Broadband is coming.
It may be a while before it hits your drawing room, but a horde of first generation streaming and
interactive media companies are already staking their claim: to eyeballs, niche markets and your
Internet time. Plans are being drawn up, market research is being conducted and content alliances
are being finalised.
"Broadband is essentially television on the Web," explains Seher Bedi of Gslot.com, one of the five
broadband sites launched in the last eight months. But the rules are slightly different, and the
content that you see on television or existing web sites will just not do on this new medium. As the
people behind Gslot say, the buzzword is interactivity.
Says Ronnie Screwvala of UTV, whose sharkstream.com has received an overwhelming response in
Singapore and Taiwan, where it has already been launched. "Broadband content needs to be richer
in terms of the media it uses. Users usually pay a premium to access the net over broadband.
Therefore they expect more than just plain text or images. The viewers need to be entertained with a
broad choice of programs, an interactive experience that considers the audience tastes and the
integration of a wide range of technologies - Flash, animation and high speeds of streaming."
So what kind of content can the Indian surfer expect to be streamed to his desktop in the near
future?
"We believe that what will work is content produced exclusively for broadband, not yesterday's TV
shows or movie trailers," says Seher of Gslot, one of the few sites which produces all its content
in-house instead of aggregating it.
Agrees Madhu Trehan of Wahindia.com, which is trying to produce news content with a different
approach. "It is definitely not the stuff you see on television. Our live cricket coverage is done by
young commentators who are very emotional while describing the proceedings. Then there are live
webcasts of fashion shows and book launches. Our live coverage of the Durga Puja celebrations
was a big hit with the NRIs. We have at least six fresh news stories every day..."
UTV, which has been in the audio-visual medium for quite a while now, believes content alliances
are what will work. It already has one with Gslot.com, "Content creation, manipulation and serving
is expensive, and so the content needs of the audience have to be established through research.
Additionally as specialisations exist in genres of content, content alliances are very important."
According to them, the content will be generated by "tiny broadband boutiques" which will create
and transmit interactive entertainment on shoestring budgets.
The big worry for all broadband content providers now is connectivity. Without reliable and cheap
connectivity, the companies will have trouble notching up a critical mass of eyeballs. "We are
working towards the broadband industry growing in pockets. From smaller cities to moving into rural
areas," says Ronnie Screwvala.
Others are looking at tie-ups with access providers. Wahindia.com has an advantage. Its
parent company Spectranet will launch broadband access via cable in Delhi in a
week’s time. It also has licenses for nine other cities, including Pune, Bangalore and
Chandigarh. But Trehan does not rule out tie-ups with other broadband service
providers.
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Sharkstream
Broadband portal, from the UTV group. Has a number of audio, video and television channels
NumTV
Aimed at the Indian diaspora, NumTV, brings live telecasts from channels like Sun, Gemini, Surya and
Udaya. Has a host of other channels including kids, shares, education, movies, astrology, religion and
music. Plans to telecast in a number of Indian languages
Glsot
Interactive entertainment channel. Broadcasts live events, interviews, trailers, and chats with
celebrities like Cyrus Broacha and Kunal Vijaykar and more.
Wah India
News, webcasts and live coverage of events. Claim to present news with an attitude, one of the first
broadband sites in India
Now-India
Convergence portal. Provides news in audio-video format
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UTV has already tied up with Win Cable, which has 200 subscribers for its broadband services in
Mumbai. "The numbers," he says optimistically, "will grow from 200 now to 2000 by the year end to
20,000 by next year." And UTV is in no hurry to reach those without broadband connectivity. "No
2x2 inch videos that can hardly be seen for dial up subscribers because we don't want to provide
them with a substandard experience. We were the first to deploy a video-on-demand service here."
But there is another argument that Seher Bedi puts across. "Bandwidth, software and surfing habits
can all be overcome by the quality of content that you produce. People will have the patience to wait
if they know what they are going to interact with is worth it. From feedback that we have been
receiving, we notice that if we provide good content people actually wait (in case of buffering and net
congestion, etc) and enjoy the shows. The visual stimulation works for them."
Most of the surfers on these broadband sites fall in the 15-34 age group or are NRIs. Says Seher:,
"Twenty percent of our surfers come from abroad and yes, they are predominantly NRIs who
specifically want to watch interviews with Bollywood stars." One of Wahindia's popular sections is
movie trailers and video songs of movies.
Another player Num TV, which broadcasts shows from the Sun Network of television channels, TARA and
Sony TV, caters primarily to the expat Indian. Says VChandrashekharan, Chief Executive Officer of
Numtv.com: "Num TV caters to the NRI community who can access popular Indian programs
abroad at their convenience." And they have numbers to back them up with 2,00,000 registered users and a subscriber base of 6,000 viewers, more than 60 per cent of their viewers ccome from the US, 20 per cent from Europe and the rest from Asia Pacific, .
UTV feels it can replicate the success it has in Singapore and Taiwan in India as well. "In
Singapore, we have nearly 2,50,000 users watching more than 400 videos per day. Of, these 50,000
are registered users. What attracts them is a potpourri of Mandarin, Cantonese, Bahasa Malaysia
and international content.’’ So it’s not necessary only to cater to NRIs, they feel.
Revenue models are another blurry issue. For UTV, the money will come from subscriptions,
pay-per-view events and shows; they also plan to share revenues with their broadband access
provider. Gslot currently generates revenue from producing content, promos and shows for television
companies. It aims to rake in the moolah for its broadband offerings from sponsors – like television
programmes. Others plan to take it as it comes and explore every avenue of generating revenues.
As Trehan says, "Market conditions change rules all the time."
None of the players are at the moment worried about competition. "We can do with some more
players in this field. It can only develop the market further," says Bedi.
Which may be a good thing. Because to the end-user competition always means more choice.
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