Instead of obsessing on whether cricket has shifted solely from network to digital platforms, what's crucial is understanding the broader impact: sport's reach has expanded from 100 million screens to an established viewership of 500 million screens, said Kiran Mani, CEO- Digital, Viacom18.

Mani was speaking at an industry event. 

Engaging in a chat with Louis Boswell, CEO, AVIA, Mani spoke about how Viacom18 was navigating the diverse Indian audience landscape and shaping the future of JioCinema. 

He spoke about how at Jio the approach was to perceive signals in a simpler manner – recognizing that there's a significant surge in engagement with content. He said it's not merely about producing more content, but rather, about leveraging content in more ways than ever before. “Take IPL and cricket, for instance. Instead of obsessing, did it transfer from network to digital, the sport went from 100 million screens to an established viewership on 500 million screens.”

He further added, “We just democratized sports like no other nation ever has and kudos to the entire industry for doing that. There are still people, the network is still having some of its best years that they've ever seen in live sports watching. I think what we are excited about is that we put sports, which was meant to be that man cave kind of experience, to a big screen, to a lean forward, interactive, sporting experience. It's never been done before.”

According to Mani, enhancing content accessibility, availability, and relatability unlocks significant potential. He emphasized the importance of relatability, acknowledging India's diverse linguistic landscape. By catering to these nuances, such as providing cricket coverage in 12 languages, content becomes more transformative, resonating with a broader audience. This example illustrates the vast opportunities for expanding content reach across different media platforms. Such an approach not only broadens content distribution, but also yields valuable insights in the process.

Mani emphasizes the complexity that arises when focusing solely on end objectives, suggesting that the industry is preoccupied with whether the future lies in linear TV or digital platforms, and the type of content — whether social, television-style, long-form, or short-form — that will dominate. However, he argues against such binary thinking, highlighting India's unique position as a market poised to excel in all these areas. With a population of 1.4 billion, India is likely to rank among the top three markets globally for each content category. Therefore, Mani suggests that there's no definitive right or wrong answer to these questions, urging a more nuanced understanding of the diverse landscape shaping the industry's evolution.

He further expressed his observation across various industries that obsessing over technology often leads to the wrong outcomes. Instead, he believes that the most effective technologies are those where the focus is not on the technology itself, but on the habits and behaviours it cultivates. 

For instance, while search technology may be complex behind the scenes, for users, it simplifies the process of finding answers. Similarly, YouTube's technology is intricate, yet it provides users with a straightforward way to access content. He finds beauty in the idea that technology, when used as an enabler, can provide with more Indians with access to premium curated content experiences, potentially unlocking magical possibilities.

He also highlighted that one of the core strengths that Viacom18 has as a company is their content slate that caters to almost every sliver in India - from family content to sports and kids content as well. “The key part of this is that we don't just have quality content, we have it in great quantity as well. Our kids genre has some of the largest slate of content available on our platform. However, we have some of the best and the largest portfolio of content. When you want to build a daily viewing habit, quantity matters as much as quality.”

Regarding subscription offerings, Mani acknowledged that everything comes with a price. He emphasized the value of consumers' time and attention, noting that their willingness to watch ads is not free; it's earned by providing desirable content with minimal friction. However, he critiqued the industry's failure to optimize advertiser value despite high viewership, highlighting the need to better cater to advertisers' needs in the face of evolving audience demographics.

He said, “In the past, certain groups assumed this audience was perfect for their advertising and marketing strategies, like FMCG or Automotive but that's not true. When you have 60% of India showing up, and giving us the permission to do it, to our extent, I think one job which was probably not done well, was provide the advertiser value in it.”