The pursuit of excellence of the human mind is individual and that’s what makes creativity great. This is what Amit Khanna, former chairman CII National Media & Entertainment Committee and former Chairman, Reliance Entertainment said at the CII Big Picture Summit 2012.

Register now for CII BIG PICTURE SUMMIT 2020.

Amit Khanna, media guru, poet, lyricist, writer, filmmaker and historian will be giving his thought leader address crystal gazing where the media industry is heading at the 9th edition of CII BIG PICTURE SUMMIT 2020 (December 16-18)

SPECIAL ADDRESS: Amit Khanna, CII BIG PICTURE SUMMIT 2012

It has always been said that time has come for India to reap its demographic dividend. We are a youthful nation, What does Young India mean specifically for media and entertainment? It has been noted over the years by experts and sociologists that it is the young who not only consumes M&E but also are trendsetters. However, in the recent past, trends have emerged in more developed markets that as we move towards a digital world (a networked society) more and more niches emerge in the media and entertainment universe. There are sufficiently large pockets of people who are willing to consume different kinds of films, television, new media. Hence it becomes a larger pie with more people able to consume it.

One of the realities which many of us seem to overlook is a change which will happen in the next ten years. In the digital universe demographics get blurred. Because the ease of access gives the ability across ages across psychographics to access news, information, entertainment often from sources which were unattainable till a few years ago.

We are way down in the per capita consumer spend on media and entertainment. In more developed markets they are as high as five or six per cent. In some of the other competing markets like Brazil or China it is still much higher than India. As people become more aspirational, connected with different devices, through the development of viewer access technologies and with all content ultimately resting in the cloud consumption will go up in geometric progression. It has been noted that society grows in arithmetic progression. It is a slow progress. But, technology propels in geometric progressions. It takes leaps of several generations with each technological advancement. The problem is trying to reconcile the pace of social change with the rapid speed of technological change which is happening simultaneously. We all know of the famous analogy of several India’s exist together in different times and space. However, it is imperative for us to tap and address each and every citizen of these India which ultimately create the whole India.

Similarly, the ad spend to GDP ratio is amongst the lowest in the world (in top twenty countries of the world). There is no other way as consumption goes up these ad spends will go up audience measurement techniques will emerge and you will see ad spends rising in a competitive landscape.

Short term predictions

What we are heading toward is something Walter Manning, founder of Jwt said forty years ago when he was setting up the media lab at MIT. He said 21st century media will be all about personalised segmentation of media. It is that what we are heading to. We are going to see enhanced, relevant, curated content being consumed. Time is the only finite factor in consumption. You have only 24 hours to do work, play and entertained. Within that space there will be lot of competition in trying to monetize leisure. Leisure has become a larger world used when we talk about media and entertainment. It is no longer about watching news or listening to the radio or going out to a concert or watching cinema in your neighbourhood multiplex it is also events like Formula One. It is also about going to other social gatherings. We have seen social media groups form community groups which meet often and are now just about beginning to get monetized. HDTV or 3D Cinema are in the beginnings of what I would call enhanced viewing experience. You will in the next five or seven years come towards immersive TV, come towards films which will have multiple endings suiting different markets. It will be the same narrative but the filmmaker shoots two or three different ends depending upon the geography or demographics to suit those audiences. The most significant thing is curated. As digital technology develops, and we move from the present semantic web (Web 2.O) to intuitive web (Web 3.O) and the next which is currently being finalised in the labs we will find machine to machine talk becoming easy (Web 4.O). These huge large databases will talk to each other figure from our digital footprints what our interests are lead us on to that entertainment, news, information, music. It is for us to monetise these new revenue opportunities. Cross Section, Cross Segment competition is something we have to be cautious about.

The only thing in this world which is not fungible in this global world is talent. Talent, cannot be outsourced. Everything else can be. Processes, manufacturing. Talent is individual. The pursuit of excellence of the human mind is individual and that’s what makes creativity so great. More such opportunities are there in this huge currently untapped digital landscape. It is almost as if the mariner has landed on the mars and just dug up a little sample and telling us what is in store for us.