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While speaking to the indiantelevision.com team at an event to
announce the Hindustan Times and Mid Day classified alliance, Hindustan
Times vice president Suresh Balakrishnan (earlier with Lowe Initiative
Media) says, "In the last couple of years, there has been a
sharp increase in the channel advertising category. However, there
is a special way of dealing with these 'media brethen'. Specially
customised packages are the name of the game since channels -- like
print publications -- are part and parcel of the media fraternity."
Mid Day Multimedia Newsmedia COO Bikash Bannerjee agrees, "Of
course, print publications have benefitted as the volumes of channel
offering ads have increased. TV channels are forced to resort to
print because they face constraints -- they can't use rival channels
to promote their offerings. Print is the only way to alert the captive
audience and induce them to latch on to appointment viewing on a
daily basis. Once, the uncertainty over the conditional access system
(CAS) is cleared, we expect a greater volume of ad spend as content
will be the differentiator."
Ad sales' heads of print publications are also experimenting with
different methods of forging alliances. Print publications are forging
alliances with TV channel-programme sponsors and brands.
For instance, associations involving a complete 360-degree spin
like the Channel [V]-Coke Popstars-indiatimes (a part of Entertainment
Network India Limited belonging to The Times of India group) have
become common place.
Hindustan Times' Balakrishnan says, "Yes, the partnerships
have gone beyond plain square centimetre advertising. We are exploring
different approaches such as barters -- with a cash element -- and
ground promotions." Balakrishnan also said that the public
broadcaster Doordarshan is in talks with Hindustan Times for a barter
deal though nothing had been finalised as yet.
On the other hand, Mid Day's Bannerjee is more conservative in
his approach. "Pure barter deals will work only if there are
synergies between the print publication and the channel. As far
as Mid Day is concerned, space is always at a premium and we shall
examine pure barter opportunities only if the channel provides an
ideal platform to leverage the Mid Day brand. The partnership has
to result in a win-win situation -- net cash outflow for the print
publication and other benefits for the channel."
Bannerjee feels that local publications will also gain from the
proliferation of local channels in the post CAS scenario.
However, when asked whether this increase has succeeded in compensating
for the declining print ad spends, Balakrishnan opines, "Worldwide,
TV grabs a larger chunk of the ad pie; print stabilises at 45 per
cent of the same. In India, print has already dropped from 60 per
cent to 49 per cent in the last decade or so. On the other hand
TV accounts for around 51 per cent and will gain further. Eventually,
print will also stabilise around 45 per cent."
Well, the optimists will certainly hope that India follows Japan
(where print advertising has stabilised around 52 per cent) and
Germany (where print advertising has stabilized around 54 per cent).
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