The Landing Page Conundrum: Rating distorter or a promotional tool?

Even as the M&E industry is abuzz with chatter about the Supreme Court taking up the landing page matter issue soon, there are varied opinions about the efficacy of landing pages.   

A TRAI official, close to the development, has told exchange4media that the government body after several consultations has now concluded that the landing page is being used as a tool to influence TV ratings – the official currency based on which advertisements worth thousands of crores are decided.

Meanwhile, the TV broadcast industry remains a divided house over the use of landing pages for channel placement. The debate whether placing channels on the landing page needs to be banned to ensure free and fair competition continues to rage on.

Clarifying that TRAI's position on the landing page issue was clear, the official said: “A landing page can distort TV ratings and create a non-level playing between different broadcasters. Landing page may be used as a marketing tool but not to influence ratings. Ideally, BARC should have come up with a solution by not counting the viewership data that accrues from the landing page. However, BARC has conceded that it is technically not possible to exclude the viewership that comes from the landing page. It is in this backdrop that TRAI, as a regulator, had to intervene."

Another media executive said landing page leads to an artificial increase in TV ratings. BARC's audio watermark technology captures the TV ratings, irrespective of where the channel is placed. Companies with deeper pockets will weaken the competition by taking a landing page, the executive noted.

 "Landing page does have a huge impact on the reach of a news channel. The reach of channels that use landing pages can be anywhere between 60-70%. This is a large number because the base for the news genre is lower. For a GEC, the impact would be 5-7% because the base is huge. This is viable only for someone who has a commercial muscle and this defeats the purpose of digitalising the ecosystem that was built to bring opportunities for all kinds of players," the executive said.

 TMT Law Practice Managing Partner Advocate Abhishek Malhotra has suggested that prohibiting landing pages was not the solution. TRAI should rather bring it under the regulatory framework to curb misuse. "A better way would be to ask the DPO to put the landing page-related details in the RIO. They can also specify that the landing page will be offered to a broadcaster for 3 or 6 months, or whatever. You can have a possibility of a commercial discussion if there is bidding involved. DPOs should specify a minimum price in the RIO. Unlike a carriage fee charged from multiple channels, this can only go to one person. A landing page can be auctioned for three months," he suggested.

Malhotra further noted that prohibiting landing pages would infringe on the freedom of doing business. A landing page is a revenue stream for DPOs, particularly the cable TV service providers. "BARC should also mention what part of the ratings is coming from the landing page so that they can disclose this to advertisers. Another option could be that BARC can put a disclaimer that the channel was available on the landing page."

 ‘Don’t regulate landing page’

 A veteran TV distribution industry executive told e4m TRAI should intervene in the landing page matter since it was a commercial deal between parties. “The channels incur a cost for placing their channels on the landing page and if that leads to a spike in viewership, so be it. Any form of channel placement is preferential.”

 "If a channel is placed anywhere on the EPG, it is a preferential treatment which is determined by the commercial arrangement between the two parties. MIB had told BARC not to report ratings of those channels that are using a landing page. If this is technically possible then where is the problem? Ideally, TRAI and BARC should not get involved in things like Landing Page because ultimately it is a commercial deal between two parties. If a channel is getting preferential treatment, then it is also bearing the cost of that preferential treatment. If someone says that channels are increasing their viewership through landing page then their cost is also going up," the executive opined.

 Landing page might be a commercial agreement between two parties, but it has huge ramifications for the ecosystem, the executive said. "Saying it is a commercial agreement is taking a simplistic view of a complex problem. The reality is that landing pages can be used by resourceful broadcasters to distort ratings. It is unfair to smaller broadcasters who lack the resources to take a landing page."

 Calling the landing page a marketing tool, the veteran executive noted that the ratings of TV channels get influenced by factors like placement on the EPG. If a particular channel appears at the time of switching on television, then that is also akin to a landing page, he noted.

 “If TRAI tries to interfere in one domain then somebody will tomorrow complain that certain channels are benefiting from a better placement on the EPG. Where will this stop? Also, what will happen to the landing page if it gets banned? Should the DPOs put a blank page when the TV is switched on? If channel number 111 opens up when the TV is switched on then that is also akin to a landing page," he averred.

 The ad sales head of a leading news network confided that there was no straight answer on the landing page issue. "How much and how far can you put regulation on everything. Aside from the LCN, some channels have bought two LCNs on each DPO that needs to be addressed. It is very difficult to control this since there are lots of cable operators, and it is not possible to monitor each one of them. You can't control everything with regulation," he stated.

 The ad sales head believes allowing the business dynamics to play out rather than regulations will play a key role in bringing some sanity to the market. "If somebody has money to burn, let them do so. Buying a landing page for a month or two requires a lot of money and once a channel is off the landing page its ratings will see a dip. No big broadcaster would want to be in this game for too long. The landing page will remain a tool for new channels to get the attention of the viewers, but it can't be a long-term strategy."

 He also asserted that there was no substitute for good content. "Ultimately, the success or failure of any channel will be determined by content. If the content is not good then whatever you do will come down. To become a successful brand, it is important to have good content backed by a sound distribution strategy. A landing page is more like a marketing tool, and it should be used as such," the ad sales head contended.