Category: iWorld

How T-Series hit a Billion views on YouTube

It’s India’s No 1 music company. Now it has also got the nametag of becoming a YouTube billionaire. T-Series‘ Youtube channel crossed the billion views milestone in just a span of two years since it took the digital route. Some 2.3 million subscribers helped it get there.

So what is it with T-Series’ YouTube initiative that has struck a chord with the digital generation? Let’s take a look:

It’s content, content, content

For starters, its got the most massy content – music of the biggest films out there on its mainstream Bollywood Channel, Take a look at what visitors get to consume on the T-Series home page: the music, trailers of Aashiqui 2, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Fukrey, Lootera, Chennai Express, Policegiri and Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobaara. Can you get more popular content than that?

India‘s music king Bhushan Kumar has a billion reasons to celebrate

T-Series has over the 30 years of its existence spent top-dollar to acquire the rights to the music of some of Bollywood’s biggest blockbusters. The music of this huge catalogue has also been ported on to its YouTube channels, making for a treasure trove for music lovers.

Then the T-Series Youtube presence is marked by many sub-channels like Apna Punjab for Punjabi Pop, Hamaar Bhojpuri for Bhojpuri content, Bhakti Sagar for spiritual music, Pop Chartbusters for Indipop videos, Shabad for Punjabi Devotional content, Bollywood Classics for 1980‘s and 1990‘s content, regional music channels and channels dedicated to full length Bollywood movies and Indian classical music.

Though some of these channels don’t get humungous views, they go to service the long tail of consumers and cumulatively add up to large numbers.

“These are targeted at niche audiences and we are really happy the way they have panned out. Hamaar Bhojpuri has seen really exciting numbers and has been getting views from as far as Argentina, Brazil, Germany and Middle East,” explains T Series president Neeraj Kalyan who looks after the label’s digital initiatives.

Ok, it’s not just the content, it’s what you do with it, that counts

“We experiment with our content and try to learn from our audiences which in turn help us improve ourselves,” explains Kalyan. “Nothing is fixed like a normal brand page of a mobile company or a cosmetic product, our product is music which is very personal and has the highest level of emotional connect with the consumers. Content programming on social media is as important as it is for television or radio.”

T-Series’ endeavor with YouTube has always been to improve consumer interaction and make it it more interesting and engaging. Hence, it has innovative concepts like Audio and Video Jukeboxes, Bollywood Twisters, Lyrical Videos, Song of the Day and Fan of the week, which lures consumers into coming back.

What else does it focus on? “Metadata building, tags, annotations, SEO are all standard procedures and needs constant focus to succeed in this space,” says Kalyan.

“These require tremendous perseverance and have to be build up step by step.”

Ok, you have played with the content. Now you have to promote it like hell using other social media where you have diehard fans.

T-Series has a strong presence on other social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and G+. Its official Facebook page has 608,436 likes and hundreds of thousands of visitors at any time talking about the channel and its music. On Twitter, T-Series has around 19,627 active followers. @TSeries is buzzing with tweets and re-tweets every couple of hours. The numerous fan-driven handles of its popular movies are busy re-tweeting and sharing every update, thus adding to the social buzz – and the traffic thereof. Then it has 1.5 million people in its G+ circles, a sizeable number no doubt.

“Social media is not like old school media, it’s a more personal medium which is primarily driven by peer activities, their likes and dislikes and if one has to enter their personal space one has to become their friends instead of a brand page. The prime focus of our strategy is to make friends instead of likes, subscriber or followers on our social media accounts.” Kalyan reveals.

Then the T-Series digital team changes its social messaging strategy as per its content offerings. And it uses the entire strength of its social media to promote each major piece of content. For example, for a Salman Khan film, the entire social plan revolves around Salman Khan. And the zillions of tweets, updates, pictures, videos all cumulatively work to create even more buzz adding to the views.

