform front-end user interfaces. There is a shift needed from thinking of content development as an uncertain creative process to building a nuanced understanding of the cultural core that makes viewers tick, what they want/ need, where do they need it and have the capability to evolve our craft to deliver that. Its time to unleash the full potential of the Viewer VideoVerse which is way larger than any product x platform, seamlessly serving "fit for delight" content across screens. Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head - Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18: <div type="image" title="Nina Jaipuria." msid="80617021" hostid="261"></div> In a connected world where linear and digital media are increasingly becoming intertwined, the year 2020 has been crucial in reaffirming the fact that unlike many western countries, Television and Digital will grow together in India. And this is one of the key trends that will continue and further take shape in the year 2021. The industry is expected to grow at 17% CAGR over next 4-5 years – while digital is expected to grow at a rapid pace, the traditional TV medium is also expected to witness a steady growth. This TV + Digital combined growth will result in a continued hike in demand for content – both long form, episodic and short form – as well as provide significant opportunities for content creators. Rural and semi-urban areas witnessed highest growth driven primarily by increased reach due to top broadcasters going back on Freedish this year. Furthermore, the availability of original content in regional languages across all genres contributed to this upswing. Concurrently on digital, given the increased demand and competitive landscape, OTT players are betting heavily on regional and differentiated original content to expand their library and drive-up user engagement. The growth in consumption of content across touchpoints is a trend that will enable unlocking the industry’s true potential – from both macro-economic as well as soft power capabilities. Avinash Pandey, CEO, ABP Network: <div type="image" title="avinash ABP news" msid="80617060" hostid="261"></div> In 2021, online content consumption will continue to trend. Broadcasters are now open to new ideas of reaching out to their audiences, be it through podcasts or online video content. Furthermore, empathetic, intimate, and contextual storytelling will be crucial for content creators this year as the pandemic has placed a special focus on personal experiences and unfeigned stories. Hyperlocal content and neighbourhood stories, therefore, will help broadcasters engage with their consumers on a deeper level. At ABP Network, we have left no stone unturned when it comes to expanding on digital. We have invested into video content, podcasts and other forms of digital media to create greater value in the long-term. Our regional channels, too, continue to dominate in their respective markets across diverse platforms. Harnessing new opportunities on both fronts, we have expanded our offerings to create new avenues of growth and monetisation for 2021 and beyond. Abhishek Dutta, South Asia Network Head for Cartoon Network and POGO: <div type="image" title="Abhishek Dutta, Abhishek Dutta, South Asia Network Head for Cartoon Network and POGO" msid="80617040" hostid="261"></div> Indian viewers now expect relatability and relevance in terms of characters and contexts so demand for homegrown IPs will continue to rule the roost in 2021. India’s sustained co-viewing patterns and the rise in greater access to entertainment will cement Kids and Family Content as the ‘anchor genre’ in the country. Markand Adhikari, Chairman and Managing Director, SAB Group: <div type="image" title="Markand-Adhikari SAB" msid="80617050" hostid="261"></div> We will not just see the addition of new users but also increasing the retainership of existing digital consumers. Online gaming consumption and demand for OTT originals is only going to increase as technological advances greatly aid them. The best part is that their model is subscription-driven and not dependent upon advertisers. Though television is very much here to stay, OTT is going to gain a lot of traction in the mid-term. Further, the dependency of M&amp;E companies on technology will likely increase to leverage cost-efficiency and create revenue enhancement opportunities. As monetisation and revenue in terms of ad-spend, continues to grapple, profit protection and cash management with greater technology integration will gain strategic significance for M&amp;E companies. The industry is likely to remain focused on sustenance at current levels along with a renewed emphasis on flexibility which would accelerate the move to a variable cost model and reduced fixed costs. While the long-term implications of COVID-19 are yet to emerge, the above-mentioned developments will likely come into focus in the M&amp;E industry as the post-COVID reality becomes clearer.

