Future of

Digital Content
Consumption
in India
January 2016

Contents
Welcome to digital India!

8 Key trends in digital content consumption

Conclusion

16

Glossary

18

Team digital media | EY

19

Welcome to Digital India

$ 7997
bn

1.27
bn

GDP

Population
(2015)

351
mn

167
mn

Internet
subscribers
(2015)

Smartphone users
(2015)

105
mn

110
mn

Broadband
subscibers
(2015)

Digital Video
Viewers
(2015)

3.2%

40%

Internet related
contribution
to GDP

Earning
population
>25 years

| Future of Digital Content Consumption in India

The Indian digital media segment is set for disruption with

growth expected to reach INR 200 billion (INR 20000 crores)
by 2020 with digital ad spend expected to grow at 23-28%.
India has a large and growing millennial population young,
tech-savvy consumers with rising earnings potential and
disposable income. This demographic has historically been and
will continue to be, an early adopter of new technology and
new models of media consumption. India, therefore is a market
which is ripe for digital media investments. The demographics
are all stacked in Indias favour for digital consumption.

By 2017, India will have more than 350 million smartphones.

Inexpensive smartphones and the rollout of 3G and 4G
broadband infrastructure are rapidly coming together to
leapfrog traditional distribution and democratize online access.
Together, these factors are the foundations for accelerated
digital media consumption.
O]`Yn]a\]fla]\]a_`leYbgjlj]f\kl`Ylo]l`afc`]dhl]dd
the story about the future of digital content consumption and
what it means for media and entertainment (M&E) companies.
These trends stem from our analysis of hundreds of hours of
dialogue with media executives and thought leaders, combined
with many more hours of work helping our clients think through
strategies and operating models for these pressing issues.

Future of Digital Content Consumption in India |

8 Key trends in
digital content
consumption

| Digital disruption in media and entertainment

1. Increase in
content for the
individual
8. Increase in
digital gaming

7. Regional
e-celebrities

2. Content breaks
its 30 and 60
minute shackles

3. Omniplatform
content
consumption

6. Community
enablement
5. Growth in
earning
population

4. The changing
face of rural
consumers

Future of Digital Content Consumption in India |

Increase in content for the

individual

Smartphone penetration in India is expected to grow to

520 mn by 2020, making India one of the largest smart
phone economies in the world. Broadband penetration will
increase from 14% today to 40% by 2020. The rapid up-take
of connected devices and broadband connectivity will be
instrumental in media consumption shifting beyond traditional
media formats such as broadcast and cable TV towards digital
mediums.
Increased digital consumption in India is expected to help media
conglomerates drive consumer aggregation. As seen elsewhere
in the world, while there will be no immediate impact on TV

viewership, there will be an increase in the time spent online.

O]]ph][llgk]]Yka_fa[Yflaf[j]Yk]af\a^^]j]fl^gjeYlkg^
e]\aYZ]af_[gfkme]\gfdaf]Y[jgkk]hakg\]k$dek$k`gjl^gje
content, news, gaming, social interaction and education. The
basics have now shifted from roti, kapda, makaan to roti, kapda,
escapism. This use of smaller screens on personal devices will
fuel personal escapism (watching content individually) as
opposed to group escapism (watching TV in the living room)
and this is expected to increase content consumption manifold,
as well as change the type of content consumed.

 Episodes

Indians

80%

50%

20%
Group escapism

85%

Individual escapism

15%

90%
Small screen
(Phone/tablet)

2014
2020

50%

| Future of Digital Content Consumption in India

Large screen
(TV in bed room)

10%

Films

News

Education

Shorts

Games

Social interaction

Content breaks its 30 and 60

minute shackles

While earlier, content was created to suit appointment viewing,

and was therefore created in multiples of 30 minutes, with
the advent of on-demand viewing, this parameter is no longer
required. Shortform and snackable content is primarily driving
the growth in consumption of digital media, and is very popular
with a younger audience.
Consumers have shown increased preference towards shortform content; with the average length of video viewed in India
being less than 20 minutes. In addition, 62% of the content

consumed on YouTube is short-form content. This trend has

led content producers like Eros International & Star to focus
on exclusive and snackable content. It has created a huge
opportunity for storytelling to be optimized from a story point
of view, and not its length and this can be seen in the content
created by digital media companies like AIB, TVF, Ping, YoBoHo,
Culture Machine and many others.

