MxMIndia

Blog

  • Reactions from select members of the media and allied sectors on the Union Budget

    Budget 2012: Reactions from Stakeholders

    Rakesh Jariwala, Partner & Tax Expert, M&E, Ernst & Young

     

    “The key takeaway from the Union Budget 2012 for the Media and Entertainment Sector (‘M&E’) is the exemption to be provided from service tax on Copyrights in Cinematographic films with the introduction of the negative list concept under the service tax legislation.  This exemption was not proposed in earlier drafts of the concept paper on negative list.  However, copyright in sound recording continues to be taxed.  Thus, it appears that copyright in theatrical as well as non-theatrical rights in cinematographic films will now remain outside the tax net.  It may however be noted that these changes will come into effect from the date when section 66B in proposed service tax law becomes effective.  In addition to this, concept papers to negative list sought to tax entry into premises (which included theaters for entertainment purposes) and hence, service tax could also apply on admissions liable to entertainment tax.  However, the proposed negative list legislation seeks to specifically exclude admission to entertainment events and access to amusement facilities, thereby granting a much needed relief to the entertainment industry.  Thus, for film industry, it is proposed that service tax will not apply on transactions between producer to distributor, distributor to exhibitor (by exempting copyrights in cinematographic films) and between exhibitor to cinema goer (by including admission to entertainment events in negative list).”

    Vinita Bali, Managing Director, Britannia

    “The Finance Minister has presented a mixed Budget with fundamentally positive steps in some areas, not enough in others & large concern areas like the projected fiscal deficit of 5.1%. A few of the positives include raising the plan outlay for agriculture by 18%, initiatives for R&D in agriculture, allocations for improving warehousing and storage facilities for agricultural produce. All of these, executed well and on time, will address the supply side on food and agriculture that will drive domestic demand and consumption, which is one of the key priority areas. Similarly, some of the specific measures to create maternal and child nutrition programs is an essential step in ensuring that the unacceptably high levels of malnutrition are addressed.”

    Mahesh Krishnan, VP-Home Appliances, Samsung India

    The benefits announced for key sectors like infrastructure, agriculture and education are bound to improve the overall economic scenario. However, the Budget does not bring any relief to the consumer electronics industry, which has been reeling under the impact of rising input costs and rupee depreciation in recent times. The rise in excise duty may lead to an increase in prices of consumer electronics products.

     

    Anurradha Prasad, President, AROI (Association of Radio Operators for India) and Chairperson cum Managing Director, BAG Network

    “Radio industry is the one medium which needs a lot of government support but, unfortunately it seems that the government is putting more pressure on the radio industry, this time by increasing the service tax from 10 to 12 per cent. This I believe is not the right thing to do however we also understand that right now the government is in a populist mode and that could be one of the reasons why the Budget did not focus much on reforms and certainly did not address the business of media or radio in particular.”

     

    Ajay Mitra, Managing Director, India and Middle East, World Gold Council

    Whilst there may be a very short-term impact to demand for gold as a result of this measure, we believe that in the longer-term, this increase (increase of customs duty on imports of gold from 2 to to 4%) will not substantially affect demand. The fundamental reasons for buying gold jewellery are unchanged. They are rooted in Indian culture and weddings. Investment demand is driven by the need to protect against inflation, ease of liquidity and the increasing use of gold as a monetized asset to secure loans.

     

    Ashish Hemrajani, Founder and CEO, Bigtree Entertainment ( BookMyShow.com)

    The service tax exemption on the entertainment industry is a very encouraging step. It would propel the industry towards bigger and better things. This move can also be viewed as a way to offer some respite to the previously challenging situation the industry faced due to heavy taxation.

     

    Dippak Khurana, CEO & Co-Founder, Vserv.mobi

    The exemption of duty on mobile phone parts is surely an ecosystem enabler as it will lower the market prices of phones which are being assembled in India. This will help us achieve not only last mile connectivity but will fuel growth of ancillary sectors such as mobile content development, mobile banking, mobile advertising etc Over all, the government realises the role that mobile devices have to play in enhancing and streamlining IT oriented citizen centric governance framework. This is reflected by two provisions in the government 1) creation of a mobile-based fertilizer management system that will provide end to-end information on movement of fertilisers and subsidies.  2) roll out Aadhaar tablet enabled payments for various government schemes in at least 50 districts within next 6 months.

