ITV

Category: Production House

  • Anish Mehta moves on as CEO of animation studio Cosmos-Maya

    Anish Mehta moves on as CEO of animation studio Cosmos-Maya

    Mumbai: Anish Mehta has decided to move on from his role as CEO of animation studio Cosmos-Maya after a ten-year stint. He built the studio from a 30-member team to a 1200+ powerhouse.

    He will be soon announcing his new venture sometime this year.

    Under Anish’s leadership, the studio has grown multifold owing to his strong ability to maintain a fine balance between business and creativity. He is credited with achieving quite a few milestones not only for the studio but also for the industry at large. Anish had been the CEO and minority shareholder of Cosmos-Maya since 2012.

    He led the studio’s foray into original Indian animation IP creation with the launch of Motu Patlu, India’s most successful animation series.  Post that, the studio created over 10,000 half hours of kids’ animation content across 20+ shows; maintaining a 50 per cent+ market share of the original Indian kids and family content space for a decade. The studio’s key clients include – Nickelodeon, Disney, Cartoon Network, Sony, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix, Discovery Kids, Facebook and YouTube.

    During his tenure, the company grew with four different business streams globally and revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) growth of 25x+ from 2012 to 2022. Globally he spearheaded efforts towards co-productions with European and other international players, which were able to sell in 100+ countries the world over.

    His most notable achievement was to steadily attract organized investment into the business and consistently give investors a profitable exit through a higher valuation of the company. He played an instrumental role in getting private equity investors into the Indian animation business, first with KKR backed Emerald Media and later with TPG affiliate NewQuest Capital Partners.

    Commenting on his exit, Anish Mehta said “I would like to thank Ketan and Deepa, the promoters of Cosmos-Maya for trusting me with the opportunity of growing the company. I would also like to extend gratitude to our previous investors KKR backed Emerald Media, Rajesh Kamat and angel investor Tilak Sarkar for providing the right guidance and support on this journey. It has been a great pleasure working with the current investor, TPG affiliate NewQuest Capital Partners and I wish them and the team of Cosmos-Maya all the very best for future growth and to carry the legacy forward.”

    He also led the initiative of building the company’s YouTube network, WowKidz with 35 channels, which achieved 80 million+ subscribers, and 41 billion+ views worldwide across 10+ languages in a short span of 5 years. “I feel very passionately about content creators and believe that digital media has offered a rather egalitarian and equalizing platform to all creators. I find the best way to express my appreciation is to be able to support and mentor the new generation of digital content creators as they set out to create path-breaking content that will have a positive impact on countless lives of kids & family audiences. The intention is to partner with global investors and pioneers to achieve this vision”, said Mehta.

  • Abhishek Rege parts ways with Endemol Shine India after 15 years

    Abhishek Rege parts ways with Endemol Shine India after 15 years

    Mumbai: After a 15-year stellar stint at Endemol Shine India, Abhishek Rege has decided to move on from his role as CEO. Rege will work closely with his successor (once announced) and the Endemol Shine India team during the transition.

    The key force behind the company’s success over the years, Rege has been pivotal in driving an upward trajectory at Endemol Shine India with a proven success record. Having joined Endemol in 2007 as head of commercial and legal, being elevated to chief operating officer in 2012 and then chief executive officer in 2017, has since then led the company to great heights delivering multi-fold growth for the company. An accomplished leader, he has been successful in leveraging comprehensive markets and industry knowledge to ensure high momentum business growth, build a high-performance team and forecast future business needs.

    Commenting on behalf of the Endemol Shine India Board and Baniya COO Peter Langenberg said, “Abhishek has played a central role in Endemol Shine India’s growth during his time as CEO and has been a strong leader who has built on the company’s remarkable successes across the business. He will be leaving with our sincere thanks for all he has done in driving Endemol Shine India to become the market leader that it is today, and we wish him every success for the future.”

    Rege has been pivotal in driving growth at Endemol Shine India be it in a creative role or that of a business administrator. An empowering leader skilled in attracting and retaining industry talent, building positive employee relationships, and tailoring management style to accommodate diverse personalities, skill sets and experience levels.

  • Applause Entertainment announces plans to acquire and produce regional content

    Applause Entertainment announces plans to acquire and produce regional content

    Mumbai: Aditya Birla Group venture Applause Entertainment plans to foray deep into acquiring and upgrading the regional offerings and aim to have a robust and comprehensive slate of content. The content house will continue to focus on premium dramas for its regional productions.

