Media firms look beyond the home screen, eye eyeballs offshore

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As revenue pressures mount at home, Indian media firms are finding their next growth opportunity abroad. Media and entertainment companies have been exploring global partnerships and strengthening their presence in several international markets over the past few months in a bid to gain from the higher paying propensity among diasporic Indians abroad.

Many of these deals come at a time that the Indian market is still growing in consumption, but monetization has become harder. Subscription prices are low, advertisement rates are under pressure and competition between platforms is intense. Everyone is fighting for the same audience and content costs have gone up faster than revenues.

Last year, MovieVerse Studios, the mainstream content arm of IN10 Media Network, partnered with Beacon Media to launch a global content alliance focused on amplifying stories from the Global South, aiming to create a content ecosystem spanning Hollywood, India, West Asia, Africa and Latin America. SonyLIV, the video streaming platform from Sony Pictures Networks India too announced a partnership with YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels to offer viewers the ability to subscribe to the platform in the US, UK, France, Germany and Australia. Earlier this month, creator company Chtrbox had announced expansion of global operations to West Asia.

Depending on the platform and audience strategy, overseas users can bring in up to 40% of overall revenues, according to industry executives. “Global markets offer something that India simply cannot—the breathing space. They pay better and licence smarter.