 So, ladies and gentlemen, with that we are moving on to our fireside chat where we would have Dr. Anurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief BW Business World in exchange for media back on the screen in conversation with Mr. Gaurav Gandhi, Director and Country General Manager Amazon Prime Video India. Gaurav Gandhi is Director and Country General Manager at Amazon Prime Video India. He at Amazon is responsible for driving the business of Prime Video in India. Before this, he was the Chief Operating Officer at Viacom 18 Digital Ventures where he launched the company's video streaming service, Boot. Now as they get in conversation, they will be talking about the topic why the new Indian consumer is the saviour of the OTT play. So ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together or rather your virtual applause for Dr. Anurag Batra in conversation with Mr. Gaurav Gandhi, Director and Country General Manager, Amazon Prime Video India. Good afternoon. It's an honor and privilege to talk to a media and entertainment leader, somebody who's leading the charge for Amazon in the OTT space. Let me welcome Mr. Gaurav Gandhi today for a conversation with exchange for media. Gaurav, thank you for talking to exchange for media and addressing this very important screenagers conference. We all are having teenager kids, but we are screenagers, you know, we do everything on the screen and OTT has become a primary way of interacting with the screen. So tell us how has been this journey for you personally from traditional broadcasting to OTT? What is same and what has changed? First of all, thank you for having me, Anurag, it's a pleasure being here. I think it's a very interesting time for streaming and OTT in general. I think that we've been seeing for the last few years, very strong tailwinds to category overall. You know, the consumer habits have been changing. We have a young demographic who's really hungry for content and prefers the on demand way of viewing content. We've had, you know, we always have in a country which was largely a single TV home or country with 90% of homes have one TV, you bring it as a mobile phone. A portable wife on became like the second screen and third screen in the house. We also have the cheapest data in the world, mobile data. And you know, link to that, we have seen increasing disposable incomes, improving digital pay, you know, infra and so on. So I think they've been all sort of catalysts of having this sector really boom. I think what's also happened really is the fact that, you know, with the advent of local original content, customers have really tasted, you know, kind of content they've never seen before. And to see world-class cinematic value content being created here with local story, which connects customers so much more, they really feel that this is distinguished and different from what they've seen before locally. We've all known you talked about broadcast and we've seen that over the years that because of the economic model broadcast had and because of the fact that, you know, you are working on largely an advertising led sector, you are working to cater the ratings that you have that sector, the currency of the sector. And that led to the, you know, a very formulaic layer of, you know, kind of content being made. So in many ways, streaming has liberated the storytelling and we are able to tell so many different kind of stories and customers are able to see that. The second thing I think streaming is able to do is really get content to cross boundaries geographically. And I see within India and outside of India as well. Interestingly, within India, I'll give you an interesting stat. As you're aware, we released a whole bunch of digital movies recently during the pandemic and for our local language films, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada for the, for the, for the premiers, we actually saw in the first few weeks, 50% of their audience came from outside their home state. So in the past, you know, you would have a challenge of movies getting distribution from South movies distribution in North and vice versa. Similarly, you see Mirza for launching, you know, it makes 180 countries actually watched it same for Gulabo Sattavo and, and so I think what we're seeing really is geography really not mattering as much as it did in the past with the broadcast world. And I think the, the, the final thing I would say is that Indian customers, you know, people say they are actually cost conscious. I think they're very value conscious. So when they actually start seeing value in what's being, you know, served to them and given to them and they have the option to take that. We're actually seeing really a big uptake on that front. So I think all of that put together really makes this category really interesting right now for us. So well put, Gaurav, and clearly with what you do and your background, you have a kind of a vantage view from where you are within the thick of those decisions that get content that decide what a business model around content needs to be done. Now there is a big, you know, kind of thinking that, you know, OTT is only for millennials or primarily millenials, but COVID has shown us that in the last eight months, all of us have become millenials. We have become screenagers in the sense that, you know, we are consuming OTT. Now, bust this myth that OTT is just millenials. I think the fact is, first of all, streaming video in general with 300, 400 million people actually streaming video, any form of video online, you know, one cannot at all say that it's only for millenials or it's only for metros and so on. It is really mainstream. That's part one. In fact, if you project it three to four years out, there is no reason why a number of people actually streaming video in any form and manner will be lesser than television in the country. So that's at a very high level. I think what's been very, very interesting for us is the advent and the growth of pay streaming services, the SWAT services, we call them. Led by a bunch of factors and I can give you two or three that we have worked on. We talked about, you know, really local cinematic storytelling. We also have a scenario where in India, which we have challenges of the number of screens, the fact of the matter is for two thousand odd films being made for a country of billion plus, which is hungry for content, we have nine and a half thousand cinema screens that makes to about eight screens per million. And that number is really small compared to the US, China or the markets. I think the interesting stat would be that the biggest films released in the country, the super hits are actually watched by less than a percent of percentage one and a half percent of people in the