Our guest author says that once unindexed audience segments will soon be focused on getting brands and marketers to get their message across.
TV continues to be the largest and most popular media platform in India both in terms of reach and consumer engagement in terms of time spent. According to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) TV Universe Estimates, television will reach 210 million households in 2020, with about 900 million people watching TV. This large user base is far larger than any other media platform in the country, demonstrating the broad reach that television enjoys.
According to KPMG Analysis of 2022, India’s TV penetration is estimated to reach 76% in 2026 from 70% in 2020, with both FTAs and pay TV registering strong growth. The analysis further estimates that in 2026, 248 million households will consume linear TV. This increase is split between pay-TV and free-to-air TV (FTA), but consider the vast geography and growing economic power of the gigantic Indian states that make up the burgeoning Hindi-speaking capital. Brands and marketers focus their message on previously unindexed audience segments.
The past year has seen the following trends that have dominated the FTA arena and paved the way to glory:
Original content gaining momentum within the FTA space
General Entertainment Channels (GEC) in the pay-TV and FTA space are built on content centered around family drama, mythology, fantasy, crime fiction and reality entertainment. 2022 has firmly established itself in the hinterland along with its suburban heartland, witnessing the channel in the FTA space, introducing Indian audiences to a new style of storytelling with original content. It used to be the norm for these channels to run old content, but FTA channels have recently changed the standard and are building content libraries with dozens of originals across genres and languages. Also, there will always be an audience for family dramas and soaps that have been on TV for decades, but there is a growing concern that viewers want more from his GEC in Hindi. And we are already seeing a clear shift in viewing patterns. This will further encourage advertising on these channels. An analysis conducted by KPMG India reveals that the scale of original TV content produced in Hindi and other regional languages is much larger than that acquired or created by OTT platforms. Up to 2,500 hours for OTT.
Intensifying competition with digital technology. Leads to growth of FTA channel
The FTA category is a hot topic and every TV network wants to participate. 2022 saw the growth phenomenon of FTA channels, so more and more new entrants introduced channels into this category. Broadcasters in the FTA space continued to launch new channels as TV viewership remained strong despite the growing popularity of video streaming services. While an audience shift to over-the-top (OTT) video streaming is undeniable, the FTA space saw room to expand for bottom-funnel or mass-market audiences. We all know that rural India is growing, incomes are rising and TV is the only entertainment. Many of these people are buying phones, but television is a family-binding activity. If FTA broadcasters continue to innovate and stay on the bandwagon to cater to their audiences, real opportunities will arise. The channels that have entered the market will continue to expand and will grow further, at least for the foreseeable future.
Growing attention to DD free dishes
DD Free Dish has already achieved great penetration and will continue to expand. 2022 is even more in the spotlight with DD launching new licenses from April 1, 2022. The space was a little crowded, but competitive, with 4 big channels finishing in amazing fashion and another 6 of his making amazing debuts in this space. Over a period of time, FTA channels have been able to capture a portion of the viewership. According to data reported by ratings agency Crisil Research, in fiscal 2021 DD Free Dish enjoyed a subscriber base of 40.41 million, while all his other DTH operators combined he had 69.57 million. I’m a person. DD’s high ratings in rural areas have become the focus of the station. DD Free Dish still has room to grow as it caters to specific types of audiences that Pay TV can’t reach.
The fertile FTA space is where we have more green chutes to look out for in 2023, so we’re getting more airtime from content creators, programmers and marketers, and thankfully we’re done this year. increase. The FTA space needs to be re-strategic to showcase content that is not only original and relevant, but also interactive and engagement-driven. In 2023, we will see broadcasters realign their goals, understand these changing patterns, and adopt an agile approach to development.
(Author is CEO of QYOU Media India.)
