Hasta La Motion!

The third edition of OTTv Mumbai 2019, held on 6 June at the Courtyard by Marriott, saw extensive discussion on the booming OTT industry in India, that’s experiencing a lot of action and promises humongous prospect.

Presented by Dveo Media, the OTTv MUMBAI 2019 provided a platform for the leaders in the OTT, digital video business in India to discuss on the impact of distribution partnerships and original shows on subscriber base and revenue.

The summit started with Dveo Media CEO Deepak Ramsurrun’s welcome address followed by insightful sessions with media and industry veterans. The first session was a one to one discussion with HOOQ India managing director Zulfiqar Khan who talked about content strategy, new approach in content, an OTT platforms going global.

When Ramsurrun asked when is an OTT platform ready to go global and if being locally strong is a necessity, Khan commented, “I think the day, as an organisation you can segment out the piece of the cake, you’re ready to go global…Not necessarily it has to be locally strong. You can cater to different geographical locations. There are great learnings across industries and markets. You just need to identify your strength.”

He also emphasised on like-minded partnership with big names like Hotstar, as distribution is the key and it’s “ridiculous” to expect consumers to download 39 apps! He also mentioned that despite small screens are currently in vogue, big screens are where hardcore content is consumed. “Content is made for big screen. Small screen is transient and keeps you distracted and busy for a while. Small screens are just filling the gaps when you’re travelling,” he said.

Khan added that monetisation is a huge factor and at times they have to work within limited space. HOOQ India is eyeing premium content but unfortunately, like West, a single language doesn’t prevail in India, and according to him, there’s possibly no better market than India.

Moderated by Ramsurrun,the second session focused distribution challenges for OTT platforms and partnering with Telcos as for better and wider reach. The panel had speakers like Sony Pictures Networks India Original Content and Partnerships, Digital Business SVP and head Amogh Dusad; Shemaroo chief operating officer-digital Zubin Dubash; ZEE5 India Business Development and Commercial head Manpreet Bumrah; media veteran and strategy guru Naveen Chandra and GoQuest Media director Vivek Lath.

The panel discussed on how the Telcos have been the key in distribution. Different models are created in order to cater to the different needs for varied audience.

Lath asserted to this observation, “The Telcos have given a very interesting model. Some look for ADs, some look for pay wall. So there are various models coming up for various needs.

Bumrah added on the similar line, “Gone are those days when people used to consume content only in the evening. Now, they’re consuming content while travelling, or during a snacky break, tea break. Now the entire thing has given us a possibility to actually create lot many business engagements. Telcos and mobile phones are great enablers into this thing. People are actually are valuing content. And if there’s quality content, they’re paying for it.”

This session was followed by a presentation by Limelight Networks chief financial officer Sajid Malhotra about the network service, used for delivery of digital media content and software.

Soumini Sridhara Paul with Rahul Bakshi

The fourth session was again a one to one discussion between Reliance Entertainment Big Synergy CEO Rahul Bakshi and Artist Aloud / Hungama Kids VP Soumini Sridhara Paul. The conversation was mostly based on the production company that’s expanding its offering into the fiction segment for both TV and Digital Media with popular web-series like Yay kay hua Bro, Kaushiki, Bose-Dead or Alive, Savdhaan India Naya Adhyay and few under development shows with Amazon.

Bakshi said, “Budget in OTT is much more than TV. Must watch is the new trend and not not must have. Specific apps are going to be a trend very soon.”

The next panel discussion was on ‘How device and TV app partnerships impact on growing the customer base?’, and the speakers were Republic TV Digital Revenue head Varun Mohan, The Viral Fever OTT project head Vinay Pillai, Immersive Media Consultant and Partner RealVision Clyde DeSouza and Elara Capital Research vice president Karan Taurani, moderated by Simplicity Communications CEO Ajitabh Dutta.

The OTT industry in India is experiencing constant activity and initiatives, whether it is in terms of production, partnerships or providing new experiences to viewers. The players are also adapting to new challenges.

On this aspect, Taurani noted, “Content is king here. One big reason for the growth of small screen is that the cost of smart TV is much more than that of smartphones. The broadband penetration in this country is 10 per cent, whereas smartphone and internet penetration is 40 per cent.  Thanks to Jio. If Jio’s new broadband plans become successful, then the scenario might change.”

From left to right : Abhijat Dutta, Varun Mohan, Vinay Pillai, Clyde DeOuza and Karan Taurani.

