The lockdown helped India control the coronavirus but now that the economy is gradually opening up again, it is time to get back to business. Amongst the worst affected sectors so far has been the media and entertainment industry. Cinema halls are losing Rs 150 crores every week, advertising spends across all media are expected to go down by over Rs 10,000 crores in the next three months, live events have vanished and movie production has come to an abrupt halt.

On the other hand, the lockdown has proved to be a boon for digital media and TV viewership. A combination of affordable prices and high TV and smartphone penetration has resulted in a spike in viewership numbers. During this period, digital streaming platforms reported a 20 per cent increase in viewership. TV viewership was up by 37 per cent, clocking 1.2 trillion minutes in the first week of lockdown. In fact, Doordarshan was the most-watched TV channel after it aired famous shows such as Ramayana and Shaktiman.

This boom in consumption has the potential to power the media and entertainment sector’s future growth trajectory. Before the lockdown, digital media accounted for only 12.13% of its revenues. In order to build resilience in every segment of the sector, it is important to accelerate the deployment of digital technologies at every step of its value chain. For example, the sector will face an enormous loss of revenues due to heavy dependence on live events, like the Olympics. If digital technologies are used to conduct and disseminate such global tournaments, it may not be necessary for a large number of people to gather in one place.

Such advancements can be brought forward through investments in innovation and technology. Such investments require an ecosystem of skilled labour, basic infrastructure, and enabling governance frameworks. If the state fosters innovation and treats media and entertainment as a strategic sector, this dream can become a reality. Commendably, India has already taken the first step in that direction. In 2018, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has recognized media and entertainment as one of 12 champion sectors in India. The scheme is envisioned to enhance services exports from India and has an allocation of Rs. 5,000 crores.

The government’s classification of media and entertainment as a champion sector is a welcome move. Evidence before us demonstrates that, whenever governments have provided strategic support to the sector, it has flourished.

South Korea is a case in point. When K-pop was sweeping the airwaves across the United States, the South Korean government used it as an instrument to extend its soft power. It set up a department under the Ministry of Culture devoted to promoting K-pop, which is now a worldwide sensation.

Similarly, in Singapore, the government recognised that the creative economy could be used as a strategic lever to sustain growth in income and employment. In the late 2000s, government funding spearheaded an effort to develop the interactive and digital media sector. Today, the regional headquarters of the world’s major entertainment and recreational brands are located in the island nation. Singapore is internationally recognized as one of the best locations for creative professionals to live and work in, and contributes immensely to the country’s economy. This recognition also extends to Singapore’s plan for the future. Accelerating the digitization, its fast-growing “Infocomm Media Sector” is one of the three priorities for the Digital Economy Framework for Action, implemented in 2018.

The Indian government has already taken a cue from these East Asian countries to develop a future-ready media and entertainment sector. It must do more. Strategic interventions such as building competitiveness, incentivizing innovation, skilling the workforce, improving infrastructure quality and enhancing IP enforcement can create consistently high value in the long run. Indeed, innovation is a key determinant of economic development in the long run. The world’s richest nations boast of a solid track record of innovations, which consistently provide them with earnings by licensing these to other countries.

Resilience to economic shocks such as the current pandemic are built into specific segments of the M&E sector. For example, animation studios in IT hubs such as Telangana and Karnataka, can continue to create new content and export their specialized services to other countries in a lockdown. India will, therefore, benefit from the fragmentation of media production. The future of work is here – social distancing is the new normal. Supply chains and countries that are ahead on the digital game, will stay ahead. Similarly, digital news has proved that it can withstand the pandemic, much more strongly than any other format. Not only is digital media resilient to such socio-economic crises, creative jobs are the least likely to be impacted by automation.

A thriving digital industry will not only fuel the growth of media and entertainment in India, but also give it the capacity to absorb unexpected shocks. Today, it is this industry that provides citizens entertainment, information and succor as they battle the worst pandemic since the 1918 Spanish flu.

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Views expressed above are the author's own.

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