'Acche Din' return to Indian TV channels; 20% increase in ad volumes in January
MUMBAI: Television advertisements, which plunged as demonetisation sucked out currency in circulation and hit consumer sentiment and thereby sales, are surging again.
Compared with December 2016 — the immediate month after the note ban on November 9 — broadcasters witnessed a 20% rise in advertisement volumes in January. In fact, total ad insertions across TV channels in January surpassed that of November too, when the demonetisation started to have an impact on the medium.
According to data from TV viewership monitoring agency BARC India, advertisers placed 4.79 million ads across channels in January, compared with 3.98 million in December 2016 and 4.56 million in November.
“There has been a definite pickup in advertising. National channels are back to 70-90% of fill rates of pre-demonetisation levels,” said CVL Srinivas, CEO-South Asia, GroupM, a media agency conglomerate. The demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes on November 9, 2016, created a cash crunch which had a cascading impact on spending and advertisers across sectors, including FMCG, retail, consumer goods and automobiles, and ad budgets witnessed sharp cuts.
There was a sudden and sharp drop in advertising across TV channels in the months of November and December after a record breaking October. “October was fantastic in terms of advertising revenues across the industry. Our October sales were highest for any month in the last five years. We were hoping that November and December would have a rub-off effect, but PM Modi had other plans,” said a top sales executive at a broadcasting network, before adding that things are improving now.
However, top honchos across media and entertainment industry feel that though demonetisation led to a knee-jerk reaction from advertisers, it was a short-term episode. Now, with cash crunch easing, consumers have started spending again, leading to improved sentiment and increased advertising.
“Things are already looking better. We are seeing improvements in ad volumes month on month. January was better than December; February is looking better than January. I feel there will be a surge in advertising in March,” said Ashish Sehgal, COO at Zee Unimedia, which oversees ad sales for the ZEE Group’s entertainment, news and print verticals.
Srinivas of GroupM echoes the sentiment. “While regional channels, especially in the south, are slow to pick up because of long tail of small and local advertisers, national channels are looking better. Overall business sentiment is up and February is looking better than January.” Incidentally, broadcasters, in their bid to combat the decrease in advertising, had gone on an overdrive to give freebies to advertisers.
Some channels in Hindi GEC (general entertainment channels) category reduced rates to get more ads. However, experts said, major networks did not give any discounts, but offered some freebies to advertisers who stood with them in testing times. “These offers will be withdrawn once volume comes back,” Sehgal said. But some executives are still watching the situation unfold cautiously. “I will wait another month before popping the champagne,” said the broadcasting network sales executive quoted earlier.
Compared with December 2016 — the immediate month after the note ban on November 9 — broadcasters witnessed a 20% rise in advertisement volumes in January. In fact, total ad insertions across TV channels in January surpassed that of November too, when the demonetisation started to have an impact on the medium.
According to data from TV viewership monitoring agency BARC India, advertisers placed 4.79 million ads across channels in January, compared with 3.98 million in December 2016 and 4.56 million in November.
“There has been a definite pickup in advertising. National channels are back to 70-90% of fill rates of pre-demonetisation levels,” said CVL Srinivas, CEO-South Asia, GroupM, a media agency conglomerate. The demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes on November 9, 2016, created a cash crunch which had a cascading impact on spending and advertisers across sectors, including FMCG, retail, consumer goods and automobiles, and ad budgets witnessed sharp cuts.
There was a sudden and sharp drop in advertising across TV channels in the months of November and December after a record breaking October. “October was fantastic in terms of advertising revenues across the industry. Our October sales were highest for any month in the last five years. We were hoping that November and December would have a rub-off effect, but PM Modi had other plans,” said a top sales executive at a broadcasting network, before adding that things are improving now.
However, top honchos across media and entertainment industry feel that though demonetisation led to a knee-jerk reaction from advertisers, it was a short-term episode. Now, with cash crunch easing, consumers have started spending again, leading to improved sentiment and increased advertising.
“Things are already looking better. We are seeing improvements in ad volumes month on month. January was better than December; February is looking better than January. I feel there will be a surge in advertising in March,” said Ashish Sehgal, COO at Zee Unimedia, which oversees ad sales for the ZEE Group’s entertainment, news and print verticals.
Srinivas of GroupM echoes the sentiment. “While regional channels, especially in the south, are slow to pick up because of long tail of small and local advertisers, national channels are looking better. Overall business sentiment is up and February is looking better than January.” Incidentally, broadcasters, in their bid to combat the decrease in advertising, had gone on an overdrive to give freebies to advertisers.
Some channels in Hindi GEC (general entertainment channels) category reduced rates to get more ads. However, experts said, major networks did not give any discounts, but offered some freebies to advertisers who stood with them in testing times. “These offers will be withdrawn once volume comes back,” Sehgal said. But some executives are still watching the situation unfold cautiously. “I will wait another month before popping the champagne,” said the broadcasting network sales executive quoted earlier.
