The Govt has permitted up to 26% FDI for digital media in the ‘news and current affairs’ space on the lines of print media. The Govts think that foreigners cannot be trusted to give unbiased news /views and therefore try to restrict their spread. When FDI was allowed in print media, restrictions were put, say all top positions, such as that of an editor, would be held by Indian citizens.

However, it is true that all foreign TV channels could be seen in India, and newspapers can be bought. Owing to online media, foreign papers cost next-to-nothing or are even free.

They allow 49% FDI in TV news which have a far greater reach than newspapers.

There is no need to distinguish between print, digital and TV in the days of convergence. Can you a newspaper that is online as digital ? What do you call a digital platform that provides news / views in both text and video? Is it digital or TV?

Are the likes of Google to be considered newspapers or aggregators?

It is not understood why they have made a distinction between uplinking and uploading/streaming when it comes to FDI limits. TV channels do uplinking and websites do uploading/streaming, but the end result is instant or near-instant watching of content.

Media wants other sectors to open up, but preserves its Bombay-club-type attitude regarding its own management.

In advertising industry, there is a structural shift going on. New models are being developed for the future. There are consultancy firms who have traditional models, and these are being improved upon through technology. Creative people keep a bunch of blank sheets to jot down new ideas about markets, customers and brands. Creativity should exploit the new tools — IoT, AI, VR-AR and data processing. Management consultancies have played a role in strategy formulation. Of late, they have advised customer-centric ideas. Historically, they lacked the knowledge of customers and brand insights. They were away from the media and digital intiatives. These days, they try to convince the top management that they can operationalize customer-centric growth environment. They have started acquiring the missing capabilities by buying digital agencies, creative shops and cell phone experts. How far these new comers will be integrated into their culture is to be seen. It is also to be seen whether these new comers will stay back or move on after reaping the earnings.

Behavioral Approach in Consultancy

In consultancy divisions of advertising, they talk to the clients at an early stage and offer solutions that are not necessarily advertising. They talk to people at a decisive moment early in the gestation of a brand. The cost-benefit analysis may not favour consultancies. Agencies working on commission could entertain a client at any stage since there is no extra cost. However, when agencies are paid on the hour, they learn about the problem too late. Agencies being paid on commissions pursue clients with media budgets and try to solve only those problems where advertising is the dominant part of the solution.

Consultancies are like Columbus who can discover new lands. Many problems can be solved by a behavioral approach.

In the 80’s Geert Hofstede developed Cultural Dimensions Theory to compare the culture of different countries. The values in the culture are measured along certain dimensions. In the beginning, Hofstede put forward four dimensions, but later added two more dimensions.

Evaluation of culture is made on the following dimensions —

Power Distance Index :Here the centralisation or high index and decentralisation or low index of power is considered from the point of those who do not have power. In centralised power, a few make decisions and the rest follow them. In decentralised system, everyone expresses opinions. Thus in short, how equality is valued is measured from the viewpoint of those who suffer from inequality.

Individualism and Collectivism : Individualism keeps an individual and his rights at the centre. In collectivism the group rights are important. In individualism, an individual seeks to be self-reliant.

Uncertainty Avoidance Index : Here it is seen how a culture handles uncertainty. Some societies avoid uncertainty by making rules, laws and customs to govern the behaviour. Some accept uncertainty with an open mind.

Masculinity and Femininity : Masculinity refers to success, wealth, fame and physical comforts. Femininity refers to co-operation, care for the weaker sections and the tendency to lead a fruitful life. Indian society tends to lean forwards masculinity. Sweden, Norway, Netherland are more forwards femininity.

Long-term Orientation and Short-term Orientation : Whether the behaviour of people is guided by long term effects in future or by short-term effects in the past? The US does not save for the future. They have short-term orientation. Japan things long term, and employment is seen as a life-term commitment.

Restraint and Indulgence : How much you are allowed to enjoy life? The US scores higher. Religious societies score lower.

The above factors are useful in international trade, in MNCs. The theory assumes one type of culture across the country, but it is not so.

A consumer engages with media for a number of hours, far more than he does with fast moving consumer goods. Still media has not placed consumer at the center of decision making. It relies on content providers who have lost touch with consumers.

Secondly, media is a young industry and has to strive more on getting talent.

Thirdly, media innovation is outsourced — concept as well as production. It is left to media to evaluate the quality of whatever it receives.

Fourthly, media has to be more data-based in decision making. Content creators are not interested in data analytics.

Cobots are collaborative robots. These are robotic arms which are light-weight, flexible and can be easily moved and reprogrammed to solve new tasks. They bridge the gap between fully-manual assembly and fully automated manufacturing lines. They work alongside employees with no safety caging unlike their big brothers working behind cages at automobile plants and other big assembly lines. The company Universal Robots (UR) has reinvented industrial robotics with these cobots. They act as the third arm for the workforce. In India, they have been used in the automative, FMCG, electronics industries. They have been used in education and R & D Centres. Bajaj Auto is their oldest customer. In the cobot family, we have UR3 with 3 KG payload capacity, UR5 with 5 KG and UR 10 with 10 KG payload capacity. Indian MSMEs, and SMEs have slowly began to adopt this technology

In the next two years, India’s media industry may touch about Rs. 2 lac crore (Rs.2 trillion) as per Reimagining India’s M &E sector, the FICCI-EY report. Currently, the industry’s size is Rs.1.5 lac crore. In 2017, the growth was led by the digital, film and animation and VFX segments. Advertising is expected to grow led by the digital medium. Digital media grew by 29.4 per cent in advertising and 50 per cent in subscription in 2017. Subscription which was just 3.3 per cent of the total digital revenues in 2016 is expected to grow to 9 per cent by 2020.

