MUMBAI: Of late, there have been several speculations on the impact of the TRAI tariff order on consumers including hike in monthly cable bill and migration to OTT platforms.
The research agency YouGov conducted a study to find its impact among 1,020 respondents. As per the study, 92 per cent are aware of the new TRAI tariff order while 76 per cent have already made alterations to their DTH subscription as per the new guidelines.
“In general, 3 in 5 (62 per cent) of North India residents look at the new TRAI framework favourably. On the other hand, a third of residents from South India (32 per cent) are not so optimistic about the new regulation and more than half (54 per cent) feel they may have to spend more on their subscription going forward,” the report says.
However, despite TRAI’s onstant claim that the new order will bring down cable bill, 54 per cent of those who have made modifications to their channel subscription said they pay more than what they paid earlier. On the other hand, 32 per cent feel they pay lesser than what they paid earlier. Only 14 per cent feel there has been no change as they pay the same amount as before.
Interestingly, 59 per cent of the customers who have already switched to new plans think this rule is going to be favourable for end customers like them. Even among those who haven’t yet upgraded their subscription, 58 per cent look at this change favourably.
The research also shows that 49 per cent of the respondents feel that the new regulatory framework will increase the amount of time they spend watching original content on OTT. In addition to that, two out of five people feel this move will increase the amount of time they spend online watching TV content.
“The countrywide implementation of the new regulation is bound to have an impact on viewership and advertisers need to revisit their media plans in accordance with the changing consumer behaviour. Although TV viewing may not change drastically, we see the likelihood of people moving online. Advertisers thus need to carefully align and study how they can reallocate their budgets,” YouGov India general manager Deepa Bhatia commented.
