Chrome: News channels to gain, GECs lose from TRAI's regulation about carriage fees

The calculations were done by the new tool launched by the analytics company earlier this month, which indicates the changes in the subscription revenues

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | December 2, 2016

An analysis by the latest tool launched by Chrome Data Analytics, called Chrome Rate Impact Calculator (CRIC), shows that the top news channels are set to gain from the latest regulation released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) about carriage fees and other topics.

The regulation had suggested that the carriage fee be capped at 20 paisa per channel, per month, per subscriber, which will go on decreasing with an increase in subscriber base till it reaches 20 per cent of the total subscriber base of the distribution platform, after which the carriage fee will not be levied on the broadcaster.

The first observation of CRIC has indicated that while news channels are gainers, the GECs will be losing a lot of subscription revenues in the three markets Delhi, UP (10-75 lakh) and UP (below 10 lakh). Some of the interesting trends relating to the subscription revenues also point at the decreased opportunity to see (OTS) of the channels, if the regulation is implemented.

CRIC was launched in October by the primary research and data analytics company for broadcasters and distribution service providers to analyse the impact of TRAI's latest recommendation at a market, network and channel level vis-à-vis the broadcaster's current deals.

Top news channels are one of the biggest gainers from TRAI recommendations as carriage amount becomes nil because of the potential subscriber off-take being more than 20 per cent of the subscriber base. So, prior to the TRAI regulation, the net subscription revenues of the leading news channels were about Rs 44.66 million for Delhi region, while after the TRAI regulation, this amount rose to Rs 93.32 million.

Pankaj Krishna

Pankaj Krishna, Founder, Chrome Data Analytics and Media, said, "The first set of data that has been pulled out on the basis of CRIC, reflects a major impact across leading channels. Post the implementation of TRAI's latest recommendation, now that the viewer has more control over the content he wants to watch, there has been a drop in revenues earned by leading GECs which is expected to continue for some time."

A few leading GEC channels in Delhi and UP (10-75 lakh and below 10 lakh) have seen a decline in the net subscription revenue earned because of a drop in the 'potential subscribers offtake' as well as the OTS for the respective channels.

For the record, Chrome Data Analytics and Media, being a central industry body, with over 450 broadcasters availing its 'distribution audit services', aims to simplify the understanding of the impact of the TRAI recommendations on the net revenue earned by broadcasters.

With the new tool 'CRIC', the broadcasters will be able to access the potential subscription revenue, potential subscriber off take and projected carriage fee payable. These details will be known as split between the channel and the multi system operators (MSO).

It will also help the broadcasters in getting the CPS variance, current vis-à-vis the new price recommendation.

Designed to interpret TRAI's recent tariff order, the calculator uses Chrome DM's proprietary tools to layer the network-wise/ channel-wise viewership and project the off-take of channels at a household level.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com