     

    However, the increase in the service tax from 10% to 12% will adversely affect the masses as mobile phone bills will become higher. Barring this negative point, the rest of the provisions in the Budget are encouraging for the sector per se.

     

    http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=0

  • Anuj Gandhi to take charge as Group Director, Distribution & New business development

    Anuj Gandhi joins Network 18, to head distribution & biz dev

    Distribution veteran Anuj Gandhi has joined Network18 as Group Director, Distribution & New business development, with immediate effect.

     

    Mr Gandhi brings with him almost two decades of rich broadcast experience, across a variety of mandates including leadership roles at some of India’s leading distribution companies and broadcast networks.

     

    Speaking on this development, Mr B Sai Kumar, Group CEO, Network18 said: “Broadcast digitization and growth in new media will cause paradigm shifts in how media brands create value in the future. Our bouquet of channels straddling genres from news and entertainment to kids, music, factual entertainment etc across national and regional spaces is uniquely placed to make the most of this opportunity and we are delighted to have Anuj on board to drive it. His experience & understanding of broadcasting and distribution in India and his leadership record is impeccable, positioning him well for this task”

     

    Added Mr Gandhi: “Network18 is a benchmark player in the broadcast and new media space in India and it is now at a very exciting stage in its journey. I look forward to being part of it at such a momentous time and hope to work closely with the team to unlock value for our brands in an increasingly digitized environment”

     

  • Nine Indian entries across seven categories made it to the shortlist for the Festival of Media Montreux

    9 Indian entries in Festival of Media Montreux shortlist

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Festival of Media Global Awards 2012 received a record number of entries, with over 870 entries, from more than 50 countries. They celebrate the very best in media thinking from around the world and are a platform to promote the best in class, rewarding creativity and innovation that is at the very heart of effective media communications. India has had its share of mentions in the shortlist. Here goes:

     

    Best Communications Strategy

    Title: Change the game

    Company: Mindshare

    Brand: Pepsi

     

    Title: Making of a superstar

    Company: Mindshare

    Brand: Lux

     

    Best Contribution to a Campaign by a Media Owner

    Title: Making of a superstar

    Company: Gemini TV

    Brand: Lux

    Other credits: Mindshare

     

    Best Entertainment Platform

    Title: Little big film maker

    Company: Mindshare

    Brand: Surf Excel

    Other credits: Newscorp

     

    Best Use of Content

    Title: Little big film maker

    Company: Mindshare

    Brand: Surf Excel

    Other credits: Newscorp

     

    Best Use of Emerging Technology

    Title: Customising Technology to create world’s first light powered Facebook app, mobile app and billboard!

    Company: Maxus Bangalore

    Brand: Titan HTSE

    Other Credits: Titan, KRDS, Kinetic

     

    Title: Technology helped save 100,000 lives

    Company: Maxus

    Brand: Vodafone India

     

    Best Creative Use of Media

    Title: Auto rickshaws

    Company: Mediacom India

    Brand: Duracell

    Other credits: Mediacom India

     

    The Effectiveness Award

    Title: It’s a great time to be a family

    Company: Lodestar UM

    Brand: Microsoft

    Other credits: Excel Entertainment, Turner International, Star Plus

     

    In its sixth year, The Festival of Media 2012 will return to the Montreux, Switzerland on April 15-17, 2012. Billed as the world’s first celebration of media creativity and innovation, the Festival of Media sees global media specialists network with senior marketers, media owners and thought-leaders, to do business and debate the many changes in media that are altering advertising landscapes worldwide.

     

  • Following the announcement of Micromax bagging the title sponsorship of the Asia Cup 2012, leading power brands Standard Chartered, Jaypee Cements, Daikin, Indian Oil and Bangladesh Tourism have signed up as the five official partners.

    Micromax Asia Cup 2012 sponsor family grows

    By A Correspondent

     

    Following the announcement of Micromax bagging the title sponsorship of the Asia Cup 2012, leading power brands like Standard Chartered, Jaypee Cements, Daikin, Indian Oil and Bangladesh Tourism have signed up as the five official partners.

