Dushyant Kohli, Head, Growth, nexGTv
The media and entertainment industry is betting big on technology for providing customised offerings to users. Moreover, a growing shift towards digital media is driving the adoption of cloud, social media, mobility solutions, analytics and big data solutions. Media and entertainment industry players discuss their IT strategies, and technology trends…
What are the technology trends being witnessed by the media and entertainment space?
The adoption of the digital medium is expected to increase at an exponential rate by 2020 and hence we can expect technology to be one of the key focus areas for the Indian media and entertainment industry. There has been a massive shift in consumers’ viewing preferences, from an appointment-based model to an on-the-go model with greater demand for over-the-top (OTT) video content. This paradigm shift will see industry players adopting cloud computing solutions in order to enable seamless delivery of their services. Moreover, with people around the country adopting OTT as their preferred medium for accessing video-based content, there will be a greater focus on establishing robust content delivery networks (CDNs) for hassle-free distribution of entertainment content across geographies. As a result, more players in the industry will be looking to tap into the huge potential offered by smart digital devices by embracing mobility and developing OTT products for their services. There will soon be demand for a single-box solution catering to all needs, from TVs to mobiles to smart devices. Seamless viewing and communication across devices will be the key.
What are some of the IT/telecom solutions being deployed by your company? How have these helped enhance business operations?
At nexGTv, we have an OTT platform which employs streaming media solutions, allowing users to access our massive and diverse content library. Our team constantly strives to work with the upcoming trends in OTT, be it fourth-generation CDNs or enhanced video player features. We also power DTH/mobile TV applications for multiple operators, including big players such as Airtel, Videocon and Idea. This ensures consistent revenues for us every month.
What is the level of technology adoption in respect of the cloud, internet of things (IoT) and big data analytics in this industry?
Given the massive evolution in the way entertainment content is delivered and consumed, cloud and big data technologies are rapidly finding acceptance amongst players in the Indian media and entertainment industry. By integrating these technologies into the service delivery architecture, OTT players can enable seamless, on-the-go access to video-based entertainment to their users. Besides, they can target viewers across multiple geographies based on their preferences, consumption patterns and usage behaviour, and can create detailed consumer segmentations to serve relevant entertainment content to individual users. Moreover, the introduction of companion devices would enhance the user experience. Meanwhile, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication will help record and view the content as per the user’s choice.
What are the key challenges in the deployment and management of telecom solutions?
Interoperability is one of the major problems that we as a technology-focused organisation face when it comes to the deployment and management of IT/telecom solutions. Another challenge is ensuring that the solutions developed and implemented by us are consistent and seamlessly accessible across multiple platforms.
“The adoption of the digital medium is expected to increase at an exponential rate by 2020.” Dushyant Kohli
What IT initiatives are you planning to take over the next few years?
Over the next few years, we are planning to further augment our technology architecture and make it more efficient and robust by undertaking new IT initiatives. Further, we aim to develop hybrid network capability to support our array of services, as well as invest heavily in CDN delivery and cloud computing technologies in order to improve the company’s existing IT infrastructure. We are continuously upgrading our video players, applications, payment instruments and methodologies to improve the user experience and keep pace with the latest industry trends. We are also working on new segments like OTT set-top boxes and hybrid boxes with fourthgeneration CDNs.
