Murdoch Partner Helps Ambani Build a Media Empire

So how do you see this year will be different from like in terms of viewership? Well, obviously last year there was a massive like viewership from Geo cinema viewers for IPL season and then now we have the three program as well. So on consumption, we think this year will be even bigger than last year because both mobile devices and connected TV’s have grown in population. In India last year we had to get people familiar with the idea that IPL was available on Geo cinema and it was available you know for free. This year that message has already gone and the market has expanded, the number of devices have expanded. So we we are targeting over 600 million people to come and watch IPL on Geo cinema between mobile and CTV. This will certainly be the single biggest watched event in one country anywhere in the world, right? Is it going to be all free or do you think at some point you will adopt like a premium paid model for IPL games? For now, we have plans of staying with the current model in the future, who knows? So obviously live sports streaming service is becoming a new norm among like a global OTT players, but it comes with a very expensive deals like a multi billion dollar deals to get the exclusive streaming rights. So what’s your plan to monetize it or like turn this into a cash cow. We think that once people are consuming something, monetizing that asset is only limited by your capabilities and imagination. That’s the principle on which we are operating. And I think if 600 million people are watching something, there is a, you know in an economy like India with and the kind of growth that we are seeing in Tier 2, Tier 3 and smaller towns and villages in this country, there is an advertising opportunity. The problem is that traditionally sports has been offered to only a small set of very premium advertisers who can pay a lot of money and it is been used as a rich aggregator. That model needs to change. If you need to monetize live sports and you know pay top dollars and yet make money, you need to make sure that digital offerings are made available to really small, smallest of the small advertisers. And that’s the model that we believe in. Will it ever be profitable? Yes, when we, you know look these rights are with you for a very short period of time. In the case of the IPL for five years. So we have to make our recoveries in five years. Are you planning any like fundraising or like big or small or like a big size of M And as to bank pro disk growth, we’ll see how it goes. For now, there is no need for it. The company is well capitalized. The partners have nip pockets and huge commitment. I think we’re doing OK. So Jio Cinema right now has a holistic services as you mentioned. Is it available outside India? Not yet, no. Do you have any plans? Not immediately. I can’t talk about the future, but for now, the Indian opportunity and the Indian market is so big and Reliance as a group is extremely committed to unlocking the full potential of Indian Indian society and the Indian consumer. And that opportunity can be gigantic. So our hands are full just tapping into India and making sure we unlock the full potential of Indian consumers. How do you see the competition landscape in India is changing at the moment? Look, the competitive landscape in India will continue to change and evolve because it is one of the most exciting, attractive, promising markets in anywhere in the world. And that is true not just for media. That is true for literally every sector. So every global enterprise, every global businessman is looking at India. So I do not think that competition is going to go down. As consumers get more and more excited about different offering, there will be more and more people coming in to to offer their services. But it’s still in. In terms of media, India is still so underserved there. I think there is enormous headroom for everyone to coexist as and the successful ones will have to make sure that you plug into the different segments of Indian society. And it’s not an easy market when it comes to catering to the diverse segments because India is like a continent. You know so many languages, so many cultural in nuances. If you really want to harness the full potential of the market, especially in the business of media, you need to make sure that you tap into all those cultural nuances and diversities. It’s not going to be easy for anyone, especially for people who are coming from outside. As we have seen, many people have come in and found it difficult to build a big business. But for us, we are from India. We have built businesses that that have leveraged the power of the Indian diversity and richness and that’s exactly what we think is our biggest competitive advantage. Do you see there will be like competitions to get advertisement like just to fight against like a meta and Google to secure more advertisement for Tio Cinema. That’s the big challenge because right now you know Meta and Google have clearly got a monopoly like situation in India as when it comes to digital advertising. Digital advertising is already at about $10 billion and they take more than 50% of it. And television advertising, on the other hand, is just about 3 or 4 billion is less than $4 billion actually. So it’s already much bigger. The question is, can you mount an effective challenge to these two companies? It’s important for the country, it’s important for society and it’s important for the people, you know, because otherwise they will not have choices. So it’s important for us to put up capabilities and build technology that allows us to compete effectively with these these giants. What’s your lifelong mission, if you have any, to keep diving into changes that are taking place around us? That’s what excites me. I am a big believer in change. Sometimes it can be unnerving, it can be difficult, but eventually I believe that it leads all of us to a better place.