theaters. So that gives a great opportunity for for streaming to be able to cross the geographical boundaries, to be able to really get those films out to customers and I think make a theater at home in a manner of speaking. So I think linked to the fact that great cinematic value, original content, you know, the fact big movies come across languages, global content comes here. And let the fact that paid streaming services have become, you know, quite mainstream for us. For example, Prime Video is watched in about four thousand three hundred towns and cities in the country and goes really deep. So it's one myth is that it's watched only in metro services. The second thing I think is on age demo, the interesting point of you here is that it's a very personalized medium, you know, so it serves to the need of the members of the family or, you know, a household or a friend's group. And to that extent, what you like and what you want is could be different from what you talked about, you know, or what your teenage daughters would want or or my teenage daughters would want or what our spouses will like or our friends will like. So so therefore, I think to that degree, it's not at all mainstream. It's not at all a medium for only millennials. A very interesting stat we saw was when we released many of our director streaming movies, we saw a big consumption happening in the living room devices in sitting at home and during this lockdown period where families enjoyed these movies together. So I think you have shows that you would love to watch in your personal times, you'll have shows you like to watch with your family. You like you'll have to have to have conversations about the shows with your family and your friends and so on. So it's far more mainstream than people think it is. Thank you, Gaurav. You remind me of a column that I wrote said, you know, digital will lead to narrow casting, one on one viewing, you know, narrow broadcasting is like same content for many people, narrow casting is narrow. And you know, I want to tell us a bit about what is in it for advertisers? What is the kind of audiences you can talk about, you know, prime, but give us a sense of what's happening overall in terms of OTT so that advertisers know that it's already a substantial impact through the audiences that are glued on to OTT? I think, yeah, while we are at free service, I can think generally speaking, if you talked about the large audience space and we talked about over 300 million people actually streaming video already. So the advertisers first seek scale and I think there is tremendous scale there. The next advantage they seek is targeting. And I think the ability for advertisers to target the relevant audience base is there. The third thing they seek is engagement and you are able to really, you know, have customers who are really deeply engaged in this. So I think from an advertising point of view, the elements of scale, targeting and engagement are all existing. The next thing obviously is about how they want to use that, do they want to come and, you know, use it from a regular advertising point of view or, you know, integrating with content and so on. I think we're seeing lots of models emerging in that space. So I actually feel that, you know, while I'm no expert in the digital advertising sector right now in my current job, but I can say we say that that sector itself is seeing such tremendous growth overall. And, you know, interesting thing for us in India is that India is such an end market, you know, everything is growing this and that. The A-Vort business is growing and the S-Vort business is growing. Yeah, yeah, you have, you know, in the TV space as well, you are free TV growing and free TV growing. So I think in this very interesting phase we are all in, you know, all the sectors growing, it's a great time for customers to enjoy that content is also a fantastic time for advertisers to find new ways to reach those customers. Absolutely, Gaurav. Now, you know, content creators, because of OTT platforms, have got a new window of opportunity, which is very big. Tell us for content creators, what does the future hold? You know, give us a sense of how drive sees the future and why do you talk of movies, you know, short format content, you know, formats are being experimented with on OTT, you know, new genres are being, and you talked of Indian language content, kind of driving the next level of consumption of OTT content. So tell us what's in store for content creators? Yeah, I think, you know, from our point of view, everything starts from a great story, right? I think the fact of the matter is, you talk about all the original content being created, and we are very fortunate to be playing a big role in that. I think the idea is about telling new authentic, honest stories. So whether you take, you know, Patal Lok or Mirzapur or Family Man and so on, that's really where we all start from and telling those stories, and we are fortunate to have a medium where we can tell the stories. So that's part one. I think the other thing is, you know, the format is such. That you are able to, so there are many, so let me give you an example. If you look at the, and I talked about this before in a different forum, but I mentioned this is relevant. If you look at the 80s and 90s, maybe, and even earlier, when you had only the single screen theaters, you could, you know, you could do the classic Masala film, where you had all things rolled into one, because you were actually filling a theater full of 1000 seats. Your commercial model had to fill the 1000 seats. When came the multiplexes? You suddenly could actually make segmented cinema. You could make Dil Chahat Hai, you could make Gully Boy. In many ways, streaming is able to do the segmented content creation, which broadcast could not do. You know, you talked about your narrow cast, unique cast view, which is absolutely relevant because here we could take a customer set, a large cohort who would say, I like to watch these stories or this genre of content, which broadcast probably could not do for the fact that you had to have a, you know, large base to address a very large audience set and not be able to segment that. So I think that's one part of it. So because of that, you really knew genres emerged, which were not being tapped in the past. Second thing is that India has some great creators and the opportunity for them to tell stories now, not just in 180 minutes or 120 minutes, but able over 10 hours or multiple seasons, then emerged. So, you know, we worked through that. Then the other thing is like cast in streaming. The other interesting thing we've done and we've looked at and learned is you cast for the character and not the starpa. You bring the starpa where required, but