Rise in regional TV viewership – maximising reach and connect

The growth of regional content across mediums has been observed with great interest by media observers. There is increasing preference for content in one’s mother tongue, which content creators and broadcasters have been tapping into. This growth has been further exacerbated by dubbing content in different languages and by also introducing sub-titles.

The 4^th edition of SCREENXX Summit and Awards 2022 turned the spotlight on regional content in a panel discussion on “Rise in Regional TV Viewership”. The panellists analysed the current scenario of regional content on television and what are the factors contributing to the increase in viewership.

The session was chaired by Maddie Amrutkar, Founder & CEO, Glad U Came, and the panelists included:

Rajeev Mishra, Vice President- Programming & Strategy, Filamchi Bhojpuri

Poulami Roy, Chief Marketing Officer RSH Global, JOY

Sanjay Chabria, Managing director, Everest Entertainment

The speakers commenced the session with a discussion on the factors that are driving the growth of regional content.

While speaking about the growth of the Bhojpuri market, Rajeev Mishra noted that people preferred content in their mother tongue because it connects and relates with them more. “Apna bachcha sabse acha, which means we like what is ours,” he quipped, while pointing out, “Regional is more relatable, more connecting, more appealing and also more exciting nowadays. So, all of these come together to raise the viewership of regional content.”

The panel went on to discuss the audiences in Tier 2, 3 and rural markets, and how these markets have been reach builders for broadcasters and the brands.

Poulami Roy noted, “One of the things that we face or are facing is the whole idea of being inclusive as a nation. I think we should accept each other’s mother tongues. This has a lot to do with the way we have evolved.”

Adding further, she spoke about how globalisation and localisation have worked hand-in-hand for the last couple of decades. “We want to be local as well as global.” She also mentioned about how the Internet has helped them to explore the mutual interests of people from different parts of the world. “It has also helped people to become regional heroes – you don’t always need to pedestrianise somebody who is far away from my vicinity. I can be proud of someone from my area, my region, who is doing a great job,” Roy added.

She also spoke about OTT platforms and why regional content on these platforms are in great demand.

Sanjay Chhabria shed light on the content opportunities for content creators. He also spoke about how customers can maximise reach by dubbing regional content for a wider national appeal. “There’s no more Hindi language or regional language. It is now shifting more towards Indian language content. That is a gain which has happened during the pandemic,” he noted.

Rajeev Mishra here shared a quote by Nelson Mandela to stress on how regional content had a deeper impact, ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, it goes to his head, but if you talk to a man in his language, it goes to his heart’.

These are edited excerpts, for the complete discussion, watch below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBLcESjOVv0