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: Bigflix.com, the online and offline movie rental business of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), has completed a year of operations. In just one year, it has managed to get a registered membership base of 80,000. In an exclusive interview with FE’s Pritha Mitra Dasgupta, the COO of Bigflix, Kamal Gianchandani, says 2009-10 is going to be crucial. While the company hopes to break even this financial year, Gianchandani admits that the home video business is anything but easy and that it is extremely process-oriented and process-driven. Excerpts:
What is the size of the online and offline movie rental business in India? Since Bigflix has completed one year, what is the company’s current market share?
Different people will give different numbers for the current size (online and offline put together), as there is no formal compiled research which anyone can share. The reason is that this market is extremely fragmented. There are a number of video stores and their revenues are neither accounted for, nor recorded. Our best guess is that the current size is roughly around Rs 700-750 crore. This is based on the number of video libraries that operate in different parts of the country. Currently, we are not sharing our revenue numbers because this is only the end of our first year of operations.
But in terms of the offline market, we have got a substantial market share. We are present in 10 cities with 112 stores and we are growing month-on-month at about 15-20%. One needs to keep in mind that we started from a small base and this is only our first year of operation. So, there may be shrinkage of this percentage growth as we go along. As the base becomes bigger, this percentage growth will go down.
Which division is contributing more revenue, online or offline?
In terms of members who are acquired through offline and online, the split is 75:25. In terms of usage pattern, the split is almost 55:45. What happens is we have a common package with online and offline put together. After they become members, people tend to use only the home delivery service. As far as revenue is concerned we have taken it as composite.
And the number of subscribers you have for your online and offline movie rental business...
We have a subscriber base of about 80,000 for the rental business and very high page views for video-on-demand.
Your website has tie-ups with channels like Star TV and Zoom to showcase their programmes on the site. What sort of a financial arrangement do you have with these channels?
We have twofold business; one is the rental business, which is in the domestic market in 10 cities. Then we have the video-on-demand in both domestic and international markets. These channels have given their content for video-on-demand. As far as rental business is concerned, we rent DVDs and VCDs and also have some television content. As far as broadcasters are concerned, we have a revenue sharing model.
Do you plan to tie-up with any broadcaster or DTH player or any media platform where you can extend the Bigflix business?
Our group has a DTH service and we will soon be announcing a package with Big TV DTH, though we have not formalised the arrangement. The contours of the promotion are yet to be concluded.
How many titles do you have at the Bigflix library and in how many languages?
As far as video-on-demand service is concerned, we currently have about 1,500 titles. In rental business we have about 18,000 titles in around 15 languages.
Give us a sense of the total investment you have made so far. Also, when do you think you will break even?
Our total investment is spread over four years and this is our first year of operations. Therefore, in four years we will make a total investment of $100 million, which in today’s terms is about Rs 500 crore. By the third quarter of the next financial year, we should be able to break even.
You are also currently looking after the distribution business of Big Pictures. Given the economic meltdown, what kind of challenges are you facing?
Fortunately, the box-office has not seen any kind of meltdown. Golmaal Returns, Fashion and Dostana have been terrific starters. Dostana started very well and has made a lot of money in the first three days. And now over the next few months we have some big films coming up like Ghajni, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and others. On January 30 we will be releasing Luck By Chance, starring Hrithik Roshan and Farhan Akhtar. In fact, the movie is Zoya Akhtar’s debut as director. But yes, there is a liquidity crunch for film producers, especially small producers.
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