Vanita Kohli Khandekar                                                                                                                                   Myleeta Aga

FICCI FRAMES 2015, Part IV

‘Glocally’ relevant

How to stay “glocally” (globally+locally) relevant was the theme at a panel discussion titled ‘Retooling Content to Stay “Glocally” Relevant’ on the second day of the FICCI FRAMES 2015 convention. The discussion, moderated by Ms Vanita Kohli Khandekar, media analyst, author and columnist, had on the panel Ms Myleeta Aga, SVP and GM India and Content Head Asia, BBC Worldwide; Mr Gaurav Banerjee, GM, Star Plus & Life OK; Mr Sameer Nair, Group CEO, Balaji Telefilms (one of India’s leading TV production houses that also makes films);Mr Pradeep Hejmadi, Business Head, Zee TV; Mr Tarun Katial, CEO, Reliance Broadcast (known for its BIG FM chain of radio stations); and Mr Vijay Subramanium, Vice President and Head, Content & Communication, Media Channels, Disney India.

Ms Kohli opened the discussion by observing that 7 to 10 large broadcasters control the major share of the broadcast space. The market is growing, and audiences are watching varied programmes. “How is the audience coping?” she asked the panelists.

Mr Subramanium felt that the present times are exciting from the consumer’s point of view. From the service provider’s view, it is interesting to see how those needs can be met. His company feels that technology is a friend, and he cited the case of the recent new Mickey Mouse shots for their global initiative. In India, instead of holding a grand première, they put up the content on Facebook; that doubled their channel and slot ratings. “We at Disney are innovating to serve consumers,” he concluded.

Ms Aga informed the house that BBC Worldwide has been looking at different marketing and technical strategies, based on what the content is and what the market requires. Every country has a different market strategy. “No one formula fits all,” was her take.

Mr Banerjee was of the opinion that today, content providers have more ambition. About five years ago, stories were confined to household and kitchen politics. Today, that is changing. Another change is that broadcasters are willing to spend more money. “I don’t think enough research was being done in the past, but that is beginning to happen.” However, what hasn’t changed is the importance of story-telling. Television in India has a reach that is greater than that of any big film, even if it has a major cast. “That is a great responsibility. It is the pressure to continue to create shows that inspires.” He strongly felt that research will allow content to get better. He called upon the industry to shed its fear of failure. Mr Nair agreed that TV content in India is not good enough; this could be because content changes slowly. Producers are not willing to trash existing content because it has grown in the market. “When the market reaches a critical mass, not everyone wants to see the same thing and economics dictates everything.”

Mr Hejmadi felt that broadcasters may or may not be ready to part with Intellectual Property. They, anyway, have to put in a lot of intellectual input to create content. “Hence, they don’t see the need to part with IP.” Ms Aga agreed, saying that producers do not want to invest in developing the idea. “We are habituated to going to broadcasters without enough content,” she said. Mr Nair also felt that IP is over-rated and there is no point in getting over excited. “It is about risk and reward, there is no big upside.” Mr Katial disclosed that they see themselves as “hiring out a line producer to execute on our set.” All panellists agreed that producers and broadcasters should experiment more and take more risks.