'WE ARE CUSTOMER OBSESSED'

EVERYTHING at Amazon is customer backwards and this is true for Prime Video as well. Gaurav Gandhi, Country Head, Amazon Prime Video India points out that the word to note is ‘obsessed’ because every investment the company makes, and every decision it takes, is to superserve different customer segments in India, making world-class entertainment available to all

- Noor Fathima Warsia

“Streaming is no longer niche — it goes deep in the country. While each streaming service is playing its role, together we are defining a new chapter in the history of entertainment in India. We invest in streaming rights of films, and that helps producers create more movies, which is then made available to customers through variety of distribution avenues (including streaming). Streaming is driving the growth of the overall creative economy with significant investments in content.”

Gaurav, it has been an interesting five years for Amazon Prime Video in India. The pandemic really pushed the sector forward that you benefitted from, but what are some changes that you see from here?

There is no doubt that people are shifting to streaming. In the next five years, there will be as many people streaming video as there would be watching TV. There is enough evidence to show that once people get into streaming, it quickly becomes a habit - driven by enhanced choice and convenience.

Some aspects in this context are especially important to note. Language barriers, for example, are increasingly disappearing in content consumption. We saw great signs of that in the last two years, and this has also led to talent crossing over, which is the case both internationally and domestically. Video-on-demand is becoming a medium of choice for content creators, actors, producers and everyone in the ecosystem. When we started, we had to pitch the streaming story – and now they are all putting streaming and on-demand services front and centre in their plans as they look at their next roster of work.