The views on landing pages, much like everything in life, have their own two sides of a coin. The two sides in this case simply are for and against landing pages.
What is a landing page?
But what exactly is a landing page? It refers to a scenario where cable and satellite audiences are exposed to a particular channel everytime they switch on their set top box. How does this work? Channels pay a decent premium to cable networks to park themselves on a default LCN (Logical Channel Number) wherein viewers land on a specific channel that has paid for prominent placement i.e., the landing page. This results in the viewer spending a minute or half a minute on that particular channel before moving on to another channel. Post this sampling push, if the content is good, viewers continue with the landing channels, else they move on to another piece of content within or outside the genre.
According to landing page data for week 31, 2023, the two leading genres that ruled the landing page counts are Hindi General Entertainment (GEC) and Hindi News, closely followed by English News and Marathi GEC, etc. Interestingly, the total number of landing page counts within the news genre stands at 1350, making it the most dominant category when compared to the cumulative landing pages of all other genres.
Landing pages = Distribution push?
Those who oppose landing argue that landing pages provide a forced viewing experience, distinct from the natural flow of content consumption. The viewer’s engagement can be approached in two ways: content pull and distribution push. Landing pages fall under the latter category, representing a form of distribution push. An analogy with the digital realm, they argue, is a situation where every time you unlocked your phone, one particular application appeared on the screen and you were required to spend 30 seconds or a minute on that app before you could access any other application!
However, this practice does not mirror the digital world. Critics argue that in an ideal scenario, the landing channel should be the viewer’s preferred network or the channel they were last viewing before turning off their television. Yet, in the end, viewer discretion prevails. If the content is engaging, viewers will remain on the landing channel; if not, they will swiftly switch to a channel of their choice.
Impact on Advertising
Does the presence of landing pages impact advertising traction? It is a nuanced question. While landing pages can enhance the reach of a channel, this might not translate directly into increased time spent or exposure to advertising breaks. If viewers tend to switch away after the initial 30 seconds or a minute, advertisers on the channel might not experience significant benefits.
On the flip side, landing pages function as an effective marketing tool. They resemble placing a product prominently on a store shelf, offering viewers a chance to engage with the content.
Those in favor of landing pages validate their stand with the fact that landing pages are influenced by market dynamics – there is a buyer and a seller for a landing page slot. Regulating landing pages raises questions about the extent to which such practices can be controlled. They argue, in essence if we ban landing pages, what happens to prevalent placement practices that have existed in the industry for years? Carriage fees for better placements, package deals, and bids for free-to-air platforms – all these practices suggest that landing pages are not unique in their influence.
A balanced approach may be the key – clear regulations ensuring a level playing field for all. Alternatively, the entire broadcast industry could be left unregulated, subject solely to market forces. But a hybrid scenario where some aspects are regulated and others are not would inevitably raise concerns. Ratings agencies perform their roles, but their data collection is constrained by a finite sample size. Attempts to remove discrepancies often involve human intervention, and where human involvement exists, questions on data integrity and credibility emerge.
So to conclude, there can be a regulation which pretty much covers every aspect of the industry, or else it should be left to market forces. Partial regulation leads to ambiguity.
(The author is Founder and MD , Chrome DM. Views are personal.)
