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SATELLITE TV ADVERTISING
BALLOONS TO NEW HIGH
Satellite television advertising in
India in 1998 grew 64% in 1998 to Rs 12,450 million,
says a study by the largest Indian ad agency Hindustan
Thompson Associates (HTA). The growth has come mainly
at the expense of the terrestrial broadcaster the
state-owned Doordarshan, which saw a drop in its revenues
from Rs 11,000 million in 1997 to Rs 9,550 million.
As a result DD's share of the entire television advertising
pie has dipped from 59% to 43%. The increase in satellite
television advertising was driven by Sony, the Star
TV Network, the Sun TV Network, MTV, Discovery, Eenadu
TV, and Raj TV. InMumbai, a cable TV channel delivered
via VHS tape, also contributed to the growth.
The year was a record-breaking one in another aspect,
the HTA media overview says. Television advertising
for the first time crossed the Rs 20,000 million barrier
to close at Rs 22,000 million in 1998. It accounts
for 33% of the overall Indian advertising business,
which increased 13%, in 1998 to total Rs 63,000 million
across all media. The agency is very optimistic about
the healthy growth in television advertising, especially
satellite TV, and predicts this trend will continue
in future.
It says that private channels "have mastered the art
of pricing their properties to advertisers - highly
in demand slots are packaged with off-peak or high
inventory slots, cricket/box office successes/events
are priced at the brink of what the market can bear
and non-season discounts and packages entice advertisers
to invest more than they may otherwise have in these
channels."
The Rs 9,550 million ad spend on terrestrial television
was split up in the following manner: DD I (Rs 5,490
million), DD 2 (Rs 1,890 million) and DD Regional
language channels (Rs 2,160 million). The Rs 12,450
satellite television ad spend was spread between the
broadcasters as follows: the Zee TV Network (Rs 4,140
million), the Star TV Network (Rs 2,020 million),
Sony (Rs 1,920 million), the Sun TV Network (Rs 1,610
million), state-owned satellite channels (Rs 1,180
million) and other regional language cable & satellite
channels (Rs 1,590 million). The study points out
that the erosion in DD's leadership is gathering pace.
"In 1996, three years after launch, DD 2 with an earning
of Rs 2,530 million was comparable to the Zee group
revenue of Rs 2,360 million. Three years down the
line, Zee is twice as big."
It, however, concedes that in marketshare terms DD
I still leads with a share of 25% followed by Zee
TV with 19%, and Sony, DD 2 and the Star Network all
have a share of 9%.
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