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Past Will Lie Heavy On Future

When Messenger Is News 


In media industry, the present will pass; but the past is likely to lay heavy on the future. While some publications have announced closure – mostly “temporary” – many have announced pay cuts (“temporary”) and some, even job cuts.

A message went viral on Sunday; that a certain Hindi news channel has fired its “entire Digital English team (15ppl)… without any prior notice… they just got an email on Friday evening. They are just paying one month’s basic salary and nothing else”.

The three-para message was shared by others over various social media platforms. People started asking those in-the-know for details… and re-shared the incident with their “followers and friends”.

Soon there followed other messages … National, regional, vernacular... Whether a "big house" or not-so-big-house... salary-cut, job-cut, leave-without-pay… most tightening their belts any which way during the lockdown.

Those sacked were also part of the profession which is said to create “the first rough draft of history”. Those who will continue to write that draft, their hands are tied; those who lead unions and associations, their hands are tied.

The going may be worse for the “invisible” workforce in journalism – the technical staff, the support staff – they are likely to bear the brunt of the “bad times”. With revenue sources dry, their bosses’ hands are also tied…

Misbaah Mansuri of exchange4media writes, “The coronavirus pandemic is causing tectonic shifts in businesses with each passing day. Revenue losses and a pause in clients’ advertising spends as sales plummet, are all making the going tougher for ad agencies.

As agencies navigate the turbulent times ahead, many have opted for layoffs to offset the revenue losses...”

The same article quotes a new survey from Fishbowl, “a clear majority (65.4%) of ad industry professionals believe the COVID-19 crisis will lead to layoffs at their agency…” So, the hand that largely feeds the media industry is itself facing layoffs!

It later mentions the Publicis Groupe, said to be the world's third largest communication firm with 80,000 employees, “in its official statement also stated that the company was “rigorously managing operating costs, including the postponement of some expenses in order to get through the current situation”.”

Incidentally it was a Senior Adviser to the Publicis Groupe, Rishad Tobaccowala, who once famously said: “The future does not fit in the containers of the past.” True that, again!

In another e4m report, Simran Sabherwal writes: ”Zapr, a media-tech startup, has released its latest report, ‘TV viewership in India –Week 14 (week-ending 10th April)”, that analyses the impact that the lockdown - in its third week – on account of the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Indian TV audience.

The quoted report paints the picture vividly. “With no major government announcement, news genre reach continues to decline further. Speculations around the announcement on the future of lockdown are expected to change the current trend in Week 15… 2.6% drop in reach with a marginal change in TSV (time spent by viewer), finally halts the surge of 5-week long viewership growth… reach across metros has seen a decline for the first time in the last few weeks…”

Then adding: “English News genre continues to dip in overall reach”. The genre never really attracted advertisers’ generosity much…

Early this month, an agency report quoted Uday Shankar, the chairman of Star and Disney India, that advertising spends will be impacted "severely" in April and May, and the next few months will be "troubling" for media outlets dependent on it as a revenue stream.

The lockdown to control the CoronavirusCovid-19 pandemic has “chilled virtually all economic activity, and led to massive aid packages being announced”.

However, Shankar was also quoted as pointing out that print and radio industry depend the most on advertising revenues for sustenance, while television and streaming companies also have significant reliance on this revenue stream.

Thus, the future will determine the fate of the messengers of the present… 



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