Akash Banerji, Business Head- AVoD, VOOT, has contributed to helping the platform bag a whopping 100 MAUs. In an exclusive interaction with IWMBuzz, Akash Banerji talks about a successful 2019 for VOOT, their plans for the coming year and a lot more. Read to find out –
OTT as a platform has been growing and as you said, your platform has seen outstanding growth in the last calendar year. Do you feel the pressure to meet up to the audience’s expectations?
I’ll give you a quote to sum things up. ‘Heavy is the head that wears the crown’. This is in reference to a king who wore a crown and someone asked him whether he feels the pressure to take care of his people? Well, that comes with the work. That comes with a certain sense of ambition and I feel, it doesn’t create any anxiety for us. Rather, it’s inspiring. creates inspiration for us. It creates excitement and motivation for us to do some great work. The only mantra to success is to have a ‘User Always First’ approach.
Next, what are your plans on premium original content for the web audience?
See, the point is never about ‘web originals’. It is about feeding the user with the kind of content the user wants. So, if after sufficient research and development, my team tells me that there’s a need for new originals, I will go ahead and make it. There’s no reason to make something just for the sake of it. As I said earlier, my users need to get what they want and then only with advertisement integration, we can ensure profitability and a happy situation for everyone. I am not playing the game of optics and perception. I am playing the game of driving high lifetime value for my consumers.
In this ever-changing dynamic internet space, if and when you go wrong and face rejection, how do you handle it?
See, the best thing is the fact that ‘change’ is the only constant. What’s working and successful today might not be working and successful tomorrow. The likes, dislikes, tastes and wants of the audience keep on changing swiftly. The only way you can grow is by being brisk and quick in your approach. Nothing is permanent. And there will always be mistakes. There will always be issues and problems. It is about embracing it and trying your best to not repeat it and move on.
Lastly, Voot has been following the AVOD approach. Will we ever see VOOT going into the SVOD zone?
Yeah, we are on our way to be making a big announcement soon. It’s just a matter of time before we make an entry into the SVOD space. Sooner or later.