News channels must learn to make sense of RLD: MIB’s Apurva Chandra

The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) is an industry body and hence stakeholders must themselves come up with a solution, reiterated Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra during an exclusive conversation with exchange4media in his Delhi office.

He also stressed that the government has no intention of regulating the content on OTT platforms or streaming services. In the interview with Kanchan Srivastava, Chandra also shared the government’s plans for the media and entertainment sector.

Excerpts:

There were speculations that the government may put a stay on TRPs of news channels before the elections if they continue to show provocative content. Any comments?

As of now, there is no such plan. BARC has started sharing Raw Level Data (RLD) with channels now. Earlier, the news channels complained about the lack of data and transparency. The objective is to bring transparency and allow channels to track wrong algorithms or manipulation, if any, and then BARC can correct it. The complaint now is that the data is voluminous and can’t be interpreted. They have to try to make sense of it.

Are you satisfied with the functioning of BARC?

India is a diverse country with so many languages, and rural-urban and economic divides. There are just 55,000 panel homes but only a part of the population consumes news. Hence, the margin of error is big.

We don’t receive complaints from the General Entertainment Channels (GECs), which are the largest chunk, in terms of revenue. The issues are largely raised by news channels.

What could be the reasons behind their complaints against BARC measurement?

There are 55,000 panel homes. Among them, the households that consume news may be 5,000-7,000 with English news consumption further limited to around 500 homes. Even a small error that creeps in, can be multiplied and magnified due to such a small sample size.

What is the way out? Does MIB have any plans to intervene in the matter?

News channels themselves are divided on this matter. Some have a particular view about it, others have entirely different opinions. There is no unanimity among news channels.

BARC is an industry-led body; both broadcasters and advertisers are part of it. The government has no role to play here. The council has to manage on its own.

As per MIB’s latest statistical handbook that you released a few weeks ago, television’s revenue growth has slowed down in FY22. It would be one of the slowest-growing mediums in the next two years at 3.9%, as per projections. Are you concerned about it?

TV revenue is not growing at the pace it grew before. Nevertheless, it is still growing. Advertising is growing more on the digital side, but it doesn't mean that TV revenue is not growing. Content creation on the news side continues to grow on TV.

India has a lot of potential and people are watching both TV and OTT. Historically, some sectors go up, some go down. To retain the interest of people, even GECs are innovating with content and have come up with reality shows.

How many new TV channel applications have you received so far this year? As per MIB data, only 7 new channels were launched in FY23, while 20 were shut down in the two years before that.

I don’t have the exact numbers. Applications keep coming. Besides, we have come out with new guidelines that include increasing the minimum net worth requirement to open a news and current affairs channel from Rs 2 crore to Rs 20 crore. For non-news channels, it was hiked to Rs 5 crore. The net worth cap was never revised after 2004.

Don’t you think it may impact the government’s revenue as well?

We feel only serious players should be there. There are over 350 news channels in the country, and the number of satellite channels is about 950. But how many channels can you name?

The Indian Broadcasters and Digital Foundation (IBDF) has requested TRAI to deregulate the broadcasting sector and remove the price cap, which faces a dwindling paid subscriber count and competition from DD Free Dish and OTT platforms. What is the MIB’s stand on this?

TRAI is a regulator and has to look after the interests of both subscribers and broadcasters. It has taken a view of the scenario. TRAI modifies regulations every two years. NTO 1 (New Tariff Order) and NTO 2.0 were implemented earlier and now NTO 3.0 is being implemented effectively. There is no issue from the customer’s side and not much from the broadcasters’ side as well. 

Are some directives likely on the cards for the news broadcasting ad industry ahead of the elections?

Why should we issue any directive on elections? For us, the only issue is fake news. News channels are supposed to follow the code of conduct all the time. As long as people conform to the code of conduct, no new directive is required.

However, many news channels are still being accused of running fake news, with regards to the Israel and Palestine war as the latest example.

It's a matter of taking action. The code of conduct is a robust system. Over the past year, we have blocked 200 news channels for peddling fake news and disinformation. Many of them were YouTube channels with crores of subscribers. Some of them were Pakistan-based, and some were based in Canada, run by Khalistan supporters.

It's been more than a year since the big four broadcasters pulled out their FTA channels from DD Free Dish. How has it impacted DD Free Dish revenue?

On the contrary, DD Free Dish revenue has gone up to Rs 1,050 crore, 30-40 per cent more compared to the previous year when it was Rs 750 crore. News channels on Free Dish are giving more revenue this year.

At the time when things are going digital, what lies ahead for DD in the future? When will DD launch its own OTT platform?

We are working on a plan to develop an OTT platform. DD and AIR have a lot of archival material, which nobody else has. Until the 90s, there were no private channels. Speeches, discussions, interviews, performances of iconic artists like M S Subulakshmi, Bhim Sen Joshi and Bade Ghulam Ali and TV serials are lying in our archives.

Now, people want to consume everything on OTT because it's so convenient. Although a lot of our content is available on YouTube, but its cataloguing makes it difficult for people to search. If we have our OTT channel, people will easily access our rich content.

Will DD’s OTT be free for viewing? Will it be launched before the elections?

Prasar Bharti is still working on that. It is likely to be launched next year. There may be a small subscription fee but things are yet to be worked out.

The ministry had issued a directive to all TV channels early this year to air nationalistic interest programmes for at least 30 minutes every day. How many channels abide by the directive?

We did tell them to air some national interest programmes. However, it is the news channels that largely carry public interest programmes. GECs also carry several programs on social issues.