From screens to streams: M&E industry bets on premium, paid, platform-agnostic growth

Mumbai: As India’s media and entertainment (M&E) sector celebrates 25 years of transformation, the industry finds itself at a crossroads, balancing traditional screens with an explosion of digital, connected, and global content. 

At the panel “Revenue Rush, Audience Loyalty: Contending with the Rise of Multi-platform Entertainment,” on the sidelines of FICCI Frames 2025, industry leaders examined how audience behaviour, technology, and monetisation are reshaping the business of entertainment.

Kamal Gianchandani, CEO of PVR INOX Pictures and President of the Multiplex Association of India (MAI), opened the session by reflecting on cinema’s resilience through decades of disruption. From the advent of television to streaming wars, theatres have repeatedly reinvented themselves. “Every decade there has been a new technology and cinema has had to coexist or compete with that technology,” Gianchandani said. 

Despite piracy and pandemic-induced setbacks, he noted that audience demand for the theatrical experience remains intact. “It’s the same screen, it’s the same video, but the context matters,” he said. “Just being in a dark room with a communal setting, enjoying a film where you can’t multitask, people enjoy that experience.”

Post-COVID, he observed, supply-side disruptions have stabilised, with audiences becoming more selective and willing to pay for premium experiences. “Mid-level films have suffered,” he admitted, “but big-ticket films have gone through the roof.”

From the media-buying lens, Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO of Madison Media, contextualised the current fragmentation in audience attention. The fight, he argued, is not just for eyeballs but for consumers’ time, attention, and wallets. “People still want to consume entertainment, news, and self-expression. Only thing is, we’re all fighting for a share of their time, their attention, and their wallet,” Sakhuja said. The solution, he believes, lies in differentiation and understanding platform strength. “From a content standpoint, you need differentiation. From a platform standpoint, you need to understand your strength.”

Vikram Mehra, Managing Director of Saregama India, focused on the evolving economics of the digital entertainment era. As consumers shift from free content to selective spending, he argued that India’s “value-seeking” audience is ready to pay, but only when the content justifies the cost. “If you are going to give everything to me for free, I am not going to pay,” Mehra stated. “You need to put the content in a paywall, and the Indian consumer is ready to pay provided the money makes sense.”

Mahesh Shetty, Head of Revenue – Entertainment at JioStar, emphasised the rising power of professionally generated long-form content on digital and connected TV (CTV). He drew parallels between traditional viewing and digital immersion, asserting that OTT platforms are now rivalling television in engagement and quality. “Jio Hotstar is almost equal to CTV or CTV is equal to Jio Hotstar,” Shetty said. “We primarily deliver professionally generated content which has great attention value, and that makes us a strong pillar for advertisers.”

Bringing the platform perspective, Sweta Jhunjhunwala, Head of Large Partner Solutions & Channel Partnerships at Google India, offered a global lens. For her, the entertainment ecosystem has become borderless; competition and opportunity alike are global. “Today, a consumer is probably watching a Korean drama on Netflix and a Brazilian gaming creator on YouTube,” she said. Jhunjhunwala pointed out the growing trend of Indian publishers creating content for international audiences, supported by technology that connects creators and advertisers beyond borders. “It’s very borderless today, and technology is making that available,” she noted.

The discussion concluded on a note of convergence: whether it’s cinema halls or connected TVs, creators or advertisers, the future of entertainment lies in crafting differentiated, premium experiences, and in recognising that the audience’s loyalty will follow value, not medium.