 Good evening everybody and Can you hear me Yeah, so I'm proud to be here amongst this august gathering all heavy hitters of the industry and As always you cornered me by putting me in the middle So I'm gonna make this session a little more interactive because that's what I found whenever I've Done sessions before that people otherwise find it a monotonous dialogue. So Probably get the audience more involved. We'll do that. We won't wait for the question and answer session in the end But I have one question for you before we go ahead How is the OTT industry doing nothing to complain sir Nothing to complain. So I'm just following up with my next question saying how many hours of content have you produced in the last Three months, I mean individually you can tell me you can't collectively may not be possible But individually what I'm trying to get it is how trying to find out how much content is actually being generated new Original content is being generated has it slowed down or is it really? speeding up It's gone up. It's gone up Like really a lot Across languages. Can you hear it? Can you hear me? No, it's Mike Yeah, it's it's really gone up a lot. In fact, after So after that, it's it's just upward trend. I mean across languages. I'm not talking about only Hindi Of course, I mean the You know, you can see, you know, there are no studios available. There are no directors available There are no writers available. They're doing something unless they've gone to Himalayas You know some Sunnaz, etc. That doesn't look like They're both a cheek over there because that's good news. The thing is we have got any can you hear So the thing is that we have gotten the audience is Addicted and now we have to supply to that addiction, right? So this is this is just That's that's very good news. I'm sure if there are content creators here You'll be very happy to listen to this news that Consumption is going up and therefore The demand will be there, right? But what are the challenges? Obviously there are challenges, right? Especially when it comes to subscription. So what are the challenges? Nikhil. Yeah, can you hear me? Okay. I Think the first and most important thing that you know, I guess my some of my fellow panelists will agree is How do we find? Continuously find great stories And the kind of stories that our consumers are asking for and demanding Because they're not only exposed to content in their languages, but multiple languages India abroad So demand for great Quality storytelling is really improved It's gone up. The second Challenge for us is that even today if you look at the industry From a subscription point of view, this is still very early stages in the growth of the industry and The overall universe of paying audiences in the country is is relatively small and to encourage them to pay for content requires a lot of effort Most people still you know more than being able to afford There is this sort of mentality that content should be available to me free of cost So the intention to what to pay for content is a challenge that we are sort of grappling with regularly I think with great storytelling a good product Over time this this challenge is something that we can overcome in the last two years has been really great in terms of the movement That we've seen on subscriptions, but I think it's a long way to go and very very early days I'm just asking a follow-up question and how sensitive is the price when it comes to subscription It depends on how strong your content offering is if you have a robust content offering the The sensitivity is not as high. I think the important piece is how do you continue to? Penetrate the market and get more and more people into this fold of the SWAT business okay, so My next question. I mean Anybody can answer right? Subscription is a challenge to a certain extent and I've also heard that when you increase the prices then You see the thing and it's my sense So what are your other streams of revenue for particularly for hot start? There is of course subscription is big and we have a really robust advertising stream So our business currently has a big volume of people watching content free of cost subsidized through advertising and there's of course Subscription as well currently those are the two established models On hot star and that sort of gives you some amount of comfort in being able to grow the business through more than one revenue Ashish again, I'm asking from a from a revenue perspective Most OTT players 95% I don't know the percentage. I may be wrong and you you can correct me on that Majority of a ad revenue comes from programmatic For us Just add one more So, you know constantly things are changing Watch it like a You know, I can tell you about a shark tank There were a lot of people who my son actually know they used to have these binge parties So things are changing habits are changing it takes some time for people to You know come to this Is is tough currently but it's not that it's not growing it's growing it takes some time So no fair enough so Taking from your question itself When you do content decision, right? I mean how much of it is only OTT and how much of it you look at television complex question actually This is my personal view I believe that you know, whatever content that you're making you should be true to what you're who you're making I'm very focused that it has to be When we are considering the content for OTT then it has to be if it travels on other medium That's a hoonus, but one should never do that Distinct set of people Whatever We But do you strategically decide that there could be this show that can travel that can straddle both How many I'm just trying to see from broadcasters point of view because there is an opportunity like because one of the things in broadcasting is that you are not able to get better quality content, especially in GC channels because you can't take your Cost higher, but if you can identify shows that can straddle both then there is an opportunity, right? I mean absolutely, you know, I'll tell you what Again, sorry to get that example again But you know sharp time is