Broadcast industry: Trends to watch out for in 2021

<ul><li>ZEEL has launched a new Music Channel called <keyword id="9936704" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="zee-vajwa">Zee Vajwa</keyword>. </li><li>Zee Vajwa, Kshann Gaajwa is its tagline.</li></ul><keyword id="141413" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zee-Entertainment-Enterprises">Zee Entertainment Enterprises</keyword> Limited (ZEEL) has announced its entry into the <keyword id="9936703" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="regional-music-space">regional music space</keyword> with the launch of its <keyword id="9936705" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="marathi-music-channel">Marathi music channel</keyword> – Zee Vajwa. The network has already captured 57% viewership share in Maharashtra with Zee Marathi, Zee Yuva and Zee Talkies. It will offer 3000+ playlists and a music++ experience for the viewer with many category firsts that amplify moments &amp; create various mahauls through the day. Speaking on the launch, Ashish Sehgal, Chief Growth Officer, ZEEL said, “As an organization, we have gained in both viewership &amp; revenue due to our diverse portfolio across markets. And, believe in constantly strengthening our product portfolio keeping the customer at the centre thereby adding value to all our stakeholders. Our dominant position across markets echoes our customer-centricity. Our growing viewership and revenue share in Maharashtra is a reflection of our successful journey so far. Our objective has always been to provide holistic surround to our consumer/customer &amp; in Maharashtra, with Zee Vajwa, we see an opportunity for us to not only strengthen our Music cluster but further gain viewership/revenue shares as well. We are excited to dial up the impact for advertisers this festive period.” Commenting on the much-awaited launch of its first regional music channel, <keyword id="3387826" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prathyusha-Agarwal">Prathyusha Agarwal</keyword>, Chief Consumer Officer, ZEEL said, “We win hearts across many Bharats by creating content brands that are deeply rooted in culture. All 4 regional channels that we launched last year broke into the top 3 in their respective categories within their launch month, with Zee Biskope rising to no. 1, and Zee Picchar &amp; Zee Punjabi in the top 2*. We are the undisputed leader in Maharashtra with our GEC and movie channels and the launch of Zee Vajwa will be a celebration of our intrinsic bond with every Maharashtrian family, through music. Music on TV is perceived to play a passive background role in the consumer’s life. But in a country like India, a song becomes a chartbuster when it becomes an integral part of a celebration – such as Ganpati Visarjan, sangeet ceremony, etc. Music becomes an active way to enjoy, express and celebrate, creating an amplified mahaul (ambience). This externalized and shared culture of music is at the core of Zee’s music channel positioning. With Zee Vajwa we promise to dial up every moment for our viewers with a music++ experience, so that they live life to the fullest.” Vishnu Shankar, Business Cluster Head, &amp;TV and Music cluster, ZEEL said, “We are extremely pleased to announce the launch of our first regional music channel, Zee Vajwa. Besides strengthening our regional portfolio, it is a great opportunity for us at ZEEL to offer content that connects so deeply with our consumers. Music has always been deeply ingrained in our Indian way of life and its traditions. To be able to offer a platform which allows our viewers to enjoy and connect over music that resonates with their specific culture and values, is deeply gratifying.” ZEE Vajwa promises an immersive visual experience never seen before in the regional music category with a design world inspired by the ‘volume dial’ that aptly brings alive our promise of ‘amplifying every moment’. Each element of the design – colors, characters, music symbols and our sonic identity have been created to ensure a deep-seeded connect with the youth while being culturally relevant. The channel will have a stellar programming line-up which will include 3000+ music playlists created with a strong library of songs. One of the key differentiators would be experiential music slots with several category firsts which will truly amplify the moment for the audiences. The Marathi viewer is extremely proud of their culture and the channel will celebrate it by giving the youth a platform to voice their opinions and be heard. A category first, Zee Vajwa will also have a non-fiction show in the comedy genre. The logo of Zee Vajwa was unveiled by Marathi film industry stalwarts -- <keyword id="1493322" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swwapnil-Joshi">Swwapnil Joshi</keyword> &amp; Siddharth Jadhav during the prestigious Zee Chitra Gaurav Puraskar 2020. Zee Vajwa is set to launch this October.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited launches Marathi Music Channel Zee Vajwa

<ul><li>In our latest interview series, we talk to organizations to understand how they are coping with the new normal and their strategies towards navigating these difficult times.</li><li>With people confined at home, television viewership has seen a massive surge, pushing <keyword id="4934995" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="broadcasters">broadcasters</keyword> to think out of the box</li><li><keyword id="3387826" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prathyusha-Agarwal">Prathyusha Agarwal</keyword>, Chief Consumer Officer, <keyword id="174248" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zee-Entertainment-Enterprises-Ltd">Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd</keyword> tells us how things have panned out at the organization in these past few weeks, and all that it has been doing to ensure their viewers get the best content.