Reinforcing Its Position as World's Leading Travel Channel.

A Silent Player Signals Big Ambitions in the OTT Space with Partnerships, New Content.

The OTT Content Space Just Got Wider as Niche Player Signals Big Intent

Is Travel Content a Growing OTT Opportunity? Travelxp Certainly Thinks So.

The world’s leading travel channel, Travelxp, has further intensified its OTT Efforts, with the launch of it’s new OTT-centric plan, RED Discover. With this new plan, Travelxp is offering viewers access to it’s 2000+ episode content library through its website, Android, iOS, FireTv, Mi Patchwall and Android TV applications.

The RED Discover Product is designed for travel enthusiasts, content lovers and fans of Travelxp who aspire to see beautiful, well shot and educational travel infotainment and lifestyle shows covering a variety of genres such as Food, Heritage, Culture, Lifestyle, Destinations and Nature. Viewers can now watch some of the most famous travel shows, like Rohan Patoley’s Strictly Street, or Krissann and Benafsha’s The Gypsies, anytime and anywhere through Travelxp’s different applications and VOD Service.

“While RED and RED Plus is for customers who are serious about a travel lifestyle, RED Discover is a product closer to our original core offering - uninterrupted, beautiful travel documentaries and shows that will leave you with wanderlust to travel the entire world. The launch of the RED Product in August 2021 was a pivotal point in Travelxp’s transformation to a digital first company, and we intend to strengthen the distribution of our digital platforms through B2C and B2B2C Partnerships in the coming years,” Tanay Chothani, CEO, Travelxp.com added.

On the occasion of 12th anniversary, along with the launch of RED Discover, Travelxp has also announced the launch of 4 new shows for the upcoming quarter, and intends to produce 10- 12 new shows by the end of this year, doubling the production done over the last year. “The pandemic was very difficult for us in terms of content creation, since travel was shut down. Restrictions meant destinations and experiences lost their flavour and essence. But with covid being past us, we are confident of creating and delivering the content that our users have known to love us for, and we are confident of creating more content this year than in any year before,” Tanay added. The first of these shows, Timeless Tamil Nadu, directed by National Award Winning director, Kamakhaya Narayan Singh and created in collaboration with Tamil Nadu Tourism, will be coming out in Mid February, followed by the shows on Mauritius, Morocco and Mexico.

OTTs have been a big theme post pandemic, as covid accelerated the transition from traditional cable tv and D2H and offered viewers an opportunity for VOD and Streaming. While the big players, like Hotstar, SonyLiv and Netflix are cementing their place in the Indian OTT space, new, promising players like Travelxp are keen to establish and cater to niche segments of the Indian video-consuming audience and bring the same variety of content quality to online viewers like in the traditional TV Space.

CEO of YouTube Susan Wojcicki announced her decision to step down from her role after nine years to focus on her family, health, and personal projects. Indian-American Neal Mohan will take command of the company after Wojcicki.

Mohan joined Google nearly 15 years ago as part of the former’s acquisition of DoubleClick in 2007. After working as SVP of Display and Video Ads, he was elevated as the Chief Product Officer of YouTube in 2015 and since then he has been overseeing the company’s product and UX teams.He also led the launch of YouTube TV, YouTube Music and Premium and Shorts along with leading YouTube’s Trust and Safety team.

When I joined YouTube nine years ago, one of my first priorities was bringing in an incredible leadership team. Neal Mohan was one of those leaders, and he’ll be the SVP and new head of YouTube. I’ve spent nearly 15 years of my career working with Neal, first when he came over to Google with the DoubleClick acquisition in 2007 and as his role grew to become SVP of Display and Video Ads. He became YouTube’s Chief Product Officer in 2015. Since then, he has set up a top-notch product and UX team, played pivotal roles in the launch of some of our biggest products, including YouTube TV, YouTube Music and Premium and Shorts, and has led our Trust and Safety team, ensuring that YouTube lives up to its responsibility as a global platform. He has a wonderful sense for our product, our business, our creator and user communities, and our employees. Neal will be a terrific leader for YouTube.said Wojcicki in an internal note to YouTube employees.