a show that we've been wanting to do And we were not able to do it because we only had television and it doesn't make any commercial sense to do it on television The moment we had lived and we thought that you know we can monetize on both platforms when we did it Happened But yeah, I mean you're right I think The investment in content if you have better revenue But that's only to currently Scripted I think we still have to figure out Oh, there is not I don't know use case that I can Very Yeah, Nimeshya What kind of content do you look for when people because one of the topic that I What's up saying that variety of content in India do you genuinely think in the OTT? Indian content. There's enough variety or there could be more Or is it more of the same if crime is going everybody wants to go get on to the crime band you know It's it's following television in a pattern in many which ways. Yeah. Chalga. That's a blue boy. Okay. So do you think? What is it that you as a content great person sitting on the platform side? How do you differentiate? Or what do you look for and that could be funny? You're absolutely right. I mean there is more of the same But we are also very very new So sometimes I feel that we should cut it some slack, you know, we are still learning this story telling right and Increasingly yes, I mean you can already see you can already see non-crime dramas coming out you can see accommodations Going ahead For every I mean you have to make that decision for a Versus hundred people are watching you would definitely go for 100 people are watching because you can only make one show for that 9 p.m. Slot What OTT in that sense has done is that the choice of those 10 people are as important as The choice of those hundred people of course then the question comes is that what is the right cost of making that content if you're Making it only for 10 people and that's a separate conversation but as far as variety is concerned and hence giving Importance to to you know different tastes and audiences and hence giving rise to Diversity in content slate So absolutely, I mean that's just the only way to be for the audiences and the platform both right and the creators Yeah, I think right now we don't have a sort of common denominator to measure content across Platforms, but if you look at let's say The list that or max puts out every year in terms of you know, what are the top 10 shows of each year? Just from the hot stars table if you look at last year in 2021 You have an animation series like legend of Hanuman. You have a spy thriller like special ops You have a crime drama like aria. You have a relationship drama like art of love a historical magnum opus like Empire Poignant love story like Graham or you know a comedy like ok computer. So, you know, it has been our endeavor to put out a Lot of variety and and that's the reason why some of these shows are popping But to answer your question broadly, do you think that I mean do I think that we've done enough? Even that at our platform, no it is it is early days There's much more to explore many more genres to many more stories to sort of put out But it has gotten better over time where in the initial years even for our writers ecosystem Outside a lot of the reference points were the streaming shows that appeared in the US between 2013 and 15 that's what they grew up on watching and when they used to think of stories That's the reference that they have and that reflected in the initial Content that appeared here. I think what's happened now is people are developing their own authentic voice and stories are getting much more local and authentic Indian image and the variety is also going on You mentioned the measurement system. I mean why is it that all OTT players are not coming together because today in reality? You really don't know which is doing well and not doing it's what each OTT player puts out tweets and put out things Saying we are number one. We are number one every time our platform puts a show out It's it's the most happening show on Mother Earth, right? I'm just saying but but from a but from a from a I'm looking at it from a platform point of view and monetization point of view There is no matrix right now where actually Somebody can come and put like you said the special office. It's a fantastic store But no OTT player is actually selling impact All no OTT player is selling and I see a huge opportunity there whether it is except for even Google is not selling in fact But they have the numbers to show Right there's the numbers to show but everybody else Even if there are numbers nobody's I think What is the industry doing and I'm asking this question because I think it's gonna come to bite you back If you don't evolve fast enough, right because advertising revenue beyond a point will only grow when you have Measurement so what is it that you're doing in terms of measurement to drive revenues? Yeah, you know, I think this can Be a completely separate discussion as well, but my two bits on it I think on the subscription side when you have a direct to consumer relationship There hasn't been an incentive to discuss numbers because what what you want to do is put out content people You don't you don't need to tell I think on the Advertising side is where this sort of comes into play today. Most people are operating out of their own sort of wall gardens and Holding the data quite close to the art What will make them sort of come together with a common measurement system at this stage? I don't have an answer, but I do agree with you. There's an opportunity So Deepak, you've been keeping quiet and you know, you know how well I am that in 15 days There's a twice second time. I'm chairing a session with Deepak. It's also there. So so quick question to you You know on one side we speak about one of the good things that has happened about OTT is it has democratized content to a large extent? And it has also democratized talent a lot of fresh talent have got great opportunity In spite of that and I've been a little disconnected the feedback I get and probably that's why I'm asking you and you Having worked with