</li></ul> The ongoing Covid-19 crisis has led to unprecedented changes in our lives. We are all confined at home and that is leading to a huge change in the way we consumer content, media or even everyday things in our lives. While a lot of industries have suffered, coming to almost a complete standstill, there are some sectors that have seen a spike, due to our changed routines. Television and <keyword id="8983502" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott-viewership">OTT viewership</keyword> is at an all time high as people are trying to find engaging content. News channels are also observing a huge spike in viewership as people are constantly trying to stay abreast of all that is happening around them. However, while TV viewership has seen a spike, the challenge has been to offer viewers fresh content that will keep them hooked to a particular channel. GECs that are heavily reliant on daily soaps, however, have had to innovate, considering production has been stopped completely since the <keyword id="91743" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="lockdown">lockdown</keyword>. We thought it would be interesting to understand how things have been for one of the biggest broadcasters in India, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), and understand how they’ve been tackling the crisis, and prepare for the future. We got some interesting insights from Prathyusha Agarwal, Chief Consumer Officer, ZEEL who told us how the organization quickly adapted to the evolving situation while also ensuring production of content remotely over mobile and professional cameras by using video and audio production technologies to support broadcast, digital &amp; social platforms to make sure they can offer something fresh to their viewers. Edited excerpts: Q) While the lockdown has come as a blessing in disguise for the broadcast industry, how have things been for ZEE as an organization, in terms of working remotely and business continuity? The current COVID-19 situation has triggered an unprecedented shift in consumer sentiment and behaviour, which has impacted the way businesses are functioning across the world. Confinement at home has families turning to their trusted TV set and dependence on television as a source of entertainment has seen a surge, reflecting in the viewership data. Our channel teams geared upto this surge in viewership since the lockdown came into effect and have been customising content to cater to this changing consumption need of the viewers which ensured that ZEE strengthened its leadership further in a growing category. As an organization, we were always agile and as teams, strongly connected, so the transition to WFH operations was both swift and smooth ensuring minimal disruption to our viewers and complete business continuity. ZEE ensured business as usual for its in-house operations and transmission functions by leveraging technology and implementing various solutions across its key functions. Our Broadcast Operations team developed remote clients through which systems could be operated remotely, including from home, which is a first in the industry. Initially, continuing studio activities such as editing, graphics, audio, and online applications was a challenge. But within two weeks, we implemented a WFH edit capability using proxy-based workflows with edit-over-cloud solutions. Moreover, to ensure a continuous flow of entertainment to our viewers, the teams have also enabled remote production of content over mobile and professional cameras by using video and audio production technologies to support broadcast, digital &amp; social platforms. For the Silver Jubilee celebrations of ZEE’s singing reality show SaReGaMaPa, we have taken an industry-first initiative - ‘Ek Desh, Ek Raag’ summoning our network strength with a 25-hour Fund Raiser Music Concert with over 350 performances across the network’s social assets, culminating in a pan India music concert on TV featuring the most notable talent from SaReGaMaPa across 19 ZEE channels. This mammoth initiative will be completely executed using remote WFH solutions by teams and artists. Q) There are different sets of challenges for GECs and news channels right now. While GECs are trying to come up with innovative ways to keep audiences engaged, news channels cannot really work remotely. How did ZEE as an organization react to these challenges? The lockdown has led to more people consuming content on TV. The habit of TV viewing has never been stronger, with 46% of the viewers watching TV all 7 days a week, an increase of nearly 50% from the pre-COVID period. Rather than challenges, we viewed these as opportunities. To cater to this demand surge, we have customised the best of content across our channels taking into consideration specific shifts in consumption behaviour. The viewership trends over the weeks have indicated the surge in daytime viewership. To address that, we’ve brought back some of the all-time favourite shows that enjoy a strong consumer connect across channels. For instance, Zee TV extended its on-demand nostalgia band in the afternoon featuring popular shows. We have also seen higher viewership among males and kids with the entire family now at home and as a strategy, we’ve enhanced our weekend offering which sees high affinity amongst these audience segments. The viewership growth is also being driven by nearly 60-70% growth in the Movies genre through the lockdown period and as people look to keep themselves entertained, our movie portfolio endeavors to maximize the experience for every movie aficionado. Our agility has helped us emerge as the leading entertainment network during the challenging and dynamic lockdown period, with a 15.1% share (sports &amp; news not included), widening the gap between itself and its next competitor to nearly 1%. Q) What is your objective when you communicate with your consumers in adverse times like today? How are you ensuring consumer stickiness when the competition is fierce and you are not able to produce fresh content? As a medium, people place a lot of faith and trust in television and as a brand, we need to meet and further that expectation. Therefore, even in our communication, we need to build and maintain our consumer’s trust with unambiguous authenticity. While our communication is deeply seeded in customer-centricity, during times of crisis, historically, brands that have connected with the consumer are those that communicate with empathy and relevance to the need of the hour. ZEE being a responsible media &amp; entertainment organization came to the forefront by employing its network strength and outreach, to launch several pioneering campaigns to promote social distancing and generate awareness for maintaining adequate hygiene. From providing a behavioural trigger to its audience to wash hands for 20 seconds through our #BreakTheCoronaOutbreak initiative; uniting the country to pause and applaud the essential services’ workers during the Janta Curfew to deploying the strength of our network to encourage every viewer to not venture out and stay at home with their families through #HumAndarCoronaBahar initiative, we have stayed focussed on our role as a media platform and not just an entertainer. The need of the hour is constant innovation and adaptation to the rapidly changing consumption patterns driven by a shift in content preference of different consumer cohorts throughout the day. During the lockdown, we are seeing a higher affinity for light-hearted, comedy shows, stories that reflect hope, positivity and patriotism and can entertain the entire family together. We have curated our content offerings across different genres of channels whether it’s through one hour comedy specials on &amp;TV, or inspirational movie premieres like Saand ki Aankh on Zee Cinema, to serve these evolving needs and content preferences. Q) What have your key learnings from the past few weeks been? Do you think you are better prepared now to face unforeseen challenges in the future? Agility, Adaptability and Empathy have been our biggest learnings during this period. Being nimble about understanding the changing viewer behaviour and adapting our content offering to the same helped us to continue to lead as a network through this period. There will be a lasting impact of this extended period of behavioural change in the consumer's mind and we are gearing up to service this changed mindset. As broadcasters, this uncertain situation has taught us the need to innovate the way we create content and maximise its potential, pushed us to leverage technology solutions quickly and collaborate as teams. It has changed the way we communicate to our consumers, even leading to innovations through our first of its kind filmed from home campaigns. I would certainly say we are better prepared to deal with any type of situation in the future. Q) As a marketer, what are a few things that one must keep in mind while communicating with consumers? First and foremost, brands should think of consumers as fellow humans as we all come together to fight this pandemic. Empathy and compassion will go a long way. This is not a time for ‘buy me’ but a period for ‘I’m there for you, irrespective, and this is how I can make your life better/ easier to deal with what’s happening’. It is essential to be meaningfully salient through this time and say something only if you have something useful to say to the consumer. Especially for non-essential and currently out of consumption categories, connecting is critical as those who are present for the consumer now will be in their consideration sets during the revival phase when consumption opens up. Additionally, the definition of value for people is changing and it will be critical in the short term for brands to identify what is valuable for their consumers right now and then find ways of fulfilling that value and communicating that proposition effectively. In the long term, marketers must anticipate the big shifts in consumer attitudes and plan their role in consumer’s life accordingly as this is a once in a lifetime experience for everyone and people are likely to completely rethink their mental models.

This is not a time for ‘Buy me’ but a period for ‘I’m there for you’: Prathyusha Agarwal

<ul><li>While the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">Coronavirus</keyword> outbreak has led to productions of films and daily soaps being stopped across the country, TV viewership is going up due to people staying at home.</li><li>However, the GECs re now faced with the challenge of coming up with fresh content for its viewers.</li><li>In such a scenario, how are these channels planning to tackle the situation?</li></ul>It’s been close to 2 weeks since India’s film and television bodies decided to suspend shootings from to avoid the spread of the novel Coronavirus. The Indian Film &amp; Television Directors' Association (IFTDA), Producers Guild of India and Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE) had decided on March 17 to put production and shooting on hold till March 31. As the PM announced his 21-day complete lockdown, production will not start before April 14. The biggest impact of this will be on GEC channels that usually work with a content bank of about two weeks. However, with the lockdown, these channels will soon run out of fresh content to air. Considering most people are stuck at home, OTT and TV viewership saw a spike, according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India data. The total TV consumption saw a spike of 8% across India in the week ended March 20 (<keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-19">Covid-19</keyword> Week 1), while the total time spent per user on smartphones went increased by 6.2% to 25 hours a week. Moreover, the consumption growth in the Hindi speaking markets (HSM) was at around 10% in comparison to the South region that grew by 5%. The HSM region saw an increase in terms of both reach and time spent. While this opens up possibilities for advertisers to catch more eyeballs, GECs are now faced with the problem of running out of content. In such a scenario, what is the strategy they are employing to ensure that they do not lose their audience who can only stay engaged if they are offered something new to watch? Ensuring all-round entertainment for consumers While production has come to a complete halt, all the channels believe that the show mustn’t stop and are strategizing at how to make the best use of the content at their disposal currently. Speaking about how it is working around the current situation, <keyword id="3387826" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Prathyusha-Agarwal">Prathyusha Agarwal</keyword>, Chief Consumer Officer, <keyword id="174248" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zee-Entertainment-Enterprises-Ltd">Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd</keyword> said, “Taking into consideration the explosion in TV consumption and the changing composition of audiences, there is a need to customize programming for this emerging trend. At ZEE, we have geared up to serve these emerging trends with content for everyone in the family. For instance, starting March 25, Zee TV introduced an exclusive band ‘PyaarVyaar