MAM
Broadcasters get breathing space as Tdsat stays Trai’s ad cap rule
MUMBAI: Broadcasters have earned a five-week vacation from the upsetting regulation of limiting ad time on their networks, as Tdsat has stayed the Trai notification till the hearing comes up on 17 July.
For a while, broadcasters will at least not have their ad revenues hanging by a thread, its future determined by a 12-minute ad cap per hour fixed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Stressed by a slowdown in the ad economy and anxious about the implementation of cable TV digitisation, the least they want to do is cut down on commercial time and take up the troublesome task of upping advertising rates.
True, none of the broadcasters are willing to obey the Trai order as they feel that the broadcast watchdog is overreaching its powers by regulating TV ad time.
Still, the Tdsat’s stay order comes as a major source of relief at a time when the least that the media industry wants is more headaches.
“We got a stay from the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) today. The hearing is due mid-July,” says Star India chief executive officer Uday Shankar.
News broadcasters have horrible woes. If there is a way for them to wriggle out of the mess that they have themselves created by coughing out high distribution costs, cutting ad rates amidst competition amongst themselves and living under high staff costs, it is by giving more commercial time to advertisers.
Hindi TV news, the most fragmented of the lot, dedicates on an average 20-24 minutes of ad time per hour. Even with this abundant supply, news broadcasters find their ad revenues crawling at below 10-per cent growth and their profitability under attack.
Zee News Ltd (ZNL) chose a different path to tread this year, cutting the commercial time of its flagship Hindi news channel, Zee News, by 30 per cent while upping the ad rates by 40 per cent. However, the ‘Maximum News, Minimum Break‘ journey from 2 April has been a bumpy one.
“The ratings have not seen much impact. And we have ended up producing more content. Perhaps, this experiment needs more time to yield results. We will wait for a couple of quarters more before we take a call on whether we want to go back to our old route,” says Zee News Ltd chief executive Barun Das.
Let‘s not forget that Zee News’ slash in ad time of eight minutes for every half-hour slot is still above the ceiling of Trai’s prescription of 12 minutes of commercial time per clock hour. So imagine the misery news broadcasters will be in if they have to swallow Trai‘s medicine!
In the tangled financial problems that the news broadcasters face, it is the timing of Trai’s regulation that comes under question. News channels need more time to weed out the ad inventory flab that they have created due to economic compulsions, much to the irritation of the TV audiences.
Says TV Today Network CEO Joy Chakraborthy, “Trai’s so-called radical step would jeopardise the business models of news channels. Less ad time would mean more content costs. Besides, scaling back on ad inventory by 40 per cent (from our average of 20 minutes per hour to 12 minutes) would mean demand outstripping supply and, hence, higher costs. This will discourage small and local advertisers, who form a fair bulk of clients for news channels, to come on board. These steps suggested by Trai should come when the digitisation rollout is complete. We can’t fight on all fronts.”
The ad time on news channels varies from month to month.TV Today Network, for instance, offered 22 minutes of commercial time per hour in March. This came down to 18 minutes in April.
News and sports broadcasters consider another regulation by Trai as retrograde at this stage of maturity: the ban on part-screen and drop-down advertisements.
“We use scrolls on a positive sense. For Olympics, we, for instance, will run scrolls. We earn Rs 120-140 million from the part-screen and drop-down ads,” says Chakraborthy.
Trai’s ad regulation will also pinch hard the sports broadcasters. According to the broadcast regulator’s prescription, the ads during live broadcast of a sporting event should be only during the breaks in the sporting action.
A clock hour measurement system, however, does not suit this genre of channels as live content is seasonal and limited to a specific period.
Entertainment TV networks have also objected against the capping of ad duration on their channels.
“It looks like Trai is linking digitisation to shrinkage of advertisement space. There is no logic in this and it is very untimely,” says the head of a broadcasting company on condition of anonymity.
Trai’s control in ad diet is something that TV viewers would, indeed, love to have. Broadcasters, however, feel that the best route to maturity is self-regulation in content and ad inventory management.