almost all the people on this platform Is there still this? Mindset of having a big star In a in a in a show is that mindset still exists that we should have stars we should have well-known faces or Do you our platforms willing to look at content where they may not be big faces? But may be really good quality content. I Think that it has to be a mix of both because viewers gravitate towards magnets like big stars and big setups and things like that and You can't only you can't turn out six of those in a year. So you have to have great other shows also So what this web series business has done? It's given the opportunity of people who used to Stand next to the heroine heroine Stellar roles now and they've all proved that they are great actors themselves So what we used to call character actors and yeah, but a contrary point of view, okay? Because majority of viewing that happens on net one on OTT happens through word of mouth Majority right? So somewhere if the show is good people have gone and discovered it On that I'm just coming I'm just trying to I'm just giving a point of view and then you can correct me because you are closer to the Woods than I am but I'm giving it from an outside perspective because all the shows that at least I have watched the mostly English shows Has been discovery and even today people tell you a you're sitting in a room and you say have you seen this show Have you seen the show? It's not the hoardings and everything that may be good for creating, you know Optics, but the reality is everybody watches a show based on feedback and today with social media the feedback happens in seconds Okay, so if I can draw parallel no, I'm just saying so I can understand when you have a star Saying because when you have a star it may drive subscription I'm just I'm just I'm just giving my viewpoint and you can correct me, but beyond the point does that really translate into stickiness and But does the cost justify that expense? I'm just asking this question very I'll come back to what I was trying to say is that if you draw parallel with cinema There is great cinema being made which thrives on word-of-mouth because they don't have the initial Currently series isn't exactly the same. No, it is not I'm I'm saying because there there is a thing that you have to go to a theater again, but when you're sitting at home you're flicking With a remote right if there's great content and somebody has told you about it You won't make that effort cinema theater is slightly different. I'm just saying maybe I'm wrong I don't know but I'm just parking this thought and just parking this thought because Somewhere and I speak to people right and when I speak to people and not with this business at this moment But when I speak to people, that's one feedback that comes that still and that's why I wanted to understand from you That there is this still this inertia of being we should have a big star OPP has given us the space to actually not do that. Okay, good, but you cannot discount No, no fair enough magnetic personality pulling in his fan base Of course and again. I'm going back to my cinema. I agree the sleeper hits that used to happen Yeah, we're all word-of-mouth There were no big stars in yeah, I mean if you take a mole palika and when he started off with the assina It was word-of-mouth that go and see that film man. It's so good True, you know, it doesn't a Rajesh Khanna blockbuster with super hit music and you know right from the beginning but to your point of Big stars absolutely do help with that starter number right in in sampling, right? But when when you say about stickiness which then actually in true sense becomes the metric of the success of that content piece I mean once once the audience has started watching they are done with that He or she's a superstar now They are involved in the story and the character and if that is not able to hold then it doesn't work but similarly when you do a Content or a story with non-stars The challenge is then to get people to sample that piece of content in in the initial crowded Content ecosystem currently, but but yes, I mean for aqua for the first sampling Yes, but for a show to be a success. It takes a lot more than just a star Okay, I think if I may add to that Let's take the example of what Some of us have done in the past you look at a rudra and you look at an out-of-love You've got the numbers when an Ajay Devgan's there on a poster But when they've sampled an out-of-love with the rasika You know that that content has been so good with us if I can use the word a newer star or a smaller digital star Or for that matter criminal justice the stickiness that they get with some of these smaller shows that sometimes could be higher than a Bigger show but for the most of the tentpole properties I think still there is a certain kind of demand or a necessity to go for a bigger I mean, yeah, yeah, you've been very quiet So Because I am not from the world. I'm not creating content I come from the advertising world, but if I can draw a parallel that why brands also jump into getting a celebrity I think there is a there is a nice learning that we can get while you know great creativity Can always get you the cut through for a brand to succeed, but the way the brands get a celebrity It's instant, you know Similarly because there are so many different kinds of content and variety and region and stuff like that I think to get the initial sampling done and therefore get the word of mouth to propel further That first level of cut through I think a big name to any kind of a content definitely I actually have a slightly You know, we I don't have a used case I can't say I mean may not have had didn't have really big faces, but went on to become a But forget that's So But even after that if you see most of our shows That you know, we had almost first time director But of course not such a big show within, you know, very Not big producer with almost, you know good actors and not not big stars It did very well not only in India but internationally So what I but that doesn't mean that you know if a star All I'm trying to say is that you know