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  • ABAI: KAVGC Summit kicks off in Bengaluru

    ABAI: KAVGC Summit kicks off in Bengaluru

    BENGALURU: The Karnataka Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (KAVGC) Summit organised by the Association of Bangalore Animation Industry (ABAI, in collaboration with the government of Karnataka kicked off in Bengaluru last evening. Indian as well as international stakeholders from the animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC) industry saw Karnataka’s minister for IT, BT and S&T S R Patil inaugurate the two day event at the Hotel Chancery Pavilion.

     

    Amongst those present during the inaugural ceremony was the Karnataka government’s principal secretary, IT, BT and S&T I S N Prasad.

     

    During his inaugural speech, Patil said that Karnataka state government’s thrust was on capacity building for the KAVGC industry and wanted to make Karnataka and Bangalore the preferred KAVGC destination.  He informed that this year, globally the estimated $153 billion KAVGC had a CAGR of 10 per cent, while in India it was growing much faster at about 22 per cent CAGR and was expected to reach five billion dollars this year. He said that a state funded post production and processing facility similar to the ones in Mumbai and Chennai would soon be inaugurated in Karnataka.

     

    He further said the state government was willing to work with bodies such as Ficci that had made some progress in setting up the curriculum for education courses.

     

    While echoing Patil, Prasad said that the state government was willing to listen to the KAVGC industry and act accordingly. “Karnataka will continue to lead the AVGC growth in India. We have partnered with a cross section of the digital content industries through ABAI,” said Prasad.

     

    Earlier, during his introductory remarks, ABAI president Biren Ghose set the tone for the summit when he said that the government and the ministry had been extremely strategic and extremely proactive in taking up a call from the industry.

     

    Speaking about the 2013 edition of KAVGC Summit, Ghose said, “The summit is meant to provide new direction to professionals and companies, highlighting growth and opportunity areas. It showcases our engagement with the academia, the government and industry and highlight the policy execution we have enabled as the roadmap for the next year.”

     

    The second ‘ABAI Leadership Excellence Award’ was conferred to Rajiv Chikalapudi, the creative and business force behind India’s animated phenomenon ‘Chhota Bheem’.

     

    Chikalapudi, during his keynote address detailed the long journey by his company Green Gold Animation to create and sustain a genuine IP success story including successes in merchandising and licensing. Chikalapudi said that a number of companies had great IP ready, but were afraid to pitching them. He exhorted these companies to go out and showcase their products, citing his own example – Chotta Bheem had been rejected twice before it was accepted by Pogo channel.

     

    The second keynote speaker Dreamwroks Country head Damian Froberville described the progress of the Indian Unit of Dreamworks and also gave some insights into the Asian scenario for global services. Froberville also said that the convergence between films and gaming was very much on the cards, but had not yet reached there. He said that this mattered to the players in the industry because of increased reliance on service providers with more content and shorter timelines of a product; and a lot more flexibility with VFX players doing a larger portion of game work.

     

    Among the other notable speakers and panelists included Greg Childs editorial director, The Children’s Media Conference; Jai Natarajan, Ceo, Xentrix Studios;  Owen Hurley, Creative head, Technicolor; Charles Gauthier Vice -consul and senior trade commissioner for India, Quebec office in Mumbai; Vsihal Dhupar, MD South Asia, NVDIA; Akhauri Sinha, MD, MPC, Bengaluru; Wil Braithwaite, Senior Applied Engineer-Digital Film, NVDIA; Ankur Bhasin; Ceo Bhasinsoft India Ltd; Vamsi Ayyagari, Management media professiona; AshishKulkarni, Ceo Reliance Animation.

     

    Notable additions to this year’s edition of KAVGC are the four Specialised Clinics – the IP Clinic; Technology Clinic; Co-production and Outsourcing Clinic; and the Pitching Clinic.

     

    The KAVGC Summit held annually for the last three years with the support of the government of Karnataka, continues to increase its focus on the business and industry of AVGC, aiming to provide a forum for knowledge sharing and improved connectivity among decision makers and stakeholders in the sector.

     

  • M&E industry need to grow at more than 12%

    M&E industry need to grow at more than 12%

    MUMBAI: The Media & Entertainment industry needs to get its act together to grow at a rate of more than 12.5 per cent to be on par with other sunshine sectors, said The Walt Disney Company India MD Ronnie Screwvala.

