First Day First Show: Deal or No Deal?
Which was the last movie you impatiently waited for? Were you so psyched up that you even got your friends excited? You bought not only yourself, but also anyone who would accompany you, a ticket for the first day, first show?
Whether you absolutely identify with this situation or you can’t even imagine the people who have this kind of enthusiasm, or even if you’re a more complex third kind, we’ve got news for you! Now this head rush for movie releases can culminate right in the comfort and luxury of your own home. You just have to wait a little longer… or do you?
Reliance Jio on September 5 th , launched their JioFiber home broadband plans. If you followed the updates as keenly as we did, you would know they rolled out operations in 1600 cities and towns in India with their high-speed connections. Their buffet of plans offer a variety of services and benefits, bundled together as per one’s needs. Apart from the super fast internet, the benefits of JioFiber extend to voice calling, video conferencing, home security, gaming, access to OTT platforms, and more. Some of these benefits come free with the plans you choose or with a small added cost.
From the plethora of features that are offered, the one that got everyone talking is the First Day, First Show. This offering is exactly what it sounds like. It gives you a unique platform that allows you to enjoy new releases at home, the exact same time as their theatrical release.
What’s The Fuss All About?
Why is this hard to believe and different from other OTT platforms that also offer quick access to movies?
To begin with, production houses own the first right to movies that they further lease out to distributors. Then the deals are made and showcasing rights are shared by these distributors with cinema chains across the globe, for common people like us to enjoy the movie. The distributors also serve the purpose of guaranteeing a minimum revenue to the production houses. What JioFiber intends on doing is to disrupt this distribution circle and help the production houses reach their audience directly? Will JioFiber’s plan to cut the distributors out of this loop will be a sweet deal for us, in the first place? Well, we can’t say that for sure, yet.
The First Day, First Show offering by JioFiber will be available on plans priced between ₹ 2,499 and ₹ 8,499 per month. These plans will also be available as a subscription for 3, 6, or 12 months. With the price substantially higher, the value offered by their respective plan bundles will be higher too.
DeCoding The Business Model
As we said earlier, Jio First Day, First Show disrupts the distribution chain traditionally followed and delivers movies to us directly. One could say that Jio is trying to expand the reachability of the movies and helping producers cater to an infinitely wider audience for their movies, all in one go. There is a total of about 9,000 screens in India, owned by cinema giants like PVR, INOX, Cinepolis, etc. catering to lakhs of people, particularly on the first weekend of a movie’s release. On an average 1,500–2,000 films are released in India each year, in over 20 languages. While the theatrical release of movies has a large audience in India, it is nowhere near that of films that are aired on TV. With Jio offering a set-top box and even a free television with some plans, their ability to cater to a larger audience with First Day, First Show increases.
Are Cinema Giants Worried?
To be fair, existing and established cinema chains obviously have something to think about. As per publicly-available financial documents, India’s two largest multiplexes earn an average of ₹260-₹280 per customer, per visit. This number factors in both, ticket prices, as well as food, and other spends. Plus, these are one-time experiences. Even though technology has come in to help with the booking process, watching a movie close to the release date means having to navigate the prospect of tickets being sold out, sometimes even in advance!
One factor cinema giants can be positive about is that they offer immersive and overwhelming cinematic experiences. The technology that cinemas are offering today is superlative and at times even becomes instrumental in experiencing the massive ‘event movies’. Vertices like IMAX, Dolby Surround Sounds, and 4DX all build towards making their audience experience the feel and emotion of the movie as intended by their creators. These are experiences that cannot easily be replicated at home. However, this also means that movies which do not capitalise on these features will not seem worthwhile enough to spend hard-earned money on, when a similar experience can be had in the comfort of your home.
Jio, aur Jeene Do for Moviemakers?
Given that they have such a wide audience, movies today have to go through rigorous censorship to get certification for a theatrical release. This censorship sometimes takes away the sensitivity and the intended essence of a movie. For filmmakers and producers who strictly don’t want to compromise the integrity of their stories in negotiations with the Film Certification Board, Jio First Day, First Show offers a platform without this condition. After all, every individual consumes entertainment in their own way, which sometimes leads to great reception of a story in a particular niche among the audience. Will Jio First Day, First Show open more avenues for out-of-the-box movies which do not see large audiences in cinemas? We think that this could be a win-win situation for filmmakers who want to push boundaries and offer their audiences the opportunity to dabble in new and varied content without the risk of them feeling that their money has been wasted on a sub-optimal experience.
Deal or No Deal?
It is fair to say that Jio First Day, First Show can really work in favour of creating a space for new kinds of stories and fearless filmmakers. At the same time it brings this content to audiences who wish to consume it in their own time, in the comfort of their homes. It also gives Jio’s customer base the option to choose who and how many people they want to watch it with. However, it does feel like Jio First Day, First Show can dent and hamper cinema chains in terms of their revenue and outreach. It also removes the safety fuse of the ‘minimum guarantee’ for the producer’s business interests.
Jio Studios, a vertical that generates content for Jio’s broadband and mobility platforms is aiming at producing about 52 movies a year, i.e. the subscribers to Jio’s services will avail a piece of new content each week, which will be created, curated or acquired by Jio exclusively. However, they aim at upscaling this plan at large, within the next two to three years. They also intend to produce movies in about six to eleven languages.
This initiative by Jio, however, will work in advantage largely for regional movies as it gives its audience easy access, availability and a platform for regional movies to grow. Obviously, we can’t arrive at the conclusion that cinemas will become a thing of the past, because at the end of the day, the big-screen experience is definitely worth your while for really great releases.
However, Jio is working to acquire about 10–15 films to cater to 20 million broadband-connected homes, kickstarting its First Day, First Show services. To roll out their plan for 52 movies a year, they intend to have slow but a steady start with 2–3 movies per month and gradually moving to put out more content.
Jio Studios, within its one and a half years of existence, has already produced two successful movies, ‘Stree’ and ‘Luka Chuppi’, both of which did well at the Box Office but did even better at reaching out to audiences with the really strong content base and curation. Jio is trying to unfold a really dynamic ecosystem around digital platforms by means of developing mainstream entertainment and media for its user base. Now we’ll find out how this whole shebang turns out, only by the middle of 2020 when the service ultimately goes live. Let’s just wait and watch.