Short form content

The average length of

video viewed in India is

< 20 minutes

~ 62%

of content consumed
on YouTube is short
form content

Future of Digital Content Consumption in India |

Omniplatform content consumption

Content consumption patterns have changed. There is

currently an unwritten rule that the television serves as the
primary screen and that other screens, whether they be tablet,
phablet or mobile, are all secondary. We are entering an era
where all screens will work seamlessly together they will
bmkl`Yhh]flg[ge]afYoa\]jYf_]g^kar]k&9f\aloaddZ]l`]
attention it commands from the viewer, through story arcs or
other conventions that will dictate the dominant screen. Soon,
size wont matter.
>gje]\aY[gehYfa]k$l`ak`Ykka_fa[Yflaehda[Ylagfk&LN$de
Yf\hjafl[gehYfa]kf]]\lgjkldq]fYZd]l`]ajdaf]Yj[gfl]fl
on digital formats. Secondly, as several studies have shown,

all linear content does not always work on digital formats, and
there are different content types and formats which they would
need to create to address the digital Indian. Thirdly, existing
companies will face competition not from their established TV
and print competitors, but from any company creating content,
which would mean an increased speed to create content,
distribute it and also to form alliances to acquire content.
The diagram below shows the different devices / formats of
media consumption used by people across different day parts,
with the size of the circles depicting the time spent during the
day part.

Device use by time of day

Digital

Breakfast

70-75%

Smartphone

70-75%

Tablet

20-30%

Desktop

Linear

Newspaper

TV

10 | Future of Digital Content Consumption in India

Commute

Work

Lunch

Work

Commute

Sofa

Bed

The changing face of rural

consumers

The next wave of growth in Indias internet penetration is

expected to come from tier II and tier III cities, where wireless
mobile internet shall play a pivotal role thus enabling the growth
of vernacular and regional content. Currently 45% of online
users consume regional language content and this percentage is
expected to increase with the growth of internet users.
The growth is expected to be fuelled by availability of low-cost
smart phones, low rates of data plans and development of
smart cities in rural areas.

Also, the preference of the Indian consumers towards

vernacular and regional language content is constantly on the
upswing, with 93% of the time spent on videos in Hindi and
other regional languages.
Digital content producers can thus look at aggregating/
producing vernacular content to capture the next set
of audiences.

Rural users as a percentage of total internet population

650 mn

351 mn

50-55%
33%
2013
Rural Internet Users

2020
Urban Internet Users

Future of Digital Content Consumption in India | 11

Growth in earning population

Indias earning population (over 25 years of age) is expected to

grow from 40% of the total population to 55%-60% of the total
population by 2020. In addition, mobile wallets are increasing
in popularity, and would see a 60x growth in number of
transactions till 2020. This increase in the earning population
and ease in the ability to pay (which is largely controlled by

12 | Future of Digital Content Consumption in India

telcos today) will lead to a growth in spending on M&E. Given the

right price points Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 15 and Rs 20 (sachet theory
always works well in India) we can expect to see the emergence
of freemium subscription models in the media industry around
recent and real-time content.

Community enablement

Given the increase in individual content consumption and the

ability to unicast content, mass content will evolve to suit the
new market needs. We can expect to see increased niches
being created, even in the GEC space. Spurred by the increased
rural weight in the BARC TV measurement panel, growth in the
connected rural Indian, and better distribution infrastructure,
we can expect to see the focus moving from only mass products
to mass + niche communities.

Communities like kids, youth, professionals, etc. can be catered

to on one side, and on the other, communities around sports,
wellness, music, dance, biking, automobiles, motherhood,
running, etc. can be created. The monetization capabilities
increase when communities are created, and the role of media
companies will evolve in this direction, to enable transactions
lge]]ll`]\an]jk]f]]\kg^[geemfala]k$YhYjl^jgebmkl
[gfl]fl&=_$9emka[[geemfalq[Yffglbmklhjgna\]emka[$
but also related news, concert tickets, merchandise, meet the
stars events, etc.

Future of Digital Content Consumption in India | 13

5
7

Regional e-celebrities

The proliferation of digital platforms have also given rise to the

phenomena of e-Celebs. Several such e-Celebs have gained
mass popularity nationally and internationally on YouTube and
other such digital platforms. The cost of creating an e-Celeb is
also much smaller, and the digital platform lends itself to trial
and error, and lots of data to analyse performance and support
creation of such talent.
Globally, E-Celebs such as PewDiePie, Michelle Phan and
Casey have created their own niche content areas in the
]d\kg^?Yeaf_$EYc]%mhYf\>alf]kkj]kh][lan]dq&EYjc]l]jk
are actively tying up with these celebrities to leverage their
growing popularity and promote product and service offerings

14 | Future of Digital Content Consumption in India

and thereby increasing brand awareness and viral presence.

