BUSINESS AND ECONOMY : WILL TV SURVIVE?

BY ROBIN GHOSH
(ECONOMIST)

KOLKATA, 15 AUGUST 2023:

There is turbulence in the entertainment market.

A big question is being tossed around – in the years to come – will TV survive?

In a recent interview with the media, Uday Shankar, the master strategist and currently leading Jio Cinema – has expressed that the life of the TV industry in India is going to be short. The expiry date has almost been stamped.

Uday Shankar’s background is outstanding.

He has an impeccable track record. He built fortunes of Star India – turning a company having a turnover of Rs. 1400 crores in 2017 to a Rs. 20000 crore entertainment elephant in 2020-21.

As a strategist, he is brilliant. His innovative and disruptive moves are learning lessons – how to design a creative playbook to usurp customers.

Observe the following:

1. To build the wheel of consumption and suck in more and more customers, – Uday Shankar streamed the IPL matches for free on Disney + Hotstar OTT platform.

2. Similarly, IOC World Cup 2015 was also streamed free for Hotstars users.

Udayshankar’s plan for 2023- 27 is unique.

He has announced that the IPL matches would be available free of cost to viewers of the Jio Cinema.

This is a classic disruption strategy. He has reversed the playbook. No subscription. Cost is borne by advertisers.

This is going to hit the subscription based OTT services badly.

Along with this, Uday Shankar’s decision to put all the original content of Viacom 18 in Hindi and regional language also inflicted a blow.
It is going to negatively impact the competitive subscription based channels. They will be unable to sustain high content costs.

Putting content free in Jio Cinema shocked many.

Not many realised that it is a classic Reliance approach. Inflict greater losses on competitors, push and humble them to move from their premium position.

The strategy adopted by Uday Shankar was incisive: the data displayed amazing results, – Jio Cinema is now no 2 among OTT players in India with monthly active users (MAU) of 150 million.

Another provoking question Uday Shankar has raised. If cricket, Bollywood, regional cinema, local originals are available in Jio Cinema why does one even need a television broadcasting service?

Hence, Television’s demise is close. The proof – Viacom 18 claims that for the first time in the history of IPL, digital revenues surpassed that of TV during the tournament 2023 season.

That TV is a dying phenomenon – not many agree. They feel it is still way ahead and will delight the viewers.

Experts from the media industry are also divided in their opinion on whether Jio Cinema will be able to throw away the competitors and – can successfully monetize the huge investment which they have planned to do.

The propeller of the entertainment industry is just not money or capital or machine.

It is primarily a human element – creating content which resonates with customers.

Udayshankar’s mind is clear. He wouldn’t take risk of investing about Rs. 15000 crores without having a clear monetizing plan.
Let us wait to discover the winning gameplan.