Self-regulatory bodies for TV & digital are working extremely well in India: K Madhavan

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is organising the 10th edition of the Big Picture Summit 2021 on virtual platform with the theme ‘Scaling new heights of Content, Creativity & Innovation’. The two-day Summit, which got underway today (November 17, 2021), will discuss the global trends and opportunities, macroeconomic turbulences leading to softening revenues, understanding domestic consumer preferences, growing focus on local opportunities for a global audience and other important topics. Digital platforms are proliferating and there are tremendous opportunities that never existed before – especially for the creative Industry, storytellers and technology providers.

In his opening remarks, K Madhavan, Country Manager & President, The Walt Disney Company India & Star India, and Chairman, CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment, stressed on the need for letting the M&E industry to be allowed to freely flourish with the power to self-regulate.

Speaking further, he maintained that regulations like NTO 1 and 2 did not address the interests of any stakeholders, including the customers, and hoped to have a more proactive and positive approach from TRAI under its new Chairman, PD Vaghela. “There needs to be light-touch regulation, so as not to hold the industry back,” he affirmed.

Madhavan also called for the creation of a single National Policy for the M&E sector, one which is coherent, and gives broad direction capturing the industry’s aspirations and bring in greater clarity for the industry and regulator(s) alike, going forward.

Following is K Madhavan’s complete address...

“TRAI Chairman Dr Vaghela, MIB Secretary Mr Apurva Chandra and my colleagues and dignitaries on the panel – good morning and let me welcome you once again to the 10^th Edition of CII’s Big Picture Summit. This Summit brings together all stakeholders of the industry to initiate new conversations on how to take India’s M&E industry forward, and how fast and quickly we can achieve the industry target of 100 billion dollars.

As we kick-off the 10^th Edition of this Summit, it is heartening to look back and see how far we have come. Ten years back, television had started migrating customers to digital, and HD channels were just being launched. There were barely 13 million broadband subscribers, and users spent only 8 hours a month watching videos online. Today, we have about 800 million broadband Internet users and 600 million smartphone users, and Indians watch over 5 hours of online video content a DAY compared to the global average of four hours a day.

India is a digitally active country with a massive and diverse consumer base with a very high level of appetite for entertainment.

Our industry is already creating 2,500 hours of original content each year for OTT, over and above the 100,000 hours created for Television. Our Gaming industry caters to 420 million casual gamers, even as our AVGC sector provides high quality, cost effective content for the global market. We are giving consumers the power to choose what content they want, unrestricted by platform, language, schedule or geography. Technology has allowed us to put the convenience of the consumer first, and deliver content to the consumers various choices. The M&E industry also promotes India’s soft power across the world, in addition to directly and indirectly employing 4.5 million people. Ancillary industries like education, tourism and even software are all boosted as the Creative economy grows.

In this light, given the power and influence of our industry – it is essential that we be allowed to freely flourish with the power to self-regulate. Self-regulatory bodies for both TV and digital are working extremely well in India, and have proved that they can effectively handle complaints and concerns, without any interference from policy makers and regulators. Regulations like NTO 1 and 2 did not address the interests of any stakeholders, including the customers. The silver lining in this matter is that the new Chairman of TRAI Dr Vaghela and his team are taking keen interest to address the concerns of the industry on priority. We hope to have a more proactive and positive approach from the regulator. There needs to be light-touch regulation, so as not to hold the industry back.

Another important ask from the policy maker is to create a single National Policy for the Media & Entertainment sector, one which is coherent, and gives broad direction capturing the industry’s aspirations and bring in greater clarity for the industry and regulator(s) alike, going forward. With the inputs from the industry, this new National Policy could guide regulators for years to come, and ensure that the consumers, the industry and all stakeholders find certainty and clarity in equal measure. Digital streaming has changed the global consumption pattern, and our vibrant Indian content can make a serious impact at the global level, provided we get the right support from policy makers and the regulator.

Our film industry is eager to bounce back from the pandemic. CII, working alongside the Government of India, will seek to represent India at all the Major Film Festivals in the upcoming year.

CII’s Big Pitch for the industry is: to project the power of India’s Media and Entertainment industry across the globe. After the IT sector, it is the M&E sector which has the potential to change the fortunes of a billion people through creation of content which is unique, which has a global appeal and which touches the hearts of people everywhere. There should be an extensive campaign to impress upon every mind that India Can Create. This slogan, this mantra can be our message to the world.

I’m hopeful that each attendee at the 10^th Edition of the Summit will take advantage of the future-forward conversations which are planned. It is a great opportunity to explore potential with exciting discussions with eminent content creators and technology evangelists. The Summit has been designed to ensure that our fast paced, dynamic industry rises to even greater heights in Content, Creativity and Innovation. 

Thank you all and welcome once again.”