The broadcast industry must stick together to survive

Even the streaming platform has set up two bodies to address consumer complaints. Led by platforms owned by broadcasters such as Disney Hotstar, Voot and SonyLIV, One renamed the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) as the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) and expanded its scope to include digital streaming platforms. .

Others, digital publishers were launched by independent OTT services like Content Complaint Council, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Alt Balaji, Lionsgate Play and Hungama.

But the clash between TV channel owners and distribution platform owners (DPOs) in the last three years, due to the new tariff orders (NTOs) introduced by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), has hit the industry the most.

When TRAI first implemented NTO in 2019, it carried forward the TV industry business model based on bundle of channels. The NTO forced TV networks to price their channels separately and offered them a-la-carte to consumers to reduce cable subscription costs. But broadcasters keep the prices of their popular channels low 19 and less popular ones at low prices, bundled and offered at huge discounts. Hence the NTO failed to achieve the desired result and the cable bills went up, prompting TRAI to amend its earlier order. This changed the price cap on channels forcing broadcasters to reduce their channel rates.

The IBF challenged the amendments, saying it violated the rights of broadcasters to trade freely. As the matter languishes in the courts, the broadcasting industry claims it has been at a standstill over the past three years, unable to plan for expansion.

The controversy comes at a time when linear TV as well as cable and direct-to-home platform (DTH) distribution systems are under serious threat from the rise of over-the-top (OTT) video services such as Amazon Prime Video, Netflix. , and Disney Hotstar. Viewers are slowly cutting the cord and getting rid of cable and DTH subscriptions in favor of OTT content.

Data from a recent TRAI report shows that there has been a decline of nearly one million active pay subscribers of DTH in the September quarter of 2021. The cable TV industry also lost nearly half a million active subscribers in the quarter, the report said.

A December report by CII and Boston Consulting Group said that streaming services, which are gaining attention, “are in a scaling phase with strong subscription growth and increased investments in premium and original content.” It added that there has been a marginal increase of around 2% in pay TV between 2019 and 2022.

While the data paint a grim picture, there is still hope. For starters, time spent on video consumption increased from 1.8 hours per day per user in 2018 to 2.9-3.2 for digital and video platforms in 2021. For television, it has increased from 3.6 to 4.3-4.5 hours, the CII-BCG report said.

Furthermore, a Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India study released in April 2021 states that around 210 million households out of 300 million have access to television. Media expert Ashok Mansukhani said, “Clearly, there is room for another 90 million television homes to grow in this area.”

He disagreed that the NTO 2.0 row has stagnated broadcasters. Conversely, since they are adhering to NTO 1.0, their subscription revenue has increased, he argued. (NTO 2.0 is scheduled to start from 1st April). But he agreed to the growing challenges facing TV and legacy distribution media. “Linear TV will have to reinvent itself. Cable and DTH will have to re-imagine the business. Apart from traditional TV, it needs to offer high-speed broadband/OTT services on a single bill to maintain its subscriber base or Should even offer cyber and home security.”

Above all, stakeholders should sit at the table with TRAI to resolve the issues. “They need to work together to deepen the market instead of resorting to legal battles and seeing their market shares fall,” Mansukhani said. One broadcast industry executive agreed: “If stakeholders continue to struggle, the industry will only last 10 years. If they work together, it can survive 30.”

Shuchi Bansal is the Media, Marketing and Advertising Editor of Mint. The Ordinary Post will look into the pre-assembling issues related to these three. Or just fun stuff.