    Srewvala said the India M&E sector has success written all over it provided the industry comes out of its complacency. He also said that innovation and disruption will be the norm.

    "The industry is projected to grow at 12 per cent. However this growth is not enough as other sunshine sectors are growing at a much faster pace," said Disney India‘s head honcho.

    Screwvala was convinced that India has the creative talent that would help it take the next big leap.
    He also said that digitisation will change the dynamics of the broadcast industry. The early results of digitisation has been encouraging, he said.

    The benefits of digitisation will only trickle down after two to three years.

    "We have been waiting for digitisation for 20 years and it has finally happened," he said in a closing keynote address at Ficci Frames.

    Joining debate with the industry on ratings system, Srewvala said the solution for a robust television ratings agency lies within the industry. The fact that almost 70 per cent of television households are outside the current ratings system is a matter of concern, he added.

    On an optimistic note, he said that TAM is now covering more homes than it was covering earlier.

    New media is a huge opportunity for the industry. However, the key is to find the right business model. India is one of the biggest mobile phone markets, which is also encouraging.

    A Rs 1,000 crore blockbuster is not out of reach in future, he asserted.

    Print, unlike other markets, is still growing in India at a healthy pace. The India DTH market is the biggest in the world. However, monetisation remains a concern.

    On the contentious issue of censorship, an optimistic Screwvala said that India‘s track record is still commendable. The need, though, is to take it to the level of matured democracies.

    Regional market‘s, he said, had shown phenomenal growth and are the future growth markets. Understanding consumer will also be key to growth.

  • Govt firm on Phase 2 deadline, claims 60% digitisation in 38 cities

    Govt firm on Phase 2 deadline, claims 60% digitisation in 38 cities

    MUMBAI: The Information & Broadcasting secretary Uday Kumar Varma has asserted that the government is firm on 31 March deadline.

    Giving a keynote at the Valedictory session of Ficci Frames, Varma said that the second phase of digitisation is on track with 60 per cent of households already going digital.

    "Digitisation is happening smoothly. We have achieved 60 per cent digitisation in the second phase. Subsequent to 31 March, the process will be irreversible," Varma said.

    Out of the 38 cities that are going digital in the second phase, as many as 10 cities have achieved 75 per cent digitisation.

    Four cities have been slow in implementing digitisation, Varma added. These include Ranchi, Srinagar and one in Tamil Nadu, where the state government is vehemently opposed to digitisation.

    "Out of 16 million STBs that are to be installed, 10 million have already been installed while six million are yet to be installed. However, we are confident that these will be installed within the deadline period," Varma asserted.

    Varma also said that the industry needs to keep the spirit of alignment to take the digitisation to its logical conclusion. However, he hastened to add that digitisation is still an incomplete task as even in phase 1 only set-top box (STB) has been installed and other aspects like Subscriber Management System (SMS) and billing are yet to be put in place.

    Digitisation, Varma said, will correct the aberrations of business model in the broadcasting industry and usher in an era of transparency.

    He also said that the role of state government is important for effective implementation of digitisation.

    He reiterated that the government can step in to provide guidelines for an independent television audience measurement system should the industry ask for it.

    "We need a robust and healthy ratings measurement agency," he said.

  • Skewed biz model hampers electronic news media functioning

    Skewed biz model hampers electronic news media functioning

    MUMBAI: The electronic news industry is struggling against a business model of low subscription income, high carriage fees and commoditised content, experts said.

    “We are currently operating on a broken business model where subscription revenues are low and, thus, one has to depend heavily on advertising for revenues. The process of digitisation has started improving the scenario but we do have a long way to go,” said NDTV Ltd group CEO Vikram Chandra.

    Another challenge is that journalists as a breed are only just starting to adapt to new media. While there has been commoditisation of news, one must also realise that as technology is evolving journalists too need to upgrade. Instead of shirking or challenging new media, journalists can adopt means of using it to monetise news.

    Essel Group News Cluster Group CEO Dr Bhaskar Das said, “The goal should be to maintain objectivity of the news across platforms. We must remember that the consumer has become increasingly platform agnostic in news reception.”

    The silo mentality in the journalistic community is also a challenege that needs to be overcome. In an age where the consumer uses multiple forms of media, often simultaneously, journalists cannot afford to limit themselves to just one medium. They need to evolve and learn to be present and visible across mediums.