    The content and IP creation studio has been a powerhouse of disruptive and entertaining storytelling since inception. It recently took the internet by storm with back-to-back announcements of upcoming shows including Scam 2003: The Telgi Story, Gandhi and Tanaav. In June, it released three new shows including Udan Patolas on Amazon miniTV, Salt City and Avrodh 2: The Siege Within on Sonyliv.

    The second franchise of Scam will feature the story of the 2003 stamp paper scam by Abdul Karim Telgi. Gagan Dev Riar will play the lead as Telgi in Scam 2003: The Telgi Story. Applause Entertainment also announced a biopic on Mahatma Gandhi, based on the writings of historian and author Ramachandra Guha. Pratik Gandhi has been roped in to play the Mahatma. And lastly, the studio announced the multi-starrer Indian adaptation of the hit Israeli series Fauda soon to stream on Sonyliv.

    Moreover, after a prestigious win at the Busan International Film Festival, Applause Entertainment’s film “The Rapist”, directed by Aparna Sen will be screened at the London Indian Film Festival.

  • UK’s films and HETV production to hit £7.07 bn – £7.66 bn by 2025: Study

    UK’s films and HETV production to hit £7.07 bn – £7.66 bn by 2025: Study

    Mumbai: The United Kingdom’s film and high-end TV (HETV) production is expected to touch £7.07 – £7.66 billion by 2025, found a new study by pan-industry skills body ScreenSkills.

    The same study also predicts that an additional crew of 15,130 – 20,770 will be needed in the next three years to meet the demand. By 2025, training existing and new workforce will need an annual investment of £95.1 million to £104.3 million. The estimated economic return is more than 15 times the cost of the training investment

    Film and high-end television production in the UK could be worth £7.66 billion – up from £5.64 billion – by 2025 and require nearly 21,000 more crews as per the analysis.

    The research was commissioned by ScreenSkills and is supported by the British Film Institute (BFI).

    The forecast of labour market shortages and training investment needs in film and HETV production was carried out by the consultancy Nordicity with the accountancy firm Saffery Champness LLP. They estimate that between £95.1 million and £104.3 million will be needed annually by 2025, to train the film and HETV workforce – both existing and the new recruits.

    The indirect and induced impact of training investment in the order of £104.3 million would go a long way to creating a further 23,270 full-time jobs across the UK economy on top of the additional 20,770 crew. Latest figures show film and high-end television currently generate the equivalent of 1,22,000 full-time jobs.

    Spending approximately £289.3 million on training during the three-year period 2023 to 2025 would enable film and high-end TV production to generate an additional £4.56 billion in GVA (gross value added) including direct, indirect and induced impact.

    The authors of the study described this return on investment as “compelling” and acknowledged that the personnel needed to meet demand “may be understated”.

    The authors conducted interviews with film and HETV production companies alongside an analysis of existing published and unpublished research to conclude that there is still room for growth on top of the rapid expansion fuelled by the introduction of the HETV tax relief in 2013 and a strong bounce back after the Covid lockdown.

    Film and HETV production in the UK are likely to grow at an annual average rate of 7.3 per cent between 2022 and 2025. It is projected that spending will reach between £7.07 billion and £7.66 billion by 2025 – an additional £1.43 billion to £2.02 billion spending from the 2021 figure of £5.64 billion.

    Just under 2.7 million square feet of additional stage space is due to come online by 2025 in response to physical constraints of the under-supply of stage space suited to film and HETV production.

    The cost of training the workforce – with both light-touch and more intensive interventions – was based on figures for existing ScreenSkills training programmes.

    In a high-growth scenario, annual spending of £104.3 million on training would represent 1.4 per cent of the forecast level of production spend of £7.66 billion in 2025. This would be higher than sectors such as manufacturing and construction but lower than the business services and hotels and restaurants sectors where training investment rates were 3.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively in 2019.

    Many parts of the sector, including public service broadcasters, subscription video-on-demand and independent production companies, already run their own training programmes with proven track records, although it has not been possible to quantify that investment.

    In addition, financial support from the sector to ScreenSkills totalled £12.91 million last year. This was amplified by £4.3 million National Lottery funding awarded by the BFI as part of its Future Film Skills strategy.

