AgTalk | TAM is a problem, industry is moving towards BARC: Man Jit Singh

Sony is annoyed. While there is no doubt in its mind, the organizers and the several sponsors of IPL that it is a very hot property to be associated with and deliver the message to the target audiences, the sole rating agency, TAM seem to differ. In terms of rating it has indicated/measured IPL6 as dismal for the first time in six years. According to TAM,  the average cumulative Max and Six combined TVR of 3.1 was generated in the Hindi speaking markets HSM and 3 in C&S 4+ all India market which is much lower than reported last year. Sony disagrees with this and plans to discontinue subscribing TAM effective 6th June 2013.

In a frank conversation with Adgully, Man Jit Singh CEO, Multi Screen Media voiced his grouse against the reliability of the entire TAM ratings system, the controversy surrounding the entire fiasco and gave vent to his feelings regarding the same. But at the same time, given the harsh criticism that TAM is facing of late and the disappointment with the prevalent measurement system, he was confident of a change in scenario with the intervention of BARC which he says will set the measurement system right by 31st March 2014.

Singh also Looked at the brighter side of things, he is very optimistic about the opportunities the era of digitization presents and the reach it generates, though he does not see a subscription model emerging in India anytime soon.

He also spoke about the trend of new media sports which is a combination of sports and entertainment that is soon catching up thus opening up opportunities for niche and premium channels. According to him constant experimenting and innovations is the order of the day and this the way forward for channels. Singh also spoke about the amazing performance of SAB as a brand; he also shared his views on various other issues.

Following are the excerpts of the conversation with Man Jit Singh.

Adgully (AG): You mentioned earlier that the rating system is not reliable enough. So are you planning to subscribe to a separate party and take a relevant step in that direction or maybe you are voicing it for the betterment of the industry?

Man Jit Singh (MS): Well, we have been voicing it for  quite a while now  to relevant organizations but we realized that the sample rating system is too small so the reliability of the system is questionable  hence the ratings that are coming out now  are ludicrous and ridiculous . Some of the results that are coming out are unexplainable. The channels and shows which were at number 4 suddenly become number 1. The numbers are bouncing all about the place. I mean how that is possible in just a span of one week.  My sense on TAM is that it is certainly a problem and the industry is moving towards BARC. That concerns AAAI, IBF & ISA and that will be the measurement standard in the future.

AG: So we could say you are condemning TAM?

MS: Yes at this point I could say that TAM at this stage is so loaded with problems that it has absolutely no credibility. But that will take some time. We are expecting BARC to be operational by March 31st of next year.

AG: What according to you would be an ideal option or solution for TAM?

MS: I guess we should go without a rating system. The question is going with a system that is full of errors or going with no system at all. Most broadcasters feel that it better to go without any measure than go with one that is wrong. I know everyone will have a hard time with no measure including us. It is useful for all since we want to see how we have performed but if the underlined measure itself is wrong you are getting false information and if you are acting on false  information that can be even worse.

AG: It is a fact that you are a strong and huge network. So don’t you think if you condemn TAM there is pressure on TAM in a big manner, so will this help the industry take a stand and say that things need to be corrected?

MS: I think the industry has already taken a stand and we are going to take a more forceful stand now with IBF demanding more transparency in TAM measures and more corrections be made. TAM is presently shrinking the universe of GEC channels which is impossible. When you are adding 10 million households there is no logic to what they are doing this. So they are very keen on focusing on either getting them to improve or doing away with the system altogether.

AG: What are your views on the recent net billing issue?

MS: For a broadcaster net billing is the cleanest way to bill because of the fact that the earlier concept was a hypothetical amount and this is an actual amount. I guess now the agencies and the advertisers have all accepted the net billing and there is no issue.

AG: The last day for the IBF and AAA issue was 31st May 2013, so where do you see things going from here onwards?

MS: Well, yes so we all have agreed to and accepted the recommendations from AAAI and IBF and all broadcasters will be following net billing. Bills are now being raised on a net basis and invoices.

AG: Do you think in the interest of the entire industry and its overall betterment? Would it work better for broadcasters?

MS: It is the cleanest way given what the income tax department was concerned about. It is a very clean solution that makes it transparent of what is being transacted. Yes from that perspective it is better for both the broadcasters and the agencies.

AG: Do we see any new plans on the anvil in the growth of the network?

