India is watching more videos, but can they make money?

The country's digital video consumption has doubled in two years; a new BCG-CII report looks at how this can be monetised

By Pankti Mehta Kadakia, Forbes India Staff

Published: Nov 25, 2019 10:04:53 AM IST

Updated: Nov 25, 2019 10:19:33 AM IST

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India is watching more videos, but can they make money?

60% of the YouTube's content is consumed outside the metro cities
Image: Shutterstock

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) released a report in November on India’s digital video consumption, titled 'The trillion (and growing) touchpoint story–recognising the monetisation conundrum'. It shows that the average Indian’s digital video consumption has grown 2x in the past two years, owing to surging smartphone adoption, low-cost mobile internet and industry initiatives.

The report adds that the industry has invested heavily in making customer-centric video experiences, building micro-genres and experimenting with different formats. “The subscriber video on demand (SVOD) user base is truly democratised, having moved beyond the 3Ms: Metros, males and millennials,” Karishma Bhalla, managing director and partner, BCG India, tells Forbes India.

A key task for the industry now is to figure out how best to monetise this medium. The study finds that digital video ads receive better engagement than those on television, but some issues persist.