Latest news with #GautamAnand
Mint
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Long-format content consumption growing on YouTube in India as connected TV penetration deepens
New Delhi: As short-form videos dominate smartphones and attention spans shrink, YouTube is seeing a surprising countertrend in India: surging consumption of long-form videos on connected TVs. This unexpected shift, executives say, is helping turn the world's largest open video platform into the country's biggest over-the-top (OTT) service in living rooms. 'While Shorts is growing, the consumption of content longer than 20 minutes on YouTube is actually also growing tremendously," said Gautam Anand, vice-president and managing director, YouTube Asia Pacific at Google. 'As a platform, we historically went from PC to mobile and now, the fastest growing surface for us is the living room." Read this | Content studios turn to YouTube to launch new originals despite surge in premium streaming platforms The rise of connected TV sets in urban India is reshaping how content is programmed and marketed, with platforms increasingly targeting family-oriented content over mobile-personalized fare. According to media consulting firm Ormax, 36% of the audience for subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) services in urban India now uses connected TVs regularly. 'Family-oriented content, such as movies, reality shows, and children's programming, is often consumed together, fostering shared experiences. The multi-profile features of streaming platforms also allow multiple members of the family to create personalized recommendations, making CTV an ideal medium for group entertainment," said Kaushik Das, founder and CEO of AAO NXT, an Odia-language OTT platform. Read this | Creators expect increase in income after YouTube allows them to place third-party product links in their videos India is now among the top three global markets, alongside Japan and the US, where YouTube ranks as the largest OTT platform on connected TVs, Anand added in an interview with Mint. The TV comeback The platform's deepening presence in living rooms reflects India's rapid expansion in connected TV penetration, fuelled by cheap data, affordable smart TVs, and a broadening appetite for premium content beyond traditional OTT paywalls. To be sure, YouTube already commands a staggering 92% share of all video consumption in India, according to the 2024 Ficci-EY report, leaving paid and ad-supported streaming rivals to jostle for the remainder. But long-form TV consumption is creating new pockets of stickiness. It's also influencing how creators think about content. Some studios that have found success on subscription OTTs are now debuting new shows directly on YouTube. For instance, Applause Entertainment recently launched a kids' animation channel, ApplaToon, on YouTube. The Viral Fever (TVF), known for hits like Panchayat, has put out new series such as MitronPolitan and Very Parivarik on the platform. As YouTube seeks to scale its pan-India appeal, a key enabler has been its multi-language audio feature, which lets creators add dubbed audio tracks in different languages without creating separate channels. The move is helping content from one part of the country travel seamlessly across others, such as Tamil or Telugu-language videos finding new audiences in the Hindi belt. People are discovering languages and personalities, and thanks to the multi-language audio feature, creators can now offer dubbed versions of their content, reaching out to newer audiences without knowing those languages, Anand said. Read this | YouTube AI dubbing raises creator concerns over language advantage This dovetails with broader trends in Indian media: the nationwide popularity of southern films, the rising consumption of regional content, and the increasing linguistic fluidity of younger digital audiences. Beyond ads: The new creator economy While advertising remains a core revenue engine, YouTube is betting heavily on diversified monetization for creators. Memberships, where creators can offer exclusive content to paying subscribers, are gaining traction in India. So is YouTube Shopping, which lets creators embed products and storefronts directly into their videos. 'There are multiple ways in which our partners and creators can generate revenue and we're unique in the fact that we're the only ones that share most of that back with our creators, as well. So we've not only set the foundations of the creator economy, but will also be the ones continuing to fuel that into the future," Anand said. YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium are also growing steadily, Anand said, offering users ad-free viewing, offline access, and background playback. While Google doesn't break out India-specific revenue, executives say these services are helping monetize high-intent users beyond ads. YouTube Premium grants ad-free viewing across all of YouTube, including YouTube Music, and allows for offline downloads and background playback of both videos and music. YouTube Music Premium, on the other hand, specifically focuses on the music experience within the YouTube Music app and website, providing ad-free listening, offline downloads, and background playback, but only for music content. To reinforce this flywheel, YouTube is doubling down on creator investments in India. Earlier this month, CEO Neal Mohan announced a planned investment of over ₹850 crore over the next two years to boost India's creator economy. More than 100 million channels uploaded content in the country last year, with over 15,000 of them crossing 1 million subscribers, Mohan said at the inaugural World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai. Also read | The consumer longs for humanity in music, says YouTube's head of music Content from India is also travelling far: it racked up 45 billion hours of watch time from international viewers last year, according to the company. For YouTube, these point to India's evolving role in the global video economy. It's no longer just a massive consumption market; it's becoming a content and monetization hub that's setting the pace for how YouTube adapts to the future of TV.
