TV channels pitching in-show influencers is the new crossover experiment

Trinayani (Zee Telugu) protects her family with her powers to see the future. Phulki (Zee Bangla) dreams of being a boxer. Bhabiji (from Bhabiji Ghar Pe Hain on And TV) is a funny, small-town woman. They are among popular characters on shows that air on the 40 channels and streaming services that Zee Entertainment operates.

 

Earlier this year, Zee launched Dilfluencer. The initiative tells advertisers that characters like Trinayani or Phulki are better  influencers than some internet celebrity. Its pitch — these characters have a unique connect with audiences in small-towns thanks to their presence in homes every night. Marico, Birla Opus, Finolex, and L’Oreal, among others, agree. Their products now feature in reels with Bhabiji and others on Instagram.

 

Think of Zee as part of a circle that houses the mainstream media with its professionally created programmes and films. In another circle sit Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and the sea of user-generated videos featuring everything from cats and dogs to rotis.

 

Dilfluencers sit at the intersection of these two circles. This column is not about Dilfluencers. That is just one, random, example. It is about the creation of that Venn space where mainstream and user-generated content intersect — and about the speed at which Zee, JioStar, Sony or others are able to expand it. That will determine the course of the battle between mainstream media and tech-media giants. Here’s the context.

 

For almost four years now, a parallel media ecosystem has been rising. It comprises 3.5 to 5 million influencers, two large media-tech platforms (Google and Meta) and a bevy of digital agencies. In 2023, advertisers spent Rs 5,700 crore, or about 10 per cent of their digital advertising budget, on influencers. That figure has been growing by double digits every year.

 

“An influencer is someone who has access to an audience and the power to affect their purchasing decisions or opinions about a product, service, brand or experience, because of the influencer’s authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with their audience,” defines the Advertising Standards Council of India. Think of Viraj Ghelani having funny chats with his naani in Gujarati and slipping in a brand into the conversation. The influencer is the media now.

 

This “user-generated content” world is one that is dominated by two of the largest media players in the world— the $306 billion Google and the $135 billion Meta. This is true for India too. Meta with Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook, and YouTube from Google reach almost all the 523 million Indians browsing online. India has one of the highest social media penetration in the world (92.6 per cent), according to a Comscore report. Indians spend about 22 hours a month browsing through Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and other apps. Of all the things they watch, media and entertainment content drives highest engagement at 39 per cent; influencer content comes second at 27 per cent. Engagement —defined by likes, reposts, comments and shares, not reach — is the metric that drives revenues in this world. Google and Meta, which get over three-fourths of digital advertising spends, increasingly depend on audiences from social media for a large chunk of their growth.

 

Then, there is the world of mainstream media. Television reaches 900 million of us in an array of languages. Films populate every aspect of entertainment from music and TV to streaming and theatres. A Zee or a Star specialise in professionally created and curated films, shows and series that take months and years to write and make. Their strength lies in their ability to keep audiences coming back every day with an algorithm (like Netflix or SonyLIV does) or without one (like Zee’s linear channels do). To reach this steady TV audience, advertisers pay two-three times the ad rates they would for streaming video. Many big streaming apps come from media firms – Disney+Hotstar, SonyLIV and Zee5, for example.

 

However, nowhere in the world has a media company been able to combine the reach of TV with online video to reframe the conversation. This is where the Venn diagram comes in. It is about using a format that the tech giants have used to disrupt consumption — shorts and influencers — with the creative chutzpah of mainstream. On Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and X, the shorts, video or text, generated by professionals or regular media firms, do better. Short clips from Sony’s Kapil Sharma Show, BBC’s Graham Norton Show, Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawaan, CBS’s The Big Bang Theory keep a large chunk of the audience scrolling.

 

Comscore ranks Salman Khan, Sara Ali Khan and Ram Charan as the top three “influencers” on Instagram, X and Facebook in September 2024 in India. Across the board, brands use influencers like a Bhuvan Bam or Kusha Kapila as the second or third rung of their strategy. The first rung is always a celebrity that has been created outside the internet, through mainstream media. Shakti Mohan, a dancer and TV personality, is also an influencer who pirouettes to display how flexible Pepe jeans are. But it is film star Kriti Sanon (Mimi, Bareilly Ki Barfi) who serves as the brand’s global ambassador.

 

Dilfluencers and similar initiatives in the making bring the strength of mainstream media — its nose for characters and stories, its hold over audiences across big and small-town India — into the Google/Meta territory. The social media and influencer boom has so far benefitted only two firms. Time to spread the spoils a bit. 

 

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