Content cost of Airtel, Vi jumps 12.24% to ₹1,513cr
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea increased 12.24% on-year to ₹1,513 crore in FY23, as they ramped up on content libraries to raise data consumption through video content in a bid to reduce churn and boost average revenue per user (ARPU).
For the fiscal year under review, Bharti Airtel's consolidated content cost jumped 18% to ₹856 crore. The company owns and operates Airtel Xstream, a video streaming app that aggregates content from 19 over-the-top (OTT) players like SonyLIV, Lionsgate Play, Hoichoi, and Hungama, among others.
The company also owns the music streaming app Wynk Music, which offers 24 million songs for free.
Vodafone Idea, which owns and operates the OTT app Vi Movies & TV, saw its content cost increase by 5.45% to ₹657 crore. In its FY23 annual report, the company said Vi Movies & TV has been integrated with the Vi app, giving customers access to shows and movies on the Vi app itself.
«At Vi, our top priority is to empower our users with control and choice while ensuring a seamless viewing experience...our focus remains on constantly developing a uniquely curated content portfolio that allows them to personalize their choices based on their preferences, moods, and language,» a Avneesh Khosla, chief marketing officer, Vi said.
Reliance Jio, which is the biggest spender on content acquisition, doesn't disclose its content costs separately.
However, Jio Platforms' FY23 financials show that the company's content costs declined 27% to Rs 208 crore (Rs 285 crore in FY22).
However, industry estimates peg Reliance Jio's content costs between ₹1,500 crore and ₹2000 crore annually. The company does content deals for its live TV aggregator app Jio TV, OTT aggregator app JioTV+, and wired broadband service Jio Fiber.
J