     

    Yannick Colaco, COO Nimbus Sport said, “I am delighted to announce a stellar sponsor family for the Micromax Asia Cup 2012. There is no doubt that this is by far the biggest ODI tournament this year. All our commercial partners see tremendous value in associating with the blockbuster that will see the World Cup rivalry among India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka resume once again.”

     

    Nimbus Sport has signed a host of international distribution deals to maximize global reach. The various distribution partners are:

     

     

    No Partners Region
    1 Neo Cricket Indian Sub Continent, US, Canada, UAE, Singapore, North Africa, Philippines & Hong Kong
    2 Willow TV US & Canada
    3 Zee UK & Europe
    4 Super Sports South Africa
    5 PTC Pakistan
    6 BTV Bangladesh
    7 Carlton Sri Lanka
    8 Setanta Australia Australia
  • Although contents across all radio channels are more or less restricted to music, it is believed that once FM phase III is rolled out and multiple frequencies allowed by the government, it will lead to more innovations in content and differentiation within the medium itself.

    @FF12: Phase III will bring more innovation in radio

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Radio has often been criticized for lack of content innovation, that all radio stations sound the same and that there is no differentiation in the medium currently. Although contents across all radio channels are more or less restricted to music, it is believed that once FM phase III is rolled out and multiple frequencies allowed by the government, it will lead to more innovations in content and differentiation within the medium itself.

     

    One of the sessions at the FICCI-Frames 2012 was on ‘Radio: Innovations in Content’ wherein industry veterans discussed at length on the innovations in content radio is witnessing currently and the enormous innovation opportunities FM Phase III would allow. While the session was moderated by Apurva Purohit, CEO Radio City, the panel members included Rabe Iyer, Business Head, Big FM; Abhijit Avasthi, Executive Creative Director, O&M; Bhavna Somaaya, Columnist and Writer; and Charles Falzon, Chair of The Radio and Television Arts School of Media, Ryerson University.

     

    Ms Purohit kick-started the session stating that radio currently is in a schizophrenic stage wherein on one hand the medium is witnessing immense growth, it has a huge reach in the country and the FM listenership has also further increased with higher number of mobile phones, whereas on the other hand the overall ad pie of the medium is merely 4 per cent. Ms Purohit also pointed out that in the next two years the industry anticipates another phase of growth which will bring news, sports commentary, multiple frequencies, besides further expansion into towns and cities.

     

    According to Ms Somaaya, “Innovation is a very subjective term and the definition changes from person to person and the state of mind one is in. I believe innovation comes only in content because technology has been exhausted and there is a whole rainbow waiting for us as there could audio books, short stories, debates, helpline etc. Radio therefore is much more immediate that any other medium.”

     

    Speaking about the strengths of radio Mr Avasthi first admitted that out of all the media, it is the toughest to write radio spots. He explained, “The strength of radio I believe is one can conjure up a world in the listener’s mind. What you hear on radio today is mainly restricted to Bollywood music. There are so many kinds of music still to be explored and so many types of content that can be experimented, and to break this format I believe the industry requires some amount of courage to do so.  The moment programming in radio opens up then there will be plenty of interesting opportunities for advertising in radio itself.”

     

    Mr Falzon highlighted the use of digital medium as a complement to engaging the listeners, “We are all experiencing a paradigm shift on how entertainment is being consumed, across the world. India has infact a better opportunity especially with the phase III expansion coming that too at a time we can think about how to use the digital medium. Digital and social media in Canada for example is being used in many ways wherein the entertainment experience of radio has been extended beyond radio.”

     

    According to Mr Iyer, although 80 per cent of content on radio is music and 20 per cent on the packaging of music, there has been some innovation in the medium and with the phase III launch it will bring with it immense opportunities especially on the innovation and differentiation front. Speaking on the reason radio being left out at times during advertising campaigns, Mr Iyer believed the possible reason could be because the industry has not encouraged radio creativity which in itself is a huge opportunity.

