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<ul><li><keyword id="9139921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shemaroo-TV">Shemaroo TV</keyword>, the flagship Hindi GEC from the house of <keyword id="203890" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shemaroo-Entertainment">Shemaroo Entertainment</keyword>, is launching an original TV show titled ‘<keyword id="10809040" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="jurm-aur-jazbaat">Jurm aur Jazbaat</keyword>.’ </li><li>We caught up with <keyword id="207966" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hiren-Gada">Hiren Gada</keyword>, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment to understand how it was all put together, walked us through the channel's journey so far and future of FTA channels in India. </li></ul>Shemaroo Entertainment launched a Free-to-Air (FTA) channel last year in the midst of the lockdown, when businesses were coming to a standstill. A company that has effectively adopted to technological changes and macro economic disruptions since the early 1970s, Shemaroo has been smoothly sailing through all waves of changes. As the lockdown eased and the country slowly started limping towards normalcy, Shemaroo TV was burning the midnight oil to put together an original series for its audience. Now, it is all set to foray into original TV series with a crime show titled ‘Jurm aur Jazbaat.’ The general entertainment content on Hindi TV channels largely revolves around domestic issues, mythology, historical personalities or desi love stories. OTT audiences, on the other hand, are a fan of thriller films, sci-fi or crime shows. However, Shemaroo has taken the OTT route for its TV channel with the launch of its first crime-based TV show. In the recent past, even courtroom sagas have become a huge hit on OTT platforms: Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors, Nail Polish, Illegal season 1, Your Honour and The Verdict – State vs Nanavati (2019) are proof. On why the TV channel chose crime as its debut genre, Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment, said, “We did a market research to identify what is trending, what are the consumers watching, what they aren't, etc. So we finalised various categories to work with. After deep-diving into the market research we conducted, we realised that the crime genre has a very good connect with the Free-To-Air audiences. What also strongly came out was the fact that there is emotion behind every crime. So, to simplify the name, we called it Jurm aur Jazbaat. Once we decided the route we wanted to take, we worked with a couple of production houses in terms of creating pilots, ramping up and then going into the production part. Parallely, because this was our first fresh and original programming, we wanted to have a very strong mentor, who can connect with the audience, create a great viewing experience for them and that's how we zeroed in on <keyword id="6360486" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ronit-Roy">Ronit Roy</keyword>.” Journey so far Since the inception of Shemaroo TV last year, the channel wanted to offer a mix of original content, licensed content and existing content. However, due to the nation-wide lockdown, the channel had to put a pause on its production like everyone else. It did not stop the entertainment house from launching a new channel. It wanted to lay a strong foundation before launching its original content. “We had to revamp our whole process for two reasons. One was logistically, we were not in a position to shoot at that time. And secondly, advertisers' spends had also reduced. So, we decided at that time to focus on our existing library as well as fresh creations and acquired shows from Star like Devon ke Dev Mahadev, Jeet hui parai, Shor from Sahara, and we had our own movies and shows. The focus at that time was to establish the channel in terms of viewership, distribution, primarily marketing, viewership, programming, consumer connect. Many other things and milestones which we wanted to achieve before we launch an original,” shared Gada. Present and future of FTA channels in India Currently, as per Gada, not more than two FTA channels are creating original content and Jurm aur Jazbaat will help the channel carve a niche for itself. While Shemaroo had also launched its Marathi channel, MarathiBana and a lot of learnings from that experience went into the launch of Shemaroo TV, the latter was rolled out while working from home. It launched unique initiatives to pull in more viewers. Overwhelmed with the response the channel has seen so far, Gada said, “Given the fact that we are a GEC less than nine months old, we have seen very good response and viewer traction. In fact, we've done many contests where we could gauge consumer participation. We received a lot of very good messages from our audiences and they showered us with love. That has helped build the overall viewership. And obviously, the team's hard work has paid off too.” It has also seen a good response from the top FTA advertisers. “I'm sure that a very strong connect with the core Shemaroo brand and being part of this ecosystem for decades, has played its strong part as a strong beautiful partner, given the challenge that overall advertiser revenue and spends have gone through, in the last year. We are part of that same trend but the fact that we have seen very good acceptance borne out by the fact that all the top spenders on the FTA space, most of them are already present on both our channels. We keep adding more brands and new categories as we move forward,” added Gada. This year, with the economy coming back on track, Shemaroo is expecting to see more advertisers on-board who cater to rural and Tier II and III audiences. Gada said, “With the economy back on track, and companies launching more and more products, good agriculture output with a good monsoon, the rural economy has done exceedingly well. With this, a lot more categories are now willing to participate on the FTA platform, because they are all seeing more consumption coming from these pockets. Over the next few years, as per capita income of the country grows, more and more categories of consumption will open up for these audiences. That will bring in many more categories into the FTA space. And I think that’s really the exciting part in the next three to five years. This is a segment which has been underserved as far as television is concerned and as far as products are concerned. In the next three to five years, this situation is bound to get corrected.” After measuring the response of its fresh content, Shemaroo is planning to launch more original content and simultaneously, keep acquiring popular series and films to be able to cater to a large audience. Sharing his plan for this year, Gada said, “We are going to take it one step at a time. We definitely have more originals lined up. The fact is that there's just two channels, which are offering fresh programming or original content. We are upping the game for ourselves at a certain level and that's going to be a continuous process for us, because that's how we plan to keep up our audiences loyal to us and keep coming back to us as we keep launching new offers for our viewers.”

