Research and Markets: Strong Overseas and Domestic Opportunities to Drive the Animation Market in India, Finds Netscribes - Business Wire

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dublin - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ebfcab19/animation_market_i) has announced the addition of the "Animation Market in India 2012" report to their offering.

Netscribes (India) Pvt. Ltd., launches a report on the Animation Market in India 2012 as part of Netscribes’ Media & Entertainment Industry report series. Mumbai, India – March 5, 2012 – Netscribes (India) Pvt. Ltd., a knowledge consulting solutions company, announces the launch of its updated report – Animation Market in India 2012.

The report begins with a market overview section that includes information on the current and forecasted market size and growth of the Indian animation industry divided into various categories. It also provides a segmentation of the revenues and the expected change over 2010 to 2015. Further, it explains the existing revenue model for the animation industry.

The graph accompanying shows the division of revenue from overseas to that of the domestic market and application of animation platforms. The process flow chart for the animation industry has also been highlighted. Porter analysis helps towards understanding the dynamics in the animation sector.

Drivers identified include growing demand from the film industry which will boost the demand for animation. This is complemented by details regarding the rise in the budget for animation movies as well as an increase in the average realization. Another reason for the tremendous growth in the animation sector is that Indian animators are considerably cheaper compared to that of their Korean or US counterparts. Other important factors are the growth in the gaming market in India which uses animation in an extensive way. Establishment of various training institutes imparting animation training will create a large pool of animators.

Another important driver is tie-ups between various animation players and other companies which help the animators to supplement their revenues. Similarly, e-learning has many applications as far as the animation industry is concerned. As the e-learning industry is expected to grow at a steady rate so will the demand for applications using animation. Challenges identified are high set up cost of setting up a studio and manpower crunch.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ebfcab19/animation_market_i

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The opportunity and challenges of taking Indian TV content overseas - Indian Television

The opportunity and challenges of taking Indian TV content overseas

Viacom18 head - distribution & International Business and Sun18 COO- North

Indian broadcasters earn over Rs 10 billion every year from subscription and advertisement revenues and content sales from the International markets. This number has been steadily increasing over the last decade and should continue to grow.

Since this revenue source has started making substantial contributions to the bottom line of broadcasters, it is important for all to understand this opportunity and its related challenges in greater details.

The opportunity of taking Indian television content abroad can be simply explained with the 3 ‘E’s – Enormity of audiences, Emotional link and Economic value.

Enormity of audiences: The estimates for the NRI and PIO populations range between 25-30 million spread over 100 countries. There are more than 25 countries where the Indian overseas population crosses the hundred thousand (100,000) mark, and close to 60 countries where the population is above ten thousand (10,000) individuals. These numbers make for an attractive business opportunity for broadcasters to tap into this audience base. This becomes even more compelling since the Pareto principle applies here perfectly with the top 20 markets (of the 100+countries where Indians reside) accounting for over 80 per cent of the overseas Indian population, making it relatively easier to reach out to the larger audience pools.

Even regional content finds dedicated audiences with large linguistic pockets in countries like Malaysia and Singapore (Tamil), the Middle East (Malayalam), Canada and UK (Punjabi) for example.

Emotional links: Indian content is a very important tool for these communities to connect with their cultural roots. Thus the emotional involvement with Indian content is very high and Indian channels become a ‘must have’ for most of these families, thanks to shared cultural backgrounds.

Economic Value: The economic opportunity for broadcasters becomes significant as many of these large Diaspora markets have a fairly attractive ARPU (average revenue per user) – especially in the context of what the Indian broadcasters are used to back home. Given such high ARPUs, the license fee per channel (at least for the mainline GECs) in UK, US, Middle East etc can range from $1 per sub to as high as $ 7 per sub (especially on some a-la-carte options). This is a very different scenario from the domestic market (in India) where the consumer currently pays less than $4 for 80-100 channels to the cable operator and only a fraction of that gets passed back to the broadcasters.

The economics become even more attractive as the incremental costs to expand into overseas territories are largely limited to transport and marketing costs with content costs being minimal - largely because most Indian broadcasters own the content IP around the world for perpetuity (or at least multiple years in case of movies and events, etc)

However, this opportunity to get incremental revenues is not without its share of challenges. The big challenges impacting this business today are several.

Competition, clutter and bandwidth constraint: Given the attractiveness of the overseas market, most broadcasters after reaching some level of size, scale or maturity in the domestic market look at expanding
operations. However, the platforms (DTH or cable) in most markets cannot dedicate enough bandwidth to distribute all of these services. In many cases the platforms don’t see the need to go beyond offering a few channels and covering only the most critical genres like GECs and Movies. Thus for several channels and especially the late entrants, this reticence is a major entry barrier. And in many markets, very often when platforms add more services to existing packages/bouquets, they are doing so at the same retail price forcing the channels to further divide the revenue pie to accommodate the new players

Advertising opportunity remains limited: For most Indian broadcasters operating in the international arena,
subscription revenues tend to form the larger part of the revenues with the advertising sales revenues playing more of the support role. The key reason for this is the fact that the ‘desi’ channels target only the Diaspora audiences and not the mainstream viewers, thereby limiting the audience base. Given the small base, to keep cost per contact at manageable and affordable levels, the advertising-sales rates are extremely low.