     

    The Q&A session which followed the panel discussion saw many people questioning the lack of innovation and the dominance of Bollywood-centric music on radio. The panelists more or less agreed that radio in India has seen lack of innovations primarily because of government restrictions which is most likely to change with FM phase III is rolled out.

     

    Photograph: Fotocorp

  • Yes, it's Budget Day and while you tune into the various Budget Day specials, here's our list of five things which you'll never find the Finance Minister do.

    5 things you will never see any FM announcing in the Budget

    By A N Chorrea

     

    Yes, it’s Budget Day and while you tune into the various Budget Day specials, here’s our list of five things which you’ll never find the Finance Minister do.

     

    1. Reduce levies on cigarette: Alcohol may have seen some rationalization thanks to various international policies, but taxes on the cancer stick never goes down. Rightly so?

    2. Service tax net being narrowed: No way! If your service falls under a category which can be defined to not fall under any listed until now, be sure your celebrations won’t be endless. The FM’s folks keep widening the net every year.

    3. Dramatic reduction in income tax: Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. Will never happen, even though every one tries all tricks in the game to duck direct taxes

    4. Make some really sound economic decisions. Remember, the Budget is as much a political document as it’s economic. And when you have in your Finance Minister also your government’s Political Troubleshooter #1, what can you expect.

    5. Abolish Budget speeches. It took many years after the British left us to bring the presentation to the forenoon. Now, it might make perfect sense to do away with the Budget, but no one’s complaining. Not the media definitely, as it’s one tamasha we all love… it helps up ratings and readership. And earn some good revenues.

     

    A N Chorrea is a seasoned media-watcher writing under a pseudonym

     

  • The industry must be able operate sans any constraints to produce top content, says the FIC boss

    @FF12: Price control equals creative shackles for broadcast: Hernan Lopez, Fox Intnl Channels

     

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

    Video and Text By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    As President and Chief Executive Officer of Fox International Channels (FIC) Hernan Lopez oversees a massive international multichannel television organization that operates over 200 channels and their related online and production units. Mr. Lopez is responsible for all operations of FIC, which produces channels primarily under the brands Fox, National Geographic Channel, FX, Fox Life, Fox Crime, NatGeo Wild, MovieCity and Star Movies. He also oversees Fox’s US Hispanic cable networks, Fox Deportes and Utilisima. On the sidelines of FICCI Frames 2012, he spoke to MxM India about digitization, the vision for the Indian broadcast industry, HD penetration and economic uncertainty. Excerpts:

     

    On digitization

    I believe that digitization is good for consumers, for television industry and for both on the platform side and broadcaster side and like any process of gradual change of technology it won’t be without hiccups. There will be consumers that will be confused, there will be broadcasters who will be getting more or less space than they did before but at the end of the day all television markets that have gone from analog to digital have seen an increase in consumer satisfaction, in industry revenues and in the transparency of the system overall.

     

    Price control equals to creative shackles

    I argued in my presentation that price controls are putting artificial limit on the total revenue that the Indian television industry can generate and that limit in turn puts a limit on how much can it spend on content, how much you can afford to pay writers, directors, etc. What I have argued is that if the price controls went away, that’ll create a new incentive for television broadcasters to invest more in drama productions that can be here in India and also exported all around the world.

     

    On economic uncertainty

    We have seen uneven stories as it relates to advertising in Europe, for instance pan European advertising is down in some of the southern European countries but in some European markets, it’s up and it’s also significantly up in Latin America and Eastern Asia. So overall worldwide total advertising revenue is up.

     

    Advertising vs. subscriptions – what’s the right mix?

    In the US it’s close to 50:50 and I believe it will take many years for India to get to that stage but I think that’s a healthy balance.

     

    On HD penetration

    HD is a service that today consumers see as a luxury, at some point they will come to see it as a necessity. So around the world, as global television broadcasters, we are very advanced in giving all of our channels in both HD and SD. In fact it’s very much a policy that whenever we launch a new channel we try to do it simultaneously in HD and SD. And when consumers get used to that kind of service, it’s hard for them to go back.

