"This business is not about gross app downloads": Gaurav Gandhi, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures

Gaurav Gandhi, chief operating officer, Viacom18 Digital Ventures, speaks to afaqs! about all things Voot.

Edited Excerpts.

What took Voot so long to enter the market?

We have been working for almost a year now. Google was not the first search engine in the market. It was the seventh or the eighth, so I am not saying we are Google, but I am saying it is not about being the first. It is about being right. The party is just starting. We are at the cusp of a digital evolution. So, we are at a good place.

Most OTT platforms out there target the 15-24 years age group. What's Voot's target group (TG) like?

Voot is looking at three different demographics. Kids (3-11 year-olds), teenagers, for whom digital is the default medium, and youth (15-30 year-olds). The 24-30 years bracket is also counted as 'youth' because it's all about one's mental age, today. We're also looking at the 30-55 years bracket. We have content for all these demographics.

MTV is the most iconic youth brand in the country. Our reality shows are huge. Our dramas and digital originals are trying to explore the slightly more mature space as well. Digital video is now a very big phenomenon. You have 100 million users of digital video every month. Digital video is an on-demand medium and the TG is an inclusive set that allows you to say 'This content is for this medium'. I am not showing everything to everyone. That's why it is a mass market platform.

There's original content and there's library content. How will the programming share be split between the two on Voot?

I don't think 'number of hours' is the way to look at content here. It's more about the distinct pieces of content and the interplay therein. We have 17,000-18,000 hours of content.

We are creating a lot of original content for Voot. It will have two parts -- Kids content and shows like Sinskari, Badman and Chinese Bhasad. We will have a very strong line-up of these shows.

It is also about creating original content around TV properties.

There are two levels of originals we have -- originals created from a TV property, and brand new series such as movies, realities, chat shows, and sitcoms.

It is very hard to give a percentage number, honestly. If you are making 25 original series in a year, some could be five episodes, while some could be eight, or 10, or even 12 and 15. It is not like TV. We don't make content for a particular duration. In the next four-five years, we want an equitable share of our original digital content and content from our TV business. But initially, the number of hours will be more towards TV.

A lot of the network's TV content is available on the channel websites.

What then will bring the viewer to Voot for these episodes?

Viacom18's entire content will now be available only on the Voot website and app, not on Colors or MTV's websites. Everything is moving to one destination. Websites will continue to market the channels, but the content will only be available on Voot.

Reportedly, Hotstar has seen 50 million downloads since its launch in January last year. But, the downloads appear to have plateaued now. What kind of challenges do you foresee for your venture?

This business is not about gross downloads. Once downloaded, 80-90 per cent people uninstall the app. This is not a business of 'number of installs', but of daily active users. Over the next year, I expect to get two-three million active users on my platform. That's a very aggressive task. If I can do that, I am in a very good space because in an ad-supported business, two things are important -- how many people view it? And, how many times?

For advertising, you need a lot of people and great volume of consumptions. If we don't get two-three million people online every day, I will bank only on 'stunts', like a match or a movie on a given day. But, the next day, there is nothing. So, our strategy is not about putting stunts, but about being consistent.

Is the ad revenue model the best option for OTT platforms?

At this point in time, that's the most attractive model. We are looking at a growth of 40-45 per cent, year-on-year. Today, it's a Rs 1,500 crore market. It will touch Rs 6,000 crore in five-and-a-half years. It is a billion dollar market, one that will be second only to the Hindi GEC space five years from now. It is very attractive.

The payment model is challenging right now because of many reasons. Data prices are high, credit cards are not growing, and payment gateway isn't much evolved. But, as data prices rationalise, as we get more mobile payment gateways, things will change.

Viacom doesn't have sports content like Sony and Star do for SonyLIV and Hotstar, respectively. Aren't you losing out on an important slice of the viewer pie?

No, I don't think so.

Sports is all about live content. You don't see a recorded match. You will only watch it when it is live and if it is not there, you won't see it. So, if I show it live to you every day, you will see it. If you are at home, you will watch it live on TV.

The DNA of this business is on-demand, on-the-go.

Sports has an advantage, but it is a very 'stunty' business. Big stunts... viewers would come and go away. But, if you do want to do business, it happens by getting sustained volumes. Sports is a subscription business the world over. It is not an ad-supported business.

We would, of course, love to have sports, but I don't think we are in that business right now. But, with our reality, comedy, and kids shows being very potent, we have originals. We are in a good space for getting people every day.