Fragmented but focused

The audience consuming television on the mobile may soon be the cream of the pack, the envy of your competition

You will be marked out as hoary-headed if you are thinking of ducking out of that office get-together to catch up on your favourite television show. And be deemed a fossil for advocating appointment viewing. Today's content consumption is all about multiple screens, multiple platforms. Live television is just one option. There is deferred viewing, whether through your digital video recorder (DVR) or the channel's website. Or, as is the case with most things these days, there is the option of using an app.

In fact, according to a Nielsen survey from February 2013, three out of five Indian smartphone owners said they watched major broadcast or cable network content on their phones, meaning those who didn't are in the minority.

From a broadcaster's point of view, it is difficult to substantiate numerically if the number of viewers has gone up due to this multi-screen reality. But there is definite empirical evidence that viewing patterns are diffused. The viewer may be logging on to any platform for consuming the same piece of content. With the television rating points system already drawing flak and an imminent blackout on the cards, it may be a good time to throw open the discussion on the necessity of 360 degree audience measurement.

DTH (direct-to-home) and DVR platforms are incapable of showing data on content consumption. No information can flow back from the box. In contrast, however, online video players and apps like Ditto TV, a live TV viewing app developed by Zee Entertainment, or Tata Sky's Everywhere TV or Dish TV's DishOnline can be precious sources of data accumulation. While a systemic inclusion of these alternative content viewing platforms remains a far cry, content providers can rely on third party numbers or data generated on its own for that matter.

Take the case of Ditto TV. Manoj Padmanabhan, business head, Ditto TV, speaks of using Splunk's services to interpret data. Splunk is a software used for searching, monitoring, and analysing machine-generated big data. "We can analyse what content is being viewed, for how much time, from what device, what operating system is installed on that device, what's the geographical location of the viewer etc," says Padmanabhan.

But with an initial base of 3.2 lakh subscribers, the number is too small in the overall universe of television viewers - the number of households owning televisions in India exceeding the 150 million mark. It may not make much difference from the audience measurement perspective just yet, adds Padmanabhan.

That should explain why content providers use these alternative mediums more to interpret consumer trends than as aggregator of viewership data. Currently, the same feed that flows to the DTH network is transmitted to the apps through third party telecom players. In effect, the same content with the same advertisements as those shown on live television get streamed. The content provider does not use the mobile or online viewers base as a means to shore up its viewer numbers in the advertising pitch. The advertiser gets a free ride as of now, even though a customisation of feed is technically possible from the content providers' side.

Similarly, many of the channels are developing online feeds, putting the content on the channel's website for catch-up viewing. But the usage of advertising, in the form of pre-roll or in-show is either minimal or non-existent.

Not only is the diffusion of the audience base providing more room for advertising opportunities, it is also making advertising more relevant for the consumer. Let's take the case of DVR. The consumer has a choice of fast forwarding commercials and getting straight to the content. Conventional wisdom must dictate that this leads to erosion of advertising opportunities. But Vikram Mehra, chief commercial officer, Tata Sky, says that is not the case. "Typically when one watches a show, if there is a commercial break, the tendency is to walk out of the room. The viewer has missed the entire break. In comparison, while using DVR, the focus even while fast forwarding must be on stopping at that exact point where the content restarts. Subconsciously the viewer is still consuming the advertising. And if the creative is superb, he may even be compelled to stop and watch." Mehra points out that thanks to DVR, content consumption has actually gone up 23-24 per cent on an average in a household. And though there is no break-up available between the ad viewing time and the content viewing time, anecdotally, he says, ad viewing time would have also gone up.

The Indian broadcast industry is uniquely positioned to take cues from other, mature industries globally. After all, as a nation we have skipped a few intervening steps in many categories of products and services to leapfrog to the latest.

What is the lesson here?

According to a study done by Flurry, a mobile application analytics agency, app usage spikes during prime-time to a peak of 52 million consumers in the US. To get to an audience of that size, Flurry says, you'd need to combine the circulation of the largest 200 weekend newspapers in the US or combine the audiences for the three most highly-rated prime-time TV shows during a good TV week. If your viewer is turning to her second screen to consume the content, negating the usage of the device for any other purpose, one can easily imagine the efficacy of any advertising therein. Stated bluntly, the mobile audience may soon be the cream of the pack, the envy of your competition.

Ditto TV: user insights

• 58% of Ditto TV users use smartphones
• 37% use PCs
• 5% use tablets
• Over 11% of users use more than one device
• 55% of smartphone users use large screen (>4.8") Android and iOs devices
• Android is the most popular OS on Ditto in terms of the number of users. However, PC users consume the maximum play time followed by Android users

Tata Sky Everywhere TV: user insights *

• Top eight metros use the maximum mobile entertainment (63%)
• Top channels on Everywhere TV:
  * GEC is most popular segment; with Colors having 35% share followed by Star Plus 34%
  

* Among News channels, Aaj Tak is most popular with 24% share

Frequency of usage is highest (64%) in the evening when people are returning home

More than 60% people with 3G network are using the application

Research conducted by Tata Sky on the impact of Everywhere TV on the subscribers after three months of its launch in October 2013