Thakur
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- 30 Aug 2013
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In the last month or so, there has been a
silent revolution taking place in television
viewership. As consumers watch television,
but not on TV, are marketers taking note?
You may hate the IPL (Indian Premier League)
or love it. But you cannot ignore it. Over the
last few weeks, the IPL has taken sports
viewership out of the television screen, and
not just into the stadium. It’s not rare to spot
viewers watching the IPL telecast on their
smartphones, or even their tablets.
The video streaming of IPL 2014 on Star
Sports reportedly attracted more than a
million visitors a day, in the first week of the
tournament itself. With some 47 lakh visitors
watching online, mobile delivered more than a
crore of viewers in the same period. The
tournament has since received 42 per cent of
the overall traffic from mobile devices.
Sure, the IPL cannot hog all the credit for this
viewership revolution. During the recent
parliamentary elections, all the large players
in the video streaming space, whether Airtel,
Tata Sky or Ditto TV (ZEEL), saw a viewership
surge, with news channels streamed more
than any other content.
Make it work harder
Although the movement to small devices is
not likely to replace the ‘first screen’ in India
just yet, the consumption of television
content beyond television is something that
could influence marketing decisions.
“If you’re spending ₹35,000-40,000 on your
device, why not make it work harder?” asks
Vikram Mehra, Chief Commercial Officer, Tata
Sky. The satellite broadcaster’s Everywhere TV
was launched in September 2013 through
which Tata Sky’s consumers could watch their
preferred content on mobile devices.
“Early on, we asked ourselves why people
should be limited to a specific channel or a
time — that was how Video-on-Demand was
born. For example, 2,000 videos are now
available on Tata Sky’s server. But what was
missing was the element of watching these at
a place of your choice. Everywhere TV
emanated from the belief that the concept of
TV will be anywhere, anytime,” says Mehra, on
the evolution of the Everywhere TV idea over
the years.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL)
was an early entrant into the space with its
Ditto TV. Since 2012, the company was clear
that TV consumption on small devices would
rise and supplement conventional television
viewing.
2 million downloads
Manoj Padmanabhan, Business Head, Ditto TV,
explains: “If you look at our content
ecosystems, a lot of the viewing is already on
small devices. Over the years, the
proliferation of smartphones and the declining
cost of handsets have played a key role.
Internet connectivity is better and the costs
lower, while handsets have gotten bigger with
video resolutions that are way better than
we’ve had before. People are buying more 3G
packs.”
Mobile phone-maker Nokia is capitalising on
the IPL fever through its partnership with
NexGTv — an app by the same name that
aggregates live sports content. A premium
service offered exclusively to Nokia device
users, the app allows live streaming, provides
news and scores and hosts cricket-related
games.
“If consumers are looking for top quality
content, ease of access and discovery and are
on the lookout for offers along with an
exclusive experience, then our Lumia, Nokia X
and ASHA devices are making all that
possible,” says Navdeep Manaktala, Head,
Applications and Developer Ecosystem, Nokia
India.
Ditto TV has seen about 2 million app
downloads so far, with 3,50,000 paid
subscribers. Interestingly, a significant
percentage of subscribers is from the rural
areas. ‘Splunk’, the analytics tool Ditto TV uses
to measure uptake and consumer viewing
patterns, has thrown up sufficient valuable
information.
More than 60 per cent of its mobile TV
audience is 18-24 years old. About 40-45 per
cent of its viewership comes from Tier 1 cities
and nearly 40 per cent from Tier 2 towns.
Some 10-15 per cent make up for audience
from even smaller towns, such as Rewari,
Satara and Shillong.
According to Ditto TV’s measurement of
sports viewing, during matches such as UEFA
(Union of European Football Associations) and
other late telecasts, viewership goes up by
9-10 per cent.
Looking good so far
Everywhere TV from Tata Sky has already
crossed the million mark for app downloads
and has a subscriber base of 12.5 million
subscribers.
Tata Sky offers the service free at present.
Mehra says that even in places such as Alwar,
which is becoming an education centre,
earlier there used to be one TV between 100
students in a hostel.
Now, all a parent needs to do now is get the
child’s phone connected to their own
account.
A survey of Top 11 towns for Tata Sky’s user
base showed that, on an average, people
spend 67 minutes commuting to and from the
office. All these factors lead to consumers
looking to yet another alternative for their
entertainment.
“Broadcasters have their own mobile apps,
but you can’t switch between channels. That’s
not a great consumer experience. With us
such switching is possible,” says Mehra.
Primary platform
“As far as downloads go, India is one of the
top two markets in the world. The smartphone
has become the primary media consumption
platform. We’ve seen significant traction
among our users,” declares Nokia’s Manaktala.
A Millward Brown study on Vuclip’s consumer
base says 80 per cent of users watch videos
on their mobile devices at least once every
two to three days, and more than half opt to
watch daily. IPL 2013 received a total of 75.2
million viewers online.
In the current climate, video-sharing sites
such as YouTube will remain strong and
continue to thrive on their own.
But, besides discovery of content, it is
becoming important for consumers to enjoy
simplicity of relationship with service
providers and the convenience of being
entertained wherever and whenever they
choose. From apps to Everywhere TV and Ditto
TV, television viewing has changed for good
silent revolution taking place in television
viewership. As consumers watch television,
but not on TV, are marketers taking note?
