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Tremendous Scope for all Kinds of Entertainment and Information Business in India, says Shri Prakash Javadekar
Dec 16, 2020

(Continued from part 1) 

He clarified that the government seeks to play the role of a facilitator to help the industry grow. "The role of government in this sector is mostly as a facilitator. With a budget of around Rs.4,000 crores this ministry is one of the smallest in terms of budget, but largest in terms of influence. And that influence comes only through the private sector because all the filmmaking in this country except for say, a few films made by NDFC, is entirely private. All the channels except for Prasar Bharti are all private. Also, if you take the alternative platforms, they are entirely private. We must realize that media and entertainment are entirely private driven.

The Secretary added that the COVID 19 pandemic has opened new avenues of growth and one of them happens to be the educational technologies. "And now there is no going back. The way children are getting used to studying with the help of technology and devices, it has opened a new sector altogether." He said that online gaming is another sector, which will not only promote the industry within the country, but also has an export potential. 

Underscoring the role played by the M&E industry during Covid 19 pandemic, Mr K Madhavan, Chairman, CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment and Managing Director, Star India Pvt Limited & Disney India, said, "In my many years in the industry disruption on this scale has never been imagined. However, the entire media and entertainment industry came together to engage and entertain millions of viewers. Television and video streaming increased to peak at 37% higher than the pre lockdown period and IPL was the biggest live ticketing tournament to be held during the pandemic. The tournament broke all previous records with a 33% increase in viewership over last year."

Mr Madhavan added that the industry has the potential to grow to $5 billion by 2030. "The pandemic has driven customers to adopt technology. There has been never seen before growth in e-commerce, online video and digital gaming sectors. But to achieve this potential, we need light touch regulations and a much simpler governance structure in place," he said.

Mr Siddharth Roy Kapur , Co-Chairman CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment and President, Producers Guild of India and Managing Director Roy Kapur Films, said that one of the most important lessons drawn from the pandemic is "that whatever might happen in the world, one of the basic needs of human beings is to be entertained, or, especially in times that are tough, especially in times that call for tough measures".

"What we've seen in this time is that while that need exists, the modes of distribution will change from time to time, depending on what's happening within society. It's important for us as an industry to realize that we need every form of distribution, to be able to take our content to audiences," Mr Kapoor added.

He said that India needs to ensure that "we have a very light touch regulation to make sure that our creators and our audiences are given the very best of content that the world has to offer and that India has to offer. Today, at the click of a button, you can access all kinds of content from around the world on the internet. So I think our regulatory regime should really be able to reflect that and make sure that we give the industry a massive push."

Mr Biren Ghose, Vice Chair, CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment and Country Head, Technicolor India, said the digital sector "managed to pivot the M&E industry, which hitherto was considered to be purely a face to face creative, interactive industry, to a new way of working".

 "I believe that the quality, security, and the delivery excellence we have shown during this pandemic, is actually a remarkable feat, and opens the opportunity for us to continue to extend that media and entertainment production to become more inclusive where people can continue to work, like in a virtual cloud in tier two and tier three cities permanently."

Mr Shashi Shekhar Vempati , CEO, Prasar Bharti, highlighted some of the major achievements of the public broadcaster during the pandemic, saying that this was also the period when the entire nation reconnected with Brand Doordarshan. "Doordarshan was amongst the top social advertisers during this period. We created content to ensure that all the precautions were being taken, be it the mask up campaign, be it various information on sanitation and safe distancing," he said.

"The ratings that Doordarshan achieved through the airing of Ramayan and Mahabaharat during the lockdown weeks broke national record. But I also want to underline that there is still an audience for wholesome family content. I think it was a phenomenal experience and it brought the entire industry on a nostalgia trip," Mr Vempati said.

The attached CII BCG report "talks about what this year has looked like so far. And what are the expectations and what are some of the green shoots, we're starting to see on the recovery front".

"Media and entertainment sector continues to be a strong contributor to the Indian economy. A fact has not changed. The Big Picture Summits, continue to be a set of imperatives, which have changed a little bit this year, on what all stakeholders have to do to continue to grow the sector and realize the full potential,"

CII Big Picture Summit 2020 will see over 25 Knowledge Sessions and more than 120 speakers deliberating on a wide range of issues that cut across the spectrum looking to develop a cohesive industry engagement with core cross sectoral policy dialogues and strategic exchanges. The summit is being held online from December 16 to December 18.

16 December 2020
New Delhi

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