Is the Indian media in its worst-ever phase of layoffs & shutdowns?
Apart from journalists being laid off in large numbers, several media houses have shut operations in smaller bureaus; increments too have been nil or minimal, say insiders
In the wake of what looks like a financial slowdown, newsrooms across media houses have been seeing layoffs and downsizing. Journalists across print, television and digital media are being given the pink slip. Many say this has been the worst phase of job losses in the business of news, ever since the global slowdown hit the Indian economy between 2012 and 2013.
Close to 1,000 journalists across the country have been handed termination notices. According to experts, the English language media has been the worst hit. Almost all leading channels, newspapers and digital news portals have seen buyouts and layoffs in the last three months.
Apart from the layoffs, the industry has also been in a state of gloom because of a number of newspaper editions from leading media houses being forced to shut down, leaving several journalists high and dry.
Sunaiya Saha (name changed on request) is one of them. The journalist, who is in her mid-thirties, was eagerly waiting for her increment letter last week. Curious why most of her colleagues in the organization had received the letter while she hadn’t, Saha contacted the Human Resource department. “The HR person told me that my entire team has been asked to leave. On asking why, she said it was an internal decision and promised me two months of pay after which our services would be terminated,” said Saha.
Saha works for an opinion-based digital platform from a leading media house. Her entire team of eight journalists, including her editor, have been given the pink slip.
This is not an isolated example. Let alone smaller platforms, even leading media houses known for their stability have taken to downsizing. Given the job scenario for journalists at the moment, Saha and her colleagues are now even open to moving out of the industry to make ends meet.
Networks are also shutting down smaller brands and consolidating the bigger ones. Some of the regional channels too have been victims of job cut. A regional channel based in North East India folded up operations in most of its bureaus. A reporter from one of the state bureaus, who was staying away from her husband just to follow her passion for journalism, is suddenly at a loss. While she doesn't want to become just a homemaker in an industrial town in Maharashtra, she says options before her are very few.
According to HR experts, the slowdown has hit the media business like any other industry. “If we look at the auto industry, we will get a clear picture of the economy and how it is headed towards a scary slowdown. While it is incorrect to say the automobile brands have stopped advertising because there is no other way to sell inventory they are definitely finicky about where to spend their money and how much to spend. That said, fall in ad revenues is one major reason why profit margins have squeezed and is leading the media industry into a dark phase,” said Rajneesh Singh, who runs his own HR firm Simply HR Solutions. Singh is also a media industry veteran and was Group Head-HR at TV18 India Limited.
Is the 2019 slowdown worse than the one that hit the media industry in 2012-2013? “Did the slowdown ever actually leave the media business? Not really,” said Singh.
Talking about the attrition pattern, Singh said that while the senior management in most places doesn’t see much of pink slips, those in the lower bracket in terms of CTC are being shown the way out.
“Most media companies are top heavy and overstaffed. A lot of media houses took adventurous decisions in terms of product launches and hired journalists at extremely high packages of anywhere between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 30 lakh and unfortunately it turned out to be an unsustainable model,” said Alok Mehta, a veteran in the Indian Hindi journalism scene who has worked in all major media houses like The Times of India, Hindustan Times and Outlook.
According to Mehta, the government’s focus on regional media and their scaling down of advertisements to the tune of almost 15% in English media, especially print has led to a fall in profits and eventually job cuts.
“In most cases, media houses do not want to compromise on their profit margin. Even if they see a drop in revenues they cut down on expenses to keep the profit intact. When a media house cuts down on revenues the first cost centre for them are journalists who face the raw end of the deal,” said another industry veteran.
But is the trend here to stay? When does the retrenchment come to an end?
“The slowdown in the economy will impact the media industry as much as it is impacting any business. Media houses must run a check on expenditure to cushion the losses they are facing due to the overall economic slowdown. If expenditure is not controlled, then media businesses only have dark days to look forward to,” said Nishi Kant Thakur, former Chief General Manager, printer publisher and Resident Editor at Dainik Jagran.
However, alongside layoffs there is also a hiring freeze across media houses and some like one of the leading financial dailies have also announced that the employees would not be awarded any increments for the year. One other English daily has given increments in the range of 2% and 5%, even to those who have been graded in the top performer's category. Print and TV put together the maximum increments have not exceeded beyond 8%-10%.
“Journalists should look beyond media now,” said Singh who is holding a workshop towards the end of the month on ‘Starting your business-Beyond TV' in an informal alumni meet of former Network 18 colleagues.
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Devraj Sanyal elevated to Chairman and CEO of Universal Music India & South Asia
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MLA Ashish Shelar on ENBA jury panel
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By exchange4media Staff | Feb 27, 2023 2:39 PM | 1 min read
Ashish Shelar, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra, joins the ENBA jury panel.
Shelar is currently serving as the Bhartiya Janata Party Mumbai president. An active sports administrator, he has held several prestigious positions like Vice President of the Mumbai Cricket Association and Vice President of the Rajasthan Sports Club.
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Internet growth declined in India in FY22: TRAI
The Internet subscriber base in FY22 stood at 824.8 million, compared to 825.3 million as on 31 March 2021, says TRAI report
By exchange4media Staff | Feb 24, 2023 8:42 AM | 2 min read
India boasts of having the world's second-largest mobile phone market with more than a billion users. Yet, internet growth in the country appears to have declined over the past year.