Work with Youtube, and get it to push your content

By virtue of its being one of the larger players on YouTube in India, T-Series content, from time to time gets the nudge from the latter’s content team led by Manan Singhi in India. What that means is that, when visitors log on to the YouTube home page they are given prompts to visit the T Series channel as it is listed as among the more viewed ones.

Build a digital team

Kalyan personally supervises T-Series’ dedicated in-house digital team – though small – of around eight to 10 people. The average age is about 25-26 years, while Neeraj is 44. Says he: “T-Series’ digital team has been the winning mantra for us and will always

The T-Series digital team is constantly on the go to keep visitors and viewers of its social media outlets engaged

remain at the core of this success. We have genre specific experts managing all our channels and are currently busy with audience building for the niche channels. Our team interacts with fans on an every day basis; gives regular response to their queries, accepts criticism. We reward fans and recognize them online, which adds to their pride and improves interaction and helps in building a strong brand – consumer relationship.”

The one billion views achievement has already got him praise from an effervescent T-Series chairman & managing director Bhushan Kumar.

T-Series‘ digital driver Neeraj Kalyan

“I would like to dedicate this success to all our fans all over the world that have helped us reach this milestone. I would like to congratulate my entire in-house digital team and the YouTube team for this tremendous feat. We look forward to achieving greater heights with our dedication and passion to offer quality content and experience to our discerning consumers worldwide,” says he.

Kalyan says the past two years of T-Series’ association with YouTube have been a great learning and he hopes to put those learnings to help T-Series leapfrog further. “We will get to our next billion in double quick time,” he says. “I am sure we will.”

With that kind of confidence, he well might.

July 5, 2013
Voice your opinion on ‘Opinion Square’, a game introduced by Foreseegame.com

MUMBAI: Have an opinion on trending topics? Log on to Foreseegame.com. This unique game portal has introduced a new category of interesting and thought-provoking games called ‘Opinion Square’. The game helps in understanding the opinion of Indians on various trending topics.

The latest from ‘Opinion Square’ is a set of ten games for smart phones which caters to the need of the gadget-savvy generation of today. This new set of games on smart phone is designed to explore the mindset of the consumers and their preferences regarding the smart phones they buy and use.

Foreseegame.com which received an overwhelming response to this new set of opinion-based games, prepared a survey report in association with Microsec Research based on these results. Microsec Research is the research wing of Microsec Capital having experienced analysts across sectors.

17,000 users of www.foreseegame.com participated in this survey, who were registered only on the basis of unique mobile numbers. The participation was monitored by Google.

The report brings out a number of interesting facts about the growing smart phone market like consumers’ preference for touch screen phones, high-tech features, operating system and social networking on the go.

The report states that majority of the buyers consider the operating system while buying a phone. Interestingly, Android holds the lion’s share amongst the most preferred operating systems. Blackberry and Windows, with almost equal fondness, are contesting for the distant second position.

Touch screen rules the market while touch and type is the second preference. Sole keypad usage is fading away. Buying trend shows that most of the people like to buy a smart phone either with E.M.I without interest or one-time payment.

Communication on the go is the best utility of smart phones and getting in touch via messengers such as WhatsApp and BBM wins the race. Respondents showed hesitance in using mobile banking due to data security issues and uneasiness of operating.

Consumers today look for innovation related to battery like long lasting battery, wireless charger, solar power chargeable battery and link to home care management like integrated remote control for TV, A.C., home robot and car key.

The report also states that even with the multiple features attached with mobile phone, it fails to replace the utility of a watch, which is still used to check time.

The report has got the pulse of Indian consumers in relation to the fast growing smart phone market.

July 2, 2013
Boredom and amusement lead most to use social media on Internet for cyberbullying

NEW DELHI: Research shows that boredom and amusement are behind many incidents of cyberbullying and trolling on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Lancaster University in the United Kingdom has said in its study that those who engage in trolling – Internet user behaviour that is meant to intentionally anger or frustrate someone else in order to provoke a response – do so for their own amusement and because they are bored.

