Week at a glance: Budget 2019; BARC wrangles; OTT differentiation

Union Budget 2019: FDI opened up further in media
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting her maiden Budget for 2019-2020, announced several sops to boost employment and infrastructure, particularly inland waterways, rural roads, passenger freight services.

Union Budget 2019 reactions: M&E industry hails impetus to growth & digital
The Union Budget 2019, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is being seen as a Budget where there something for everyone. ‘It doesn’t upset the applecart’, is what the general industry view. The major sop for the media industry is opening up of further FDI in media, along with animation, aviation and single brand outlets. Moreover, prices of set-top boxes are set to fall following the Budget provisions. However, print industry is set to see an increase in pressure as newsprint costs are expected to go up.

BARC remains mum as industry rife with rumours on TV ratings data split
Amid the massive row over the landing page issue and the Open House Discussion (OHD) held in Mumbai on July 3, 2019 under TRAI’s aegis to review the TV ratings mechanism in India, BARC India’s Board met in Mumbai yesterday (July 4, 2019) to take stock of the developments in the industry. When contacted by Adgully, BARC officials refused to comment on the Board meet as well as provide some clarity on splitting the ratings for Pay and FTA channels.

TRAI slams industry no-show at OHD on BARC TV ratings mechanism
The broadcast industry is currently in a churn over landing page and outliers in BARC’s TV ratings data. Though BARC has stopped including outliers in its weekly ratings data, the matter is far from resolved. The broadcast industry has been voicing its concerns on the TV ratings mechanism in the country.

BARC India’s PrimaVU to measure premium homes viewership patterns
BARC India has announced the launch of its new product PrimaVU, which is aimed at measuring viewership from premium homes.  Through PrimaVU, BARC India also introduces the industry-first concept of “Viewing Minutes”, which is basically sum of all individuals watching an event basis the time spent by them. Also, PrimaVU is a separate product and not part of the currency panel measurement.

Why differentiation is the way forward for OTT players - Part 1
Various factors will then be in play that would influence viewer preference for a particular OTT platform. It would do well for OTT players to heed to the market realities and create the necessary differentiation as well as stickiness for viewers in this pull-based market. Adgully spoke to some leading OTT industry experts on creating differentiation in the OTT space, the challenges faced, is specialising in a particular genre the answer and much more.

Why differentiation is the way forward for OTT players – Part 2
Continuing with our feature report, in the second and concluding part we look at the scope for creating differentiation in OTT content as well as the challenges involved in this. We will also explore whether a hybrid business model will be a win-win for OTT players.

How Bisleri became a generic name for bottled mineral water - Part 1
In a free-flowing conversation with Adgully, Anjana Ghosh, Director – Marketing & Business Development and Anurag Khandelwal, Creative Head, Mumbai, 82.5 Communications, take us through Bisleri’s successful marketing strategy as well as stand-out campaigns over the years.

Of camels & brand trust – Deconstructing Bisleri’s campaign strategy - Part 2
In Part 1 of this feature report, we had traced Bisleri’s over 50-year journey in India, the factors contributing to its growth and the level-headed marketing strategy that has led to Bisleri claiming a majority share of the branded bottled drinking water market in India today.

ICC CWC 2019: India's victory march to boost Star Sports’ revenues by 10%
The ‘Men in Blue’ reaching the semi-final rounds of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 has sent not just fans, but brands too in a tizzy. The India vs Pakistan match reportedly generated revenues as high as Rs 25 crore-Rs 30 crore for Star Sports, now the broadcaster is looking at a bumper haul from the final leg of the tournament.

Sam Balsara on the shift in policy of mix of clients at Madison World
When asked about the agency’s performance in FY2019, Sam Balsara, Chairman & MD, Madison World, said, “FY2018-19 has been a fantastic year for us”, as against FY2017-18, which was not a good year for Madison. Balsara had a lot to share with Adgully on where the agency structure is headed, how programmatic will impact media buying, why one P&L won’t work and more.