According to the latest TRAI annual report, the internet subscriber base, as on 31st March 2022, stood at 824.8 million, compared to 825.3 million as on 31 March 2021.
This means nearly 0.5 million (5 lakh subscribers) have fallen off the internet between 2021-22, a year which was marked by covid-19 pandemic and lockdown resulting in massive job losses.
The degrowth was recorded in both broadband and narrowband segments. The narrowband decline was gradual throughout FY22. But in the case of broadband, March 22 quarter was particularly bad as the number of internet subscribers fell from 792 million to 788.2 million.
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The overall telecom subscriber base registered a decrease of 34.27 million subscribers in this period; from 1201.20 million in FY21 to 1166.93 million in FY22, the TRAI report says.
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Anthony Yesudasan’s last rites to be performed in Delhi today
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Supersonic has always tried to make music & lifestyle accessible to all: Gaurav Mashruwala
Mashruwala, Business Head, Viacom18 LIVE, shared that the music festival has already onboarded multiple partners including Budweiser, Nexa and JBL
By exchange4media Staff | Feb 17, 2023 9:10 AM | 5 min read
Live events business was one of the worst-hit sectors in the media & entertainment industry during Covid. Unlike other sectors of the M&E industry, which recovered and touched pre-Covid levels in terms of revenues in the last two years, organized live events segment could recover only 20% revenues in 2021, as per the FICCI EY 2022 report.
While the category picked up momentum in 2022, 2023 is likely to speed up the segment's growth journey as there are several big live events that will take place this year, Vh1 Supersonic being one of them. The music festival is returning after a gap of three years.
Vh1 Supersonic, which will open on February 24, has already onboarded multiple partners, including Budweiser as the title sponsor, NEXA as co-powered by and JBL as audio partner. Other brands that have partnered with the fest include Jimmy’s Cocktails, MakeMyTrip, Under25, Slim Jim, Gold’s Gym, Impressario and Ajio.
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Mashruwala believes that 2023 will be a good year for the category. However, he shares that players in the space will have to rethink how they're doing their experiences and events. “There will still be a large number of shows and events, but the manner in which they are carried out and the capacity in which they are carried out will have to be reconsidered by each owner of a brand or experiential company.”
Vh1 Supersonic artistes line-up
This year will witness international pop star Anna-Marie, global trend setter TYGA and internet sensation Chukwuka Ekweani, aka CKay, headlining Vh1 Supersonic 2023. These globally recognized artistes will be performing live in Pune along with an amazing line-up of indie artistes.
“It began as an EDM and techno-based festival in terms of music genres, but over time, we realised that music consumption has changed and that people in India are listening to a wide range of music genres. We also began to broaden those genres. In 2020, we transitioned into a multi-genre music festival, and we will continue to do so this year. In addition to EDM and techno, VH1 Supersonic will feature hip hop, reggae, indie and multiple genres of music,” said Mashruwala. He said there has been a growth in terms of the music genres that the festival wants to tap into because that's what the consumer demands today.
Experience
Curating one-of-its-kind experiences, Budweiser Beats is bringing back the Budweiser Beer Garden along with their Techno and House stage; BUDX Spectrum.
Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality will not only have the self-programmed SOCIAL stage with SOCIAL-dedicated bars across the festival but there will be an exciting integration: curation of the Superflea with specially curated experiences and pop-ups by restaurants under the Impresario portfolio such as SOCIAL, Salt Water Café, Slink & Bardot, Boss Burger, Lucknowee, Prithvi Cafe & many more
The Superflea will also feature a few brands that are ‘Friends of Impresario’.
Mashruwala said, “We have seen a shift in consumers wanting to have a great experience. If one is going for a festival for three days with friends, one is obviously looking at not just listening to great music but also looking at having a great time.”
He further added, “Experience at the festival over that three-day period becomes something that we have been curating very carefully to ensure that people who come have a great time.''
Mashruwala shared that they launched Super Street in the 2020 edition with fashion and art experience, and this time they are doing a massive Super Street with Sunday Soul Sante and NRYTA.
While NRYTA will take care of the art portion where they will also be doing an immersive art 3D showcase, Sante is doing the entire fashion piece. Between both of them, they will have more than 100 designers in the fashion and art space who will be showcasing.
Response from partners
Some of the brands that have previously participated with us and been our partners, such as Budweiser and JBL, have all returned, shared Mashruwala.
He added, “In terms of brands, we are seeing new interest from brands who have never tried Supersonic before. So we have Nexa, Ajio, and Jimmy'z Cocktail participating this time. So, overall, I'd say the response from brands has been excellent.”
Ticket price
The festival’s entry ticket for the first day is priced at Rs 999 and the VIP ticket is priced at Rs 1999. For three days, the entry ticket is priced at Rs 4299 and the VIP ticket is priced at Rs 5999. (Prices are different for different days)
He said, “Overall, we have not raised our prices from the last edition. We wanted our fan base to return, and we also recognise that during Covid, people have faced various financial challenges. I believe that the entry ticket price is the most reasonable in this market for any festival of this size.”
He further added, “Supersonic as a festival has always tried to make music and lifestyle accessible to everyone.”
He concluded, “With the inclusion of our new large experiences, we are seeing that that response is only expanding.”
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