We are always trying to anticipate the next big change: Vineet Jain
The MD of Times Group is IMPACT Person of the Year, 2013 for his industry-shaping initiatives, driving profitability, and setting a benchmark with young and vibrant media products
Vineet Jain, Managing Director of the Times Group is smiling and affable in his Mumbai office as he discusses the “175-year-young” Times of India and its relevance to Gen Y with us before this interview begins. Jain, earlier Delhi-based, has been spending most of his time in Mumbai for the last six months because “all the action is here”. Talk of Bollywood and lifestyle as the USP for a set of ‘young’ media products, and driving the business aggressively into new media — internet, radio and television – it does help to be in Mumbai, and therefore, Jain is here.
The 47-year-old Jain is the face of India’s largest media conglomerate, but is quick to point out that it is his brother Samir Jain, who has drawn the shape and strategy for the empire. Besides managing the Group’s diverse business interests in areas as far apart as vocational education and real estate, the younger Jain’s achievement has been to create compelling media vehicles that offer an excellent environment for advertisers.
Jain is sharp and precise as he talks of creating disruption in the market, using technology to advantage (such as the Alive app with the flagship TOI newspaper) and does not avoid questions about the business that would perhaps qualify as ‘uncomfortable’. Instead, he gives us extremely detailed answers. He also talks of anticipating change in the industry and being future-ready, only refusing to predict what the Times of India will look like ten years later!
Here are excerpts from the conversation:
The Times of India has just turned 175, yet it keeps pace with today’s generation. As key strategist and content architect of the Times Group, what according to you is fundamental to giving the newspaper its young and vibrant image?
I keep telling my colleagues, “Think of the Times as 175 years young, not 175 years old”. We hate status quo. We are always trying to anticipate the next big change. India is a young nation where 52 per cent of the population is 25 years or younger. We were the first to cater to this group, with entertainment and lifestyle supplements such as The Bombay Times, Delhi Times, Bangalore Times, etc. The supplements are an entry point to many of our young readers before they graduate to reading the main newspaper...We don’t like to moralise; we don’t like to talk down. We are proud of our legacy, but we are not stuck in the past. It’s all about the future. It’s about helping the youth realise their full potential. As long as we keep doing that, we will remain a young and vibrant newspaper.
Talking to Ken Auletta of The New Yorker, you have said, “We are not in the newspaper business, we are in the advertising business... If you are editorially minded, you will make all the wrong decisions.” Do you think advertising carries the Times Group’s media products or content?
I wish to reiterate that we are in the advertising business and not in the business of selling news – and I’ll explain why. If we were in the business of selling news, then the cover price we charge readers should have made us profitable. Fact is, subscription price does not come even close to covering the cost of newsprint. As much as 90 per cent of our revenues comes from advertising; effectively, therefore, our advertisers are cross-subsidising our readers. Which is why, I say advertising is at the core of our business model.
Sustaining growth and remaining profitable has a lot to do with how one understands and defines one’s business. Peter Drucker once asked a bottling plant manager what business they were in and he said, “bottling”. Drucker corrected him by saying “you are in the packaging business”. If a soft drinks manufacturer were to define the business as just “soft drinks”, it would never launch juices, water or snacks. Correctly defining your business helps you remain profitable, grow, diversify and make the right strategic decisions. If I had defined my business as selling news or newspapers I would not have aggressively launched lifestyle and entertainment supplements like Bombay Times and Delhi Times; nor would I have expanded into entertainment channels such as Zoom, Romedy Now and Movies Now, or launched Radio Mirchi, or got into out-of-home, or diversified into so many internet verticals. I don’t blame journalists who criticised my statement for misunderstanding this concept because they are not trained in the language of marketing. Lack of clarity and a narrow definition of “selling news” have led to the closure of newspapers in many countries. The Times Group’s understanding of the business, on the other hand, has allowed it to expand the market for newspapers and reach new, relevant audiences; all other newspaper groups have simply imitated us and we are happy that they too have grown as a result.