Dr Claire Hardaker, a linguistics expert from the University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, studied almost 4,000 online cases involving claims of trolling.

According to a report in The Independent newspaper, trolls operate out of a feeling of power, amusement, boredom and revenge and thrive on the anonymity which the internet provides, she found. The research identified seven tactics used by trolls to bombard their victims with insults and threats.

The seven tactics include digressing from the topic at hand, especially onto sensitive topics, and hypocriticising – pedantic criticism of grammar, spelling or punctuation in a post which itself contains proof-reading errors. Antipathising, by taking up an alienating position, asking pseudo-naive questions is another tactic used by trolls besides giving dangerous advice and encouraging risky behaviour. Trolls also employ ‘shock strategy’ by being insensitive about sensitive topics, explicit about taboo topics, etc. They also provoke others by insulting or threatening them.

They may cross-post – sending the same offensive or provocative message to multiple groups then waiting for the response. “Aggression, deception and manipulation are increasingly part of online interaction, yet many users are unaware not only that some of these behaviours exist, but of how destructive and insidious they can be,” Hardaker said. She also found that while trolling is associated with the young, trolls come from all ages and backgrounds.

“An incredible amount of time and strategy can be involved in trolling, as my research into the techniques they use highlights,” she said. She warned that trolling can in some cases develop into more serious behaviour, including cyberharassment and cyberstalking.

July 2, 2013
worldoo.com launches doo Comics

MUMBAI: worldoo.com, India’s first online ecosystem for kids, have announced the launch of doo Comics. The comic will be exclusively available on worldoo.com.

worldoo.com will create 8 parts of the series “The Discovery of worldoo” and the first edition of the same is named as “The Last Mission”. worldoo.com will release one edition of these series each month and will also add some new titles over the course of the next year.

The first comic talks about worldoo’s peace-loving character – Nakamota, a topography expert and his efforts to find some help for him to get back to city from the island where he was stuck after his plane had crashed during the World War II.

“We are thrilled to launch the first digital edition of The Last Mission on worldoo.com, as we have always embraced original ideas from our own character(s). With the launch of doo Comics on worldoo.com, we see it as a continuation of our on-going commitment to delivering quality, original experiences online to the kids”, said worldoo.com experience & brand head Harsh Wardhan Dave.

worldoo.com’s mission is to take comic books far beyond the printed page and into the digital world. With worldoo’s wide online following, it is hopeful to help bring its stories to millions of new readers every week.

Worldoo.com got a good response from kids on the digital platform, within the launch of two months the website attracted 18,000+ kids in a short span of time. Worldoo.com has got around 1.13 lakh unique visitors and over 2.5 million page views till now. Kids are loving worldoo.com – as a result, average time spent is close to nine minutes and 11 page views are happening per visit, which is very encouraging for the platform.

July 1, 2013
Monetising OTT: Competing in a new game

SINGAPORE: In this session at BroadcastAsia 2013, Ericsson, sr. director, innovation and business development, content and enabler Jon M Sonsteby focused on how best to monetise from over the top services.

He began his session with a very sleekly executed pre-roll advertisement and at the end he exclaimed, “Pre-roll is great, but let’s think outside the pre-roll ad. How can we best monetise from the OTT platform?”

According to the Consumerlab Annual Research, which Sonsteby used during his presentation, Social TV is really exploding – as more than 60 per cent people use social forums while watching TV – these numbers reveal the results of 100,000 respondents, and reflects the views of nearly 1.1 billion consumers from more than 40 countries globally.

Referring to the Ericsson ConsumerLab TV Video Consumer trends 2012, Sonsteby stressed on the fact that consumers are not canceling their traditional TV subscriptions on a larger scale, though the traction for OTT is growing.

