FICCI Frames 2016 started with Big Bang

Film, media and entertainment industry stakeholders, and players gather every year in Mumbai to discuss the challenges and opportunities before it under the banner of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) . The Event is now called FICCI Frames. This year the theme is  ‘Change or Perish – The Year of Digital’. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications & Information Technology kick started the event today at Hotel Renaissance Powai. He said that  India’s talent combined with the power of Information Technology would act as a springboard to launch India into the big league. He said that the Government of India recognized the importance and relevance of promoting media and entertainment industry. Hence, visa process were being eased for film shootings. Besides the National Centre of Excellence was coming up for the media and entertainment industry and a new film facilitation office was also being set up. He added that a new category in National Film Awards - Most Film Friendly State – has been introduced to felicitate the state that provides greater access to the film industry. He emphasised that India should create content for global consumption and deliver outstanding content quality. , fair and reasonable system to allow creation of quality content.

 Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance  industries Group , said that India was poised to become a $100 billion industry in the coming decade but still ranked 150th in access to internet and mobile. He added that this would soon change with the coming of Reliance Jio, which is one of the largest greenfield digital start up in the world.

 Uday Shankar, Chairman, FICCI Media & Entertainment Committee said that India cannot remain in a state of denial as the world was changing and it was time India adopted and embraced digitisation. Power of stories will remain and breaking away from the traditional media, the digital media was making way for new stories.  He added that talent and technology was not bound by geography any more.

The highlight of first day was panel discussion called Change or Perish : Surviving the Digital Divide. Exclusive and premium content is the key to succeed in the digital world. India was fast moving towards digitization but monetizing digital content was still a challenge for stakeholders. The key players in the sector were now engaging the audience to grab a bigger share of the digital market.   

This was the shared view of Aroon Purie, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, The India Today Group; Mr. Arthur Bastings, President and Managing Director, Discovery Asia-Pacific;  Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18; Siddharth Roy Kapur, Managing Director, Disney India;  Vikram Chandra, Executive Director & CEO, NDTV Group and  Neeraj Roy, CEO, Hungama .

Arun Purie said that there was a need for improvement in analytics of consumer behaviour in media to create relevant and quality content. The fundamentals have remained same for digital which was content needs to be exclusive. He added that today organisations do not have a choice and need to adopt digital given that the number of consumers of the medium was humungous.

 Arthur Bastings shared that in the digital sector, the players were still looking for a way to drive the emerging medium. The business plans were still evolving. He added that the consumption measurement system of television was bad and there was a need for a better and more reliable method.

 Vats said that on the digital platform it was easier to measure and gauge the number of actual users, track the content consumption and pattern of consumer behaviour in comparison to traditional media like television, where the consumer behaviour was based on a small sample of consumers.

Speaking on the relevance of the big screen in the era of emerging digital platforms, Sidharth Kapur said that cinema was being consumed on small screens but big screens will continue to exist. However, the type of content will play a critical role while audience will decide to choose a medium to watch a movie.  

Vikram Chandra felt that with a correct mind set it was possible to monetize digital content. It must be realized that online was a separate entity. Content must be created keeping in mind the consumption behaviour which can be measured by analysing the number of site visits and preferences of consumers.  

Neeraj Roy said that the digital platform was on the cusp of a transformation which would be driven by innovative content, technology and distribution and monetization. He added that micro payment was the future as digital consumption was increasing and micro transactions were taking place.   

The session was moderated by  Pranjal Sharma, ‎Editorial Advisor of the ‎The Outstanding Speakers' Bureau.

After listening to the stereo typed discussions, Sadguru Vasudev Jaggi’s conversation  with Rakesh Mehra came as a pleasant change. Just before his talk his disciples sung Bhajans and a power point presentions .his complete PR film. While talking about the recent change in media industry, he said that perception and expression are two key factors, we have to pay more attention   He also emphasized that film made should not be merely for today’s audience but estimating for the next