ABC Report

Broadcasters see red as TRAI probes availability of linear channels on OTT, telco apps

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued an order last month directing broadcasters to furnish information regarding streaming of live linear channels on their over the top (OTT) platforms as well as third party telco apps, failing which action will be initiated against them under provisions of the TRAI Act. The regulator issued letters to broadcasters on November 25 and asked them to furnish information by December 9. Broadcasters, including Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) and Sun TV Network, have challenged the TRAI's order before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Authority (TDSAT). In its letter to the broadcasters, the regulator had noted that the linear channels operated by them are available on their own apps like SonyLIV, and Sun NXT besides aggregator apps launched by telcos like Jio TV and Vodafone Play. This, the regulator contended, is in violation of Clause 5.6 of Policy Guidelines for Downlinking of Television Channels dated 5th December 2011. The regulator had also issued letters to broadcasters on 16th April 2021 seeking comments from them on the violation of Clause 5.6 of downlinking guidelines. The clause 5.6 states that "the applicant company shall provide satellite TV channel signal reception decoders only to MSOs/Cable operators registered under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 or to a DTH operator registered under the DTH guidelines issued by Government of India or to an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) Service provider duly permitted under their existing telecom licence or authorized by Department of Telecom to provide such service”. In their response to the TRAI letter dated 30th April, the broadcasters contended that as broadcasters they have right under section 37 of Copyright Act 1957 known as Broadcast Reproduction Right (BRR) to make their channels available on their own streaming apps as well as third party aggregator apps. The broadcasters also argued that they are not licensees under TRAI Act, and thus they are not covered under the scope of TRAI Act or Interconnection Regulations or Clause 5.6 of Downlinking guidelines. The TRAI issued another letter to broadcasters to provide a detailed architecture indicating which media is being used to deliver linear content to their own as well as third party platforms. The broadcasters responded by saying that the OTT platforms are outside the scope of jurisdiction accorded to TRAI. They also questioned the context under which TRAI is seeking this information. In its order dated 25th November, the TRAI noted that the broadcasters have not provided the requisite information to examine whether there is violation of clause 5.6 of Downlinking guidelines. SPNI and Sun TV have sought a stay the operation of the order dated 25.11.2021 purportedly issued by the TRAI in exercise of Section 12 of the TRAI Act, 1997 during the pendency of the present appeal. They have also urged the TDSAT to restrain the TRAI from taking any coercive action till the disposal of the present appeal. The broadcasters have also sought an order quashing and setting aside of the order dated 25.11.2021 purportedly issued by the Respondent in exercise of Section 12 of the TRAI Act, 1997. The petition filed by Sony and Sun states that the Section 12 of TRAI Act reveals that the scope of the powers enshrined thereunder can be exercised only with respect to service providers as defined under Section 2(1)(j) and licensees as defined under Section 2(1)(e) of the Act. They also submitted that the actions taken by the TRAI for the purpose of licensing content on the OTT Platform and/or any third party OTT platforms are outside the purview of the Act and the Interconnection Regulations. Further, the OTT Platforms, which are also involved in the query sought by the TRAI, are not covered under the Act. "Furthermore, for the purposes of the activity that is under consideration, i.e., licensing/provision of signals/content of broadcasters to an OTT platform, the broadcaster also does not qualify as a service provider, as defined under the Act, on account of the scope of activity being beyond the activities that are regulated under the Act," the petition states. The broadcasters also noted that while initiating consultations in respect of OTT platforms by way of the 2018 Consultation Paper, the regulator had consciously limited the consultation to communication OTT platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, which they claim is acknowledgement that the OTT video services are beyond the jurisdiction of the Respondent under the Act. According to the petitioners, the TRAI order is in contravention of Article 19(1)(g), Article 14, and Article 300A of the Constitution of India.

