While Netflix
NFLX
and Amazon Prime
AMZN
have bagged several major projects ever since movie theaters were closed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, one digital platform expanded its horizon without the catalyst of big names in the entertainment industry. MX Player, which originally started as a video player, has not only widened its reach with the new found entertainment viewership in India, it also boasts to have added 50 new brands for advertisement on the platform.

In an interview, MX Player CEO Karan Bedi talks about the vision and plans of the platform, the revenue model and how things have changed post the lockdown that was imposed in India mid-March and ended May 31. As per the latest guidelines from the Indian government, movie theaters and multiplexes will remain shut at least till August 31.

Apart from offering movies, TV shows, gaming, videos and a few live TV channels, MX Player also has a range of original projects including the much-talked about Gautham Menon’s Queen (starring Ramya Krishnan in a role modeled on late chief minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa) and the more recent one, Prakash Jha’s Aashram that marks digital debut of Bobby Deol.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Sweta Kaushal: How is MX Player different from other OTT platforms?

Karan Bedi: We started as a simple media player – something that would help you watch videos – so we have a scale that no one else has. Second, we are not an OTT – we are an entertainment super app. We’ve got video, we also offer to stream – we have just gained music streaming. And now we’ve got a fairly large casual gaming platform where you can play tournament style games on MX. We didn’t come from a broadcast background, so there was no baggage or limitations for the target audience. There are hundreds of millions of 4G smartphone users in India, and with our positioning, we cater to around 400 million of them. Our platform reaches out to over 200 million every month.

Kaushal: That’s a major claim.

Bedi: Yeah, we are on a very, very large platform. After launching in October 2018, we started marketing our service in early February 2019. We’ve been live for less than 18 months as a consumption platform. And it’s been a very, very phenomenal rate of growth. And today we are over 200 million people on the platform every month.

Kaushal: What is your revenue model? How do you work on that?

Bedi: We are completely AVOD. Customers can watch ad-led content they like for free. The content that been able to curate and create (originals, in particular) , it has been a strategy led by saying, ‘look, these are the customer bases that we have. This is the customer base that we’re targeting’. And on that basis, we have created content for them. We’ve done deals, including with broadcasters, who create content that we think is relevant in the space.

Kaushal: And how have things changed with the lockdown?

Bedi: The lockdown has had a very positive impact on any stay-at-home business, right? I think there have been a few exciting things. First, there has been a fundamental change in thinking from television to OTT in last three to four months. With the lockdown, OTT has become mainstream media today. 

I would say that the consumption or the reach front on video OTT is rivaling that of TV. On TV, we look at it from the perspective of 200 million households and four and a half people per household, and we’re getting to the 900 million number. For on demand video platform, we’re talking about 400 or 500 million people, but individually addressable 400-500 million actual screens. So just the sheer number of screens available for digital, is more than double of what TV is. 

And I think that, maybe it’s too early to tell, but maybe this year is also when digital advertising takes over TV. The overall ad spend is also heading in that direction and I think even if it doesn’t take it over, it’ll come very, very close. 

Kaushal: How have these changes in the way people are consuming the entertainment changed how things work for your business? Are you getting a fresh set of ads your platform?

Bedi: So two key points here. One is that now, this has become the norm. If you want to get to your customer, this is the way you want to get to it right today. That money (for advertising on digital platforms) has moved in past two or three months – something that would have otherwise taken two to three years to happen. I think what happened because of this (the pandemic and lockdown closing down outdoor entertainment venues) is that everyone tore up their media plans and had to reevaluate how much to spend, where to spend it. And what that did was it prompted a complete revaluation of all media and saying, okay, let us focus on what is working for us rather than what incremental shift from last year as last year is now just erased from the system.

So we, MX, have landed over 50 new brands during lockdown alone. Lots of new folks are trying us out. And lots of these folks are happy we even did repeat business of those brands. It’s been a very, very positive sort of outcome. I mean, I think not just for MX; I think probably even for other players in video, especially for us because the scale and reach.

The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.