ultimately so far and things will change So far, I think the the hero or the star of OTT is the writer and the creator I don't think any big star has capability as of now As the mission was saying she's right it may get initial numbers, but business-wise, I don't see anything We've not seen any such. I mean, I don't have a used case I can't even comment on that but yeah, no fair enough. You're still early stages, but you said something very interesting You've said matrix, right? What's the matrix? How much of that show a person should have watched? For you to evaluate it as a hit show. I'm just asking See, whatever I'm doing today is just thinking a lot, right? So because I've gone into shows like yesterday. I went into a show and I will not name the show I watched it. I'd not even finish the first episode and I walked out, right? So when you say matrix What should how many? What percentage of an episode or how many episodes of the season how what is the There are multiple What is that matrix which you would internally decide that this is okay So two metrics one how many people really came to sample the show and The second one is out of the people who sampled how many went on to complete It's like really as simple as that Then when we go back to television days, it's actually just the region time spent, right? So it's pretty much the same Now that metric like because we are still early days and we are each I mean not only the Ecosystem, but each platform is also evolving with every show that we launch and realize. Oh, we can do better So maybe the benchmarks need to change. Oh, we are doing better with this one So yeah, that is an evolving thing, but overall that's the metric of sampling and And that's what decides Also these big stars moving into OTT or at one time when we did KBC It becomes an endorsement of that platform When mr. Bachans did agreed to do television And now we've got actors interested in doing OTT who are big Heroes on ball in baller movies are flopping. Yeah I want to say what you are saying absolute KBC we host now that so I mean fully with you the only Thing I want to say that you know the star and the and you know nothing To say anything wrong about them, but you know when Bachanser did that He was fully committed to do that show there was nothing else that he was doing I mean That is the Having been part of mr. Bachans time star and journeys after that to Salman Khan and big boss But many of the stars initially Did it out of compulsion not because of desire? Initially and then obviously they did it more because of the money because they would make more money on Television then probably and guaranteed money not a Friday up or down, right? So so I think that whole ecosystem change, but yeah, I agree with you I mean I'm agreement with you that yes It endorses the platform and it definitely I mean agreement with everybody that it brings in that initial numbers Internationally Even writers abroad Shonda Rimes for example was she was bigger. I mean that any film writer that she was a she was a television Right, so so I think that will change and I think Okay, we've done our little bit of gups up here and there But I'm sure there are many of you you won't get an august gathering like this where whatever toughest questions You have please ask them and I will put them to answer. So anybody who wants to ask any questions Don't ask for a meeting on that's not allowed. Yeah My name is Peshwa Acharya I've been kind of CMO last 25 30 years now I am cousin boards of various companies which are in somewhere related to marketing advertising I'm basically board member. So a simple personal question from my side is that Why are we not seeing enough of regional OTT platforms coming up? The one which I know is fairly kind of large is a fellow who has done it in Bengal No, this mohata They have such a which way which is essentially done by the fellows who are basically big producers You know, and they are also whatever Related closely to the politicians everything there. That's a different question Yeah, but essentially because why I am saying this is if you see each of our markets here, you know, whether it's a Maharashtra Tamil Nadu Telugu These are all larger than many of the countries of Europe or many of the countries internationally So I'm just asking from yeah, just I just want to I think we need some clarification here because all these Platforms as far as I know you show all They also There's no reason Because economically, I'm not saying it may not be viable for somebody to come and do only one language Platform that the thing which I'm asking is that whenever CMO of reliance retail. We had specialty stores as well as hypermarkets So moment you have a specialty platform, you know the whole Brands specialization I can with conviction tell you there are more audience watching it across these platforms then on a individual Surely I'm my default. Yeah, I'm essentially asking a little bit of the future. Do you think there are opportunities? That's a question I think the the first opportunity I'm just trying to rephrase your question is is enough Content being created in non-Hindi languages today on OTT original content And I think the answer at this stage is not enough For a person let's say who's who's in Who's in Andhra for him a? Particular piece of a particular OTT platform will only become relevant if he's served enough content through the year I think one of the mistakes in the initial stage You know most people have made is to think of their Regional strategy sitting out of Mumbai that I've done two shows in Marathi three in Bengali one in Tamil So that's my regional strategy which is not a consumer facing way of looking at it for the consumer They must get the same amount of volume that today someone sitting in you know UP or Gujarat or Delhi is in Hindi And I think that is a catch-up game Most platforms that I'm aware of have a strong foreign to regional content I don't even like to call it regional because local language for them I would say in the next three to four years There will be much more explosion in non-Hindi content than probably in