Mohan thanked Wojcicki and said, “It’s been amazing to work with you (Wojcicki) over the years. You’ve built YouTube into an extraordinary home for creators and viewers. I’m excited to continue this awesome and important mission. Looking forward to what lies ahead…”

#GameOver results in Chetan Sharma’s resignation from post of BCCI Chairman

Zee News, one of the leading and most trusted news channels in India, revealed the Dark Secrets of selection process of the India’s cricket team. Chetan Sharma, Chief Selector for The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), made some shocking revelations about the Indian cricket team and the BCCI via GAME OVER exclusive story, which aired in 9 different languages on 14th February 2023 across Zee Media network.

Chetan Sharma allegedly spoke about the rift between the star players – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Additionally, he disclosed the truth about how certain types of injections (which are not detectable in a doping test) are used by cricketers to attain full fitness. #Gameover has been one of the top trending keywords for Zee Media’s Story on Twitter. The biggest cricket story revelation also resulted in Chetan Sharma resigning from the post of Chairman Indian Cricket Team.

Commenting on the big story revelation, Rajnish Ahuja, Editor, Zee News, said, “Viewers and cricket enthusiasts need to know the true picture, to help them differentiate behind the right and the wrongdoings of the society. The media fraternity needs to highlight public stories on regular basis.”

“Zee News has played a huge role in shaping the minds and hearts of our viewers and our country. As a pioneer in the news network, we strongly believe in revealing stories that are not only of public interest but can result in far-fetched social impact. The Big Story on the cricket fraternity has encouraged netizens to understand the truth of the cricket fraternity, ensuring impactful content consumption, and is a great case study capturing the data on the attention span of viewers spread across the country,” added Abhay Ojha ,CBO, Zee Media Corporation Limited.

The shocking details revealed in a sting operation and clips of it going viral on social media will highly encourage the world cricket fraternity to pay extra attention and take strict action against any such drug consumption.

The global organization’s highest honor recognizes individuals and institutions who have made outstanding contributions to typography.

The Type Directors Club, the world’s leading typography organization, announced Jan Middendorp as the latest recipient of its highest honor, the prestigious TDC Medal. The formal presentation will be made at ATypl Paris 2023, taking place in May.

First awarded to Hermann Zapf in 1967, the TDC Medal recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of typography. The honor represents TDC’s collective gratitude to those who, by their work and talent, have demonstrated the value of typography in communication, community, and culture. The list of past TDC Medalists can be viewed Here.

Middendorp is a widely-acclaimed author, researcher and designer based in Berlin whose body of work include writing and editing numerous well-known books and articles about typography, design and the performing arts. He’s also designed printed matter for publishers and non-profit organizations, and worked as a consultant and editor to the type world.

“I’m in a state of amazement, as well as proud, with this incredible honor,” Middendorp said. “Limitless thanks to the TDC."

Born in the Netherlands, Middendorp spent much of his early professional life in Belgium before relocating to Berlin. In the 1980s, he was a critic of the arts, covering theater, dance, video and media art, and later specialized in graphic design and typography. Among his influential books are Dutch Type, Made with FontFont with Erik Spiekermann, Hand to Type and Shaping Text.

Middendorp has been a long-time collaborator to design magazines such as Eye, Typo, Items and others, and worked as an editor and consultant for typographic companies including FontShop, LucasFonts and Linotype. He spent nine years as a writer and consultant to MyFonts, where he edited the popular interview newsletter Creative Characters.

In addition, he co-curated exhibitions held in Dubai, London, The Hague, Berlin, New York, Beijing, Shanghai and other locations. He recently worked as a book designer and typesetter for Repeater Books in London, founded the informal type company Fust & Friends in Berlin, and spent most of 2018 producing the long-awaited reprint of his Dutch Type.