     

    Do away with price control, Hernan Lopez tells FICCI Frames 2012

     

    By Archita Wagle

     

    The morning session on the second day of FICCI Frames 2012 opened with Anto Joseph, Resident Editor, Financial Chronicle, introducing Hernan Lopez, CEO, Fox International TV. Mr Lopez started his address by talking about how India and Indian presence is felt in the US, be it Indian doctors or yoga. But he rued the fact that inspite the ideas or innovations in diverse fields, one area that sadly lacked the innovative ideas and content was television.

     

    According to Mr Lopez, the reason for India’s lack was due to the fact that Indian talent “operates under price control which equals creative shackles”. Citing the example of Columbia which exports its programs to 80 countries, Mr Lopez compared the two and said that inspite having creative talent, technical expertise and skilled tradesmen at par; Columbia is much ahead as it is not restricted by regulations and price control.

     

    Mr Lopez said that Indian television industry was almost totally dependent on advertising revenues, almost $2.6 billion per year, which coupled with the fact that there was an overabundance of channels and less number of affiliates meant that the broadcasters were in a tight bind. He added that even then, almost $700 million had to be paid in carriage fees, which meant that paying the talent came last.

     

    The way forward according to Mr Lopez was if the price control was done away with. He said that this would make it possible to pay the talent in the industry what it deserves and then it can operate without any constraints to produce the best possible content.

     

    Mr Lopez lauded the move to digitisation which would reduce the carriage fees being paid and increase the revenues for the industry. When asked what is the right ratio for advertising v/s subscription, Mr Lopez said that it is 50-50, as advertising alone can’t fund a large degree of quality content. According to him, a stronger content needs a dual stream revenue model.

     

    A member of the audience questioned Mr Lopez about the government sanctioning digitisation for broadcast industry and how feasible is the government intervention, he answered that in a country like India, market forces alone can’t help a technology to be established hence government intervention was needed to push the digital solutions. But he was emphatic that now decision about the pricing should be left to the cable operators and consumers can choose the price level they want to pay.

     

    Asked if better technology is a guarantor to better quality content, Mr Lopez said that there is no guarantee, but he reiterated that if the industry is freed from the price shackles, it will definitely produce better quality content.

     

  • The slow death of console gaming and growing dominance of mobile gaming was among the issues discussed at the session on Gaming.

    @FF12: ‘Console gaming in India is in big trouble’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Console gaming today has become only an urban phenomenon, in the small towns it is the mobiles which has become a primary source of entertainment. Women too in large numbers are exploring gaming and access to mobile gaming in India is expected to further increase. In a country like India, content needs to be contextually and culturally relevant. These were some of the points raised at the Day 2 session of FICCI Frames 2012 – ‘From East to West: The Next Big Thing in Gaming.’

     

    This session was moderated by Mr Rajesh Rao, Founder and CEO, Dhruva Interactive. The panel members included, Mr Jithin Rao, Producer with Ubisoft; Mr Ray Sharma, Founder and CEO, XMG Studio Inc;  Mr Howard Donaldson, President, DigiBC; Mr Vishal Gondal, Founder and CEO IndiaGames; and Mr Ninad Chhaya, COO, Playcaso.

     

    One of the heated topic during this session was the slow death of console gaming and how mobile gaming will play a dominant role. Unlike Mr Ray who strongly believed that the Console market was in deep trouble and that there is a massive value shift happening from console to mobile gaming, his co-panelists Mr Jithin Rao and Mr Howard Donaldson believed that console gaming was here to stay and could still play a dominant role in the Country. “I don’t see the console market going away, it may still have a dominant presence despite the ongoing digital revolution” said Mr Donaldson. Mr Rao of Ubisoft said, “I don’t see console gaming going away even in the next five years because there are still hard core gamers in India. In fact we believe that every platform has its own experience to share with the consumer whether it is big screen or small.”

     

    Another interesting points raised during the session was the importance of mobile in the rapid growth of gaming in India. According to Mr Chhaya, “The change has been that phones are getting smarter. Consoles have become more of an urban phenomenon but, in smaller towns it is the mobile phones which have become major source of entertainment. The people in small towns are fast adapting to mobile internet. Internet on access through mobile is fast growing and the change which has come is that people have not only become more aware but, the fact that the apps system has also changed the entire environment. I would say for the better.”

