 Super well on that note, then let's get started with our first speaker session as well over here In fact, our next speaker is responsible for all the Viacom 18 brands businesses comprising colors comedy central MTV Nick Sonic VH1 and the Viacom 18 motion pictures and prior to his role He has also had a 21-year stint within the Sun Unilever Ladies and gentlemen joining us this evening. We have a task. Mr. Group chief executive officer of Viacom 18 media private limited. Please put your hands together ladies and gentlemen for Mr Sudhanshu works. Thank you. Thank you. No, no, I'm good. I don't need it Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Thank you Sam for inviting me. It's indeed my pleasure to be with you and to talk on Is the end of TV as we know it near? It's actually paradoxical for me to talk about it because as many of you know 85% of our business is in television We are firm believers that future of television is television But let me quickly add at the same point that as as Anurag mentioned also sometime back And he spoke about your we are in the business of storytelling. We are in the business of content So we do want to remain Platform and screen agnostic as we go forward But I will and second thing I wanted to bring to your focus is while 85% of our business comes from television and Under 5% from digital at this moment our resource allocation for investments and growth into future is about 50 50 So it's 50% into digital and therefore that's the recognition of what that that phase is likely to be But it is equally and importantly 50% into television as well And I think that's an important piece which I wanted to leave you with I also firmly believe and I've said it earlier many times in Different forums that India is indeed an and market India is not an or market So the and this is in some ways good news for all of us in India It's also good news for many leaders in India because Frankly, we need to make that hard choice to pick one versus the other is not as Imminent as it is in some other parts of the world and it allows you the luxury to play a bit of that and piece as well It continues to remain an and market that is because of the heterogeneity of our market the diversity of our market The stratification of our market and the evolution of our market at different stages when you look at India as a whole and of course You do need to segment it and as Sam was talking to you sometime back And if indeed you also look at the growth pattern over a slightly longer period You will see that each and every segment of media and entertainment in the country is growing 2017 was a slightly sobering year and without doubt But even in that year if I'm not mistaken and having seen what Sam was talking about all segments have grown and Indeed and I think if you look at a slightly longer term period past or projection to the future The market is growing in mid teams as media and entertainment Television indeed is growing in that zone actually marginally ahead even for the prediction of 2018 I could see from Sam's numbers media and entertainment or addicts at 12% and television at 13% So I think that's one thing which is happening. So mid-teens at about 15% for media and entertainment television slightly ahead at about at about you know About 30 or 15 16% Digital indeed is growing very rapidly the last 10-year number which you talked about 38% Arguably the future moving number could be mid 20s or even you know late 20s And I think therefore there is a rapid growth in that space But in a country like India print is also growing in mid-teens in the longer term It's demonstrated that and there is hope in vernacular and and as we go forward in that space the latest IRS being more very Encouraging and of course growth in slightly smaller sectors of course it continues to be there So therefore overall there is growth and continue these growth numbers continue to highlight That big point of and as a strategy and that's that's important I think the other thing which I wanted to talk about television to now come specifically to television and say why I think that there is Considerable runway for television in India is because of some of these things. I think the first if you look at today There are close to about 280 million homes in the country of the 280 million homes in the country television homes are about 183 million homes So there is close to about 100 million homes who do not have television and all of us sitting in this room Who've traveled across the country know it any big anecdotally and empirically? That when a person has power in their house And and some income the first gadget that comes into the house in this country ladies and gentlemen is Television that is indeed not changing and I think therefore that piece of it will remain The second question then is therefore there is there will be more viewers There is no debate on that the second question is on viewership So or sort of the number the number of hours spent if you look at that data from Bach the number Which I last remember was three hours nine minutes. That was a number that number if you look at compares You know if I could give you a few benchmarks Southeast Asia would be in around four four and a half hours US is about six hours So therefore and even India if you were to slice this three or peel the onion a little bit for three hours nine minutes You will see that urban urban number is four hours plus and and it's the rural number Which brings it down to about three hours nine minutes now We know as the country progresses as we get power to every nook and corner of the country Which the current government is committed to and and we will definitely get there the question is when and how soon I think the Average viewership in rural India will go up my own assumption is with the availability of time with rural India The average viewership of rural India will catch up with the urban India may indeed actually beat rural Urban India therefore the average viewership of the country should go up and should catch Mid, you know four hours four hours plus so they're more viewers more viewership Sam if you remember one of his earlier slides beautifully illustrated it and therefore, you know