Secondly as competition grows (and fragmentation increases), the same advertising dollar gets divided. And with the considerable slowdown in the global economy in the last few years and the recessionary trends in many of the large markets for Indian channels, that has also impacted the advertising revenues for the Indian broadcasters.

Piracy: This remains a huge and ever increasing threat to revenues for both the broadcasters as well as platforms. Internet streaming as well as the proliferation of many illegitimate OTT services poses a huge
danger for pay TV revenues.

The above challenges, along with the growing cost of local operations in many overseas territories, make it a tough task for many broadcasters looking to expand their international operations.

At Viacom18, in the short span of two years, Colors content has reached audiences in approximately 120 countries using a combination of channel distribution and content sales. For the key markets like the US/Canada, UK, Middle East, South East Asia and Australia/New Zealand/Fiji with their sizeable Indian audiences, we have set up three international feeds and local ad sales operations.

Colors, as a channel, is now distributed in close to 50 countries. This is complimented by our content sales in those markets where our audiences are the local mainstream audiences and not necessarily the Indian Diaspora. With the popularity of Bollywood transcending language and cultural barriers, more audiences are sampling Indian content which is amply demonstrated by the fact that our content is syndicated in 20 foreign languages in over 100 countries and where one of our leading daily soaps will now be produced locally in one of the African countries for the local audiences there – a first for an Indian show. In addition we are also subtitling our feeds in English and other local languages to cater to these mainstream audiences and bolster our subscription and ad-sales revenues.

In the final analysis, the challenges notwithstanding, it is essential for mainline Indian broadcasters to have an international strategy in place, the careful execution of which will result in substantial revenues to compliment their domestic businesses.

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Women chase opportunities overseas - Japan Times

The cosmopolitan cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong are attracting motivated Japanese women who are disillusioned by the hidebound culture of the business world at home.

My way: Naoko Kageyama, who launched a bridal business in China after experiencing gender discrimination in Japan, speaks to a customer during a makeup session last month in Shanghai. KYODO

Many Japanese women trying their luck there are apparently enjoying successful careers, or at least having a good time preparing for one.

Yoshie Nagashima, 39, decided to take a chance in China nine years ago when she was working for a major Japanese electronics maker.

In Japan, she was frequently accused of being too pushy, and whenever she received a favor from her boss it invited jealousy from her male colleagues.

"I can't stand this anymore," she recalled concluding at the time. Sensing the growth potential in China, Nagashima took herself to Shanghai and studied at a language school there for about a year.

She relaunched her career by joining a Japanese-affiliated company in China and then moved to a Taiwanese business consulting firm in Shanghai where she was the sole Japanese employee.

She was given the task of building connections with the political and business communities in the booming city in addition to performing her regular marketing duties.

"In Japan, I could never have been given the chance to take so much on my shoulders," she said.

She later moved to another Japanese firm operating in China to further her career. A year later she became its chief secretary.

Nagashima is one of many women working in Shanghai who left Japan because they felt they were being discriminated against for employment and promotions.

Their strength in China lies in communications skills honed while mingling with local residents, as well as traditional Japanese virtues like graceful manners and modesty acquired in Japan.

The women cite the entrenched male chauvinism as the main reason for abandoning Japan Inc.

For Michiko Kumoi, 29, Shanghai is a land of unlimited possibilities. "I feel I can do anything in the city," she said, describing it as an open-minded society ready to adopt new ideas instead of blindly rejecting them.

After working in Shanghai for a few years, she returned to Japan. But she went back to the city at the beginning of the year to take a marketing job. "I'll give it one more try."

Japanese women in Shanghai can earn the equivalent of up to ¥200,000 per month, which is lower than the pay in Japan. Yet they are willing to accept lower-paying jobs to climb the career ladder.

"We are enjoying the work in China because we know that what we are experiencing now will help us in the future," Kumoi said.

Pay is also modest in Hong Kong. "If you want to become rich, this is not the place for you," said Shinobu Aibara, 49, who teaches Japanese at the University of Honk Kong's School of Professional and Continuing Education.

A willingness to work hard and optimism backed by self-confidence are all that is needed to work in Hong Kong, she and other Japanese women working there said.

Such women are rewarded with equal business opportunities and can feel free from the rigid Japanese ideas about how women should behave in business, they said.

Some Japanese women are trying to start their own businesses, but this can involve major risks. The key to successfully launching a business is choosing the right partner.

But Naoko Kageyama, 34, has ditched those fears.

"I have nothing to lose. What should I be afraid of?" asked Kageyama, who launched a bridal business in Shanghai. "I don't know what things will be like one year from now. That's an exciting thing."

View the original article here

Women chase opportunities overseas - Japan Times

The cosmopolitan cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong are attracting motivated Japanese women who are disillusioned by the hidebound culture of the business world at home.