He further went on to explain the trend of scheduled broadcast TV falling from 92 per cent to 87 per cent between 2010 and 2012; the drastic fall in the trend of recorded broadcast TV from 61 per cent in 2010 to a mere 45 per cent in 2012. Whereas, DVD/Blue-ray witnessed a minor fall from 48 per cent to 45 per cent between 2010 and 2012 and PPV a rise by a per cent from 19 per cent to 20 per cent between 2010 and 2012.

In terms of on-demand habits, the consumer’s TV/video consumption on a weekly basis or more has witnessed a rise in short video clips e.g. YouTube from 58 to 62 per cent between 2010 and 2012; even streamed or downloaded movies or TV shows witnessed a rise from 54 per cent to 59 per cent from 2010 to 2012.

Sonsteby also mentioned how basic broadcast viewing has slowly migrated from internet based on-demand to multi-screen experience. He further dwelled into the change in social TV habits, where the maximum hike was witnessed during browsing the internet while watching television from 64 per cent in 2011 to 83 per cent in 2012 and the use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs) rising from 44 per cent in 2011 to 62 per cent in 2012.

“The important features that consumers are on the lookout for include: excellent video quality, simple user interface, A la cart TV/video service, ad free telecasts, a diverse availability of content and theatrical releases that come on TV too,” Sonsteby explained.

Finally, coming to monetising from OTT, he said, “There are two possibilities to monetise from OTT, one being use of portal ads that include banner, text or rich media and the second being non-portal ads, which include in-stream ads (pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll) and out-stream ads also called overlay ads.”

Summing up his session, Sonsteby mentioned that consumers want content anytime, anywhere and access across any device or platform. He also mentioned that social media is the go to place in the future and broadcasters or content owners want to continue building brand loyalty and look at newer revenue streams to receive from consumers directly.

June 19, 2013
ICC to deliver official fantasy cricket game for upcoming ICC Champions Trophy

MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the launch of an official Fantasy League game for the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.

The ICC Champions Trophy 2013 is being played across England and Wales from 6 – 23 June.

The game will give fans from around the globe the opportunity to pick their own ‘dream’ team from the eight Champions Trophy squads and pit their wits against fellow entrants, known as managers.

Selection begins with the balance of the side – you can choose to either favour more batsmen, more all-rounders or more bowlers – the would-be-manager then has to select their playing XI and allocate a captain who scores double points.

Teams can contain up to three players from one international side for the group stages (extending to six for the semi-finals and final), and furthermore only three from inside the top ten of the Reliance ICC ODI Rankings in batting, bowling or all-rounder position.

Team changes are unlimited until the start of the tournament and a manager can make up to 10 team changes during the Group Stages, reacting to injuries, form and fixture schedules.

Changes are also unlimited between the end of the Group Stages and the first semi-final and up to two further changes can then be made between the second semi-final and the final.

Captain changes are unlimited and can therefore be changed prior to every single match.

ICC GM commercial Campbell Jamieson said, “An aspect of the ICC’s global strategy is to create a better level of fan engagement, and the Fantasy League game is just one of the ways we plan to do this for this event and moving forward.

“I’m sure every cricket fan in the world has mulled over who he or she would select in their ideal team, if they had that opportunity – and now they have the chance.”

Fantasy League head of business development Luke Boyle commented, “We are delighted to be able to offer this exclusive game for the biggest International cricket tournament of the year. We hope fans get involved with choosing their ideal team and it all adds to the overall excitement of the tournament this summer in England and Wales.”

May 22, 2013
Country branding on Twitter

MUMBAI: There is scope for country branding on Twitter. Only nine governments out of the 193 UN member states own their country name Twitter handle.

@GreatBritain, @Israel, and @Sweden are notable examples of nations promoting themselves on Twitter. @GreatBritain is part of the ‘Britain is Great’ campaign launched in March 2012 to highlight everything that is great about the UK. The country marketing campaign, led by a central team at Number10 involves UK Trade & Investment, VisitBritain,
the national tourism agency, Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the British Council.

