iWorld
Monetising OTT: Competing in a new game
SINGAPORE: In this session at BroadcastAsia 2013, Ericsson, sr. director, innovation and business development, content and enabler Jon M Sonsteby focused on how best to monetise from over the top services.
He began his session with a very sleekly executed pre-roll advertisement and at the end he exclaimed, “Pre-roll is great, but let’s think outside the pre-roll ad. How can we best monetise from the OTT platform?”
According to the Consumerlab Annual Research, which Sonsteby used during his presentation, Social TV is really exploding – as more than 60 per cent people use social forums while watching TV – these numbers reveal the results of 100,000 respondents, and reflects the views of nearly 1.1 billion consumers from more than 40 countries globally.
Referring to the Ericsson ConsumerLab TV Video Consumer trends 2012, Sonsteby stressed on the fact that consumers are not canceling their traditional TV subscriptions on a larger scale, though the traction for OTT is growing.
He further went on to explain the trend of scheduled broadcast TV falling from 92 per cent to 87 per cent between 2010 and 2012; the drastic fall in the trend of recorded broadcast TV from 61 per cent in 2010 to a mere 45 per cent in 2012. Whereas, DVD/Blue-ray witnessed a minor fall from 48 per cent to 45 per cent between 2010 and 2012 and PPV a rise by a per cent from 19 per cent to 20 per cent between 2010 and 2012.
In terms of on-demand habits, the consumer’s TV/video consumption on a weekly basis or more has witnessed a rise in short video clips e.g. YouTube from 58 to 62 per cent between 2010 and 2012; even streamed or downloaded movies or TV shows witnessed a rise from 54 per cent to 59 per cent from 2010 to 2012.
Sonsteby also mentioned how basic broadcast viewing has slowly migrated from internet based on-demand to multi-screen experience. He further dwelled into the change in social TV habits, where the maximum hike was witnessed during browsing the internet while watching television from 64 per cent in 2011 to 83 per cent in 2012 and the use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs) rising from 44 per cent in 2011 to 62 per cent in 2012.
“The important features that consumers are on the lookout for include: excellent video quality, simple user interface, A la cart TV/video service, ad free telecasts, a diverse availability of content and theatrical releases that come on TV too,” Sonsteby explained.
Finally, coming to monetising from OTT, he said, “There are two possibilities to monetise from OTT, one being use of portal ads that include banner, text or rich media and the second being non-portal ads, which include in-stream ads (pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll) and out-stream ads also called overlay ads.”
Summing up his session, Sonsteby mentioned that consumers want content anytime, anywhere and access across any device or platform. He also mentioned that social media is the go to place in the future and broadcasters or content owners want to continue building brand loyalty and look at newer revenue streams to receive from consumers directly.
iWorld
BARC launches cross-media measurement pilot with JioStar
TV ratings body tests unified framework across linear, CTV and mobile, addresses long-standing advertiser demand on 20 February 2026.
MUMBAI: India’s TV ratings system is finally catching up to the screen-hopping viewer because when audiences juggle remotes like cricket balls, measurement can’t stay stuck in the living room. The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) has quietly begun a pilot project for cross-media measurement, marking its first structured attempt to track audiences seamlessly across linear TV, Connected TV (CTV), and mobile platforms. Multiple BARC board members confirmed the development on 20 February 2026, describing the initiative currently running with JioStar as a foundational step toward a unified industry currency.
The pilot arrives amid sharp criticism from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB), which in 2025 directed BARC to integrate CTV data into its system. MIB highlighted glaring gaps: India has roughly 230 million television households, yet BARC relies on only about 58,000 people meters, a sample representing just 0.025 per cent of total homes. The ministry also flagged BARC’s lack of tracking for smart TVs, streaming devices, and mobile apps, undermining the reliability of TRPs in a diverse, multi-screen country.
The initiative builds on JioStar’s December 2025 Cross-Screen Measurement Study with Nielsen during TATA IPL 2025, which analysed five major brands across impulse and high-consideration categories. That study demonstrated how audiences engage with live sports across linear TV, CTV, and mobile underscoring the need for total reach and incremental impact metrics.
Advertisers have welcomed BARC’s proactive move. A senior member of the Indian Society of Advertisers (anonymous) called it the right move at the right time. Consumers are fluid across screens, and measurement must reflect that reality. A credible cross-media framework will help us optimise budgets scientifically, reduce waste, and drive higher ROI.
Another brand leader added, that the move will allow marketers to identify incremental reach across platforms rather than overexposing the same audience. That improves campaign effectiveness and ensures every rupee works harder.
A broadcaster executive praised the pilot-led approach saying BARC deserves credit for stepping forward and testing this in a structured way. Reform of this scale requires collaboration, experimentation and patience.
If the pilot proves robust and expands beyond JioStar, India could move toward a single, cross-platform measurement standard potentially reshaping how billions in advertising rupees are planned and spent. In a media world where viewers rarely stay on one screen, BARC’s experiment might just be the first step toward making ratings as multi-talented as the audience they try to count.
