MAM

TCH 2022: Good ideas are bad ideas: Roy Price

Published

4 years ago

June 30, 2022

Mumbai: Delivering the keynote address at the sixth edition of Viacom18 presents The Content Hub 2022 Summit organised by Indiantelevision.com on Wednesday, International Art Machine CEO Roy Price noted that good ideas are bad ideas. He gave the example of Amazon starting its content creation and delivery journey being met with skepticism. “The idea that people would download videos was met with skepticism in Hollywood. Today it seems natural but that is only because it has been done,” he said

The industry event was co-powered by Applause Entertainment and IN10 Media Network. Aaj Tak Connected Stream was the association partner. Industry partners were Fremantle India, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, One Take Media, Pratilipi, Pocket FM and The Viral Fever. The Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association (IMPPA) is our community partner.

Roy recalled meeting a studio executive who said that nobody would download movies. “Of course, it all worked out in the end even if it was counterintuitive to some in the early days that digital video would be big. But it was obvious that digital video would work. It is more immediate. It is obviously better. We did not immediately prevail but the product steadily prevailed and now it is the most important format in the world. Then I advocated for original content. I argued that everyone would have to have original content. That was another bad idea and certainly it was controversial.”

He said that the show Transparent had its share of sceptics. “If everyone thinks it is a good idea immediately, it might just be behind the curve.” The reason he explains is that really new ideas that are going to change things are unfamiliar and often tend to be instinctively rejected by many. So, if people think it is a good idea it might be behind the curve. But he also acknowledged that it might be Top Gun Maverick sometimes.

However, Roy warned that nobody really gets paid to do the same thing as everyone else. “Culture evolves and the game changing shows, the ones that matter the most, are usually new and different. Producers tend to be pattern matchers. They do what has worked. They often do not grasp the new, next thing. The challenge is that the audience two years from now is always different and what works now will be passé in the future. The next thing is never the same thing. You cannot copy your way to success.”

He added that good is tempting in terms of show ideas, executives. But ultimately it is bad. Good crowds out the great, which is a bad thing. The skill he explains is not to distinguish good ideas from bad ideas. That is the easy part. The key is to distinguish good ideas from great ideas even if great ideas sometimes come in the disguise of bad ideas.

Price noted that it is an incredibly exciting time to be in the media business in Asia. He said that in the past only American TV shows and movies travelled. “Now we see a greater diversity of movies and TV shows succeeding internationally. We have Parasite, Drive My Car, BTS, Call My Agent, Squid Game and others become international hits and award winners. We saw Dangal do tremendous business in China. American and European audiences in general are more receptive than ever to international content. I believe that Indian shows and movies are next. Dangal as an example which is perfect as a movie could also have been successful as an international television series. RRR is doing incredibly well. Both are terrific films and the momentum is building.”

He said that when he left Amazon, he knew that the next biggest story in the coming years would be the rise of original Asian content. “Within a month I was in Asia and set up a company to develop shows and movies to help this process evolve.”

He noted that shows do not have to feel international to succeed globally. None of the successful international shows have an American cast to make it more accessible. “The key is that the emotions are real and accessible. There needs to be great writing, great acting.”

Roy felt that there will be Indian superhero movies that approach that genre in a local way. Action movies will also work and his company is developing some. But at the same time, he noted, big in terms of impact does not always mean action. He offered the example of The Lunchbox which he said was really about delivering emotion, being clever, being genuine and making people care. “The key is to be genuinely local,” he said.

He noted that the world is de-centralising. People can create Twitter, YouTube, Facebook accounts. Every brand is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand. Today, direct brand building is possible for a pilot, music video etc. and that presents an opportunity to excite an audience. He feels that crypto is the most interesting part of the future. He said that blockchains can keep track of things like who owns what in a permanent way. It cannot be altered by any company, government or bad actor. He said it is not a speculative technology. It will influence the way in which commercial deals are done. On the blockchain one can go beyond selling images to movies, TV shows. One can sell securitised interest to a future movie or TV show and give a percentage of the profit to be paid out automatically via smart contract.

To finance a show a producer can go to the networks or to Web3. He predicted another bad idea where a Web3 decentralised streaming service would exist where content can be uploaded by a producer, studio and revenue is divided by smart contract. This he said has advantages over a centralised culture of bureaucracy. People wanting to make a show will have access to thousands of investor groups around the world rather than three to four programming people at centralized networks.

