So, let me try and put some perspective as a professional!
The business of media is very different from what fans perceive to be.
Every media spot is a property to be taken by advertisers or cross brand promotions which are actually revenue generators for the channels and production houses.
For instance, the number of ads streamed during a telecast resulting from spot buying, media buying, product integration or even a banner ad would decide the revenue generated by the channels.
Other properties that generate include award shows, sponsorships and other ATL marketing activations. Now, if a brand wants to invest in a media spot or advertisement banner, the first thing they would ask a channel is for a quantitative data that would reflect the viewership and help them assess the impact on their investment.
Now here that’s why for ages, the BARC system has not been able to change the way they quantify data. The quantification of data is faulty, it’s not been changed because it’s a tedious task to do so.
However, with OTT, and digital streaming platforms gaining popularity, the quantification of a BARC data is irrelevant for a OTT platform show.
So, the Indian television industry which streams on TV channels of GEC category are majorly BARC data driven, while the OTT streaming platforms are driven by Subscriptions and real-time viewership.
So, if someone is investing in a media spot, they would prefer a good quantification of ROI.
Sorry if I went a little overboard with the technical details, but this is how sponsorship, revenue generation and business model of channels work.😆
Slashing the long story short, channels view TV shows as not sentiments but business properties. If these properties are not scalable, quantifiable and give them a good return on investment, it wouldn’t take a second for the channel to pick the axe and want to work profitable proposition for investment again.
No matter what fans would like to believe, they don't have a say in financial decisions. At the end of the day, they have a business to run. Sentiments are secondary, revenue is of relevance.