Golden Jubilee Celebration at AIR Dibrugarh - Speech by Deepak Joshi, DDG, Prasar Bharati ,New Delhi.

Change is a never stopping phenomenon ,what ever exists changes that is the law of the nature. Metamorphosis is inevitable. The entity that embraces change evolves with it and keeps growing but the one that declines to adapt and change gets extinct with time.We have already been witness to the extinction of various products and operational processes. Disruption leading to new formation is the new accepted norm of the recent times.Mid way survival depends on adapting to the happening changes, reinvent self and sustain before total demolition by disruption takes place.Like any thing else traditional broadcasting too is on the cross roads to choose next course of action for its survival.Going digital is no more a choice or an option.It is inevitable.This has given rise to various other models of broadcasting.Salient one being Fixed vs Mobile at reception end,multiple individual screens vs single screen too at the reception end,,Rf based vs data format based on transmission side,Linear vs non linear on the format side.Two thing are very clear, Video is not going any where rather it is going every where.Like wise Audio is still going to rule the roost as the most flexible and powerful medium.One thing is now certain that the delivery medium are going to evolve and migrate into newer unchartered territories.Plethora of delivery medium formats will change the dynamics of viewing and listening.Push format and Linear media Viewing cum listening is going to take back seat though continue in parallel and evolving albeit with reduction in its share of the total broadcast time chunk .

The older sibling among the broadcastings Audio and Radio still is the most potent medium of communication. The most popular medium is still the time tested FM Radio which rules the roost supplemented by other strategic modes as MW and SW AM Radio.FM has hardly been able to cover about less than fifty percent of our landscape and population and is still on a expansion spree.With the buying power of Indian Diaspora increasing and number of sales of Four wheeler going up the demand for FM Radio programming is pushing up and coming from all ,the mofussil and sundry towns and villages where the four wheelers ply.A congestion in spectrum is being faced at most of the places hence a need to opt for Digital radio programme delivery is being felt.Expansion of FM transmission setup is going to continue till Analogue Close down date is decided by the policy makers.As on the date of this article being written TRAI has also come out with a consultation paper in regards to Digital Radio broadcasting.Digital transmitters are coming in a big way and they will lead to development of a eco system to gradually phase out the FM transmitters.Further it is in line with the international mandate to switch over to Digital radio completely.Policy decision from the Government will be the main game changer.

TV broadcast continues to be the main source of supply of Video programmes. It started with the Analogue terrestrial transmission but was gradually left behind overtaken by the satellite delivery mode.Both have been running in parallel ,the previous one being the monopoly of state broadcaster Doordarshan and patronised by the state. Satellite TV broadcasting has grown leaps and bound and left the analogue terrestrial mode of video delivery far behind.Digitisation here too have improved the delivery mechanism raising the levels to HD TV and 4k TV formats with increasing the capacity of delivering transponders.

With the terrestrial transmission going digital in both Radio and Video delivery it has increased the capacities and capabilities of the systems tremendously.Challenges ahead are to develop the ecosystem of receivers and use this capability cum capacity to its fullest maximum.Innovation in packaging the program along with having a interspersed stream of Value adding data stream is of paramount importance.

Radio and Video dissemination however now finds itself in a newer avatar with digitisation and packaged in data format.Audio and Video now being available as data through streaming on OTT and AOD platforms is the new adaptation that poses a challenge ,leading to risk of replacing the traditional audio and video delivery mediums.The aggressive strategy being pursued by the telecom operators to fuel the data demand has flared up the consumption of audio and video through these non conventional medium. A new phenomenon being observed is the thought process I want ,what I want, when and where I want it.Need of the hour is that the desired program should be made available to the listeners and viewers through every available sustainable mode.Catch Radio is going to be the new mechanism of fancy for radio enthusiasts and similar for the Video consumers. This will facilitate the concept of I want ,what I want, when and where I want it.Availability can be ensured by Radio broadcasters through live streaming and then podcast.Video programs can be made available through live streaming and the OTT platforms.Challenge is to make the listeners and viewers aware of this luxury available to them and where can they get the programs of their choice.

Lot has been discussed and written about how the newest entrant the social media is threatening the conventional mediums like Print,Radio and Video.The time tested management theory of evolving a win-win situation for all will only come to the rescue of the existing mediums.The social media should not be treated as a threat or a competitor rather it should be treated as a partner.It should be utilised in improving the awareness and visibility of the program to be delivered whether Radio or TV. It can in real time address our listeners and viewers to let them know what we are serving,when we are serving how we are serving and where we are serving. It also provides an alternate medium to serve listeners and viewers through the platforms available integrated on social media like FB live or periscope on Twitter.The social media like Twitter and Facebook can help the broadcasters in identifying their target audience and implement precision delivery of content in catch format or linear one like a laser guided missile.

