Buddy, we have discussed many times in detail that NTO gas nothing to do with live events not getting aired or niche channels getting shutdown or channels not buying rights of some events
These r actual reasons for changes being observed
- Flawed content and pricing strategy of broadcasters. If content is priced well and good then viewers will opt for it, a special OTT + TV channels bundle discounted offer from broadcasters will further add to garnering more viewers across platforms but unfortunately broadcasters have not priced their channels properly rather increased prices to a great level as compared to Pre NTO days just to make people think that it is due to NTO but fact is they have decided wrong / high pricing strategy as per their own will. Also discouraging people from opting for a-la-carte channels by pricing them more and pushing broadcasters bouquets thru heavy discounts is again not right, Original NTO 2.0 tried to fix this issue but amended rules again have brought back old Pre NTO system of high discount on broadcaster bouquet pricing which eessentially reduces the choice / gives limited options to viewers for selecting channels at affordable prices as standalone prices will be too high as compared to so many channels offered at less price in bouquet
- affluent / premium audience either completely shifting to OTT or having hybrid boxes but watching most content on OTT while TV viewing happening mostly among elder audience base. Most broadcasters r focusing on gaining such audience via their own OTT platforms specially for niche content as OTT comparatively has lot less running cost to a TV channel and best serves the purpose. Having said that English GEC or Niche channels can work on TV as well if content strategy is good, mix of popular new / old sitcoms or reality shows can do well and mature content or shows which require more censorship can be reserved for OTT platforms. Barring viacom18 and to some extent Zee , Disney-Star or Sony have not shown much in carrying on with its English GEC channels reason being that Disney-Star has all such content available on its OTT platform disney+hotstar hence wants to attract premium audience towards it thus having a good economically viable business model for such content, Sony has Zee as partner hence won't reenter this segment right now..later maybe if merger is unsuccessful they might try to launch such a channel. Unlinke disney-star, viacom18 or sony or zee do not have wide variety of such content available on their own OTT platforms hence they have to cater to this audience via TV Channels though all these channels hardly air any ads thus loss making proposition for these 3 broadcasters. There r still examples of niche channels like Zee Zest, Fox Life, Discovery Science / Turbo, Vh1, etc which r relatively successful in their genre all bcoz of good content and affordable pricing. Did not count CBeebies or Travel XP in it as these have different revenue model...CBeebies distribution cost (carriage fee paid to operators) is taken care off thru licence fee collected by BBC in UK while other revenue comes thru subscription from viewers in various countries which takes care of it being economically viable channel as it is not focused much on gaining profits and caters to kids audience as a public service platform and as i understand Travel XP earns most of the subscription revenue from international markets and some thru ad revenue which helps make it financially sustainable channel...it also does not seem to spend much in paying carriage fee to place its channels on various platforms as mostly i believe its operators who take call to add Travel XP HD and then the broadcasters pitches in and pays carriage fee to place its other less popular channels on that platform. I think operators have added even Travel XP based on their own will and not bcoz broadcaster paid carriage fee to them which is why has continued to be available on various DTH or Cable TV Platforms and not removed
- Hourly processing fee applicable on broadcasters to carry live events
- higher price of key sporting properties and pressure to recover investment / earn profits then india cricket or IPL being shown more
