Future of TV in India

The Campaign A-List has collated the responses of over 300 Senior Professional from the Media Industry. In a recent, blog post "A-List of Changes"  I discussed what are the changes that these professional seek from media and advertising. Here, I am presenting a review of what all do they specifically expect to change in Television.

Here, of course I am ignoring ideas that are too extreme (like - ban TV) or too difficult to digest (such as - add smells to TV). Of course! TV was one of the mediums that had the most variety of comments for its future. I have classified these comments in 5 broad categories, each concerned about the following:

• The TV Technology
• The Advertising on TV
• TV Content
• Pricing of TV Commercial Time
• Research & Measurement for TV

The slide here illustrates the different comments received and hence gives a glimpse of the changes once can hope for in the future.

The A-List is most worried about the overdose of advertising. Hence, in the future of TV wants ad-free channels, limit commercial time, limit ad-durations, limit frequency of ads, zap commercials, stop TV tickers and logos on screen, and so on.  

Overall, in TV Technology the Media Seniors want to have 2-way communication on TV thus making it Interactive. Other wants are - digitization of Cable, making TV HD, Addressability for DTH. Yes, they also want to have a like/dislike button on TV for giving feedback on content and advertising.

In Content, the primary concern is for News Channels about paid news, anchors getting hysterical and dramatization of news.

The Creative people still have not had enough of indulgence in Television and are dreaming of having cheaper ad-rates so that they can make longer duration ads - since 30s is just not enough to tell a story.

TV Measurement as always is wanting - larger sample and better coverage but this time there is more concern about what we are measuring. Instead of TVRs, the A-List seeks to have TV Respect Points and TV Watchability Ratings. Advertisers want to go beyond CPRPs to Ad-effectiveness measures and Impact measures.

Interesting thoughts, which if materialized will certainly change TV for the better in the future. So, I sincerely hope that the A-List is able to bring in the changes that they seek - for if they cant then who else can !!!

A-List of Changes

All of us have our own view of the future of media and advertising and each one of us is working towards the changes one wants to make on the media canvass. But, have you ever wondered what is the collective view of such individual wishes and actions?

Well, here is a perspective.

I looked at the recently released A-List - courtesy Campaign India and Dainik Bhaskar Group. About 300 media professional shared their view on what they would want to change in media. I must say, it was very interesting reading - at times entertaining, some views shocking, some thought-provking and insightful; but overall - a read full of learning.

It was so exciting to read what all different people envision for the future of different media. There are different personalities that emerge from a simple analysis of this document:

the extremists - who want to totally ban some media;

the romantics - who still want the old era charm to be retained even in the new media;

the dreamers - who want no limits to creative expression;

the technologists - who want to infuse better technology across media;

the liberals - who are either not concerned or believe that change is anyways happening;

the accountants - who want more measures to do better evaluations;

the believers - who believe that all is well and no change is required;

.... and so on.. cant think of any more categories..

But, what is the big-picture that this A-list reveals for the media industry. What are their primary issues and concerns? And, these are best captured in this word map below on the basis of the changes that are sought in this media industry.

The primary themes that I read from this for the future of media here in India can be listed below:

• Reduce, Stop, Ban, Remove, Spam, Clutter, Less: Less advertising clutter
• Interactive: Every media to seek 2-way communication
• Measurement, Effectiveness: Better measurement and evaluation
• Digital, Bandwidth, Internet: Digital has arrived
• Accountability, Transparency, Truth: Responsible business dealings
• Better, Aesthetics, Cheaper: Deliver More in Less

The changes wanted most badly - by the number of people suggesting these are the following (not in any order):

• Stop Half-Jackets on newspapers
• Spare the Newspaper Front Page
• Reduce TV advertising Clutter
• Stop SPAM on Mobiles
• Remove Ugly Outdoor
• Remove 'intrusions' in content on TV
• Reduce Celebrities in Ads
• Better Measurement for OOH
• Better Measurement for Digital
• Reduce regulation for Radio

I would love to discuss each media in detail separately, as the expectations of different people from each media are so different. While, some want to ban a media; some are looking to regulate it; some want to indulge in it for their creative delight; some want to re-orient it for the future; some are worried about measurement and some about its rate....

But, I will decide to write on that basis feedback on this write-up. Hope you found this interesting.

The Future: Inevitably Digital

I remember the days when I was a young entrant into the world of media (actually, media research to be specific) as I joined MRUC (Media Research Users Council). Somewhere around that time internet was included as a medium to be measured, into the Indian Readership Survey.

Internet used to be measured at two levels - aware about internet and frequency of usage of internet. While, usage of internet appeared to be a mere blip, there was a fair amount of awareness.

Actually, a funny incident had the researchers very perplexed. In a few small markets, the internet awareness showed levels 3 - 4 times those in any other market. Thanks to the robust back-check system followed by the IRS  - it was soon discovered that the high level of awareness was not of the interNET but of MosquitoNET - a simple mix-up about the NET.

India has certainly come along way since then. Its been about little over a decade since then.

We have all seen the rise in adoption of the internet which started getting adopted as a business application for emails, then soon evolved. Surfing to Search to Webmail to Games to Creating Websites to Blogs to Shopping to Banking to Ticketing to Networking to Socializing..... It now touches almost every part of our lives. In fact, now it is not confined to the computer screen but stays with us through our mobiles all day long.

However, the sceptics are still very adamant that in India internet is still a niche phenomenon and it will not affect the mass of India for many more years to come.  

Yes, the penetration levels of internet are not as high compared to those of television or newspapers today but with the rate at which the penetration of mobiles is increasing, it is just a matter of time..  a matter of very little time that it will surpass the reach of every other media. Just as we 24x7 access to electricity, so we shall have for internet. As products, services and governance starts utilizing the internet its advent as a mass application is inevitable.  

The sooner we believe this future and evolve our structure, methods and practices to address this fundamental change - the easier our future success shall be.

"If you dont give Digital a chance today; Digital wont give you a chance in the future"