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    Mukesh Ambani wants to premiere movies in homes. Can he pull it off?

    Synopsis

    The service, called 'First Day First Show', has the potential to disrupt how people watch movies in the country.

    Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani's ambitious plan to enable premium JioFiber customers watch movies in their living rooms on the day of the release has caused a flutter among various stakeholders in the entertainment industry.

    The service, called 'First Day First Show', is expected to launch by mid-2020. While Ambani didn't disclose any specific details on the service, it has the potential to disrupt how people watch movies in the country.

    This was evident from the fact that shares of PVR and Inox Leisure, two of India's largest multiplex operators, plunged on Tuesday, a day after the announcement.

    Both the multiplex operators have also issued media statements over the past two days, defending the long-existing theatrical window and how both theatres and home viewing will likely co-exist.

    Inox pointed out that producers, distributors and multiplex owners in India have mutually agreed to an exclusive theatrical window of 8 weeks, between the theatrical release of a movie, and release on any other platform, which is critical for the financial viability of all the segments of the sector.

    "The producer of the film is the owner of the creative content and is therefore entitled to choose the platform for distribution and consumption of his content. However, in view of this mutually agreed exclusive theatrical window, he would have to choose between theatrical exhibition or release on any other platform, since release on both simultaneously would breach the mutually agreed exclusive theatrical window" it said in a statement.




    PVR noted that theatrical release window has been a valuable model for both exhibitors and producers, who have respected the release windows and kept a sacrosanct gap between the theatrical release date & the date of release on all other platforms like OTT, DVD, DTH and TV among others.

    "Cinemas continue bringing people together to share a communal experience, this unreplaceable element which is at the core of theatrical experience, continues to deliver a robust box office performance not just in growing market such as India but also in the more matured markets such as USA, China, Europe etc. where Cinemas have regularly competed with many similar initiatives, e.g. Netflix Original Movies etc" it said.

    Interestingly, this development comes at a time when theatre chains across the world are raising similar concerns on the films by streaming services like Netflix which has streamed original movies at the same time, or just a few weeks after, their debut in cinemas.

    Also read: Cinema vs. streaming: The battle over when and where you can see movies

    To be sure, this is not the first time such a service has been attempted. Rajshri Media's 'Vivaah' movie was premiered online way back in 2006, and over the time, several other movies and video streaming services like Spuul have also attempted this model, however, they have mostly been restricted to International markets, thereby essentially acting as an additional distribution channel.

    In 2012, actor Kamal Haasan had attempted to release his film Vishwaroopam on DTH platforms prior to its theatrical release, but later dropped the plans following threats of a complete theatre boycott.

    Content offering

    While platforms like Netflix and Amazon are increasingly emerging as an alternate distribution channel for small budget movies, owing to non-availability of theatre screens, filmmakers still retain the exclusive theatrical window for big-budget and tentpole movies in the country.

    Hence, it will be worth keeping an eye on what movies will Jio offer when the service launches next year. It is likely that future productions of the conglomerate's Jio Studios will be a part of it. Jio Studios has previously backed Hindi movies like Stree and Luka Chuppi and has announced a series of movie productions for next year.

    Reliance also has stakes in various production houses, including a controlling 51% stake in Viacom18 that houses Viacom18 Studios, a 5% stake in Eros International and a 25% stake in Balaji Telefilms, although it is not clear whether movies from these production houses will be part of the service.

    That said, for the service to become successful, it needs to bring in potential blockbusters or movies with A-list actors to the service, which could hurt the revenues of offline distributors and exhibitors.

    Theatrical box office (domestic and overseas) contributed to about 75%, of the overall filmed entertainment revenues of Rs 17,450 crore in 2018, according to a FICCI-EY March 2019 report.

    As ET reported earlier today, the service could also have implications on the mall economy, jeopardising their revenue streams. Lesser theatrical audience could also have revenue implications on the business of online ticketing platforms like BookMyShow and Paytm.

    Read: How video streaming is rapidly changing India's movie business
    ( Originally published on Aug 14, 2019 )
    The Economic Times

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