    “This is the reason why in our channels, we have made it mandatory for our reporters and journalists to be present across platforms and maintain blogs and Twitter accounts,” said Russia Today TV managing editor Prof Alexey Nikolov, while speaking at Ficci Frames.

    The session titled ‘Electronic News Media: Stock Taking and the Way Forward‘ discussed the challenges involved in running a news channel and explored ways to overcome these. The panel discussion was moderated by senior visiting fellow, national university of Singapore and author Dr Nalin Mehta.

    India News Editor-in-Chief Deepak Chaurasia threw light on the political arm-twisting that prevails and prevents news channels from reporting certain news. Another impediment faced by news channels is the monetary pressure applied by various multi-system operators (MSOs).

    “At the end of it, we are responsible for our own predicament. Many people with deep pockets have started news channels and have increased the carriage fees, which has affected all the other channels. There are no definite rules and this gives people with vested interests a chance to take advantage and pressurise channels,” he said.

    Nikolov also stressed that while social media has taken the front seat, the audience is now looking for credibility. So the trick now would be to sell trust, competency and different points of view rather than only news.

    Chandra added that in this case, trust can be built according to the niche that each channel wants to occupy. It depends on the ideology and the business model. In a country of India’s size and population, channels will find their own comfort zone and survive.

    On the topic of trust, Das said: “Trust is non-negotiable. What is worrisome is that trust has become subjective. Whose trust are we vying for today (as news channels)? Is it the viewers’ trust or the management’s trusts or the politicians’ trust or the advertisers’ trust? It is the audience’s trust that matters and today’s viewers are intelligent and astute enough to understand where the value of news lies. They can differentiate the trust worthy from that which is not and that’s why some news channels work, while others fail to attract the masses.”

    The silver lining, however, is that for the past one year the news channels, the government and other industry stakeholders have come together to discuss these matters. “It is a beginning. At least now we all agree that there is a shortcoming in the audience measurement system and process in the country. On the content side, there have been suggestions about framing a content code. In this case, the matter is too subjective and to reach a consensus is very difficult,” averred Chandra.

    The panel concluded that the need of the hour is to revamp the business model so that it is not heavily skewed towards one means of revenue, in this case advertising. Once that is resolved, the channels can take a stronger stand on content regulation.

    “The problems are complex and the fear of government interference plays a big role too. We have made a start and need to keep going as it is a long road ahead,” Das concluded.

  • India needs to build a second sport

    India needs to build a second sport

    MUMBAI: In a single sport country like India, it is important for all the stakeholders in sports industry to come together and build other sports besides cricket through a right model and create an ecosystem that works for everyone in the value chain – federations, broadcasters and fans.

    That, the experts believe, will reduce the dependency of sports broadcasters on cricket, which is becoming financially unviable due to steep rise in acquisition of properties
    Television is one of the most important components of popularising sports. It is broadcast rights fee that helps sporting bodies world over to fund the development of sports – whether it be creating infrastructure, developing talent or attracting talent.

    World Sport Group South Asia CEO Venu Nair believes the right model for any sports federation in India is to grow their sport by reaching out to as many people as possible. He also cautioned sports federations against blindly following the Indian Premier League (IPL) model.

    "Every other day you see an IPL-styled league with a new logo pasted on it. IPL became the success that it is because there was a thriving ecosystem in place before it launched. Other sports won‘t taste success by just emulating the IPL model," Nair said, while speaking at Ficci-Frames 2013.

    His suggestion to federations: Forge strategic partnerships with broadcasters where both rights owner and rights holder are equitable partners. He also suggested that the role of a public broadcaster should not be undermined in popularising a sport.

    "A sport like Football can become popular if it works with a public broadcaster. That will help a sport to be sampled by more people and then make it a habit for viewers to watch that sport," he averred.

    The credit for making cricket a huge success on television goes to Doordarshan, feels Nair.

    "There were lots of triggers that made Cricket popular. One of those was Doordarshan. People started following the sport because of Doordarshan. It played a large part in driving traction for cricket," said Nair during a panel discussion on ‘Sports: Economic viability and the crisis within‘.

    Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, who was moderating the session, pointed out how BSkyB built EPL into a powerhouse in UK.

    All India Football Federation (AIFF) General Secretary Kushal Das feels the quality of Indian football has to be on par with international football.