    ScreenSkills CEO Seetha Kumar said, “The data in this report will help us all plan sensibly to ensure the UK has the skilled and inclusive workforce needed to capitalise on the potential for further growth. The film and television industry are one of the UK’s great success stories and we need to work together to keep it that way. Growing the workforce will help ensure the country fully benefits from the projected growth in production expenditure.”

    ScreenSkills Film Skills Council producer and chairperson Anita Overland said: “It is important that films of every scale and budget have the right people for those productions, so it is useful to understand what is likely to happen in the next few years. I am very proud of what the Film Skills Council does to support training, but this is a reminder of how much further work is needed – financially but also in terms of creating opportunities for people to learn on the job.”

    Watford, Essex COO, ScreenSkills High-end TV Skills Council chairperson Christine Healy said, “High-end TV is already deeply committed to investing in training and retention and as a sector, we work really closely with ScreenSkills through the council and our working groups to make sure we are addressing skills priorities, both at entry and mid-career level. It is valuable to have further intelligence on the likely scale of the challenges ahead so that we can keep ahead of the game.”

  • Global entertainment & media revenues surge to $2.3 trillion; OTT growth to moderate: PwC

    Global entertainment & media revenues surge to $2.3 trillion; OTT growth to moderate: PwC

    Mumbai: Last year, the global entertainment and media (E&M) industry grew significantly faster than the world economy as a whole. Following a 2.3 per cent dip in 2020 due to the pandemic, E&M sales increased by a solid 10.4 per cent in 2021, from $2.12 trillion to $2.34 trillion.

    Virtual reality (VR) and gaming are significant growth drivers for the industry as it becomes more digital, mobile, and youth-focused, and digital advertising permeates every aspect of the industry. These conclusions are drawn from PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2022–2026, which represents the 23rd annual research and forecast of E&M spending by consumers and advertisers across 52 countries & territories.

    Findings in this year’s Outlook include:

    – After growing by 35.4 per cent in 2020, OTT (over-the-top) video revenues increased by 22.8 per cent in 2021, to $79.1 billion. The rate of OTT revenue growth is anticipated to slow slightly; it will increase at a 7.6 per cent CAGR (compound annual growth rate) through 2026, pushing revenues to $114.1 billion.

    – Traditional TV still brings in a sizable amount of money, but it is facing intense competition from OTT streaming services. Global sales are expected to shrink at a CAGR of -0.8 per cent, from $231 billion in 2021 to $222.1 billion in 2026.

    – Revenue from video games and esports worldwide was $215.6 billion in 2021, and it is anticipated to increase by 8.5 per cent CAGR to $323.5 billion in 2026. With $109.4 billion, Asia Pacific produced the majority of the world’s revenues in 2021, more than double the second-highest region, North America. Gaming has overtaken video and communications as the third-largest data-consuming E&M content category.

    – Despite starting from a small base, VR continues to be the fastest-growing E&M segment. Following a strong 39 per cent growth in 2020, global VR spending increased by 36 per cent y-o-y to $2.6 billion in 2021. The segment is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 24 per cent between 2021 and 2026, reaching $7.6 billion. With $1.9 billion in revenue in 2021, gaming content is the main source of VR revenue. By 2026, this should rise to $6.5 billion, or 85 per cent of all VR revenue.

    – Due to its widespread use in the digital sphere, advertising now dominates its own industry sector. After falling by almost seven per cent in 2020, advertising increased by an astonishing 22.6 per cent in 2021, reaching $747.2 billion. Advertising is expected to expand at a 6.6 per cent CAGR through 2026, driven nearly entirely by digital. The revenue from internet advertising is expected to increase even more quickly, increasing at a CAGR of 9.1 per cent. Advertising is anticipated to exceed consumer spending and internet access in 2026 to become a one trillion dollar business and the largest E&M revenue stream.

    – In 2023, global cinema revenue is anticipated to hit a new high of $46.4 billion after experiencing losses due to the pandemic. Box office revenue is anticipated to grow by 18.9 per cent CAGR from $20.8 billion in 2021 to $49.4 billion in 2026. In 2020, China surpassed the US to become the world’s biggest cinema market, and it is predicted that it will continue to hold this position through 2026.

