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Tag: E&Y report

  • Regional OTT players veer towards aggregation model

    Regional OTT players veer towards aggregation model

    Mumbai: With 53 over-the-top platforms (OTT) offering video, music, gaming and news content in India, regional and niche OTT platforms are veering towards an aggregation driven model to grow revenues. A report by E&Y stated that 400 million consumers will consume content via telco and aggregator bundles by 2025 as data prices increase.  

    Video aggregators such as Amazon Prime Video Channels, JioTV+, Tata Sky Binge and telcos have become important drivers for regional and nice OTT platforms to reach a wider audience. As per E&Y report, 85 per cent of viewership volumes of certain OTT platforms were generated by telcos.

    “We believe that top three-four aggregators would dominate the market,” observed Hoichoi chief operating officer Soumya Mukherjee. “While it is difficult to predict the future, it does seem that regional OTT is heading towards an aggregation model. That’s because it takes a lot of investment and time for any player to enter the regional space.”

    Bengali OTT player hoichoi is a successful example of a regional OTT player that has grown its subscription base, majorly driven by content. In its three years in the market, the platform has released over 100 original web series and many films.

    “There were two inflection points in the history of OTT. First when the Jio revolution took place in 2016 and data became really cheap. The second was in 2020 when Covid-19 happened and the OTT industry got a boost,” said ViewLift director sales – APAC and EMEA Manish Manwani.

    When major OTT platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Zee5 began investing in regional content pieces, it expanded the market for regional content.

    “When these big players entered the OTT market with their regional content, we realised there is a market out there,” said Oho Gujarati and CineMan Productions founder Abhishek Jain. “When bigger platforms are marketing their regional content, it is indirectly having a positive impact on us because our library of content is much bigger.”

    Last year was a fantastic period for the growth of regional original content. According to E&Y, 47 per cent of OTT originals and 69 per cent of films released on streaming platforms were in regional languages (non-Hindi).

    The challenge for regional OTT platforms is that most of their budgets are spent on creating content with little left over for marketing. According to Hoichoi’s Mukherjee, 60 per cent of the company’s P&L goes into producing content with little to no advertising. While hoichoi has become an established brand in the Bengali market, it is tougher for other regional OTT players.

    “In some regional markets like Bengali, there’s already an established ecosystem and all one had to do was adapt the content for OTT,” said Oho Gujarati’s Jain. “Specifically, talking about Gujarati content, there is no legacy industry. There’s only one general entertainment channel and I don’t know how much it is working. The audiences predominantly watch movies in the theatre and local language films have only just started.”

    He added, “The challenge for a regional OTT player like us is that we have to create an ecosystem for Gujarati content and then adapt that and bring that to OTT. In the ten months of existence of Oho Gujarati, we’ve featured nine debutant directors, six debutant writers and 34 debutant actors.”

    Most of the regional OTT players are coming from a production background, however, technology is the backbone of such platforms. While it is important to create good content, experience in terms of payment options, auto renewals, marketing automation and data tracking are also critical aspects of the user experience. Relying on aggregators or partners allows these platforms to focus on what they do best – churn out amazing content, without having to reinvent the wheel from scratch.

    “We expect to see more bundled products like Amazon Channels, where platforms with large reach provide that to smaller/ boutique/niche OTT players on a revenue share basis,” said the E&Y report.

  • Lower 2020 outlook, review investments, use big data for advertising, says EY M&E report

    Lower 2020 outlook, review investments, use big data for advertising, says EY M&E report

    MUMBAI: Given how things have unfolded in the last three months, media and entertainment companies foresee a lowered outlook for 2020, will have to review their investments and ramp up capacity to address the challenges, as per a new report by EY titled ‘Building a resilient enterprise- Now, Next and Beyond’. It shows that OTT, gaming, eSports, digital subscriptions and VFX will be most benefitted in the near future while live events, films, sports, out of home and print will be hard hit.

    The report adds that digital advertising saw five per cent to 15 per cent growth till 31 May but will drop to under five per cent by 30 June. Additionally, TV subscription will also reduce from minus five per cent to minus 15 per cent in the same time period. However, film will be worse off with minus 50 per cent.