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Business Standard
02-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
WAVES 2025: India big focus market for YouTube, says Gautam Anand
India is a huge focus market for YouTube for every initiative that it is working on, said Gautam Anand, YouTube's Vice President for Asia Pacific region, while citing the launches of YouTube Shorts and YouTube Create apps -- which were first launched in India. 'It is a huge focus market for us on everything that we're doing, (for example) YouTube Shorts was first launched in India before anywhere else in the world. Also, our YouTube Create app was first launched in India before anywhere else in the world. India is one of the few markets globally where we are focused on shopping and commerce,' Anand told Business Standard on the sidelines of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES). He said that initially, the platform's shopping and commerce model was just focused in the US, South Korea, and India. But now, YouTube has added Indonesia and a few other markets in Southeast Asia. On similar lines, its branding initiative is also a major focus in India. 'It's one of the few markets where we're really focused. Our attention is here because we understand that India not only has a massive scale, but also has a tremendous growth potential,' he said. Recently, the platform had launched a partnership with Flipkart to help or give opportunities for creators to generate revenue through affiliate fees. This comes after a rising number of brands focused their budgets on brand collaborations and brand deals. 'That's an area that we're also now trying to figure out (on) how we do more for our creators and fostering that connection between brands and creators (that) will become increasingly important (for the platform),' he noted. Globally, YouTube has 125 million premium users. While Anand did not disclose the premium users it has in India, he said, 'I would just say that I'm super excited about the growth prospects for premium subscription here. I think that there's a lot more room, and later on in the year, we'll be announcing a few initiatives that will hopefully help drive that (premium users in India).'
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Business Standard
02-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
India a key focus market for YouTube: APAC Vice-President Gautam Anand
India is a major focus market for YouTube across all its initiatives, as demonstrated by the platform launching YouTube Shorts and the YouTube Create app first in India, said Gautam Anand, YouTube's Vice-President for the Asia Pacific region. 'It is a huge focus market for us in everything that we're doing. For example, YouTube Shorts was first launched in India before anywhere else in the world. Also, our YouTube Create app was launched here first. India is one of the few markets globally where we are focused on shopping and commerce,' Anand told Business Standard on the sidelines of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES). He further added that initially, YouTube's shopping and commerce model was centred on the US, South Korea, and India. Recently, the platform has added Indonesia and other Southeast Asian markets to this list. Its branding initiative is also seeing strong focus in India. 'It's one of the few markets where we're really focused. Our attention is here because we understand that India not only has massive scale, but also tremendous growth potential,' he said. Recently, YouTube partnered with Flipkart to create new opportunities for creators to earn revenue through affiliate fees. This comes at a time when brands are increasingly allocating budgets towards influencer collaborations and branded content. 'That's an area we're also trying to develop—how we can do more for our creators and foster connections between brands and creators. That will become increasingly important for the platform,' Anand noted. Globally, YouTube has 125 million premium users. While Anand did not reveal India-specific numbers, he expressed strong optimism about growth in premium subscriptions. 'I would just say that I'm super excited about the growth prospects for premium subscriptions here. I think there's a lot more room, and later this year, we'll be announcing a few initiatives that will hopefully help drive that,' he added.
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Business Standard
02-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
India key to creator economy, to boost growth with AI tools: YouTube
India remains the home to the content creator economy and YouTube will continue providing tools, including leveraging AI, to improve their capabilities and help generate more revenues, a senior YouTube official said. Talking to PTI on the sidelines of the first edition of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit, which started here on Thursday, Gautam Anand, Vice President, YouTube Asia Pacific, said the platform is investing in growing commerce and brand deals businesses. "We remain the home of the creator economy. Over the last three years, we've paid out over Rs 21,000 crore to creators and partners, media companies and music labels here in this market that creates the foundation for the great growth of the creator economy. "I think the numbers show that our goal is to continue to provide the best tools possible, including leveraging AI to improve creation capabilities for our creators and provide them with multiple ways for them to generate revenue," Anand said. "Creators care about fame and fortune and if we can enable both of those then we remain the home for them," he said. Earlier on Thursday, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced at the Summit the company's plans to invest Rs 850 crore over the next two years to accelerate the growth of Indian creators, artists, and media companies amid a boom. YouTube saw over 100 million channels from India uploading content onto the platform last year with more than 15,000 of those having over 1 million subscribers. Also Read Besides, last year, content produced in India racked up 45 billion hours of watch time from viewers outside the country while in the last three years alone, YouTube paid more than Rs 21,000 crore to creators, artists, and media companies across India. Noting that India has always been one of the most important markets for the platform, which provides creators with multiple ways for them to earn and advertise, Anand said most of the revenue it earns through the partner programme is shared back with the creators. Besides, there are new forms of monetisation while lots of brands and advertisers are shifting budgets into social and brand deals and the platform is looking at ways by which it can facilitate that connection between brands and the right creators as well. "There are multiple revenue streams (including) advertising. On top of that, we're investing in growing commerce, growing our brand deals business, improving our fan funding product," he said. There is a cross-pollination trend taking place in the country where content from the southern region is travelling to different parts of India, and gives the sense of a one-content market now, he said.
NDTV
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Rs 21,000 Cr To Indian Creators! YouTube's Big Bet
At WAVES 2025, YouTube announced a game-changing payout: Rs 21,000 crore to Indian creators - and an Rs 850 crore commitment to build a true "Creator Nation." Gautam Anand, VP of YouTube APAC, speaks with Arun Singh about this bold India bet, how the platform is navigating AI in creativity, and the rise of regional voices from tier-2 and tier-3 towns. Stay till the end for a fun Like, Share, Subscribe segment - where Gautam chooses between cat videos, unboxings, and more. Show Full