How ever audio and video in data format can never totally and fully replace the conventional radio and TV broadcast through airwaves and satellite.When ever any disaster strikes only time tested terrestrial network of broadcasting provides the required succour.So audio and video streaming and its linear/nonlinear dissemination will coexist with conventional linear broadcast FM/TV in Analogue or Digital mode.They will however struggle for their economic survival.All the challenges and opportunities as they exist for the radio as the elder sibling among the broadcast medium coexist for the Video and television with much more intricacies and complexities.Catch TV again is catching fancy of the viewers.Single screen vs multiple screens delivery is a a paradox to be addressed.With the life expectancy increasing and world population still growing ratio of youths and the grown up has become a complex dynamic entity.Youth and older generations have their own different typical viewer choices.Older generations still enjoy community viewing amid their family on a single screen where as the youngsters are drifting towards their own space,their own exclusive compacts screen in the form of their tablets,mobile phones and Desktop computers.Availability of the video both through RF medium and in data form is adding fuel to this growing chasm. Never the less both the viewer preferences are from the same demographic mix of old and young, posing challenges for broadcasters to package their products accordingly and deliver to the designated viewers.

First and the foremost,the Hallowed concept of stating “CONTENT IS THE KING” has to be shattered.The viewer and the listener has to be given the status of KING. A new phrase could be coined which should be “CONTENT IS THE QUEEN”.Also needed is the broadcaster’s realisation that the content is a special product. Once broadcasters comes to the terms with the idea of content as product and as delicate cum important and special as a queen,all out efforts be made to PAMPER the queen and embellish it so that it is liked and desired by the listeners and viewers. Then look at the way any other consumer products are launched and their life cycle.A robust and strong marketing cum sales team has to take up the cudgel and drive the consumption of the programmes produced.Marketing has to be assisted by social media in real time .Once the content realisation dawns in brainstorming and reformatting the content as per the requirement of different devices,different places of viewing and listening and different habits has to be factored in.Complete news bulletins to be split into just a minute long clip.Generic news be further split and segmented in different topics like sport oriented,Finance oriented,Weather forecast oriented.News of different duration to suit the need of viewer as per the leisure time ,device and location be customised and pushed in data format.The viewer and listeners be gently nudged,ingratiated and enticed through social media followup in real time to view and listen the programs.Popular programs like chitrahar and rangoli or others in that format which are music based can be split in single song slices and pushed through OTT medium.Popular serials may be sliced into programs of different durations .Revised strategies of monetising programs available in different format may be worked out by the marketing teams as per the medium through which served to listeners and viewers.

Broadcasting has outgrown it self and converged with communication. Network aggregators of various hues have started distribution of programs through new delivery mechanisms like OTT on CDN network or Direct to home through satellite transponders. Further Digital terrestrial transmitters are ready for roll out and add fuel to the fire of the competition in delivery mechanisms. Conventional broadcasters are a confused lot amid what is their forte production of quality content or delivery of outsourced content. No fix elixir recipe exists. A judicious mix to have its own uniqueness offering unique programs for viewing and listening which pleases all the sensory receptors of the human kind will give out the solution. Innovate and survive is the only guru mantra.After all the consumers of the programs are humans looking for entertainment and infotainment .a step higher and above the basic instincts on the pyramid of needs after the hunger and other basic instincts are satiated.

Paradigm shift will be required in the way broadcasting is being conventionally done in the past decades.Path breaker will be extensive usage of Artificial intelligence technology and data analytics.Artificial intelligence mechanism to know the choice of viewers and listeners will assist in knowing their programme liking better and satisfying their specific programme needs more efficiently.Data analytics will help in getting the automated factual correct feed back about the programmes played and services offered to the viewers and listener.This will assist in knowing the mood of viewers and listeners and enhance the visibility of these programs being available ,enticing new viewers and listeners.This will help in monetising the broadcasting more effectively.New innovative models of hiring the content and delivery need to be evolved.Entertainment and infotainment is a dynamic entity so who so ever tries to restrict and stifle it with any kind of binding is going to perish.

Policy makers will have to take a call on the role of public service broadcasters (PSB).Profit can not be the motive of PSBs how ever they can not continue to run as a loss making entity for ever.A balanced blend of earning their own operational cost ,augmented by funding by the state to meet the mandate of Public service broadcasting may be the ideal solution.