“TV will continue to be one of the largest advertising mediums in the near future”

Shrugging off the disruptions of the year gone by, businesses and agencies are looking for a strong revival in 2021. Over the next few weeks, Adgully – as part of its annual TRENDING NOW endeavour – will be presenting the strategies and views of a cross-section of industry leaders as they go about reclaiming lost time and market opportunities and build for a stronger future, armed with the lessons of 2020.

Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head, Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18, speaks about the dominating trends in media in 2021, OTT co-existing with linear broadcast television, creating differentiated and disruptive trends across genres and more.

Outlook for 2021

The year 2020 has paved in and reaffirmed our view that in India, unlike the western countries, OTT is going to co-exist with linear broadcast television. This is a huge opportunity that is here to stay and is the single most prominent trend for the M&E industry in 2021. With growth of technology and infra through fibre-optic cable, 5G and hybrid set-top boxes, we will see a simultaneous boost in both TV and OTT. Thanks to this co-existence, there is a huge growth in demand and consumption of content, making it a fabulous time for content creators as ourselves. As an organisation, we are looking at telling stories that are pipe and screen agnostic.

From a monetisation and revenue generation perspective, ad spends will continue to remain stable, because the economy is on a path of recovery. Consumer demand has come back and consumption is going up. Heightened purchasing power of the consumer means that advertisers will have to continue to communicate and gain top-of-mind recall. According to me, there is no better medium than television, which delivers mass reach and thus, will continue to be one of the largest advertising mediums in the near future.

And from a content lens, we will continue to invest in telling stories which are relatable, relevant and have the capacity to be very inclusive and bond families together. We will tell varied stories that appeal to simple human emotions and make TV-time a time to bond with one’s family. The new normal will also be about embracing technology into our lives like never before. A hybrid model is expected to emerge, where some of the practices that we have adopted in the lockdown will become a part of the new normal. Online consumption, online education, online business practices, e-commerce, e-wallets and net banking are habits that are here to stay and will only get stronger. Another trend that I see is the expansion of DD Free Dish and further penetration into the regional markets, with both these segments growing in terms of viewership and monetisation.

Great Expectations

In 2020, we pivoted our consumer outreach and marketing plans to digital/ online mediums along with TV. As the unlock unfolds in 2021, we expect to continue with digital and TV, while also including other mediums such as radio, print and out of home. We hope to engage, curate and create events for our viewers, thus get back in our community where we belong.

On the content side, we believe in creating differentiated and disruptive trends across genres in 2021. We have a very healthy balance of fantastic primetime fiction shows that compliments a very strong weekend line up of non-fiction shows. We have a very robust calendar, where we will continue to deliver variety – be it social commentary, drama or fantasy via our fiction shows or through genres like dance, action-adventure and voyeurism of our reality properties.

Key learnings from 2020

The year 2020 taught corporations across the world 3 important lessons – With resilience and innovation one can overcome any curveball; technology is an enabler and this pandemic has cemented its numero uno position in the way we do business; crisis opens our minds to business models hitherto unheard of, which in hindsight seem to resolve longstanding business problems.

From an entertainment industry lens, this was the year that brought nostalgia and family viewing to the centre stage. Throughout the lockdown period, as shoots remained affected, we stayed true to our promise of keeping our viewers entertained and made sure that we were there for them when they needed us the most. We dipped into our internal library and with shows such as ‘Shani’, ‘Ram Siya ke Luv Kush’, ‘Balika Vadhu’ and ‘Na Aana is Des Laado’ made sure that we catered to the need of family viewing with relatable and relevant stories.

As the unlock phase began, we were the first to bring forth fresh episodes of our prime time shows like ‘Chhoti Sarrdaarni’ and ‘Barrister Babu’. We also launched a slew of new fiction shows like ‘Molkki’, ‘Namak Issk Kaa’, ‘Ishq Mein Marjawan’ and ‘Pinjara Khubsurti Ka’, along with India’s biggest reality show, ‘Bigg Boss 14’. Keeping in tune with the trend of family viewing, throughout the lockdown period our Nickelodeon cluster continued to entertain kids and parents alike with fresh episodes of their favourite shows like ‘Motu Patlu’, ‘Shiva’ and ‘Rudra’. We even launched two new IPs – ‘Ting Tong’ and ‘Pinaki & Happy - The Bhoot Bandhus’ – during the festive period. 

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