Originals’ with three new finite series including Sakshi Tanwar and Ram Kapoor starrer ‘Karle Tu Bhi Mohabbat’, Sharman Joshi Starrer ‘Baarish’ and Ronit Roy Starrer ‘Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain’ for the first time on television between 9 pm and 11 pm every week night. Longer binge-worthy episodes of our popular fiction shows have also been lined up across most channels to provide an immersive experience to our viewers who are staying much longer in front of the television. &amp;tv has also lined up curated specials of their comedy hits along with inspirational and devotional content to bring in positivity into our viewers’ living rooms.” For <keyword id="1570722" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manisha-Sharma">Manisha Sharma</keyword>, Chief Content Officer, Hindi Mass Entertainment, <keyword id="187712" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Viacom18">Viacom18</keyword>, the need of the hour is for the channels to take care of every family’s all-round entertainment needs. Speaking about what their roadmap in terms of content is, Sharma said, “At a time like this, we want to give our viewers the best of the content mix which will keep them smiling and comforted and hopefully let this time go by smiling and watching with their families in the confines of their homes. We have an eclectic mix of current and popular erstwhile shows that will take care of all their entertainment needs ranging from comedy, drama, slice of life, and reality shows. We have dedicated blocks for comedy, drama, and romance to give the viewers the best of the best content. A healthy dose of comedy between 5-6 pm with reruns of Belan Wali Bahu, popular show Dil Se Dil Tak starring Sidharth Shukla and Rashami Desai will be back at 6pm. We will continue to air fresh episodes of Vidya, Choti Sarrdaarni, Shakti…Astitva Ke Ehsaas Kii, Barrister Babu, Shubharambh and Naati Pinky Ki Lambi Love Story at their respective timeslots.” Riding on the nostalgia wave Doordarshan played a masterstroke with the announcement of the re-launch of yesteryear classics including Ramayan, Mahabharat and Byomkesh Bakshi. A lot of people have been talking on various social media platforms about what are the shows they would want channels to bring back. And a lot of the channels are listening to what the audience wants. Zee is bringing back some of its old, popular shows from its library across its channels, like ‘Kasamh Se’ on Zee TV and ‘Sambhaji’ on Zee Marathi and ‘Goyenda Ginni’ on Zee Bangla amongst others. Similarly, Viacom18 will be bringing back its show Dil Se Dil Tak and Bigg Boss 13. Speaking about what viewers can expect from its stable, <keyword id="8986388" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="arpit-machhar">Arpit Machhar</keyword>, Head of Marketing, <keyword id="8986387" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="enterr10-television-network">Enterr10 Television Network</keyword> (<keyword id="7514645" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dangal-TV">Dangal TV</keyword>) said, “We go through a lot of historical data before acquiring the license of any show. Dangal TV ratings, undoubtedly, have also been helpful in successfully monetising already aired shows. In the past, shows like Bandini, Chandragupt Maurya, Bhagwaan Shree Krishna have done exceptionally well. Ramayana, too has a very strong connect with viewers across India beyond the Hindi speaking markets. Mythological and historical shows along with some well-produced thrillers and family dramas make it an interesting package for viewers. We are in tune with this, considering Dangal TV too has been airing Ramayana as well as similar mythological shows like Devi Adi Parashakti, Mahima Shani Dev Ki for a while now. Devi Adi Parashakti and Mahima Shani Dev Ki are among the top 2 shows across Hindi GEC, HSM(U+R) as per latest data by BARC India for Week 11. We are aware that such content always has an audience and therefore we will continue to keep our viewers engaged with such shows.” Covid-19’s business impact While many sectors like events and out-of-home have been badly hit due to the lockdown, broadcasters are hopeful that they will be impacted less. Considering viewership is on the rise too, it presents an opportunity for both broadcasters and advertisers to make something out of an adverse situation. Dangal TV has seen a spike in its viewership, like most other GECs and is not focusing on new ideas. “Despite the COVID-19 challenge, Dangal TV is experiencing a spike in the average time spent.We are witnessing the early signs of a consumption uptick with an increase in the viewership. At Enterr10 Television Network, we are strongly connected and engaged with our viewers. Our numbers have been ahead of us. We are readily willing at focusing on exploring new ideas, IPs, etc. We haven’t stepped back in terms of exploring what more is possible, even during this period. Even in this unprecedented situation, we will continue to invest in good library, innovative programming and in distribution that will further aid in consolidating our position in both rural and urban markets. While there is huge competition amongst TV channels, our first priority is to consolidate, maintain and further strengthen our leadership position on television.” Pointing towards the fact that a lot of advertising on TV comes from FMCG that have been relatively less impacted, Sharma shared her optimism about the future. “The lockdown has hit the manufacturing, supply chain and consumption of all brands and that will invariably have an effect on ad spends. However, TV and digital will have a marginal impact as compared to other mediums like print, outdoors and radio as TV viewership is expected to see an upswing due to the forced lockdown. Secondly, a large amount of advertising revenue for a GEC comes from FMCG brands that are relatively less impacted in the current situation. Also, since it is an industry phenomenon, all GEC channels will witness a drop in ad spends,” explained Sharma. Added Agarwal, “Over the next 3 weeks, we expect content consumption on TV to go up as people look to keep themselves entertained. Given the temporary nature of the lockdown, it would be imprudent to quote any implication as of now, but we are sure that TV has become an essential service providing the much needed companionship to families in the current times.”