We have great editors and we have huge respect for them. However, an editorial-driven CEO will tend to take wrong decisions. He will focus only on increasing the number of pages and news content, not focus on advertising. He will price the newspaper too high for the reader, will feel guilty about promoting his brand aggressively and not cut cost aggressively in terms of pages when the economy takes a downturn or the cost of newsprint skyrockets. Therefore, a newspaper CEO has to be balanced and marketing-driven, and manage all the four Ps of marketing -- Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
If the Times of India were to reinvent itself ten years from now, what would be its shape, size and USP?
Ten years is too long a time frame in the ever-changing media landscape to make predictions. Disruptions and technology are changing the way we consume media and indeed the way we live. Today’s business models may no longer work that well tomorrow. Ten years ago, the Times Group was not present in FM radio/TV/ OOH. As a Group, we evolve constantly. We have our finger on the pulse of tomorrow. Our focus has and will always be the customer.
The focus of our creative agencies is television. Do you see this affecting advertising in the print medium?
TV has got incredibly fragmented over the years. And the remote in the viewer’s hands has added to its woes. Smart viewers use devices not only to record programmes, but to also skip ads. The viewer hasn’t spared anyone, not even the leading channels. On the other hand, the newspaper, especially a leading brand such as the TOI, has retained the reader’s attention and continues to engage. The fragmentation in the print medium is negligible.
With consumption of content increasingly on mobile and other screens now, do you think the printed newspaper will be redundant in future?
News consumption will always continue to rise. With growing literacy, the need to consume news will also grow exponentially. With time, the way news is consumed will change. We aim to provide news in whichever way a consumer chooses to have it – on TV, computers, tablets or mobile.
You have successfully led the Times of India to the language newspaper space. With this generation being educated mostly in English, will there be enough readers for the vernacular medium newspaper in future?
It’s true that English is aspirational, and with increasing disposable incomes and evolving lifestyles, particularly in small towns, it will attract newer, affluent consumers. But vernacular is important, especially in these cities and towns; it often meets an intermediate need in the literacy chain, before the transition to English. We want to be present across the value chain, so long as it makes sound business sense.
We have heard of an IPO from the Times Group for some time now. Is it happening anytime soon?
I keep hearing these rumours too! Truth is, we constantly explore and review all options.
The Times Group is going strong with innovative print, television, radio and new media initiatives. Any plans to venture into the B2B segment?
One of our strengths as a group is that we understand consumers. We will hence continue to focus on B2C. However, if opportunities come our way, we are open to exploring these. We always leverage our brand strengths and organisational capabilities.
What are your views on the 10+2 ad cap imbroglio in the television industry? What would be the right way to move forward?
We are opposed to it. As it is, the industry is struggling to make money. Why try and strangulate it further? Let the audience decide. If a channel shows 20 minutes of advertising in an hour, and if viewers don’t like it, they have the freedom to switch to a competing channel at the press of a remote button – at no extra cost. There are hundreds of channels to choose from, no one’s forcing a viewer to stick with any one.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s proposal will hurt niche channels, particularly news channels. They should not kill the basic financial model of these channels which depend on cheap advertising. In addition, the concept of clock hour is redundant in case of news channels where news is breaking round the clock. The concept of ads per hour was supposed to be an average per day and that is why the government never acted on it for many years. Now suddenly, without fully understanding the industry dynamics and profitability, TRAI is misinterpreting the rule book. I think the main role of a regulator should be to promote the industry through reasonable policies. It should enable and not undermine fair competition.
There is a whole debate about Arnab Goswami being a brand by himself, overpowering Times Now. Is that good or bad for the channel?
Times Now has dominant leadership now for over six years. Arnab Goswami has done an incredible job for Times Now, which has established itself as the ‘go-to-TV-channel’ for breaking news, big news and significant views. He is a courageous journalist and respected by viewers of Times Now. Further, the Times brand is what gives viewers the trust and belief in what he and his able team deliver 24X7.
Does it worry you that while Times Now, ET Now and Zoom are popular, the Times Group’s television business is yet to gain scale? Have you ever thought about a GEC or a Hindi or regional language channel to build scale for the business?
The GEC market is overheated. Yes, we are open to evaluating opportunities in GEC and regional if it makes business sense.
What will be the focus for your radio operations now that Phase III auctions are imminent?
The radio business is a successful one for the Times Group. We will participate in Phase III, to grow the industry and the brand Radio Mirchi.
Radio is the only free-to-air electronic medium. Hence, the government should ensure that the infirmities of Phase I and Phase II should be avoided while designing the Phase III auctions. One fails to understand the rationale of the government insisting on high reserve fees for FM Radio spectrum, that too in the face of repeated market failures in the context of reserve fees in the telecom sector.
While competitors have been quick to emulate your business strategies, some ventures such as Medianet and Brand Capital have lent themselves to controversy, as also reports of Times executives driving tough bargains with advertisers to prevent them from advertising with rivals. What is your view of paid news and media ethics, as well as maintaining the proverbial wall between editorial and sales?
Brand Capital helps entrepreneurs and small businesses that don’t have enough cash flows to spend on advertising compete with big companies. It helps businesses grow, India grow and increases competition in the industry. It is almost like a venture capital supporting small businesses with great ideas and products. It helps David take on Goliath. Brand Capital is, simplistically speaking, ad barter for equity. It has nothing to do with editorial – just as normal cash advertisers have nothing to do with editorial. In fact, Brand Capital clients complain that they get more favourable coverage in other newspapers than in ours! We have lost hundreds of crore of rupees in advertising from clients because we have resisted their attempts to influence our editorial policy. These are big corporate houses and government departments and I won’t name them. These very organisations fund other newspapers in return for favourable coverage.
The Chinese wall between advertising and editorial is strongest in our group and we are proud of it. Because the Times is highly profitable and advertising-driven, we don’t allow any advertiser to influence our edit coverage. On the other hand, smaller newspapers which are financially vulnerable tend to buckle under pressure from such large advertisers.
As for Medianet, advertorials have been an established practice among the most respected newspapers, magazines and TV channels globally. We only emulated global best practices and made it better -- Medianet is the purest form of advertorial. In television, it is called advertiser funded programming (AFP) which is the life-blood of the best channels in India and abroad. In TV serials and movies, it is called product placements. Medianet is actually the most honest form of advertorial because we have created separate special supplements of entertainment and lifestyle for it, unlike other media who have mixed it in the main product seamlessly. In fact, advertorials/Medianet strengthen the Chinese wall between advertising and editorial and make it transparent instead of the advertising department putting pressure on editorial to write puff pieces on clients or clients using PR agencies to plant stories through journalists. We are truly proud of our ethical practices and can claim that they are among the best in the world.
With regard to paid news, let’s not paint the entire media with the same brush. Paid news is predominantly news articles sponsored by political parties. The politicians need to clean up their act before they blame the media. If political news was promoted as an advertisement or had the disclaimer of an advertorial, it would have been as per established global practice. In reality, the government must realise that Doordarshan can be deemed as paid news. Also, there are many media owners/editors who are either affiliated or belong to certain political parties. Will the government cancel their licence? The ownership of media by political parties is a bigger problem than beating up two or three newspapers over some lapses of the past, which they have corrected.
Expansion, innovation and differentiation have been your forte... What’s next on your agenda for the Times Group? What new frontiers are you looking at?
There are several opportunities yet to be tapped by us within media and entertainment, and our first priority would be to focus on these. But given our presence in media, we have started looking at sectors such as vocational education, for example our initiative TimesPro. On the internet side, we are looking at acquisitions instead of starting ground up.
What are the challenges you see in the functioning of the Times Group?
While it may appear that our Group is focused on a single sector – media – we actually comprise some very different businesses, each of which need very different skill-sets. We’ve hence structured ourselves as a set of stand-alone, specialist organisations, each focused on its own line of business. At the same time, with increasing convergence in technology as well as media consumption, we will progressively need to unlock synergies between the different parts of the organisation. A key challenge for our Group will be to balance these two conflicting forces: the need for specialisation and the need for synergy.
Do you think that the current political and media ecosystem favour the growth of a free and fair media?
No, it does not. For instance, the proposed ad cap on TV channels, new rules on appointment of directors in broadcast companies, the continuing bar against the private sector entering news FM, periodic efforts to intimidate social media, controlling and influencing the salary structure of journalists through the wage board, new rules and acts being rewritten to punish and control media, etc. indicate directly or indirectly, that there seem to be attempts to restrict freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Certainly, the media has a duty to be responsible. But a few black sheep shouldn’t be used as an excuse to clamp down on everyone.
The foundation of any democracy relies heavily on an independent and pluralistic media. The government’s role should be limited to encouraging self regulation by the industry. Governments, by nature, always find it a challenge to resolve issues satisfactorily, and hence have a desire to control the media which candidly covers performance (or non-performance!) of the government of the day.
If we ask you to introspect and describe yourself, what would your answer be?
I have a natural flair to aggressively listen to several points of view. I do not let my ego come in the way of accepting/rejecting ideas or opportunities. Gut feeling and instinct form an integral part of my persona.
What are some of the things that you wish you could have achieved in life and in your role as MD of the Times Group?
I was in my twenties when I thought of venturing into cable networks, DTH and GEC. I even drew up plans. But I suppressed my gut feeling and instinct and did not pursue those ideas as aggressively as I should have – perhaps I was too young.
Do you believe in maintaining a work-life balance?
For me, work is my life. I find my work, and the sheer variety and diversity of what I do exciting, engaging and fun.
Which is your favourite brand among the offerings of the Times Group? Which of them would you single out as having the most potential?
Times is the Master Brand. Owing to its overwhelming success, we have effortlessly leveraged this Master Brand – Times – across platforms such as Times Now, Times Pro, Navbharat Times, Economic Times, etc.
How do you function in a crisis? What is your crisis management mantra?
Temperamentally, I am cool and do not lose my composure. I tend to view crises as an opportunity to evaluate my leadership teams.
What are some of the things you look forward to personally at this point?
I wish I could travel more. I have never taken more than 10 days off in any year over the last 15 years.
One learns from life. Would there be any incident in your life that has made you suffer a temporary setback, but proved to be of immense value and learning in the long run?
I am fortunate that I have not suffered any setbacks.
On being voted IMPACT Person of the Year, 2013
While I am delighted at being voted the IMPACT Person of the Year, I accept this on behalf of my brother Samir Jain, Vice Chairman, and on behalf of the Times Family.
The centre of our universe has and will always be our readers, listeners and viewers. We have no political masters; nor do we have any hidden agenda. If we take anybody’s side, it is that of our readers, listeners and viewers.
Editorial views on all our platforms are aimed at leading opinion and driving change. This has become a habit in our Group. We can, with some modesty, claim that governments, legislatures and even courts have time and again taken cognizance of our views and acted on them. We do not seek power or influence, but we do want to use all our media platforms to do good.
“At 23, I internalised my brother’s message”
When I was fresh out of college, all of 23 years old, at a formal meeting with senior managers of the Times Group, I heard my brother Samir Jain, Vice Chairman of the Group, talk about “What is the business we are in?” What I vividly recall is his passionate and painstaking effort at explaining that we are in the business of advertising and not in the business of selling newspapers. In retrospect, I feel I had internalised this message to such an extent that it provided the impetus for me to explore and diversify into all potential advertising-driven media businesses like radio, tv, internet and outdoor.
I admire my brother deeply for his brilliance and the manner in which he’s transformed the Group from the time he took over 35 years ago. If print media in India is doing well, unlike in most parts of the world, it’s because of the innovations he introduced. Almost every media house and publisher said his “experiments” wouldn’t work, but eventually they all copied him. His vision and original thinking reshaped Indian newspapers, and gave it a new growth trajectory. As I grew into the business, he gave me more and more space, freedom and support for new ventures. Above all, he has been a loving and supportive elder brother.
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DNA to shut down Mumbai and Ahmedabad print editions
The publication said it will now be 'focussing on its online brand which has grown manifold in the digital space'
Daily News and Analysis (DNA) on Wednesday announced that it will be shutting down its print editions in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. In February this year, the Zee Media Group-owned English daily shut down the Delhi edition. The Pune and Bengaluru editions were shut in 2014.
Announcing the decision in an ad in the newspaper, it was said DNA will be focussing on its online brand which has grown “manifolds in the digital space”.
It said that its “readers especially the younger audience preferred reading on their mobile phones. “We thank each one of you for the print readership over the past 14 years. The print publication for Mumbai and Ahmedabad will be ceased effective 10th October 2019, Thursday till further notice,” read the announcement.
Talking about the development, a former editor of the newspaper shared, “They conducted a town hall meeting to update their existing employees about the news of shutdown.”
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ShareI hope my book helps women maximise their potential: Apurva Purohit
Purohit, President, Jagran Prakashan, launched her new book 'Lady You’re the Boss' at an exclusive gathering attended by Madhukar Kamath, Shashi Sinha and Saugata Gupta, among others
Apurva Purohit, President, Jagran Prakashan, launched her new book 'Lady You’re the Boss' at an exclusive gathering of industry bigwigs and friends at the Arth Lounge in Khar, Mumbai on September 26. The book follows Purohit's very successful first book, 'Lady, You’re not a Man – The Adventures of a Woman at Work', which is in its 21st edition now.
Published by Westland Publications, an Amazon company, 'Lady You're the Boss' draws from Purohit’s personal experiences and lays down a plan of action for women to persevere and reclaim their true potential, without minimizing themselves in any way.
It addresses the process of working women transitioning from mid-management to senior leadership roles and aims to empower women across sectors and organizations, encouraging them to work their way to the corner office, consciously defeating those internal and external biases that stop many a working woman from chasing her dreams.
Actor Divya Dutta, cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle and Purohit herself read out chapters from the book at the event while Karthika VK of Westland Publications spoke of the experience of publishing the book.
Talking about the book, Saugata Gupta, MD and CEO, Marico, who was present at the launch, said, “We are very lucky that there are many women in the Indian corporate world who can break the glass ceiling. This book will be an interesting read. I have a daughter who’s very achievement-oriented too and I always encourage diversity in the workplace."
“I’m really looking forward to reading this book, going by the excerpts Apurva and the rest have read out today. Most importantly, it’s not pretentious, but sounds like something that would inspire everyone," said Abhijit Avasthi, Co-founder, Sideways.
Thanking the audience present at the launch, Purohit said, “I really appreciate that all my friends, colleagues and family are present here. Thanks also to my wonderful team. I’m hoping that this book will help all kinds of women realise their worth. When young girls grow up, they don’t know how to stand up because they sometimes feel incompetent. I’m hoping that 'Lady You’re the Boss' will help women maximise their potential and live up to all the dreams they’ve had.”
Madhukar Kamath, Emeritus, DDB Mudra, Shalini Kamath of SK & Associates, Vivek Sharma and Bharat Puri of Pidilite Industries, Shashi Sinha of IPG Mediabrands India, Ramesh Narayan of IAA, Pawan Bansal of Jagran Engage, Kartik Kalla of Radio City, Joe Thaliath of FCB Interface, Anil Viswanathan of Mondelez Foods India and Sanjay Purohit, Group CEO, Sapphire Foods (who is married to Apurva Purohit) were among those present at the event.
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TOI announces 3rd edition of #NoConditionsApply – Sindoor Khela campaign
Conceptualized to promote gender equality, the campaign calls for inclusion of women in celebrations and combats discrimination they face in terms of caste, marital status and sexual orientation
Two years ago, an initiative by The Times of India reinterpreted a 400-year-old tradition with the award-winning campaign #NoConditionsApply – Sindoor Khela. Conceptualized to promote gender equality, the campaign calls attention to the issue of inclusion of women in celebrations and combats the discrimination that they face in terms of their caste, creed, marital status, sexual orientation etc. The campaign won accolades in India and abroad.
In its 3rd year, #NoConditionsApply – Sindoor Khela initiative aims to reach the corners of the nation and beyond spreading this message of inclusive celebration that celebrates womanhood sans any discrimination based on ‘labels’ and societal barriers.
The campaign that was conceptualized in 2017 and was organized for one pandal in Kolkata. The Times of India along with the puja committee of Tridhara Sammilani, which is also one of the oldest and most prestigious puja pandals in Kolkata, organized the first ever inclusive Sindoor Khela – which invited widows and transgenders to be a part of this grand celebration.
What started with a single pandal celebration, went on to become a national movement with participation from over 100 pandals in 2018. The campaign hopes the movement will achieve the status of a global phenomenon this year. Owing to the widespread popularity of the campaign in its previous two editions, TOI has been getting several requests of extending the campaign to newer cities.
This year, the campaign spreads its wings across the country and beyond, and #NoConditionsApply encourages readers to host an inclusive Sindoor Khela and celebrate along with all sisters irrespective of the labels society may have attached to them.
The campaign urges patrons to bring a sister along to the celebration – sister being used metaphorically for any women they know of in their family, friend and neighbourhood, who have been shunned to be a part of the celebration.
The campaign asks the patron to invite their lesbian sister, transgender sister, widowed sister, divorcee sister, single mother sister to the celebrations this year. Since its inception, the campaign has witnessed phenomenal support worldwide from people who wanted to offer their support and be a part of the movement.
Garnering support from Kolkata’s agents of change - Rituparna Sengupta, Gargee Roychowdhury, Manobi Bandyopadhyay and Sohini Sengupta the campaign extends an invitation to women to #BringaSisterAlong this Pujo. With the phenomenal success of its previous editions, garnering 718 mn reach over the past 2 years, the latest edition aims to extend inclusion not just in Sindoor Khela but across all celebrations as part of the fabric of our tradition.
Commenting on the launch, Sanjeev Bhargava, Director, Brand TOI, said, “The #NoConditionsApply – Sindoor Khela campaign is extremely special to all of us, owing to the change that it has fostered across the various communities in India. While it is contextualized to a Bengali cultural event, the message of inclusive celebration and sisterhood resonates with everyone. We have always left no stone unturned in spreading the message across the various strata of society. Our success lies not in the awards that this campaign has garnered but in the fact that the initiative has grown from strength to strength and is rapidly becoming a symbol of inclusiveness. We are grateful for the overwhelming response we have received from women across the country who have shared their celebrations with us. The fact that it is back for the third time is testament to the widespread movement that the campaign is now. I thank everyone who has supported us in making the change happen.”
Speaking about the campaign, Swati Bhattacharya, Chief Creative Officer, FCB Ulka said, “This piece of work has been a big emotional milestone for me personally. This bloodless coup of a campaign shows the world that joy love friendship and beauty can help break down walls an inclusive Sindoor Khela shows us that sisterhood is one of biggest ideas that can change the world we live in.”
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We’re aggressively driving partnerships across the ecosystem: Archana Anand, ZEE5 Global
Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global, tells us about the platform's partnership with Google and the markets the brand is most upbeat about
From being one of the most downloaded OTT apps in places like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to curating content especially for the global audience, ZEE5 is upbeat about their global roadmap. Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer at ZEE5 Global talks about the markets the brand is most upbeat about. ZEE5 also brought Google on board to help them achieve maximum reach globally. Google did a thorough market analysis of the audiences interested in the content that was owned and created by ZEE.
ZEE5 seems to have ranked as the No 1 entertainment app in key markets within weeks of its launch. Can you please elaborate on the markets?
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were among the key SAARC markets where we galloped to the No 1 position, that too within a few weeks of launch. We launched ZEE5 across 190+ markets in Oct 2018 and rolled out our marketing campaign a few weeks later in Jan 2019 across select markets in APAC. Our immediate priority was to establish ourselves firmly as the largest and most comprehensive destination for Indian entertainment, especially in SAARC countries where our content has the highest direct affinity. We used inputs from local market specialists and extensive market insights to create very specifically targeted media campaigns basis for various benchmarks to achieve quick market penetration with rapid awareness and usage. All this and more resulted in ZEE5 becoming the No. 1 entertainment app across key markets in SAARC including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka within just a few weeks of launch, and now we look to replicate this success story across other markets soon too.
