 to the fourth edition of our special webinar, News is Undervalued brought to you in association with ADP News. In the last eight weeks of lockdown, if there was a genre that saw an unprecedented hike of up to 200%, it was the news. This was also the only genre that despite so many challenges that came with lockdown, continued to offer you fresh content. Also, whatever little addicts come in these times of lockdown, most of it went to the genre news. With all of this working for it, the topic we are exploring today is 2020, the year of news. And with us today is one of the senior most media experts of our industry, Mr. Sam Balsara, Chairman of Medicine World. Welcome to the show, Mr. Balsara. My pleasure, Nazia. Good talking to you. You just heard me. I mean, correct me if I was wrong. I mean, last few months have worked in favor of news because this is the only genre which is creating fresh content. This is the genre I've just seen, maximum hike. However, as an expert, do you think this has converted in the revenue growth of the channels? So Nazia, it's true. I think we are living in unprecedented times. And I will soon be completing 50 years of working life. And I've never really seen times like this when TV viewership has actually shot through the roof. You know, from a, in television, from an average weekly GRP of 3,500 at an average, at an all India level, the first week of lockdown actually saw 34% jump to 4,800. In the seventh week, that is the latest week for which we have viewership figures, viewership has, of course, tapered down a bit to about 4,300, which is a loss of 10%. But it's still a 21% increase over pre lockdown weeks. Now, most of this growth has actually come, as you rightly said, on account of news, but yes, or also on account of movies. So in terms of news, as you rightly said, something even more dramatic has happened. Total news channels, GRPs have moved up almost three times from 300 GRPs to over 1000. In the first week of lockdown, representing a dramatic threefold increase. But over the seven weeks of lockdown, news channels have lost GRPs, they've lost about 400 GRPs, thus showing that this dramatic increase is going to be a little difficult to sustain. Nevertheless, still in week seven, the last week for which we have data, news channels still show a two and a half times increase from the pre lockdown era. And GRPs have still gone up from 300 to almost 700. Also, I think if you look a little deeper, it's significant that female viewership of news has gone up as much as total male viewership, in fact, a little higher. Also contributing to this increase in news viewership is a substantial increase in non prime time viewership, which is actually a very good thing. So, you know, news channels now have viewership throughout the day. And also, this is not really restricted only to Hindi or English. You know, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada have also shown actually very high increases. Yes, I know I'm coming to that. The question is, why is this phenomenal growth in news channels not result of proportional revenue growth for channels? Now, the reality is that, you know, despite all the science of CPRP and reach and all of that that agencies and advertisers may apply for buying TV time, ultimately, you must realize that it's a marketplace. And in a marketplace, price is determined by overall demand and supply. And not necessarily that benchmarks that agencies and advertisers may come up with or any intergenar CPRP comparisons. So, the harsh reality is that ad-ex, the name that we give to the advertising media market, collapsed in April to the extent of 75 to 85%. So, this is an estimate. But I'm sure the reality is somewhere thereabout. So, considering these two factors that there is a collapse of ad-ex and also that CPRP for news has been fairly strong, news, I would say, has not fared too badly. Because in week one of lockdown, according to the records I saw of TAM, news lost only 1% compared to 17% that the total TV industry lost. And in the last week or the seventh week of lockdown, news channels lost 16% compared to 33% lost by the TV industry as a whole. So, you know, you could argue that news channels have lost only half of what the television industry has lost as a whole. So, in a way, the market has recognized the performance of news television. Now, this was in terms of FCT. If you look at it in terms of value or rupees, in my estimate news genre has lost about half of what other genres has lost. Now, when an industry collapses to the tune of 85%, I should think the major concern of individual channels should be to grab as much share as possible of ad-ex rather than protect benchmark rates. All other TV genres, you know, despite their increase in GRPs, though the increases are much more modest compared to the news genre, were in fact able to grab some share of the diminished pie. The reason I believe why news channels did not grab a higher share than what they actually did is because they thought or many of them thought that it would be more beneficial to protect the benchmark rate. Now, news channels and their sales people may not agree with me, but in my view, this is fallacious because as we have seen in television, the rates can readily move up or down depending on the strength or weakness of the demand. So to answer your question, which you've headlined in the poster that you put up, you know, for this webinar, will 2020 be the year of news genres? My answer would definitely be yes, and definitely in terms of worship, because COVID-19 by all accounts is not really going away and in a way, and considering that it affects the lives and consumer behavior of an entire population, I think news will continue to have bitter interest and therefore more eyeballs. However, how much of it will translate to advertising revenue will be dependent on how agile and flexible news channels will be and how much hunger they display in terms of they wanting to increase their share of a diminished advertising pie in value terms. Now, whilst it's too early to make a prediction on what the January, December 2020 ad-ex will look like, it is pretty clear to me that the pie will be smaller than 2019, considering that Jan, Feb, March have already been fairly poor months and there is a question mark on how much cricket we are going to see during the rest of the year. But considering that news is something