Digital advertising in India has been growing the fastest over the last few years and currently commands over 50 per cent share, more than the combined advertising revenue of Television and Print Media. However, the government’s advertisement spending pattern has been different.
The government’s digital spends are roughly 10 per cent and the lion’s share goes to traditional media, Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, told e4m on the sidelines of the India Digital Summit in Mumbai on Wednesday.
“Television media receives largely 60 per cent of our ad budget, followed by print media and then outdoor advertising,” he said.
Explaining the reasons behind the government’s low spending on digital channels, Jaju said, “Top ministers and leaders themselves have crores of followers on social media platforms. Hence, they don’t need to spend separately on digital channels. Television, being the mass media, reaches across India including rural parts, hence it gets the lion’s share.”
As per the MIB secy, TV is followed by newspapers in terms of the government’s advertisement spends. Hoardings also get a lot of investment but the government gets them at a very low price compared to private clients, said Jaju, adding that the scene may change in the coming days.
“The government has recently introduced an advertising policy for digital news platforms,” Jaju noted, though clarifying that there is no patronage for digital media by the government.
Asked about the ministry’s plan to launch its own OTT channel, as announced last year by the previous MIB secretary Apurva Chandra, Jaju said that such an initiative would take time.
Indian OTT content to expand globally
Lauding the OTT sector’s exponential growth in the country, Jaju said at the summit that India now has 60 OTT platforms, of which nearly 1/3 are operating in regional languages. The number is expected to go up to 50 per cent this year, he said.
According to him, there is still headroom for growth of OTT, within India and also in international markets such as the UAE, the US and Africa. Docu-films like “Elephant Whispers”, which won an Oscar last year, has paved the way for the growth of Indian content globally, he noted.
Jaju also highlighted that the media and entertainment sector is a huge sector and has played a pivotal role in the Indian economy.
“The M&E sector has been growing at a rate of 20 per cent and has attained the size of approximately Rs 2 lakh crore. In that, the digital media segment is the second-largest sub-segment, with a growth of approximately 30 per cent, around Rs 60,000 crore, and the film segment has a 25 per cent growth rate,” the MIB secretary noted.
Over 200 films were released on digital platforms in the last year of which 75 were released directly, without a theatrical release, he shared.
Online gaming growth
Jaju also stated that the online gaming industry has been growing by 34 per cent with animation and VFX at close to 30 per cent growth rate. The sector is expected to become a $2 billion industry by 2025, the secretary said.
National Media Centre in Maharashtra
Jaju also announced the setting up of a National Centre of Excellence in Maharashtra to create world-class media talent and an incentive scheme to attract international projects. He pointed out that this would help the industry undertake a lot of co-production treaties with multiple countries and create several audiovisual co-productions.
