Sidharth Kedia

2018 was a hallmark year for Digital Media around the globe - The role of Facebook in toppling the apple cart and playing a pivotal role in electing the most powerful man in the world (Trump) and fallout of its creator (Zuckerberg) thereafter or acquisition of one of the World’s biggest media houses (Time Warner) by a telecom operator (AT&T) or within 24 months of launch, Reliance Jio amassing more than 250 million subscribers for its high speed data network. These are all indications of digital media finally coming of age and becoming mainstream from what used to be ‘on the fringe’ just a few years ago.

There are three prominent trends that have emerged over the past 12 months:

1. The year of Consolidation

There have been mega mergers this year – both on global and domestic front. Disney acquiring Fox for $71 billion, AT&T acquiring Time Warner at $104 billion and Comcast acquiring SKY for $40 billion - marked three of the biggest deals in the global corporate space. In India, Jio has been constantly acquiring controlling stakes in both content (Saavn, Viacom 18) and distribution (Den and Hathaway) companies. With the success of mainstream digital companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon in the world of media, these mergers are a move towards owning the consumer - a D2C model. What better way than converging of Media, Technology and Telecom.

2. Local Content rules

2018 has been the inflection year for Amazon and Netflix alike. Their watch time has grown by 2-3X in just one year, driven largely by user growth. To the surprise of some, this growth has come primarily on the back of constant infusion of local content by both these platforms and not from their extensive library of international series and Hollywood movies. The two shows that saw a breakaway success in 2018 were “sacred Games” by Netflix and “Mirzapur” by Amazon. Both Amazon and Netflix have earmarked an annual budget of ~ Rs. 500 cr each for creation of local content. Even Indian broadcaster owned platforms like Voot and Zee5 are focusing on creating digital originals and 2019 should see a new war in the OTT space lead by local digital originals.

3. Digital and TV; not Digital vs TV

“Play Along” was not only the most talked about and used feature, a first of its kind, but also, many believe, was the sole reason behind resurrection of KBC for SONY Network in India. A show that was on the brink of extinction was given a new lease of life by Reliance JIO. Similar fillip was experienced by mega TV properties like IPL and Bigg Boss as interactivity was built in by their respective digital platforms. TV is largely a passive medium. Digital brings an element of interactivity and that is a sure shot way of increasing engagement with the consumers, feeding on and building their fandom further. As a result, the narrative amongst the broadcasters has changed from Digital vs TV to Digital and TV. Instead of cannibalising TV viewership, digital on the contrary, is proving to be not only enhancing engagement with fans but also building incremental reach.

2019 will continue to benefit from all of the above trends as the consumer has increasingly become the centre of every media company’s universe. However, the following trends are expected to define and shape much of the Indian media landscape and its constituents in 2019 and thereafter:

1. Mobile is the new TV

India has 197 million TV households, out of which ~97% are still single TV households. This lends to high co-viewing in the country. However, the mere availability of customised and personalised content available through more than 800 channels is not enough as the current consumption device -the TV is shared. With the significant reduction in both hardware costs (a smart phone is available sub Rs. 8,000) and the access charges, (avg. monthly cost per GB for a Jio user is Rs. 4) mobile phone has become the new TV. Consumers across economic and demographic strata of the society are consuming content anytime, anywhere and on any device. While this poses the challenge of staying relevant and current for the media companies, it also offers them a great opportunity to create sticky content that can be binge watched and thanks to ubiquity of digital medium, the same can become viral quickly – leading to better monetisation opportunities.

2. Regional is the new National

As per a recent report, 536 million people are projected to consume content on the Internet in regional languages by 2021. Also, as one looks at the consumption of content on YouTube over the past 12 months, the English content consumption in India is only 10%. 90% of the content consumed on YouTube has been in Indian languages. The global and Indian OTT majors alike are making significant investments in creating regional content. As the OTT adoption becomes more of a non-metro phenomenon, the same will be driven by local content more than premium English content.

3. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deep Learning to become mainstream

Digital Media in its most fundamental sense has transformed the media consumption model from ‘one-to-many’ to ‘one-to-one’. AI has been increasingly aiding personalisation of customer experience through recommendation engines and curating content based on individual preferences. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The power of the deep learning algorithms is yet to be harnessed. For accurate results, millions of observations are needed. This data includes audience data, operational data and content data (metadata). Big data in Media is expected to reach that critical threshold sometime later this year, whereby the accuracy of deep learning algorithms meets the acceptable threshold for data based decision making. Once deep learning becomes relevant, it will impact all parts of the media value chain, including the holy grail – creative ability.

In short, technology is disrupting media and our lives faster than we would like to believe. And as the Indian consumer gets access to cheaper smart phones and faster connectivity, the masses have the potential to leapfrog technology. As a result, media companies have to increasingly start thinking Digital First as Mobile phone could become the first screen for content consumption faster than expected. As a result, with the heaps of data thus generated, the deep learning algorithms will not only start predicting user behaviour more accurately but also play a pivotal role in enhancing customer experience by personalising content curation.

Disclaimer: All the views expressed in this article are mine alone and are not shared or influenced by my employer.

Sidharth Kedia

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India 8K followers 500+ connections

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Sidharth Kedia

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

8K followers 500+ connections