News Broadcasting
Audiences realise that they need to pay for quality news: Alistair McEwan
NEW DELHI: 2020 has been an interesting year for news organisations, their journey marked by various peaks and troughs. It was no different for the global news outlet BBC, too. From gaining the highest spike in audience numbers on both TV and digital format to struggling with lower ad revenues, the firm managed to clock in a rather productive year. In a recent chat with Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, at the recently concluded Pubnation (print & digital), BBC Global News SVP – commercial development for Asia & ANZ Alistair McEwan talked in details about the same. Edited excerpts follow:
On how BBC tackled the Covid2019 lockdown
Our experience was, probably, not dissimilar to many publishers around the world, where we have been on a roller coaster. I think there is a sweet irony in the fact that we’ve never seen bigger audiences coming to our platforms, whether that’s television or digital. And that has pretty much sustained through the year. We saw about a 180 million unique visitors coming to BBC.com in March and we have just beaten the figure in November with the US elections.
But whilst the audience flocked to BBC in millions, advertisers who were deeply impacted by the lockdown remained cautious. So, in ordinary times, you would hope to be able to monetise that effectively but of course, at the moment, that has not been the case.
On how they managed to deliver to the audiences
We have seen massive audio and digital growth this year. For us, TV production remained a challenge with lockdown norms and
health hazards. Albeit, one good thing that this crisis promoted was the agility and the ability of the people to pivot into new processes. And that’s what we have exactly done at BBC. It has driven high levels of productivity.
For example, on the news side, we’ve been creating a lot of Covid-related content. And it is not just reporting but also solutions-oriented stories and non-news reporting. That’s where we have seen, probably, the biggest growth levels coming across all the verticals. So, from a consumer consumption perspective, we have grown immensely.
On Indian audiences
Indian audiences have stayed very true and loyal to us, certainly through the early stages of Covid. We saw significant growth on both television and BBC.com. We saw a 5X growth in our audience. We have 18 to 20 million unique audiences on our digital side and through our television channels. We have over 300 journalists across the BBC World Service Group, including our Delhi bureau. We prioritise our investment into India as a market – we now publish in eight different languages in India in addition to our English language output.
On virality and its rules
My personal line on virality is that it's almost completely unpredictable anywhere in the world. There are so many different levellers that are variables to it but there are certain sort of formats that you can use to try to encourage it; for example, ensuring the format fits the devices, the context is right, and you are having a singular message across the products. With respect to BBC, we are globally producing world-class output that becomes highly emotive and highly shared.
It is much more difficult to achieve that kind of virality effect with branded content, which is why we always sort of try to pin our branded content style right back to what we do in the editorial.
On offerings to the advertisers
For advertisers, we bundle and package our offerings across TV, radio and digital media. All of these have a fundamentally important part in the way you bring a holistic solution to an advertiser. And, of course, audiences exist independently in all of those different areas. So for us on the commercial side, it's really all about where the target audience is, discovering those audience insights and then being able to deliver to those custom targets across group assets and really utilising all of the data insights.
The media industry, so far, has not been able to drive empirical measurement of the content it produces; how the audience feels about it and how it impacts society. We are using a variety of neuroscience technology, eye-tracking, and facial decoding to be able to track emotional engagement. That's actually allowed us to measure all the different suites of platforms that we have there.
On taking news industry behind the paywall
The industry has reached a tipping point and it has been a while back that we have consumer acceptance towards paying for quality news content. Take the New York Times, for instance. They have been the benchmark international news organisation in this space. They started way back in 2008 and the initial commentary was that they would struggle to survive post this move. But today, they are earning 64 per cent of their revenues from paid subscriptions. So that boat has sailed. Audiences have been conditioned to understand and accept the need to pay for quality news. We have to fund it. You can be the Guardian and ask people to fund it out of goodwill and love for the brand or whether you are requiring people to pay through a paywall; you need to figure out a sustainable way to go ahead. In India, it will take some time to evolve.
News Broadcasting
Induction cooktop demand spikes 30× amid LPG supply concerns
Supply worries linked to West Asia tensions push households and restaurants to turn to electric cooking alternatives
MUMBAI: As geopolitical tensions in West Asia ripple through global energy supply chains, the familiar blue flame in Indian kitchens is facing an unexpected challenger: electricity.
What began as concerns over the availability of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has quickly evolved into a technology-driven shift in cooking habits. Households across India are increasingly turning to induction cooktops and other electric appliances, initially as a backup but now, for many, a necessity.
A sudden surge in demand
Recent data from quick-commerce and grocery platform BigBasket highlights the scale of the shift. According to Seshu Kumar Tirumala, the company’s chief buying and merchandising officer, demand for induction cooktops has risen dramatically.
“Induction cooktops have seen a significant surge in demand, recording a fivefold jump on 10 March and a thirtyfold spike on 11 March,” Tirumala said.
The increase stands out sharply when compared with broader kitchen appliance trends. Most appliance categories are growing within 10 per cent of their typical demand levels, while induction cooktops have witnessed explosive growth as households rush to secure an alternative cooking option.
Major e-commerce platforms including Amazon and Flipkart have reported rising searches and orders for induction stoves. Quick-commerce apps such as Blinkit and Zepto have also witnessed stock shortages in major metropolitan areas including Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
What was once considered a convenient appliance for hostels, small kitchens or occasional use has suddenly become an essential addition in many homes.
A crisis thousands of miles away
The trigger for this shift lies far beyond India’s kitchens.
Escalating conflict in the Middle East has disrupted shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy corridors. Nearly 85 to 90 per cent of India’s LPG imports pass through this narrow waterway, making the country particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions.
The ripple effects have been swift.
India currently meets roughly 60 per cent of its LPG demand through imports, and tightening global supply has already begun to affect domestic availability and prices.
Earlier this month, the price of domestic LPG cylinders increased by Rs 60, while commercial cylinders rose by more than Rs 114.
To discourage panic buying and hoarding, the government has also extended the mandatory waiting period between domestic refill bookings from 21 days to 25 days.
Restaurants feel the pressure
The strain is not limited to households. Restaurants, hotels and roadside eateries are also grappling with supply constraints as commercial LPG availability tightens under restrictions imposed through the Essential Commodities Act.
In cities such as Bengaluru and Chennai, restaurant associations report that commercial LPG availability has dropped by as much as 75 per cent, forcing many establishments to rethink their kitchen operations.
Some restaurants have reduced menu offerings, while others are rapidly installing high-efficiency induction systems, creating hybrid kitchens where electricity now shares the workload with gas.
For smaller eateries and roadside dhabas, the shift is less about sustainability and more about survival.
A potential structural shift
The government has maintained that there is no nationwide LPG crisis and has directed refineries to increase production to stabilise supply.
Nevertheless, the developments of March 2026 may already be triggering a longer-term behavioural shift.
For decades, LPG has been the backbone of cooking in Indian households. However, recent disruptions have highlighted the risks of relying on a single fuel source.
Increasingly, households appear to be hedging against uncertainty by adopting electric cooking options to guard against price volatility and delivery delays.
If the current trend continues, the induction cooktop, once viewed as a niche appliance, could emerge as a quiet symbol of India’s evolving kitchen economy.