    "The problem with Indian football is not so much cricket as it is football itself. Today, football fans have access to the best of Football leagues whether it is EPL, La Liga or Bundesliga. When you compare Indian football with these top leagues, we don‘t match up," Das said.
     
    Indian football, he feels, suffers a double whammy of almost non-existent infrastructure and lack of talented players. Unless these issues are dealt with, Indian football will continue to suffer.

    Das said a partnership between a pubcaster and federation will only work if both the partners work in tandem towards the same goal. In the Indian context, he said the bad quality of production and commentary on DD can put off viewers who are exposed to international quality football.

    Another critical factor hampering the growth of non-cricket sports is the lack of clarity on scheduling. An annual calendar that lays down the schedule is important, not just from broadcasters point of view but also for a fan.

    Indian Football, in particular, suffers from scheduling problem that has been giving nightmares to AIFF‘s broadcast partner Ten Action+.

    Addressability & price cap de-regulation

    Sports broadcasters at the session batted for de-regulation of price cap on cricket which hasn‘t changed much since 2003 while the cost of cricket rights have gone North in the subsequent years. Cost is a structural issue which can only be addressed by ramping up subscription revenues.

    Star India Head of Sports Nitin Kureja said the government has to relax price regulation and let the market forces decide the price. "The revenue side has been a huge challenge. In fact, it has been a challenge to exploit all revenue streams. While the cost of cricket rights have gone up, the subscription revenue has not kept pace," Kukreja stated.

    "Regulation should have differential treatment for different sports," he added. Star India had bagged the BCCI media rights for Rs 38.51 billion till 2018.

    Neo Sports Broadcast COO Prasanna Krishnan opined that addressability was a bigger issue than price cap.

    "You can charge 1,000 rupees but if you don‘t know how many subscribers you have, it won‘t make much of a difference. So in my opinion, addressability is a bigger issue. Digitisation in that sense will be a game changer," Krishnan contended.

    He also felt that the mandatory sharing of feeds with the pubcaster has robbed the broadcasters of exclusivity. Pilferage of signals only worsens the situation for a sports broadcaster who has committed millions of dollars.

    "The public broadcaster in our country is too cricket-centric. That has to change if the intention is to air events of national importance. Why doesn‘t public broadcaster telecast I-League?," Krishnan questioned.

    He said the pubcaster is choosing events that are commercially viable.

    WSG‘s Nair, however, put the blame squarely on broadcasters for the broadcast rights going through the roof. "I am sure the broadcasters themselves know that they won‘t be able to recoup their investments when they bid for cricket rights. That is something that we should address. There are certain rights that have some value," he said.

    Concurring with Krishnan‘s view, IPL CEO Sundar Raman said sports broadcasting is driven by subscription income globally unlike India which is dependent on ad revenue that keeps fluctuating depending on seasons.

    "When you are dependent on ad revenue to recover your investments, you are at the mercy of media agencies. Across the globe, sports is driven by subscription. The amount of money that broadcasters get in India as subscription revenue is pittance," Raman explained.

    Raman said the addressability of audience is the single biggest challenge for the sports industry.

    Apart from addressability, the key to growing sports is to market it well, micro-targetting audience by going regional and exploiting other revenue streams, said Raman.

    On marketing front, Raman said the Hockey India League (HIL) did a good job which sports bodies can emulate. The marketing will help build a habit of strong viewing among viewers.

    Commentary, he said, is also an important aspect of growing a sport that will help viewers to understand sport better. Broadcasters, he said, should approach different markets by launching regional feeds that will build an instant connect.

    "The problem is we tend to treat India as one big mass. There is a big opportunity in regional markets. We should have regional feeds with commentary in regional language," Raman said.

    He further stated that rights holders should start exploiting other revenue streams like digital media which will increase the reach of the event. "Consumption of sports on digital medium is increasing, we should tap into this segment but broadcasters are focusing on internet fearing loss of viewers."

  • Sony to buys out private equity firm’s residual 6% stake in MSM

    Sony to buys out private equity firm’s residual 6% stake in MSM

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Television (SPT) will buy out private equity firm Capital International‘s six per cent stake in Multi Screen Media (formerly known as Sony Entertainment Television India) to take full ownership of the Indian broadcasting company which is on a growth path.

    Earlier, SPT had bought out 32 per cent stake of the Indian shareholders in Multi Screen Media (MSM) for $271 million, taking its shareholding to 94 per cent.