that we are going to see throughout the year and eventually I mean sooner or later the lockdown will get over, how much do you see the genre benefiting this year? If you can give me an estimate in terms of percentage because GEC will also take some time to come out with fresh content. Similarly, cricket, I mean, it won't just start the next day, it will also take. So as I just explained to you, Nazia, I think I have no doubt that in terms of viewership, they will benefit and they will benefit substantially. However, how much of that viewership increase translates to ad-ex or translates to advertising dollars? It's a function, I believe, of how valuable, flexible the news channels are and how much hunger they demonstrate for the advertising pie. Remember, the other genres are extremely aggressive and they are fighting for the same advertising group piece. So news has not shown aggression in past? Well, I believe they are not as aggressive or they are not displaying as much hunger as the other genres are. What exactly do you mean when you say they've not shown the same amount of hunger? They're not accommodative, they're not ready to shift their rates, they're not... Absolutely. I think the other genres are willing to accommodate requests, they're willing to recognize that ad-ex has collapsed and therefore their desire is to capture a larger share of the restricted advertising pie that is available. And I believe news channels are not doing that. Maybe they have their reasons for not doing that. Maybe they are comforted by the fact that their viewership has gone up by twice. All this is, in fact, true. But as I mentioned, it's a marketplace after all and if you want a share of it, you'll have to fight for it. It may not come automatically to you as it did in the past. So another thing I want to understand from you is if you do not talk only of COVID-19 days, news, for instance, in 2019 also was dominated in the sense there was Lok Sabha elections, there were so many state elections and it is also more of a habit kind of a genre where people do watch it for some time. Where has it lacked? I mean, even then, were they lacking aggression? Is it fragmentation? I think news as a genre, I don't have the figures readily available with me, but I think has been steadily growing. That is, when I say growing, I mean growing in terms of share of addicts. The point is that it has grown in terms of addicts disproportionately even during the weeks of lockdown. Like if you take, I think, many of Madison clients, their usage of news during the lockdown period would be much higher than what their usage of news was pre-lockdown. But you know, when you get included in a plan, there are several considerations of reach, frequency and whatnot. So I think it may not always be possible that because you have done the entire share of you must be able to get 100% of the share. And don't forget as I keep repeating, it's a marketplace. So your competitor is also battling for the same rupee. And if he is weaker and his viewership share has not gained so much, then he's going to discount his prices to negate your advantage. So that's actually the next question I wanted to ask you. Is fragmentation a major issue with the news channels? Are they competing too much with each other? Yes, I think fragmentation is a problem, I think. And the honest truth is, yes, there is one news channel too many. For example, even in English, where the viewership is miniscule, we have as many as 12 channels, including two business channels. In many of the states, like in Andhra, we have 12 news channels. But I don't think the news channels themselves can do anything about this fragmentation, because after all, we live in a free country and that too, where there is no shortage of entrepreneurial spirit, where many business men feel that they can make a success of news channels. So we really are not in a position to control their increase. And of course, as is well known, the additional attraction of having a news channel as part of your empire or as a business proposition is not just the profit that it can generate, but also the political clout that it can give you, which may benefit you in other ways or benefit your other businesses. So many news channels, in fact, have started and survived, not entirely because profit was the only motivation to start that channel. That's actually a very fresh view that you have given to us. We have not had that view in last three webinars that we have conducted on the same subject. So now, I already have questions coming from our viewers. Nasia, can I just add one more thing? Since I've applied my mind to it, the challenge or the opportunity for the news channels that I see in the coming months is that in lockdown week seven, they were at 700 GRPs. Now, the challenge for them and the opportunity is how to retain this advantage and maintain 700 GRPs for the rest of the year. Now, whilst it may be difficult to do this, I believe it is not impossible, given the uncertain environment and the need for government to take frequent major decisions affecting people's lives and then announcing them to the people. So I feel that content managers could perhaps apply their minds to do four things. One is they should offer varied content to appeal to different target groups, including perhaps, say, a children's bulletin, much like, say, the newspaper's NIE program, which they've been aggressively pushing for the last, I think, two decades or so. Kids, you know, shouldn't have to grow up on cartoons and kid shows alone. After all, you know, television could help wean them away from these into something more serious and information based. Also, I think news television could do a lot by adding softer human stories that are, you know, emerging daily in the country. And these, I believe, can actually be more interesting than the fiction that a GC channel has put out. Also, I think news channels should carve out a strategy on how to maintain the increased viewership on non-prime time. Because remember, you know, WFH would continue in some way in many industries. And finally, my fourth suggestion is that they will have to find ways of retaining additional female viewership. So I wanted to leave the news channels with the thought that I'm sure they can themselves be being experts, they can come up with a lot more ideas. But I had these four thoughts, which I believe if they