Broadcasters are taking their content beyond television to platforms like mobile devices and PCs
The Rs 25,700 crore Indian broadcasting industry is repurposing its content beyond TV to meet the challenges of cross-platform consumption. Following the advent of 3G and availability of faster bandwidth, content developers are eyeing to expand their services to mobile devices and PCs.
Players reckon it has become critical to present viewers with options to view full-length programmes, on-demand short segments or even downloading personalised products. This would mean more competition but also wider distribution opportunities.
Ronnie Screwvala, chairman, UTV Software Communications, believes with 60 million smartphones, a mobile base of 650 million subscribers and the 3G platform, content consumption patterns are bound to shift to smaller screens. And companies like UTV are focusing on churning out content for all platforms in an integrated and complementary manner.
“Never before have the TV broadcasters been under so much pressure to deliver quality content across so many different platforms to technologically empowered viewers,” says Screwvala.
UTV is producing original made-for-mobile content, games and also looking to migrate some of the TV content to online and mobile platforms. Screwvala has no intentions of giving mobile content away for free — a mistake that most broadcast and online content producers did. “We intend to sell our mobile to subscribers via a tie-up with telecom operators.”
UTV Interactive’s audio cinema – where users access abridged versions of Indian films on a voice platform on their mobile phones – has seen its user base touch two million since its launch last year. With a catalogue of more than 500 movies in eight languages, the service comes at Rs 30 per month for films like Sholay, Wake Up Sid, and popular soaps such as Ramayan.
According to the Ficci-KPMG Indian Media & Entertainment Industry report of 2010, advertisers are looking at multiple delivery platforms for content to break through the clutter in existing platforms. Players have already experimented with the multi-platform approach in their marketing campaigns. For instance, Aamir Khan starrer 3 idiots successfully made use of multiple touch points to communicate with consumers.
Cartoon Network’s multi-media strategy has begun to pay off, claims Siddharth Jain, vice-president and deputy general manager (distribution & business operations, South Asia), Turner International India. The confidence stems from the numbers Turner has seen for its properties like Chhota Bheem that attracted 700,000 game plays online and Ben 10 Battle of Omnitrix that was downloaded by 1.5 million users on mobile devices.
“In addition to wireless content and linear broadcast, we are aggressively pursuing content aggregation across multiple platforms including interactive media, publishing, consumer products and promotional licensing — exploring all possible points of contact,” says Jain. Turner also intends to launch Boomerang that would air iconic cartoon characters on mobile TV by early 2011, in partnership with five to seven telecom operators in India.
Jain is also eyeing to maximise his return-on-investments (ROI) from content by launching Cartoon Network gaming channels on the DTH platformv (presently running on Tata Sky). “Video-On-Demand channels for other DTH operators is a work in progress and will be launched shortly. We are also shortly launching Cartoon Network in HD format,” says Jain. Realising that mobile games are a great revenue churner, the channel is expected to launch a cricket game based on its popular character Chhota Bheem this year and is looking to offer it for both pay-per-play and one-time paid download.
Broadcaster’s have realised that technologies like mobile TV and online TV are complimentary services that engage their traditional audiences. Disney Channel stepped up its foray on the mobile platform with a partnership with Apalya TV, a content aggregator, to provide shows like Kya Mast Hai Life, Ishaan, Wizards of Waverly Place and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on mobile handsets and through data card connections. Raju Venkataraman, general manager, Disney Media says, “With telecom players set to launch 3G services in India, mobile video streaming promises to get bigger.”
Media experts believe that 2010 will be noted as the year when broadcasters decided to evolve in to gigantic media agencies that offer tailored multiplatform solutions to their advertisers. UTV, for instance, is in talks with producers to include audio cinema as part of their marketing strategy and release audio cinema simultaneously with new movies. “We believe in 3G technology and are working on providing video format advertisements to monetise the content,” says Screwvala.
