The disappearing audience

Millions of people are joining the creator economy, adding to the babble of films, shows and funny videos. Where is the audience?

“We need more readers, not more writers,” says Manjari Prabhu. The desi Agatha Christie, as she is known, was speaking at a book launch in Pune earlier this year. Ms Prabhu, an author of 21 books, a short filmmaker, and TV producer was talking in her capacity as the founder/director of the Pune International Literary Festival. Her struggle is to get people to come and just listen to authors without wanting to become one themselves.

Inadvertently, Ms Prabhu has touched upon one of the biggest challenges the media and entertainment ecosystem faces in a rapidly digitising world. The boundaries between