MxMIndia

Category: FICCI FRAMES 2012

  • Tarun Katial, the CEO of the Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd, spoke to MxM about how the businesses will have to rework their monetising strategies in the wake of digitisation

    @FF12: Digitisation will allow broadcaster to make money off ground: Tarun Katial

    Video and Text by Shruti Pushkarna

     

    Tarun Katial, the CEO of the Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd, spoke to MxM about how the businesses will have to rework their monetising strategies in the wake of digitisation

     

    On reworking the business model for digital era

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_uR54g7cbI[/youtube]

    For television, it will be a combination of content as well as marketing. The old model which was a combination of carriage and product, as it stands today won’t work. The business plan which currently has a very high rate of carriage will obviously see the content taking precedence.

     

    On Digitization bringing in transparency

    By transparency, I mean, it will allow the broadcaster to know the number of households it’s getting into, getting paid for and which value tier plan it is present on. It’s not like analog, where you give Rs150 and you have 500 channels available. The broadcaster will be allowed revenue share, he will be allowed to make money off the ground.

     

  • On the sidelines of FICCI Frames 2012,Vikram Sakhuja, CEO, South Asia, Group M spoke to MxMIndiaabout how the digital can be a game changer for marketers and how to make content engaging for people.

    @FF12: Integrated media best way fwd: Vikram Sakhuja

    Video and Text by Shruti Pushkarna

     

    On the fundamental powers of digital:

    In digital there are few things that are exciting. One is that digital has the potential to burst from a sampling kind of mindset into a census kind of a mindset. By that I mean that a lot of measurement we do in marketing today is very sample based and digital, whether it is through set-top boxes, or through online behaviour, it is possible now to get the data at a granular level. So that leads to targeting a million, one at a time kind of thing, which is exciting. The other inherent power of digital is interactivity. The third area is the ability to link multiple devices. Last is the real time query, whether it’s query or the consumption of content. Linked to that is the entire thing about being mobile. So these four or five inherent powers of digital are game changers for marketers.

     

    How to engage in an increasingly digital world?

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIj_VeYzlPo[/youtube]

    The engagement part comes from the kind of content you put up and the entire viral or social nature which comes up. The framework we talk about is paid, owned and earned media. An example of paid media is when Mindshare got Dhanush to sing an anthem for Sachin Tendulkar, post Kolaveri Di. Within four days we got ten million views, and the anthem, in turn, got a viral life of its own. So I think the way in which you can use content is how it becomes engaging.

     

    What is the way forward?

    I think integrated media is the best way forward. Today when people think of multimedia planning, they do a separate TV plan, print plan, radio plan, internet plan and so on. I believe that if you actually look at media agnostically and at common metrics of each cost per thousand impressions, these are the ways in which you can construct a media agnostic plan. What it does is, it suddenly gets more money into digital, and when more money can come into digital, that’s when focus is going to come in.

     

  • Reliance Entertainment (Digital) COO Manish Agarwal tells MxM India why the cloud can benefit everyone, and how.

    @FF12: No alternative to the cloud: Manish Agarwal

    By Rishi Vora

     

    Manish Agarwal, COO, Reliance Entertainment (Digital) spoke to MxM India on the sidelines of a session called “Digital Entertainment with Connected Devices and Cloud Based Services”, in which the panel consisted of Umang Bedi of Adobe Systems, Richard Craig McFeely of Tata Communications, Sameer Pitawala of UTV Interactive, Manish Agarwal, and Ravindra Velhal of Intel.

     

    Takeaway points from the session

    Cloud technology is all about providing an experience to the consumer. That’s one thing. The second thing is, there is no alternative for any service providers to not to go to the cloud. There is no choice to anyone; everybody has to go to the cloud. The question is the benefit of the cloud and the extent of monetization that can happen on the cloud will be limited to the extent of infrastructure investments. So, the key message is that the cloud is a reality – everybody has to work around it, be it the producer or a retailer like Big Flix or a content aggregator…

     

    The question is when can you really monetize and how can you provide the best consumer experience.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSJUNAh1X8E[/youtube]

    Video By Shruti Pushkarna

    How does Reliance use cloud technology for the services it offers?

    If you look at Big Flix, all the content user information is on the cloud. And we’re already kind of using that piece. That is the only way we can provide a seamless experience across devices – across desktop, laptop, smartphones, in your office, your home. All this is not possible without the cloud. So we’re using it extensively for Big Flix. We also use the same technology when we publish mobile games, so if you want to play a game, you can play on any platform using the cloud service.

     

    What it means to the consumer

    For the consumer it is very simple. Keeping aside the technical mumbo-jumbo, I can watch a video whenever I want on whichever device I want from the point I left – I can restart. So it gives me a complete seamless video-watching experience across devices and locations.

     

  • Discovery Networks chief Mark Hollinger announced the launch of its new network for children in India, 'Discovery Kids'. The channel will be available in three languages.

    @FF12: Discovery to launch kiddie channel in India

    Video and Text By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    President & CEO of Discovery Networks International, Mark Hollinger announced the launch of its new network for children in India, ‘Discovery Kids’. The announcement came on the sidelines of FICCI Frames 2012 that is being held in Mumbai from March 14 to 16.

     

    The channel will be available in three languages. Mr Hollinger said, “We shall be launching a new network in India – Discovery Kids. It will be launched in early April and the network will initially be available in three languages – Hindi, English and Tamil.” The company plans to roll out the channel in Philippines and Indonesia later this year.

     

    Mr Hollinger said, “Discovery Kids will offer children a fun and entertaining way to satisfy their natural curiosity with stimulating and imaginative programming.” He added, “India is definitely poised for growth in this market. 30% of the population in this country is below the age of 14. In light of the massive digitization drive in India, we believe viewers will express their demand for such distinct television networks. I cannot think of any other country more poised for the launch of such a remarkable network.”

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzeqO3KTTww[/youtube]

    The company also expects a significant boost to its subscription revenues from satellite television digitization in India and expects the country to be its biggest satellite television market in the next few years, said Mark Hollinger.

     

    Speaking about the digitalization drive in India and the country’s subsequent growth potential Mr Hollinger said, “The fact that India is moving towards 100 percent digitalization presents an overwhelming opportunity for all of us. Digitalization of broadcast will make bandwidth usage more efficient, leading to a wider choice for the viewers and newer opportunities for media companies. Digitization means viewers will be more discerning and I predict that the programming with the best storytelling, compelling characters and stunning visuals will win out.”

     

    Talking about the share of revenue from India, Mr Hollinger said, “International markets account for one-third of our operating profit, of which India contributes a significant part. We don’t break it down on a regional level. India is one of the top five growth markets on a worldwide basis.”

     

    He also said that going forward the company is looking to enter retail, merchandising and licensing space.