The Secret Face of the Indian Telecom-Television Partnership
Aditya Rao
It’s been staring you in the face everyday and yet you don’t know what it does. One of the most overlooked facets of the Indian telecom market is the amount of money cell phone agencies, operators and companies make of the short messaging service (SMS).Even more astounding is the way TV channels and telecom operators work together to generate amazing amounts of revenue through the SMS…..alone.
TV channels have always relied on a system of cricket, soap operas and films to make money in that area. Money was and continues to pour in through advertisements and careful branding and association.
However the last 3 years has seen an amazing new trend in the Indian television market. That of the reality show.
Indian IdolMost reality shows outside the sub continent have focused on the lives of rich and pseudo celebrities like Big Brother in the UK and The Simple Life in the US. But all that changed drastically with the blockbuster smash hit American Idol.
The concept of having a bunch of singers performing on a stage in front of people from the showbiz industry christened judges brought in the element of direct interaction with the viewer. The viewer had the option of controlling the fate of the contestant by voting for him via SMS on his or her mobile.
Though in India that concept has been overblown and overplayed.90% of reality shows of any kind, be it about singing or comedy involves the viewer voting for his participant in order to make him win. An amazing amount of revenue is generated this way and split between the TV channel and the telecom service providers.
The best example of this was seen in the month of September when the finals of Indian Idol took place. One contestant from the North East and another a little closer brought the entire area together and set the records tumbling in for Sony. The final week of the show saw Sony make about 25 crores from SMS revenue alone. Twenty Five Crore rupees were made in a week.
TV channels want to take advantage of the near 23 Crore mobile phone owners in India. If a channel can take advantage of even a small fraction of that demographic then it can generate an amazing amount of money.
It’s not only the Hindi entertainment channel that uses this aspect of the market but also popular English news channels like NDTV and CNN-IBN. Primetime programs like ‘India 60 minutes’ and ‘Face The Nation’ run entirely on the concept of polls. A frivolous question that features a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer with the result being decided by the viewer leads to astounding sums of money being generated in a mere half an hour. The rest of course coming in from advertising revenue.
SMS ScamsThere are however some channels that exploit this feature better than anyone else. India’s Play TV relies on its primary SMS revenue over advertising. The viewer is tempted into voting on anything from a poll to a contest with a prize of some sort being offered. A low cost green screen and a constant supply of anchors have made the channel quite rich while keeping costs low all the while.
In no way is this concept a crime, just the fine print the viewer fails to notice.