You may hate the IPL (Indian Premier League)
or love it. But you cannot ignore it. Over the
last few weeks, the IPL has taken sports
viewership out of the television screen, and
not just into the stadium. It’s not rare to spot
viewers watching the IPL telecast on their
smartphones, or even their tablets.
The video streaming of IPL 2014 on Star
Sports reportedly attracted more than a
million visitors a day, in the first week of the
tournament itself. With some 47 lakh visitors
watching online, mobile delivered more than a
crore of viewers in the same period. The
tournament has since received 42 per cent of
the overall traffic from mobile devices.
Sure, the IPL cannot hog all the credit for this
viewership revolution. During the recent
parliamentary elections, all the large players
in the video streaming space, whether Airtel,
Tata Sky or Ditto TV (ZEEL), saw a viewership
surge, with news channels streamed more
than any other content.
Make it work harder
Although the movement to small devices is
not likely to replace the ‘first screen’ in India
just yet, the consumption of television
content beyond television is something that
could influence marketing decisions.
“If you’re spending ₹35,000-40,000 on your
device, why not make it work harder?” asks
Vikram Mehra, Chief Commercial Officer, Tata
Sky. The satellite broadcaster’s Everywhere TV
was launched in September 2013 through
which Tata Sky’s consumers could watch their
preferred content on mobile devices.
“Early on, we asked ourselves why people
should be limited to a specific channel or a
time — that was how Video-on-Demand was
born. For example, 2,000 videos are now
available on Tata Sky’s server. But what was
missing was the element of watching these at
a place of your choice. Everywhere TV
emanated from the belief that the concept of
TV will be anywhere, anytime,” says Mehra, on
the evolution of the Everywhere TV idea over
the years.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL)
was an early entrant into the space with its
Ditto TV. Since 2012, the company was clear
that TV consumption on small devices would
rise and supplement conventional television
viewing.
2 million downloads
Manoj Padmanabhan, Business Head, Ditto TV,
explains: “If you look at our content
ecosystems, a lot of the viewing is already on
small devices. Over the years, the
proliferation of smartphones and the declining
cost of handsets have played a key role.
Internet connectivity is better and the costs
lower, while handsets have gotten bigger with
video resolutions that are way better than
we’ve had before. People are buying more 3G
packs.”
Mobile phone-maker Nokia is capitalising on
the IPL fever through its partnership with
NexGTv — an app by the same name that
aggregates live sports content. A premium
service offered exclusively to Nokia device
users, the app allows live streaming, provides
news and scores and hosts cricket-related
games.
“If consumers are looking for top quality
content, ease of access and discovery and are
on the lookout for offers along with an
exclusive experience, then our Lumia, Nokia X
and ASHA devices are making all that
possible,” says Navdeep Manaktala, Head,
Applications and Developer Ecosystem, Nokia
India.
Ditto TV has seen about 2 million app
downloads so far, with 3,50,000 paid
subscribers. Interestingly, a significant
percentage of subscribers is from the rural
areas. ‘Splunk’, the analytics tool Ditto TV uses
to measure uptake and consumer viewing
patterns, has thrown up sufficient valuable
information.
More than 60 per cent of its mobile TV
audience is 18-24 years old. About 40-45 per
cent of its viewership comes from Tier 1 cities
and nearly 40 per cent from Tier 2 towns.
Some 10-15 per cent make up for audience
from even smaller towns, such as Rewari,
Satara and Shillong.
According to Ditto TV’s measurement of
sports viewing, during matches such as UEFA
(Union of European Football Associations) and
other late telecasts, viewership goes up by
9-10 per cent.
Looking good so far
Everywhere TV from Tata Sky has already
crossed the million mark for app downloads
and has a subscriber base of 12.5 million
subscribers.
Tata Sky offers the service free at present.
Mehra says that even in places such as Alwar,
which is becoming an education centre,
earlier there used to be one TV between 100
students in a hostel.
Now, all a parent needs to do now is get the
child’s phone connected to their own
account.
A survey of Top 11 towns for Tata Sky’s user
base showed that, on an average, people
spend 67 minutes commuting to and from the
office. All these factors lead to consumers
looking to yet another alternative for their
entertainment.
“Broadcasters have their own mobile apps,
but you can’t switch between channels. That’s
not a great consumer experience. With us
such switching is possible,” says Mehra.
Primary platform
“As far as downloads go, India is one of the
top two markets in the world. The smartphone
has become the primary media consumption
platform. We’ve seen significant traction
among our users,” declares Nokia’s Manaktala.
A Millward Brown study on Vuclip’s consumer
base says 80 per cent of users watch videos
on their mobile devices at least once every
two to three days, and more than half opt to
watch daily. IPL 2013 received a total of 75.2
million viewers online.
In the current climate, video-sharing sites
such as YouTube will remain strong and
continue to thrive on their own.
But, besides discovery of content, it is
becoming important for consumers to enjoy
simplicity of relationship with service
providers and the convenience of being
entertained wherever and whenever they
choose. From apps to Everywhere TV and Ditto
TV, television viewing has changed for good
