Today, OTT has emerged as a powerful platform and definitely changed the way India views entertainment. People have turned to OTT, especially during the pandemic’s last two years. But a new report has revealed that Television viewership still excels over OTT platforms.
Broadband India Forum (BIF) and Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS International) have today released a report. They have conducted a nationwide survey on over 10,000 TV consumers to determine consumer perception with respect to the choice enjoyed for TV channel selection and overall satisfaction.
These 10,000 TV consumers are spread over diverse age, income, location and gender groups. The report sheds some interesting findings about the relevance of TV even in today’s day and age when digital/OTT media and apps are booming rapidly.
Key findings of the Study Report
The report reveals that TV is still the most preferred mode of video content consumption for people. 70% of the consumers felt that television offers a value-for-money proposition, as compared to 27% in the case of digital/OTT platforms and barely 3% in the case of TV apps.
Today 54% of consumers surveyed avail of TV channels via bouquets/packages. The consumer has complete freedom to choose between bouquet and A-Ia-carte options. Most broadcasters have bundled their channels into various bouquets and have largely priced them cheaper compared with the a-la-carte pricing. So the majority of the consumers prefer TV channels via bouquets.
Even though consumers prefer bouquets, the report says that they want more from their subscription packs. 40% of consumers feel their subscriptions cater to the viewing needs of the entire family. Several consumers want to watch other and new channels that they think they may like.
One thing is the most important factor in choosing TV package subscription for many consumers and that is price. Most consumers are subscribed to the basic package offered by the distributors which provides between 100-200 channels. The average charges paid by the consumers are between INR 200 and INR 400 for their subscriptions, on a monthly basis.
Further, several consumers (31%) say that they were unaware of the possibility of how to select (or delete) channels in the subscription packages. The report says that 51% are not inclined towards adding/removing channels themselves. Only 43% were comfortable in adding or removing TV channels. A majority of consumers which is around 60% still require help from distributors and rely on the manual process of adding or removing channels.
In addition, the report says that there is a lack of awareness of TRAI’s channel selector App among the consumers. Around 75% of consumers are unaware of the app which was launched by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in June 2020. The app is available on Google Play Store for Android users and on the Apple App Store for iPhone users.
The channel selector app facilitates consumers to view their TV subscription and choose the channels of their interest while removing the unwanted ones. But since most consumers are unaware of this app, they depend on their respective DTH/Cable Operators for adding/removing channels.
Another finding by the report says that consumers want better quality of service (QoS). TRAI introduced QoS Regulations in 2017. As per which, distributors must follow to ensure a standard quality of service to all consumers. Among other things, it includes mandates for timely redressal of grievances, detailed break-up of monthly bills, technological standards for Set-Top-Boxes and timely installation and repair of Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). However, consumers believe that there is scope for improvement on these parameters.
1 in 5 consumers thinks of a decline in grievance redressal, assistance with Set Top Boxes (STBs), freedom to choose channels they want to watch, and an increase in number of advertisements. In fact, 3 out of 10 consumers claim to have never received an itemised bill.