_1554305930849.png "Kedar Gavane, vice-president, sales and partners (India and Australia), Comscore. (Ramegowda Bopaiah/Mint)")
Ad spending may soon shift from TV to digital
1 min read . Updated: 03 Apr 2019, 09:15 PM ISTThe interplay between devices—television, desktop and mobile—is changing
Over 600 million Indians pay for cable television or over-the-top (OTT) and other content through telcos, according to a recent EY report. The number is expected to grow to over 750 million by 2021.
How content providers create is changing, and with that, digital advertising will change as well. Traditionally, advertising has been done in silos, based on the platform, says Kedar Gavane, vice-president, sales and partners (India and Australia), Comscore. According to him, what’s changing is the interplay between devices—television, desktop and mobile.
“Today’s media planners are asking how storytelling for a particular brand is changing when I use all these platforms together. How can I bring efficiencies in the way I spend money and how I can bring complementary reach across platforms," Gavane said.
“The headroom for growth in India in terms of ad spend in the media and entertainment sector is really large," said Gavane. “With the amount of content that is being created, India will emerge more as an advertising market than a subscription market," he added.
The shift to cross-platform will also lead to a shift in media dollars from TV to the digital space, according to Gavane. This, he claims, is because digital advertising is more efficient than television.
Gavane also said that since India has a much younger demographic than many other countries, and the youth is on digital platforms, it’s easier to reach them through advertising in this space.
All of this, of course, hinges on the large amount of data that is available on digital platforms. Gavane said the digital advertising industry is excited about the future of this industry, and thinks data will play a big part in “catalysing any kind of innovation" in this industry.