The @GreatBritain account, which only has 4,021 followers, is just one small part of the overall campaign which ran in 17 cities around the world and which has attracted more than 835,000 likes on its 13 different Facebook pages.
The account tweets about everything that is great about Britain, from Team GB’s success at the London Olympics, to investment in the UK and great sites to visit in the UK. Its most popular tweet was about Prime Minister David Cameron’s favourite music, sent on 14 May 2012 and retweeted 166 times: “The Prime Minister has chosen his favourite album of all time. It’s The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd! #Music is #GREATBritain”.

@Israel is the country’s official Twitter channel, maintained by the Foreign Ministry’s Digital Diplomacy Team. The account is one of the most followed country accounts with more than 66,000 followers and serves as the focal point for Israel’s government Twitter activity.

The Swedish government has given its official Twitter handle to the people. Every week another Swede is in charge of the @Sweden account sharing recommendations, opinions and facts about life in Sweden with over 65,000 followers. The Curators of Sweden project was launched in December 2011 and, despite some unfortunate tweets, has been copied
with varying success by @Ireland and @NewZealand. The project has also inspired volunteer groups in over 20 countries to engage in what has become known as the rotation-curation movement.

The Twitter accounts of @AntiguaBarbuda, @Barbados, @Lithuania, the @Maldives, @SouthAfrica, and @Spain are run by their respective official tourism organisations to promote tourism in each country.

However, three out of five country accounts are either protected, dormant, inactive, or suspended and almost half of the 71 remaining active accounts are tweeting an automated news feed broadcasting news about the country.

These details were provided by Burson-Marsteller in the second installment of its Twiplomacy study (http://twiplomacy.com), looking specifically at country branding on Twitter.

Burson-Marsteller EMEA Digital Practice head Matthias Lüfkens said, “Looking at the findings it becomes clear that few governments and tourism organisations have understood the power of country branding and marketing on Twitter. There is a huge opportunity for countries to use Twitter as part of their communications to engage with a large and
growing audience.”

Data used was taken in November 2012 looking at the Twitter handles of the 193 UN member countries. Burson-Marsteller used Twitonomy (http://twitonomy.com) to analyze tweeting patterns and the Twitter history of each account.

November 20, 2012

STB duties waived, duty on convergence products cut to 5%

NEW DELHI: In the 2008-09 budget, the Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram has no major giveaway to the media and entertainment sector except in the areas of convergence and digitalisation.

The budget has waived duties on the set-top boxes, giving a boost to the cable TV, direct-to-home (DTH) and IPTV operators. Chidambaram has also reduced duty on convergence products from 10 per cent to 5 per cent.

Presenting the budget, Chidambaram said specific parts of STBs and specified raw materials for use in IT and electronic hardware industry have been fully exempted from customs duty.

The minister also announced that to establish parity between devices used in the information/communication sector and the entertainment sector, he was reducing the customs duty on convergence products by half.

While the announcement partly meets the demand by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation relating to STBs, it has failed to meet the long-standing demands of the film industry articulated through various organisations including Ficci and representations to the Information and Broadcasting ministry.

Noting that India‘s music, literature, dance, art, cuisine and especially films are attracting huge interest around the world, Chidambaram announced a provision of Rs 750 million to the Indian Council of Cultural Relations to design and implement a programme to project these in a sophisticated and subtle manner. He described this as the ‘soft power‘ of India.

In a move that may help the printing and newspaper industry, Chidambaram announced reduction of the excise duty from 12 to 8 per cent on “paper, paper board and articles made therefrom manufactured out of non-conventional raw materials by units not having an attached bamboo/wood pulp making plant.” There would be a further reduction on clearances up to 3,500 tonnes from 8 per cent to nil. Furthermore, the excise duty on certain varieties of writing, printing and packing paper will be reduced from 12 per cent to 8 per cent.