Hindi content because those are markets where there's a lot of hunger for Good quality content and they have been underserved some of us who also run television channels have regional Channel content, but as far as original content is concerned massive opportunity. I'm totally with you Whether it needs to be served through specialized OTT's or can the you know general OTT's actually serve them I feel the opportunities with the latter Because they already have the scale and the brand and the ability to invest in You know Z5 has This very year we have as solid slate for Tamil and Telugu as we have for Hindi like as many Originals starting this year In fact as producers we cannot service the demand that regional networks have from Studios today the kind of demand that we are seeing from their regional counterparts is so high That one is we face issues in terms of talent Writing talent directorial talent The demand for regional content is extremely high this time extremely and they're very focused on regional content Now you need to be politically correct, especially there's a language issue going on say Indian national languages Absolutely, I mean we don't even call it regional. We call it, you know Telugu content in Indian language Stop calling it regional. It is nothing regional right anyways, sir Just two things firstly I just to correct you in every language that I know there are Smaller players who are trying to do big. I mean we're trying to kind of move up the ladder In Punjabi, there is a Two OTTs are there in Telugu. There is of course, we all know so things I mean even in Malayalam There are a couple of them I know Tamil of course has just launched we all the broadcasters like Hotstar Z5 and Sonil have we all are kind of attempting this year You know, we are going to have our specialized store in Telugu and Tamil for sure and hopefully Malayalam as well. So everyone is focusing. I think what Nikhil has said You know Hindi is just you know one part of the country and you know these languages There are rooted stories and you know the other thing is forget You know, it's not an option. It's a compulsion that we have as OTT channels of players. The reason is you know because content is increasingly becoming language agnostic We have seen some of the Malayali films and content that we are putting on Sonil live You know people in Hindi are watching it as subtitle content. So it's it's just going to blast in the next five years I think it's these are happy days for all the OTT businesses. If you are on the board, you know, you should be very happy about Recommend them Ashish, you hit up on a very nice thing up because actually content is becoming language agnostic You know, we all sat here and watched Nacos, which was 60% or 65% in Spanish And now I know people are watching Korean dramas and you know Yeah Turkish Turkish actually there is they call it earth flicks I'm not joking. There's a group of women. I know from our industry who watch it religiously for whatever reason I think they But they call it turkish. Anyway quickly Yeah, I have one quick question. This is Abnish from Edelweiss My question is to Hotstar. So Hotstar has a different content strategy with the very high viewership from Cricket Now Cricket next bidding is happening. How important is sports for any OTT? This is not just for Hotstar, but you can start with Hotstar And what would be the plan be in case it doesn't happen? Could you get back to that number quickly in case you don't win the right second? I'll answer the first part of the question, which is how important sports is to any platform and I Know Sony has sports. Amazon is launching sports as well. Hotstar has of course had Cricket for a long time who has sports. So when we come to variety the earlier question on variety one Conversation is around the original content that we're putting out. But if you step back Variety is across You know movies original shows, you know post theatrical movies sports television shows You know international content and if you're able to provide that kind of variety to your consumers That's you know true variety. It strengthens your proposition So for any OTT the more variety of genres that you have it only you know makes it better And it's it's it's common to common to everybody And as far as entertainment is concerned, you know Hotstar has a really really strong and robust Entertainment offering and the largest variety of content on sports, you know given the Sensitive nature of the bid I can't comment at this stage But I can talk about the fact that the entertainment lineup that we have and the Everything that we have on the platform, which is already there and the new stuff that's coming up You know is extremely Exciting and something that we're looking forward to in a big There's gentlemen there. Yeah Yeah, hi, I am Naman Gupta from ultra media and entertainment So my question would be, you know, of course OTT the two big factors are of course to go with either SWAT You know a ward or hybrid, right? That's a main goal whenever I think any platform Generally starts with that's one thing and the second part is of course pricing for Hotstar There's bundled services for you know prime They are again bundled with their other service offerings as well But when it comes to just Z5 for any Shimano me or any other platform the pricing strategy Again get differs. So what's that one factor of which, you know works really well because the audience is the same And I think we all keep talking about the numbers say 60 million paid subscribers and all but the again the centric part is Not just the entertainment, but you know other industries as well be it in subscription They're all focusing on that 60 million paid users who have the disposable income to spend on digital You know apps So just two questions like your point of view on which model will work well in the future When already we have these giant OTT platforms already since I think 2.4 is something the subscription Number which already India has right. So I think it may increase So what model will work and how does the pricing strategy works when it's not