Television.. We love to watch it and also we all are so curious to know about the on screen people and the life beyond. This is the industry which never stops operating and the content is shown 24*7. So it is very tedious to be working with the tv channel. Beyond the glamour aspect of this industry, you would like to know how does these tv channels make monies? Before that let us start from scratch to what does it sells? The tv channel sells the value to the clients and this value is sold the basis the veiwership it gets on content that it airs.
What is the content and how it is made?
Content is the tv shows that we see. A production house(like balaji, sagar prod., endemol) makes the content and then it sells the content to the channel and channel airs the content and earn through the advertising space it sells between it. There is a science behind making the content. To understand the science let us first understand the TV viewing audience, we have two types of audience group- HSM and ESM, hindi speaking market and english speaking market respectively. India being more HSM, the hindi GEC(general entertainment channel like star plus, life ok, zee tv) delivers more numbers when compared ro any English channel or any niche channel. The content on English channel is mostly bought from the foreign production houses and is just aired on the domestic english channel. Example zee cafe bought friends season 5 from the production house to air it for two years repeat in say Rs. XXX, and hence the channel will air it for two years and make profit by selling the advertising space. On the contrary, the content on Hindi channel is made either by the channel or it is bought from the production houses like balaji etc and the content is made by the coordination of the production department of the channel and the creative time of production house.
Types of Content?
Now that we have understood about the types of indian tv audience, there is two types of content : Regular shows and Impact shows. Regular shows are those which are aired on regular basis and have no defined pre decided end. They are made basis the creative department of the channel and production house. The story varies basis the ratings it deliver every week. These are mostly the fiction shows like sasural simar ka on zee tv and diya aur bhati hum on star plus. On the contrary, impact shows are shows which have a defined episodes like big boss, indias singing superstar which have a defined end.
What is ratings and how is it calculated?
TVR(television veiwership in ratings) is the percentage of the people watching a particular show at a particular time period from the total tv viewing audience. TVR is calculated from TVT(television veiwership in thousands), tvt is basically a number given by TAM(total addressable market).
What is TAM?
TAM is a software that gives the ratings. The TAM basically operates on the sampling method. The TAM people have installed the receptors across india in the various houses with varied type of the audience watching the TV. For an example, a house has a peoplemeter installed and a kid of 15 years switches on the TV and watches cartoon network. The People meter will deliver this to the receptor and hence will result in the overall ratings of the cartoon network in its T.G. The people meter are so densely installed that the samples are approximately accurate.
A day in a TV channel in sales profile:-
Well as a sales executive in a TV channel, there is so much of the stress and yes you need to be friends with stress if you got to survive, as the revenue generating department you need to be very sound. From the weekly ratings of your channel to the ratings of the competitors you need to be totally aware. Your day just starts by reading afaqs, what is the indian media upto, who is joining where , which show is performing good, any latest innovation etc. because when you go for meetings, the media agency people and your clients just discuss whats happening around and your knowledge about the industry and beyond can only hold the conversation for long, as this industry only works on your relations. You need to be sound about the target audience of your various clients, there spending pattern, months when they are active etc. this all information comes when you meet the clients and agency people on the regular basis. Yes you need to manage your meetings because a campign missed by you will get you in trouble. This is the harsh industry which listens to no one and hence needs even the impossible of work in place. I will not be politically correct, there is lot of internal politics, a hell lot compared to any other industry and you just need to survive the way out. People management is the most difficult and highly important thing which one needs to grow in this industry. There is a lot of politics and stress yet its addictive. The world of media and entertainment is hard place to be and also a hard place to leave.
Media- The most Growing and lustrous industry to be in:-
As a fresher when you go out looking for the job and I am sure most of you tend to fit in the space anywhere basis the package you are offered and not the exposure that you would get. Media is the place where the learning and monies both walk hand in hand. Being the mode of entertainment, Television channels make good revenues and they do not mind paying well too for the quality resource. Above all the media agencies handle the multiple clients so they need to walk in the clients shoes to deliver the media plans. Hence it’s a great learning as a brand consultant as one has a great role in the marketing decisions. Plus as a fresher when you get to do lot of the analysis, ground work, brain storming sessions, get to meet some senior people at corporates. It definitely gives you a higher exposure for a leap in your career.
Contributed by Rahul Wadhwa, (Class of 2013, IBS GURGAON)