    "We are going to buy out the six per cent stake of Capital International in MSM. We hope to do it by the end of this year," Sony Pictures Television president Worldwide Networks Andy Kaplan tells Indiantelevision.com.

    Kaplan, however, ruled out a public listing of the company.
    In 2000, Capital International had picked up eight per cent stake for $200 million.

    Sony‘s aggressive growth plans in India include the acquisition of regional broadcaster Maa Television Network. "We are working on it. It is a bit complicated. The acquisition will give us a foothold in the Telugu market," avers Kaplan.

    In 2012, SPT entered into a strategic alliance with Hyderabad-based Maa Television Network to acquire a 30 per cent stake. Maa TV Network operates four Telugu-language channels.

    Sony will also eye other regional acquisition opportunities in India. "We are looking at building on our own and acquiring companies. We are weighing both the options. We are looking at each region and trying to figure out what the best strategy is," Kaplan says.

    In 2009, SPT acquired Bengali channel, Channel 8.

    MSM‘s other new growth pillar would be its sports broadcasting business. The company launched Six, a sports entertainment channel, last year. It has the Indian Premier League (IPL), cricket‘s most lucrative property, as its driver content.

    “We are also looking at other sports in which the audience interest will grow. We have the NBA rights and UFC, among others. We will be aggressive for the right property if we feel that it will be a good fit for our channel. But we will not overbid,” says Kaplan.
    In terms of rights, he said that both cricket and movie acquisition costs from an industry perspective are on the higher side. “We try to be aggressive but disciplined at the same time. India is the only market where we are in the sports genre. So it is unique for us in that sense."

    Kaplan admits that India is a big international market for Sony. "As a TV market, India has been friendly towards outsiders," he says.

  • Indian M&E sector needs to look beyond cricket and Bollywood: Dominic Proctor

    Indian M&E sector needs to look beyond cricket and Bollywood: Dominic Proctor

    MUMBAI: GroupM Global president Dominic Proctor believes that the Indian media & entertainment industry should move away from the fragile ecosystem where Bollywood, cricket and a handful of national icons and stars are used for all messaging if it has to develop a globally recognised base.

    “This must change if India is really serious about building a world class sports and entertainment industry,” Proctor said at Ficci Frames 2013.

    In what would be a food for thought for media agencies and advertisers alike, Proctor said the country needs to look beyond cricket and start investing in non-cricketing sports and the signs for their success are very encouraging.

    Recent initiatives in F1, Hockey, Combat sports and Badminton are encouraging but not enough, he added.

    "In India the content is excessively and obsessively dependent on Bollywood, cricket and stars. This is a wake up call where in order to grow in the global space, the industry here needs to look beyond Bollywood and cricket," he noted.

    He observed that the popularity of cricket in all its formats – Test, ODI and T-20 – is declining at a global stage. The dwindling performance of the biggest sport in the country is posing a threat to the business surrounding it, to the companies and brands which have invested on it.

    Sports marketing in India will require to have much broader base than just cricket. People need to look at other sports too, like the other parts of the world. Sole focus on cricket as a means to advertise and reach the target audience gives it a monopolistic edge, which has lead to over crowding in the space and over pricing of the properties.

    While Bollywood and the Indian film industry is an all pervading influence, brands in India do not leverage this platform optimally. Revenue streams exist in content advertising on multimedia screens & producers and studios should look beyond theatrical returns & innovate new platforms and formats.

    Simultaneously, creators should extract total economic value for the content with consumer centric audience planning. With a nod to Web driven content, Proctor said that digital formats will drive advertising revenue growth in under branded India and also help the Indian media and entertainment industry reach out globally.

    Talking about Bollywood, Proctor feels that brands need to find new ways to exploit movies for the benefit of the market. Web is a big opportunity too. Now the audience is exposed to the multiple media screens and one can target, monetise and measure the medium. In fact, this is a better medium of targeting consumers. "Advertising in print costs around six times more than that on web to reach out to the same consumer. And web is a better engaging medium."

    The big shift, according to Proctor, is from distribution to content, from inventory planning to audience planning. "The need is to optimise inventory by serving different ads to different consumers. So, optimising spend and minimising wastages (is required)."

    Proctor pointed out the key challenges that Indian M&E industry is facing today. They are optimising the potential of the Web which poses a huge opportunity for the industry; foundation of a world-class content industry; need to look beyond Bollywood and cricket and tap into the emerging platforms to help extract right advertising value. "As global economy slows, the opportunity is for India and Asia more broadly to lead, and then the others will follow. India can be a support to world‘s media ecosystem like the U.S was," he added.

