Variety is the spice of life, or so they say! Having looked at the ups and downs of Television last week, we at AdEx India are back with an entirely different genre of advertising - Television Channel promotions in Press. Read on.

In these days of the remote wielding viewer, when television channels are vying to promote their programs in order to increase both time spent and walk ins , promotion has outspread the confines of airspace to column space and Press seems to be the flavour of the day!

On-air and in-press promotions became a norm from the year 2000 onwards. A number of "new" shows (remember KBC?) were launched during this year which resulted in money being invested in such promotions. 2001 seemed to be all poised to carry the momentum forward but for the fallout of the 'newsworthy' happenings that took place in the latter half of the year - the prime event being September 11. News became the staple diet of many a viewers thereby eating into the viewership of other channel genres. The year 2002 reeled under the effects of the preceding, 'eventful' year!

The following figure gives a comparison of the average month ad spends on Television Channel Promotion in Press from the year 2000 onwards.

As is evident, the promotional spends by TV channels in press fell for two straight years in 2001 and 2002.But the spends for the period Jan- June '03 indicate an upward trend. 2003 is definitely looking up! This is visible from the huge 28% increase depicted in the chart..

We at AdEx decided to have a look at the top spenders. Table 1 lists the Top 5 TV Networks for the period Jan-Jun'03, on the basis of their press spends on promotions. (A network includes the various channels included in the stable.) Sahara Network occupies the top slot followed by Star TV Network. Eenadu Television Network is the only regional network to figure in the list.

Table 2 goes a little deeper to recapture the ranking for various program promotions in press. The corresponding channels have also been listed for easy reference.

It is interesting to note that two of the top ten promotions are from Sahara Manoranjan. Mission Fateh tops the chart followed by Dil Ki Baatein. Another promotion by the same channel is for Kise Apna Kahein which occupies rank 5.World Cup related promotions also figure in the top 10.A surprising entry in the list is the promotion for Jayam - a program aired on the regional channel ETV Telugu - a channel belonging to ETV network.

Television channels, apparently, have discovered the latent potential of Press for reaching more and more audiences .If the second half of the year continues with the same momentum, Television might end up contributing a billion rupees (Rs 100 Crores) to Press! And we will be there to take you Beyond the Obvious!

A TAM Media Research