February 29, 2008

Music industry seeks protection of IPR, enforcement of laws

Music industry seeks protection of IPR, enforcement of laws

MUMBAI: Riding high on technological changes, the music industry and its affiliates in India are not seeking much intervention from the finance minister this time round, except for better enforcement of laws.

The Indian Music Industry (IMI), the body that looks after the interests of most of the music companies in the country, says that there is not much it expects from the Union Budget. But the Phonographic Performances Limited (PPL), the licencing arm of the IMI, is looking at some concrete intervention.

PPL CEO Vipul Pradhan believes there should be a provision in the budget to reduce the VAT on cassettes. He says, “We are hoping the government reduces the VAT on cassettes, which is 12 per cent currently. The VAT applicable on CDs is four per cent which makes it more feasible for the people to opt for CDs instead of the audio cassettes. Reducing the VAT on cassettes also at four per cent will help in their sales.”

“Also, the government has to undertake some kind of initiative for protection of intellectual property and rights. The growth of a country is determined by and large by the sale of computer and entertainment software and piracy is killing the industry. So, it is necessary to form a separate body to protect the intellectual property and also funding is required to educate the common masses about the ill effects of piracy,” adds Pradhan.

The governing body for the music industry down south, Simca, too is not looking for drastic changes, but a stricter adherence to prevailing laws. Simca general secretary SL Saha says, “There are no budgetary or fiscal requirements that I expect in the budget but proper enforcement of the prevailing acts to promote the industry.”

PDM Entertainment COO Aman Anand, who recently organised the Sunburn Music Festival in Goa, wants a lowering of entertainment tax in the budget.

Mobile content company DNS Networks is looking at tax benefits for producers and film making companies, to enable good production values in films, which in turn help mobile content get marketed profitably throughout the world. “Mobile content based on movies, including music, will get an indirect but big boost if filmmaking corporate houses can avail of these tax benefits,” says DNA Networks’ MD Devashish Mishra.

The Internet and Mobile Association of India’s wishlist for the Union Budget recommends that the nascent e-commerce industry in the country be encouraged by the removal of service tax on online internet transactions done through credit cards, debit cards and net banking transactions, a move that might help the online music stores that have been started by some music companies and content aggregators in the country.

The IAMAI has also recommended that the state governments be directed not to impose entertainment tax on internet and broadband services.

People Infocom CEO Manoj Dawane says, “The Indian Mobile VAS Industry is on a growth path, and the times ahead promise opportunities that will need to be capitalized on and avenues that will have to be chartered. Given the existing scenario, we hope for a Budget that provides our space the support to make the most of the opportunities presented.

“Telecom and media are two of the most important interrelated industries for the MVAS space. Considering both these sectors, we would look forward to the implementation of a single levy system for the telecom sector making telecom services more affordable. We would also look forward to some relief in the Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT).”

“It would be favorable for service tax regulations to be kept simple, which will result in increased compliance and greater tax collections, along with making Tax filings and administration simpler and taxpayer friendly,” adds Dawane.

February 27, 2008

FICCI submits its wishlist to Fin Min for M&E sector
NEW DELHI: National industry body Ficci has demanded that the government must give several tax exemptions and holidays to let the animation, gaming and VFX industries, which is growing faster than the overall entertainment industry, realise its full potential.

Ficci has demanded in the budget for 2008, the government must give a 10-year tax holiday, removal of service and sales taxes on the software used for production for 10 years, exemption of import duty on hardware for 10 years, and other facilitating measures.

Interestingly, it says also that as there is no Indian channel with 24 X 7 indigenous animation content, 10 per cent of the time on entertainment channels must be reserved for such content. This will give local content and talent a major boost.

The memorandum from Ficci says that though the animation, gaming and VFX industry is growing in leaps and bounds, the full potential is yet to be tapped, despite the projection that the industry would grow hugely by next year.

Ficci estimates show that the animation industry today stands at Rs 13 billion and is expected to grow to Rs 43 billion by year 2009, with a CAGR of 35 per cent.