    The media agencies in India need to invest more in digital. "Digital business here is just 5 per cent of the total pie and as compared to the other markets where the spend on digital is around 30 per cent, it is relatively small. So, the agencies here need to invest in the medium, the people who know about the medium, and rope in that kind of talent. The medium will grow and the focus on these will drive digital medium‘s growth in India."

    Also, the media agency business here needs to diversify. "Clients want much more advice on sports marketing, mobile marketing, return of investments (RoIs). The media agencies should diversify in order to cater to them effectively," Proctor concluded.

  • Monetisation of content in a digitised market

    Monetisation of content in a digitised market

    MUMBAI: With broadcasters upping investments on content and marketing, monetisation from multiple streams becomes crucial in a digitised market.

    Multi Screen Media President Ad Sales Rohit Gupta feels the key in a digital market will be to create customised content that suits the need of a specific demographic and market.

    The addition of LC1 markets to TAM panel will increase their weightage vis-a-vis the four metros. It will also force broadcasters to rethink their content strategy towards these markets.

    “Digitisation is key challenge for broadcasters. Monetisation of content is key. With addition of LC1 markets, their weightage has gone up. Creating different content for different type of audiences will be the key,” Gupta said during a panel discussion on ‘Revisiting Content in Digitised Space and Impact of Ratings in the Changed Scenario’.

    Gupta said television as a medium has seen phenomenal growth to become the biggest medium but it remains under-indexed when it comes to ad spends.

    “We are adding 15 million consumers every year but we are still under-indexed vis-a-vis advertising revenue growth. Broadcasters are not getting the benefits of additional eyeballs,” he added.

    Gupta said it’s high time that the industry works together to create a new television measurement system. A new system is in the interest of both broadcasters as well as media gencies.

    Disney UTV Media Networks CEO MK Anand said the ad revenue led business is here to stay. It will co-exist with subscription driven business model.

    “The advertising revenue led model is here to stay. Ratings are not anti-thetical to the broadcast business. Digital Addressable System (DAS) will lead to two kind of broadcasters – one who are subscription led and the ones who are advertising revenue led,” he said.

    According to Anand, broadcasters irrespective of the genre have to work hard in a digitised market. The packages that MSOs design will also be of paramount importance.

    Time spent in digital homes has increased due to bucketing of content genre-wise, he added.

    IndiaCast Group COO Gaurav Gandhi said digitisation will change three things: it will change economics, choice of services and accountability and measurement.

    “The cost of content has gone up considerably, it‘s on par with international markets. But the revenue growth is not sufficient,” Gandhi said.

    Broadcasters will also have to look at other revenue models apart from advertising and subscription to monetise their content.

    Natpe President and CEO Rod H Perta said the problem of inadequate measurement system and fragmentation of market is not unique to India. US too has gone through the same path.

    Digitisation, he said, will lead to emergence of new business models and opportunities. The question is whether broadcasters are ready for this change, he asked.

    He said ratings are an equally “contentious” issue in US but the market over there has matured and advertisers now don’t just look at ratings while making advertising decision.

    “In fragmented markets, advertisers don‘t just look at ratings. They also look at the quality of content,” Perta contended.

    TAM India CEO LV Krishnan said the issue of reliability of data comes only when the ratings starts falling. Broadcasters, he said, don’t complain when the numbers are in their favour.

    He said viewership measurement in multiple-screen era will go from platform-centric to becoming platform-agnostic.

    “It doesn’t matter which platform the content is consumed. Parameters will change as content consumption will happen on different platforms,” Krishnan said.

    Fremantle Asia MD Paul O Hanlon said, “We have to rethink the way we produce content which made us look at different formats in different ways and segment it to make it flexible for broadcasters.

    “The cost of content is going up, so we have to rethink the business model. We are looking at different ways to monetise content like AFP and not just remain dependent on broadcast fee.”

  • Revenues for content providers are coming from more places now: Kaplan

    Revenues for content providers are coming from more places now: Kaplan

    MUMBAI: Content providers have a wide array of opportunities to tap revenues from as multiple screens emerge and compete, particularly in the advanced markets.

