Mumbai: Anil Wanvari in conversation with Atit Mehta on Connected TV and the preference of brands and consumers.
On Connected TVs, so what comes to your mind when you when we talk about connected TV
It's good to have this conversation because connected TV and everything this is the hot topic of discussion wherever you go whenever all of us meet this is the topic which we all talk about. The first thing which comes to my mind. When we say connected TV is that something is getting connected so if I have to go and speak to my mom I'll tell her that please attach this device, they are all confused that why are you doing that as content is being shown on TV, every content which you want is coming on TV, while the industry at large and all of us understand the meaning this connected TV is something which has become a sort of a parlance a nomenclature in our world but from a consumer perspective there is nothing like a connected TV.
It is where how and how much should I pay to get content, whether it's on connected whether it's on linear whether it's on a mobile app or something else it's more of an availability conversation rather than the technicality of the availability.
On content which is available to the consumer
It's more to view content, a mode of getting more accessibility. When we started it there was zero accessibility, today there are multiple options to access content so this is one of the channels through which one can access content view content.
Now people and see once while when you are in a particular market outside of your home market and you tell them what you are doing and then people understand that this person knows something about entertainment, media and there are really inquisitive a set of people and they're very curious to understand that what is happening should I buy this because somebody told me you pay Rs 2000 for a USB drive which will come attached to your TV. So yes people are now trying to understand and they are asking a question, the right set of questions and then the retail is also pushing it. I don't see any other see if you're looking at a four-five ten thousand rupee type of TV probably it might be a non-connected TV but anything about that whether you're looking at a 24 to 30-inch and upwards everything is connected, so there is a huge amount of retail push happening and they're also bundling in all the Fire Sticks and the Chromecast when I say it's coming attached its part of the full package which you get and it's now getting easily understood it's also getting adopted and not only in the Metros outside the Metros too.
On impact properties
No, we haven't seen that level of interactivity and two-way traffic with consumers and it's also very difficult to measure where it is coming from but from a larger marketing perspective and not only from a lead gen perspective. From a marketing perspective yes there is a set of audiences which have converted there are set of audiences who are experimenting there are set of audiences who want to do it but don't know how to do it so it's a matter of time where at least the understanding is there if the content is getting streamed seamlessly without any interruption without any buffering or whatever we face on and off and if my data cost irrespective of the household at the end of the day if I know for a fact that if I'm spending a couple of thousand rupees a month on data but by doing all this connectivity through a mobile device to a television or that and my cost is within acceptable limits it is not like growing 2X and 3X there will be a very exponential growth on this phenomena
It's already there it's already achieved more than the threshold advertisers are interested in reaching out to these consumers our broadcasters are talking about it there is a separate or deal structuring which is becoming possible so it it is working for the ecosystem and over the next year 12-15 months this will see more and more numbers and more and more Brands coming onto it
On the explosion
At the end of the day there is a hardware cost and there is a software cost hardware is a one-time cost and one Wouldn't Mind Investing in the hardware which I'm talking about like a fire stick for example then the software cost is going to be a game changer over here and what I mean software over here is your data cost see at the end of the day somebody has to pay for the data and if my data bill monthly data bill is not becoming too much and it is showing me some saving or it is a parity what I pay for my cable connection, the shift would be faster.
There would be a set of cohort a small set of cohorts which will hold on to the data and will also hold on to the linear connectivity or linear cable so but if the cost I'm already incurring cost A, now with all this connectivity if my other cost is becoming 2x or 3x then probably will have to do some subsidies I will have to do some optimisation but if it's within range it will get adopted so that I see might be a the single largest factor in terms of how quickly connected TVs will become the norm of entertainment or Norm of consumption
On Wi-Fi Connectivity
Too early for that level of connectivity but see it's already happening now you go to the airport you can access free Wi-Fi at most of the airports in India you go to a hotel you're not staying there but if you're in that restaurant you can access so it's happening in the private environment where a private establishment is providing that service it's matter of time that it would start getting available for public at large might be at parks might be at Railway stations might be wherever there is Congregation of people so it should happen but that's something which will take some time because there are a lot of other things which needs to be resolved the the big problem is also about managing those many routers. it's also the question about how people are not going to take away those routers how do we prevent theft there's a lot of other things which will be there but we are moving in the right direction from private establishment already providing that the public setup will also take place but it's not something one should start making plans about it it's some time away slowly and gradually it will happen
On Connected TV appealing to all
This is a natural progression and we have progressed well over if you look at the last two-three decades from where we were and where we have landed ourselves as an industry it's a phenomenal ride, and we should be all proud of ourselves. As I said new and new things are happening this is a small phenomenon right now and a lot of experimentation will happen. We'll have to get into the measurement and I'm not talking about monitoring. Measurement and monitoring are two different aspects, if the measurement Ps start coming in, if the numbers are stacking up and if I'm able to see some amount of returns it is going to grow.
It's also about the price it's about the price because somebody will be paying for the data, the hardware cost is actually nothing it will all get bundled in, there is the software cost, then the reach, then the brands and the measurement of all these three or four things happen then it's a repeat cycle. Then it will become a norm, five – seven years ago we always said print, radio, TV and digital five-seven years ago now we say print, radio, TV digital performance, digital YouTube digital etc. but a time will come when we will say linear TV, connected TV, HD and something else so each medium is now having a sub-segment and if that sub-segment is giving you returns.