pursued would help them, you know, try and retain as much of the 700 GRPs going forward. I'm sure each and every news channel is going to follow the advice that Mr. Balsara gives to them. Nobody will take the risk of not following your advice. So I have some questions coming up and I'm not left with too much time. So I'll cut my questions short and I'm going to take up at least two or three questions that viewers are sending to us. Mr. Shailesh Hegde has said congratulations, sir, for competing 50 years of working life. Advertisers follow eyeballs. News channels where worship is at all time high, however, some of the large agencies are negotiating for bonus FCT, value additions like sponsorships, L brands, Aston brands, when clients are already benefiting with lower CPTs and CPRPs during this time. What would you, what would be your advice to clients? Thanks, Shailesh Hegde and AVP News. So Shailesh, I just spent considerable time explaining my point of view that news channels are not operating in a vacuum. Both advertisers and agencies have, you know, other genres who are also talking to them. And don't forget if other genres are at a disadvantage compared in viewership terms, then they try to neutralize the advantage of the news channels by offering lower rates and therefore matching the CPRPs or negating the advantage of additional viewership of news channels. So you have to be alive to this fact. And that is why I said, once news will continue to benefit, how much of that benefit of ad-ex they'll get will depend on how much hunger they display for getting a greater share of the advertising pie. Sandeep Shrivastav wants to know, given we heard that COVID-19 situation is not going to end soon, also news genre should also be able to hold on some of the viewership growth on a longer term. Would news genre be considered by planners in the league of reach builder rather than frequency booster? Which is the role it has been playing? This of course would depend on how accommodative they are on grabbing a higher share of the collapsed ad-ex. So you see this is of course a mathematical question on how much role news can play in reach building. I think the honest truth is that news has not been very good in reach build-up except maybe on certain events or on certain occasions. But I do feel that there is a greater awareness of news as a genre and its importance amongst agencies and advertisers. And I think news channels will benefit from this in the coming months. I think they've already benefited substantially during the lockdown period at the expense of the other genres. How much they continue to benefit, I repeat, will again depend not just on their own actions but also on the actions of news channels versus the actions of other genres. Because after all agencies will get offers from various genres and each genre will put their best foot forward at a time like this when the whole pie is shrinking. So I think if you allow me I can take one more question before we wrap up. We only have three minutes left because I also want to take up this issue of regional news channels. So Sandeep Sharma has asked in view of the growth of in worship of news channels can we expect the brands to be willing to offer better rates and deals to regional news channels based on the improved numbers. So how are regional news channels performing because we have discussed as I think highlighted to you several news channels are actually doing much better than Hindi news channels. I think the regional ones you know Marathi, Bengali if I recall right are showing pretty dramatic increases and I think for quite some time you know regional news has been on media plans of many brands and I think they'll continue to be so. Is it also because you know regional gives you the news of your immediate neighborhood you know we all want to know what is correct and therefore they get high viewership. But when PM speaks you have to go back to the mainstream. Yes of course. So we have two minutes remaining. Should I take one more question? Sure. Okay so given the volatility of news viewership news channels perhaps believe that there are hey days and that the sun will not shine forever. That's why they are in no mood to compromise on rates for now. So the challenge which is to maintain high viewership is beyond their control. So I would imagine it's very difficult to a competitive pricing policy. It would have to be dynamic. Would you agree? Well I think television pricing will always be dynamic. I have no doubt about that but I don't quite accept and I don't think news channels should accept that viewership will decline that's a given. Yes it is true that from week one to week seven of the lockdown period from 1000 GRPs to 700 GRPs. But I think rather than taking it lying down that yes therefore it is going to decline to 600 GRPs next week and 500 the week thereafter I think news channels should pick some aggressive innovative out of the box steps of how to retain this habit of you know if not a regular habit at least a snacking habit and I think it should be possible to retain some of these additional viewers and some additional time because after all you know seven weeks is also a fairly long time to form a habit about watching something. I'm continuing to get a lot of questions but we have already run out of time maybe we'll have another session with Mr. Balsara some other day to accommodate all the questions. I want to sum it up and I want to I mean I can now conveniently more confidently announce that this is going to be the year of news genre because Mr. Sam Balsara has verified it and has repeated it and when Mr. Balsara says it it has to be the year of news genre and only thing that the news genre has to do to ensure that it is it continues to lead this year is to be more aggressive and follow all the suggestions given by Mr. Balsara. Thank you all for joining us today for this session. Thank you Mr. Balsara for your expert advice and suggestions. I'm sure the entire genre is going to gain a lot out of it not just your own clients and we before we sign off you want to repeat that this this special webinar on news genre is brought to you in association with ABP news. Thank you very much Mr. Balsara for joining us. Thank you Nazia for talking to you. Same here sir it's always pleasure speaking to you. Stay safe. Stay at home. Take care of yourself. Thank you very much sir. Thank you.