The never-ending saga of landing page imbroglio

The landing page, wherein a particular channel appears on the screen when a viewer turns on the TV, has been a contentious issue for quite some time, especially because it is closely interwoven with the allegations of TRP manipulation.

There has been no authentic data until now to buttress the allegation that the landing page can help a channel gain an unfair advantage over its competition. A viewer may simply switch over to his favourite channel in a matter of a few seconds after switching on the TV.

The landing page issue was more prevalent in the GEC and sports space. In September 2020, BARC said that it was coming up with algorithms into its data validation method to mitigate the impact of the landing page on viewership data. The agency conceded that the use of a landing page “by a channel exaggerates viewership estimates by ‘forcing viewership’”.

“The question is: can it be captured under the ratings? I am doubtful. I tend to change a channel after four seconds to my favourite channel. Are the ratings capturing it, is the question,” remarked an industry analyst preferring anonymity. He contended that for the broadcasters, the landing page is part of the marketing and promotion campaign.

Is it illegal?

According to the analyst, broadcasters cannot be held responsible for this. “Cable operators control what you watch, not the broadcasters. The EPG, controlled by cable operators (LCOs) or MSOs, can be manipulated. MSOs take money from broadcasters for this purpose; they charge in crores. It has become an industry problem and needs to be solved as such. It is not illegal, but it is unethical,” he maintained.

However, those networks that have their own distribution platforms exercise control over and manipulate the landing page in their favour, the analyst added. He alleged that the BARC has been silent on this issue.

Landing pages are advertising assets like EPG bar or volume bar, said a broadcast executive on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue.

“In a supermarket, you have Cadbury in the chocolates section. Then you come to the billing counter, you again have Cadbury there. The landing page is something like that. These are all advertising assets. It is there on the shelf, but it has a greater visibility in the billing section. BARC has been trying to rationalise the landing page issue. It has been happening. But, as you know, for the one-and-a-half years there have been no ratings for the news genre. So, nobody has any clue. Unless the rating comes, you can’t say what is happening and not happening,” she added.

According to her, landing pages are advertising assets like an EPG bar or volume bar. Some broadcasters take these advertising assets.

“In that regard, they take the landing page as well. When you press the remote and change the volume, you see a pop-up on your screen. Right now, these things are not happening in the news section because there are no news ratings. News channels are not keen on investing in any of these advertising assets. It is an asset like a front-page ad slot in a newspaper. Similarly, you do it on TV,” she further said.

She felt that TRAI being the ultimate regulatory body should do something about it.

Strategic marketing and media consultant Chintamani Rao questioned the very rationale behind the landing page. Does it qualify as viewership in the true sense of the word?

“To the extent that it increases their ratings without increasing effective viewership, it is a misleading reading and that rating is invalid. Why do I say that? Strictly speaking, yes, the viewer is on the channel and, therefore, it is counted. But he is not out of choice. You put on the TV and it opens on one particular channel. Maybe you happen to stay for the few seconds that qualifies it as viewership, but did you look at it? It is like passing by a hoarding without looking at it, and that’s counted as exposure. In the case of outdoor media, all you can do is to count the passing traffic, but in the case of TV, it is possible to know how long a viewer has been there. What should that threshold be, for it to count as viewership? Perhaps for a landing page it should be higher than for regular viewing,” elaborated Rao.

Should TRAI do something about it?

“I don’t know if TRAI should do something about it. I don’t know on what basis they would or could. There has to be some issue for them to intervene. To my knowledge, as long as there are no multiple LCNs, it is not an issue. I don’t know if TRAI has a role in such a scenario,” Rao added.

Why the news genre?

“Why are news broadcasters so agitated about this?” wondered Rao, as he added, “Avinash Pandey recently said in a public speech that the news industry did not feel the absence of BARC data during the 15-month blackout period. I wonder if his counterparts in the industry agree. Judging by their hyper anxiety, they don't! The news genre has such a small share of TV viewership, and individual news channels shares are so tiny that, given the sample size, the numbers are just broad approximations. But news broadcasters slice and dice them frantically, and delude themselves.”

According to Anil Kumar Singh, CEO of TV5 Kannada news channel and Group CFO TV, landing page and channel placement at a specific number and place is a big manipulative practice adopted by a few highly funded broadcasters and supported by channel distributors for pure financial gains at the cost of advertisers’ interest.

Ultimately, advertisers who majorly support the entire media industry suffered, Singh argued. “Advertisers’ loss is a loss of economy, employment, and the industry,” he contended.

“The people with an inherent conflict of interest participating in the governance keep BARC and other industry bodies a hub of manipulation. Until an independent and accountable board is set up at BARC, we can't correct the course actions and move in the right direction. Evolution is a process but needs to start with the right intent to create a winning proposition for all the stakeholders; it cannot be a win-lose zero-sum ecosystem,” Singh further said.

According to him, placement of channels is a form of manipulative practice for charging high distribution fees and similarly landing page is a manipulative practice once it is integrated into viewership and rating. “Simple solutions are available, but not implemented by players with conflict of interest,” he said.