WAVES Summit to shape media & broadcasting future: Prasar Bharati CEO Gaurav Dwivedi

As the highly anticipated WAVES Summit approaches, Prasar Bharati CEO Gaurav Dwivedi sheds light on the significance of the event and its potential impact on the media and entertainment landscape.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the summit, which aims to bring together diverse stakeholders from the media, technology, and broadcasting industries to address emerging challenges and shape the future of content production and distribution.

On the sidelines of an event, e4m caught up with Dwivedi who touched upon various topics, including the need to bridge the gap between technology and content creation while also addressing challenges related to artificial intelligence, news authenticity, and the rapidly evolving digital monetisation landscape.

Excerpts:

WAVES - A platform for collaboration and innovation

Explaining the vision behind the upcoming WAVES Summit, to be held from May 1-3 in Mumbai, the Prasar Bharati CEO said, "WAVES summit essentially aims to bring together a whole lot of related elements of the media and entertainment landscape, which were kind of working together but also kind of working separately. So, while technology has its path that it has taken over the last several years, it is also getting more closely integrated with content production and other activities within the media landscape."

He further elaborated on the need for synergy between hyper-local, domestic, and international content, stating, "There is content which is created for domestic audiences, there is some content which is also created for domestic audiences, there is some content which is also created for international audiences. But then on the other end of the spectrum, there is also content which is very, very hyper-locally targeted.

Dwivedi emphasized the importance of reaching a larger audience which also gathering feedback to shape future content strategies. "How is that each of these kinds of content creators can reach their audiences, get the audience feedback, get their inputs in terms of creating fresh content, and how is that they can reach out to the largest possible number of audiences. These are the things that we need to talk about," he explained.

Role of technology and AI in media

A key focus of the WAVES Summit will be the integration of technology with media practices, including the adoption of AI-driven tools. However, Dwivedi acknowledged the challenges posed by emerging technologies, especially AI. Citing recent developments, he noted, "The use of AI has its own set of opportunities and challenges.

Dwivedi pointed out that while AI offers new opportunities, it also raises questions about content authenticity, accuracy, and ethical usage. He remarked, "This is a challenge that possibly people did not foresee when they were working on large language models and things like that. And this is something that almost each one of us is trying to resolve at an individual level, whether it is the governments across the world, whether it is the technology companies, whether it is the content creators, whether it is broadcasters, distributors. Each one of them is facing different aspects of this problem."

The WAVES Summit aims to bring together stakeholders to deliberate on such challenges and seek collaborative solutions. Dwivedi expressed hope that the event would pave the way for greater consensus on how to balance technological advancement with content integrity and policy compliance.

‘Waves adopted ad-supported model over high subscription fee’

One of the major digital initiatives discussed by Dwivedi was Prasar Bharati’s streaming platform, Waves OTT. Launched just four months ago, the platform has already garnered significant traction.

Dwivedi highlighted the importance of maintaining a public broadcasting presence across diverse digital formats, saying, "As a public broadcaster, the broadcaster must be present across different formats of content that the consumers are using... It’s only been about slightly over three months that Waves has been around, four months now, and the number of daily active users engaging with different forms of content is now showing a rising trend."

Talking about the monetisation challenges and the rise of digital ad spend, he said that in order to keep entry barriers low, Waves OTT has adopted an ad-supported model rather than a high subscription fee.

Dwivedi noted that this approach aligns with the increasing shift of ad spends toward digital platforms, as highlighted in the FICCI report. He said, "Since we have to keep the entry barrier low, obviously it has to be largely ad-supported, and we are finding a good traction and good response from the advertising industry also."

He also said that as a public broadcaster, Prasar Bharati balances public service obligations with commercial operations. Dwivedi acknowledged the importance of remaining accessible to audiences while still generating revenue through ads.

"It's a case of balancing the public service mandate with commercial operations and we will strike a balance as time goes by," he asserted.

‘FTA services remain stable, show upward trend’

Addressing the challenges faced by traditional TV channels like Doordarshan, Dwivedi remarked, "They are doing reasonably well. They are doing better... The media sector in itself is trying to find a balance across the different components of this sector." He acknowledged that while pay TV may show signs of degrowth, free-to-air (FTA) services continue to remain stable or even show a slight upward trend.

Regarding DTH consolidation, he stated, "I would say that this is a part of industry evolution. While there would be new players coming in, older players, some of them would go out, some of them would consolidate." He remained optimistic about the continued vibrancy of the broadcasting sector despite ongoing changes.

Fake news and freedom of expression

Fake news continues to be a pressing issue in the media landscape. Dwivedi emphasized the importance of delivering credible news without infringing on freedom of expression. "The needs for the audiences to receive authentic and credible news, that is something that cannot be overemphasized," he stated, while also acknowledging the legal debates currently ongoing in the Supreme Court and High Court.