On the other hand, DeSouza commented on how technology is aiding OTT platforms and partnering with it. Said he, “When we talk about partnerships, the largest OTT platforms can even Instagram and Facebook. We need engaging and interactive channels to turn smartphone into a second screen. We need partnerships that’s going to enable big screen experience.”

Mohan also informed that OEMs got higher traction than Telcos and there are three things that require Content, Accessibility of the Content and User Experience.

The third panel discussion looked at ‘How can content distribution on free video platforms like YouTube drive the growth on paid video platforms?’. The speakers included Limelight Networks senior engineer Charley Thomas, Muvi Business Development head Ankit Pandey and Nirvana Digital MD Pinakin Thakkar, with Integral Ad Science India lead Dr. Kushal Sanghvi.

Post lunch, the summit saw how we series and original content is contributing to the market positioning of OTT players. Perspectives were shared by Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta; ALT Balalji SVP and marketing head Divya Dixit; Eros International chief marketing officer Manav Sethi; MX Player marketing and business partnerships head Abhishek Joshi; and ZEE5 India marketing head for Music and Live Reilly Rebello, in discussion with Paul.

Original content has been the game changer in the OTT business. A plethora of new, fresh content has upped the game for many players after Netflix kind of set the trend with its mind blowing Sacred Games, Love Per Square Foot and others.  

From left to right : Soumini Sridhara paul, Vishnu Mohta, Divya Dixit, Manav Sethi, Abhishek Joshi and Reilly Rebello.

Dixit mentioned, “There’s absolutely different approach from broadcast to digital. There’s no rehash of content, but freshly created ones… It’s not necessary that every show will be a sureshot success. The intent of the platform should be to have the power of the brand that even not so great shows will also run.”

Almost all big OTT platforms have given importance to regional content to cater to myriad audience with myriad languages. Mohta mentioned, “For Hoichoi, our bet was the depth of catalogue of creations and stories. There are 200 million Bengalis and 180 million Bangladeshis and the kind of content we create and distribute is different from each other.”

Rebello too quoted, “Almost all content on ZEE5 is dubbed in south languages as a mandate.”

Sethi made an interesting comment on Indian markets. He quipped, “From an objective point of view, 80 per cent of consumption on YouTube is non-english. OTT as a platform gives you the opportunity to look at India as 1000 markets.”

Before the last two sessions, PWC Partner/Leader of Entertainment, Media and Sports Advisory Raman Kalra also made a presentation on OTT business trends.

The second last session was a debate on whether an OTT platform can engage audience without joining the web series bandwagon. The panel consisted of Docubay VP and Strategy/Business head Girish D, Lokmat Media Sr. EVP and Digital Business head Hemant Jain, along with Kalra and Paul, with Dutta as the moderator.

In the context Jain said, “Episodes on TV are nearly 20 minutes with almost 10 minutes commercials. So, OTT was created where people get to watch undisruptive content… Even Facebook and Instagram is a great marketing platform if used smartly.”

From left to right : Deepak Ramsurrun, Kashmera Shah, Akshada Bhalerao, Kushal Sanghvi and Karan Taurani

The concluding session talked about how successful are web series with bold content in catching eyeballs. The speakers put forward different opinions and perception about boldness. The panel had ICOM Global vice chairman Kushal Sanghvi; Pocket Aces Content Syndication and Licensing head Akshada Bhalerao, actor and director Kashmera Shah; and Bollywood filmmaker (Bhootnath) Vivek Sharma along with Sanghvi and Taurani as speakers, in conversation with Ramsurrun.

Sanghvi said, “Eyeballs will naturally gravitate towards new, edgy, controversial content that involves skin show. GOT worked because such boldness of content was never seen before.”

Raman Kalra

Taurani opined, “The bold is a part but not sustainable for a long time. The mindset in India and the US are different. Today’s youth prefer bold content but that’s not what content is made of wholly.”

Bhalerao on the other hand pointed out that, “Our audience is very smart. Skin show will grab eyeballs but will not be sustainable. For me, bold is content is about having a voice, a bold concept that’s executed smartly when the script demands it. Ours is the cleanest content in that aspect.”

Before wrapping up, the OTTv summit also recognised two new players in the digital space – Watcho and Shemaroo Me.

The flourishing OTT space with varied content, strategies, marketing options, wide distribution is sure to soar high in the coming days, and this summit just pointed out how.

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