A plethora of technological upgrades are happening in the global digital entertainment industry. However, the Indian media and entertainment industry is yet to make a mark and create a new technology format for itself. Content owners and broadcasters are looking for full control and flexibility to deliver superior media experiences to consumers across devices. This involves more of research into technology.
The global scenario is working more on a collaborative research. For instance, after DVDs, Blu-ray discs, the trend in the media and entertainment industry is moving towards the next revolution? UltraViolet. Nearly 60 leading entertainment and technology companies from around the world are working together to create a revolutionary new approach to digital entertainment.
UltraViolet is being designed so that UltraViolet-enabled content, devices and services can give consumers the freedom to experience movies and TV shows like never before.
?We are technology followers and not technology innovators,? says Ravindra V Velhal, Global content policy & standards strategist, Intel Corporation. Having over 16 patents (pending and applied) in this sector, he says that there is no Indian company which has made any big technological advancement. ?We are business model innovators and try to monetise on it,? he says. There is a new saying too which is content is king, distribution is God but consumer has the remote. A collaborative approach can help in overcoming legal, business and technological challenges, he opines.
Citing the example of digital rights management (DRM) technologies, he says there is a need to have a common file format to understand the frustration of users and work on inter-operabilty for better solutions. The industry has to set standards and monetise on the content. DRM has enabled publishers to enforce access policies that not only disallow copyright infringements and attempts to control use of digital media by preventing access, copying or conversion to other formats by end users.
A recent report says that in January, a consortium of studios which include Warner Brothers, NBC Universal, Sony, Paramount and Fox along with high-tech companies such as Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Intel and many more came together with Neustar to create a cloud-based system for consumers to buy and store digital content and deploy it across different devices. The Digital Rights Locker, as it is called, seems to be a secure, third-party way for many news organisations to distribute content beyond the dedicated Apple-approved or Android applications.
Another instance is from Microsoft which is working to address the growing needs of the media and entertainment industry. The company has developed a digital marketing strategy, which is a new approach to better help companies drive online revenue generation around key industry trends, such as online video, adaptive websites and social media. The strategy focuses on enabling media companies to better monetise their relationships with their audiences.
Through the use of SharePoint Server 2010, Silverlight and Internet Information Services (IIS) Smooth Streaming, and by utilising the Microsoft Advertising network and properties, media and entertainment companies have the opportunity to reach the consumer across multiple platforms and channels and to maximise the opportunity to monetise content. Silverlight and IIS Media Services are key components in helping partners reach consumers across multiple platforms to monetise their content, offering a complete media delivery platform.
The media and entertainment industry is projected to grow at 13% over next five years to Rs 1,091 billion, says a FICCI-KPMG report. The industry, which is dependent on advertising for almost 38% of its revenues, was hit last year due to shrinking ad budgets. The industry stood at Rs 587 billion in 2009, a growth of 1.4% over the previous year. Over the next five years, the industry is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13% to reach Rs 1,091 billion by 2014, says the report.
As analysts point out, there is enough potential in digitalisation which is made possible due to newer distribution platforms like digital cable, DTH and IPTV, digitisation of newspapers, magazines, films and sale of online and mobile music are some of the ways in which the industry benefited from digitisation. New media is bringing about a revolution by merging the functionalities of customer and end terminal devices. For example, IPTV, online newspapers and magazines, podcasts, WiMax, new video formats, internet streaming, etc. Also digitalisation in TV homes through DTH, cable and IPTV are helping bring in better quality to consumers who can pay for the same, says the report.
As Himanshu Parekh, executive-director, KPMG, points out, there are other factors which the industry has to worry which include multiple taxations. Interestingly, India is one of the largest media consuming markets in the world. The Indian film industry produces over 1,000 movies a year, twice the number of Hollywood releases; has the third highest number of C&S (Cable & Satellite) households globally, next only to China and the US; the number of channels has increased from five in 1991 to 200 in 2004 to 550 in 2010 and India is home to the second largest number of newspapers published in the world.