You are also one of the first OTT platforms from India to customize Indian content for global audiences? Tell us about the markets you are upbeat about? What is the kind of content you are curating for the global audience?
As we deepened our presence across international markets, we realized that the huge love for Bollywood and Indian TV Shows is not restricted to Indians or even South Asians abroad, but is also huge among mainstream audiences. This was also supported by the insights from our local linear channel teams. Therefore, in April 2019, we launched a range of Indian content including Bollywood movies dubbed across 5 international languages, Bahasa Malay, Thai, Indo Bahasa, German and Russian, expanding our target audience beyond South Asians to mainstream audiences too across these markets, and while its early days, we are seeing a great response.
Any particular reason why Middle East is a strong market and you have done so many associations there?
The Middle East is a very exciting market for us as there is a huge Indian and South Asian community there which is already familiar with and loves our content across languages like Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Bengali, and others. We have a strong bouquet of content that’s striking a chord among the South Indian community in the market. There’s also a huge demand for Bollywood movies in the Middle East among local audiences too and our catalogue of 2000+ movies as well as our Originals, many of which have Bollywood stars, caters superbly to that demand. Our recent launches like Uri, Simmba, and Kedarnath among others have done really well as have our Originals like Kaafir, The Final Call, and Poison etc, n fact the Middle East was the first of the three markets that we kicked off our new campaign ‘Full On Entertainment’ in, through various on-ground events. Our recent partnerships with Eurostar and the LuLu Group are only the first of many and we have some very key telco partnerships also in the pipeline.
You have also roped in Google as a consulting partner to build their global strategy and execution plan. Tell us more about the partnership. What exactly would be Google’s role?
Launching globally across 190 countries required an in-depth understanding of the digital audiences across the markets, especially the far-flung ones. Prioritizing our key markets to ensure that we drive clear wins out of them was going to be an important task at hand for us and Google was the obvious choice for us to partner with for our global rollout. As a consulting partner, Google did a thorough market analysis of the audiences interested in the content that was owned and created by ZEE and that threw up some very key insights. Those, along with inputs from local market specialists and our own business teams were used to create media plans and strategies basis the benchmarks.
Every OTT platform now also has telecom partners, while we know you have partnerships with Airtel in India do you have any such tie-ups with international players too since you are aggressively promoting your platform globally?
Absolutely - we’re very aggressively driving partnerships across the ecosystem. Since our launch in October 2018, we have built out a slew of strategic partnerships in every key market like Dialog in Sri Lanka, Celcom in Malaysia, Robi Axiata in Bangladesh and others. We’ve also partnered with Apigate for multiple markets, and with Zeasn and Netrange for their Smart TV range. We’re also building out a strong offline presence in key markets like the Middle East with our partnerships with key retailers like the LuLu Group and Eurostar. We have multiple partnership announcements also coming up over the next several weeks including our first in Australia.
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Vikatan Group revamps print portfolio
As part of its restructuring exercise, the print bouquet has been realigned as core magazines and special interest magazines
As part of its restructuring exercise, the Vikatan group has revamped its print portfolio with a sharper focus towards its content reorientation. The print bouquet has been realigned as core magazines and special interest magazines.
The core magazine bouquet consists of the 93-year-old ‘Ananda Vikatan’, weekly magazine in Tamil, which has a Total Readership (TR) of 33.94 Lakhs (IRS 2019, Q2); ‘Aval Vikatan’, fortnightly women’s Tamil magazine, with readership (TR) of 13.26 Lakh (IRS 2019, Q2); and ‘Junior Vikatan’, bi-weekly, Tamil Socio-political magazine.