With limited fresh content at their disposal, here's how GECs are tackling the lockdown

<ul><li>New regulation will allow users to pick preferred channels over bouquets </li><li>Indian broadcasters already facing pressure from Netflix, Amazon and <keyword id="2739840" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hotstar">Hotstar</keyword> in big cities </li><li>Rising competition and new <keyword id="73603" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="pricing">pricing</keyword> may weed out boring channels </li></ul><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/heres-why-ott-platforms-were-a-big-hit-among-indians-in-2018/articleshow/67286083.cms">Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hotstar</a> have certainly made a dent on <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>n broadcasters in urban India. But outside the big cities where cable TV is still the preferred option, channels will have to change their game completely as a new pricing model takes effect from February 1. Starting <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/cable-tv-set-to-cost-less-from-feb-pick-amp-pay-for-channels-you-want/trai-fixes-maximum-price-per-channel-at-19/slideshow/67406709.cms">next month</a>, viewers will have the option to choose the individual channels that they would like to subscribe to and pay for those alone. While bouquets will still be available, the new pricing mechanism set out by the regulator makes it cheaper for consumers to make a bunch of their own choice, instead of getting a selection of channels most of which they do not watch. This will put added pressure on broadcasters fighting the onslaught of digital platforms in retaining subscribers. “Good channels which have a strong brand love and strong content, and for which we were getting a good advertiser pull, for those channels now, you will also get a subscriber pull,” said Prathyusha Agarwal, CMO, <keyword id="141413" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zee-Entertainment-Enterprises">Zee Entertainment Enterprises</keyword> Limited. On the other hand, broadcasters may lose money both on advertising and viewership in non-performing channels that, so far, piggy-backed on successful peers under the same ownership.“Undoubtedly, then the channels that do not deliver on the basic promise of good content will automatically cease to exist,” said Agarwal. Cable TV will continue to have more takers in India as the over-the-top (OTT) platforms are relatively expensive. “Television is one of the essential commodities in the country and consumption in India is actually 3 hours 44 minutes per household per day and when you go to South India, it increases to 4 hours plus. With this kind of consumption, streaming could be expensive and cumbersome,” said Karishma Bhalla, Partner and Director, Boston Consulting Group. Moreover, Netflix and Amazon do not offer the same content as most broadcasters. However, from where they are, the popularity of the digital content providers is only set to rise. The Indian OTT market is set to reach $5 billion by 2023, according to a <a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/entertainment-goes-online-video-over-internet-a-5-bn-market-by-2023-says-bcg-report/">report</a> by Boston Consulting Group. “OTT is spurring additional consumption unlocking new need spaces and not just substituting existing consumption. It will likely increase the per capita media consumption in India,” she said. India will have more internet users than the entire population of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States of America put together by 2020, according to the BCG report. This would also mean rising consumption of videos via <keyword id="10879" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="YouTube">YouTube</keyword>, Facebook and Instagram too could eat into the TV-viewing time. All in all, Indian broadcasters will have to find a way to brace for heightened challenges from different corners. To survive, they will have to offer better content at affordable prices. Easier said than done. See More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/heres-why-ott-platforms-were-a-big-hit-among-indians-in-2018/articleshow/67286083.cms">Here's why OTT platforms were a big hit among Indians in 2018 </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/netflixs-first-original-series-from-india-sacred-games-is-an-addictive-crime-thriller-with-a-100-on-rotten-tomatoes/articleshow/64921232.cms">Netflix's first original series from India, 'Sacred Games,' is an addictive crime thriller with a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oneplus-set-to-enter-the-indian-smart-tv-market-but-only-with-flagship-models/articleshow/66445268.cms">OnePlus set to enter the Indian smart TV market, but only with flagship models </a>

India’s new cable TV pricing will force broadcasters to put on better shows

