Digitization has been instrumental in growth and success of the entertainment industry, thereby bringing about a paradigm shift in key indicators.
The Indian entertainment industry is growing rapidly and the world watching with curiosity. Economic liberalization, influx in the demand for leisure and entertainment, global media giants entering the market have all propelled the growth rate of the industry.
A surge in mass Internet usage is expected with the spread of 3G and 4G services. In conjunction with the country’s mobile phone user base, more than 750 million subscribers, the scale and impact of potential digital content consumption is enormous. This media and entertainment companies, foreign and domestic, with an exciting opportunity to develop digital businesses that cater to a new generation of Indian digital consumers. Alongside the need for curated content increases simultaneously.
To succeed in this market, there are several factors that global companies need to take into account. While there are many opportunities to tap, there are also unique challenges in the areas of content localization, distribution, pricing, regulations and piracy. The key strengths and growth drivers in the home entertainment segment are digitisation and the growth in the Smart-TV market which includes not only television sets, but smart remote controller as well!
Digitization has been instrumental in growth and success of the entertainment industry, thereby bringing about a paradigm shift in key indicators. Phased initiatives by authorities with a view to harness the power of technology and create a framework have in fact propelled the growth of broadcasting landscape in our country. On successful completion of the digitisation process, there would be complete closure of analogue transmission, thereby facilitating innovations, empowering value creation and hence increase profits at each level in the value chain. Carriage fees are estimated to drop further and drive growth in ARPUs, thereby increasing profitability and allowing content producers to focus on better content. Digitisation has enabled better monetisation for the film-industry by easing the distribution process. Mandatory digitization of the TV distribution infrastructure has triggered a revolution of digital cable and DTH, and created the need for expansion and improvements. We are moving quickly to an all digital world where most films are shot on digital format, distributed digitally, marketed through social networking sites (SNS) and film tickets are sold through online booking platforms and made available on websites providing Video-on-Demand (VOD) services. Though monetisation of content on digital platforms remains a concern in the short term, the industry is buoyant about its long term potential.
Smart TVs seem to be changing current TV watching pattern in the global market by intelligent broadcasting and communication convergence services, but it must be said that less that 1% smart TV owners wield the ‘smart-features’ either due to insufficient awareness or due to lack of supportive software enhancements in devices. Innovations today are driven towards convergence of technologies and integration of business models. There is a paradigm shift in broadcasting and communication industry where inventions are no more limited to developing smart phone or enhancing features in televisions but in re-organizing, collapsing, renovating and reinventing the two industries to the new ‘smart paradigm’ within and outside the industry from terminal, contents, network to business strategy. Smart TV is likely to take the center position in life innovation, which arises from the smart paradigm.
Smart TV and Smart TV boxes, the next big thing in the home entertainment
It is essential for companies to realize the segments in the Indian home entertainment market. While the television manufactures cater to a versatile market with a multi-segment marketing strategy, a segment desirous of a value-for-money infotainment device remains refused. Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT) and KPMG report titled ‘Indian market place-IT the unrealized potential,’ stated that the current PC penetration in rural India is limited to approximately 9 million households whereas approx 14 million households who fall under the affordability bracket of Rs 0.5 million annual family income do not have PCs. On the other hand, about 100 million Indian households are connected through the cable television network while there are about 64 million DTH subscribers at the end of March 2014. Thus, there is a huge potential to develop the market with smart TVs.
Going by the report, low purchasing power, low rural literacy, poor infrastructure and lack of local language product customisation have been the major impediments to rural PC penetration.
Smart-TV Box is an unequivocal solution for this need, providing information and entertainment at a cost-effective and user-friendly manner. The market potential for infotainment devices is huge with a plentitude of opportunities in product-innovation and corporate alliances.
A better home infotainment system will lead to life augmentation for customers and value sustainability for companies plunging into this domain. On the whole, this will enhance India’s face in the race with the other developed nations of the world.
The iRevo Smart TV Box
iRevo Multimedia is an end-to-end solution provider of popular content, devices (SmartTV Box) and mobile apps for viewing content on television and smartphones. The product is developed in Silicon Valley and India over the past four years.
Targeted at Indian consumers, the iRevo Smart TV box is powered by iRevo’s Application and Content Cloud platform. This affordable product is powered by a Dual Core CPU with plenty of GPU and Memory for speedy video playback and web browsing. Included wireless mouse and remote control make it easy, of all ages, to start enjoying TV shows, games, social media and web browsing on consumer televisions.
The iRevo SmartTV Box is built on Android with the state-of-the-art hardware technology and offers a unique User Interface that is both intuitive and easy-to-use. The iRevo SmartTV Box supports all 4 screens, mobile, tab, PC and TV differentiating it from any available solution. The box brings Internet, Entertainment, Web Access, Personal Content and Android Apps – all in one place, on your HDTV.
The iRevo SmartTV solution is unique in that it is a combination of advanced hardware (iRevo SmartTV Box) running the iRevo SmartTV App and PlayCast mobile app, both powered by the iRevo Cloud-TV platform, which delivers curated content and apps for enjoyment on multiple devices and screens. The iRevo SmartTV solution allows consumers to enjoy their photos from Facebook, Flickr, Picasa and Instagram. Within the same User Interface, users can also enjoy audio and video podcasts, YouTube videos and more. Additionally, photos, videos and music stored on devices or on LAN can be accessed and played on multiple devices. The platform is VOD and Premium service ready which would in future bring specialized and paid content for the users.
“iRevo’s Cloud-TV platform delivers curated content to SmartTV Box running iRevo SmartTV App and on Smartphones and Tablets running PlayCast app to deliver a comprehensive multi-screen solution which comprises Content, Platform, Device and Apps for a unique User Experience,” said Dhimant Bhayani, Founder and CEO of iRevo. “Now, users can enjoy a vast selection of entertainment and personal content when they want and where they want. The platform is VOD and Premium service ready which would in future bring specialized and paid content for the users. Furthermore, content accessed on handheld devices can be TelePlay’d to the TV for sharing those special videos and photos with friends and family.”
The iRevo SmartTV Box is available in at all leading online stores and for special B2B alliances with Cable and MSOs.
