iWorld
YouTube to launch ad free subscription based model in India
MUMBAI: Google’s popular video hosting platform YouTube has been a boon to independent content makers as it enables them to exhibit their talent to a worldwide audience. Now, in order to enhance user experience, YouTube is all set to launch a subscription based ad free model in India. According to sources close to the development, YouTube is planning to launch the innovation around mid June for Indian consumers.
While viewers are offered a wide range of content on the platform, almost all content on YouTube starts with an advertisement wherein the option of skipping it is sometime available and sometimes not. Ads often pop up in the middle of the content too, which interrupts the flow of the viewers.
The new subscription based ad free platform will ignite the long sustaining debate of the whether a video on demand (VOD) platform should follow the advertising or subscription based revenue model. Advertising revenue mode is directly proportional to rating and when it comes to YouTube, its views. It is often very difficult to satisfy both consumer and advertiser at the same time and hence the content and root idea behind it gets compromised.
Subscription based model also has its own drawback, poor online payment infrastructure, lower number of credit or debit card holders are a few of them.
Times Network CEO and MD MK Anand is of the opinion that though subscription model has a lot of positives, India is not yet ready for it. “Consumer behaviour is the biggest challenge besides payment gateway and card penetration. A huge part of digital savvy young population refrains from using card transactions for various reasons and hence at this moment advertisement revenue model is the only option. Going forward, if the number of card holders increase and the consumers behaviour towards e- transactions becomes friendlier then we may see a new revenue model emerging.”
YouTube’s new offering will enable a consumer to either choose the ad free platform or stick to the available one. From content creators’ perspective, Ping Network co-founder Rajeshree Naik asserts, “The new innovation from YouTube will cater to the growing need of sophistication of a consumer. We can take example from the newly launched HD channels, the same content is available on the SD platform too but consumers are paying to get quality content. The innovation will help us satisfy more people with the content we are offering.”
When asked if Ping Network will create fresh content exclusively for the paid platform, Naik adds, “Not at the moment. For now the platform will only provide better and uninterrupted viewing experience to the consumers. But going forward if the platform makes a sustainable impact creating exclusive content can be an option.”
According to the 2014 KPMG report, 12 per cent of the digital ad spend mix is acquired by videos and the spend on digital video has increased by five per cent compared to 2013. When questioned whether the ad free platform from YouTube will impact advertising, Maxus South Asia head of digital Unny Radhakrishnan says, “There will not be any significant impact on advertising immediately. As per the news reports, YouTube has said that advertising will still be their core revenue. The share of consumers who will go for paid subscription will be very small initially. In the long run, this would perhaps lead to more investments and therefore increase in the quality of content and in turn paid subscription. An India roll-out of this is not expected in the near future.”
It remains to be seen if the new initiative from YouTube breaks the mould and creates a new sustainable revenue model, which will satisfy both producers and consumers.
iWorld
TAM Sports expands monitoring to live streaming on CTV and mobile
New cross-platform framework tracks brand visibility across broadcast and streaming feeds
MUMBAI: TAM Sports, the sports intelligence arm of TAM Media Research, is widening its monitoring net. The company has expanded its advertising tracking to include live streaming across connected TV (CTV) and mobile platforms alongside traditional linear live broadcasts, sharpening its ability to measure brand presence in the fast-evolving sports media landscape.
The move comes as sports viewership increasingly splinters across multiple screens and streaming environments, pushing advertisers, sponsors and rights holders to seek credible data on how their brands perform across platforms.
For more than 15 years, TAM Sports has provided independent monitoring of sponsorship exposure for federations, leagues, teams, sponsors and agencies. By adding live streaming feeds on CTV and mobile to its analytics stack, the firm now enables stakeholders to track advertising occurrences and brand appearances across streaming environments as well as conventional television coverage.
LV Krishnan, chief executive officer, TAM Media Research, said media consumption around sports has transformed rapidly, and measurement systems must keep pace.
“Media consumption around sports has evolved rapidly, and measurement frameworks must evolve with it,” Krishnan said. “For more than a decade and a half, TAM Sports has continuously adapted to industry needs by providing credible, independent insights across platforms. This commitment is why federations, agencies and sponsors continue to rely on us as a trusted partner.”
Anshu Yardi, head, TAM Sports, said the increasingly fragmented video ecosystem has made unified analytics essential for stakeholders trying to assess the true impact of sponsorship investments.
“In today’s fragmented video environment, sponsors, agencies and franchisees need a clear understanding of how their brand communication performs across screens,” Yardi said. “TAM Sports brings together cross-platform monitoring and analytics that help stakeholders track brand visibility, benchmark competitive presence and demonstrate measurable ROI from sports partnerships.”
The platform evaluates brand exposure across several dimensions. These include advertising occurrences during live coverage, in-content brand integrations, stadium branding visibility, audio mentions, editorial logo placements in print, and presence across digital and social media. Clients can also combine the data with brand-lift studies to assess the depth and prominence of sponsorship exposure.
By consolidating these monitoring and analytics capabilities within a single platform, TAM Sports aims to give rights holders and sponsors a clearer view of how their investments perform across broadcast, streaming, digital and on-ground environments.
The company says the expanded system allows stakeholders to gauge competitive share of voice and sponsorship visibility across the broader sports media ecosystem.
In a world where fans switch effortlessly between television, phones and connected screens, the message from TAM Sports is blunt: follow the audience everywhere—or risk losing sight of the brand game altogether.
