MAM
Bengal’s broadcasters battle ad slowdown
KOLKATA: Last week, if one followed the rupee-dollar crisis anything close to a heart attack was inevitable. Thanks to the economic upheaval and slowdown thereafter, the media industry is going through a rough patch.
Bengali general entertainment channels (GECs), news and other TV channels are seeing a downward trend in ad spends. The urge to splurge is giving way to an urge to curb spends and the Bengali TV ad market is expected to remain flat at last year‘s Rs 700 crore, according to media analysts.
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The largest chunk of this revenue, which is anything between 35-40 per cent, comes from non-banking financial institutions (NBFCs). However, that has melted down, because of a loss of investor confidence in NBFCs. The experts say that the change has come in after the Saradha Group’s chit fund scam that occurred in the beginning of the current financial year.
“Many other companies which are engaged in money marketing have reduced their ad spends too. Firstly, to stay away from the authorities’ menacing eyes and secondly, they seem to think even after spending a huge amount on advertising, investors are not gullible enough to put in their hard earned money into the chit fund schemes,” says a media buying professional who didn’t want to be named.
A slowing economy hits smaller companies first as they don‘t have enough resources to get through the downturn. And hence, the first steps taken by them is pulling the noose on marketing and ad spends.
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“The main spenders for ads in the electronic media are the chit fund companies. With these companies now lying low or some even going bust, the regional channels are bleeding badly. And even channels as big as 24 Ghanta and ABP Ananda aren’t spared. If one looks at the current situation in the news genre, the two popular vernacular channels – 24 Ghanta and ABP Ananda – do a monthly business of around Rs 2 crore as compared to Rs 2.5 crore garnered earlier. Hence, they are coming up with several attractive advertising packages to lure clients,” informs a media analyst.
Some of the main advertisers on these channels are Japani Oil, Chayya Prakashini, Rice Group??? . However, their spends have not managed to compensate for the loss of chit fund advertising and are not adequate enough for the news channels to meet their operational expenses. “These channels must devise their strategies to remain afloat in the market,” media managers added.
George Telegraph Group, engaged in education, earmarks around Rs 2 crore as its annual ad budget. “We allocate 75 per cent to the print media and in the electronic media, we advertise on mainly news channels and some music channels,” says George Telegraph Group director Atin Dutta. He goes on to add that the group doesn’t advertise much in the month of October because the admission season is over and there is too much clutter during the Puja.
Kolkata TV editor-in-chief Biswa Majumdar says: “Most of the TV channels whether big or small are in trouble as their ad revenues have gone down by at least 30 per cent due to the slowdown and clients not spending much on regional media.”
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“Within the Kolkata market wherein city-based advertisers contribute almost 25 per cent of the total revenue (Rs 700 crore), the advertising rate is Rs 1,000 per 10 seconds .It is likely to remain the same this year as well. Soon, we all would have to come out with packages. Also, there is a need for national advertising to spread out to regional channels as well,” says Akash business editor Amitabava Banerjee.
Kolkata TV‘s Majumdar says that the financial scene is so bad that till now nobody has started booking for the festive season (Durga Puja) as well. “The scene is dire with no signs of recovery,” he says.
Pipalmajik CEO and founder CM Mitra says: “When sales of the companies go down due to downturn, promotion related ads are adopted by companies to increase the topline. Retail and FMGCs are likely to spend on such promotions to liquidate their stocks.”
Also, with Digital Addressable System (DAS) in place, customers are going to opt for their preferred channels. Therefore, smaller and not-so-popular players will perish.
GECs gain as others lose
“In the current year, around Rs 550 crore would be bagged by the GECs while the rest will be split between news, movies and other channels,” asserts media analyst Mrinal Chatterjee.
“The GECs continue to dominate the canvas of Kolkata television ad market, with high production values and a robust content bank based on local programming,” he adds.
BPN India executive VP Mahesh Motwani too feels that considering the viewership trends in Kolkata, GECs will continue to attract more ads than any other TV genre.
The trend of the maha episode was started by the Late Jishu Dasgupta in his serials likeKuhasha Jhokon and Tithir Athithi on ETV Bangla in the late 90s and has been copied by other GECs like Star Jhalsa and Zee Bangla now. “Clients can spend crores to catch the attention of the TV viewers who are glued to their screens to know what would happen next!” adds Motwani.
“We Bongs don’t allow ourselves to be deprived of fish in our daily meal, so how could any fast-moving consumer goods brand manufacturing mustard paste let an opportunity go past an audience who are big time foodies?” feels consultant Sayan Chatterjee. He adds that FMCG companies would and should spend on marketing and advertising no matter how bad the economy is.
Talking about cable TV advertising, Chatterjee, who is also the convener of the Cable Shilpa Bachao Committee, said it has been on the up.
For GECs, the clients’ aim is to place spots between 7:30 pm and 11:00 pm and for news channels the preferred slot is between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm, inform media managers.
Furthermore, with just 40 days to go for Durga Puja, undoubtedly, it is the time for local and national conglomerates to reach out to the hearts, sentiments and pockets of every Bengali family via the Bengali media.
However, this time, from all indications, it appears as if most of the players in Bengal‘s broadcast space will be in not as celebratory a mood as in previous years. Is the goddess listening?
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