A lot more categories are now willing to advertise on FTA channels to reach out to rural India: Hiren Gada, Shemaroo

<ul><li><keyword id="203890" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shemaroo-Entertainment">Shemaroo Entertainment</keyword> has ventured into the broadcast space with the launch of a Hindi free-to-air GEC, <keyword id="9139921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shemaroo-TV">Shemaroo TV</keyword>.</li><li>The channel will give the audience a combination of freshly brewed content as well as acquired content that has so far been available only on paid channels.</li><li><keyword id="207966" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hiren-Gada">Hiren Gada</keyword>, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment speaks to us about how the organization succeeded in launching a TV channel in the midst of the lockdown, and its marketing strategy going ahead. </li></ul>Shemaroo has managed to pull off a brave feat, it has launched a free-to-air (FTA) general entertainment TV channel, in the midst of a national lockdown, when most players are cutting spends and cancelling or postponing big-ticket launches, events and projects. Going live today, Shemaroo TV is aimed at catering to the under-served FTA category, giving the audience a combination of freshly brewed content as well as acquired content that has so far been available on paid channels. The launch comes at a time when most of us are stuck at our homes and television viewership is at an all-time high. Considering the adverse times we are living in right now, we thought it would be interesting to know what went behind Shemaroo’s TV channel launch and Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment let us in on their strategy. Work on the channel launch had started close to 8 months back when the company mapped the ecosystem, exploring the opportunities available. Around October it was decided that they wanted to operate in the FTA space. The process behind the launch Earlier this year, Shemaroo also launched its Marathi channel, Marathibana and a lot of learnings from that experience went into the launch of Shemaroo TV, shared Gada. Shemaroo had also simultaneously been working on the content side of things for the Hindi channel. “Since we started work almost 7-8 months ago, we were in a state of quasi-readiness even before the lockdown. Our content strategy was already in place. However, eventually putting everything together was a huge task and I would like to thank our team who in a way are our warriors who put everything together, in spite of everything. There was a lot of remote working involved around how do we ingest the content, around programming, the channel identity elements and a lot of the technical aspects too. A lot of work happened off-site. But there was a small set of people that managed to be in office for the ingestion of the content, which was the most important link,” shared Gada. The limitations (and opportunities) of launching during a pandemic The lockdown has led to the OOH and experiential industry also witnessing a complete shutdown. Spending on the Print medium is also largely muted. And when one has to organize a launch, these are the three primary mediums that organizations rely on. So how challenging has marketing been for the organization during the lockdown? “Its been both a challenge and an opportunity. We are missing out on a few key media that would ideally have been a part of the launch campaign. However, since people have been indoors, they are spending a substantially higher amount of time on television and digital. That opens up the digital and TV marketing aspects significantly,” explained Gada. Shemaroo will be largely using these two mediums to connect with audiences, letting them know about the new channel. Gada believes that due to their strong presence on digital, the medium could be their strength. “We will also be running a whole lot of campaigns on various mediums, including social media,” he added. Looking at the brighter side of the lockdown, Gada also said that this is a time when people are far more open to experimentation and sampling. “During normal times, people are hooked on to their daily soaps and to make people move t a different channel is a challenge. But now, the opportunity to get people to sample a new offering is significantly higher,” he explained. From the advertiser’s perspective While the FTA space is driven by advertising, brands at this moment are cutting down on spends. Shemaroo doesn’t have advertisers on board right now but the conversations with marketers have been positive, shared Gada. “Fundamentally, advertising follows viewership. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a new channel or an already-existing one. There may be some relationships and legacy deals in place but today, TV advertising has become much more scientific. When we mapped the FTA space post the new tariff order, we realized there’s a natural opportunity opening in the space to capture a considerable share of the estimated Rs 2,500 crore FTA advertising market. Also, with leading broadcasters pulling out from Free Dish, Rs 1,000 crore of advertising opportunity opened and was potentially available for existing and new channels in the FTA space. Also, there’s a severe shortage of content in both the <keyword id="874299" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hindi-GEC">Hindi GEC</keyword> and Marathi market. This means that while the eyeballs and mediums are in place, the vehicle is not there for the advertisers. And this was the sense we got from many of the agencies and brands we spoke to. We understand that in the ultra short-term, there’s a dip in ad spends, but once the lockdown opens, to a reasonable extent, we should be bouncing back reasonably well because ultimately India is a consumer and consumption-based economy where brand-building is very important and TV is the biggest medium to build any brand today,” shared Gada. Shemaroo’s focus for the next 2-3 months would be to increase consumption and get consumers hooked on to their content. “We believe the monetization is 2-3 months away as we get the entire process of capturing ratings in place. In the meantime, we will build our viewership and get more and more people to sample our channel,” he added. Launching today, the channel will be available on all major DTH operators and cable networks.

How Shemaroo pulled off the launch of its channel Shemaroo TV during the lockdown

<ul><li><keyword id="9139921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shemaroo-TV">Shemaroo TV</keyword> will target the Hindi-speaking markets of India and will aim to connect, interact, and reach out to families who are continuously looking to adapt to new changes. </li><li>The channel will go live on May 1.</li><li><keyword id="203890" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shemaroo-Entertainment">Shemaroo Entertainment</keyword> will market its new offering primarily on TV and Digital.</li></ul>Shemaroo Entertainment has announced the launch of a free-to-air (FTA) Hindi general entertainment channel, Shemaroo TV on May 1. Shemaroo TV will target the Hindi-speaking markets of India and will aim to connect, interact, and reach out to families who are continuously looking to adapt to new changes. The channel will come up with a mix of originals and iconic shows, which will be consumed for the first time by a broad set of FTA audiences. The channel will be available to audiences on all major DTH operators and cable networks. Speaking about the company's entry into the TV segment, <keyword id="207966" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hiren-Gada">Hiren Gada</keyword>, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment said, "There is a large audience hungry for content on FTA channels. Its a largely under-served market and a huge demand for content. The content of Shemaroo is spread across different verticals through which we maintain a healthy relationship with viewers and advertisers equally. While we manage large digital platforms, entering into the broadcasting space will help us with reach and enable us to build a stronger affinity with the audiences. With the launch of our flagship channel, Shemaroo TV, we are excited to strengthen our presence in the industry and deliver our promise of entertaining the Indian audiences." While the current lockdown will mean Shemaroo will not be able to market the new offering in the usual manner, they are going big on TV and Digital. They will also partner with 'like-minded brands' spread across Digital, TV and media, shared <keyword id="32440" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="rahul-mishra">Rahul Mishra</keyword> , Head Marketing and Communications, Shemaroo Entertainment. "The idea is to reach out to audiences through each other's strengths in this tough situation," added Mishra. <keyword id="276655" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sandeep-Gupta">Sandeep Gupta</keyword>, COO - Broadcast Business, Shemaroo Entertainment added, "If we see the current TV space and particularly the Free To Air space, there is large consumption of content but with less variety of shows and genres. Shemaroo TV will be enhancing the entertainment needs of the Indian audiences by its vast offerings of iconic shows, alongwith original shows across various genres. We have worked extensively to understand the needs of our consumers and have sharpened our insights based on what will appeal to them. Shemaroo TV will have an extensive reach and we aim to become one of the most popular destinations in the Free To Air General entertainment space."

