Financial Express (India)
© Indian Express Pty. Ltd.
The scorching summer may have almost come to an end but the fierce competition among Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) is just beginning to hot up. Like last year, season 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) hogged the lion’s share of ratings on television. While most channels lay low during IPL this year by not launching too many new shows, some took the opportunity to ramp up their programming and strike back once the month-long cricket event ended on May 24.
Sony Entertainment Television, now known as Multi Screen Media or MSM, launched a marketing campaign worth Rs 15-Rs 20 crore during IPL to draw attention to a new line-up of shows along with a complete re-branding of the channel. Starting Monday, a day after the IPL final, Sony has rolled out fresh shows that includes period dramas like Chittor Ki Rani Padmini Ka Johar, Ladies Special and reality show Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega.
Says one media analyst, “Sony’s move in a bid to ramp up its programming and marketing could be the result of the severe competition between GECs.” Sony’s ranking has been hit badly by newer entrants, explains another analyst. “The channel does not rank in the top three GECs. The IPL was an ideal time for Sony to roll out this campaign since the matches gave them maximum eyeballs and to sustain its viewership, they will need fresh programmes,” the analyst added.
N P Singh, COO, MSM India, says, “Last year IPL had taken people by surprise. It became a very popular entity with the audience. Through this rebranding exercise, it is difficult to talk about the GRPs that these shows may garner but there will definitely be a major traction from the viewers and over a period of time we are sure that there will be a significant increase in GRPs. Post IPL there will also be a revival in spends. TV spends are likely to increase due to the demand in advertising.”
Senior officials at Star Plus claim that they have not really worked on programming post-IPL. Keertan Adyanthaya, general manager and executive vice-president, STAR Plus says, “We haven’t changed our strategy just because of the IPL as shows with loyal viewership have not been affected much. We have just launched a varied line-up of shows including Bidaai, Yeh Rishta, Laadli and Kis Des which are top of the charts.”
Colors had also announced a line-up of its new shows around three months ago and have recently launched a fantasy show Vikram aur Betaal. The show is a remake of the eponymous series aired on Doordarshan almost two decades ago. NDTV Imagine will also soon air the TV version of Hema Malini’s popular film Seeta Aur Geeta apart from Rakhi Sawant’s swayamvar show that will be aired during the first week of June.
Star Plus too is launching reality shows like Star Vivaah and a new show called Godrej Khelo Jeeto Jiyo – India’s first corporate game-based reality show.
Besides, most GECs are also planning to air consecutive seasons of their popular reality shows, now that IPL is out of the way. So while Sony plans to cash in on its big ticket show Dus Ka Dum 2- the first season of the show last year garnered 27 million viewers within the first two weeks of its launch, Colors and Star Plus are planning to bring in the next seasons of Fear Factor, Bigg Boss and Aap Ki Kachehri repectively.
Reports suggest that the second season of IPL experienced heavy ad spends of nearly Rs 400 crore. Now that the event is over, most channels are wondering if television ad spends will get channelised towards GECs, because in a meltdown year, advertising spends have suffered a huge blow. Hong Kong-based consultant Media Partners Asia has predicted that advertising spends on television will grow just 6.5% in 2009, against a growth of 15.6% in 2008. The agency expects ad growth to recover to 8.7% in 2010. The total advertising growth will slow to a growth of 5.4%, compared with 20%-plus growth of the preceding years, Media Partners Asia said in a report. According to a FICCI KPMG report based on the media and entertainment industry, the television industry is projected to grow at the rate of 14.5% over 2009 to 2013 and reach a size of Rs 47,300 crore.
Timmy Kandhari, executive director and leader, entertainment and media practice, PWC India, confirms that the ad spends have been really low this year compared to last year. “This year overall ad spending on television is not likely to increase. The growth has not been that substantial this year. Certain properties like the IPL and the election coverage across news channels may have experienced greater spends but it might get evened out in the long run. Leading GECs do get the maximum ad spends but channelisation of ad spends will depend mainly on the kind of content,” adds Kandhari.
The shuffle at the top spot for the number one GEC only puts advertisers in a fix as they need to evaluate the strength and reach of a medium to ensure optimum cost effectiveness. According to TAM, a television rating agency, Colors overtook Star Plus at the no 1 spot briefly and the tussle is between Star Plus, Colors and Zee. While most GECs experienced a mild downward trend, due to IPL and elections, Zee showed a slight upward trend. Media planners believe that this could be due to the new programs on the channel. Similarly, with a revamping of programs and a big marketing push, there are chances that Sony can get back into consideration for advertisers.
Explains Arundhati Banerjee, associate vice president, ZenithOptimedia: “The shuffle in the top spot does affect advertisers. For bigger advertisers, where associations are pegged on a celebrity or a mega property or an event on a channel, the movement in the general pull for the channel affects the cost per rating point (CPRP) numbers, and a course correction becomes inevitable. For smaller advertisers, when the campaign window is also too narrow, even a slight slide in the channel share and program television ratings (TVRs) impact their return on investment negatively, and there is no chance of recovering the lost GRPs in a season.” Also the race for the top slot among GECs impacts the negotiability of the channel with advertisers to a great extent.
Sanjoy Chakraborty, chief operating officer, Dentsu Media, points out, “Steps like not committing full money to one channel, clauses on relative position or channel share and so on, which protects the ad money commitment while planning, should be kept in mind.”
But for advertisers, the key is in the planning and the target audience. Says Viral Oza, head-activation, media and online sales and marketing, Nokia India Ltd: “Every genre in a TV plan has a role to play depending on the objectives of the plan. GECs are critical from a reach point of view and hence are cost efficient from that perspective.” With players across the chain concentrating on cost efficiencies, it’s unlikely that advertisers will spread their resources thin. Which makes the game even more tougher for GECs, even with IPL out of the way.