Uday Shankar flags need for fresh monetization models, warns against homogenized regulation
Mumbai: At a time when India's media giants are pouring billions into content, Uday Shankar, co-founder of Bodhi Tree Systems and vice chairman of JioStar, warned that the investment surge risks falling short without deeper innovation in monetisation, regulation, and audience strategy.
Speaking at the Waves 2025 summit, Shankar laid out a clear-eyed assessment of the sector's challenges: a stagnant revenue model, a creatively stalled Bollywood, an aging leadership out of sync with India's youthful audience, and regulators who treat digital and television as one and the same. His call to action: rethink the business from the ground up—or risk squandering India's chance to build globally competitive media platforms.
In a conversation with Media Partners Asia's Vivek Couto, Shankar called the last three decades of Indian visual media 'one of the most spectacular stories in global media,' but cautioned that the sector cannot ride on legacy growth alone. 'The viewers are far ahead of the producers,' he said. 'We keep importing global models and expect them to work here. That's highly limiting.'
Shankar revealed that the combined entity of Reliance's Viacom18 and Disney Star has spent over ₹ 30,000 crore on content in 2025, up from ₹ 25,000 crore last year. The figure is expected to exceed ₹ 33,000 crore in 2026. 'That's over $10 billion in three years. This is real, targeted investment aimed entirely at the Indian consumer,' he said.
While major investments are flowing into both sports and entertainment, Shankar stressed that content alone won't suffice. 'There has been great innovation in content and distribution. But monetisation? Zero. It's still subscription and advertising. That was the model 70 years ago, and it's still the model today,' he said, underscoring the urgent need for new revenue streams. 'You cannot build a globally valuable media company without reinventing how you make money.'
Tracing the arc of India's video revolution, Shankar credited local entrepreneurship and domestic capital—not regulation or foreign investment—with building a deeply-penetrated video ecosystem. 'Satellite TV snuck in when there were no rules. It was built from the ground up, largely by Indian companies,' he said. Even global players like Star, he noted, had to 'Indianise' themselves fully.
He also challenged the narrative that pay TV is dead. Since the Disney-Viacom18 merger, he said, 'pay TV has added numbers, not lost them. The problem was we stopped feeding it.' He reaffirmed the group's commitment to both pay TV and streaming, adding that pricing and affordability must be central to any growth plan. 'If your ambition is to reach 300 million or half a billion people, you can't price like you're serving 15–20 million elite users.'
Citing JioHotstar's localisation push in sports—now streaming in Bhojpuri and Haryanvi in addition to major languages—Shankar said this has brought in new audiences and unlocked new revenue streams.
On the downturn in theatrical revenues, Shankar made a key distinction: 'It's the Hindi film industry that's in trouble, not the South.' Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films, he noted, are in the midst of a creative resurgence that's also driving commercial success. 'Bollywood is still frozen in time. It has shut the gates to new talent and stayed disconnected from the new India.'
He flagged a generational disconnect in the industry: 'This is a country where 65% of the population is under 35. Yet 90% of the creative decision-makers are over 60.'
Shankar also highlighted the stark difference in theatrical pricing between the north and the south, observing that in many cities, moviegoing 'leaves a hole in your pocket.'
Shankar didn't hold back on regulation either.
'If media companies haven't innovated enough, regulators are even further behind,' he said. Treating all screens the same, he warned, is a flawed approach. 'Television is a household subscription. Digital is a personal screen. They're at very different stages of evolution. Homogenising them means destroying value in both.'
He argued that India's digital entertainment economy shouldn't be crammed into a one-size-fits-all regulatory model. 'Support where needed. But don't squeeze everything into the same framework.'
Shankar also pushed back on the perception that India's subscription market is limited. 'We've already blown past the idea that this is a 15–20 million subscriber market. It's not. It can be 300 million and beyond.'
As streaming becomes ubiquitous and scale is no longer the barrier, Shankar said the real gap is in imagination. 'You can't just think of yourself as a media company anymore. That definition is outdated. If we innovate on product, content, and monetisation, there's no reason an Indian media company can't be valued globally like Netflix or Tencent.'