Shemaroo Entertainment announces the launch of Hindi Entertainment FTA channel, Shemaroo TV

<ul><li>In our latest series, we look at different industries to understand what was 2020 like for them and to crystal gaze into the upcoming year, and identify some of the trends that will set the tone for 2021.</li><li>During the past few months of the global pandemic, people staying at home around the world have turned to various streaming services for entertainment. </li><li>With the coronavirus still around, we speak to OTT players to find out what would 2021 look like for the industry. </li></ul>Better connectivity, cheaper devices and even cheaper data plans have been aiding the growth of India’s over-the-top (OTT) industry over the past few years. However, 2020 became a year when more and more people came onto the digital ecosystem, thanks to being stuck at home during the lockdown. With people barely moving out of their houses, they turned to the digital world for their daily fix of entertainment. Also, people were more open with experimenting with different platforms. If an IBEF report is to be believed, the OTT sector in India saw a 30% rise in the number of paid subscribers, from 22.2 million to 29.0 million between March and July 2020. There was a visible increase in the time people were spending on most platforms. It therefore became important for platforms to come up with differentiated, fresh content that would help them stand apart. Owing to the fact that multiplexes were shut for months, many platforms also started launching movies directly on digital. Consumers have been happy for the most part. As we enter 2021, expectations from the sector are high. With the coronavirus still around, many people will continue staying in. So what will this mean for the OTT sector in 2021? Will more and more people continue coming onto platforms, and prefer to pay for the content that they like? How will OTT platforms be able to ensure consumer stickiness? What are a few trends that will stand out in 2021? We reached out to a few experts from the industry and here’s what they had to say. Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global: <div type="image" title="Archana Anand zee5" msid="79998579" hostid="261"></div> I see two key themes that swung into prominence in 2020 emerging as key drivers of the <keyword id="9056838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott-industry">OTT industry</keyword>’s skyrocketing growth in 2021. With the lockdown, we’ve seen a trend of people across the globe warming up to the idea of paying for quality content, and also being willing to commit to annual subscription packs where they see value. I see this trend only accelerating in 2021, leading to strong SVOD growth. This has also been a year where international content has gained massive traction across markets. With ZEE5 and other OTT platforms offering dubbed and subtitled content, enabling people in one geography to seamlessly access stories from any other, content is now truly democratized. Storytelling is increasingly blurring boundaries and storytellers are finding newer audiences beyond their own borders. I think 2021 is going to be the year that international content comes into even greater prominence as online audiences literally discover a world of new content via their OTT platforms. Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited: <div type="image" title="Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited" msid="79995505" hostid="261"></div> 2021 is going to be an exciting year as OTT is already riding the wave of increased data consumption and internet penetration in the small towns and rural India. The year gone by also saw some great innovations and developments in the OTT space. From direct-to-digital releases to the increasing growth in the regional content, this year has bolstered the growing popularity of OTT to an all-time high. One trend that is expected to take centre stage is highly localised and regional content. The key to ace the trend is to have an in-depth understanding of the traditions and culture of the viewers. Understanding the deep-rooted connections our viewers have with their mother tongue, we have developed a strong regional strategy for Shemaroo across all our platforms. We have a huge content bank that ranges from Bollywood, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Kids, Devotional, and various specialised trays. Content companies saw a huge change and spike in the content viewing pattern of the audiences during the lockdown. Our regional offerings saw an impressive surge in viewership especially in the Gujarati category with viewership as high as 102% in the peak months of the lockdown. While Bollywood is our mainstay, our teams have been constantly acquiring and upgrading our regional offerings, so our audiences have something new every time they tune in. We aim to make it a more robust and comprehensive pick for any consumer who wishes to enjoy varied regional content. Ferzad Palia, Head, Voot Select, Youth, Music and English Entertainment, Viacom18: <div type="image" title="Ferzad Palia." msid="79995514" hostid="261"></div> Year 2020 saw the OTT category driven by groundbreaking storytelling and macro factors resulting in significant growth for SVOD services. Viewers’ willingness to pay for quality content is now well established. However, around 65% of subscribers are still from Top 10 metros. 