Also, groups of enthusiasts who are outside the professional cultural establishment will have, he predicted, a greater tendency to embrace ideas that are unusual, contrarian or are ahead of the curve. These groups will not be pattern matchers. They will be enthusiasts for a particular genre, talent. They do not have a reason not to embrace something that is different, cutting edge. They will not have bureaucratic resistance to doing something different. This is a strange weakness that develops with professionalisation. A decentralised system becomes like artificial intelligence (A.I.) which means being free of biases and being open to the next thing.

He ended by saying that a streaming service that gives creators creative autonomy and ownership will attract top talent. Attracting top talent will ensure that one wins. This is a model with a Superbowl advantage. He said that the decentralised system will distribute power out from a very concentrated group today to producers, artists and will be as transformative as any previous change including subscription video-on-demand. This is the other thing that his company is building, he said.

During his 13 years association with Amazon, Roy founded Amazon Video and Amazon Studios. He has been one of the most successful Emmy and Golden Globe-winning executives, having developed blockbuster shows like Transparent, Fleabag, Catastrophe, Marvellous Mrs Maisel, The Boys, Mozart in the Jungle. Bosch, Maid in Heaven, Tumble Leaf, Kim Possible, Teacher’s Pet, and Patriot – holding testimony to his experience and creative flair.

As the CEO and founder of International Art Machine, Roy intends to build a new ecosystem for premium content creation; bringing together great talent, storytellers and platforms by melting borders and telling meaningful stories with universal sensibilities.

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Brands

Netflix India names Rekha Rane director of films and series marketing

Streaming giant bets on a seasoned marketer who helped build Amazon and Netflix into household names

Published

1 week ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Netflix has put a proven brand builder at the helm of its films and series marketing in India, naming Rekha Rane as director in a move that signals sharper focus on audience growth and cultural cut-through in one of its most hotly contested markets.

Rane steps into the role after seven years at Netflix, where she has quietly shaped how the platform sells stories to India. Her latest promotion, effective February 2026, crowns a run that spans brand, slate and product marketing across originals, licensed content and new verticals such as games.

A strategic marketing and communications professional with roughly 15 years’ experience, Rane has spent much of her career building technology-led consumer businesses and new categories, notably e-commerce and subscription video on demand. She was part of the early push that introduced Amazon.in, Prime Video and Netflix to Indian homes, then helped turn them into everyday brands.

At Netflix, she most recently served as head of brand and slate marketing for India from March 2024 to February 2026, leading teams across media and marketing for global and local content portfolios. Before that, as manager for original films and series marketing, she led IP creation and go-to-market strategy for titles including Guns and Gulaabs, Kaala Paani, The Railway Men* and The Great Indian Kapil Show, spanning both binge and weekly-release formats.

Her earlier Netflix roles covered product discovery and promotion in India and integrated campaign strategy to drive conversations around the content slate, product awareness and brand-equity metrics.

Before Netflix, Rane logged more than three years at Amazon in brand marketing roles in Bengaluru. There she handled national and regional campaigns for Amazon.in, worked on customer assistance programmes in growth geographies and contributed to the go-to-market strategy for the launch of Prime Video India.

Her career began well away from streaming. At Reliance Brands in Mumbai, she worked on retail marketing for Diesel and Superdry. A stint at Leo Burnett saw her work on primary research for P&G Tide, mapping Indian shoppers’ paths to purchase. Earlier still, at Orange in the United Kingdom, she rose from sales assistant to store manager, running a team and owning monthly P&L for a retail outlet.

The arc is telling. As global streamers fight for attention in a crowded Indian market, executives who understand both mass retail behaviour and digital habit-building are prized. Rane’s career sits at that intersection.

For Netflix, the bet is simple: in a market spoilt for choice, sharp marketing can still tilt the screen. And with Rane now leading the charge, the streamer is signalling it wants not just viewers, but fandom.

Brands

Orient Beverages pops the fizz with steady Q3 gains and rising profits

Kolkata-based beverage maker reports stronger revenues and profits for December quarter.

Published

1 week ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: A fizzy quarter with a steady aftertaste that’s how Orient Beverages Limited, the company that manufactures and distributes packaged drinking water under the brand name Bisleri closed the December 2025 period, as the Kolkata-based drinks maker reported improved revenues and a healthy rise in profits, signalling operational stability in a competitive beverage market.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, Orient Beverages posted standalone revenue from operations of Rs 39.98 crore, up from Rs 36.42 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 33.53 crore in the same quarter last year. Total income for the quarter stood at Rs 42.24 crore, reflecting consistent demand and stable pricing across its beverage portfolio.