Print sets sight on pre-Covid levels as ad growth transcends festive 2020

The first quarter of FY22 might have started on a slow note, delaying print's recovery due to the second Covid wave, but it didn't impact the revenues as severely as 2020 did. During the Q1 FY 22, several print companies reported growth in advertising and circulation revenue, which seems to be a positive indicator for the coming quarters. For instance, Jagran Prakashan Limited (JPL) advertisement revenues were at Rs 165.64 crores in Q1 FY22, up by 52.3% from Rs 108.78 crores in Q1 FY21. The company also witnessed an increase of 14% in circulation revenue. Similarly, DB Corp's advertising revenue stood at Rs. 171.3 crore as against Rs. 107.0 crore in Q1 FY 21, whereas circulation revenue stood at Rs. 110. 6 crores as against Rs. 92.8 crore. Starting with Onam, followed by Ganesh Chaturthi in Q2, and later followed by Durga Puja, Dussera and Diwali in Q3, the sector's festive period has begun on an auspicious note. According to Girish Agarwaal, Promoter Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group, the company has seen robust growth in August and September (till date), especially compared to 2019. Some of the categories that have seen good growth performances include Real Estate and Education (around 30%), Healthcare/Hospitals (around 25%), Consumer Electronics (approximately 38%) FMCG (about 25%) classified (around 40%) and Entertainment (around 30%). With these categories firing, the newspaper has witnessed local advertising growth in double-digit. Agarwaal added, "Notable states that have grown double-digit are our legacy markets of MP, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. These growths are particularly relevant because they are significant revenue contributors." Agarwaal also shared that the company's advertising pricing is back to pre-Covid levels. He added, "Since we have withdrawn special schemes and also driven by the fact that we have regained more than 90% of our circulation and our markets are showing strong consumption and response to advertising communication." While the categories like Real Estate, Auto, FMCG, E-commerce, Consumer Durable continue to spend on the sector, the sector is also witnessing types like Crypto Currency, OTT, GEC, Lifestyle, BFSI etc. looking at this festive season to shore up their business revenues. "There is a visible pent-up demand which has made the 2021 festive season witness an increase in consumer spending across categories like Real Estate, Auto, FMCG, E-Commerce, Consumer Durables, Clothing, etc," said Sivakumar Sundaram, Chairman Executive Committee, BCCL. He said, "Print advertisement has always been the barometer for the resurgence of the economy. Since July and now, the performance of print in the early stages of the festive season has given us a huge sense of optimism." Sundaram further added, "We are much ahead of 2020 festive and are benchmarking now with festive 2019 i.e. period before Covid. Once local Retail and F&B open up to normal levels, it will further boost the festive mood. I am confident that the Times Group would deliver on the marketing and brand objectives this festive to marketers." Meanwhile, in the Kerala Market, the newspaper companies already witnessed tremendous growth during Onam this year. M V Shreyams Kumar, Managing Director, Mathrubhumi Group, said that the festive season looks more promising than last year as the economy is back on the revival track. Vaccination drive reaching out to more numbers across India, decrease in corona cases, and easing lockdown restrictions are paving the way for the market scenario to ease out, which will help the upcoming festive season gain growth momentum. Kumar said, "For Kerala, our biggest festival Onam revenue sales have considerably fared better than last year. We experienced growth across our integrated platforms, including print, radio, television, and radio business." However, the pricing during the Onam festive season was the same for the company. "We did not make any changes in our pricing strategy." Echoing the similar thought, Varghese Chandy, VP-Marketing & Advertising Sales, Malayala Manorama, shared that Kerala witnessed high numbers during the festive period (Onam), while the rest of the states were in the recovery phase. " The festive period worked very well for us. The adex grew 30% during Onam over last year, whereas we have reached to 84% of 2019 level since that had a regular business during Onam." He also mentioned that the all the sector in Kerala has witnessed a robust growth during Onam this year. However, the opening up of markets, increase in vaccination drive, decrease in the number of cases, and more relaxation are some of the key factors driving the growth of the sector. This festive period will also witness the two mega sports properties well. "A lot of categories are common which use both Cricket and Print for advertising. Hence the budgets will get split, and Print growth might witness some speed breakers, " said, Navin Kathuria, Executive Vice President - Planning & Buying, OMD Mudramax. With other big festivals like Durga Puja and Diwali in the coming months, print advertising will grow. Sectors like Retail, Real Estate, Entertainment etc. have started advertising in large formats, and we see Jacket advertising becoming consistent after a long time since the Pandemic hit the country. According to Kathuria, starting with Onam and then followed by Ganesh Chaturthi, print has seen an increased inventory consumption – more on regional but even National dailies catering to Cosmopolitan cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur has seen increased consumption of print." "As compared to last year, this year looks better for print, since previous year when the festive season arrived, the country was coming out of the peak of COVID's 1st wave (Aug-Sep'20) and print advertising though showing signs of recovery, and not all advertisers were returning to the medium. Although print advertising might not hit the 2019 levels in terms of inventory/revenues, it will be better than in 2020," said Kathuria. Speaking on the increase in pricing, Kathuria explained that the rates are bound to go up with an increase in inventory demand. "If the large-format advertising is to be taken an indicator of the medium bouncing back, one should also expect premium pricing for premium positions, different formats like Flaps, Jackets etc. Last year's festive period had arrived just after the peak of the 1st wave. The print medium was the most affected during the first wave. Even in the festive period, though demand was slightly increased, prices did not shoot up proportionately. This year Print rates will go up vis-à-vis last year."

