And in the case of digital, where you can very clearly reach out from a one-to-one basis, okay, you might actually see the existence and the survival of a lot of niche streaming platforms who might only appeal to you and not to consumers at scale.
Three takeaways worth carrying forward.
- 01
However, the game plan is about reaching out to those paying consumers who have the ability, who can afford and who have the propensity to pay for the content pieces.
- 02
And when I say that, it essentially means that there is no or strategy that is going to exist over here.
- 03
Money is being poured in not just in acquiring content but on tech and also on the marketing of it.
Connected to the DMAasia operating frame.
Proof
This episode connects brand purpose to credible evidence, leadership archives and field-tested marketing practice.
Access
This episode connects brand purpose to routes into communities, councils, juries and senior conversations.
Ascent
This episode connects brand purpose to learning, recognition and the next generation of marketing leadership.
AdChoices / DAA
This episode connects brand purpose to privacy-first marketing, consumer trust and responsible data use.
Unfinished Business
This episode connects brand purpose to open industry problems that still need senior participation.
Durable lessons from the record.
- Start with the consumer problem, not the channel.
- Treat digital transformation as a behaviour change, not a software purchase.
- Measure effectiveness without losing the brand story.
If brand purpose is now table stakes, what will make the brand genuinely harder to ignore?
Take it into Unfinished Business →READABLE TRANSCRIPT957 words
The future of OTT in this country is extremely exciting, is extremely maddening and extremely chaotic. India currently has 32 streaming apps. Do you see consolidation happening anytime soon or is it an, it will remain an overcrowded market? What is the kind of the future of OTT market in India? Not every streaming platform is actually a subscription platform. Okay. You have platforms which are working on the A-VOT side. There are platforms which are working on the S-VOT side. And there are also platforms which are working on the T-VOT side.
That's point number one. Point number two is, one is the existence. The other is the survival. Third is, how many of those platforms will actually be able to monetize and be right up there? That was my next question. Yeah. Because the thing is this, in any market, in any category, wherever there is a long tail, it's only your top 3, 4, 5 odd players who actually garnered the maximum revenue. Right. Which is the case even on the TV side. The right, top 5 players. Yeah, your top 4 broadcasters, they actually make the most money. That is all media. Right.
But it doesn't mean that the other additional 100, 200 odd channels are not there. And in the case of digital, where you can very clearly reach out from a one-to-one basis, okay, you might actually see the existence and the survival of a lot of niche streaming platforms who might only appeal to you and not to consumers at scale. Basically, it is a segment where, say, a Hotstar will also flourish and so will a TVF. Absolutely. Two different scales. Two very different scales. Right. And two, hopefully, and possibly very different consumer profiles as well.
Right. And the challenge for TVF will be, how do they continue to survive with the onslaught of where Hotstar or a Woot or a Z5 continue to pretty much end up offering everything. Right. But TVF, if they continue to stay true to their DNA. Right. And what they have to offer, might continue to resonate with a certain set of fans. Right. Who will come to TVF to only watch that particular piece of content. Right. So how challenging is the monetization of OTT content? Look, India is a country of countries. Okay. Yeah.
And when I say that, it essentially means that there is no or strategy that is going to exist over here. The strategy is going to be very clearly an and strategy. Okay. Okay. A-WOD and S-WOD. And S-WOD. And T-WOD. And many more such different newer business models that will be here to stay. A-WOD is about massive scale. Right. Is about massive watch time. Right. And about aggregating audiences. Right. And advertisers will put monies wherever the audiences are. Right. Right. So that suits a platform like yours.
And that suits a platform which has more than 1600 plus odd shows. Right. Which has 60,000 hours of content. Right. And the larger ambition. And the larger ambition. The game plan. Very clearly is to maximize my watch time. Because the more the time consumers spend on my platform. More inventory will I be able to generate. In the case of an S-WOD platform. However, the game plan is about reaching out to those paying consumers who have the ability, who can afford and who have the propensity to pay for the content pieces. Right.
And over there, the objective very clearly is to maximize retention. Right. That every month a subscriber actually keeps on coming back to your platform and actually keeps on paying money. So, I have a very small question but could be the most difficult one. What is the future of OTT in India? Future of OTT in this country is extremely exciting, is extremely maddening and extremely chaotic. Exciting why? The growth of the category on the back of affordability, access and availability.
The category drivers are such that from here, nobody can actually stop the growth and getting additional consumers and doubling the numbers of the internet subscribers in this country. Nobody can stop that growth. Right. We are talking about 450 million Nod subscribers today. And in the next 2-3 years, we are projecting it to reach a number close to 800 million Nod. That's point number one. So, it's very, very exciting. Yeah. Why is it maddening?
To one of your points that you asked me earlier, it's the presence of multiple platforms who are putting in massive amount of money. Right. Okay. Money is being poured in not just in acquiring content but on tech and also on the marketing of it. Right. No one is playing the game of garnering high share of the market or share of revenue. Everyone is playing the game of share of attention. So, how do you, what is, what is Akash Banerjee outside of work?
What I enjoy doing, being a Bengali, I am heavy into music and I love to sing and my newest passion is actually learning to play the guitar. Yeah. Six months back, I picked up that and I am now deep down into learning all the finger picking tricks and strumming and different chords, etc. And beyond that, with my family, I think, which is something so, so very dear to me, so, so very precious to me. Right. My wife and my twin boys, eight and a half year olds, they are massively into sports. So, you play with them.
I love watching sports with them and I love playing with them as well.