Mumbai: Sanjog Gupta, head of Sports Disney Star shed light on the 4 D’s of media disruption at the SVG Summit held in Mumbai. They are Disaggregation of attention, the Decentralisation of platforms, Democratisation of creation and the Digitisation of experiences
He noted that the timing of the first-ever SVG India Summit couldn’t be more appropriate. It comes he explained at the time of paradigm shifts in the sports broadcasting landscape across the world, driven by profound, irreversible and far-reaching forces, created by rapidly evolving consumers and consumption-altering technology.
“I like to call these forces the 4 D’s of media disruption. First, the Disaggregation of attention. Consumers have more media choices than ever before and are also more distracted than ever before. The itch to switch has never been higher. It’s a war for attention and no content genre has the right to be entitled, not even Sports. You have to earn each second of attention.
“Second, the Decentralisation of platforms. The concept of a singular destination for content is significantly challenged, and some may say, outdated. We grew up knowing exactly where to watch what. That is no longer the case. There is no one way to consume content and in fact, the same content is also available in so many different forms.
“Third, Democratisation of creation. The asymmetry in resources required for creation and distribution of content has diminished. It has never been easier to be a creator and find an audience. Seeing through the eyes of others is now the primary media choice for many.
“And fourth, Digitisation of experiences. The accelerated adoption of technology is forcing a re-definition of experiential delight. How we experience life around us, from work to play, and by virtue of that – media – is changing in every way. What is considered “normal” has evolved from tapping on a screen to having ear-buds on all the time to now gesture-based AR.
“The way we engage with the world around us will be shaped by technology. These forces need us to continually re-imagine sports viewing experiences. And as custodians of sport and cultivators of fandom, we must keep asking the question – “What’s next?” if we are to retain the allure of Sport as the last bastion of “all at once, appointment viewing”.
He noted that the world is changing and nowhere is this pace of change more rapid or more visible than in India. India he explains is at a significant milestone in its sports journey. Sports in India is on the move, propelled by socio-economic, societal, lifestyle and institutional forces.
“The burgeoning Indian middle class is projected to hit 500 million by 2025. This will correspond with increased discretionary spending, meaning higher spending on avenues of recreation and entertainment, which include Sport. The powerful Indian consumer’s consumption basket is likely to include more sport as we go forward.
“Then there is the increasing awareness of health standards which are driving adoption of lifestyles and participation in sport. The country known as the global capital for chronic heart disease and diabetes is waking up to the need to play. And the need to play is also being acknowledged by the educational ecosystem as a crucial component in a child’s development. There is also strong institutional support for Sport with the government seeing it as an instrument of nation-building and global diplomacy while the private sector sees it as an investment for Long-term returns as well as “good” brand-building.”
While cricket dominates the landscape if the latest viewership numbers of IPL are anything to go by then Cricket itself has more room to grow. “We are just hallway through the tournament and viewing figures have crossed 450 million on TV. We’ve also seen significant green-shoots emerge for sports like Kabaddi and Football, which both have more than 250 million viewers engaging with them every year.
“Serving this scale and ambitions of growth has also stimulated the development of a robust ecosystem of talent, technology and innovations which can deliver customized, cost-efficient and consumer-focused services. Disney Star has been a pioneer and a driver in the space. A few examples come to mind, include our investment in remote productions in 2014, which led to the delivery of our first fully-remote global broadcast in 2015 and shaped the future of Cricket viewing in India with more than 10 fully customized parallel feeds being offered to different audience cohorts. In 2019, we launched interactive features including Watch n’ Play and chats as part of the live Cricket viewing experience on Hotstar – our OTT app. Last year, we also delivered a world-first ‘made for mobile’ vertical live broadcast in partnership with ICC, but more on that later. We’ve realised that building viable solutions for a complex market like India also presents an opportunity for markets around the world to leverage them. The problems we are solving for are pretty damn similar.”
