FICCI-KPMG-Report-13-FRAMES

86 The power of a billion: Realizing the Indian dream
Technology transforming media consumption
release strategies for distributors allowing them to
maximize the revenue collected. Technology is thus
impacting the way media is made and distributed and
also monetization.
© 2013 KPMG, an Indian Registered Partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated
with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved.
Mr. Sanjay Gaikwad
CEO & Managing Director,
UFO Moviez India Ltd.
Media and the means of consumption of media have
been evolving over the years. Media exists in various
forms although today it is predominantly associated
with video. Media can be informative, educational or
entertainment oriented. Evolution in the means of
consumption of various categories of media has largely
been driven by technological innovations and to some
extent by a change in content.
Take for example, the case of cinema, the key form of
entertainment available to the average Indian. Indian
Cinema first began its journey in the form of black and
white motion pictures without sound. As technology
progressed and the ability to capture and reproduce
the sound came into existence, movies became more
engaging. Technology has had a major impact on the
evolution of cinema, with better equipment during the
production and the post production processes and with
the way cinema is exhibited to audiences in theaters.
Digital cinema players including UFO have made
a significant impact over the past 6 years on how
Indians watch movies in theaters. With better capture
equipment during the production process, directors
of movies want to emulate and reproduce reality to its
finest detail every time their movies are screened. With
our UFO technology we ensure that every screening is
reproduced immaculately as is expected by the director
of the film. Beyond this, UFO has significantly grown
the business of cinema by taking the first-day-firstshow
to small and big cities alike. A movie which would
previously be screened in just 200 – 300 theaters is
now screened in over 2,000 theaters on day one. This
has significantly improved the probability of every
movie to make money and ensure profitability. This has
contributed to unprecedented box office numbers each
time a big ticket movie is released across an increasing
number of theaters. The INR 1 billion plus box office
collections movie club has thus come into existence
and is growing every year.
However, just taking a movie to all the screens does not
necessarily translate into more business. The challenge
also lies in monetization, and ensuring that appropriate
collections flow to the respective stake holders quickly.
Transparency is a biggest challenge faced by the
Indian Film Industry. The assumed under declaration of
revenues also has an impact on rightful revenue flow
to all the stakeholders. We’ve addressed this challenge
with our Impact Exchange platform, where we provide
computerized box office ticketing systems free of cost
to theaters and enable instant settlement of dues to
each of the stakeholders in a timely manner. The instant
availability of sales data permit better, more scientific
Technology is not only changing the business of
media but has also significantly impacted where and
how consumers today consume media. Consumer
lifestyles have become increasingly busy with time.
This has given rise to a need to consume media ondemand
as and where one’s lifestyle allows. In western
countries, where there is an widespread broadband
access and high bandwidth at the last mile, on-demand
media consumption platforms like Apple TV and Roku
have flourished. In India, while the penetration of
Internet has increased over the last few years, the
constrained availability of consistent high-bandwidth
internet connectivity will continue to be a challenge
for at least the next decade. Further, with the high
costs of licensing spectrum, bandwidth providers will
continue to have to charge for data based internet
plans. Therefore, the leveraging of the Internet as a true
means of delivering high quality media consumption,
apart from the occasional low quality user generated
content that is viewed, is a while away for India. We
have been working over the last few years in trying to
solve this challenge ourselves. We have now developed
a technology called MediaBoost, which will specifically
address this challenge. While there is significant activity
on the wireless front with operators considering
enabling 4G networks for wireless internet access,
this will never be sufficient to fulfill the ever increasing
demands by consumers for media consumption and
higher quality media. There are many companies with
online on-demand services that have tried and failed
predominantly because a consumer trying to access
a media service online typically faces challenges of
long waits, buffering breaks and low quality streaming.
The other major challenge relates to the limitation of
watching media on their computers instead of the
television.
We believe that the only way Indians can enjoy true
on-demand entertainment is to look towards alternate
delivery channels apart from the Internet. Satellite
and DTH players have tried to address this with NVOD
(near video on demand services) but again have seen
limited uptake because of the lack of a pleasant user
viewing experience. With our Media Boost technology,
we’re enabling the existing legacy network that today
connects every household with a television. This
is the RF cable that runs through most homes and
delivers regular cable channels. This cable network
has been laid by an LCO (Local Cable Operator )
using the lowest cost cables and one that has been
serving live television content for decades now. This
infrastructure remains old and obsolete and the skill
sets of the personnel managing the network are also
underdeveloped. The upgrade is an arduous task. Most
firms that today manufacture networking devices have
reached data rates of over a terabit and assume that
the cable networks used to connect these devices
are adequate. Hence they are not able to address the
India’s connectivity needs.