2021 will buck this trend and see the Premium OTT Category in India expand its footprint outside of the top 10 metros, heralding the next phase of growth for the category. Karan Bedi, CEO - MX Player: <div type="image" title="Karan Bedia Mx player" msid="79998628" hostid="261"></div> Video streaming has become the primary mode of entertainment for most digital consumers across India this year. With this backdrop, India is set to become a key market for growth in OTT video in 2021. This will lead to an avalanche of new unique original content for these audiences as they have very little to watch on TV. In this situation, marketers are also increasingly aware of where their money works best, and would like to focus on those mediums, namely digital and OTT. Divya Dixit, SVP, Marketing, Analytics and Direct Revenue, ALTBalaji <div type="image" title="Divya, altbalaji" msid="79995519" hostid="261"></div> Digital is an ever-evolving medium and when it comes to OTT players, competition across the industry is soaring high with everyone at their toes trying to secure their places in the minds of consumers. While the pandemic of 2020 redefined content consumption, the year 2021 will chart new business alliances and revenue models for platforms to acquire direct subscriptions. The report from FICCI and E&amp;Y predicted 30-35 million paying subscribers on OTT platforms alone in the year 2021, and we are excited about carving a substantial pie out of the same. Our objective has always been content massification and with the next billion internet users set to hail from the Hindi heartlands, India’s digital industry promises a host of fresh avenues to explore and expand. The soon-to-arrive 5G networks will only work as an important factor for OTT platforms to scale further heights. Prime Video India spokesperson: “2020 has been a very exciting year for us at Prime Video India – at a time when a large section of customers, looking for high quality entertainment, are turning to streaming video - we launched 18 direct-to-digital movies (across 5 Indian languages) and 8 Indian Amazon Original Series, in addition to several Global Originals and hundreds of licensed and exclusive titles. One of the most consistent trends we observed in 2020 is that great content transcends geographical barriers. Indian stories are traveling across the globe - 1 out of 5 viewers of Indian Originals are from outside India. Both Four More Shots Please! and Made in Heaven were nominated for the International Emmy Awards, a testimony to local, authentic stories finding a global audience. Our first slate of DTS movies received close to 50% (and sometimes more) viewership for titles in Indian languages from customers outside the home states. Our Bollywood direct-to-service movies were block-buster hits - Gulabo Sitabo and Shakuntala Devi have been our most-watched movies on Prime Video in India as well as the most-watched Hindi/ Bollywood Movie outside India. Localized content not only helps us remain relevant, relatable but eventually also helps in widening audience reach - we also see global shows going deeper in India. We released Parasite with Hindi subs in India and that opened viewership to a whole new audience. We also dubbed some of our popular Global Amazon Originals like Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and more recently, the second season of the The Boys in Indian languages, leading to more people discovering and watching these titles. This gives us an insight that customers are ready to watch content that has originated from any part of the world, if the story and the characters resonate with them.”

OTT: The trends to watch out for in 2021

<ul><li>As we enter a new year, we wanted to understand what to expect from the Over-the-top (<keyword id="1245953" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott" source="Orion">OTT</keyword>) industry in 2022.</li><li>In today's feature, we speak to industry experts who share their thoughts on what this year has in store for us.</li></ul>After 2020 we had hoped that 2021 would bring us some respite from the pandemic. However, things were challenging for a large part of the year. With many of us stuck within the four walls of our house for the most part of the year, OTT platforms sometimes became the only source of entertainment in our lives. Not only did 2021 see the launch of a lot of big-budget originals on various OTT platforms, a lot of movies like Sardar Udham Singh, Mimi and Shershaah launched on these platforms. Content producing companies put their best foot forward and created award-winning shows that won both commercial and critical acclaim. There has been a visible increase in investments in content production, a trend that is here to stay in 2022 as well. A recent joint report by industry body CII and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) stated that the Indian OTT sector is currently in the scaling stage with strong subscription growth and high investment in premium as well as original content. The Indian OTT sector is one of the most competitive amongst emerging markets with over 40 players. While there have been debates about more and more people moving away from TV, Mandeep Kohli, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group India states that we are still some time away from that happening at a large scale in India. “The share of traditional media is slowly declining with increased digital adoption but there is still high headroom for penetration with only 54% of Indian households having a pay TV connection compared to more than 70% in China. For many households, TV continues to be the center of the home and a significant part of family time,” said Kohli, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group India. The report further stated that the industry is at a scaling stage currently and has the potential to become a $13-15 billion industry by 2030. To understand what the new year has in store for us, we spoke to a few of the most important voices from India’s OTT industry, along with some of the biggest content production houses. Here is what they had to say about what lies ahead: Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, <keyword id="6245082" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zee5" source="Orion">ZEE5</keyword> India The already-growing online media and entertainment business received a major boost with the black swan event