ALTBalaji experiments with horror-comedy; taps TV showrooms for new series
ALTBalaji is in the midst of promotions for its latest OTT original, ‘Boo – Sabki Phategi’, starring Tusshar Kapoor, Mallika Sherawat, Krushna Abhishek, Sanjay Mishra, and Kiku Sharda. The show is a horror comedy web series that began streaming on the platform from June 27, 2019.

SonyLIV to launch India’s first OTT Gaming Destination; targets 50 MN users
In an industry first, SonyLIV announced the launch of India’s first OTT gaming destination with over 100 exclusive show-based games, to be launched in a phased manner. With this move, SonyLIV aims to reach out to 50 MN new users offering them a one-stop gaming destination. These games are curated around some of Sony Pictures Networks’ (SPN) biggest IP’s across channels like KBC, CID, Crime Patrol, The Kapil Sharma Show, Patiala Babes, Baalveer, Kicko& Super Speedo, amongst others.

Govt’s GAMA ‘announcement’ perplexes industry; What it means for ASCI
On Saturday, June 29, 2019 a routine press release on Press Information Bureau (PIB) from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution sent Twitter into a tizzy. The release stated that, “The Government has launched an online portal called “Grievance Against Misleading Advertisements” (GAMA) where complaints relating to misleading advertisements can be lodged.”

Charulata Patel's Swag pose on behalf of Pepsi ignites old rivalries
Beverage brand Pepsi once again undermines arch nemesis Coca Cola who are official sponsors of the ICC World Cup 2019. They have picked up vuvuzela blowing 87-year-old, Charulata Patel whose enthusiastic cheering for Team India caught the attention of cricketers ViratKohli and Rohit Sharma. The photos of the two cricketers taking her blessing have gone viral on the Internet and have won over social media.

#TwitterChat: New age Indian content creators are quite progressive: Gurpreet Singh
The chat with Singh took place on July 3, 2019 between 3 pm and 4 pm on the official Twitter handles – @adgully and @gurpreetbhasin. A range of topics surrounding the content creator ecosystem were covered in the discussions.

BARC Wk 26: Zee TV inches closer towards Dangal TV; Sony sees big gains
BARC India data for Week 26 (Saturday, June 22 to Friday, June 28) of 2019 [HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals], continued to see some upheavals in the Hindi GEC space. Zee TV continued to gain further grounds as its gross viewership saw an increase this week. Sony Entertainment Television put up an impressive show in Week 26.

Dainik Bhaskar Group Join Hands with Salman Khan
DB Corp Limited (DBCL), India’s largest print media company and home to flagship newspapers Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar, Divya Marathi and Saurashtra Samachar, has roped in Bollywood star Salman Khan to be the face of Dainik Bhaskar Group recent Circulation Expansion Initiative.

IIM-C presents a report on BARC INDIA’s TV Panel Size
India’s sole TV viewership measurement company and the world’s largest TV audience measurement service, BARC India, joined hands with the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, the country’s premier management education institute, to curate a report on BARC India’s TV panel sample sizes.

Harish Shriyan to step down as CEO of Omnicom Media Group India
Harish Shriyan has decided to step down from his role as CEO of Omnicom Media Group India by the end of 2019. Over the next six months, Shriyan will work closely with the agencies’ senior leadership team to ensure a smooth transition for the business while the Group searches for a new CEO.

Sangeetha Aiyer moves to Network18 Digital as head, brand & marketing
SangeethaAiyer previously the vice president and head of marketing for A+E Networks and TV18 will now head - brand and marketing initiatives for Network18 Digital. She will report to Puneet Singhvi.

Ashish Bajaj steps down from Ola as Head – Media and Brand Alliance
Ashish Bajaj previously the head – media and brand alliance at Ola had put in his papers. At Ola he was responsible for budget planning, media strategy and execution of ATL and BTL activities for the brand ANI Tech which includes the cabs, Shuttle and Ola Money and managing both demand generation and supplier marketing. He joined Ola organisation in the year 2018.