The 10^th edition of the CII Big Picture Summit, being organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry in partnership with Prasar Bharati, got off to a great start virtually on 17^th November with Chairman, Telecom Regulatory of India (TRAI), Dr P D Vaghela extolling the power of digital media andexhorting industry to ensure hundred per cent television penetration in the country. The theme of the summit is Scaling New Heights of Content, Creativity and Innovation.

Speaking in the Inaugural Session, Secretary Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Shri Apurva Chandra, announced expansion of the scope of projection of India’s M&E story abroad. He further stated that the creation of a Broadcast Seva Portal provides a single point facility to various stakeholders providing an efficient and transparent regime for the Broadcast Sector. The government is also working towards creating a National Centre of Excellence for AVGC and the Film Facilitation Office is working to help with theatre opening approvals. In addition to participation in all major international film festivals, India will also participate in international festivals in animation, gaming and visual effects from 2022 onwards, said Mr Chandra, acknowledging the rising stakes of the AVGC sector in media and entertainment industry.

Shri Chandra added that the Government would like to have light touch regulation and act more as facilitators. The industry has been showing huge growth in the past 20 years, and we are set to reach USD 100 billion soon, he said.

The Indian Media & Entertainment industry is transforming into a key driver of economic growth both domestically and internationally, while simultaneously employing a significant portion of the population and has transformed into a focal point of the Indian economy.

CEO, Prasar Bharati, Shri Shashi Shekhar Vempati, spoke at length about the public broadcaster scaling new heights of content, creativity and innovation by converting archival footage into modern shareable file formats. Convergence of television and radio content through technology was the way forward, he said.

The 10^th edition of the CII Big Picture summit 2021 provides a platform for all the stakeholders of the industry to converge in order to create a robust and holistic environment that will allow for the Indian M&E industry to reach the US$ 100 billion mark that it has set for itself while focusing on policy initiatives to drive the segment forward.

As with every year, the two-day summit will witness a host of sessions, covering the entire spectrum of the media and entertainment industry. These include broadcasting and television, OTT, films, animation & visual effects, gaming, advertising, news and publishing. Sessions have been structured to cover both horizontal issues as well as issues which are specific to particular sectors.

Over 80 speakers will be discussing issues like striking the right balance between sense and sensibility; enabling policy for scaling new heights; the issue of talent in industry and ways to overcome its shortages; the growing clout of cloud technology in media and entertainment; a larger vision for television; the future of theatricals; digital payments in digital India; OTT being the new face of television; the power of regional content; value creation in AVGC and e-sports and are publishers sitting on a potential goldmine of unpublished and archival content.

Giving an overview of the media and entertainment sector, Mr K Madhavan, Chairman, CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment and Country Manager & President, The Walt Disney Company India & Star Indiapresented CII’s big pitch for India’s M&E industry which is being seen as the next big growth story from India.

Shri Siddharth Roy Kapur stated that if Korea can have its K-pop culture ruling the world, there is no reason why India with a 100-year old film and entertainment industry, should not be riding a similar wave across the world, said Mr Kapur.

Saurabh Singh