    The media and entertainment sector is facing unprecedented challenges from the spread of Covid2019. Rapid changes in consumer behaviour and consumption, stoppages in content production, cancellation of live events and sports and cuts in advertising spend are impacting companies across the ecosystem.

    Publishers and media companies are benefitting from some marketers seeing the opportunity but face advertising revenue losses. Film and TV producers are under pressure to mitigate the impact of delayed-release schedules, theatre closures and production stoppages. Companies are currently focused on enterprise resiliency and triaging revenue, but will likely need to turn to rapid cost reduction as business models settle into new norms as business models are not on a solid foundation. Bright spots across the industry include digital pure-plays (such as video gaming) and other virtualised production capabilities, the report said.

    The report suggests that for ad revenue, companies should provide ad packages that are “calibrated to the gradual geographical lift of the lockdown as well as reorient ad products and capabilities to build targeted offerings for marketers.” The industry also needs to shift to a big data-based advertising.

    As a way to mitigate costs, companies can develop work-from-home strategies and consider real estate cost reduction strategies, with a focus on utilising purpose-built spaces. It also suggests updating the insurance coverage and contract clauses to provide cover for similar events in the future.

    Going forward, the report stated that segments such as online education, broadband and internet, hygiene, home entertainment and OTT, e-commerce/home shopping, health and wellness and online banking will see a rise.

    For advertisers, EY suggests engaging with marketers to understand changes to media strategy, content and ad placement. Additionally, leverage consumer insights and brand sentiment analyses to better engage marketers and provide targeted packages and offerings. One good source will be to introduce ad spend continuity initiatives.

    For content producers, it suggest coming with precaution-led production schedules to get back to shoot. Companies can repurpose their library or acquire content to serve loyal customers with new things. There needs to be more ways to shoot from home and ideation.

    Content distributers should look at leveraging digital platforms and OTT solutions to engage consumers and potentially serve as alternative channels for planned launches.
     

  • Indian digital industry to be worth Rs 20k cr by ’20: EY report

    Indian digital industry to be worth Rs 20k cr by ’20: EY report

    MUMBAI: The Indian digital sector is anticipated to cross Rs 20,000 crore by 2020 which includes OTT and digital advertising. The industry at present is worth Rs 8, 490 crore.

    The industry includes four key areas of digital revenues — OTT and digital advertising, music OTT subscription, video OTT subscription, and gaming (in-app and paid).

    Indian digital media market offers a unique opportunity as mobile penetration TV subscription services and traditional internet is much below the world average, according to an EY report.

    The digital industry at present contributes around 14 per cent of the ad spend in India. However, by 2019, it is anticipated to be around a quarter of the total ad expenditure.

    According to the report which states that the sector is prepared to see the entrance of new internet users and the net-using population likely to reach around 746 million by 2020, a large number of consumers are expected to start using digital platforms.

    According to EY estimates, smartphone penetration is likely to be up to 59 per cent by 2020 from 31 per cent in 2015 and digital ad spend is scheduled to be Rs 185 billion by 2020.

  • Indian digital industry to be worth Rs 20k cr by ’20: EY report

    Indian digital industry to be worth Rs 20k cr by ’20: EY report

    MUMBAI: The Indian digital sector is anticipated to cross Rs 20,000 crore by 2020 which includes OTT and digital advertising. The industry at present is worth Rs 8, 490 crore.

    The industry includes four key areas of digital revenues — OTT and digital advertising, music OTT subscription, video OTT subscription, and gaming (in-app and paid).

    Indian digital media market offers a unique opportunity as mobile penetration TV subscription services and traditional internet is much below the world average, according to an EY report.

    The digital industry at present contributes around 14 per cent of the ad spend in India. However, by 2019, it is anticipated to be around a quarter of the total ad expenditure.

    According to the report which states that the sector is prepared to see the entrance of new internet users and the net-using population likely to reach around 746 million by 2020, a large number of consumers are expected to start using digital platforms.

    According to EY estimates, smartphone penetration is likely to be up to 59 per cent by 2020 from 31 per cent in 2015 and digital ad spend is scheduled to be Rs 185 billion by 2020.