“Trai’s order is ridiculous. It is like putting the camel’s nose in the tent. Every independent player should decide on what course of action to take. Market forces know best how to play the balancing role,” says Times Television Network MD and CEO Sunil Lulla.
MAM
Microdrama Specialist COL Group International Builds Out With Narativ, Rock Networks & BlingWood Deals
MUMBAI: Microdrama powerhouse COL Group International is building out its distribution network, with its CEO saying vertical video is about to enter its “next competitive chapter.”
The microdrama arm of publicly-listed Chinese company COL Group appointed Narativ Media as its official distributor in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and CIS regions and Africa, and a struck new content deal with a new Dubai-based microdrama platform.
The deals were unveiled this morning at MIP London, and also included Rock Networks as its exclusive Southeast Asia telco distribution partner for its app, FlareFlow. MIP London is now into its second day at the Savoy Hotel and adjoining IET London complex.
The deals come soon after COL appointed Harbour Rights to represent its titles in Europe and Latin America, as we reported yesterday in our extended feature on microdrama distribution.
COL’s Singapore-based microdrama unit says its “coordinated global distribution architecture and significantly expanded international content slate” would help to scale its catalogue to more than 1,700 microdrama titles worldwide. These hail from South Korea, Japan, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the UK and roll out across Sereal+, FlareFlow and 17K.
A deal with Dubai-based BlingWood, which recently launched as an OTT platform, will expand COL’s access to Middle Eastern and Indian microdramas, and includes a broader pipeline of Indian series from storytelling platform Pratilipi, Korean titles from BeLive Studios and British reality-led formats from Tattle TV — the UK’s first dedicated microdrama app, including titles such as Dog Dates.
“Microdrama is entering its next competitive chapter, where quality, retention and monetization standards are increasingly shaped by data and operational discipline,” said Timothy Oh, General Manager of COL Group International.
“As pioneers in both China and the U.S., scaling some of the world’s leading platforms in this space, we understand what it truly takes to win sustainably. Our role is not simply to offer catalogue volume, but to help partners select, position and scale the right content for their platform and audience. By bringing together a broad, constantly refreshed slate from across regions, we enable smarter curation, clearer differentiation and long-term growth for serious industry players.”
Narativ deal
COL and UAE-based Narativ described their deal as a “strategic expansion of premium vertical content distribution across high-growth emerging markets,” and comes as the microdrama continues to boom financially. The growth of the medium will be among the key topics of conversation today at MIP London, where COL chief Oh will be speaking.
The pact extends beyond content representation and is being billed as part of a more “structured micro-drama distribution infrastructure.”
Narativ will spearhead market development, platform alliances, broadcaster relationships and digital monetization frameworks across the MENA and CIS regions and Africa, where they have identified “rapid mobile-first consumption growth and strong demand for short-form, high-engagement storytelling formats.”
“Micro-dramas are reshaping global viewing habits, particularly across mobile-first markets like MENA, Africa and CIS,” said Manjyot Sandhu, CEO and co-founder of Narativ. “Our appointment as official distributor for COL Group in these territories reflects Narativ’s strategy to build sustainable distribution architecture.
“A key pillar of the collaboration includes integration with FlareFlow, enabling strategic telco partnerships, bundled carrier offerings, and alternative monetization pathways designed to accelerate scale across mobile ecosystems and OTT platforms.”
Oh added: “We are building more than a content slate – we are building the global infrastructure for microdrama. With hundreds of new titles launching every quarter, scale and regional strength are critical. Narativ with its deep foothold in MENA, Africa CIS and other key markets makes them a natural strategic partner as we expand FlareFlow and bring microdrama to new platforms, telcos and audiences.
Narativ, which is joint venture Sandhu operates with Copyright Capital, manages around 7,000 hours of content and has a digital network spanning 150 million subscribers across 21 language.
COL Group has emerged as one of the biggest microdrama platforms, running platforms such as FlareFow. It is also a part-owner of ReelShort.