The second largest share of M & E after digital was that of print. It touched a revenue of Rs. 30,300 crore in 2017. It is expected to grow at CAGR of approximately 7 per cent up to 2020. Magazines contributed 4.3 per cent to the total print segment. In a reader base of 395 million (or 38 per cent population), 98 per cent readers read dailies and 20 per cent read magazines. The rural reader base (52%) is larger than urban reader base (48%).

TV grew to touch Rs. 66000 crore in 2017. Advertising grew to Rs. 26,700 crore, comprising 40 per cent of revenues. It is expected that advertising grows to 43 per cent of total revenues by 2020.

Films grew 27 per cent in 2017. It reached Rs. 15,600 crore in 2017. Hindi films contributed 40 per cent of the box office collections.

In near future, news will be consumed on hand-held devices — perhaps directly or through social media. TV and digital are in competition. The outcome depends on whether news will be consumed in linear-and-static or non-linear-and-mobile mode. The answer is obvious.It will be on-demand and on-the-go.

The role of technology is being re-examined. Is it more significant than the content? The cardinal principles in the early days of newspapers and linear broadcast were truth, credibility, authentic and expert sources. Of course, the role of technology has increased, but the principles remain valid.

There is technology — multi-media and video, infographics, streaming, multi-point distribution, self-publishing newsletters, customised content, real time tracking, social media activity, internet browsing. There are algorithms to process many data prints in nano-seconds.

Dispite the advancing technology, the principles of journalism cannot be violated. They are cast in stone.

Monetisation after getting audiences is also an issue. Money follows audiences, though there is a lag. The lag creates doubts about viability.

Native content of advertising merges with journalism. It is unobtrusive and seamless. It hooks audiences. Once the ethical principles governing this are formulated, it could become the gold standard of digital advertising.

Digital start ups rattle the established players. Who will win the race? The established players or the hi-tech newbies? A few players, say 5, would emerge after a shake up. Of this 3 could be the established players who are ready to adapt, while 2 are the start ups with a will to survive.

Fake news cannot survive as it lacks credibility. Strict regulation and technological cleansing will tame this monster.

Billboards are becoming more dynamic. They are smarter and connected. These can be bought programmatically. The messages can be altered in real time. These can be linked to social media. They offer dynamic and interactive content delivery.

As digital displays are visually superior, and have other strategic advantages, they cost double the rates of static displays. DOOH allows multiple brands to block slots on one display board during the day. Media owners split the cost of inventory across multiple buyers.

DOOH does not aim at sales but create awareness. DOOH displays require digital screens which are discouraged in the line of sight of traffic lights. The ads cannot be animated. DOOH is thus available in controlled environments such as malls, airports, gyms, cafes and metro stations.

The traffic police could call for dismantling the digital innovation. Some brands use TVC on digital billbrands. It is not effective.

Pune and Kolkata have digital screens on roads. Delhi and Bangalore may follow suit. Mumbai too can join later. Currently, DOOH industry is worth Rs.100 crore in India. It accounts for just 2 per cent of the overall out-of-home (OOH) media industry. There are around 1.2 lac OOH ad units in the top 30 cities of India. Around 1000 screens located in Delhi and Mumbai airports are digitally enabled. By 2023 it is forecast that DOOH will reach 5 per cent of the total OOH industry.

In Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, the heroine uses a dummy horse in a battle scene. In period dramas, animatronics is used. It is a technique of getting lifelike robots to perform in films. Certain scenes are dangerous if executed with the real animals. Prasun Basu and Gauri Tiwari are supplying animatronic horses for films. Retakes are easy with an animatronic horse. One also avoids the wrath of animal rights activists. This technique is very common in Hollywood. Replicas of a heart or a brain or a life-sized chicken can be developed. They create imaginative creatures also, such as a bear with a human body. They use materials like acrylic or rubber. They experiment with materials — gel-filled silicon. They make body-suits too. They have worked with animatronic horses in The Last Samurai. They have in stock six horses. Their elephant has been used in Jungalee. Actual figures give realism. The creatures are motorised to mimic movements. If the animal has to emote, they can do it.

Gazal Dhaliwal wrote a script of a Punjabi girl who falls in love with another girl at a wedding. It developed into a film Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga featuring Sonam Kapoor. Today’s women screenwriters write script about real women. Juhi Chaturvedi wrote Piku. Kanika Dhillon wrote Manmarziyaan. Nidhi Mehra and Mehul Suri wrote Veere di Wedding. Zeenat Lakhani scripted Hindi Medium, Pooja Dhala Surti wrote Andhadhun. These are the scripts which validate a woman’s story. Just 10 per cent are the women writers in Hindi films, where as the global average is 20 per cent. This skewed ratio is responsible for the distorted image of a woman on the screen.

The OTT platforms provide opportunities to women writers. Many web series are made by the women writers.

There is inequality in the remuneration being offered to the male writers and female writers to the extent of 10-15 per cent. Some producer-directors feel women writers would not be able to write a male protagonist effectively. Iyer wrote Raazi and is now engaged in writing a web series on crime. So such norms are no longer valid.