By SUJOY GHOSH
Indiantelevision.com Team

(15 January 2008 7:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Channel heads have rejected Lintas Media's annual report that states TV adex has dropped 1 per cent in 2007.

According to the findings in the report, ad spends have seen only a 3.5 per cent growth in 2007 over 2006 reaching Rs 173.56 billion, largely due to a fall of 1 per cent in TV ad expenditure, "with large advertisers moving into more cost effective channels, slots and durations".

Sony Entertainment Television India (SET India) executive vice president for sales and revenue management Rohit Gupta says, "I don't believe that TV ad spends have dropped. In fact, there's been an increase of 15-18 per cent. Moreover, contrary to this report, our revenues are stable. I don't think agencies like TAM and Lintas Media Group are an authority to look up to when estimating TV ad spends or revenues."

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) president and revenue head Joy Chakraborthy also asserts that since television is growing by leaps and bounds, "such reports provide nothing but distorted information." He adds, "Our revenues have grown both in terms of value and volume. We have had a substantial growth in inventory. In 2007, not just our Hindi GEC Zee TV, but regional channels such as Zee Marathi and Zee Bangla have also seen considerable growth in revenues. Unlike that of Lintas, our special MIS team has come up with a completely different report that testifies to our continued growth."

NDTV Media CEO Raj Naik also expresses the same disbelief, stating that "our overall revenue has grown."