Mumbai: Media has been one of the most suffered sectors due to Covid-19 pandemic. The Print Media has lost significantly in circulation and also suffered huge Ad revenue loss. Electronic Media also lost heavily in Ad revenues, the Outdoor Media got all orders cancelled owing to no traffic on roads due to lockdown, the Events business drew blank as there were no events allowed in this period. All these have been revealed in a Research Report of PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry “Outlook of Media and Entertainment Industry in the COVID Scenario”.
The Report is submitted to the Union Minister for I& B, Shri Prakash Javadekar, by Dr D K Aggarwal, President, Sanjay Aggarwal, Sr Vice President, Mukesh Gupta, Chairman – Media & Entertainment Committe, Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary-General and Yogesh Srivastav, Principal Director, PHDCCI.
‘COVID pandemic has caused mass disruptions to the Nation’s economy, its trade, industry and the lives of citizens. There is no industry or sector of the economy which has been left unaffected by this wave. As the world has accepted the Covid-19 as the new normal, the crises has also impacted how different forms of media is consumed in the world of today.
“PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry appreciates the government for undertaking continuous reform measure to support industry, trade and economy to break free from the grip of Covid crises” said Dr D K Aggarwal, President PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI)
Chamber urge the Minister to undertake immediate reform measures based on the stated recommendations.
The report suggests that one of the major impact of Covid on the M&E industry is the instability caused and a downfall in the advertising revenues across all media segments. Radio,TV, Print, Outdoor (OOH)out-of-home media see a significant decline in the advertising revenue, said President Dr Aggarwal
This falling advertising revenue trends is expected to pose a significant threat to the industry as Advertising is a prime source of revenue for Media.
“We urge the government to make a conscious effort towards ensuring full utilization of its annual advertising budget in the respective financial year. This deliberate move will help the government receive its due credit by effectively publicising the numerous effective and efficient reforms and initiatives undertaken by the government towards Nation building and at the same time will also ensure that the media sail through these tough times with inflows of revenue,” said Committee Chairman Mukesh Gupta.
“PSUs, Corporates and industry stakeholder should also make a consciously connect with their consumers by reaching out to them through effective advertising campaign. It is the connectivity with the consumers in these trying times of crises which will be remembered and will go a long way in adding value to their businesses” said Sr VP Sanjay Aggarwal.
“We urge the Government to direct all other Ministries, DAVP, State Govt, PSUs etc to clear all outstanding payments of the entire media industry, which is a significantly large amount.
This move will provide the much-needed relief to the industry, which has played a pivotal role in creating jobs and spreading awareness during the crises of Covid-19, and yet has been grappling with cash crunch and are unable to pay the salaries to their employees, who have been the frontline warriors.
As a goodwill gesture and keeping the importance of Media industry’s role in these critical times, the development of economy as well as socio-political fields, the government must pay salaries for the lockdown period for those employees of Media who are registered with ESIC. This will go a long way in restoring the faith in the government by the media industry” Added Dr Aggarwal
While the media and entertainment sector is currently grappling with various challenging issues, with the economic activities returning to normalcy, we are assured that eventually with the allowance of 100% FDI in the Media and Entertainment industry and effective handholding by the government, the industry will bounce back and continue to provide to each citizen the much-needed information & entertainment.