<ul><li>With the industry changing at a rapid pace, throwing a new set of challenges every day, experts are hoping that 2020 will be a game-changer that will help them redefine a lot of rules in advertising, with smarter marketing techniques. </li><li>We spoke to a few industry experts to identify these new opportunities that 2020 will bring forth for the industry and here is what they had to say. </li></ul>2019 was an interesting year -- full of ups and downs for the advertising, media and marketing industry. While we saw <keyword id="618493" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-marketing">digital marketing</keyword> taking the center stage and brands experimenting with newer formats on the medium, the economic slowdown affected consumer sentiments, and naturally, the industry. However, during this period of tough economy, the industry tried to squeeze out the inefficiencies to make themselves more productive. As we enter 2020, the industry is hopeful to rise to its full strength together. They are all set to reap the benefits of AR and VR, voice, influencer marketing, and much more to stay ahead in the game. We spoke to a few industry experts to identify these new opportunities that 2020 will bring forth for the industry and here is what they had to say: Will Scougal, Director of International Creative Strategy, Snapchat: I don’t think there’ll be one dominant trend but several interlinked trends that have emerged over the last decade all achieving scale and creating real shifts in the way we experience and interact with brands. Over the last few years people have increasingly shifted their attention to mobile and, as they have become more confident navigating the world with their handset, they’re looking for quality experiences. What we’ve seen at Snapchat is that people are choosing to spend time adding a creative layer to their world through AR (Augmented Reality). As this format continues to scale, both on Snapchat and beyond, we are going to see more innovative, useful, and immersive experiences being built by brands embracing the marketing benefits of AR as a full funnel format. In addition to the growing popularity of AR, we are also going to see premium mobile video content gain more viewers. As audiences rise, we can expect to see more quality made-for-mobile shows from studios, publishers, entertainers and brands who are adapting to the mobile mindset of people. Ashish Bhasin, CEO - APAC and Chairman India, Dentsu Aegis Network Asia Pacific: Voice and performance will gain much more prominence than they did so far in the industry. With the emergence of OTT and data rates going down, there is a natural preference towards digitisation amongst younger audience. Equally, voice is so intuitive, it will be naturally driven more and more on a daily basis -- whether you are driving or use some voice assistant on your phone, which will be simplified with time. On the other hand, clients are also under-pressure to deliver results every quarter, hence, they will be far more interested in performance rather than just pure brand-building. Prathyusha Agarwal, Chief Marketing Officer, ZEEL: With consumption across platforms, the most dominating trend of 2020 would be brand and character love that transcends multiple screens. Viewers will share their dining tables and living rooms with our content on television satisfying the craving for anticipation of a new story, the first bite to savour the emotion and relationship with our characters every day. They will then stretch it across multiple screens and interactions binging on it, dipping in, dipping out and gorging on it through time and space. As broadcasters, we need to gear up our backend to tailor-make our content such that it is adept to the multiple platform front-end user interfaces. There is a shift needed from thinking of content development as an uncertain creative process to building a nuanced understanding the cultural core that makes viewers tick, what they want/ need, where do they need it and have the capability to evolve our craft to deliver that. To own multiple screens where stories and characters are loved beyond just television, content creators and curators, will have to manage the share of pie on each of platforms to maximise screen hours. Sameer Saxena, Chief Content Officer and Head of TVF: “For 2020, we will continue to strengthen our partnerships with OTT platforms and brands equally. We plan to venture into new genres like thrillers and romance amongst others. We will also explore non-fiction properties as there isn’t much happening in this space. Our aim is to release around 15 to 20 shows in the year including a few in regional languages starting with Marathi. In addition to new shows we're also planning the second seasons of some of our key shows like ‘Kota Factory’, ‘Cubicles’, and ‘Hostel Daze’.“ Dinesh Chhabra, CEO, Usha International: “The consumer durables sector has shown a consistent growth and Usha International Ltd leads this growth from the front riding on new product launches like the Bloom series and Racer fans, as well as the introduction of a whole slew of colorful new kitchen appliances. During this period of tough economy, Usha tightened its operating belt to squeeze out the inefficiencies to make itself leaner and more productive. Usha believes in keeping the customer at the core of our businesses and hence ensures that all the new products that we have recently developed keeping consumer insights in mind and built to fulfil their needs, thereby transforming their daily lives. We expect the New Year to fuel consumer demand and a stabilization of growth patterns in coming quarters. We, at Usha, will continue in our journey to launch new products and innovative technologies, and improve the depth of our distribution penetration specifically in the geographies which are growing at a GDP growth higher than the national average.” Koshy George, Chief Marketing Officer, Marico Limited: One big trend for me will continue to be digital. You will continue to find a lot more digital adoption because the rates, while they have gone up, continue to be rock bottom in the country. And you will find that a lot of time that consumers spend will move into digital and hence the focus to continue to build brands and invest there will be one big trend that we look at. And as part of