WAVES 2025: India releases 5 reports on media, creators, and compliance

Mumbai: Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, L Murugan, released five reports presenting a comprehensive overview of India’s media and entertainment ecosystem at WAVE 2025 in Mumbai.

These reports provide insights into the creator economy, content production, legal frameworks, live events industry, and data-backed policy support.

Statistical Handbook on Media & Entertainment 2024-25

The Statistical Handbook prepared by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting serves as a resource for data-driven policy and decision-making. It captures sectoral trends, audience behaviour, revenue growth patterns, and regional and national trajectories. The handbook is designed to inform and guide future policymaking and industry strategies, ensuring that they remain grounded in empirical evidence and practical realities. Highlights of the Handbook include:

• Doordarshan Free Dish: Expanded from 33 channels in 2004 to 381 in 2025.
• DTH Service: Achieved 100% geographical coverage by March 2025.
• All India Radio (AIR): Now reaches 98% of India’s population (as of March 2025). Number of AIR stations grew from 198 in 2000 to 591 in 2025.
• Private Satellite TV Channels: Increased from 130 in 2004–05 to 908 in 2024–25.
• Private FM stations rose from 4 in 2001 to 388 by 2024; the report provides a state-wise breakup as of March 31, 2025.
• Digital Media and Creator Economy: Covers achievements under WAVES OTT, establishment of the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), and the Create in India Challenge (CIC).
• Ease of Doing Business: Measures implemented to facilitate simplified and transparent processes for media and content creators.

‘From Content to Commerce: Mapping India's Creator Economy’ - Report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

The Report highlights the unprecedented scale and impact of India’s creator economy in the digital era. With 2 to 2.5 million active digital creators, India is home to one of the world’s fastest-growing creator ecosystems. These creators already influence more than $350 billion in annual consumer spending—a figure projected to triple and exceed $1 trillion by 2030.

The report urges stakeholders to look beyond numerical metrics and acknowledge the evolving role of creators as storytellers, culture-shapers, and economic drivers. For businesses, this shift implies moving away from transactional influencer engagements and building long-term partnerships rooted in authenticity, trust, and creative agility.

Source report here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12ZHLhT7WiaFDHu6QieLlHdEZHzuEqdDA/view?usp=drivesdk

‘A Studio Called India’ by Ernst & Young – Envisions India as a Global Content Hub

The Report presents India not just as a content-consuming nation but as a studio to the world. It underlines India’s strengths — linguistic diversity, cultural richness, and a technologically adept talent pool — which position the country to create narratives that transcend borders.

India offers a 40% to 60% cost advantage in animation and VFX services, supported by a large, skilled workforce. The report also notes the increasing international appeal of Indian storytelling, with up to 25% of views on Indian OTT content now originating from overseas audiences. This phenomenon is not merely commercial—it represents a moment of cultural diplomacy, wherein India’s stories are forging emotional and cultural connections across continents.

Get the report here: 

https://www.ey.com/content/dam/ey-unified-site/ey-com/en-in/pdf/2025/ey-a-studio-called-india-content-and-media-services-for-the-world.pdf

‘Legal Currents: A Regulatory Handbook on India’s Media & Entertainment Sector 2025’ by Khaitan & Co

Recognising that creativity must be complemented by regulatory clarity, Khaitan & Co. has prepared a detailed legal and regulatory handbook for the media and entertainment sector. Designed as a practical guide for producers, studios, influencers, and platforms, the handbook covers a range of key legal issues such as:

• Compliance norms for both domestic and foreign entities
• Incentive schemes for international productions
• Legal frameworks around influencer marketing and digital content
• Definitions and taxation implications in the gaming sector, including GST
• Protection of celebrity rights
• Ethical considerations and regulatory treatment of AI-generated content

This handbook is intended to equip stakeholders with tools for confident, compliant, and responsible engagement in the creative economy.

Whitepaper on India’s Live Events Industry

The White Paper on India’s Live Events Industry underscores the sector’s robust growth and shifting consumer dynamics. With a 15% year-on-year growth rate, the industry added Rs 13 billion in revenue in 2024 alone.

The report notes that nearly half a million fans are now travelling between cities to attend events, reinforcing the emergence of event-based tourism in India. There is a rising demand for premium and curated experiences, and Tier-2 cities such as Shillong, Vadodara, and Jamshedpur are emerging as cultural centres.

To support and scale this momentum, the whitepaper highlights the need for:

• Upgraded event infrastructure
• Streamlined and simplified licensing processes
• Stronger and more transparent music rights frameworks
• Formal recognition of the live events sector under MSME and creative economy policies.

The reports call for a strategic reimagining of India as not just a spectator in the global cultural arena but a key player in the international spotlight.

The launch event was attended by Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; R.K. Jena, Senior Economic Advisor, MIB; Meenu Batra, Joint Secretary, MIB; and Shri Prithul Kumar, Joint Secretary, MIB and MD, NFDC. Representing the Knowledge Partners, Vipin Gupta, Managing Director & Partner, Boston Consulting Group, Payal Mehta, Partner, Boston Consulting Group; Ashish Pherwani, Partner, Ernst & Young; Amiya Swarup, Partner, Ernst & Young; Tanu Banerjee, Partner, Technology and Media, Khaitan & Co; Ishan Johri Partner Khaitan & Co; Vinod Janardhan, Director, EVENTSFAQ Live; Deepak Chaudhury MD, EVENTS FAQ also attended the event in Mumbai