“Jan Middendorp’s writing is unique in its precision and approachability, bringing typography down to a human-interest level without diminishing it. Shaping Text is the definitive textbook for anyone interested in the subject,” said Ksenya Samarskaya, managing director, TDC. “In his nearly three-decades writing about type and type designers, his impact shaped the culture and community of the typographic scene on both sides of the North Atlantic.“

Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2023

· In 2022, Digital overtook TV to become the largest medium with a 38% Share

· In 2022, Traditional Adex grew by 14%; Digital Adex by 35%

· Over the last two years, Digital Adex has doubled in size from Rs. 16,974 crores to Rs. 34,405 crores

· OOH has registered a 68% increase and crossed 2019 levels and contributes 4% to Adex

· In 2023, India Adex is expected to grow by 16% vs Global Adex is expected to grow by 3%

Madison Media is back with its predictions for the advertising industry for 2023. Mr. Bharat Puri, Managing Director, Pidilite Industries Limited who was the Chief Guest at the event and launched the Report said, “Limited who was the Chief Guest at the event and launched the Report said, “Experiment, innovate, know your consumer and don’t be afraid of failure”. He said, “Whilst chasing impressions, don’t forget to make an impression!”

The Highlights of the Report were released to a large Audience this afternoon by Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison World. According to Madison Media, Adex has grown by 21% in 2022 to reach Rs. 89,803 crores. Adex is expected to grow further in 2023 by 16% and will cross the landmark Rs. 1 lakh crore number to settle at Rs. 1,04,230 crores. In 2022, Digital grew by 35% to become the largest medium in Adex with a 38% share, compared to TV’s 34%. TV grew by a modest 9% vs our projection of 14%.

A. Overall:

1) In 2022 total Adex grew by 21%, Traditional Adex by 14% and Digital Adex by as much as 35%.

2) Compared to Indian Adex growth rate of 21%, Global Adex, according to WARC grew by just 8% in 2022. The Top 11 countries that account for 70% of Global Adex grew by only 1%.

3) In absolute terms, Adex has grown from Rs. 74,231 crore to Rs. 89,803 crore and this is the second highest gain of the last two decades.

4) Traditional Adex dominates Indian Adex with a 62% share, whereas in Global Adex the figure is 32%. With a growth of 14% in 2022, Traditional Media at Rs. 55,399 crore, has just crossed its 2019 figure of Rs. 52,136 crore.

5) Digital Adex is now the largest medium with a share of 38%, followed by TV with a share of 34%.

6) The Audio Visual medium contributes to 45.6% of total Adex. Linear TV at Rs. 30,662 crores and Digital Video at Rs. 10,314 crores, totalling to Rs. 40,976 crores.

7) FMCG continues to be the largest category, but its share has moved down from 38% in 2020 to 32% in 2022.

8) Ecommerce has now established itself as the 2nd biggest category of Adex, growing in Share from 4.9% in 2019 to 14% in 2022.

9) The Top 5 Advertisers in Adex are HUL, Reckitt, RIL, Dream11 and Mondelez. There are only 11 Start-Ups in the Top 50 Advertisers List vs 15 last year, confirming that VC money is drying up.

B. Digital

1) Digital grew by 35% in 2022, on top of a 50% increase in 2021, to reach Rs. 34,405 crore and has emerged the largest medium in Adex with a 38% share, overtaking TV.

2) A 10-year review shows that Digital has grown from a mere Rs. 3,050 crores with a 9% share, to Rs. 34,405 crores with a 38% share today.

3) Inspite of all this growth, Digital Adex in India trails behind Global Adex. Digital share in Global Adex is 68%.

4) Video, Social, Display, Ecommerce and Search drive Digital Adex. Digital Video continues to dominate Digital Adex and having grown by 40%, has further improved its Share from 29% to 30%.

