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Media companies buoyant on digital revenues
MUMBAI: An Ernst & Young report has revealed that 73 per cent of CFOs from the world‘s largest media and entertainment companies are buoyant about revenue opportunities presented by online and mobile platforms.
This year, total home video and music end-user spending, including digital and physical products, is estimated to be $28.5 billion compared to $36.4 billion in 2006.
By 2012, the report discloses that the average per-unit price of video and music content will decrease by almost 25 per cent from the 2009 prices. This follows a 12 per cent price fall in video and 55 per cent in music from 2006 to 2009.
For its report ‘Poised For Digital Growth: Preserving Profitability In Today‘s Digital World‘, the world‘s leading professional services organisation surveyed CFOs from 75 leading media firms.
The survey found out that there was a consensus among CFOs that the industry must decide if and how much they can bundle media content and then settle on appropriate pricing.
Says Ernst & Young global media and entertainment leader John Nendick, “The phenomenal proliferation of digital entertainment among consumers continues to challenge media and entertainment companies. Revenues are dropping due to the unbundling of media and the reduction of per-unit pricing, challenging CFOs to identify innovative ways to reach their financial objectives.”
“However, as the demand for digitally delivered entertainment continues to increase significantly, CFOs feel optimistic about revenue potential,” Nendick adds.
Of those surveyed, 56 per cent indicated that process improvement would be the greatest opportunity for savings during the couple of years.
The report also notes that CFOs are continuing to cut costs in a bid to improve profitability, including outsourcing more activities.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
