K Madhavan, the Managing Director, Star & Disney India and Chairman CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment delivered his welcome address at the CII Big Picture Summit 2020 virtually
He highlighted the fact that 9th edition of the CII Big Picture Summit was different and unique as it was a virtual event that is happening for the first time and expressed his positive hopes to meet physically to celebrate the milestone of a decade of the Big Picture Summit next year.
Talking about the impact of year Madhavan said, “2020 has been a year that has taken a toll on most of us. In my many years in the industry, disruption on this scale had never before been imagined. Content production was halted, live sports and eventswere cancelled, cinema halls and theatres were shut down. With a worldwide reduction in demand for services and major cuts in advertising spends – the pandemic enforced a long pause across the entire industry. However, the entire Media and Entertainment industry came together to engage and entertain millions of viewers while they were homebound.:
“In these times, entertainment consumption surged across mediums such as television, gaming, and digital streaming platforms. Television and video streaming increased to a peak of 37% higher than pre-lockdown levels” he added.
On comeback of Live Sports and the viewership of IPL 2020, Madhavan said, “Live Sports made a stupendous comeback with the IPL 2020. Not only was the IPL the biggest live cricketing tournament to be held during the pandemic, but it was also a beacon of hope and normalcy for the nation.The tournament broke all the previous records – with a 23% increase in viewership over last year. The response from the fans and advertisers was heartening and it set a positive tone for the festive season. It acted as a game-changer for the sector and helped revive the media spends for the whole industry.”
“The film industry showed resilience and adapted to the ‘direct-to-digital’ model which helped launch new movies across digital streaming platforms. Cinema halls have taken longer to reopen, but I am confident that fans will soon be watching their favourite movies on the big screen, in safety” added Madhavan.
He stated that Industry, business, and most importantly people & livelihoods have all been affected in 2020. Especially in the Indian Media and Entertainment industry, the losses were immeasurable as several glittering stars left us to forever shine bright in the sky.
Putting forward his vision and target for 2030, Madhavan articulated that the industry has the potential to grow from the present 24 billion dollars to 100 billion dollars by 2030. He said the potential of the industry is untapped – Pay TV is still at 120 Mn of the 300 Mn Households in India, and we only have 500 Mn smartphones in a country which has over 950 Mn mobile subscribers. The pandemic has driven customers to adopt technology as never before – as seen in the growth in e-commerce, online video, and digital gaming – and this can drive the sector to new heights.
“To achieve this potential, we need a lighter touch on regulation and a much simpler governance structure in place. There are various kinds of restrictions that this sector is being subjected to although it has within it to make India truly atmanirbhar. We can increase our exports, increase the number of jobs being given to young talent, and most importantly, make India a global leader in content if policies are shaped as per the requirements of the industry. We have senior representatives of government present in this session today. I urge them to look into the demands of the industry and facilitate its growth” Madhavan concluded.
The CII report on Big Picture Summit will be released later in this session which presents a panoramic view of the Indian media and entertainment industry – how it fared in 2020, what were the viewership trends, what was the impact of the pandemic on advertising, which medium got an edge and going forward what will be the role of Indian content in the global arena.