that the Covid-19 pandemic was, setting a new growth trajectory in the last year. The audience adopted a more digitally advanced way of entertainment, something that went beyond the conventional mediums, leading to mass adoption of OTT platforms which resulted in a surge in both viewership and watch-time. This pandemic-induced growth in demand for quality content led to an increased focus on storytelling across languages leading to the creation of extensive and expansive content libraries. People also became more open to sampling diverse content from different languages and were keener to opt for the living room experience thanks to the increased adoption of connected devices. This growth of the connected devices ecosystem has made OTT a preferred choice not only for personal but also for family consumption. At ZEE5, we have seen a 3X growth in the viewership on connected devices. The rise in power-packed dynamic storytelling and the rise of connected devices has led to the advent of the ‘Home Box Office’ which is a trend that is here to stay. While we grew 200% this year at the back of an aggressive slate of content line-up and hyper-personalization, we aim to make deeper inroads into Indian homes going into 2022. Sameer Nair, CEO, <keyword id="1322450" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="applause-entertainment" source="Orion">Applause Entertainment</keyword> <div type="image" title="IMG_8153 (1)" msid="88694220" hostid="261"></div> I believe the biggest emerging trend for the streaming industry in 2022 and beyond is the increasing flattening of the Earth, with both geographical borders and language barriers breaking down as internet connectivity reaches the remotest audiences. Our audiences, both local and global, have become smarter, more perceptive and way more critical; this requires us as Content Creators and Distributors to significantly improve the quality of our storytelling, of our productions and of the consumer experience we offer. Authentic, rooted stories that have a universal appeal can and will breakout to reach audiences globally. The more we collaborate with talent from diverse cultures and geographies, the richer we will become as storytellers. The ‘One Planet One Species Shared Cultures’ is an idea whose time is truly upon us. Divya Dixit, SVP, Marketing &amp; Revenue, <keyword id="4241922" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="altbalaji" source="Orion">ALTBalaji</keyword> With the traditional marketing budgets on a decline and digital and influencer marketing taking center stage, there are many trends, however interrelated, that we will see emerging in 2022. The digital audiovisual industry will explode; according to Bain and Company, India's online video user base has increased to more than 350 million people, growing 24% in the last three years. Influencer marketing will rapidly move to include micro-influencers and not just be dependent on Celebrity influencers, thereby also promoting UGC. Video marketing, live streaming will give rise to Social commerce and tier 2 and 3 cities will claim the growth chart curve. With all these interrelated events/trends triggering off, Users will expect personalized experiences which will be offset by deeper integration of ML, which will give rise to AI usage; however, the world of marketers will also see a more focused emerging curve towards Organic retention – CRM, surveys, retention tools, recommendation cycles, SEO, UI/UX as Google continues the stance of stopping 3rd party cookies by end of 2023. Manjit Sachdev- Head – Originals, Voot and Voot Select, Viacom18 Digital Ventures <div type="image" title="Manjit Sachdev _Head Content at VOOT AND VOOT Select" msid="88694240" hostid="261"></div> After an unprecedented 2020, with an acceleration in the growth of OTT platforms, 2021 was a year for creating milestones in curating unique and enthralling stories for the audience. Now as we step into 2022 with hope and resilience, the OTT sector will witness an increase in the demand for personalized and purpose-driven content. Given the increasing competition in the OTT space, staying relevant and purposeful is most critical. Considering the changing realities in today's times, having a purpose-driven story telling approach is the way to go. Content with purpose has the power to travel beyond boundaries, spread values, knowledge and positivity and build deeper engagement with subscribers. This trend will act as a key differentiator in changing behaviours. Megha Tata, Managing Director, South Asia, Discovery, Inc As SVOD continues to grow aggressively, we are seeing an increasing number of audiences now willing to pay for good content. I believe a right combination of compelling content and pricing would be the key in attracting a bigger share of consumers into the SVOD world next year. Also, differentiated programming will add to a player’s competitive advantage in the midst of most mainstream players offering similar content. This is a trend familiar to what we saw even broadcast channels go through. I believe some players will be able to carve out a niche for themselves, while most streaming catalogs will end up resembling each other. Rishi Negi, COO, Banijay Asia 2020 was a game changer for the whole world, we strategized a smooth transition to the streaming era and the year 2021 was about sustaining the positive change and envisioning the prospects of growth. With changing narratives and experimental content taking a lead, along with the fact that the data &amp; streaming charges have dropped, has resulted in the content reaching a much bigger audience. I anticipate the year 2022 to be vibrant with original productions, compelling storytelling and some path-breaking performances. Fighting the content inflation with a wide variety of exceptional chronicles intertwined with existing catalog shows in this post-pandemic world, viewers are streaming more than ever. With