The nation will go to polls between April and May 2024 to elect members to the 18th Lok Sabha. This election is crucial for both, the ruling BJP and opposition Congress as the former is looking to retain its power, and the latter for a comeback. Recently, 26 opposition parties also came together and announced INDIA, or the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance to contest the polls together. Eight states – Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and J&K will also hold elections for state assemblies in 2024.
Elections are a period of high drama not only when it comes to political parties, but also an important period for the broadcast industry as the country trains its sights to know the latest news and views, which in turn sees viewership and revenue spiking. Gaurav Dhawan, Chief Revenue Officer, Times Network, said, “Through powerful content formats backed by technological innovation, high-powered interviews, in-depth on-ground reporting and impactful news stories, our news brands are strongly positioned to offer viewers an unmatched election viewing experience across linear and digital platforms.”
He added the General Election is expected to contribute to an approximately 20 pc increase in monthly revenue for National news channels, while State elections are expected to contribute a double-digit growth as well for regional channels.
Rupali Fernandes, Chief Revenue Officer, ABP Network, agreed with Dhawan. “Due to such high interest levels, advertisers are aware of the ROIs they will get with their presence on news channels/ABP Network despite paying high rates. Thus, news revenues experience a 10-15 pc growth. ABP Network experienced maximum viewership growth during the General Elections and the growth peaked to as high as approximately 700 pc on Counting Day (when the genre grew 400 pc). Kaun Banega Mukhyamantri and Kaun Banega Pradhanmantri not only garnered high viewership, but have been the most talked about shows till date, giving unbiased opinions to its viewers and high reach to advertisers.”
She added that the viewership jump experienced by news during elections is approximately 50 pc, which goes up to almost 400 pc on the counting day. Sidharth Newatia, National Revenue Head, Hindi Cluster, Network18, offered another viewpoint, and said, “Elections to a news genre is similar to what a cricket is for the sports genre. The incrementality that any elections bring to the news genre is incomparable to anything – both from the viewership perspective as well as revenue standpoint.”
“There is always excitement among Malayalis for news, especially when there are elections in any part of India, more if it involves the state of Kerala. The surge in viewership on polling day and counting days are very high, while there could be a 20-30 pc increase in the overall viewership of News as a genre during the run up to the elections over the next two months and thereafter for the National elections too,” said PR Satheesh, CEO, MMTV.
“There will be a natural increase commensurate to the past viewership trends and we do expect a significant amount of money moving towards News genre during this quarter and the next.”
Anil Ayroor, President, Reporter TV also said that viewership will increase given the trend that in any local election, there is a 20 to 30 pc spike. He added that this general election, this spike is likely to be higher. “There will be a hike in TRP, as well as revenue.”
“We have already started our election programmes on all the regional channels and are seeing increased traction of audience,” said Rajesh Sareen, National Revenue Head – Language Cluster, Network18. He added that the network has a robust election programming plan in place for both TV and digital platforms to engage different audiences and increase viewership. “Brands prefer to associate with News platforms which serve innovative and insightful programmes. The programming is also mindful of providing an enhanced viewer experience and investments have been made in this regard. We have always enjoyed significant partnership of corporate and retail clients on Elections, and I think with our robust election plan, they will continue to invest substantial budgets with us.”
Not just the General Elections, but there are a lot of expectations from the regional elections as well when it comes to higher viewership and increased revenue. Network18’s Newatia said, “We have already entered into partnership deals with several brands with respect to the assembly elections and more discussions are on. It should reach a fervour pitch closer to the dates. Besides sponsorship options, since there is a spike in viewership on news channels, the weightage of news as a genre increases in the media plans of all advertisers and hence, we do see a surge in revenues on an overall level as well.”
“The brand ‘Kaun Banega Mukhyamantri’ on ABP News has great traction, and once ‘Kaun Banega Pradhanmantri’ begins, we expect the audience to be glued to their screens with our innovative presentation and programming line-up. Advertisers have planned for elections in their annual advertising budget, and we do hope to get the benefit of two financial years to maximise our monetisation plan. We have a good mix of content offering on our linear and digital platform to be able to reach out to the audience across age groups and geographies,” added ABP’s Fernandes.
“Some of our shows like Public Interest with Jagwinder Patial and Seedha Sawal with Sandeep Chaudhary have witnessed this surge and we are sure of strengthening the line up as we get closer to the elections,” she added.
Sareen added, “As the largest news broadcaster, we engage all segments of the audience by creating meaningful and cutting-edge coverage across platform through our anchors and widespread network of reporters. Higher engagement with the audience will further increase viewership. The last assembly elections garnered us sizable revenues with partners experiencing engaging content, and we are expecting high number of repeat advertisers partnering with us. The innovative partnership options and extensive on-ground events will excite advertisers to invest with us.”
Talking about advertisers, Times Network’s Dhawan said, “In terms of advertisers, we are seeing interest from a diverse category of brands such as automobiles, construction materials including paints, cement and home fittings, consumer durables, FMCG, resurgent e-commerce and handsets. Additionally, there is significant spending from state governments and political parties on election advertising campaigns. We are also witnessing interest from newer categories such as electric vehicles (two-wheelers), and beverage brands.”
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