Mumbai: There’s a tremendous opportunity for new entrants in the media and entertainment sector, despite the transformation it is undergoing and the pressure of revenues it has been facing. That was the conclusion of senior industry leaders who were part of a half-day conclave We Communique that Mumbai-based MBA institute We School - aka Welingkar Institute of Management - organised in partnership with Indiantelevision.com on 17 January for postgraduate students of the media and entertainment course.
Among the leaders who took part in panel discussions and a fireside chat included: Cosmos Maya India CEO Megha Tata, Enterr10 director Akshat Singhal, Shemaroo broadcast business head Sandeep Gupta, Elara Capital media analyst Karan Taurani, Friday FilmWorks CEO Devendra Deshpande, Madison Media Sigma COO Vanita Keswani, Wavemaker general manager Sejal Lodaya, Lodestar UM IPG Associate vice-presidents Shrikant Shenoy and Bhavesh Shah, Disney Star India’s Prashant Khanna and Carat India director integrated media planning Swarali Halepati. Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO & editor in chief Anil Wanvari chaired all three sessions.
The speakers were spread across two sessions “Evolution of Media, Sports, and Entertainment Trends” and “Media and Marketing in 2024. ”
Almost all the speakers agreed that students need not be demotivated by news reports of doom and gloom that the media and entertainment industry are facing. “Yes, 2024 is going to be a year of consolidation with mergers and acquisitions seeing the course of conclusion,” said Taurani. “Jobs are evolving but you have to get the basics right,” said Shenoy in the marketing and media session. “Learn about viewership trends, GRPs, reach etc and continue keeping abreast of developments.”
“There is no shortage of jobs in media,” said Shah. “We are always hiring in media,” added Lodaya. According to Keswani, the media executive’s job is becoming more about numbers and this can be fun as well. Both Lodaya and Halepati emphasised that longevity in an organisation works very well as far as an executive’s career progression is concerned. “You should not be hopping around every few years for that marginal increase in salary,” they opined. “As long as you are learning and growing stick to the job.”
The television panel opined that even though there is a shrinkage in the broadcast sector on the advertising inventory front (read: ad revenues), the television industry has a lot of legs. “Free TV is growing,” said Singhal, “Though pay TV is struggling..”
“Yes, production budgets are also slimming down,” explained Deshpande. “As are OTT series budgets.”
He added that producers have to thus work within these budgets, and extract profits without compromising on quality through efficient production pipelines.
Gupta extolled the student and WeWork alumni audience to learn as many skills as they can, but they need to focus on only one.
Most of the panellists concurred that animation, gaming, VFX, AI, and ML are the most promising verticals that students should keep an eye on. “VFX studios are popping up everywhere in India and they will need talented individuals to work with them,” highlighted Taurani.
The conclave was extremely well received with students rating it high on the knowledge enrichment chart.