Arvind Sharma to get AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award 2021

The Advertising Agencies Association of India today announced that AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award for 2021 will be conferred on advertising veteran Arvind Sharma. This is the highest honour to be given to an individual in India for his/her outstanding contribution to the Advertising Industry. Arvind Sharma, an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, has had a long and successful career in the Indian Advertising industry. As a young leader, he was tasked with making a local agency, Chaitra, transition into the Indian arm of Leo Burnett Worldwide. Over two eventful decades he created an organization that was both formidable and flexible. In doing this, he turned a safe and conservative agency into a creative power center. Soon, the agency’s work on Thums Up, Bajaj, Heinz, P&G and many others saw it taking on the big guns in creative pitches as well as award shows, becoming one of India’s early winners at Cannes. Arvind has also been responsible for several incredible talents that have blossomed under his watch. Making the announcement, Anupriya Acharya, President, AAAI, stated that “Mr Arvind Sharma has been a true pioneer. Apart from singlehandedly making Leo Burnett a top agency and a force to reckon with he has also groomed some of the finest talents in our industry. But more than that he has made a tremendous contribution to our industry across both the art and science of advertising. He is truly deserving of this honour.” Chairman of the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award Selection Committee Ashish Bhasin said, “Arvind is a deserving winner of this prestigious honour. Not only has he been a successful advertising professional, he has also contributed significantly to the industry in various capacities, including as President of AAAI and a key driver in launching Goafest. I am pleased to say that the entire committee was unanimous in conferring this award upon Arvind.” The AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual who has been a practitioner of advertising for twenty-five years and had been in the top management position; has been or continues to be an active participant in industry bodies and or made significant contributions in shaping the industry priorities which enabled the advertising industry to grow, prosper and become more professionalized; individual known for his integrity, ethical practice and leadership qualities; contributed to his Company/Companies growth by innovative thinking and taking them in newer directions; involved in projects of social consequence which is seen as a role model for the industry at large and had been an industry veteran. Some of the past winners of this award include Subhas Ghosal, Alyque Padamsee, Mike Khanna, R K Swamy, Piyush Pandey, Sam Balsara, Prem Mehta, Roda Mehta, Ram Sehgal, Madhukar Kamath and others. The full list is given in Annexure-I for reference. The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) is the national organisation of advertising agencies, formed in 1945, to promote their industry interests so that they continue to make an essential and ever-increasing contribution to the nation. The AAAI today is truly representative, with a very large number of small, medium and large-sized agencies as its members, who together account for almost 80% of the advertising business placed in the country.

Govt spent Rs 1698.98 crore on ads in print, electronic media in last 3 years: I&B Ministry

The central government has spent Rs 1698.98 crore on advertisements in print and electronic media in the last three years, Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Anurag Thakur has informed the Lok Sabha. "The amount committed for advertisements by the Government through print and electronic media during the period 2018-19 to 2020-21 is Rs. 1698.98 Crore," Thakur said while responding to a question in the lower house. He further stated that the primary objective of government advertising is to create awareness about its policies and schemes among the intended beneficiaries including the population living in far-flung and remote areas, through Print, Electronic & Outdoor Media. Bureau of Outreach and Communications (BOC) releases advertisements through various media vehicles on the basis of criteria laid down in the policy guidelines for release of advertisements and empanelment of concerned media which are also available on BOC’s website, he stated. The BOC undertakes awareness campaigns through different media vehicles, including print media, as per the requirements conveyed by the client Ministries/ Departments, the budget of campaigns as well as target audience. BOC has undertaken various strategies to rationalize advertisement expenditure including integrated campaign, theme-based campaign, increased emphasis on low-cost advertisements on digital platforms, using less print space with focused content and embedding information using QR Code, better positioning of campaigns for target beneficiaries, etc. Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)

