MUMBAI: Paramount Global President and CEO Bob Bakish is positive about the Indian market and expects that Viacom18 has a potential future here. The company has a stake in Viacom18 along with majority owner Reliance Industries (RIL) and new entrant Bodhi Tree Systems. Among other things, he noted that India will be incremental in Paramount+'s subscriber guidance of 100 million.
In a conference call to announce the first-quarter results, he said, "India is a fundamentally attractive market. It’s a market that’s already at scale and has a tremendous future ahead of it in the context of media. As I think you know, since its inception, Viacom18 has been a significant player in the market. And the recent agreement with Bodhi Tree, we look at that as a compelling way to drive the next level of growth. And obviously, they’re going to make a significant capital infusion into the business."
He highlighted three things about the country. "The first thing is, we like Viacom18. It’s the model we like. It has broad reach television networks, including the market-leading colors brand, combined with a film business, hindi film business, it’s both national and regional, and of course has streaming assets as well, all underpinned by a strong local content engine. So, that’s the model we like in general," he added.
"Second thing is, our core partner there is Reliance. That’s arguably the most powerful company in India. And they also own the telecom market leader, Jio. So, we think that’s great. And as I said, now, Viacom18 is set up to be an even bigger player in the market, including in streaming. So, we look at that as a great opportunity for Paramount+. As we said -- as I said in my remarks, we’re going to enter in 2023 in -- and we’re going to do so in a very capital efficient, hard bundle way. And so, we think that’s a great route into that market. And I would also note that India will be incremental to our 100 million sub guidance. It’s early days. So, we’re still at the point of deciding what we want to put out there. But it’s incremental to our guide," Bakish added.
But when asked about the IPL rights coming up he clarified that there is no plan to put cricket on Paramount+. "But remember what I said. It’s a hard bundle strategy, which means Paramount+ will travel with other assets. And therefore, we believe there’s a real opportunity to benefit from cricket without having to pay for it on Paramount+. So, that assumes of course that the asset ends up in a certain place. But that’s the answer for India. Again, we’re tremendously excited about that market, about our partner, Reliance, about Bodhi Tree coming in and benefiting from a leadership position therein," he added.
Last month RIL and Viacom18 announced a strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems. Bodhi Tree is a joint venture between James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and media and entertainment industry veteran Uday Shankar. As a result of the move, Paramount Global had reduced its stake in Viacom18.