First Published: 3 May 2025, 03:59 PM IST
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
32 minutes ago
- Mint
Randeep Hooda reveals unexpected Meitei wedding ritual: 'They gave me a bowl to pee, I couldn't move for hours'
Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda has opened up about the unique and dramatic experiences surrounding his wedding to actress Lin Laishram, which took place in a traditional Meitei ceremony in Manipur in 2023. The couple, who had dated for a short time before tying the knot, previously shared glimpses of their beautiful ceremony on social media. Now, in an interview with Mid-Day, Randeep revealed the many cultural shocks and behind-the-scenes drama that accompanied the nuptials — including a surprising wedding ritual involving a bowl for urination. The 'Swatantrya Veer Savarkar' actor recalled the complex rituals that he, as the groom, had to undergo. 'I had a helper with me, more like a tutor,' he said. 'So once the groom puts his thing on his head, you can't tilt your head... they give a bowl and an umbrella. They then put you in a holding area where everyone is supposed to come and look at you, and you are supposed to look very dignified.' He further described how, during the mandap ceremony, 'you are not supposed to move; they wrap a blanket around you... For two hours I had to sit with my back straight and head up. Then I asked what was the bowl for and he said in case you need to pee, you just open the umbrella and pee over there, you cannot move out of there because you are god.' Lin too had a 'tutor' guiding her, and Randeep said she was often scolded during the ceremony. 'She was smiling and you are not supposed to smile, so messengers would come and tell you 'stop smiling'.' The wedding took place against a tense backdrop of political unrest in Manipur. Randeep revealed that his friend, Brigadier Sanghwan from the Assam Rifles, helped arrange the event. 'It was a civil war going on there and as soon as the pheras finished, hundreds of AK-47 went off in the air.' Reflecting on the cultural differences, Randeep said, 'The Haryanvi culture and the Manipuri culture is so different… ours is so rough and crass, and theirs is so systematic. She was wearing so much gold and I was like 'chalo ek picture toh yahin bann gayi'.'
United News of India
an hour ago
- United News of India
Afghan dry fruit traders concerned over continued closure of Attari-Wagah border
Kabul, June 21 (UNI) The closure of the Attari–Wagah border crossing, one of Afghanistan's key trade routes to India, has raised serious concerns among dried fruit exporters of Afghanistan. The Kabul Dry Fruit Exporters Union has warned that stopping freight truck movement on this route could severely disrupt both fresh and dried fruit exports, Tolo News reported. The union has urged Pakistani and Indian authorities to reopen the route permanently for Afghan cargo trucks. Khalid Rahmani, spokesperson for the union, told TOLOnews, 'We hope alternative links through Wagah and Chabahar ports will open soon. Given the current political and trade tensions between Pakistan and India, we predict a decline in exports to both countries.' After the Indian and Pakistani military tensions eased, the border reopened briefly on May 9, allowing about 162 trucks to pass, but it was shut again. At least 12 Afghan export trucks remain stuck at the crossing. With the fruit harvest season approaching, traders warn that continued closure could pose major challenges for Afghan exports. They are calling for diplomatic engagement to reopen this critical trade route. Omid Haidari, head of international relations at the Chamber of Agriculture and Livestock, said: 'We urge the leadership of the Islamic Emirate, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to strengthen contact with the Indian Foreign Ministry so that our major trade route can be reopened.' Merchant Mahboobullah Mohammadi, said, 'Our biggest export is dried fruit, especially pine nuts, which we mostly send to India via Wagah. But the decline in exports this year has brought significant losses. Our air corridors are still shut, and large amounts of pine nuts remain unsold in local markets.' The Wagah border was closed after tensions escalated between India and Pakistan following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, India, on April 22. The closure of the land border check post continues to cast a shadow over Afghanistan's regional trade. UNI ANV RN
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
FATF flags Pakistan bid to ship in missile gear from China on sly
(AI image created using ChatGPT) NEW DELHI: A new report by Financial Action Task Force has flagged Pakistan's attempts to procure equipment for its missile programme by mislabeling shipment, drawing attention to the country's failure in implementing measures to combat financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which is one of the recommendations of the global watchdog. The report not only reveals that critical components for ballistic missiles originating from China were mislabeled in documents but also links the importer to Pakistan's National Development Complex which handles missile production. India is likely to use the revelations in its dossier to make another push for Pakistan's return to the FATF 'grey list' which identifies countries with weaknesses in their anti-money laundering and terror financing systems. These countries are subjected to closer monitoring and must demonstrate progress on corrective action plans. Pakistan has been on the list three times with the most recent sanction of 2018 lifted in 2022. In Feb 2020, a Chinese vessel named 'Da Cui Yun', which was en route to Port Qasim in Karachi, was intercepted at Gujarat's Kandla port. While the equipment was seized, the ship and its crew were allowed to leave after investigation. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo In its latest report titled 'Complex Proliferation Financing and Sanctions Evasion Schemes', FATF refers to the investigation by Indian Customs. "Indian authorities confirmed that documents mis-declared the shipment's dual-use items. Indian investigators certified the items for shipment to be 'autoclaves', which are used for sensitive high energy materials and for insulation and chemical coating of missile motors," it read. "The sensitive items are included in dual-use export control lists of the Missile Technology Control Regime, India, and other jurisdictions. The Bill of Loading of the seized cargo provided evidence of the link between the importer and National Development Complex," it added. FATF may release the report next month amid hopes in India that it would expose Pakistan's inadequacies in combating terror financing - something which could potentially result in the country being placed under enhanced monitoring, and being returned to 'grey list'. This move would subject Pakistan to increased financial scrutiny, impacting foreign investment and capital inflows. India has been pushing for Pakistan's return to the list, citing its brazen support for terrorism and failure to comply with FATF norms.