you cast for the character. And I think that's again, so Pankaj Trabati as Khalil Bhai or Ali Fazal as Guttu or, you know, Manoj Bhajbhai as Srikant Tiwari or, you know, Jyadi Parabhat as and Hatira as Hatira, they are great actors and, you know, famous names. They're all first taken for the right role that want. And then the idea is to take new comments as well. So we learned in Bandesh, for example, taking Rithvik and Shreya. You know, and then obviously through our marketing promotion and their great performances, how do you really make, build fandom around them? And I think the last thing I would say is that, you know, content creation is, involves risk taking. You need to go down paths which are lesser walked, lesser, you know, lesser taken. And we shouldn't shy of experimenting and exploring newer themes and give you one example to close the point. Comedy, stand-up comedy is one space that crime video started doing pretty early. And we realized there's an untapped opportunity there to get great stand-up comedians in the, in, in the space to actually then really broad base that. So whether it's, you know, Zakir or Biswa and many, many more who came on, but then we actually moved to formatizing that stand-up comedy. So we have a comic start where you look for new talent and I will take in comments on the thumbnail as well. You have one mic stand, the famous people come in, try the hand at, at stand-up comedy and so on. So I think it's a lot of experimentation. You know, we learned and it's very early days. We're all learning as we go along, but it's been a very fruitful and satisfying journey so far. Thank you Gaurav for so eloquently articulating what you did and explain how content creators can experiment and really the corrector is the hero or heroine there I say. I'm coming to my last two questions. First, you know, in the last few weeks, the government has tried to regulate the OTT space and the overall digital space and brought OTT also in the ambit. What is your view as an industry leader? Look, I think I can give you, you know, my view was on Amazon. I think at Amazon, we are remain completely committed to offering a right balance of high quality content to audiences, giving, having a freedom to content creators, to create that content while respecting legal and cultural sensitivities and responsible and responsible content and responsible content. And we look forward to working with the government to ensure that customers, their choices, their empowerment, information remains central to the discourse while ensuring we always follow the laws of the land. So I think there is a balance here on rock, which is to be met and we will work with the government on that. In fact, as you are aware, the OCCP, you know, self regulation court came together, 18 members came together and formed that court and we are engaging through IMAI with the government on those discussions as well. So the idea is fighting the right balance. Thank you so much. My last question. If I talk to you 12 months from now, and I'm not taking a three or five year, because in OTT space, in digital space, three or five is like a century. It's not even a decade. But if I talk to you 12 months from now, what are your predictions for the OTT space and what would have Amazon Prime accomplished in the next 12 months? I think there's lots to look forward to what Prime Video is doing, you know, new shows coming, more films. Obviously, we announced our first foray into life sports with New Zealand cricket as well. I think at a category level, I think we see a few big trends. One is that the, you know, the demand overall for the category is increasing quite rapidly and going deeper and deeper behavior, the changing and it's going to not just, you know, tier one, but tier two, three cities and five D, but I mentioned to you that we are being watched in 4,300 thousand cities already. The second thing is that mobile obviously continues to be the big, you know, big driver, but living room consumption is growing quite rapidly as well. As customers get to, you know, you know, fundamentally, you know, get fixed broadband at home, have your access to more affordable smart TV, smart TVs, smart streaming players, you know, which they can access large screen. That's happening as well and that's that's a new thing. The other thing is that, you know, it's interesting about the growth of language and we talked about local language content and, you know, we've done a lot of investments around we program for 10 India as we call it, for now at least, many India's where 10 languages are being programmed on the service and and going pretty deep and, you know, films and now shows in several languages. But the other interesting thing for us is that what's happening with languages overall is that's no longer a barrier to consume content. I mentioned to you I said about 50% of the viewing for our Tamil Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, India's films came outside the the home states. We are seeing the reverse as well happening where when you put Parasite, you know, which was an Oscar-winning film, the Hindi dubs really expanded the reach of that. Absolutely. So I think there is there is Indian content which is being consumed pan India and going global, the international content you know, coming here and going deeper. And the last thing I would say is that we are going to see Indian shows and Indian stories becoming more global and getting on the big stage. We already see one in five of our customers for Indian Amazon originals coming from outside of India and some shows even more. We've already seen for our big DTS films, you know, 180 countries, you know, consuming them, watching them in the first few weeks. I really believe that Indian original shows and films will actually really become big around the world in the next few years as we create great new stories. So all of this makes it super, super exciting for us, you know, in the category overall and it's very early days in the category but not to look forward to. Thank you so much Gaurav. It's been a pleasure talking to you and I learned something new and I'm sure our viewers and our leaders will learn something new and capitalize on this opportunity called OTT. We're all consumers. I watch Parasite in Hindi because I was recommended to watch it. So clearly what you're saying is not just theory but it is actually happening there. You're just articulating reality. We wish you and Amazon Prime luck and I'm sure the OTT marketplace in next 12 months will grow by leaps and bounds and as you rightly said, there is space for everyone there. It's Ann and Ann so all the best. I'm sure you will do well and Amazon Prime will do. Thank you so much. It's always a pleasure talking to you. Thank you so much.