Current Trends in Indian Television

Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Technology .............................................................................................................................................. 3
Subscription ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Advertising .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Content ................................................................................................................................................... 7
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 8

Submitted by:

Prateek Chhillar , 040 A

Prateek Chhillar Current Trends in Indian Television 040A

Introduction

As per the 2010 report on the Indian Media and Entertainment Industry, Television constitutes close
to 50% of the revenue in the industry. While the industry itself is projected to have a CAGR of 13%
for the next 5 years, the forecast for the Television segment is comparatively astounding at a rate of
15% while expected to close to double itself from 2009 figures.

M&E Industry (INR billion)* 2006 2007 2008 2009 CAGR (2006-09) 2010P 2011P 2012P 2013P 2014P CAGR (2009-14)
Films 78 93 104 89 5% 96 105 115 125 137 9%
Television 183 211 241 257 12% 289 337 382 448 521 15%
Print 139 160 172 175 8% 190 206 225 246 269 9%
Radio 6 7 8 8 9% 9 10 12 14 16 16%
Music 8 7 7 8 2% 9 19 12 14 17 16%
Animation & VFX 12 14 17 20 18% 23 28 33 39 47 19%
Gaming 3 4 7 8 38% 10 14 20 26 32 32%
Internet 2 4 6 8 56% 11 15 18 23 29 30%
Outdoor 12 14 16 14 5% 15 17 19 21 24 12%
Total Size 443 514 578 587 10% 652 751 836 956 1092 13%

Given that this is already on top of a base of around 257 Billion INR (which is greater than any of the
other mediums currently) this CAGR cannot be ignored. We are talking about a massive change in a
massive quantity in itself.

Hence the requirement to really focus on the Current Trends in Indian Television;

My attempt to do so covers the trends in the following areas

1. Technology
2. Subscription
3. Advertising
4. Content

By exploring the trends in these areas we hope to get a clearer picture of how the Television
Industry can act as major catalyst of growth for the Media and Entertainment industry in India.

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Technology
From the days of cable wires running all over the place to today wherein users in urban areas mostly
utilize the CAS system for access to television programming, TV transmission technology has
undergone a series of changes that have defined how the end user is touched by this medium and
also what potential the medium offers.

TV in India today in most urban centres is accessed either via DTH (direct to home) which eliminates
the need for large amounts of wiring from re distribution centres such as MSO’s (multi system
operators). TV transmission is no longer done via analog signals and now is mostly digitized. Even in
lesser urban areas DTH is catching on at an ever increasing rate as opposed to the Cable TV years of
yesterday. Digitization hence, has improved quality of transmission and possibility of interactive and
value added services that was not present in the industry about 3-4 years ago.

To add to that the advent of IPTV in India providing a certain segment of users the multi functionality
of TV services coupled with internet facilities increasing the spectrum of features available to the
consumer. All of this has resulted in increasing penetration of Television in India.

Also, with the flow of HDTV ready equipment to consumers in the country, the next step seems to be
towards providing HDTV ready programming to users and in due time various DTH providers are
expected to roll out (and some have already rolled out) HDTV channels to cater to the richer
demands of the consumer.

Also with facilities such as Video on Demand and Delayed Telecast features in certain DTH providers
the facilities available to the end consumer are aiming to create a richer experience.

Subscription
With the increasing number of TV households (at a rate of 5% in 2009) the penetration of TV in the
country grew from 56% in 2008 to 58% in 2009. Current levels of penetration in the country are not
as high as those in most developed countries hence the potential for growth is immense.

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DTH has contributed to increasing penetration and subscription rate with the Pay TV subscriber base
increasing as shown below.

Accordingg to current levels of growth the estimation is that the DTH subscriber base could reach 43
million users by 2014.

This is partly due to the fact that the average time spent watching television has been on the rise
over the past few years as shown in the graph below.

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With an increase in the number of channels from 120 in 2003 to 460 in 2009, the numbers of genres
and niches have also increased. Digitization hence has played a pivotal role in the increasing inroads
that television has made in our country today.

Advertising
In terms of Advertising on television the trend has been that the volumes have been on the increase
whereas the rates have not really been increasing, with the latest trends being
being as shown below.
Clearly advertising on TV is increasing
ncreasing more than print.
print

With the increase in number of consumers of Television programming over the years, major
companies have realized that the exposure offered to their products via Television is crucial to their
sales and also with the increase in revenues offered to television
television channels from various advertisers
the general trend has been noticed that the time spent on commercials has been on the rise over
the past decade or so.

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With the increasing number of channels on Television and various programmes coming and going
and different programming catering to different segments of consumers TV advertising is very varied
in providing to advertisers a medium of reaching their target segment. Primarily the breakup of
advertising on TV has been in the following sectors.

In general the trend has been for Television industry to draw its
its income from two primary sources,
namely Subscription revenues and Advertisement revenues. The right mix of the two is essential as
the more the advertisement the lesser the consumer value and lesser the subscription revenue and
of course the limit on expansion of revenue through subscription. The trend of the two has been
observed over the past few years to be as follows.

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Content

Television programming has evolved over the years in ways

ways that one could hardly have imagined at
the start of it all. From the time of Doordarshan being the primary broadcaster controlling all
content being aired to viewers to the 460 odd channels available for consumption to the end
customer these days, from the time of the first soap opera “Hum Log” being aired on Doordarshan
to the various soap operas being screened on the numerous channels that are available to the user,
television programming has been constantly evolving, changing
changing and catering to the various viewers
whose landscape also changes with the sands of time.

Television content in India off late has mostly tended into the following primary classifications:

1. Soap Operas: such as the few famous ones from the K series phenomenon namely “Kyunki
Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi””, “Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki”, “Kasauti Zindagi Ke” etc

2. Reality Shows: such as “Rakhi

Rakhi Ka Swayamwar”,
Swayamwar “Big Boss”, “Roadies” etc.
3. Celebrity Based Shows: such as “Kaun Banega Crorepati”, “Dus ka Dum” etc.
4. Mythological Shows: such as “Mahabharata”, “Ramayana” etc.
5. Films: include major telefilms that are screened for viewers after they are no longer
screened in theatres
heatres and have outlived their video rental circuit life.
6. Sports: most sporting events, IPL etc.

The duration of the television programming across these genres has varied from time to time and
the most recent trend of the same can be viewed below.

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Off late there has been greater acceptability for niche channels which focus on lifestyle based
consumers ( NDTV Good Times, Discovery Travel & Living), Youth Based Channels ( UTV Bindaas,
9XM),, channels focusing on male audiences (UTV Action). Hence besides increasing the overall
programming, production houses are also focusing on consumers of various demographics
demograph while
considering the content. This offers an overall greener picture to the viewer who gets to choose
choos
what he prefers and at the same time also provides a better opportunity for advertisers who wish to
do target based advertising
dvertising and focus on consumers depending on their preferences of viewing of
television programming.

Conclusion
Overall, the broadcasting industry
ndustry is expected to perform well over the next 5 years or so with the
drive of digitisation which increases revenues for various broadcasters and also brings about
transparency in the declaration
ration process. A representation of the same forecast is shown below.