MAM
DTH, an innovative platform for advertisers: Matrix Publicities & Media
MUMBAI: It has been a stupendous growth story. Contrary to popular trade perception the DTH advertising growth story has only ended up surprising all.
With approximately 65 to 68 million households across India and about 55 per cent of the C&S base in the country, this is one of the primary reason why a lot of advertisers are looking to engage customers on the medium.
What began with a low scale, low noise start with barely two to three advertisers three years ago, has grown more than 10 times in a very short span, says Matrix Publicities & Media India, a WPP company, which has been at the forefront of this revolutionary advertising blitzkrieg.
There are in all six DTH operators, who operate out of the paid DTH subscriber sphere, whilst planning, the agencies need to keep in mind the fact that DTH as a medium is a frequency builder and should necessarily be used to ensure incremental reach. Like television, DTH reaches out to all SEC and demographic profiles, unlike otherwise perceived. There are various options within the medium, however, to delivery impact too and on a case to case basis the medium allows innovations, albeit at a very competitive outlay.
As a media sales aggregator for all the DTH operators to GroupM & non-GroupM clients and agencies, Matrix has been able to bridge the gap between the science, art and commerce for sales on this new age media platform.
The agency feels that the platform acts as a gatekeeper to the TV viewing audience and they are exposed to the DTH visuals prior to the TV channels. Additionally, TV also faces a lot of clutter with regard to the various genres available for viewing. With the 10+2 ad cap in place, in principle, with most channels, getting inventories across is also an issue. All the factors put together have ensured that this medium has turned into a ‘pull’ medium from the erstwhile ‘push’ medium.
Hence, the company has not stopped at just mere vanilla sales as this is a philosophy that does not appeal to its business head Sparsh Ganguli, who has been at the forefront of this business since its inception three years ago.
With this idea in mind, the advertisers have been divided into broad categories and an in-depth analysis has revealed a lot about the spending patterns of all advertisers on this medium. Needless to say the research not only takes into consideration the brand spent from the GroupM set of clients but even some part of the non-Group M clients to help present a more clear and fair picture. The efficacy of the study can be gauged from the fact that the entire categories can be bifurcated month wise and the spend patterns can be highlighted for future strategic pitches.
The broad categories that have been the top spenders across this medium are: automobiles (two and four wheelers), FMCG, F&B, BFSI, e-commerce, watches and jewellery.
A FMCG media planner says, “The DTH platform has been influential in targeting the housewives through sustained awareness campaigns during afternoon hours and worked phenomenally well for our client’s brands. That’s the very reason why they look to optimise spends on these platforms.”
The ad rates are in sync with the growth of the medium. The rates range from Rs 40,000 to Rs 1,00,000 depending on the options that are availed, highlights the agency.
Ganguli, however, feels that there is still a lot of ground to be covered from the advertiser’s front. He feels that technologically the platform is evolving in a positive manner that is both beneficial to the viewer as well as for the advertiser. According to him, “The next revolutionary way of reaching out to the viewing household is on the spliced beam format which allows the advertiser to geo-target their consumers. This has in turn made it possible for the brands to reach out and give a customised pre-buying experience, thus resulting into more reach and effective frequency for the brand campaign.”
He adds, “DTH has shown tremendous growth but I still feel clients can do a lot more, as of now we have been able to break new grounds by providing upgraded technology and this helps the clients and new clients to optimise the medium for every campaign as innovation is the way ahead.”
AD Agencies
Omnicom Q4: Posts big revenue gains amid restructuring
Company trims underperforming units and launches $5B share buyback to reward investors.
MUMBAI: Omnicom has decided that in the world of global advertising, it is better to be a big fish in an even bigger pond. The marketing powerhouse, which recently swallowed its rival IPG, has kicked off 2026 by showing the market that it is not just buying growth – it is engineering it. In a series of bold strategic manoeuvres, the group has doubled its projected cost-savings target to a whopping $1.5 billion over the next three years.
The fourth-quarter results for 2025, released on 18 February 2026, paint a picture of a company in the midst of a massive structural makeover. Reported revenue for the quarter shot up 27.9 per cent to $5,528.8 million, a figure heavily bolstered by the first full month of IPG’s operations under the Omnicom umbrella. For the full year, revenue reached $17,271.9 million, marking a 10.1 per cent increase as the company integrated heavyweights like Acxiom Real iD and Flywheel Commerce Cloud into its next generation Omni platform.
However, bigger does not always mean tidier. The group reported a Gaap net loss of $941.1 million for the final quarter, or $4.02 per diluted share. This was primarily due to a massive $1.1 billion bill for severance and real estate repositioning, alongside a $543.4 million loss on the sale of non-strategic businesses. When these one-off integration headaches are stripped away, the underlying performance looks far more robust, with adjusted net income reaching $607.7 million and earnings per share of $2.59, comfortably ahead of the prior year’s $2.41.
The group is also trimming the fat elsewhere. Management has identified underperforming and non-strategic units representing approximately $2.5 billion in revenue for exit or sale. Meanwhile, smaller majority-owned markets bringing in $700 million are being moved to minority positions. This portfolio pruning is designed to focus the New Omnicom on higher-growth areas like media, creative content, and data-driven consulting.
Investors, it seems, are being kept sweet with a significant return of capital. The board has approved a fresh $5 billion share repurchase program, initiating an immediate $2.5 billion accelerated buyback. This comes on top of $549.6 million paid out in common dividends during the year.
Performance across the sectors was a mixed bag but generally positive in the heavy-hitting divisions. Media and advertising revenue surged 34.4 per cent in the fourth quarter to $3,322.6 million, while public relations grew 12.4 per cent to $500.8 million. On the flip side, branding and retail commerce saw a 7.0 per cent dip. Regionally, the US remains the engine room, with revenue jumping 51.9 per cent to $2,869.1 million in the quarter, while the UK saw a respectable 18.8 per cent rise to $533.2 million.
With a total debt of $9.1 billion following the IPG acquisition, the group is leaning on its cash-generative nature to keep its investment-grade credit rating intact. Free cash flow for the year stood at $2,226.1 million, up from $1,964.7 million in 2024. As the company moves into 2026, the focus is firmly on the Connected Capability model, essentially ensuring that its global army of talent is pulling in the same direction, and more importantly, within a much leaner budget.