that, there are a lot of medium like TikTok that have suddenly come and exploded out of nowhere. We have recently worked with the platform and seen really good results so that'll be an area of focus. Secondly, while the economy has been witnessing a slowdown, there is still a room for a lot of premiumization. And there's a big trend in sustainability that is slowly but surely picking up momentum and is something we will see more of in 2020. Amer Jaleel, Group CCO &amp; Chairman, MullenLowe Lintas Group: I see content saturation coming. We have to start seeing consumers as audiences in the Media Age. Everybody is creating content with ease through apps. While this explosion leads to satisfying the creative urge among people and that surely is a good thing, but coupled with the march of platforms and production, this is leading very rapidly to content fatigue. Once we see our consumers as an audience, we have to account for the fatigue they have to overcome to see the frankly poor quality of brand content that most of us are putting out. The only way marketeers and their brand partners have is to be ahead of and fresher than the content that's being dished out. I can clearly see that the phrase 'break the clutter' is outdated. We will have to preempt all the evolution of what we call clutter and be ahead of the thinking of the clutter makers. Gurmeet Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India: To stand out from the crowd, companies are putting the customer at the heart of everything they do. This has led to the emergence of exceptional customer experiences. Marketing in the modern era has to play a significant role in shaping these experiences. Artificial Intelligence is certainly going to be a game changer driving the marketing landscape in 2020. This Next-gen technology will create new avenues of effective marketing and customer experiences. One of the trendiest topics across the world, both in B2B and B2C spaces, AI is going to take the charge as it holds the power to evolve businesses, accelerate customer experiences and boost sales like never before. Audience segmentation with in-depth understanding of the demand is key to success in any B2B module. Here AI will empower and align business, marketing and sales teams to accurately analyze the demand touchpoints much before a lead generation. This will ensure faster and concrete conversion of leads resulting in enriched customer experiences. Artificial Intelligence can play a significant role in influencing marketing strategies and predicting favorable product and service outcome. With AI things will become faster, easier, more convenient and affordable for business ecosystem to meet the ever evolving customer expectations. New India’s smart customer is globally connected and is curious to explore, experiment and experience. Today, customers are considering exceptional experiences as a critical aspect of their buying decision. In the B2C segment, AI has a huge role to play. It is also the responsibility of businesses and marketers to ethically leverage the power of this impactful tool. Without invading the privacy of customers, AI should aim at significantly providing intelligent and informed customer experiences by equipping marketing and product teams to effectively analyse consumer behavior, acceptance, demand and delivery points. This will ensure a smooth end to end customer journey that is more customized and interactive in the most natural and ethical manner. AI will also support the marketing landscape by enabling powerful and high-impact consumer insights to disrupt customer satisfaction and enhance success factors of product and service innovations. TikTok spokesperson: In 2019, we saw a drastic shift in online content consumption behavior. As the internet continued to democratize, Indians moved beyond the traditional consumption of entertainment content and are now avidly looking at videos to educate themselves on variety of topics such as self-improvement, health, fitness, e- learning languages, among others. In 2020, we foresee this trend to grow, with brands and NGOs leveraging short video formats with platforms such as TikTok. At the same time, given shorter attention spans, it will be critical for content to break through the clutter, be creative, fun and engaging, in order to attract audiences. Shamsuddin Jasani, Group MD, Isobar South Asia: Voice as a technology is coming into its own and is going to be a big trend in 2020. With Hindi as a language being made available on Alexa, it will open up huge opportunities in the future. Secondly, with advancements in technology, augmented reality is going to take off in a big way. And the third biggest trend will again come from the world of vernacular content. Local languages are going to explode as we go into 2020 and you will see more OTT players investing on local languages. Pratik Gupta, Co-founder, FoxyMoron: "2020 will be the year for digitally evolved agencies and digitally involved clients. Hyper-personalization of content through all digital platforms should be the biggest trend this year. Along with the innovation on digital; Voice, OTT, Social, Progressive Web Apps, the use of Hyper-Personalisation are going to be imperative. While the entire ecosystem believes that the consumer does not want to see advertisements, I believe that ads &amp; communication served to an exposed cookie pool at the right time and at the right place is the future. This year we will be working on creating workflows, technologies and teams to cater to this need for brands and consumers alike." Also see: 
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