Similarly, the gaming industry is expected to grow from Rs 360 million to Rs 13.50 billion by 2009, with a CAGR of 78 per cent.

“The growth rate in these sectors are much higher than overall media & entertainment sector, which is expected to grow at a rate of 19 per cent,” says Ficci. The industry could be a major export revenue earner as well as provide massive employment.

Ficci says that after Information Technology, the biggest export earners for India are Animation, Gaming and VFX, but the overall business model existing at present, which is a low-end BPO approach, is stunting its growth.

The Ficci document stresses: “Exports in this vertical can be looked in two ways: one, a purely outsourcing model in which production houses provide services to overseas studios. This is low-end work in the value chain with more of a BPO approach.

“The other is revenues earned from exporting the finished product (the intellectual property developed in India for domestic / foreign markets) to global audiences.

“Both the models have tremendous potential for foreign exchange earning for India. But it is better in the long term if we move up the value chain and have indigenous content with both domestic and foreign appeal.”

Ficci estimates that in the next five years, India would require more than 30,000 trained animators and gaming professionals.

“If this industry is nurtured properly, it can meet the government‘s objective of employment generation, and the latter should aid in the setting up of centres of excellence on the lines of IITs and IIMs for the animation and gaming industry,” says Ficci.

Ficci feels that the other direct impact of aiding these industries would be building Brand India better, by engaging the country‘s massive talent pool in creating content for Indian as well as global audiences by transferring India‘s 5,000-year-old time- tested legends into the new media.

“Animation could be another way of creating “Brand India” among NRIs / PIOs and other global audiences. Currently when India is increasingly garnering attention in the world arena, it is the right time to reach outwards through this medium,” Ficci says.

Ficci points out to models of Korea, China, Singapore, etc., which enjoyed their respective government support, so much so that 40 per cent of the animated content in the US is Japanese.

“The reason for such a pattern is that countries like Japan and Canada have developed very strong domestic markets, and once a domestic market gets enough consumable content, the same can be routed for exports,” says the memorandum.

Ficci reminds that the Korean government sees animation as the most competitive industry for the 21st century, and has provided massive tax reliefs.

“(Korean) application guidelines specify that companies whose projects have been accepted by a Korean broadcaster can apply for up to 40 per cent of their production budget,” Ficci says, demonstrating the massive support system there.

So far as the animation industry is concerned, Ficci says that it is now covered under Software Technology Parks of India.

The problem, says Ficci, is that this holds good for a BPO nature of work where outsourcing is the main module and most of the studios which are getting benefited from STPI have to make sure of an export commitment of more than 85 per cent.

“As a result many Indian studios wanting to produce original content based intellectual property and use art and talent from India to produce animation stories do not get any such benefits,” explains the memorandum.

Creating original content in India attracts custom duty and also the freshly levied sales tax (VAT) on off the shelf software (12.2 per cent, which might increase further) and further also the income tax component.

“This is leading to more and more studios working on foreign content and a severe lack of animated Indian stories in our domestic television schedules,” laments Ficci.

Hence Ficci‘s key proposals for the animation, gaming and VFX industries are
- Tax holiday for 10 (ten) years, so that cost of creating intellectual property (original content) comes down drastically and the industry becomes viable
- Removal of Service Tax
- Removal of Sales Tax on the Software used for Animation, Gaming & VFX production for a period of 10 years
- Exemption of Import duty on hardware for a period of 10 years
- Market Development Assistance for overseas business promotion
- 10 per cent mandatory local content on the networks to began with
“Finally, we feel there is negligible revenue accruing to the exchequer currently as no new Indian IP is getting created. If a tax holiday is given, revenue will flow into the exchequer funds in a couple of years as the industry will gain impetus and encouragement to grow. In this regard the IT sector can be looked at as a role model,” says the Ficci memorandum.
February 26, 2008