How ASCI rebooted itself in 2021 to fit in a digital-first world

When BBH and Publicis Worldwide CEO Subhash Kamath took on the charge of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) as its chairperson in September 2020, questions about the self-regulatory body’s relevance were many -- especially in the wake of the establishment of Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) by the government. However, Kamath maintained that both parties can work together to better regulate the advertising industry in the country. He, along with his associates, embarked on an ASCI 2.0 mission, essentially to make the council more relevant and comprehensive for a digital world. And the year 2021 did see a slew of positive initiatives taken by ASCI to not just regulate but support the Indian advertising industry. Kamath tells Exchange4media, “When I took on the charge as ASCI chairperson in September 2020, we started working on ASCI 2.0 strategy, which aimed to make the council more than just a body to look at negative and misleading campaigns. Our idea has been to make ASCI a more engaging platform that can deliver some value to its partners and the advertising industry at large.” Here’s a look back at how ASCI stepped into a reformed version of itself, as Kamath mentions, to be more digital-savvy, sleek, smart, and a better partner for the industry. Focus Digital Kamath says that ASCI was always strong on traditional platforms but realised that it needs to be better equipped to deal with the digital world, which has been growing exponentially over the years. Therefore, in November 2020, ASCI introduced some guidelines for real-money online gaming in November 2020. Following that, the regulatory body announced draft influencer marketing guidelines in February 2021, inviting comments and suggestions from influencers, agencies, brands, and the general public as well. A comprehensive set of guidelines along with a website were launched in May 2021 and the regulations were made applicable from June 2021. As per ASCI, the regulations were welcomed positively by the industry and all A-list influencers were quick to follow the rules regarding marking the content as ads or sponsored posts across digital platforms. Also, people were quick to rectify any mistakes or make necessary changes in the posts when flagged by the regulator. Kamath notes that ASCI got around 400-500 complaints during the year. The regulator is also actively working on curating a set of advertising guidelines for crypto platforms to protect consumer interest. Building Thought Leadership “If you aim to curb the killing of elephants in an area, you just don’t try to stop the poachers but also educate the public against it,” Kamath quips explaining why ASCI put an increased focus on initiatives that could curate thought leadership within the advertising industry. Two key initiatives taken under this directive were the launch of ASCI’s ‘Gender Next’ report and the launch of ‘Advertising Advice’ services. In October 2021, ASCI with Futurebrands launched the ‘Gender Next’ report to highlight the progress in the portrayal of women in ads and also gaps between how ads portray women and how women see themselves or want to be seen. The report was created on the basis of a detailed analysis of 600 ads and broke down the findings on the basis of categories and most prominent stereotypes. Advertising Advice was launched with the aim to help brands check code violations right at the pre-production stage of campaigns before they end up spending huge amounts of money for an ad that might potentially be flouting the ASCI norms. Kamath shares, “While we always had this service to guide brands and agencies on scripts and formats of ads, people were not aware of it. That’s why we announced it this year as ‘Advertising Advice’, in September, to add value to the industry. We have had a positive reception since and have been consulted for 19-20 campaigns.” ASCI 2.0 In August this year, ASCI also unveiled a new brand identity to reflect the agenda of becoming more inclusive and future-facing. The regulatory body came up with a new logo, designed by Nihilent Ltd, depicting the idea of creativity with responsibility in a digital world, which is ever-evolving and dynamic. ASCI is also currently beta testing its new website, which is expected to launch in January 2021, with features that will make it easier for people to know about ASCI services and regulations, reach out with complaints, check the status of complaints, and get advice on campaigns. Kamath notes that going ahead, there is going to be a lot more activity on ASCI’s part, right from a heightened and improved digital presence to regulations around key emerging sectors like cryptocurrency and reports like ‘Gender Next’ around several other relevant topics like kids in advertising & industries that get most complaints like education, healthcare, and food & beverages. He also thanked his teams, partners, and extended board members for their support and guidance throughout the year and re-electing him as the chairperson for a second term as well, promising better actions and insights from the regulatory body in 2022 as well. Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)