bundled like Hotstar and when it's not bundle again like prime You know the question was so long. I think why you read the end. I think Okay, I'll just Make it all right your point of view on whether a sword will work a what will work or hybrid will work Okay, I think given the current understanding the market and where we are a Combination of a subscription driven and a what driven OTT for most of us seems to be working quite well. I know it works well for hotstar and You will continue to have people who are willing to pay a premium for premium quality content, which they can watch without Without the moderation of ads and there are other people for whom pricing is more the crucial aspect and they're okay to have Advertising in their content as long as the pricing can be kept low And if that's the demand of the consumer for you to be successful You have to create your model which is which serves the consumer best as we speak today These are two different segments which have different demands Maybe you know three four years later the construct of the market may change as it has four years ago There was not as much belief that the subscription services in India could reach the level of scale that they have but they have managed to And they will continue to grow but I do see in the longer term both in SWAT and EWAT play and Some other you know transactional models which are yet to be sort of you know invented and thought through and people are working on those There is a very interesting statistics, which is actually not coming from any of the OTT platforms But from a canter research so it says that I mean they did a obviously a sample of a large size and all So around 62% of the Indian audiences have told that they're okay to look at advertising So that should also drive some bit of a Excuse me, I have a question Can you can you hear me so I have basically two questions one is the extension of what he was asking regarding the relationship between the let's say the sports event and the Let's say the popularization of a OTT app. This is one the second one is Like some of these fantasy games has also come down right so have you have you analyzed like why the engagement Let's say especially on the IPL side while it is a long season this time around but the viewership seems to be like increasing So does these what do you say fantasy games have a relationship between the viewership being increased and the third one is like you have a matrix to measure whether let's say How popular your show is is there a metric for the customer also to see that this is the limited at least the Episode you should watch to get the Full view of yours like just to give an example like sony live There was a tougher which talked about I was that personally and I left it in between and somehow I started it again And I got engaged and I felt that I should have Kind of was that let's say so I would be happy to kind of get an answer of these three aspects You know what are the kind of cues that we can provide to our consumers to say keep trying to watch One is if you've left a piece of content midway and you come back to the app again You will prominently be displayed a continue watching tab that tells you that you should catch on to the scenes there are recommendations that are made by the The engine itself to say this is something that you should watch even if you've left it midway There are notifications that we send a lot of the OTT players also have Top five or top ten tray to indicate to you that this is something that's trending currently and Even if you've not watched it in the first go if you haven't sampled it. This is something that you should be Trying out. So yes, there are sort of multiple cues that we we do offer to our consumers to say Don't give up something halfway. Eventually, of course, the choices with the consumer They've liked it and they will come back and give it another try if it hasn't connected with them You know, they move on and then the engine tries to recommend something else to them which which bases their Watch history seems like they will like On the engagement with fantasy games. We don't have data of people who are watching and also playing the game so a bit difficult to Comment on that anybody else Yeah By default OTT is considered as you know top of the funnel kind of for medium Like brands would come on OTT for getting more reach for more awareness But also over time we've seen that a brand that coming for engagement. They want intro integration So we are kind of seeing traction at top of the funnel middle of the funnel Progressing as a conversion like bottom of the funnel metric also So like can we give more incremental reach to say a Facebook or Google advertising? So from a digital advertising for the few do you think OTT is progressing to achieve the bottom of the funnel metrics? This is a very interesting question Let me try to answer it first before the experts come into play with I also face that challenge, right? So of course one like everybody says there is no Metrics that has been yet established as marketers and advertisers. We usually have a traditional notion of KPI Which is reach in frequency? But I think one has to look at only beyond that because here the entire segmentation of audiences that we want to do You know and and major ability of impact is is far granular and therefore far more sharper for a brand to go after I also feel that you know Brands have to have to look at it in that OTT not just as a Parallel to or equivalent to a TV where you go because you have to build a stature because if you bring The adage goes that a brand only gets a stature once it starts advertising in TV that and and therefore by default OTT seen as an alternative to that But it is far bigger than that because it is not just only that you are present But you are you are you are you are actually serving basis lot of other interest not just demographics and geography and stuff like that So there is a far better granularity of measurement which is available in OTT yet It has not been the common matrix is yet to be found and a lot of media companies are working