For instance, PewDiePie has over 40 million subscribers on
YouTube, which he leverages to promote indie games. Casey
@g`Ykk]lmh`]jQgmLmZ][`Yff]dYk:dg_adYl]k lf]kkZYk]\
channel) and has created an e-commerce business around the
YouTube channel.
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in India, it is expected that such talent would be partnered
extensively by content and brand players to build offerings for
consumers on different digital platforms. Successful e-Celebs
can then be ported across media and given shows online, on TV
and other media.

Increase in digital gaming

The Indian gaming industry has been a dynamic and evolving

industry. Due to an increase in the number of mobile internet
users, smartphones and tablets in India, it can be expected
that mobiles would be one of the most important platforms
in gaming, garnering a 54% share of the total Indian gaming
market by 2020.
Mobile gaming would pave the way to growth due to various
factors such as the easy access to budget smartphones,
increased mobile internet usage, increase in number of tablets
used, and of course, increase in individual escapism.
Owing to the large availability of free-to-play games through
app stores and mobile carriers, there has been large interest
by casual gamers in the market. There are a large number of

games in the market catering to different segments of causal

gamers such as arcade, adventure, strategy, racing, card, etc.
Also, on average, users are spending 11 minutes per day on
mobile gaming which is expected to grow rapidly in the near
future. Moreover it is expected that app stores launched in
vernacular languages would further drive exponential growth
of mobile games by dedicated focus from game developers and
publishers.
India also has a huge opportunity to become a large game
development, game porting and dubbing centre, with its
j]dYlan]dqdgo[gklZYk]Yf\Y^falqlgemdla%dYf_mY_]Yf\emdla%
format production capabilities.

On the cusp of growth | 15

Conclusion
M&E companies need to do more than react
to todays trends they need to be able to see
emerging trends that will dictate the future of
content and how they will impact established
business models for ad-supported, subscription
and pay-per-use content monetization.
At a foundational level, the eight key trends
we have described will require M&E companies
and content providers to develop much richer
relationships with audiences. To cultivate these
relationships, affected M&E industry players
will need to invest in the technologies that will
enable them to analyze audience data, deliver
deeper engagement with advertising and prove
incremental value to brands.
Most importantly, they will need to offer
a deeper engagement with the content
experience itself in such a way that viewers will
choose to directly pay for content streaming
services or ownership. They will also need to
plan and execute strategies that adapt their
supply chains, customer experiences, and
analytics platforms to address these trends.
Digital disruption is here, but the opportunity is
ka_fa[Yfl&

16 | Future of Digital Content Consumption in India

Future of Digital Content Consumption in India | 17

Glossary
AIB

All India Bakchod

BARC

Broadcast Audience Research Council

bn

Billion

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

GEC

General Entertainment Channel

M&E

Media & Entertainment

MCN

Multi Channel Network

mn

Million

OTT

Over The Top

TVF

The Viral Fever

18 | Future of Digital Content Consumption in India

Team digital media | EY

Farokh Balsara
farokh.balsara@in.ey.com
Media & Entertainment Sector Leader

Raghav Anand
raghav.anand@in.ey.com
Digital Media Head, India

Ajay shah
YbYq&k`Y`8af&]q&[ge
Transaction Advisory Services

Anirban Paul
anirban.paul@in.ey.com
Digital Content Strategy

Ashish Pherwani
ashish.pherwani@in.ey.com
Advisory Services

Bharat Rajamani
Z`YjYl&jbYeYfa8af&]q&[ge
Digital, Marketing & Social Media Analytics

Rakesh Jariwala
jYc]k`&bYjaoYdY8af&]q&[ge
Tax and Regulatory Services

Jay Sampat
bYq)&kYehYl8af&]q&[ge
New Media & Technology Startups

Govind Ahuja
_gnaf\&Y`mbY8af&]q&[ge
Assurance Services

Radhika Pradhan
radhika.pradhan@in.ey.com
Media & Entertainment Sector Coordinator

Future of Digital Content Consumption in India | 19

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