The Association of Regional Television Broadcasters of India (ARTBI), an industry body of smaller regional news and general entertainment channels, has asked the gov- ernment to allocate 33% of its annual advertising expendi- ture to smaller, regional TV channels.
The industry body also wants changes in the empanel- ment rules of the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), which handles the activities for the govern- ment, so that smaller channels become eligible for govern- ment advertising.
ARTBI, formed six months ago, claims it has 90 members, including regional general en- tertainment and news chan- nels such as Sadhna News from Sadhna Media Pvt. Ltd, India News from Delhi-based Information Media Pvt. Ltd, Maurya TV Pvt. Ltd in Bihar and Jharkhand, besides Hary- ana's PTC Network Pvt. Ltd to name a few. “The association was formed to give a voice to region-specific and medium and small-sized channels", said Rakesh Sharma, the convenor of ARTBI.
The association representa- tives met minister for information and broadcasting Ambika Soni to discuss their concerns.
Two officials from the ministry confirmed the meeting although they declined to be identified as they are not au- thorized to speak to the media.
Two officials from the ministry confirmed the meeting although they declined to be identified as they are not au- thorized to speak to the media.
The small broadcasters' association has also proposed that DAVP should empanel small, region-specific chan- nels. Currently, DAVP rules prevent channels with an all India viewership share of below 0.02% to get empanelled.
The clause eliminates several channels from the ambit of government advertising.
The clause eliminates several channels from the ambit of government advertising.
“Many of the channels don't have `pan-India' viewership as they target only specific audi- ence groups and regions", said Sharma. In the case of the print media, Sharma said, DAVP regularly gives adver- tisements to newspapers with small circulation even though a bulk of the commercials still go to leading national dai- lies. “Since the electronic media is growing, it's time for government ads to come to some of the smaller, but equally impor- tant news channels,“ he added.
N.K. Singh, ed Sadhna News and general sec- retary of the Broadcast Editors' Association that represents news channel editors, said bodies such as ARTBI were essentially “interest groups" that represented aspirations of some of the smaller regional channels.
“Given that the electronic media is still a fairly new medium with several issues that need to be addressed collec- tively, some specific issues surrounding smaller channels aren't always possible to be heard by other apex bodies", said Singh. The industry body also re- vived the issue of larger sample size for television viewership rat- ings. It has asked for more people metres in smaller cit- ies, towns and villages to map dia Research, a joint venture between Nielsen Co. and Kantar Media Research, compiles data on programme view- ership and market share of channels to determine rank- ings. The inadequate sample size makes it impossible for advertisers to see the potential of regional channels, especial- ly the smaller ones, said Singh. “The faulty TRP (television rating points) system has crippled the regional channels.
It's tough because our operating costs in many regions are high, but advertising is extremely limited as there's no scope for measuring data", he added. TRPs in turn determine the advertising revenue for channels. For instance, in Ahmedabad, which has a population of three million, there were less than 200 TAM people metres, Singh said.
It's tough because our operating costs in many regions are high, but advertising is extremely limited as there's no scope for measuring data", he added. TRPs in turn determine the advertising revenue for channels. For instance, in Ahmedabad, which has a population of three million, there were less than 200 TAM people metres, Singh said.
TAM is the only company measuring viewership data that in turn determines the advertising spend of about `1,500 crore among news channels.
News channels, which get about 15% of the total broadcast advertising budget, are considered a key segment for advertisers seeking male audi- ences above 25 years.
News channels, which get about 15% of the total broadcast advertising budget, are considered a key segment for advertisers seeking male audi- ences above 25 years.
Currently, local channels survive on limited local advertising.
An official at DAVP said that while bulk of the advertising budget at 60% is reserved for the print media, electronic media is “fast catching up".
“Spends on electronic media are increasing as the govern- ment is keen to advertise its achievements on television", said this official. He requested not to be identified. “DAVP's spend on electronic media is growing at 5-6% annually", he added.
DAVP spent around `280 crore on television in 2009-10 and raised the budget to `300 crore in 2010-11. For print me- dia, the budget was scaled up from `280 crore in 2008-09 to `400 crore in 2010-11.
“It's difficult to reach out to smaller channels as our budgets get exhausted with the top four-five channels in news and general entertainment", said the DAVP official. “We have tried to advertise in local cable channels, but it's not worth it because of limited reach. Ministries prefer their audio-visual ads to be seen on the top three-four main channels in the entertainment and news genres".
(Source-: mintlive.com)
