The way we consume content will change drastically" - Saleem Mobhani Chief Operating Officer, Hungama Mobile
Saleem Mobhani speaks about the Mobile Content Industry in India
 01. Can you give us an insight into the trends in the mobile content industry?
Digital entertainment started with ventures like TIVO that allow a viewer to pause programmes, record telecast, etc. It is giving the consumer the choice to decide ‘what to consume’ and more importantly ‘how to consume’.
In the future television broadcast would lose some of its share since a lot of programming will be channelled through the internet and delivered to PEDs (Personal Entertainment Devices). The PED used to consume entertainment will differ from person to person. It could be an Xbox, Playstation, television, laptop, PC, mobiles, etc.
The way we consume content will change drastically. In fact there are already signs of the change. YouTube gets more views than ABC and NBC combined.
02. What are some of the challenges one faces in this industry?
The mobile entertainment industry is not a set model like the steel industry. In the developed sectors there are set patterns of work and methods whereas in our industry, we have to go about creating the processes from scratch.
Entertainment is getting more and more personalised for each user. We are no longer a nation of just one Buniyaad or Mahabharat where the entire nation watches the same telecast religiously. There is an increasing divide in the market with regards to consumer preferences creating multiple niches.
03. What kind of people are suited to your industry?
We need people who can innovate. If some one comes up with an attitude that ‘I know exactly what the consumer wants the solutions developed by that individual hardly have any innovation involved. It is people who don’t have much knowledge and are willing to experiment who end up developing good solutions.
We hire people with all kinds of backgrounds. We have a mechanical engineer, a former teacher, some one who wanted to start a rock band among our employees. I myself used to be in banking. It is ultimately the passion that drives one in this industry.
04. What are the kind of technologies you work on?
The technologies that we use are customised for our organisation. We need to have specialised software. When Zee started out in 1992, they realised that there was a lack of infrastructure in the industry for television. There were no softwares available for television in the market and also there was a lack of editing facilities when they started with Antakshri. However, in our case there were no set procedures etc hence we had to develop and customise all the technologies we use.
05. Where do you see this industry in the future?
By 2010 the mobile content industry will be worth 42 billion dollar (US) globally with India contributing a significant part of the revenues. Even as far as employee strength is concerned we plan to increase it from 250 to 500 employees in the next three years.
Also, at this point there is very little direct marketing to consumers. However, with retail expanding we will have a chance to directly target the consumer with mobile content
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