Digital Studio - June 2016

Broadcasters are realising the value, and challenges, of catering to kids, which is increasingly adept at choosing non-linear content from various digital devices. Digital Studio’s June 2016 cover story dwells on strategies that some industry players have adopted to create content that will resonate with these young ‘uns. Most already have kids-oriented channels on linear TV and digital platforms and have even managed to monetize it; either through subscription, ad sales or merchandising. Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO of Viacom18 states gaming and films are other monetizing avenues for this genre.

In this issue, Nick Thomas, practice leader for digital media at Ovum, emphatically claims that while broadcast TV will remain an essential part of the future of ‘watching TV’ for young audiences, it will be just one component of a wider multiservice, cross-platform, social experience. It will be exciting to see how India’s broadcasting, media and entertainment industry adjusts to this new reality.

This issue also gives a sneak peek into BroadcastAsia 2016, where OTT, SVOD, IPTV and DTH dominated sessions, solutions and conversations – just like they had at NAB 2016. This is not surprising, since Asia Pacific is expected to become the world’s second largest market for OTT SVOD services by 2018, backed by rapid infrastructure development and increased consumer demand.

The Indian OTT SVOD market is still in its nascent stage, but is expected to grow once data connectivity prices go down and payment gateways evolve. Video views and ad view in the US grew at over 30% across all measures in 2015, according to a FreeWheel report. Given the rising digital media consumption, will India mirror this trend? You can find out in the ‘Statistics’ column.

As always, the information-packed Digital Studio presents a comprehensive report on various emerging industry trends, business news, as well as information about the latest products and solutions rolled out by leading organizations.