Media Monday: India News Digest

Mobile Monday is our weekly Digest that brings you snippets of Buzzing stories related to Indian Media.

IPTV- Some questions answered:

Well, we have been hearing about it a lot. IPTV can change the face of Television, especially in a country like India. But with the pathetic state of even BB in India is this just hype or are there some facts behind it. Let’s try to answer some basic questions-

What’s the fuss about IPTV? What is it?

IPT V is Internet Protocol Television, hence requires a Broadband Internet connection that too from either of MTNL/BSNL or Airtel (only service providers till now in India).

Airtel has recently joined the fray while MTNL/BSNL started a year back. You also need a digital set top box, a modem and possibly an AV Converter too (if your TV doesn’t have AV I/O). It’s a costly affair to start off.

How does IPTV differ from DTH?

DTH too is a digital service and requires a SET TOP box, but the content is transmitted directly through satellite and hence doesn’t require BB connection. The quality of DTH transmission is also much better than IPTV (because of Bandwidth limitations in IPTV).

DTH hence has better chances of converting the Cable users. And once users switch from Cable to DTH (spending some amount), they wouldn’t switch to IPTV (for sure, if I know Indians correctly ;-))

But then why IPTV providers are so optimistic?

IPTV is an interactive service and have features such as Video On Demand, VOIP, Local yellow pages (service in Airtel), Pizza order from TV (service in Airtel), time shift TV etc. The main point is, since IPTV is an interactive platform many useful applications can be built around it.

Microsoft makes millions of dollars by providing these services to existing IPTV providers (currently, outside India). So many IT biggies can actually provide really interactive and innovative services over IPTV. And also keeping in mind that Indian users have varied demographics, IPTV can really help Broadcasters in understanding their target user’s need.

Wow… is this really possible?

It is, but the problem lies with the basics and that’s Infrastructure. Broadband services have been around for a while and the only reliable service provider is Airtel (arguably). More than the connection itself the problem is about service. People in India can live without 2-3 days of a lost internet/landline connection, but a failed IPTV connection can’t be tolerated as people are not used to it. Unless we have a reliable service (especially from MTNL/BSNL), penetration can’t happen. To start off anything successfully one needs to win over user’s confidence, which is currently not the case.

Will it be able to clear the clutter for me (300+ Channels in more than 10 languages)?

That’s yet to be seen. India is a different market and programming in India depends mostly on a local user’s behaviour. But with players like Airtel and Reliance who are known for their innovative capabilities, IPTV will definitely help in clearing some clutter.

Zee..ing Zang Zoo..oom!

Zee Music recently re-branded itself as Zing. With only 2% of the total eyeballs looking for pure musical channels (with only 15-20 minutes of continuity), it’s a sorry market for these channels out there. So, what Zee is doing with this newly found image? Well, they are inching towards lifestyle channels, like Zoom and NDTV good times. That’s some food for thought, as Zoom, a total Masala channel with its category well defined, caters to a niche audience and positions its program well. Why is Zee Music going for the same?

This brings us to an interesting finding. Most of the Channels these days are shifting from pure Music to Masala content (a case in point is MTV and Channel [V] (in India)). Reasoning is simple, Indian music is mainly about Bollywood (that’s the only genre we identify) unlike the west where we have so many genres in Music to cater to.

Recently, for past 4 months no new Movie got released and hence pure Music channels like B4U Music, 9XM, Zee Music etc took a beating! They now understand that it’s better not to categorize a Channel into a specific genre related to Music. Zoom, hence shows the way- Just lace your content with Masala and serve it Hot!

Zing has begun doing that with shows like “Zing ne Bana di Jodi”, “Cornetto Anchor Hunt”, “Zing Plus” etc. Most of these are reality shows (hot commodities on TV right now). Zing will also feature music, humor, animation, and celebrity lifestyle in addition to reality.

TV production space is getting messier; every hit formula is immediately identified and implemented (either in the form of re-branding or as a new channel). Recently, we have seen a lot of sub-categorization in English Movie genre. Earlier we had Star Movies, Zee MGM, Set Pix and HBO with English Movie channel as their only genre. But now, we see World Movies as another genre (Movies in Spanish, French, and Chinese with subtitles). Channels like WM, NDTV Lumiere and recently launched WB are targeting this genre.

So, we have seen two opposite trends getting hotter in Indian Broadcasting space. Music genre is getting generalized and Movies genre getting specialized. “Sell what is HOT (no matter what) and make money”, that’s the only trend which is being followed!

Niche Radio Stations- An idea for creative programming

While driving and listening to the Radio (just as millions of others do) , a thought buzzed me. There is a time when you are actually bored with all the Channels, listening to the same song again and again, time over! The only differentiator being their RJs blabbering the same stuff over and over again. For a niche music buff like me who doesn’t want to listen to any c*#p but just good Music (be it of any kind- Western, Classical whatever), there exists no solution.

One or two channels try to combine English servings but that doesn’t help as they are usually during odd timings. Moreover during prime time (morning and evening), they play Ads more often than songs (and boring traffic updates do not help)!

Unlike west where they have Music genres (Rock, Pop, Jazz etc etc) and thousands of Artists coming up with their Albums every year, here we just have one Genre defined (Bollywood) and that’s what is glorified over Radios too. We usually have genre specific Radio stations in West (as both the music and audience is fragmented).

India’s problem is different- Radio Stations can argue that they can’t play different genre songs. But, my point is how long can they survive? As the market gets saturated (it’s actually almost there), Radio stations will start feeling the heat. So what’s the solution? Can we have some channels for niche audiences? Let’s think over-

I got this weird idea some time back based on my own musical interests. I’m a keen follower of Rahman’s music and I have been to his concerts too. The way Rahman organizes his events is commendable and Radio channels should start learning something from it. We not only listen to Bollywood songs in those concerts but also background scores, solo flute by Naveen, battle between Drums and Mridangam etc.

Wondered if Radio channels could move towards such programming. They can showcase Music which is rare but endearing and attracts a different kind of audience. There can be shows with Background scores of some of the best movies, shows with local Bands of specific genres as soft rock or pop, solo drum or violin performances, interviews with Music biggies, shows which look for good music even in Ads etc etc.

I know this may not be the hottest selling thing but I’m sure there is a market for the same and they would love to get hooked to such a channel. It’s time that RJs should not just talk; they should also understand niche music and serve it brilliantly.

Even revenue stream can take a different path for these channels. For e.g. they can showcase any new upcoming Band and later on can sell their rights for Music (if they become famous). Point is to cater to the need of people who understand music and take it a bit more seriously than others. I’m sure there is a need for the same.

What do you think? Do you think this idea sounds feasible to Indian Radio stations and more importantly, should they adopt it?

Today’s Media Monday News Digest comes from Rabi Gupta, a start up enthusiast and soon to launch his first product iDubba (Intelligent Box). You can follow the progress here

Note: We are looking for guest authors for our subject-wise News Digest feature that we have launched recently. As a guest author, you can pick -up any one of the 6 days (Mon-Sat) to feature your posts. Do get in touch with us if you are interested. You can mail me arun AT trak.in or simply use the contact form.