On the road to recovery: television revenues set for a biggie!

It goes without saying that the businesses, across the board, have taken a hit due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown. And the television industry has been no different. But by the end of 2020, the small-screen medium is likely to recover vis-à-vis advertising income, and command revenues to the tune of Rs 34,100 crore, according to a report by financial services company, Edelweiss. The report suggests that the digital media could also make a whopping Rs 23,600 crore.

Experts feel that ad world, which was totally battered by the pandemic, is buoyed by a great response to the ongoing Indian Premier League that has coincided with the festive season, and also the upcoming tent-pole TV shows such as Kaun Banega Corepati, Bigg Boss and Nach Baliye etc., besides other original programming on the small screen.“I agree that the businesses of most of the electronic media, including TV, are likely to largely recover by the end of the year,” says ad guru Prahlad Kakkar, adding: “But not just small screen, digital/OTT platforms may turn out to be the biggest winner after the pandemic because nowadays, most of the youngsters are glued to online mediums, unless one is targeting kids below 12 or seniors who are 60 plus.”

Interestingly, an industry estimate suggests that around 40-45% of a year’s total advertising spend takes place in the festive period, between Janmashtami and the New Year. And advertisers feel that since “consumers are in the mood to spend” during festivals, the recovery will be faster in the last quarter of the year. “Usually, people have a positive outlook during the festive season. Also, of late, a sense of ‘normalcy’ is slowly coming in and as a result, there are signs of resurgence when it comes to ad spendings. A number of top FMCG brands and even newer e-commerce ones have already made their way back,” says ad filmmaker and Bollywood director, Vinil Mathew.

In terms of the brand count on TV, the number was 4,933 in January that went down to 3,043 in April due to the lockdown. But last month, it again went up to 4,100. “Since the small-screen world depends solely on advertising, it’s imperative that a sense of normalcy comes in at the earliest. Once the businesses are back in motion, it will lead to more ad revenues. That way, everything is interlinked with the emotion of normalcy and people’s positive outlook,” says exhibitor-distributor Akshaye Rathi.

Number crunching!

As per a TAM report, August saw over 450 new advertisers, and over 650 brands on TV which, experts feel, are the “positive sign of resurgence.” Similarly, the inventory of top 10 advertisers including top FMCG companies is believed to have increased by 34% in the unlock period compared to pre-coronavirus days. The Pitch Madison report has also estimated that ad expenditure in the second half of 2020 should grow by 60-72% compared to the first half. That’s not all. Industry estimates also suggest that the official broadcaster of IPL is set to earn 15-20% more from TV advertising compared to last year.