Strengthened the point which I was about to come to the third Which is the advertising spends in our country are very very low with the 18% population contribution 7% GDP contribution Are addicts contribution is 1.5% if I remember the numbers from what you said I think if that be the case there is so much headroom from the point of view of Advertising in this country and I and we know that as well Unfortunately, I've not been able to get a data, but I want to look at we are highly under branded as a country So I don't know the number of number of brands per million Indians But I can tell you that will be dramatically lower than many other countries So I think you know therefore we are highly under branded as more brands come in there More advertising and they'll be need to build brands and there is nothing to build Building awareness and salience. You cannot be television. So I think that's the that's the third piece on advertising fourth pieces which is indeed, you know as as business owners in this segment. We have always been For want of any better word Unhappy with this this progress, but this is indeed now being a blessing in disguise as I think about it That is our subscription income If you look at the subscription income in the country are very very low and you know at about $3 or 200 rupees We can get close to about 300 channels So what has been the bane till now is going to be boon for linear television? And why I say that is that at 200 rupees for 300 channels? Nothing nothing ladies and gentlemen can beat the economics of this It is not like elsewhere in the world where table bills used to be $80 or $100 No digital solution no digital solution till the time data is given free That which I don't know at this moment can ever match that so therefore even so therefore You know even with the lowest rates of data if you have to consume the kind of television Which is consumed and take that average the amount you will spend will be Multiple times more than the 200 rupees so for the low-income Indians and also overall this thing that piece Linear television per se is here and a staple and is here to stay for the foreseeable future So I think this from the point of view of data I think I sort of rest my case a little bit Let me also being from the business of content share a bit of personal experience and some stories around it for you So if we go back to India it's India of 1959 a few few people You know pioneers in a way in the air AIR studio started the first television beams at some of us here would know that We then moved to our news the first news things coming out in 1965 Salma Sultan at that point in time some of us in the audience will remember she and her rose and everything Which came in in late 60s early 70s? some cricket on on television 80s when early 80s when color television came to India with with with With Asian games and and thereafter the slew of Bouniard humlogue the first set of a series which we sort of got a fence on But the television the way we understand today cable television actually got born in early 90s at that point in time The number of TV homes the way we call them cable television homes was about 1.5 million in the early 90s that number indeed is 20 25 odd years gone from 1.5 million to 183 million and is indeed growing So my view is and I think you know if some of us while I can tell you for myself while growing up in remote parts of India there was those tantinas which would have 7 7 this thing or 13 and you keep rotating them to try and get better signal So the television as we know it may morph may change But the television is here to exist and I think that's that's a very very important point I wanted to leave you with for some of you in the room If you sort of the ones who are more aggressive more optimistic I personally feel by 20 20 22 for others who are a little bit more cautious Maybe 20 25 and let's look at these today these two years. They'll be close to 250 million television homes in this country There will be viewership of four and a half hours in this country of television And I think the future of television in that to that extent ladies gentlemen is is television And I having said that do we need to adapt will things change a little bit? And as I was trying to give you my personal example of that antenna, which is pretty much gone Will the pipes which be made these signals to television change? Will those pipes be more different types or or multiple types of pipe They already are between DTH and cable will there be fiber to the home? Definitely. Yes Is there a future where there may be no pipe at all? Perhaps yes But would linear television continue to remain and would that be enjoyed the answer is yes Because the role it plays the role it plays for family entertainment The role it plays for many high-end live entertainment pieces Which can be enjoyed with the quality of television which is indeed going up is is something which is unparalleled And I think therefore if I was to you know sort of sum up and answer the question Which has been raised by me is the television the is the end of television as we know it near My answer is is the attend of television? We know is near or not I will not answer and is the end of television we like is very much there So that the question to ask is television is resilient television will adapt television will grow And it is not about that television. We know because the television I knew 40 years back was a different television to the television which exists today, but the television we like is here to stay Thank you very much. Thank you ladies gentlemen. Thank you for your time and giving me the opportunity. I've saved some time Sam Thank you very much. Mr. Sudhanshu if I may please request you to come back on stage So if I may please request you back on stage mr. Sudhanshu. Yes, sir. If I'm going to invite you back again I'm going to request mr. Pradeep Vivedi who's a CEO of Circle to please come on stage. I won't welcome to you as well, sir I'm going to request you to please present a token of gratitude to our speaker mr. Sudhanshu What's well? Thank you once again? You've managed to pump in a lot of enthusiasm and energy in the audience with those wonderful insights there