Mumbai: On a bright sunny day of 25 April, Indiantelevision.com’s event, The Content Hub, which took place at The Lalit, Mumbai saw the presence of many experts in the content space.
The second panel was moderated by Ernst & Young partner media & entertainment advisory services Ashish Pherwani on the topic The Future of Content. The panelists were Zee Studios CEO Shariq Patel, aha CEO Ajit k Thakur, Lyca Productions CEO Aashish Singh, Viacom18 Media Private Ltd. COO Ajit Andhare, Guilty By Association partner Amar Butala.
The panel began with the question raised by Pherwani about the demand of content in the coming future to which Patel said, “I think the demand for content will, you know, has been increasing as we saw a huge acceleration, thanks to the fiction pandemic, president's demand continues, it's a question of how much we can supply at the right cost and the right price points, I think that's where it's all of us are, you know, spending more time on our mobile screens or at home or connected TVs, or at cinemas, so the content demand is there.”
Thakur added on to it and said, “The thing is that there is a certain kind of content that you will be able to watch. Cinema viewing is huge. I know I go to watch the cinema with my family during the weekend or whenever it works. And the kind of cinema what kind of shot content you're talking about is something that you could watch while you're driving. You could be on a local train. So that will continue to be consumed. So the bottom line is that content will always be in demand.”
Singh agreed on this and added, “For the first time in India, content is not only competing with content but also with other physiological needs, and which is why we are all running apart and what's on deficit. So there is clearly a new equilibrium that we need to find a really huge surface to which we don't have time to cover yet.”
Andhare shared, “One thing we've learned from the Western market is that we could sum up stories that might not be convenient, otherwise. So I actually feel that it is great to be able to use these words to put them on platforms.”
In the end, Butala concluded and said, “The kind of content consumed would be different when a 15 year old becomes 25. So entertainment is not going anywhere. I think in the next five to seven years, the kind of content that a 15 year old kid would consume is the challenge that we all should face. Presently, I think if we get more writers, and if we get them in the right place, I think the demand for content is not going away.”