5) Social grew the most at 45% and increased its Share from 20% to 22%. Display has grown more modestly at 19% and has lost 3 percentage Share points from 19% to 16%. Search has grown by 32%, but is only 16% of the market.

6) Ecommerce has registered a 35% growth and now has a share of 16% of Digital Adex. Whilst Google and Facebook account for the lion’s share of Digital ADEX, Amazon and Flipkart account for almost 80% of Ecommerce spends.

7) Digital is going to continue to fuel growth of Adex in 2023. It is expected to grow by 25% to reach Rs. 43,036 crore and increase its share to 41% of Adex.

C. Television

1) TV registered a modest growth of 9%, against our forecast of 14% to reach Rs. 30,662 crore.

2) In 2022, for the first time we see signs of stress in Linear TV and its Share has come down from a high of 42% in 2020 and 38% in 2021 to a new low of 34%. With increasing spends in Digital, TV has now moved down to number 2 position in the Indian Adex.

3) TV has also seen a 8% decline in viewership over the last year, and a 13% drop compared to pre-Covid year 2019.

4) TV has seen a marginal drop in Advertisers from almost 11,000 in 2021 to less than 10,500 in 2022.

5) FMCG continues to be the largest contributor to TV Adex with a share of 45%. Ecommerce, the 2nd largest contributor to TV Adex, further increased its share from 18% to 20%, followed by Auto which has maintained its share at 5%. Education has dropped its share from 6% to 4%.

6) In terms of Genres, Hindi GEC 2 has registered the highest growth of 47% followed by Sports at 22%. News, witnessed a degrowth during last year. Among the regional satellite channels, Tamil continues to rule the roost, followed by Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada and Malayalam in that order.

7) TV Adex is expected to grow by 9% in 2023 to reach Rs. 33,522 crore.

8) FMCG, the largest category of TV Market, is likely to substantially increase its Advertising budgets, instead of reducing consumer prices because of lowering of raw material inflation.

D. Print

1) Print Adex grew last year by 11% to reach Rs. 18,470 crores, a little short of its pre-covid figure.

2) Both Volume and Value in Print have gone up by 15% and 11% respectively.

3) H2 performed well for Print and 58% of its Adex came from H2 vs only 46% in pre-Covid year 2019.

4) In terms of category contribution, although, Education de-grew marginally, it has emerged as the largest category in Print overtaking FMCG, which grew by as much as 8%. Two other large categories, Clothing, Fashion & Jewellery and Household Durables grew substantially by over 50%.

5) In terms of languages, Hindi Publications continue to dominate, followed by English and Marathi, the latter two having grown by 19% over 2021.

6) We expect Print Adex to grow at 9% in 2023, to reach Rs. 20,133 crore and reach pre Covid levels.

With this growth, its Share will be 19%, compared to Global Adex where it is a mere 4%.

E. Other Media

1) OOH Adex has registered a high growth of 68% on the back of a growth of 69% the previous year, taking the industry to Rs. 3,666 crore and surpass its pre Covid level.

2) Digital OOH continued to be the growth driver with its big bright, colorful and moving displays.

3) Radio Adex has grown by 17% to reach Rs. 2,032 crore, but it is still at 90% of its pre Covid level. Its Share in total Adex is at 2%.

4) Real Estate has emerged as the largest category in both OOH and Radio, pipping FMCG.

5) Although Cinema grew by 317%, it has reached only the half way mark of its pre Covid number of Rs. 568 crore. But with new movies coming up, we expect Cinema to grow by 75% this year and reach Rs. 995 crore, almost upto its pre pandemic level.

Sharing the highlights of the Report, Mr. Sam Balsara, Chairman – Madison World said, “Indian Adex is the bright spot in a relatively dull and uncertain global environment. Our Adex has grown by leaps and bounds in the last 3 years marked by Covid and the War, except in 2020. However, media habits of Indians are rapidly changing and this is reflected in our Adex numbers and commentary. Advertisers who ignore these changes will do so at their own peril.”