It's not the end of the show

IF 2023 WAS a bad year for Indian television, 2024 could be worse. The pundits predict digital media could overtake television to become the leading segment in India's media & entertainment (M&E) space.

- ALOKANANDA CHAKRABORTY

That's inevitable in a young country like India, where content is being increasingly consumed on smartphones.

At the end of 2023, television revenues comprised 26% of the total ad pie of ₹2.32 trillion, down sharply from 36% in 2019. But it's not the end of the road. Post 2026, once wired broadband crosses 60 million to 70 million homes and 5G connections go up, we should see the number of connected TVs rising fast, to hit an estimated 100 million by 2030. Of course, linear TV homes would be fewer at 140 million.

Even ahead of this, television revenues tion advertising and distributed should bounce back this year after a fall in 2023. As an industry insider points out, time spent on television was up last year, even if by just 2%. Moreover, pay TV ARPUS (average revenue per user) increased by about 4% to reach ₹274 per month.

To be sure, the medium lost some premium properties to digital. But then, the internet-based and broadband-video market is where the action is. Streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Hotstar have paved the way for on-demand content consumed across devices.

The disruption has compelled even traditional TV companies to move with large investments together with telcos, print publishers and production companies.

Video on-demand (VOD) star YouTube now has 61% of TV's reach across India; in some states-particularly HSM (Hindi speaking market) states like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and north-eastern states - it has a reach similar to or even higher than that of television.