Media giant Google’s video sharing site YouTube India site has been garnering increasing eyeballs even as up 72 hours of video are being uploaded every minute. Users rely on Youtube for every possible category of internet viewing, be it music videos, lifestyle content or even television soaps. YouTube’s India Head of media sales, Praveen Sharma, in a candid conversation with Radioandmusic.com shares insights of what’s going with Indian consumers and also what they are consuming and where it sees things going.
The world’s biggest search site Google’s video sharing site YouTube is a major force in the entertainment industry in India. Right from music videos to film promos to television soaps to lifestyle content, users depend on YouTube. Radioandmusic.com caught up with Google India Head of media sales Praveen Sharma for an inside view of YouTube India operations and the demographic makeup of its users.
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Can you give us a demographic break up of YouTube users- in India? How does it differ from global audience demography?
YouTube’s growth is powered by some of advertisers’ most attractive audiences: more than 70 per cent of YouTube’s viewers in India fall under the bar of 35, while 72 per cent have a college degree or higher. YouTube’s audience in India closely follows the demographic composition of web users in India. What’s interesting to note is that out of all YouTube users – 40 per cent are women- it’s a group we call “Generation C”- because they thrive on 4Cs: Creation, Community, Curation and Connection.
What is the most popular content on YouTube (India) and how fast is the viewer base growing? Has the advertisement base also grown accordingly?
Bollywood trailers, music videos and TV shows form a large chunk of the content consumption in India. That said, ‘How to’ categories like: Cooking, Education, Technology reviews, beauty, make up and fitness are also seeing fast paced growth. YouTube has over 40 million unique users a month as per com score and the user base is doubled every year. This growth in user base has attracted more premium content partners and which has attracted advertisers. The viewership of all digital content including online video has gone multi- screen with over 30 per cent views coming from mobile devices. Due to which advertisers are seeing value in using the online video platforms for engaging audiences and we are very pleased with the growth we are seeing in India. We can safely say that YouTube is now integral to any video based media plan.
What role does YouTube and parent Google play in promoting and disseminating online entertainment data in India? How effective is YouTube/ the Internet for new songs- Bollywood or indie track?
YouTube today is the most popular online destination for videos. India’s leading content creators from Bollywood, music industry and broadcasters use YouTube to drive consumption of their content across the globe. With over a billion users worldwide, YouTube today is the single biggest platform for content distribution online. 63 per cent of internet-savvy Indians using YouTube watch music videos.
Any new investment planned for FY14?
We don’t talk about investments but I can tell you that YouTube is one of our big bets in India and we will continue to invest in resources like developing the partner ecosystem and support through a variety of initiatives.
Any plans to launch an online radio station? Also: Any plans for subscriber-driven content?
We are a pure play video platform and we do not comment on any speculation around our products. We are piloting pay per subscriptions in some markets depending on the response we will consider bringing it to other markets.