    – In 2024, live music revenue is anticipated to surpass pre-pandemic levels. Recorded music sales are expected to increase from $36.1 billion in 2021 to $45.8 billion in 2026, driven by the development of digital music streaming subscriptions.

    – Massive data consumption is being fueled by the expansion of content. Data consumption was 2.6 million petabytes (PB) in 2021, and it is projected to increase by 26 per cent CAGR to 8.1 million PB by 2026. With a predicted CAGR of 29.6 per cent, gaming will consume data at the quickest rate during the projection period. The fastest-growing device category between 2021 and 2026 will be mobile handsets, growing at a CAGR of 28.8 per cent and predicted to increase mobile data usage from 1.1 PB to 3.8 PB.

    PwC Germany Global Entertainment And Media Industry Leader Werner Ballhaus said, “Industry press tends to focus on the companies that have dominated the E&M industry. But it is the choices that billions of consumers make about where they will invest their time, attention and money that are fueling the industry’s transformation and driving the trends.  We are seeing the emergence of a global E&M consumer base for the coming years that is younger, more digital and more into streaming and gaming than the current consumer population. This is shaping the future of the industry.”

    North America dominates per capita E&M, but faster growth resides elsewhere: Regionally, North America has by far the biggest E&M expenditures per capita at $2,229, nearly double that of Western Europe’s $1,158. In contrast, Asia Pacific, which had E&M sales of $844.7 billion in 2021, had a per-capita expenditure of $224. Of all regions in the world, the Middle East and Africa spend $82 less per capita on E&M.

    While OTT video and gaming account for the majority of revenue growth, esports and the cinema industry are also experiencing rapid expansion. Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia make up the top ten growth markets by CAGR. The countries with the best prospects for E&M consumer spend growth over the five-year forecast period are Turkey (estimated 14.2 per cent CAGR), Argentina (10.4 per cent), India (9.1 per cent), and Nigeria (8.8 per cent).

    The metaverse awaits: The metaverse may soon develop into a wonderfully realistic environment where people may access immersive virtual experiences using a VR headset or other connecting device. The potential financial and commercial worth of the metaverse extends far beyond VR because it is an evolution that might fundamentally alter how companies and customers engage with goods, services, and one another. Over time, a significant portion of the profits from video games, musical performances, advertisements, and even online shopping may move into the metaverse.

    How big is the E&M opportunity in the metaverse?  

    One place to start is the rapidly expanding VR sector. Although it is now one of the less significant areas studied, the 36 per cent increase in global spending over the previous year gives an indication of its long-term potential. The number of stand-alone and tethered VR headsets installed worldwide is expected to increase from 21.6 million in 2021 to 65.9 million in 2026.

    Ballhaus added, “With the impressive growth and potential of the E&M industry comes tremendous volatility and what we describe as fault lines and fractures opening up between companies, within sectors and across geographies and generations. For businesses, intense competition and continual disruption will remain the order of the day. Our data shows the mix of revenues and spending is changing rapidly. As fault lines proliferate and widen, every business in E&M stands to be disrupted. The challenge and goal must be to understand your consumer and end up on the right side of disruption.”

  • ABP Network appoints Sameer Rao as CEO of ABP Creations

    ABP Network appoints Sameer Rao as CEO of ABP Creations

    Mumbai: ABP Network has appointed Sameer Rao as chief executive officer (CEO) of its content production arm ABP Creations. He will be operating from ABP Network’s Mumbai office.

    Rao is a seasoned media and entertainment professional, with wide-ranging experience of two decades across television, film, and digital platforms.

    Sameer is a well-regarded senior Indian media and entertainment industry professional with strong expertise in conceptualization, development, and execution of original content. He has formerly worked at YouTube, STAR India, Discovery Communications, Vinod Chopra Films, and UTV Motion Pictures in managerial and leadership roles. Moreover, Sameer holds a PGDBM from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.

    In the recent past, ABP Studios has shown tremendous potential with its co-produced and critically acclaimed Marathi feature film, “Karkhanisanchi Waari” (Ashes on a Road Trip) which has been streaming exclusively on SonyLiv. The film was nominated into eight categories for the prestigious Marathi Filmfare Awards of which it won three Filmfare Awards including awards for ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Director’, and ‘Best Supporting Actor Female’. It also had eight nominations for the Maharashtra Times Sanman Awards (MATA) and three wins. “Karkhanisanchi” was selected for the Cannes content market as well, as one of the films that the government used to showcase as an exemplary work in the Marathi cinema.

