Network18’s Avinash Kaul on the importance of ‘conviction’ in the news business

The landscape of news consumption, once dominated by newspapers and Doordarshan, has undergone a transformative shift to bite-sized videos while scrolling through the internet. The consumption as well as the business aspects of news have evolved by leaps and bounds.

Avinash Kaul, CEO - Network18 ( Broadcast ) and MD of A+E Networks spoke to Sreekant Khandekar, co-founder and CEO, afaqs! about the evolution of news in India and its business at the second edition of afaqs! The Future of News Conference.

According to Kaul, the business economics in news depends on where the audiences are, just like any other business. He says that the market size of news in India has grown dramatically over two decades and he is hopeful about the industry.

“When I joined the news business almost twenty years ago, there were 38 million households in India. You have 210 million households today. Every year, 10-12 million TV households are added because of nuclear family fragmentation and other reasons. In the U.S. the average household size is 2.5 people. If the fragmentation of nuclear homes happens, then by default, you will be ending up with at least 600 million homes in India at an average household size of 2.3 people, in the next few years,” he explains.

However, a challenge persists as the number of advertisers has remained stagnant.

“If you look at the count of television advertisers in India, it is roughly 10-12,000 only. Whereas, there might be 5-10 lakh online advertisers,” says Kaul.

According to Kaul, the solution lies in understanding where the audience is and how they prefer to consume content. Illustrating this point with an example, he cited Moneycontrol, noting that the platform currently boasts the largest paying subscriber base.

“The conviction that my content is differentiated and good gets me the money not only from advertisers but other sources also. The answer lies in the choices you make. What you sell is what others will buy. If you think your product is great enough, and if you want to put everything behind a paywall, people will pay and you will get a new revenue stream,” says Kaul.

Kaul further discussed the challenges that measurement might pose in the TV news space. According to him, TV is the only domain with a defined measurement system, whereas other mediums attract advertisers based on the assumption that people are consuming the content.

“The only perfect system which will never be perfect is a census. A census cannot happen in real-time, minute by minute, whatever the currency is. There are mediums like print that don't have minute-by-minute, month-on-month or even yearly measurement. Yet, the money goes there,” he states.

He says while it is easy to pick on a measurement system, the fundamental belief is that this business, like others, survives on demand and supply.

“If you can create a demand and supply, you will find that the business can be monetised. We are in the news business. We will make it available in all the places and we will put it at a proper price and also ensure that people are watching it,” states Kaul.

Providing an example, he mentioned that the network recently launched a 24-hour channel in Jammu and Kashmir anticipating an unexplored market and substantial value in that region. He highlighted that, unlike a few years ago when bite-sized content on social media was non-existent, short-form video has now evolved into a distinct ecosystem.

“You have to keep an ear to the ground to listen to the audience. Ultimately it is between an advertiser and the audience. The advertiser comes in only when there is an audience. Exclusive and good quality content will always find tables. The problem is not the content but understanding how you want to reach the audience. Having conviction is the most important factor in this business,” he says.

The second edition of afaqs! The Future of News event was presented in collaboration with esteemed partners ABP News and Aaj Tak.