     

    Mr Gondal observed, “Even women are exploring gaming in a big way. We are expecting four to five million Indians accessing Internet from mobile and expecting atleast 50 per cent of them playing games. In a market like India, local IP will do much better that global. On the production values, consumers are looking at higher production values with the best of the breed of contents and I believe that the consumers will not settle for anything less.”

     

    Mr Rajesh Rao summed up the session stating that while there are many ideas and lots of opportunities and potential in the market, the industry needs to explore them.

     

  • Rahul Kishore has joined Mogae Media as Senior Vice President, Priority Projects. He will work with Gaurav Luthra, Chief Business Officer of the company.

    Rahul Kishore joins Mogae as Senior VP, Priority Projects

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rahul Kishore has joined Mogae Media as Senior Vice President, Priority Projects. He moves from Vivaki where he worked with the Zenith Optimedia team.

     

    A career entrepreneur, Mr Kishore ran his own business for well over 20 years before changing tack in 2008 when he joined the exchange4media group as Business Head and later also as Editorial Adviser. An alumnus of St. Stephens College, Delhi, Mr Kishore’s stint at ZO/Vivaki centred around getting closer to the trading currency and purposive evaluation of media.

     

    “Rahul has entrepreneurial grit and drive. We need loads of that at Mogae,” said Ms Tanya Goyal, Executive Director of Mogae Media. “Rahul is being tasked to look at large opportunity blocks that can benefit from mobile as a medium. We hope he will be able to open up new vistas of opportunity for the company.”

     

    “Mobile has great opportunity. I am happy to be at the forefront of a ‘new’ medium that reaches 800 million consumers in India,” said Mr Kishore. “Mogae is a great new venture … I hope we create a new market with our efforts here. The response has been very encouraging and in the little time we’ve had, we have locked in two high-profile FMCG giants amongst our advertisers,” he added.

     

    In recent weeks, Mogae Media has announced many senior level appointments, including Messrs Tusshar Dhingra (from BIG Cinemas), Atishi Pradhan (from Contract) and Pavan Chandra (from Vivaki). Mr Kishore will work with Mr Gaurav Luthra, Chief Business Officer of the company.

     

    Mogae Media is the sole and exclusive monetization partners of telecom operator Airtel. Veteran mediaperson Mr Sandeep Goyal set up this new venture in January 2012.

     

     

     

  • The main challenge for the industry is to seamlessly blend and enable technology to become user-friendly, finds session on Converged Future.

    @FF12: Time to experiment with technology

    By A Correspondent

     

    Now that digitisation is set to come into effect from July 1, the convergence of media assumes greater significance. This was the topic of discussion in the second session on Thursday at FICCI Frames 2012.

     

    In a session moderated by Neeraj Roy, MD & CEO, Hungama, Sanket Akerkar, MD, MicrosoftIndiatalked about “The Converged future – Multiple platforms, technologies &transforming applications for media and entertainment”. The theme of his keynote address was significance and emergence of digitisation.

     

    To illustrate how connected we are today, he cited an example of how a teenaged son of a friend uses Xbox to connect with friends he was with at school and play games. Though this may common enough, he added that the group of friends used the very same environment to connect and do their homework. This can also be taken as learning life lessons of surviving in the digital world.

     

    Mr Akerkar said that the consumer lifestyles are controlling the conversation, citing the example the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. The industry has to takes its cues from what the consumers want. According to him, even ads will now be consumed as per the consumers’ choice and the advertisers can’t dictate the place and time for the consumption. Now the people are going to become the content creator and content consumer. The main challenge for the industry is now to seamlessly blend and enable technology to become user friendly.

     

    Jonathan Bill, SVP Internet and Data Services, Vodafone joined the conversation to discuss how the telco-eco system can offer better opportunity to the media and entertainment industry to monetise the services.

     

    Mr Bill said thatIndia’s telco-eco system is a hyper competitive market which the lowest price points in the global market. It generates the lion share of revenue in the entertainment stream for Vodafone.

     

    Mr Roy said that technological progress has enabled applications that recognise the customer preferences, be it the Internet or the phone.

