Kendall, Roman, Shiv, the Starks, and many others are making their way to JioCinema. JioCinema is not just positioning itself as the ultimate one-stop-shop for all things OTT, but also heating up competition in the space. With the power of Bharat growing stronger by the day, the digital entertainment industry in India is primed for a shake-up. It remains to be seen who will come out on top, but one thing is for sure – JioCinema is playing to win.
Microscopic and macroscopic: Glocal content trends
This certainly is a significant move in the direction of consolidation of the industry, say experts.
Sidharth Singh, co-founder of marketing agency CupShup, views the consolidation from two perspectives: microscopic and macroscopic. The microscopic view focuses on India’s interest in Bharat, where shows like Gullak and Panchayat are currently popular. The macroscopic view looks at the audience’s interest in global content with a local flavor, as seen in the demand for regional commentary in IPL 2023.
“The real question is: While India is interested in Bharat, what is Bharat interested in? And the answer might come from the West. Thus, shows like Succession and Game of Thrones might answer that question,” he says.
“The audience wants global content but does not want to lose on the local flavor. That’s why regional commentary in IPL 2023 is such a big thing. Next, if you find Lannisters speaking Bhojpuri, don’t be surprised. The markets have made him do so,” he added.
According to Niraj Bora, founder of Surmount Business Advisors, deep pockets trump this market when it comes to quality content. “Netflix or Amazon won’t be able to match Jio’s distribution that easily,” he tells us.
It all started with FIFA. IPL followed and now there will be House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, Succession, The White Lotus, Game of Thrones, Sex & The City, Big Little Lies, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings, to name a few. All under one roof – JioCinema.
Having paid a whopping Rs 23,758 crore for the IPL rights, Viacom18 was able to offer it for free to JioCinema users. Its latest move is to become India’s new streaming home for HBO, Max Original and Warner Bros content.
Having said that, JioCinema is also investing heavily on content with various production initiatives which are on the floor, say experts.
Rammohan Sundaram, President – Integrated Media, DDB Mudra Group says, “Be it movies, web series or other original content, JioCinema is serious about ensuring it locks in audiences it has amassed during IPL. This is not going to be an easy task but Reliance has always found a way to capture consumer’s imagination so we will have to wait and watch how this will pan out.”
“At the outset it seems like a big win for HBO on distribution and costs of launching a stand-alone product where customer acquisition would have been a real challenge. Whether the distribution results in usage and stickiness, we will need to wait and watch,” he adds.
CTV-driven growth and strategic vision
According to a recent report by Finecast-GroupM, the majority of households, precisely two out of three, prefer to use Connected TV as their primary mode of accessing TV content, with streaming being the most favored way of consuming TV.
Aided by free streaming, this is also where JioCinema gained significant traction particularly with FIFA World Cup 2022 and Tata IPL 2023.
If convenience is driving audiences towards connected TV, addressability is driving advertisers to connected TV. CTV ad spend in India will touch $395 million by 2027, according to the Finecast-GroupM report.
The dominance of digital video advertising in terms of growth and actual revenue generation for the digital advertising industry is evident.
“With the advent of Connected TV (CTV), advertisers now have a wider range of opportunities to reach consumers in innovative ways on TV. In the near future, it is highly likely that we will witness the deployment of multiple creatives in a single campaign, as the targeting cohorts can vary significantly, similar to the approach adopted in internet advertising with CTV,” Sundaram says.
Thus, despite early trepidation in the industry, JioCinema’s decision to offer free IPL streaming to its users turned out to be a good move, according to media watchers, as it attracted a huge digital advertiser clientele. Media experts indicate that a well calibrated AVOD and SVOD approach is the way it will go.
With a massive user base now under its belt, JioCinema has launched the latest salvo in the steaming wars.
The streaming platform announced premium pricing of Rs 999 a year, its first step to move away from a free content model to fight global rivals such as Netflix and Disney.