    “Say Yes to the Dress”, another ABP Studios production, streaming on Discovery Plus, has also been a hit among the audience. The series is an Indian adaptation of the American reality TV series by the same name that gives the audience an exceptional chance to experience the glitz and glamour of it all, as celebrated stylists try to get the brides say ‘yes’ to the elusive dress, whilst making it an intimate, poignant, and memorable experience for the audiences. ABP Studios was hand-picked by Discovery International to produce this runaway hit format for the Indian subcontinent.

    Within a year ABP Studios has bagged an impressive line-up of clients which includes Facebook, Google, Universal, SonyLiv, Hoichoi, Star Pravah, Discovery Plus and National Geographic. In 2022, ABP Studios is excited about developing and presenting content from its recent acquisitions in adventure, horror, and crime drama genres.

    ABP Network CEO Avinash Pandey said “We are pleased to welcome Sameer Rao to the ABP Network family. We are certain that with his expertise and accomplishments, he will take ABP Creations. to greater heights. In this dynamic period of digital growth, his vision will perfectly align with our goals for ABP Creations. I believe that over time, his knowledge, and ingenuity will further contribute to the organization’s success.”

  • Applause Entertainment to make a series on Mahatma Gandhi

    Applause Entertainment to make a series on Mahatma Gandhi

    MUMBAI: Production house Applause Entertainment will make a series on Mahatma Gandhi. The company has bought the rights to two books by Ramachandra Guha. Actor Pratik Gandhi will play Mahatma Gandhi.

    Applause Entertainment CEO Sameer Nair said, “Ramachandra Guha is a historian and storyteller par excellence, and we are honoured to adapt his classic books – Gandhi before India, and Gandhi – The Years That Changed the World – to screen. We couldn’t think of anyone better than the incredibly talented Pratik Gandhi to bring alive the Mahatma, and his philosophies of peace and love that shook the world. We believe that only a richly layered, multi season drama series will do real justice to Gandhi and to all the great personalities that embed the proud and illustrious history of India’s Freedom Struggle. This is a story of the birthing of modern India for a global audience.”

    Historian Ramachandra Guha said, ‘Gandhi’s work transformed the world, and his legacy still sparks the most intense debates. His life was an epic journey, played out across three great countries: India, England and South Africa. He fought nobly for freedom, for inter-faith harmony, and for the rights of the underprivileged. Along the way he made many friends and not a few enemies too. I am delighted that my books on Gandhi are now being adapted for this ambitious and exciting series being produced by Applause Entertainment. I am confident that it will bring the complex contours of Gandhi’s life and the moral essence of his teachings to viewers across the globe’.

    Pratik Gandhi said, “I deeply believe in Gandhian philosophy and his values that echo simplicity in its purest forms. Personally too, I strive to achieve and imbibe many of his qualities and teachings in my daily life. Moreover, playing the role of Mahatma is very close to my heart ever since my theater days, and now it is a huge honor to yet again essay the role of this legendary leader on screen. I believe it’s a huge responsibility to essay this role with dignity, grace and conviction, and I can’t wait to embark on this journey with Sameer Nair and his team at Applause.”

  • Balaji Telefilms reported an income of Rs 119 crore for Q4 FY22

    Balaji Telefilms reported an income of Rs 119 crore for Q4 FY22

    Mumbai: Balaji Telefilms has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended 31 March 2022. The group posted an income of Rs 119 crore for the quarter and a loss of Rs 33.3 crore.

    The group revenues for the year stood at Rs 337 crore and a loss of Rs 133 crore. Altbalaji contributed Rs 102 crore to overall revenues. It sold 3.88 million subscriptions in FY22 excluding subscribers on partner apps. Its direct subscription revenue stood at Rs 52.39 crore.

    The TV business clocked 863 hours of production across seven shows for four broadcasters. There are two more shows lined up and should commence shortly.

    Altbalaji added 13 shows over 12 months on its platform. Its reality show Lock Upp has crossed more than 500 million views. The watch time on the OTT platform stood at 15.75 billion minutes, with an engagement time of 66 minutes. Video views stood at 1.29 billion cumulative to date.

    The company also has seven movie projects in the pipeline with leading actors and directors in the country.

