CIOIN

Ajay Kumar Meher

Sr. VP-IT & New Media, MSM

It resulted in cost savings to the tune of Rs 6 lakh a month. We saved over Rs 1.2 crore in a year

Executive summary

How broadcasting company MSM’s digital content transfer strategy saved it over a crore a year.

The Organization: MSM, popularly known as SET India, is the television business of Sony Pictures Television International in India. Its bouquet of channels includes Sab TV, Set Max and Sony Pix. It operates in a segment (media and entertainment) that, according to the latest FICCI-KPMG report, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16 percent and touch Rs 63,000 crore by 2015.

But in 2010, a perfect storm of circumstance eroded MSM’s ability to bite deep into that pie.

The Business Case: Despite operating in an industry characterized by creativity and innovation, some of MSM’s business processes plodded. Take the way it transferred its content, for example. “We used to send over 30 hours of fresh content (about 250 GB) including episodes, promos, and TV commercials to our broadcast center in Singapore everyday--via courier. The content was sent on about 45 digital tapes,” says Ajay Kumar Meher, sr. VP-IT and New Media, MSM.

This approach had limitations. For instance, it left no scope for content repurposing and it made it impossible for MSM’s creative team to make last minute changes to its programming.

At the same time, the cost of the tapes and the courier service was high. The problem was compounded when changes in custom regulations made it practically unfeasible for MSM to use the services of a courier. The alternative of flying staff to Singapore was expensive. “For the next four to five months, MSM Mumbai hand-couriered its tapes to Singapore everyday. We were shelling out between $800-1000 (about Rs 36,000-Rs 45,000) a day,” says Meher.

The Solution: It was time to take decisive action. Meher knew he could help by digitizing MSM’s content and using a WAN to transfer programming to Singapore. It was an idea whose time had come. According to a FICCI-KPMG report, digitizing content is a current and pronounced trend in the Indian television industry. That’s due to two reasons: The increasing cost of content storage using tapes, and the ability to move digital data seamlessly across the production chain without high overhead costs and logistical challenges.

In January 2010, Meher chose a solution called Digital Rapid that would help with the digitizing. Using a WAN, however, wasn’t as easy a solution. It’s cost was prohibitive. MSM required 45 MBps to transfer content. Meher decided to have a word with his service provider, Airtel.

“I told them that we would use bandwidth only at night. They saw a benefit in this deal because they could get a price for their unutilized bandwidth,” he says.

The Benefits: The new system went live on April 15, 2010. And it started saving money immediately. “It resulted in cost savings to the tune of Rs 6 lakh a month. We saved over Rs 1.2 crore in a year,” says Meher.

Better still, it opened up a new revenue stream for MSM. “We are now digitally-enabled to repurpose our content. Our syndication team can monetize this and resell content,” says Meher.