EPISODE 260: Marketer of the Month Podcast with Rajat Nigam

The Big Questions!

Saksham Sharda: When millions of people watch the same live match at the exact same second, what’s actually happening behind the screen to make that possible? 

Rajat Nigam: Well, it’s anxiety all over the place. It’s a large team which is responsible to generate every frame of a live sports event and carrying it up to the last mile to the last consumer screen. So it’s a focus mixed with anxiety that remains. 

Saksham Sharda: Is there an old school broadcast trick that still blows your mind today? 

Rajat Nigam: The fundamentals. The fundamentals are always true, be it the new age technology, whichever comes in. And the technology have been developing very, very fast over last two, three decades. Ever since I came in, I joined the media industry, the technologies have done a hugely huge transformation. But the fundamentals remain the same. The black in a video stream is black today, and that’s what the focus is, how to design such as no black anywhere in the chain. 

Saksham Sharda: What do young streaming people not get about how hard live TV really is? 

Rajat Nigam: Well, the fundamentals of video and audio production, the base band, what we call, is today not much in focus. The algorithms take over the outcome. 

Saksham Sharda: And every scroll, pause, and re-watch is quietly being tracked now. How is that changing what content actually gets made? 

Rajat Nigam: Absolutely, it’s a dynamic scene. The consumer is highly demanding. The consumer remains the king. Unless until I produce a content which suits in terms of quality or the creativity to the consumer, he’s not going to remain with me. There are so many choices. There is a pluralism of platforms. So unless until I’m there focused and gratifying the consumer, I’m losing the attention. So, all the data points are important, which we take it back, which drives everything from the storyline to the way of presentations and all. 

Saksham Sharda: And speaking of attention, then attention spans are like two seconds now. How should brands use tech to actually cut through that? 

Rajat Nigam: It’s all about the content. You make a good content, people would watch it. Whether you talk about a good IPL exciting match, people sit and watch the entire match. You see a good movie, “Dhurandhar” everybody watch for four hours in the theatre. So it’s good content. 

Saksham Sharda: And what about AI? How do you think AI is changing news and entertainment? 

Rajat Nigam: Well, AI is a tool. Today, the creativity remains with the humans. The intelligence remains with the humans. It’s hugely there everywhere in every walks today, but then it’s all in the stage of that is not a steady state today. We are exploring, we are evaluating, we are exploiting all these tools. But most important is the cost and the consumer. So, whatever we do, the consumers need to be happy about, and costs need to be optimal for the business. So AI is there. I would rather use the term minimal viable AI as more focused objective for all these professionals rather than going in for the complete AI. We keep talking about the agents, we keep talking about the generative AI. The important part is the data, how well the data is managed, and it could drive whether it is in terms of automation or any of those AI algorithms. 

Saksham Sharda: And to what extent is Jio using AI to produce content?

Rajat Nigam: We are exploring on all walks. We are using for content processing, for content production, for content delivery, content search. We are using AI in all walks. Besides that, even in the business functions as well. But we are also focused or conscious about consumer choices and the viability associated with the use of it in terms of costs. 

Saksham Sharda: And is it bringing cost down? 

Rajat Nigam: Not exactly at this stage. As I said, it’s not a steady state. Lots of tools, lots of options today. Once we need to look at which tool suits best. And even from the tools point of view also, it’s a continuous journey. There is nothing like a steady state innovation. Innovation done now becomes a commodity tomorrow. So, it has to be evaluated. What is suited today for the business may not be relevant day after tomorrow. So, such is the short span of life or shelf life of these technologies are. So we need to be consciously, continuously focused on what is best suited for the business and look around for the best tools. 

Saksham Sharda: Speaking of this kind of focus then, you’ve won top CTO and CIO awards. What actually separates a great tech leader from just a smart one? 

Rajat Nigam: Well, interesting question. I’ve not given a thought towards that. But I do feel television, as I said, or the media industry is a unforgiving area of working. Whatever we do the time is an important part. We talk about hours elsewhere, here we don’t talk about hours, we don’t talk about minutes, seconds, because in each second there are 25 frames. And one frame of loss is a loss to us. So our least count is one frame, which is one-twenty-fifth of a second. That actually pretty much defines the focus which me or the entire team need to have. The fundamentals need to be valued, the team need to be valued, and together is something which has to be the outcome need to be managed. It’s a hugely, hugely demanding as well as disciplined team environment or a culture which calls for it. I thus put too much of emphasis on culture and inclusiveness.

