iWorld
Indians don’t mind watching some ads if subscription fee is less
MUMBAI: Over the top (OTT) players have a lot to rejoice in India. A survey conducted by YouGuv and Brightcove has found that non-subscribers of OTT in the country show a higher consideration of opting for it here as compared to other APAC markets.
Despite a small sample size, the survey found that 40 per cent of India’s internet users watch OTT – both SVOD and AVOD. An interesting tidbit that was thrown up was that the mere access to mobile and content was enough to drive OTT adoption in India while other markets require promotion and trials.
Users are attracted to particular shows or movies and the availability to choose from international titles. The hunger for the latter is a key consideration for even non-users.
The common myth that Indians are not ready to pay for content is not entirely true. To see lesser advertisements, 27.1 per cent of respondents are willing to pay a higher subscription fee. 18.5 per cent of them prefer to pay a higher subscription to enjoy seamless experience without any advertisements. It indicates that the inclination towards good viewing experience is increasing in India. However, amidst the positive scenario, free streaming services as well as existing paid TV subscriptions are barriers to OTT adoption.
Niche content also plays an important role to attract subscribers for paid services. Speaking at an OTT summit, Brightcove Asia media head Greg Armshaw talked about FishFlicks, a client of Brightcove that offers recreational fishers, hunters, and 4×4 enthusiasts, access to more than 1,300 videos to meet subscribers viewing appetites. Niche content for relevant audiences is the trend rather than mass production. Opting for a hybrid model is also more monetising.
“Brands last longer than messages, campaigns and identities. They build loyalty. People are falling in love or at least making an association with what you stand for and who you are versus what business you are in,” Syntropic Systems partner Alap Ghosh commented on the importance of brand building. As brand determines acceptability, despite having great content, some platforms have poor reach. He also mentioned the importance of ambient content and the demand for family-friendly content on OTT platforms. While technology is important, brands also need to know how much they want to engineer.
Indian OTT players need to realise that while fresh content is surely needed, the appetite for movies, TV shows and international content will never be famished in India. These genres will be the ones to pull free users into subscription mode.
Also Read :
OTT experts discuss future of India’s hybrid market
SonyLIV expands its English entertainment library for premium subscribers
iWorld
Bill Ackman makes a $64bn bid for Universal Music Group
The hedge fund boss wants to list the world’s biggest record label in New York and thinks he knows exactly what ails it
NEW YORK: Bill Ackman wants to buy the world’s biggest record label. Pershing Square Capital Management, the hedge fund run by the billionaire investor, submitted a non-binding proposal on Tuesday to acquire all outstanding shares of Universal Music Group in a business combination transaction worth roughly $64.4 billion (around 55.8 billion euros).
Under the terms of the offer, UMG shareholders would receive 9.4 billion euros in cash, equivalent to 5.05 euros per share, plus 0.77 shares of a newly created company, dubbed New UMG, for each share held. Pershing Square values the total package at 30.40 euros per share, a 78 per cent premium to UMG’s closing price on April 2.
The deal would see UMG merge with Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, with the combined entity incorporating as a Nevada corporation and listing on the New York Stock Exchange. New UMG would publish financial statements under US GAAP and become eligible for S&P 500 index inclusion. Pershing Square says the transaction is expected to close by year-end, with all equity financing backstopped by Ackman’s firm and its affiliates, and all debt financing committed at signing. The transaction would cancel 17 per cent of UMG’s outstanding shares, leaving New UMG with 1.541 billion shares outstanding.
Ackman has a long history with UMG. Pershing Square first bought approximately 10 per cent of the company from Vivendi in the summer of 2021 for around $4 billion, around the time of UMG’s listing on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange. He has since trimmed that position, raising around $1.4 billion from the sale of a 2.7 per cent stake in March 2025, and resigned from UMG’s board in May 2025, citing new executive and board obligations arising from recent investments.
His diagnosis of UMG’s troubles is blunt. The company’s stock has fallen around 33 per cent over the past twelve months on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange, and Ackman lays out six reasons why. These include uncertainty around the Bolloré Group’s 18 per cent stake in the company, the postponement of UMG’s US listing, the underutilisation of UMG’s balance sheet, the absence of a publicly disclosed capital allocation plan and earnings algorithm, a failure to reflect UMG’s 2.7 billion euro stake in Spotify in its valuation, and what Ackman calls suboptimal shareholder investor relations, communications and engagement.
The Bolloré stake has long cast a shadow over the company. Cyrille Bolloré stepped down from UMG’s board in July 2025 as the Bolloré Group battled the French financial markets regulator over its stake in Vivendi, which holds a further capital interest in UMG. UMG had confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in July 2025 for a proposed secondary listing in America, but put those plans on hold in March 2026, citing market conditions.
Ackman has kind words for UMG’s management, at least. “Since UMG’s listing, Lucian Grainge and the company’s management have done an excellent job nurturing and continuing to build a world-class artist roster and generating strong business performance,” he said. But he made his diagnosis plain: “UMG’s stock price has languished due to a combination of issues that are unrelated to the performance of its music business and importantly, all of them can be addressed with this transaction.”
In other words, Ackman believes UMG is a great business trapped inside a broken structure. If the board agrees, he intends to fix that, loudly and in New York.