    “The movie business continued to make good progress in completing its productions given that normal operations were fully resumed on account of easing of restrictions,” said the statement. “Further, with the relaxations implemented in terms of re-opening of cinema theatres, the theatrical distribution business is steadily on its way to regain momentum and this has accordingly allowed the company to pursue its monetization strategies for completed productions in terms of theatrical launches as well as deals for direct to digital.”

    The company has seven movies planned for release in FY23 and pre-locked existing deals on a few movies. As part of its strategy, Balaji Telefilms continues to control investments in movies and pursue pre-sales and co-production deals where feasible.

    “The relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions and norms in this financial year allowed us to operate at our optimum efficiency levels,” said Balaji Telefilms Limited managing director Shobha Kapoor. “Altbalaji continues to drive subscription growth and we added 3.88 million subscriptions during the twelve months. We added 13 shows in the twelve months which included the highest watched reality show Lock Upp in OTT space signalling the reach of the business. We continue to have strong controls on the cash spend while driving overall profitability including some strong strategic content sharing deals which allows us to further our growth. Our TV business has shown good recovery in terms of production hours and we hope to improve this momentum as two new shows will commence. In the movie business, production for some exciting projects is at various stages of completion. We closely monitor the availability of theatrical releases and direct to digital launches. Overall, the year has been good and expected to continue the momentum.”

  • New Australian TV studio Dreamchaser aims to showcase Australian content to the world

    New Australian TV studio Dreamchaser aims to showcase Australian content to the world

    Mumbai: In a bid to create local Australian content that can travel globally, former Nine Entertainment CEO Hugh Marks and Endemol Shine Australia co-founder Carl Fennessy have announced the launch of Dreamchaser.

     It is being positioned as being Australia’s first full-service production and distribution studio based in Sydney, Australia. Marks and Fennessy will serve as joint CEOs.

    The new studio will provide a home for Dreamchaser to partner with established and emerging creators to develop programming slates, cultivate distinctive creative identities and bring the next generation of Australian stories to the world.

    Backed by global content studio Endeavor Content, Dreamchaser will establish a collection of creative partnerships across the scripted, factual and entertainment genres under one portfolio, with a focus on driving global projects out of the Australian market.

    Marks and Fennessy said, “We’re seeing an explosion of global demand for premium content from new and traditional television platforms that shows no sign of slowing. At the same time Australian creatives are at the forefront of many of the biggest shows in the world. There has never been a greater opportunity for global content to be developed and sold from this market. With Endeavor Content’s strategic partnership, Dreamchaser will be a unique home for our creative partners to realise all of their ambitions and for content commissioners to have confidence that Dreamchaser will be the Australian studio where those ambitions can be delivered,”

    Endeavor Content’s Co-CEOs Chris Rice and Graham Taylor said, “We are excited for Hugh and Carl to bring their combined industry expertise to launch Dreamchaser, harnessing Australia’s flourishing creative and production communities.”

    “With Dreamchaser, Australia solidifies its standing as a major global destination for best-in-class content, bringing next-level storytelling from new and established voices from the continent to export there and to the world beyond.”

    Joining Marks and Fennessy are a management team including COO Sara Horn, CFO Megan Rees-Williams and head development Monique Keller.

    Marks and Fennessy added, “We’re grateful to the amazing and highly experienced team that have agreed to go on this journey with us. “Their expertise and proven track record will help achieve Dreamchaser’s ambition of taking Australian creatives and their stories to the world.”

    In the coming months, Dreamchaser will announce a number of new projects, as well as first-look and multi-title picture deals with Australian creatives.

  • Connected TV: A growing market in India

    Connected TV: A growing market in India

    Mumbai: Connected TV has an audience base of 45 million in India, according to Madison Advertising Report 2022.

    The segment contributes eight to ten per cent of the digital audience currently. In the last five years, it has grown nine times and is expected to grow by another four times to reach an audience base of 120 million by 2025. It is expected that connected TV audience base contribution will surge by 15 per cent in future.

    The audience base of CTV is growing mostly due to the increase in demand for smart TVs. In 2021, CTV shipments accounted for 84 per cent of overall TV shipments as compared to 64 per cent in 2020.

    These data points were presented by Madison World’s general manager Chinmay Chandratre who moderated a panel discussion at Indiantelevision Dot Com’s four-day event ‘Content-Tech, Ad-Tech, Mar-Tech and More (CAMM) Summit’ co-powered by Pubmatic and Industry Partner Adjust held on Tuesday.

