‘Linear channels facing identity crisis due to flawed ratings system’

While the growth of various digital platforms and news sharing by social media has impacted the core business of Linear TV channels, the controversial TV ratings system has forced channels to struggle with an identity crisis, opines Rabindra Narayan, MD & President, PTC Network.

Narayan was expressing his views on the challenges of the TV industry at the day-long e4m NewsNext Summit in Delhi on Sunday.

He was part of the panel titled, “Leveraging the rise of alternate revenue streams: Best Practices”. The other industry leaders on the panel were Varun Kohli, CEO, Bharat Express and Sajal Mukherjee, Director of APEEJAY College of Communications. The session was moderated by Chehneet Kaur, Senior Correspondent of e4m.

Highlighting the challenges in the TV industry, Narayan said, “We have a flawed TV rating system in which news and entertainment are being compared with the same barometers which is unfair. News items such as ‘aliens kidnapping humans’ have turned into entertainment programs while debates look like mock WWE sessions where panellists have to pin down each other for TRP. Hard facts and subject experts won't get space on TV as they are not entertainers. Influencers and YouTubers have become experts now.”

He further stated that most TV channels are dependent on advertisements of state and central governments and hence they are not able to criticize. If they do, they would be in trouble or in jail. He asserted, “PTC network has never accepted a single penny of government advertisements and hence has been able to maintain its editorial freedom.”

According to Narayan, Hindi and English TV channels are serving the same programs and heated debates. It's only vernacular TV channels, which are innovating new formats. “We innovated new programs, new formats, and chartered into new territories like the UK, the US and Canada to diversify our revenue streams.”

On alternative revenue streams, Varun Kolhi said, “Google must pay for the content they get from the news platforms. We should take a cue from Australia and devise a mechanism. Our content can go on digital media in collaborative form which will help us monetise the content.”

“Our biggest competition is with the Free News Service of Google and Facebook. Why can't broadcasters come together and go to Google and Meta and say ‘You have to pay to take my content on your platform’. The kind of money we get from them is peanuts. These are the issues that we need to debate,” Kohli said.

“From the day we launched, we were very clear that we wanted to be hardcore news,” he added.

Echoing the sentiments, Narayan urged the government to bring some policy that can force tech giants like Google and Meta to share their revenues with news producers. “One or two small TV channels can’t force Google or Meta to do so. The government must intervene in this regard.”

Sajal Mukherjee hailed social media platforms for increasing the shelf life of news items. He also suggested that media houses must define ways to serve quality and in-depth content.