Profit before tax for the quarter came in at Rs 3.47 crore, a sharp improvement from Rs 1.31 crore in the September quarter and Rs 0.39 crore a year ago. After accounting for tax expenses of Rs 0.79 crore, the company reported a net profit of Rs 2.68 crore, nearly three times the Rs 0.99 crore recorded in the preceding quarter.

On a nine-month basis, the momentum remained intact. Revenue from operations for the period ended December 31, 2025 rose to Rs 117.66 crore, compared with Rs 106.95 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net profit for the nine months climbed to Rs 5.51 crore, more than double the Rs 2.18 crore reported in the same period of the previous financial year.

The consolidated numbers told a similar story. For the December quarter, consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 45.06 crore, while profit after tax came in at Rs 2.06 crore. For the nine-month period, consolidated revenue touched Rs 133.57 crore, with net profit of Rs 4.49 crore, underscoring the group’s improving profitability trajectory.

Operating expenses remained largely controlled, with cost of materials, employee benefits and other expenses broadly aligned with revenue growth. The company continued to operate within a single reportable segment beverages simplifying its cost structure and reporting framework.

The unaudited financial results were reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on 7 February 2026. Statutory auditors carried out a limited review and reported no material misstatements in the results.

In a market where margins are often squeezed by input costs and competition, Orient Beverages’ latest numbers suggest the company has found a reliable rhythm not explosive, but steady enough to keep the fizz alive.

MAM

Washington Post CEO exits abruptly after newsroom cuts spark backlash

Leadership change follows layoffs, protests and a bruising battle over trust.

Published

1 week ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: When the presses are rolling but patience runs out, even the editor’s chair isn’t safe. The Washington Post announced on Saturday that its chief executive and publisher Will Lewis is stepping down with immediate effect, bringing a sudden end to a turbulent two-year tenure marked by financial strain, newsroom unrest and public backlash.

Lewis’s exit comes just days after the Bezos-owned newspaper announced sweeping job cuts that triggered protests outside its Washington headquarters and a wave of anger from readers and staff. While newspapers across the US are grappling with shrinking revenues and digital disruption, Lewis’s leadership had increasingly come under fire for how those pressures were handled.

The Post confirmed that Jeff D’Onofrio, a former Tumblr CEO who joined the organisation last year as chief financial officer, has taken over as CEO and publisher, effective immediately. In an email to staff, later shared by reporters on social media, Lewis said it was “the right time for me to step aside.”

The leadership change follows the announcement of large-scale redundancies earlier this week. While the Post did not officially confirm numbers, The New York Times reported that around 300 of the paper’s roughly 800 journalists were laid off. Entire teams were dismantled, including the Post’s Middle East bureau and its Kyiv-based correspondent covering the war in Ukraine.

Sports, graphics and local reporting were sharply reduced, and the paper’s daily podcast, Post Reports, was suspended. On Thursday, hundreds of journalists and supporters gathered outside the Post’s downtown office in protest, calling the cuts a blow to public-interest journalism.

Former executive editor Marty Baron described the moment as “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations.”

Lewis defended his record in his farewell note, saying “difficult decisions” were taken to secure the paper’s long-term future and protect its ability to publish “high-quality nonpartisan news”. But his tenure coincided with growing scrutiny of editorial independence at the Post.

Owner Jeff Bezos faced criticism for reining in the paper’s traditionally liberal editorial page and blocking an endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 US election. The move was widely seen as breaking the long-standing firewall between ownership and editorial decision-making.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, around 250,000 digital subscribers cancelled their subscriptions after the paper declined to endorse Harris. The Post reportedly lost about $100 million in 2024 as advertising and subscription revenues slid.

While the wider newspaper industry continues to battle declining print advertising and the pull of social media, some national titles have stabilised. Rivals such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have managed to build sustainable digital businesses, a turnaround that has so far eluded the Post despite its billionaire backing.

As Jeff D’Onofrio steps into the role, the challenge is stark, restore confidence inside the newsroom, win back readers who walked away, and prove that one of America’s most storied newspapers can still find its footing in a brutally competitive media landscape.