The special interest magazine bouquet includes, ‘Nanayam Vikatan’, (TR of 3.46 Lakh / IRS 2019Q2), a personal finance & entrepreneurship magazine; ‘Pasumai Vikatan’, (TR of 8.55 Lakh / IRS 2019Q2), a magazine devoted & focussed to the organic farming and inclusive farm practices; ‘Motor Vikatan’, (TR 3.72 Lakh / IRS 2019Q2), auto magazine in Tamil; ‘Sakthi Vikatan’, (TR of 4.88 Lakh / IRS 2019, Q2), the spiritual magazine about the religious culture and heritage of the land, and ‘Aval kitchen’, the brand extension of ‘Aval Vikatan’ Magazine focusing on food, recipe and kitchen.
In the process, two of its print titles, ‘Vikatan Thadam’ & ‘Doctor’ Vikatan has been shelved from September 2019, while ‘Aval Manamagal’, the quarterly bridal magazine has been converted as an advertiser driven publication in the B2B route and ‘Chutti Vikatan’, the children’s magazine will take a completely new format to directly engage with schools and children.
Their content on literature, health & wellness, bridal fashion & shopping, and children-focussed content will be seamlessly integrated in print & digital platforms.
“After immense deliberations on content and market acceptability, we have restructured our print portfolio and two titles have been shelved and amongst two others, ‘Aval Manamagal’ has been migrated to AFP model, while ‘Chutti Vikatan’ has been contextualized to the children & school ecosystem” said, B Srinivasan, Managing Director, Vikatan Group, “The content will be seamlessly integrated with the rest of the magazines. Vikatan management remains fully committed to all other group magazines.”
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Print sees 8% rise in ad volume in Q2 2019 compared to Q1 2019: TAM Adex
There has been a 15% rise in ad volume from the Education sector in Q2 2019
While there has been an 8% indexed growth from Q1 to Q 2 2019 in the Print medium, it’s the Education sector that has increased its share dramatically as per TAM Adex data. From 11% in the first quarter, the sector has managed to increase its share of ad volumes to 26% in the second quarter. However, Auto declined to 13% from 17% while Services went down from 18% to 14%.
If we compare the first half of 2018 to the first half of 2019, Education has managed to take the top spot in both the years. Although the shares went down by 1% from 2018 to 2019, it is still the top sector. Auto gained 1% more share bringing it to 16% from 15% in 2018. Ad volumes have dropped considerably from H1 2018 to H1 2019 by 6%. All other sectors have gone down by 1%.
Allen Career Institute and Aakash Medical College Maruti Car range, Hero Two-wheelers, Indira Infertility & Test Tube Baby Centre and Homecare International are the major brands in the first half of this year. However, the overall indexed growth of ad volumes has fallen by 7% in the first half of 2019 compared to H1 2018.
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Delhi High Court restrains publication of defamatory content against EbixCash by Viceroy
The Court issued a dynamic injunction restraining publication or republication of certain defamatory articles against EbixCash by US-based Viceroy Research Group
The Delhi High Court has issued a dynamic injunction order restraining publication or republication of the contents of certain defamatory articles against EbixCash and Ebix (Nasdaq:Ebix), by US- based Viceroy Research Group, Fraser Perring and other principals of Viceroy.
The court also directed the Times Group's ET Prime, to take down an article published July 31, 2019, since the article was largely based on statements made by Viceroy. The order also directed all the defendants including Viceroy, Fraser and all its principals not to publish any such content themselves or through their affiliates or agents or any other person acting on their behalf.
The issuance of a dynamic injunction by the Delhi High court is to be specially noted as a it implies that the next time any media or publication quotes Viceroy or Fraser or any of the contents of the banned piece by Delhi High court - “Goodwill hunting”; EbixCash will not need to approach the judge but just to reach out to the Registrar of court for taking down any such new article.
Delhi High Court had earlier issued an order on 8th May 2019, directing Twitter and Google to take down certain articles published by Viceroy Research Group.
In May 2019, EbixCash had approached the High Court with a plea that Viceroy Research Group had published certain articles on its website which contained defamatory information about the former. EbixCash had alleged that Viceroy Research, which holds “short selling” positions in the company and its sister concerns, was using these defamatory articles to drive down the price of the company, and thereby making profit from it.
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