My way: Naoko Kageyama, who launched a bridal business in China after experiencing gender discrimination in Japan, speaks to a customer during a makeup session last month in Shanghai. KYODO

Many Japanese women trying their luck there are apparently enjoying successful careers, or at least having a good time preparing for one.

Yoshie Nagashima, 39, decided to take a chance in China nine years ago when she was working for a major Japanese electronics maker.

In Japan, she was frequently accused of being too pushy, and whenever she received a favor from her boss it invited jealousy from her male colleagues.

"I can't stand this anymore," she recalled concluding at the time. Sensing the growth potential in China, Nagashima took herself to Shanghai and studied at a language school there for about a year.

She relaunched her career by joining a Japanese-affiliated company in China and then moved to a Taiwanese business consulting firm in Shanghai where she was the sole Japanese employee.

She was given the task of building connections with the political and business communities in the booming city in addition to performing her regular marketing duties.

"In Japan, I could never have been given the chance to take so much on my shoulders," she said.

She later moved to another Japanese firm operating in China to further her career. A year later she became its chief secretary.

Nagashima is one of many women working in Shanghai who left Japan because they felt they were being discriminated against for employment and promotions.

Their strength in China lies in communications skills honed while mingling with local residents, as well as traditional Japanese virtues like graceful manners and modesty acquired in Japan.

The women cite the entrenched male chauvinism as the main reason for abandoning Japan Inc.

For Michiko Kumoi, 29, Shanghai is a land of unlimited possibilities. "I feel I can do anything in the city," she said, describing it as an open-minded society ready to adopt new ideas instead of blindly rejecting them.

After working in Shanghai for a few years, she returned to Japan. But she went back to the city at the beginning of the year to take a marketing job. "I'll give it one more try."

Japanese women in Shanghai can earn the equivalent of up to ¥200,000 per month, which is lower than the pay in Japan. Yet they are willing to accept lower-paying jobs to climb the career ladder.

"We are enjoying the work in China because we know that what we are experiencing now will help us in the future," Kumoi said.

Pay is also modest in Hong Kong. "If you want to become rich, this is not the place for you," said Shinobu Aibara, 49, who teaches Japanese at the University of Honk Kong's School of Professional and Continuing Education.

A willingness to work hard and optimism backed by self-confidence are all that is needed to work in Hong Kong, she and other Japanese women working there said.

Such women are rewarded with equal business opportunities and can feel free from the rigid Japanese ideas about how women should behave in business, they said.

Some Japanese women are trying to start their own businesses, but this can involve major risks. The key to successfully launching a business is choosing the right partner.

But Naoko Kageyama, 34, has ditched those fears.

"I have nothing to lose. What should I be afraid of?" asked Kageyama, who launched a bridal business in Shanghai. "I don't know what things will be like one year from now. That's an exciting thing."

View the original article here

Govt urged to encourage overseas investment

Home » business » Govt urged to encourage overseas investment SIRIPORN CHANJINDAMANEE
THE NATION January 24, 2012 1:00 am

Few companies here have gone overseas compared with other countries. Their biggest problem is a lack of knowledge of investment regulations in their targeted countries, so they lack the motivation to explore business opportunities.

Firms also want to have more middlemen such as banks to help them invest in the targeted countries.

Patamaporn Nitichai, a research specialist at the Capital Market Research Institute of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, said yesterday that although Thailand's investment overseas is growing, it is still low.

The investment has come from big corporations and the same group of companies, particularly in the energy sector. Most were through mergers and acquisitions. Total investment overseas by Thai listed companies from 2006 to 2010 reached Bt204 billion, accounting for 93 per cent of total M&A value. Thailand's overseas investment focuses on Australia and North America.

Malaysia and Singapore are more aggressive than Thailand about investing outside their borders. Particularly businesses with close contacts with their government have great opportunities to invest around the world.

Banks in Malaysia and Singapore have reaped business benefits overseas by combining with local banks in targeted countries. However, Thai banks prefer to open branches to serve Thai traders and investors in those countries.

Thai investors also complain about double taxation. The Thai government collects taxes on dividends and their investment overseas. Parent companies have struggled with cash management and cannot spend their accumulated funds for further investment in their subsidiaries abroad.

"We found that dividend payment to shareholders increased by 28.6 per cent from the double taxation that companies had to pay to the government," Patamaporn said.

Thailand will lose business opportunities if those problems are not solved, he said, particularly with the coming of seamless trade under the Asean Economic Community. Companies cannot access resources and technology from expanding in major markets.

The government should draw up a more comprehensive investment-promotion plan and ease barriers to Thai investors. These steps should help upgrade Thailand into an investment hub in the region by drawing more foreign investors, Patamaporn said. Singapore, for instance, has waived corporate income tax derived from overseas investment.

The government should also draw up an aggressive plan by allowing state-run enterprises with potential to go ahead with investing overseas. This strategy would allow the state companies to grow from their return on investment.

Commercial banks should also do more to stimulate Thailand's investment abroad, especially by investing in banks outside the country. Customer bases in foreign countries will also support bank expansion, he said.

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