nominal data plan and streaming charges, content is reaching even the darkest corner of the world. Considering the pace of content transmission, at Banijay Asia, we have become more aggressive towards producing content that delights the heartland of India. We see a hike in demand for stories which are untold, female centric and with CTV on the rise, we anticipate growing interest in regional unscripted content in 2022. While we have seen this trend kickstart already with our Tamil unscripted show The Survivors as it received unparalleled response from the audience and our hinterland drama Matsya Kaand recently crossed a 100M views on <keyword id="2214311" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mx-player" source="Orion">MX Player</keyword> within a month. These numbers affirm that the trendsmap that we're following leads to a sustainable future. Given these past two years have been a real tester, we have pushed through every possible challenge posed by the virus this year and successfully produced shows for the streaming giants and kept the show running. While we have covered grounds with our scripted, non-scripted, international format adaptation, book adaptations, in the upcoming year, we aim to keep up with our pace and keep reinventing our ways. To sum it up, we are thoroughly looking forward to 2022 to be a year full of exciting and enthralling projects to keep our audiences engaged and invested. Rohit Jain, Managing Director, <keyword id="193261" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lionsgate" source="Orion">Lionsgate</keyword> South Asia and Networks, Emerging Markets Asia 2022 is going to be an exciting year for OTT players as the content pipeline will be stronger than ever. While the pandemic has leapfrogged growth in terms of viewers and subscription we expect 2022 to further amplify the reach and will witness growth not only in the metros but also in tier II &amp; tier III cities. Today’s viewers are constantly looking for edgy and unique stories. We have always said premium content is the ultimate winner. The OTT industry will have to concentrate on quality content over quantity of content. Siddhartha Roy, COO, Hungama Digital Media The media and entertainment industry has been making rapid strides in the interior of India. Regional markets are becoming the industry’s point of convergence as the digital infrastructure expands across the length and breadth of the country. Content houses and creators are going vocal through local, thereby, making homegrown, high-quality content available at the click of a button. Going further, consumption of entertainment, in addition to audio and video, will be extended to varied mediums, such as gaming. As the Indian online gaming sector is witnessing tremendous growth in 2020 it sets a tone that gaming will be the next big thing. The industry will witness a rapid rise in the use of AI and ML to create a customised and personalised experience for audiences. This makes industry consumer friendly; not just that, it helps in massive consumption and double consumer engagement. Hiren Gada, CEO-Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd <div type="image" title="Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd." msid="88726664" hostid="261"></div> With regional internet penetration growing at a rapid pace, localization of content and OTT apps are going to be one of the emerging trends to look out for. Content that was earlier restricted to just Bollywood and Hollywood is getting extended to other native languages and it is going to play a key role in attracting new consumers and in supporting other industries such as dubbing and subtitling that will further boost the content bank. Other than localization, we will also see content being offered across other segments that include devotional, and kids’ categories. As we see new OTT apps being launched almost every month with multiple paying models, the consumers will have more flexibility and power to make their own choices. With increased smartphone adoption along with affordable data, mobile penetration of the OTT will see more focus. Mobile-centric plans have been introduced by most OTTs today to cater to the Millennials and GenZs who have the hunger to consume content but not the deep pockets to pay. This space will continue to grow with the increased bundling of OTT by telecos. Additionally, the arrival of 5G which is most likely to take off this year will be a game-changer not just for the OTTs but also for the consumers. It will enable faster connectivity, accessibility to content and further enhance the viewing experience with reduced buffering issues, and an uninterrupted real-time streaming experience. Shailesh Kapoor, The Founder &amp; CEO, Ormax Media The last two years have been exceptional for the OTT market in India, aided in no small measure by the lockdowns. As things begin to get back to normal, the question that we will hear a lot more in 2022 is: Where is the next level of OTT growth in India going to come from? The category has grown at an estimated 30-35% in its user base and more than 50% in paid subscriptions over the last two years. But these growth rates are not sustainable in the long run. Platforms will have to look for offerings that are both compelling and distinctive, to get new subscribers in a category that will continue to grow, but at more modest levels of 15-20% per annum. Crossover content, be it Indian (such as Jai Bhim) or foreign (such as Squid Game or Money Heist), will play an important role in this regard. The language barrier has been broken considerably by the OTT medium, and with dubbing and subtitles available in many languages for all major shows and films now, platforms cannot stick to single-language, homogenous offerings anymore. We can expect more language-led experimentation, both in content acquisition and presentation."

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