So, I have been deeply questioning whether Indians REALLY NEED Internet Entertainment?!
When I say Indians, I mean the 1+ billion people out there – 70% of whom are under the age of 30..
Lets assume that of the 700 million, 20% wil be literate, wealthy to own an android device to browse the net and have a basic plan that supports browsing (PC+Laptop owners included obviously)..
Will 140-150 Million Indians USE the Internet for Entertainment??
Here is what makes me a ‘disbeliever’
– Our country is very ambient in temperature. Except for bad Delhi Summers and winters, in most of the country we can walk around in shirts and T’s all year long.
In the USA/EU/China/Korea/Japan markets, the weather is FROZEN almost 6 months in a year… This makes sitting INDOORS almost compulsory… Hence, Internet Gaming Parlors in Korea and China thrive and in the USA you have ‘Cabin Fever’..
In India, we roam the streets and gullies without a care in the world… So why huddle inside a dungeon or stare at a dumb screen to entertain yourself?
– Almost ‘everything’ is FREE here – Young people can go to malls and enjoy the ‘free airconditioning’, do some nice window shopping and just ‘hang out’. This means that the cost of entertaining yourself outside is negligible..
– We release 3 NEW MOVIES every day… So there is an EXPLOSION of RICH, High Quality, 70mm ( not 13 inch PC screen) entertainment around us. Going for movies is expensive, but its also a great place to FLIRT, hold hands, have laughs with friends etc… Hence isn’t this a NO NO for single person (internet) entertainment at home?
– We live in SMALL HOMES (at least in the cities). It usually populated with parents, siblings, and even grand parents. Its a PAIN to be at home and constantly be ‘policed’ and told what to do – what to eat and most importantly RUN ERRANDS of the house. So why not run away into an AC mall and just have fun…. Internet Entertainment be dammed?
– If I have a PC at home, everything I watch on my screen is visible to everyone….hmmmm… most of the content young people watch is NOT what they want others (specially parents) to see 🙂
– Most of the SPARE moneys young people save are being spent on Mobile Phones, Clothes and BOOZE!!! Who the hell wants to PAY for online and mobile content when that is ‘supposed’ to be free and also that can be hacked into?
Point being that if Piracy and FREE demanding populations of a country do not pay up, Internet Entertainment Companies cannot flourish.
– Just the festivals, relatives, and commotion is entertainment for lots of Indians… I mean the Samba beat during Ganpati in Mumbai ROCKS any online entertainment for me!!! So also the GOVINDA dhamakaa….
WHO NEEDS INTERNET ENTERTAINMENT??
– OOOPS – I forgot CRICKET — we now have 200 + days of FREE CRICKET ON TV every year… including the other days of Emotional Atyachar and Roadies…..
Writing this as a CEO and founder of an online gaming company based in India is not easy nor consoling – but then one has to accept what IS…. !
I guess what we will have working for us will be smaller cities with lesser entertainment options, much better bandwidth and connectivity etc etc etc – all the promises made to me and which I am making to my kids…
****
Prajith Nayar
Alok
How do you then explain so much facebooking and video games boom.
My kid is 2.5 yrs old and he already has favorities in cartoons, video games as well as other toys and a time schedule to boot. Xbox etc, based on my small society, caters to kids and their parents. We really dont have a lot of 40 year olds playing grand theft auto with the xxx cracks 🙂 in my society. If they do, they are very good at keepign it a sceret and again tahts bad for marketing
So online games should start by targeting kids and the buyers (parents)…Kids are monitored in India right upto 17-18 years of age. Maybe that will work
Prajith
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
Great point…GAMES will work 🙂 but not to the extent they do elsewhere… so we see lots of under 13 usage and then once 8th-9th-10th happen, distractions start appearing 🙂
Nilesh Vaidya
I agree to that fact of internet reach being the biggest problem by the online business – while also the last mile issue even in a city like Mumbai sometimes experiencing slower internet speed. The volume is growing might be 5-10 years down the line things will change.
Although the current scenario doesn’t looks to be that bad… Internet on web is an issue BUT at the other end mobile internet seems to be booming… the use of site/services available on mobile browsers is on the rise. Nowadays we see many people even from small town posting updates on FB via mobile and kids being comfortable with PS, iPad & FB.
The new generation is more net savvy & look for every drop of entertainment available online be it via PC or Mobile.
It would be wrong to compare the WEST with India copying the same model as is and then comparing the success here. We are different people with different habits and hence have different online entertainment habits.
Don’t know much about gaming but simple games like ‘angry birds’ are doing good – doubt complicated games being that popular among common internet user who generally surfs or plays online to get relived from stress.
For an example – in the industry I am online users prefer watching short comedy clips instead of 15-20 mins long comedy web-episodes as they simply get bored. It took sometime to all of us in the industry to understand… but then things worked out in a different way…
India definitely needs internet entertainment – but re-modeled & tailored to their needs & their habits.
Too early to predict anything…. but things look bright further.
It’s still sunrise period for the country online entertainment business but those you know what an Indian wants online will take the biggest piece of the cake.
Ashwin C Parulkar
Agreed with insight, Short comedy content should work, but the biggest problem is-
GIVING IT FREE AND PRODUCING IT AT LOWEST OF THE COST WHILE KEEPING THE QUALITY UP.are the major challanges but its a different story if the Content clicks with final interent user
Mahesh Khambadkone
The internet is only the medium.
A state like California has the weather (more pleasant), entertainment options, weather, sports and freedom that we have – yet ‘internet entertainment’ is popular there, whether it’s in big town LA or smaller town San Jose.
Does India need entertainment? Yes. To feel that we are breaking away from the realities of poverty, archaic social rules, space constraints, being ‘one in a 1,000,000,000’, families still matter, and friends are important.
Does India need the internet? Heck, yes.
Nilesh Vaidya
answer is simple – YouTube
Can’t reveal more on to it… but options are there …. only if there’s an intent and will to strike equal opportunity deals with long term vision.