Covid 19 – Impact on Media and Entertainment sector:
The outbreak of Covid-19 has hit the media and gives you an idea about business. Cinema theatres are shut, film releases are postponed, both internationally and within India, and events like the International Indian Film Awards, India Fashion Week and Trevor Noah’s stand-up comedy tour are cancelled for now.
The fate of the marquee sporting event of the year — Indian Premier League — hangs within the balance, too. Additionally to the present, the shooting of ad films and films has been halted to contain the spread of the virus in India. the social distancing measures put in situ to limit the outbreak of Covid-19 “could adversely impact the media and entertainment sector for subsequent two to 3 months, beginning March”.
Brands rely heavily on sponsorship tie-ups with events and outdoor activations to make awareness about products among consumers. However, given the strict advisory against large gatherings, and therefore the shutting down of faculties and colleges, spends on publicity and promotions on outdoor events are set to say no sharply over subsequent few months.
“We have already noticed a drop by footfall in malls. Many of the events that we had planned for our clients have had to be cancelled,” says Roshan Abbas, MD and founder, Geometry Encompass. He adds that a lot of of the events that are shelved for the nonce , may eventually be cancelled leading to loss of business. “Due to paucity of kit , space and other logistical factors, we’ll not be ready to cram activations and events scheduled for these three months into the last half of the year,” Abbas notes.
He estimates that the prevailing situation has already set the events industry back by nearly Rs 500 crore.
Pherwani adds that the ad spends across media — including transit media in airports, metro stations, railway stations and outdoor advertising — is slated to dip with people reducing travel and staying indoors.
The IPL, which attracts a big chunk of advertising spends annually, could also be cancelled altogether or at the best played in empty stadiums. While advertiser money is already locked in, there could also be no money coming from ticket sales and on-ground sponsorships. “There is simply one silver lining: IPL might become a digitally watched series as against a physically and digitally watched one,” says Harish Bijoor, founder, Harish Bijoor Consults.
Mohan Umrotkar, CEO, Carnival Cinemas, says that the present quarter is totally washed out. With the industry already losing four weekends of business in 2020, Umrotkar says the annual impact on the box office collection might be 12-13%.
With film shoots also restricted, movie releases slated for later this year can also need to be delayed, industry watchers speculate.
Movies that were already running in theatres when the govt ordered a pack up , will got to search for other avenues to reclaim viewership. As people fancy the practice of social distancing, analysts expect a spike within the consumption of television and digital video content. “We may even see the first release of some direct-to-digital movies, too,” notes Pherwani. as an example , Disney has already advanced the digital release of Frozen 2 on its streaming platform.