'Coronavirus will propel Indian media into a quantum leap'

Indian Media & Entertainment sector surged to a topline of nearly 26 Billion USD in 2019 and is expected to touch euphoric 34 Billion USD by 2022. The million-dollar question, however, looms large: Will Indian M&E sector see a transformation?

COVID19 has made an ironic debut so to say on the Indian M&E landscape, major media houses have already begun trimming the waistline. What lies beyond the horizon given we find a vaccine in the next 6 to 12 months. Will that vaccine infuse fresh vigour to reboot the Media? Well, the answer is yes! Don’t just celebrate as yet. Indian media is set to transform ever since OTT/ digital platforms debuted 2 years back. Covid19 is just the stimulus that the Industry needs to propel into the higher zone. This will be the 3rd transformation that Indian media landscape will witness since the debut of Zee TV way back in 1991. So how is a segment-wise reflection going to be?

Film Industry: Post Corona, scramble for pent-up big-ticket releases has the potential of maiming if not wiping out the small and midsized film producers who contribute nearly 80% of the films and keeps 90% of the unorganised industry kitchens alive. They most certainly will need a lifeline. Prasar Bharati is an ideal partner that could throw in a line for such producers. They perhaps will also be forced to look at OTT/Digital releases and here also Ministry of I&B and Prasar Bharati can come forward by amending the policy and allowing all digital releases during the pandemic to be eligible for domestic / National Awards. A small gesture will tremendous soothing ability for the Industry.

Television News & GEC: This vector will lead the way for transformation. Fancy perks and designations will evaporate. The focus will be on IT & Services for newsgathering which continues to be the 2nd largest burn for broadcasters. Likewise for GECs, the learning is introspection. Their role is primarily that of commissioning producers & content syndicators and for that far leaner organizations are needed. What will also propel this transformation is the slow yet steady growth of OTT / digital platforms that have decayed GECs and News revenue over the last two years. Within the stack, TV News will be the largest transformed entity when COVID-19 bids adieu.

Digital news is the future and this has been fairly established with nearly 75% growth in viewership in the segment. TV News has been riddled with heavy newsgathering cost and distribution, most of this is primarily because such organizations have treated digital as a catch-up mechanism. Understandably, they also saw it as something that will annihilate the traditional powerful editorial chairs. All that will be a thing of past as I am certain, promoters and stakeholders would have realized that news organizations are heavily loaded with cosmetic expenses that were actually pulling the Industry down.

Programming within News will also need to be strengthened. The new focus area will be studio programming and features to aid business reengineering.

Print Media: This segment will rally forward given the enormous credibility the segment enjoys. The internal processes for newsgathering and editorial practices will keep the medium afloat and now possibly emerge stronger with improved advertiser confidence. Print medium has already over the years trimmed the waistline by limiting printing multiple editions and editorial multi-tasking.

Digital News platforms: They have just found the mojo they needed. Immense surge across digital news is a clear indication of the times to come. However, once the vaccine is found, the bubble could burst if this incubation period is not well harnessed and invested. Digital News needs to build editorial practices and internal regulatory mechanism. The fact still remains that digital news is yet to come out of shadows of being ketchup for the print snack.

Subscription models have to be built for a clutter-free reading. The current reading interface is a mess given the reliance on Google ads and freeloading of advertising. Serious investment in building digital organizations in the mantra to be the next big thing.

Public Relations & Mass Communications: Yet again, the communications sector will be at the fore of consumer-facing organisations. This could well be the fillip they need ever since the 90’s post massive liberalization which replaced PR with a fancier cousin – Corporate Communications. Effectively used, Corporate Communications will be the single largest focus area in the absence of advertising freeway. However, over the last decade, paid media platforms have reduced the ability of new-age PR efficacy given lack of focus on field experience and dominance of marketing over PR. There is nothing even remotely available in the business spectrum that can deliver during the crisis period as Corporate Communications? PR can, however, where are the professionals who have practical experience? Today’s PR breed has isolated itself in fancy cabins and theory. This indeed is the best time for the Indian Industry to focus on senior professionals.

The traditional Q1 of 2020 may have begun as a bane, will it be a boon – will be a derivative of collective corporate conscience. Forever divided corporate India will have to learn to build on a stronger India with a spirit of inclusiveness.

The author is a business leader and a bestselling author of Refugee Camp, Didda The Warrior Queen of Kashmir & RakhtGulab.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views of exchange4media.com