MAM
set2view: who’s watching the 2nd TV home viewer?
TV Pulse 2005, the annual research initiative put together by the Joint Industry Body (JIB) and Tam Media, series continues with the paper – set2view:who‘s watching the 2nd TV home viewer?
The award winning research paper at Emvies 2005 has been put together by MediaCom India.
How often have media planners been asked ‘why are some markets in the hindi-speaking zone consistently lower in delivery than the average?‘
Up until now, all TV optimisation software in India took into account channel, daypart, genre mix and more recently ‘intensity of viewing’. Mediacom India’s award winning paper at Emvies 2005 hypothesizes that TV Optimisation will be complete once it incorporates the new and growing dimension of TV viewing patterns – viewing on the 2nd television set.
This paper’s ‘research idea’ was to establish that there exists a new dimension to TV Optimization that has hitherto not been identified or addressed by any TV planning database or software! Taking the industry lead in India, in a first of its kind endeavour in the country, we approached TAM to do an exclusive analysis for us.
What the study found was that while a relatively small 7% of overall TV homes have multi-TV sets – the number looks much healthier as we move up the SEC as well as in specific ‘hindi-speaking’ markets!
Overall, 16% of SEC-A homes have more than one TV set
In markets like Delhi, UP, Punjab – almost a third of SEC-A homes are multi-set homes
And, almost 18-20% of SEC-B homes are impacted
Questions we raised:
Is our overall picture of ratings & viewership being distorted by not acknowledging this growing ‘multi-tv set’ trend?
More important, what is the impact on the overall media plans?
Are we sub-optimally addressing a growing breed of potential consumers with the power to purchase?
set2view is a powerful insight which will gain even greater and wider proportions in years to come – because as multi-set homes gain in penetration, this will be a Discriminator to further fine-tuning SEC A as well as providing a life-style parameter to TV planning!
MAM
Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $81 billion deal
Shareholders back merger, combined entity could reshape streaming and studios.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… consolidation, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might be happening off-screen. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted in favour of selling the company to Paramount in a deal valued at $81 billion rising to nearly $111 billion including debt setting the stage for one of the biggest shake-ups in modern media. The proposed merger, still subject to regulatory approvals, would bring together a vast portfolio spanning HBO Max, CNN, and franchises such as Harry Potter under the same umbrella as Paramount’s own heavyweights, including Top Gun and CBS.
At the heart of the deal is streaming scale. Executives have indicated plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform, potentially creating a stronger challenger to giants like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. Current market data suggests HBO Max holds around 12 per cent of US on-demand subscriptions, compared to Paramount+’s 3 per cent, together still trailing Netflix’s 19 per cent and Disney’s combined 27 per cent via Disney+ and Hulu.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has signalled that while platforms may merge, HBO’s creative identity will remain intact, stating the brand should “stay HBO” even within a broader ecosystem.
Beyond streaming, the deal would redraw the map for film production. Combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the new entity aims to scale output to over 30 films annually, while maintaining a 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros. currently commands around 21 per cent of the US box office, compared to Paramount’s 6 per cent, underscoring the strategic weight of the acquisition.
But scale comes with scrutiny. Critics warn that fewer players could mean reduced consumer choice, rising subscription costs, and potential job cuts as the combined company looks to streamline overlapping operations while managing billions in debt.
The news business, too, faces a reset. CNN would join forces at least structurally with Paramount-owned CBS, raising questions about editorial independence and positioning. The merger has already drawn political attention in the United States, particularly given perceived ties between the Ellison family and Donald Trump, though the company maintains that newsroom autonomy will be preserved.
If approved, the deal would mark another milestone in Hollywood’s consolidation wave shrinking the industry’s traditional “big six” studios to a “big four”, with Paramount joining Disney, Universal, and Sony at the top table.
In an industry built on storytelling, this merger may well become its most consequential plot twist yet.
