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[Contn.] As Dead As D.D.? Getting Less Of The Ad Pie No wonder Suhel Seth, CEO, Equus says: ''There is no hope for Doordarshan. It is a brand which has sung its hosannas. It is over in the eyes of the advertiser, if not the viewer.'' Harsh words maybe, considering Doordarshan's ad revenues have doubled, from Rs 398 crore in 1994-95 to Rs 637 crore in 2000-01. But its share in the television ad pie has shrunk from 67 per cent to 28 per cent over the same period. The world over, points out Ravina Raj Kohli, CEO of HFCL-Nine, terrestrial television enjoys an average 90 per cent ad revenue with C&S accounting for a mere 10 per cent and surviving on subscriptions. ''Only in India is the equation skewed in favour of C&S channels.'' Laments Commander D. Das, Director, Creative Eye, a television software firm which stopped supplying films to Doordarshan after logging a Rs 2 crore loss because of poor ad support: ''Advertisers discount Doordarshan's reach by 30 per cent."
He may be exaggerating a mite but it's a fact that advertisers see Doordarshan as a downmarket channel catering only to the lowest SECs (socio-economic classifications), where purchasing power is limited. Not a single car company now advertises on Doordarshan, and even two-wheeler manufacturers are keeping a low profile. While the FMCG sector remains loyal since it needs Doordarshan's terrestrial network to reach the rural and semi-urban audiences, Procter & Gamble (P&G) has been off Doordarshan for nearly three years now (it's now being wooed back) and Pepsi advertises only during sports telecasts. Even Dabur, which has several products catering to SEC C, D and E, has halved its ad spends on Doordarshan. Doordarshan's share in Dabur's television ads is down to 45-55 per cent, from 90 per cent in 1995. Admits Rakesh Endlaw, chief executive, Adbur: ''Earlier, all Dabur brands were first aired on Doordarshan and then on C&S channels. For the past two years, we're launching brands on C&S.'' In Tamil Nadu, Dabur spends all its advertising on C&S. And in Bengal, the skew towards Doordarshan is shifting in favour of C&S. Says Sushil Pandit, Director, The Hive: ''Satellite is not just top-end anymore.'' It all boils down to content. Says G. Krishnan, CEO of Aaj Tak (part of the India Today group which owns Business Today): ''Yes, Doordarshan has the ability to reach homes, but without content it doesn't mean anything.'' The crux of the problem is that Doordarshan doesn't own content. Instead it rents out time (''like a rationing officer rather than a marketing organisation,'' sneers Pandit) to private producers for a telecast fee and a minimum guarantee. The producer has to recover the cost through advertisements. Complains a producer: ''The pricing policy is based on non-market factors.'' Last year, Doordarshan also imposed additional spot buys (extra commercial time) producers had to perforce buy and then sell to advertisers, something even large production houses like SABTNL were unable to market. As a result, says Markand Adhikari, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, SABTNL, his company was forced to write off Rs 6 crore from its balance sheet. Obviously, producing for Doordarshan doesn't make business sense. So the better producers make a beeline for the satellite channels that buy their programmes and market them. The loss is purely Doordarshan's since it has to settle for second rung programmes even as strict guidelines on quality remain on paper. And a long line of Doordarshan heads (Baijal is the sixth in five years) has ensured that the organisation lacks direction. The Identity Crisis
That's probably what prompts Kiran Karnik, former CEO, Discovery Communications India, to declare that Doordarshan is being killed. ''The channel has lost its identity. What is Doordarshan: is it a public broadcaster or a commercial entity?'' Karnik asks. Baijal sees no scope for confusion. ''DD National is the public broadcaster and DD Metro is the commercial channel,'' he asserts. But he's not completely ruling out entertainment on DD National. ''Healthy entertainment is part of the mandate of public service broadcasting,'' he avers, ''I can't deny 40-50 per cent of television viewers any entertainment.'' Private producers and advertisers see this attitude as perpetuating the confusion. ''No other network,'' argues Anuradha Prasad, managing director, B.A.G Films, ''has two of its own channels competing against each other.'' Baijal doesn't agree with that but concedes the need to re-orient programming and improve content. In a tacit admission that the existing rate card (which sets the price for sponsored programmes) keeps out good producers, he says the new one Prasar Bharti will soon release will be more realistic and dynamic, and be reviewed every month in the light of market realities. A study of all the weaker regional channels is also being undertaken. Improving content is one thing, letting the world know about it is another. Doordarshan officials rue the poor promotion of DD News. Not true, says Baijal. Individual producers have been asked to promote their own programmes, he says. Over the past two months, there have been hoardings, press ads and cross-channel promotions of various programmes. But recall of these ads isn't very high (yes, B.A.G Films posters can be seen on lamp-posts outside the Mandi House, home to Doordarshan) and cross-channel promotions don't matter when the remote button doesn't pause at any Doordarshan channel. Baijal is now planning to step up cross media advertising. He also plans to market Doordarshan more aggressively. Right now, individual producers market individual programmes, so Doordarshan channels are not able to leverage their identity, offering bonus ads, and cross-channel bouquets the way private channels do. Advertisers are thus able to push hard bargains and get away with paying far less than Doordarshan's reach warrants. Heeding the recommendations of the Prasar Bharti Review Committee headed by marketing consultant Shunu Sen, Baijal's predecessor Rajiv Ratan Shah had set up an in-house marketing cell in September. Though the Mumbai-based cell still markets only in-house programmes, it is a step towards full-fledged channel marketing. The Prasar Bharti board has allowed it to offer bonus ads and market-friendly rates. In the eight-odd months it has been in existence, the cell has made Rs 6 crore from marketing news-related programmes and Rs 13 lakh from marketing Chitrahaar, when the private producer was paying only Rs 11.65 lakh. Marketing the French Open was another success. ''We're getting a very positive response,'' exults Vijay Lakshmi Chhabra, Controller of Marketing. Chhabra's claims are endorsed by the ad world, though Endlaw is sceptical about the success of these efforts. ''What is the content they are selling?'' he asks. And Chhabra's job, say Doordarshan sources, isn't made easy by the fact that individual producers are still marketing their own programmes, so advertisers are still trying to beat prices down. But even this limited success has encouraged Doordarshan to open a second marketing office in Chennai (to be in place by August). Says Baijal: ''Nobody is going to come to you, saying we want to advertise, give us time. We have to get out of our offices and work.'' Baijal has other plans up his sleeve. Like leasing out transmission facilities, studios and land. Doordarshan has already inked a deal with Indira Gandhi National Open University to provide consultancy services, equipment and the location for some educational programmes. He's also talking to private producers for similar arrangements. Baijal certainly needs to get cracking fast. ''The next year or so is crucial for Doordarshan,'' says Karnik. ''We'll change,'' says Baijal, ''that's what the game is about when you're in a competitive environment.'' Predecessor Shah sang pretty much the same tune but couldn't achieve very much. Will Baijal be luckier? He'd better be, for Doordarshan's sake. 1 2 |
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