Vinson Kurian

Mr K. Krishna, Senior Director, Marketing, Hughes Escorts Communications

Thiruvananthapuram , June 7

HUGHES Escorts Communications Ltd has signed up with a couple of digital cinema service providers for building a network for E-cinema distribution.

Giving an update on the fledgling digital cinema industry, Mr K. Krishna, Senior Director, Marketing, Hughes Escorts Communications, said that a new set of service providers is emerging. "For want of a better name, they can be called as E-cinema/D (Digital)-cinema service providers. These service providers work with theatres and distributors to create a network platform over which the movies can be digitally transmitted and exhibited. As this network is expected to fast expand, the logistics of delivering the digital content gains relevance."

Worldwide, satellite is the preferred medium of choice for delivering this digital content to movie theatres. Once a reliable and cost-effective medium is in place, it further throws open a host of opportunities for this industry. They include pre-show content, such as advertisements, concerts, and so on.

This also enables digital signage at theatres. Hosting ATMs in theatres is also a possibility, Mr Krishna said.

The major initiative of Hughes Escorts Communications for the current year is to drive a value-driven model for the service providers. "We strongly believe that unless and until the service providers succeed in their business model, it would not be a win-win strategy."

On his assessment of the Indian industry, he said it faces the challenge any sunrise industry would — the success of the business model. "Theatre-owners do not want to invest before they see what is in it for them. So, currently, some of the equipment manufacturers have taken a lead in seeding the market themselves, by either leasing equipment or themselves turning into digital cinema service providers."

The second problem that would arise is, as these networks grow big, the digital cinema service providers could potentially have the power to negotiate directly with the producers, cutting out the distributors. So the distributors are also trying to upgrade themselves to play a key role in this value chain. The prospects are quite bright as this would set the cash registers ringing by curbing piracy.

Mr Krishna clarified that there is no role that any regulatory body could possibly play specifically in the case of digital cinema. All regulations that apply to conventional cinema are applicable to this medium as well. But the Government can help in bringing in some standards so that monopolies are not formed. Virtually any theatre should be in a position to play any movie, irrespective of which digital cinema service provider they are hooked to, he said.

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