     

    Mr Akerkar agreed and added thatIndiawill have 25 million smartphones by the next year and this connectivity gives the opportunity to the industry to experiment in creating applications for the users. He said that the technology is moving ahead at such speed that one only needs to use their imagination to think ‘what next innovation’.

     

    All the speakers were in agreement that once the digitisation bill comes into effect, the choice of content available to the user will be limitless. As Mr Akerkar said, “the challenge will be to separate content, be it mainstream or user generated into what is relevant or not.”

     

    They also discussed the feasibility of creating video content for mobile devices. Mr Bill was of the opinion thatIndiahas huge possibilities as it is the largest internet video consumption market. Mr Roy said thatIndiais poised to become the largest internet market in the next 3-4 years, surpassing evenChina.

     

    The speakers discussed how even gaming had huge possibilities if one was to look at co-developing games along with films. Mr Akerkar said that there was a business model waiting to happen if one figured how to reduce the initial cost of investment and figure out how to connect a known brand (film) and gaming.

     

    But the biggest challenge is the transition to the digital eco system. It is not enough to rely only on advertising revenues. Mr Bill said that the way forward is moving from free Internet content to paid content.

     

     

  • All niche channels put together command a share that is equivalent of the share of Hindi GECs and the mass channels, so long-term sustainability and a steady revenue stream are both within the realm of niche programming.

    @FF12: Niche isn’t niche any more

     

    By Rishi Vora

     

    It is a fact that Hindi GECs command a premium position in the TV space in India and the primary reason behind that is its mass appeal. And thereforea lot of advertiser interest tends to go in favour of the so-called mass channels.

     

    But there is another set of audiences that prefer a certain kind of content – speciality content such as Action, Comedy, Food, Music and so on; channels that cater to the tastes ofaudiences with a peculiar taste. These channels are termed as niche channels.

     

    The concept of niche channels started about 18-20 years ago, and now, as experts believe, niche isn’t niche any more as all niche channels put together command a share that is equivalent of the share of Hindi GECs and the mass channels, so to say.

     

    On day 2 of FICCI Frames, in a session titled “Building Sustainable Models for Niche Content” honchos from the broadcast industry such as Paritosh Joshi, CEO, Star CJ (session moderator); Smeeta Chakrabarti, CEO, NDTV Lifestyle; Monica Tata, General Manager, Entertainment Networks, South Asia for Turner International India; Ajay Chacko, President, A + E Networks I TV 18 JV; Atul Pande, CEO, Sports Business, Zee; and Rasika Tyagi, Sr VP – English Programming, Star India discussed on revenue models to sustain TV content catering to niche audiences and its long-term sustainability.

     

    Atul Pande talked about the launch of Ten Golf, a speciality channel for Golf followers in India. He stressed on the need to charge premium to audiences who really are on the lookout for speciality content.

     

    Smeeta Chakrabarti said that as a speciality channel one cannot talk about TRPs, rather it is the brand connect that what needs to be spoken about as far as ad sales was concerned. Rasika Tyagi on the other hand remarked that the whole idea of measuring a speciality interest channel should be relooked at. “It’s not about how many people are watching you, it’s more what kind of people are watching you.” She also said that the audiences of niche channels are of such quality that they do not mind paying, and that broadcast companies should look to tap into that opportunity.

     

    Atul Pande remarked that the Pay TV as a concept does not yield great deal of revenue as the pricing of the niche channels are on the lower side. “We keep the pricing on the lower side because we don’t want the consumers to be shocked despite the fact that some of the content that we do justifies a price in the higher range.

     

    On whether the industry requires a different approach as far as measurement for these channels was concerned, Paritosh Joshi said, “The big challenge with respect to measurement is that we need to find a way to measure both quantity as well as quality. The quality aspect is very critical for a speciality channel.” Monica Tata added, “We need to have a different measurement system to evaluate special interest channels.”

     

    As for the digitization mandate that all channels have to follow, Ms Tata was of the opinion that to move from the present model of advertising to embracing the digital opportunities will be a challenge, and something that will take time before becoming an industry norm.

     

    The panel also discussed the need to create global content, thus opening up monetisation opportunities across markets.

     

    Photograph: Fotocorp

  • 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.