With no TRPs, return of sane content has improved viewership: Amitabh Bhatnagar

In the absence of the race for TRPs, channels have dropped off the race for sensationalism to some extent and the return of sane content has helped viewership to improve, says India Ahead COO Amitabh Bhatnagar in an interview with Adgully. Regarding BARC, he opined that the prudent method would be to ensure that the mechanism is made more robust. According to him, the state elections are likely to give good growth momentum for the TV news genre. Excerpts:

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It has been a tough year, especially with the TV News genre out of BARC ratings. Despite this, new channels continued to witness a surge in viewership. Do you think the same trend will continue even without the ratings?

Viewership is based on audience interest and not BARC ratings. In the absence of the race for TRPs, channels have dropped off the race for sensationalism to some extent and the return of sane content has helped viewership to improve.

Some broadcasters complain that BARC is in a mess. Do you trust BARC ratings? If not BARC, what should be the alternative mechanism for ratings for the News genre?

There is no doubt that the recent controversies have affected the credibility of BARC. However, given that creating and implementing an alternate mechanism is not so easy, the most prudent method would be to ensure that the mechanism is made more robust, the sample size increased and newer households brought into it to get a more holistic picture.

With elections in five states coming up, how will the news broadcasting ecosystem change in 2022? What are your outlook and growth projections for this year?

The state assembly elections are likely to give a good growth impetus to all media and we are in sync with the industry on the same. The last two years have been volatile for everyone and we are hoping that things will get smoothened out in 2022. Our growth trajectory is on track with our plans.

How have the advertising spending been in 2021? Did you witness any shifts in brands’ behaviour and business models during the pandemic?

Led by consumers, brands have shown interest in cause-led marketing and content-based holistic storytelling which build credibility. India Ahead, with its audience-first approach, chalked out a news schedule that paid adequate attention to these developments, attempted to give audiences real on-ground stories and focused on meaningful initiatives which reached out a helping hand to the deserving.

What will be the future of TV news? Will we see news shifting to the digital side with video-on-demand formats gaining prominence?

That is the future. However, TV news will have its own space and value as well. India Ahead, while consolidating its TV platform, is keeping abreast of the best in digital via its multilingual digital assets and is ready for the future.

What will be the trends in the broadcasting sector in general and the news genre in particular in 2022?

We have been seeing growth in the TV news and digital genres and the same is expected to continue with vernacular playing a big role in growing the category. We expect this trend to continue through 2022 with double-digit growth for the industry. India Ahead is poised to be on the same trajectory.