PC8217;s new role

Screwvala was speaking at the launch of Priyanka Chopras voice blog,voice chat and YouTube channel in collaboration with UTV Interactive,UTVs new media arm. Priyanka has started her voice blogs on her life behind the camera lens. Fans can get exclusive insights into her life by dialing 5111 from their personal phones across different carriers. They will have to pay Rs 10 per month to listen in to Priyankas blogs that will number between four and five per week. The actress also launched voice chats,a first-of-its-kind application developed by UTV Interactive,where fans can personally talk with the star on their mobiles. The service is designed to allow fans to talk to Priyanka on a day and time preferable by her for Rs 30 per month.

Associating with the most popular online video-site in the worldYouTube,UTV Interactive has also launched a dedicated video channel for the actress by creating an exclusive web destination,accessible at http://www.youtube.com/priyankachopra,offering fans an opportunity to get up close and personal through some interesting video content. The channel currently has videos of some chirpy moments from Priyankas personal life where her love for photography,oceans,coffee etc. are showcased.

India has approximately about 50 million active Internet users and the growth rate is increasing at a phenomenal rate of 17 per cent year on year. The Indian Value Added Service VAS market is pegged at Rs 15,000 crore,reaching out to consumers through various touch-points such as SMS,WAP,Data platforms and Voice. No wonder Screwvala sounds optimistic about opportuntiies in the New Media. Music is a Rs 400-500 business in India. On the mobile platform,the same industry is worth Rs 5000 crore, he said. He added that while the television broadcast industry has about 85 million subscribers to woo today,mobiles can currently target over 600 million subscirbers in the country.

Manish Agarwal,CEO,Interactive-UTV,said,India being a celebrity- crazy nation,celebrity- based content would be a unique offering to Indians across the globe with a huge untapped potential. We are partnering exclusively with some of the most popular celebrities across all regions to create interesting and original content across the web and mobile. Priyanka Chopra,who is very tech-savvy,is the ideal partner for UTV Interactive to take the celebrities-based digital platform.

Its all about maintaining a human connection. I have an interactive fan-base spread across the world. Im excited to extend that touch-point with the launch of my voice blog,voice chat and official YouTube channel. These are innovative,unexplored platforms, Priyanka said about her new digital destinations.

UTV Interactive recently announced their foray into aggregating celebrities across the mobile and web. Their first celebrity client,in fact,was John Abraham. Offering millions of fans an access and interactivity to their favourite stars,UTV is conceptualising and monetising the digital persona of celebrities across various touch points.

We dont upload voyueristic stuff. The stars create original and impressionable content for their fans. New media blogs is not time-consuming and offers the star instant feedback, Screwvala said. He added that Priyankas phenomenal presence on Twitter she has the highest number of followers amongst Bollywood celebrities with 6,90,689 fans is not likely to dent potential subscribers for her channel and voice blog. You can service your fan clubs and publicise for films on Twitter. This new medium,however,can make you a much bigger star as the level of connect increases when fans can hear and see what the star is talking about, he explained.

While he did not spell out the terms of the business model,Screwvala said,It is an equal revenue-sharing deal between UTV,Priyanka Chopra and YouTube. When asked how much time it would take to break even in this unexplored format,Screwvala said that his company was already on the verge of doing so. This model is mainly dependent on subscriptions. Were producing content and have ensured that it can reach out to anyone with a mobilephone,including the 30 million migrant population whom we consider premium, he said. While admitting that promoting video is a problem currently,due to limited broadband currently,Screwvala said that smartphones are set to change the equation dramatically in the coming months. The consumption pattern on YouTube is set to change with the arrival of smartphones. People will watch the website on such devices primarily soon, he said.

Screwvala admitted that the success of Audio Cinema,where it launched dialogues of about 500 popular movies and garnered over two million subscribers,made him jump into the new services on New Media. He said that even after video becomes the dominant format of consumption post 3G,audio cinema will not be withdrawn as it will always have fans. The company has created a list of 40 icons from various fields such as business leaders,spiritual leaders etc. to drive the initiative in the coming months. It has also made a foray into merchandising,web applications,celebrity-based games and event properties in the online space recently.