towards it But I think it will it will give us better RYs in the next few quarters Okay, if there are no more questions and I have a question Please Okay, so I was actually before I came for to meet you guys I was generally you know brushing up something Gamification seems to be a very interesting area which needs a lot of attention So are we together? Are you guys have very concerted plans towards our gamification gamification just content of content Yes, also gaming as a platform because in India and like in globally Gaming is a really really going in the street, right? So is there a is there a like regional content like variety of content? Is there is there any kind of a you know thinking that is going on in terms of Yeah, I'll talk about certainly so, you know gamification of content existing content actually with the ones I Think we were the first ones to start you know something which is established and you create a game out of it This is KBC play along so it was the first time you know for years for seasons back actually around five years back when you know while watching KBC you could play on your mobile and that It like really the engagement levels went up There were a lot of traction at that point in time. We did it with Geo platforms and then later on after that it was It was co-shared And after that last three seasons we've kind of seen fantastic results of that the thing is what I'm trying to do the content has to Be that's kind of your supportive of that even on Shark Tank We did something like you know you guess whether the shark is going to get the investments or not and you know There was a decent you know engagement on that as well. So Any content piece that Enables itself to kind of create a game. I think it's a nice my question was actually Exactly, but gaming as a thing. I don't think this is the right platform to answer that question Is the interactivity demand from networks with answers? Yes But I think the question that all of us or some of the platforms have to answer Do we have the technology or do you want to prioritize that over something else that they want to build right now Is the question the day will come when they will be ready for us to provide interactivity in our shows Where a storyline could move basis a request from a consumer that what if he doesn't kill him? And if he goes there what will happen then there'll be another storyline build for it But I think platforms and creators have to be at that same level where technology But lots of channels have done it across the board even Launched a live show a live show where people could even watch their for photographs on television live You know and in star When KBC was launched gamification was done with their tail those days and then we had a program called Kulja So he had a supporter MTA You could get a car in prizes on on live on TV. So, you know it has happened across the board I think people have done it but gaming your second question. I don't think this is the right platform Excuse me. Yeah. Hi Good evening everyone. This is Kiran Srivastava from molecule and this question is for the OTT platforms Do you people have a cutoff time to decide? Which content you will be going ahead with like you'll get many content every day many scripts many concepts So as a OTT platform, do you have a cutoff time? Okay within three months We will show an interest in this or no over the six months or one year There's a really good question and this is a question that came out in the last session that I hosted also where people saying fair enough How long should we wait? after we give you a We pitch to you. How long should we wait? What is that cutoff? I think as a producer? Let me answer that I think all the platforms here. I've seen turnaround times as quick as seven days that they Revert to you with a yes or a no I don't think so any of the partners here have made you wait for six months or three months In fact, some of them have their own internal rules that within five days. They want to clear a pitch I think they're extremely extremely proactive. I just want The platforms to endorse what you just said Hidden statement in our question is that you guys don't get back to us in time and we have to wait a lot And I think that's what the question is trying to imply. So there are two parts when we're working with Close partners like Deepak and Samir. We have an existing equation and so those discussions and decisions are faster But if someone who's not worked with the platform before were to pitch an idea We have a portal in which those ideas can be uploaded safely with all the NDA protocols in place And the internal benchmarking for our team is that between 45 and 60 days We need to get back to that person with a yes or no And we make sure that every idea that comes to us somebody from the team is reading and Replying to that. Are we able to deliver a hundred percent consistency on that? During lockdown we had you know that had suffered But I think now we're trying to make sure that every idea that comes to us gets a fair viewing And a reply between 45 and 60 days Fair similar for us So that's your thing so you take 60 days as a benchmark, right? That's that's a good deal. Yeah, we are running out of time So I'll only take one more question Hi, I'm Balkrishna from frenzy. I just had a very simple question. I guess We have among the top five platforms nothing less than 15 to 20,000 titles in all in total If I'm not this thing so is it a problem of the variety of content or is it a problem of discovery to the consumer? What would be the right right aspect of it? And if it's a discovery issue what would an OTD platform be open to an OTD aggregation as a play or Would it be something like? What would you do even at a particular OTD level which would help the user find out those library contents like this If somebody seen now, of course, I guess it's something which is very equally good That's that's the point. I want you to just check on. I don't know. I mean, I didn't quite get the question But in any case my question was more nation engines that most of the platforms have and they kind of Suggest