Entertainment at your fingertips

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

: sales were recorded higher than physical formats like cassettes and CDs and even though ringtones and caller tunes contribute to the bulk of revenues generated through downloads, the figures add up to a small percentage of a film’s revenues. However, we are optimistic that this medium has ample potential.”

A revolution of sorts is on the anvil then. According to Navin Shah, chief executive officer, P9 says, “Mobile and Internet downloads are an aggressive marketing tool. It is quite effective and a viral tool as one can download content for themselves as well as for friends. It allows a film to engage in high-buzz marketing by word of mouth. In Hollywood, downloading is a serious revenue avenue and this trend is slowly emerging as an effective marketing tool in India as well. Downloads are mainly aimed at the age group of 15-24 years which constitutes about 60% of the movie goers in India.”

Industry experts believe that even with a substantial broadband and mobile penetration and a significant point of customer acquisition due to the drop in the handset costs, downloads are still a far cry from discovering their true potential. Value-added services account for as little as 8-9% of the revenues for mobile carriers.

Internet and mobiles have limited reach in India. It is a price sensitive market and is fairly undermined. The download business is expected to have about 700 million consumers by 2011 and most content providers feel that not even one-third of the market has been tapped. Transcoding content and porting it to compatible devices is a complex task and for the digital business to flourish enabling smart phones with adequate memory storage

is essential.