Saksham Sharda: And what direction do you think then media companies are heading towards in today’s age? 

Rajat Nigam: Well, media companies, everybody is, there is a dearth of content across because of the large number of platforms available for the large number of consumers available. It’s no longer a family viewing one show. It’s every member of the family watching different things at different times on different screens. So, there is a demand of the content. So, media industry is looking at, as in from an output point of view, to generate content and how we could make this content generation much more efficient and effective at every segment. That is what the focus of media is. And if you see even in the IBC26 even, the focus or the culture is written very clearly on the wall. It’s a way how you produce content and how you produce it well. 

Saksham Sharda: How would you say, how rapidly has content production escalated for Jio compared to, say, five years ago, or? 

Rajat Nigam: Well, JioStar is a young organization. It came into existence around one and a half years back only. So five years back, the scenario was much, much different. But even in one and a half years, the leaps and bounds at which we have grown in terms of content, content catalog, the types of the channels, even, and then which all has resulted into humongous amount of love and attention from our consumers. The consumer base is very, very high, which is unmatched at any other part of the world. And that is what makes our life much more gratifying. And JioStar is continuous to focus, and that’s a promise that the organization has done with the consumers and will continue to do that. Infinite Possibilities!

Saksham Sharda: So you mentioned Jio is a young organization. Do you think this is a good time and age for young organizations to come in and break the monopoly of Hollywood or other entertainment juggernauts? 

Rajat Nigam: See, I’m a firm believer that the one little trait which has got damaged big time because of the technology hike is the experience. Even for professionals like me, I cannot sit back with my experience of 30, 35 years. I’m as good as somebody with two to four years of experience. Because the technologies have changed, the business models have changed, the way you work has changed. So, the same goes for everybody else, even the organizations, even to the media houses. So, the experience is not a steady state guarantee. The newer players, they always have a chance. And we, too, are ambitious and sort of confident in reaching there. 

Saksham Sharda: And what kind of people and talent are you looking to hire in the market today? 

Rajat Nigam: Well, it’s a mix of technology and technology users. So, it’s the way technology is changing, somebody having a right bent of mind, how to use a technology, how to apply a technology is of much more value. So we are looking at them, somebody who continues to innovate, somebody who is always to ideate, and that’s what we look at. 

Saksham Sharda: So the last question for you is of a personal kind. What would you be doing in your life if not this? 

Rajat Nigam: Well, it’s hard to say. I’ve been into the media industry ever since I started my career many, many years back. So it’s tough to imagine, and it gives you a sort of regression feeling if you are not involved into any of the big events happening around you, be it general elections or IPL, or for that matter, somebody, something of national importance. And if you are not involved into it, it certainly pushes you back. It’s a difficult feeling to have. So it’s tough to say what I would be doing it. I see myself to be married with the media, so I would remain associated with media in any form or shape going forward as well. I don’t think otherwise. 

Saksham Sharda: Okay, one bonus question then. 

Rajat Nigam: Sure. 

Saksham Sharda: How is Jio using social media platforms to gather a bigger audience? 

Rajat Nigam: Well, all the organization, not only JioStar, the social media is a huge, huge influence on the consumers today, the different segments of consumers, if you look at different age brackets as well. Social media is very, very important, and we use social media very, very responsibly and effectively to convey the message to the potential consumers and draw them to our platforms. 

Saksham Sharda: And are you looking at any new markets for Jio, or is it primarily focused? 

Rajat Nigam: Oh, well, as I said, we are a young organization, and we have recently launched our OTT platform in three other geographies outside India. We have lot of large number of 44 number of linear TV channels which are distributed outside India. So we have our presence, and we intend to sort of strengthen ourselves in global footprint. And we would certainly be there, whichever makes sense to us in terms of consumerism or business, we would be. 

Saksham Sharda: And is it just original content, or are you also renting content from other sources? 

Rajat Nigam: So it’s a huge content library that we need to do it. We license or release content from studios. There are contracts, the movies, the Hollywood movies, or for that matter, shows. We do all of such things. I guess that is what everybody has to do it. Generating content of its own originals will make your library very, very small.

Let’s Conclude!

Saksham Sharda: Thanks, everyone for joining us for this month’s episode of Outgrow’s Marketer of the Month. That was Rajat Nigam, who is the CTO and Head of Technology & Media Operations at JioStar.

Rajat Nigam: Great to be here. Thank you.

Saksham Sharda: Check out the website for more details and we’ll see you once again next month with another marketer of the month.