    The discussion was joined by legacy and new-age brand marketers, media planners and technology providers such as Adjust lead product strategist Gijsbert Pols; Starcom chief operations officer Niti Kumar; ITC Limited chief operating officer – dairy and beverages Sanjay Singhal; HomeLane chief marketing officer Udit Mediratta and Pubmatic’s regional vice president (OTT and CTV) Vijay Anand Kunduri.

    Watch the full session.

    The discussion kicked off by understanding how a legacy brand like ITC looked at the opportunity of CTV. “Typically, the way you build huge categories like biscuits and snacks is through mass advertising,” explained ITC’s Sanjay Singhal.

    “As consumer tastes have evolved, we have found that there is a need to slice and dice consumer segments whose needs cannot be met by traditional products and communication on mass media platforms. There is a need for targeting cohorts of consumers that TV cannot do efficiently,” said Singhal.

    “There is only so much that may be communicated in a 30-seconder ad on TV,” he added.

    Singhal, “When there is a need to explain certain benefits of products to the consumer, a more engaging medium with a higher frequency build-up is required.”

    No doubt ITC is a large spender on TV but a large proportion of ad spends are moving to new age mediums for their brands that are targeting younger audiences, alluded Singhal.

    He added, “It’s not just our brands such as ‘Bingo’ and ‘Yippee’ which are youth-oriented that are moving towards digital but also our atta brand ‘Ashirvaad’. That’s the power of high frequency.”

    While legacy brands are leveraging a mix of traditional TV and CTV, new-age brands such as HomeLane are comfortable advertising only on digital and CTV platforms.

    As Udit Mediratta puts it, “As a digital-first brand, our target audience is largely millennials who are ‘cord-cutters’ and hence CTV is the new TV for us. There are inherent strengths in CTV whose visuals and formats are similar to traditional TV while at the same time it is also targeted and measurable. The only disadvantage at this point is scale because there are only 20 million CTV households. However, this base is expected to increase by four times in the next three to four years.”

    From a media planning perspective, CTV allows brands to reach incremental audiences, states Starcom’s Niti Kumar. “When you look at CTV and what it brings to the table, it is the largeness of TV in terms of screen size and format coupled with the biggest advantage of digital i.e., targeting/precision. CTV should be included in media plans based on two criteria – where’s the consumer and the brands’ business outcomes.”

    “In terms of inventory that is available and targeting, CTV in India is still in its nascent stage as compared to what a YouTube or Disney+ Hotstar can provide. There’s a lot of development that is needed in the technology but it can be layered onto media plans from an incremental reach perspective,” she adds.

    The rise of CTV also implies that publishers must be more conscious of hygiene factors while displaying an ad that negatively impacts the user experience. “What we’ve seen is a movement from the small screen to the big screen,” observed Pubmatic’s Vijay Anand Kunduri.

    “In most of the Indian market, digital penetration is largely due to mobile but in the last 24 months, we’ve seen the transition from ‘me’ to ‘we’ viewing largely in front of CTV. On the broadcaster side, the trend where the content was first being created for linear and then streamed on OTT as catch-up has reversed. Now, content is being streamed on OTT-first followed by linear telecast,” Kunduri added.

    “Parallel to CTV there’s also the emergence of free ad-supported TV (FAST) or advertising video-on-demand (AVOD) and publishers must take into account that when their ad is playing on CTV it should not face technical issues such as buffering, back-to-back ad reels and showing competitor product ads consecutively as this creates a bad user experience,” he added.

    Adjusts’ Gijsbert Pols mentioned that in terms of measurability, CTV measurement on digital platforms is just like Facebook and YouTube, however, there is an important caveat that marketers and planners must be aware of.

    He said, “Across the world, performance marketers are entering the TV space via CTV because it has become measurable. I don’t think we are far away from a fully digitalised way of measuring performance and branding as the technology and data are there. The problem is implementation which is a tough cookie to crack.”

    “While you can measure CTV in the same way you measure other digital channels, it does require you to adjust key performance indicators (KPIs). CTV is more upper-funnel as there are no clicks. For the last decade, digital marketers have been used to measure digital looking at last touch data, however, CTV requires you to adopt a multi-touch approach when it comes to measurement,” he concluded.