Comments on: 1m x $100 Plans

By: Martiner

Martiner — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 01:05:40 +0000

Online DVD is really a good Idea.
I think we have to shed out of lot of money on Liscensing fee.
Not sure , anyone can confirm.
Do a liscence is required in INDIA for renting?

Regs
Martinet

By: IM

IM — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 07:17:20 +0000

We have a solution to the network thing.Was looking at consumption of media through the internet, esp. desi soaps over internet.The Comcasts and other players do not offer the long tail and have higher rate fixed subscription - mediocre content.But the bottlenecks we are facing have been typically on convincing copyrights for content.Anybody form the Media groups who wants to pitch in?? Yes there is more to it.. but one of the crux for drawing revenues.
Drop me a line if anyone here can bridge that Gap!

By: Ajay Vohora

Ajay Vohora — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 15:45:52 +0000

Does online DVD rental make sound sense in the face of Telco’s and broadcasters deploying video on demand services on mulitple platforms (mobile, IPTV, PC) ? These services are being deployed, or scheduled for deployment in Europe and East Asia. Time will tell if the economics work for this business model, but there is a clear threat (and downward pressure on profit margins) to any incumbent model relying on physical distribution of DVDs, rather than electronic distribution.

Of course, with the right partnership agreements, there’s no reason why an online DVD distribution business could not establish a brand identity and also offer movies for purchase and download. 2007 will see video over the internet really kick in - more so than the clips you can download of YouTube / Google . . . . . Google Video Advertising anyone?

Also, there’s an IT development house in Bangalore that can already sell you the entire IT infrastructure to operate a DVD e-commerce “business in a box”. Just add management.

Ciao from Cambridge (UK).

By: Sanjay Mehta

Sanjay Mehta — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 09:34:34 +0000

Moser Baer’s announcement of Indian film DVDs to be sold at Rs. 38 will change the whole online DVD rental business opportunity! Why would I want to rent when I can buy? Also any kind of remote delivery, whether by courier or hand delivery will have a COST of AT LEAST Rs. 5-10 on the logistics portion.

Will be interesting to see seventymm’s strategy in the face of this development.

By: viper

viper — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 06:48:31 +0000

Moserbaer has just launched dvds of Hindi movies for Rs38 (7000 titles)… I think we can remove online movie rental from the list of $100M ventures… What will this mean to 70mm?

By: Ankit

Ankit — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 10:08:02 +0000

I believe for online businesses like online photo printing, the market is not only driven by interent penetration or pricing. It is also affected by the quality of the service and the extra value being added for the consumer. Value addition could be the simplicity of user interface, timely delivery, good customer service. And in this regard, www.itasveer.com is doing a great job.
Even with online presence, there could be entry barriers and first mover advantage. This depends on how smartly you plan it and implement it.

However, the offline presence with online can definitely provide a greater value and can help in reaching the wider audience if managed with good logistics support.

By: Savita

Savita — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 09:17:07 +0000

Contrary to what others think about online DVD rental. I do think there is a pretty good business opportunity there as more internet penetration happens in urban india and people become net savvy - not just for online ticketing but other forms of e-commerce & even m-commerce.

Just caught up with the online DVD rental business. After much reluctance, almost 3-4 years, last year in the US, I finally caught on to the Netflix bug. Needless to say it was very convenient, and the collection was quite nice. Ofcourse, we didn’t use it very much just becoz of lack of time (fasttrack MBA prog meant I was just catching up on sleep in the weekends).

Anyways, we are back here in B’lore since June 06. We live in BTM, which one could say is a very ‘Ammami land’, middle class locality. In the US, we would just go 10 mins before a movie started, or just buy ticket online 30 mins before and in 5 mins reach the nearest theatre. Here we have had trouble just finding a decent seat even after trying to book tickets 2 days in advance. There are no DVD rental shops which have a wide range of collection, esp of Hollywood movies we haven’t seen as yet or were released 4-5 months back in the US. Going outside BTM means driving in the night through the ocean of traffic.

Needless to say, its been one of those frustrating moments or regrets about being back here.

REcently, I was looking at funding from Matrix partners when I ran into their recent investment in ‘Seventymm’. Boy! were we thrilled or what ! We love the idea and may be this weekend we are signing up. Atleast the guy will drop off and pick up the DVDs. With Netflix I had to remember to drop off in the Post Box.Now I don’t have to worry about that.

One of my profs in b-school used to say you don’t have to always come up with a original idea for a business. Just copy something which was done elsewhere and twist it a little bit in a new market. Seventymm has got same look & feel as Netflix.

By: Sanjay Mehta

Sanjay Mehta — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 14:08:47 +0000

A long tail works best when there is a fundamental larger body also. The long tail by itself, not have height - just a length. I would doubt if it can add up to serious numbers at the end of the day. Now, if a more generic DVD rental space was workable, and to make it more interesting, you also support it with these niche long tail titles, that is fine.

Otherwise it can be an interesting business to do on the side, but I doubt if it would have the potential to become a huge leadership level business.

By: Deepak Shenoy

Deepak Shenoy — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 08:02:14 +0000

I think there are off beat Indian movies that would appeal to many too. The long tail, really, and would surely kick off in India. Bengali movies in Bangalore, Tamil movies in Delhi, Malayalam movies in Dubai (or frankly, anywhere in the world :))

A niche to start the market going would be cool - get into the group through affiliate links which involve discounting, and push it forward. Meaning, I get an Anil Bannerjee to sign up as an affiliate and then I ask him to mail around saying “Rent Bengali videos at Rs. 100 only, 20% discount for members” and points to anilb.bengali.thelongtailofmovies.com.

This then ensures a small affiliate revenue and a discounting model that ensures people use the affiliate instead of coming directly (you have to do that in India. promote your affiliates blatantly).

Do this for languages, genres (Oldies, TheNervous90s, Religious etc) and for actors (AmitabhBachchan, ShahRukhKhan). Affiliates chose a main stream where they list - either “General” or language specific or a genre/actor. And allow them to provide secondary links to other areas.

Easy to do, talking from a technical angle. It’s all about the business though. Focus on the business model, and build for India, not America. I mean hand delivery of DVDs, renting DVD players alongside, offline shops or affiliates who can use their houses as C&F - Not MLM, but SLM, meaning single level marketing, rather than the crazy stuff that the Amway types promote.

Maybe wholesale is also an idea where rental shops can call you and ask for specific DVDs that they don’t have.

Hmm.

By: Viper

Viper — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 08:51:49 +0000

Regarding online DVD libraries: Is there any market for off-beat movies ? I think libraries that have a collection which is not available in the local dvd store and the usual music stores may be a decent bet. For eg: Award winning french/german movies. Considering the number of people who flock to Alliance Francaise and Max Mueller Bhavan, it may be a wise choice or even Hollywood movies which never get released in India.