TV broadcasters not buying big movies amid a drop in viewership: Report

Against the backdrop of viewers shifting towards streaming platforms, several non-star films are being sold at low prices to broadcasters. The price of acquiring films has fallen, and even several big-budget films are finding it difficult to find buyers are half their price, a report by Mint said.

The crisis had begun before the Covid-19 pandemic, but the situation has worsened. Big movies that failed to make a mark at the box office, like ’83 and Dhaakad, could not strike deals with TV broadcasters either. Experts told Mint that the viewership and advertising have dropped by 40 per cent for movie TV channels in the past few years.

“There has been a 50 per cent drop in acquisition rates when compared with pre-covid, and as things stand, a lot of films may not get sold at all in 2023…On streaming platforms, people can watch films at their convenience, without ads, which seems like a much better option,” Manish Shah, founder and director of Goldmines Telefilms, told Mint.

The buzz on TV is low for films that could not perform well in theatres. However, the movies that performed well at the box office, like KGF 2 and RRR, also did not see much viewership on TV. Large movies would earlier sell satellite rights for around Rs 50 crore, now, they are not even able to get Rs 25-30 crore for the same.

“Theatrical release has also emerged as the biggest source of validation in 2022. If a small film has chosen to go directly to OTT, there are very few takers for it on TV…Satellite is no longer a big revenue earner, especially because streaming platforms are demanding at least a one-month window after the OTT premiere. But by then, who will want to watch it on TV?” independent trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai was quoted as saying.