MS: Our network is extremely strong. We have two of the top Hindi GECs, a number one movie Channel Sony Max and our biggest entity, IPL, just got over. So I think it is fair to say that we have all the components in our network but all that we would want to see our fiction shows on Sony performing a little better. All this is as per the current rating system which again I would say one cannot really rely upon.

AG: Digitization has taken place recently, so is it working in your favor?

MS: Let me explain, digitization has two aspects: one is that we as an industry have recognized that broadcasters have to work with MSOs because the MSOs have put in a tremendous investment in terms of set-top boxes. So while we would want to get benefit out of it from day one it’s not practical. We have to stagger the benefits so that MSOs get a payback on the investments they are making. But over all digitization is showing signs of us moving in the right direction, reducing carriage fees and increasing subscription. It will no doubt take some years before the final and full effect can be realized by the broadcasters.

AG:  Could you tell me a little about SAB as a brand?

MS: To us it is a fantastic brand.  SAB clearly is a differentiated channel in the business. It has a positioning that no one has a doubt about. It is entertainment and comedy for the entire family and is the most simple and clearest thing. We have all kinds of firsts on SAB and we will continue to innovate it as in the case of serial Lapataganj.

AG: With digitization SAB benefited in a big manner and has entered a lot more number of households? Your view on this?

MS: With digitization I guess all channels benefit in the sense that there were some channels which were not visible earlier but became visible with digitization coming in and also the reach has improved.

AG: What can you say about the content strategy at SAB, is there any plan to beef up the content strategy and reach in a better manner?

MS: We constantly experiment with content at SAB and are constantly trying to bring people entertainment that the whole family can enjoy. To us that process is a constant evolution and that will not change. We will continue on that path and bring shows like Lapataganj that has been successful. In terms of reach there have always been opportunities to increase the reach. We look at the economics of increasing the reach but still most of this has to be done in an analog market and for those analog systems you have to pay a very large carriage fee and so we constantly look at evaluation.

AG: From the network perspective, there is still a lot of scope for launching some more channels specifically in the English genre space. So do we see something coming up from you too soon in that direction?        

MS: We have channels like AXN which is an action adventure channel, we have Pix as movie channel, so there may be an opportunity to launch and we will be able to add some other premium channels. We will evaluate and see since in the market with digitization happening the carriage fees has come down and this will create an opportunity to launch a new channel.

AG: Do we see you launching new channels in the near future?

MS: Yes, we are looking at launching new channels, more in the action genre.

AG: Comparing to other networks, Sony has had shows that have worked for 4-6weeks window period and have taken a back seat when it did not work whereas in the case of other broadcasters they have had an opportunity to retain their shows inspite of experiencing low TRPs whereas Sony has been a little impatient on this front. Would you agree with me on this?

MS: Sometimes ratings of shows are false and we feel we can revive the show. We want shows to run for a long time and Bade Acche Lagte Hain is a classic example .It's not that we are being impatient.  Also going forward we don’t intend to be impatient. It’s only when we feel the show has really run out of its life, when there are no tracks left to develop or when we genuinely feel that perhaps it is not going to work then only we try to move on. Otherwise our first preference would be to revive the shows which were successful in the past and make it more successful again, those that have fallen in the ratings and this is the easiest thing since there is no loyal following.

AG: In terms of ratings of the IPL season the channels have not performed as well as in the earlier years. What is your take on this?

MG: The stadiums have always been full. I just don’t believe the ratings. IPL is the most powerful brand people want to be associated with. All the sponsors we have seen till date keep coming back since they see the value they are getting.

AG: On the sports channel front what are your plans?

MG: Sports channels aim at the young Indian and it is combining sports and entertainment. And we believe that young India is looking for more than just cricket. We have the fastest form in IPL and we are going to supplement it with the best soccer in the world. So we have the UEFA Cup, we have FIFA then we have the NBA which is a fast sport and it combines sports and entertainment with cheer leaders and celebrities similar to IPL. We also have mix martial arts which is UFC which we believe builds on the tradition of Kushti in the country so we are offering people a variety of sports on our sports channels and with an intention of combining entertainment and sport but with new sports.

AG: What are your growth plans?

MG: Sports is the new media which creates new opportunities for us and with digitization there would be an opportunity to launch different niches. There are a number of niches we are going to focus on, launch new channels and cater to specific audiences.

AG: Going forward do we see you monetizing your content through digitization?

MG: Absolutely, we see a huge opportunity to monetize our content and we expect 15 percent of our revenue would be generated from new media in three years.