what else can you watch discovery in my opinion? I don't see. I mean not that we've heard that Discovery has been a problem for you as far as variety is concerned I think we are just as we all have been saying we're just in the beginning of the journey I think a lot of content across genres, you know, when we started on that thing you were saying, you know, it was You know, the reference point was Western shows, but now a lot of it is getting, you know localized There are authentic, you know Cerebral content that's coming which is very rooted in India Indian ethos I think all that is happening. It is just the beginning. I think four five years from now I think we can be in a position to kind of have a plethora of content for people to choose Currently it's beginning and everyone is experimenting. We're trying our best to kind of get differentiated content all of us actually are trying and Yeah, we're learning from each other's both success and failure Okay, great one question from my side, how much attention is there now or is to doki drama documentaries and short films I think there's tremendous demand on docu series. Okay, and what we call as the follow series these days follow reality or something Yeah, I think a lot of s words have a Focused demand in this space, especially in the young adult space. Okay, and the crime true crime space a lot of demand So we're gonna end now, but before we end I'm gonna ask each one of you What are you looking for in the next one year from? Platforms and what are the big shows coming from your stable and for the Platforms, I'm gonna say what do you what are you looking for in the next one year? And what are the big shows coming from your stable? I'm giving you an opportunity to also pitch. You know nothing comes for free We've got a few with all three of them which have not been announced So I won't be able to announce it But Namisha has just announced a new show of ours called the broken news which stars Jerry Palawat Sonali Ben Ray and Shreya There's something with Deepak and Nikhil that should get Launched next year and we're looking forward towards the original with Disney this year Yeah, for us actually two things in India a lot of what change you would like to see in the industry. Oh Variety, I think that was somewhere that got me time from platforms But yeah, I think Some fiction some scripted series. I think non scripted doc you drama I think he just said there are a lot of genres that you are you know family Shows comedy, which I said outside when we were discussing I think a lot of you know These genres that get to be explored and I think that definitely come out from our side. I think we are really very Confident and hopefully we'll do good in the regional Launches that we are going to do in Tamil Telugu and by the end of the year even in Malayalam So these three are big things from us from in the Hindi content space a lot of shows that we did I mean did well for us in the last two years are coming back So we have Marani season two coming back scams season two coming back Oh Rocket boys did very well for us last year. So the season two is already made it's in the last Finalization, so that's going to come come up. We have a very deep relationship with TVF a lot of their content College romance season the next season Good luck all of this shows that have done well all of them are coming this year. This is going to be the Very exciting. Yeah, from starting from June. In fact, there is one show called after a road. I'm sure you've seen the It's a very very different show in the house is sure. I think I think a lot of exciting content from now till Till March, we have a very exciting line up every month. There is something big Yeah, I think we're you know One of the big things that helps OTT is building franchises and that's how you grow your fan bases around franchises so we're coming back with Three of our top franchises, which is special ops Arya and criminal justice. So these three shows will see returning seasons But one of the shows which I'm really excited about actually launches on 20th May It's called escape life. I think it's one of the most relevant and topical stories of this country of the times that we live in which is based in the world of content creators and live streaming apps and What does it mean to be a content creator? What does it mean to? What happens when the desire for fame becomes so strong that you you know cross the line and You should try and watch it I think it's a great comment on all of us who are watching this content all of the people who are creating that content So that's just whatever ten days away and it should be exciting So we just launched our upcoming slate with announcing 80 original titles across One show that I'm particularly very excited about right now, which we just announced today Is this show called the broken news which is our next launch on the pipe and it essentially is a Drama between two Media houses and you know the ideological differences on news And just then when we were talking about there being too much of crime and thrillers So this is you know our step towards trying to do adding variety into the mix and Yeah, that's that's what we are very very excited about right now Yeah, so our journey at applause for the last just under five years. We've delivered 35 shows series So that's a lot of content. We've won the trust of our Partners here. We have season twos and threes with many of you raise them a little more you get season four and five So I think the big ones with criminal justice will come soon Avrode will come very soon scam is on its way for fully forgot that and Here at applause we will continue to make produce complete series With queues and the bigger data you all share No shows coming from my side, but I just want to have enough time so that I don't have to go through the FOMO of not having watched a certain show that is coming on I just need time. Yeah, so Samir Ashish Nikhil Nimisha Deepak and Big thank you so much. It was quite interesting for me I learned a lot from this session and I'm not on Deepak side, but please give them a big applause