K Madhavan, the Managing Director, Star & Disney India and Chairman CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment, reiterated that the potential of the media industry is untapped and humongous while recalling his statement that the industry has the potential to grow from $24 Bn to 100 Billion by 2030.
In his valedictory address during the closing ceremony of the 9th edition of Big Picture Summit, Madhavan elaborated the potential untapped opportunities stating that the Television penetration in this country is only 70% – against 300 Mn households and even today barely 200 million households are connected to the TV which means another 1/3rd of the market is still away from the television. Television and streaming ARPUs in India remain much lower compared to developed markets. Out of 1.2 Bn mobile phones, only half of them are smartphones – i.e. 600 Million. The number of screens has gone up dramatically from 200 mn to 600 Mn screens, and it is growing.
While quoting that the film industry is passing through a critical phase due to the pandemic and lockdown, Madhavan articulated that they grew in digital and non-linear space, which is expected to grow at ~30% CAGR in the coming two years. He wanted the film industry to take full advantage of new forms of distribution, to expand to new markets. For example, Hollywood has been earning almost 50% of its theatrical revenues from outside the United States. Whereas In India, it is just 10-12%. Our content must be created with a global appeal for global audiences and distributed around the world.
Setting his eye on Print Media, Madhavan said, “The Print sector still accounts for nearly 20,000 Cr rupees of advertisements, as part of its overall 30,000 Cr of revenue. In the last few years, growth in Print has come from the Regional markets, where the focus is on local and hyper-local news. Across the world, reputed publishers in the print space have expanded their operations to podcasts, online apps, and other extensions – all run on a subscription model. In India, there has recently been a rise in subscription-only journalism, especially online.”
Coining technology as a growth enabler, Madhavan said, “Technology is no longer just an enabler for delivering content, but it can play an essential role in the content itself. Artificial intelligence can take the consumer experience to the next level – whether in gaming or simply in personalized recommendations for what consumers should watch. Interactive games could be the future of education – especially now that most children are learning from home.”
“Animation and Visual Effects are also at an inflection point. India has less than 10% of the global market share in VFX and Animation, despite costs being almost 1/5th of developed markets. An effort in creating a skilled production base and offering incentives will help India capture a larger share of the growing global market” he added.
Madhavancolcluded voicing the need for light-touch regulation to drive growth and investment. He added that the industry needs to be able to experiment with content and technology, needs to be able to invest in growth – for which you need huge support of capital. The regulatory framework has to be supportive to grow the sector. We hope that through continued discussion and collaboration with the policymakers, we will be able to fully implement the principles of ‘Ease of Doing Business’