    "Revenues are coming from more places. More windows are opening, ensuring that there are more hours of content to sell," said Sony Pictures Television Worldwide Networks Andrew J Kaplan.

    The marketplace is becoming more complex and secondary revenue streams (Netflix and Hulu) are emerging stronger. "This means that there is a bit of a challenge on the infrastructure side. We need to be experts and understand the businesses of different distribution systems. It is a much more complicated world now. There is chaos and, hence, an opportunity," Kaplan said, while speaking at Ficci Frames 2013.

    In terms of genres, Kaplan noted that while American drama travels well globally, comedy does not — especially in non English speaking markets. “Some comedy shows that work overseas rely on physical humour. In India, we have Sab which has done well.”
    In terms of SPT channels globally, Kaplan noted that Sony offers American shows. “We buy from our own studio and other studios as well. The aim is to maximise the audience and ratings. As the reach of our channels have grown, we have become a more important buyer globally.”

    Kaplan also spoke about the action oriented channel AXN, saying that the challenge is to balance global with local content. “AXN is different in Thailand and Portugal. That is partly because certain rights are available in certain markets and also because audience tastes are different. Not everything will work equally well everywhere. We also have local shows because that drives in higher ratings. People like to look in the mirror and their want to see their neighbourhood.”

    He spoke about global co-productions ‘The Firm’, ‘Hannibal’ and ‘Crossing lines that SPT is engaged in. “The aim is to get a different creative input so that the content is more applicable to our networks."

    One challenge for a channel like AXN is to retain a uniform character for it globally. What it makes it tough is that there is no flagship channel for Sony in the US. “So we create channels on a market-to-market basis using a lot of research. While we balance global content with local shows, there has to be sanctity in terms of what the brand represents. Our local management teams are passionate about their markets. We have a lot of discussion about what will work the best. Usually we get right. Sometimes we stray. Then we have to pull things back in line,” said Kaplan.

    He also spoke about new media saying that Crackle, Sony‘s online platform in the US, relies on advertising as opposed to other platforms like Hulu which are subscription driven. “I am still trying to figure out if we are smart or stupid in relying on advertising. The advertiser’s response has been solid. We target males 18-49 which is a hard demographic to reach. What helps us is that advertisers want to be in the digital space.”

    The aim of Crackle is to supplement traditional television viewing and not cannibalise it. "Crackle launched in Latin America last year. That is because broadband penetration there is high. Also SPT has a strong ad sales team there. The next phase of evolution for Crackle is creating local content, which it is doing more of. Netflix is also doing this. The advantage of local content is that we can do product and environment integration with advertisers,” Kaplan said.

  • App monetisation remains a challenge

    App monetisation remains a challenge

    MUMBAI: App monetisation remains a challenge in India, experts at Ficci Frames 2013 said here today, while outlining factors that could trigger growth in the sector.

    An important change is the explosion of connected devices which could transform India from being the largest consumer market for apps to also one of the largest revenue generators.

    “What will help the app market is the fact that phones are getting cheaper and the technology is getting better. Mobile will be a game changer from a data perspective,” said DisneyUTV MD Digital Vishal Gondal.

    With advertising being the main business model, monestisation is a challenge. There is also the issue of operators taking away 70 per cent of revenue. "Vodafone changed this by taking only 30 per cent and giving the rest to the app developer," Gondal stated.

    Oovoo.com CEO Jay Alan Samit feels that voice calls will go the way of the fax machine and become extinct. "People today prefer sending text messages. If it is somebody they love and care about, then they will use video," he said.

    Samit also noted that apps are viral and can come from anywhere. Angry Birds, for instance, comes from Finland. "Also celebrities will use apps if they connect people. This was seen during the Oscar awards where stars like Hugh Jackman used apps to reach out to fans," he averred.

    India has a base of 2.5 million app developers. "This gives us strength. Our plan is to ensure that an app is present regardless of whether a user has a smartphone or a feature phone," said Nokia India marketing director Viral Oza.

    But what are the challenges the app market faces in India? The absence of a venture funding system for apps is surely one major deterrent. The other challenge is that innovations in the user interface are not happening outside of the US, Samit said.

    The fact is that many users discard an app after using them just once. Oza touched on the importance of app quality. Nokia, for instance, has a filtering system before an app is put on the Nokia Store. "About 50 per cent of apps downloaded in India are from a Nokia store. This shows that apps have quality as well as stickiness,” he said.