New Delhi: Digital Media India (DMI) Conference, India’s largest and most prominent digital media industry event, was held on March 16 and 17 in New Delhi. For more than a decade, this conference has been a leading platform for discussing and sharing knowledge about digital trends, revenues, and technology in the news media industry.
Over the years, the event has kept pace with the growth of the digital media business in the Indian subcontinent and has become a platform for top-level publishers, editors, and digital executives to share best practices, case studies, solutions, and experiences.
“The conference is an excellent opportunity for you to keep abreast of the latest trends and best practices in the digital media landscape. With a line-up of expert speakers, engaging sessions, and ample networking opportunities, you are sure to leave the conference with new insights, ideas, and connections,” the World Association of News Publishers wrote on its website.
The Digital Media India Conference 2023 was attended by CEOs, Managing Directors, Publishers, Editors-in-Chief, COOs, CMOs, CTOs, Chief Digital Officers, Digital Business Heads, Digital Revenue Strategists, Innovation Managers, Online Product/Project Managers, Heads of Digital Business Units from across India and abroad.
The conference began with opening remarks from Magdoom Mohamed, Managing Director of WAN-IFRA South Asia, followed by a keynote address by Fernando de Yarza López-Madrazo, President of Henneo and WAN-IFRA, Spain, on “Innovation in news media.” Attendees had the opportunity to learn about the challenges and opportunities in the digital media business and share their experiences, ideas, and connections with one another.
Among the attendees of the Digital Media India Conference, 2023 was Pallavi Sareen, the Editor-in-Chief of Straight Line. As the founder of a leading Digital media platform in Jammu and Kashmir, she was invited as a delegate to attend the conference and had the opportunity to share her experiences and ideas with other top-level publishers, editors, and digital executives from various media organizations.
Sareen’s presence at the conference underscores the event’s commitment to promoting diversity and inclusivity in the digital media industry by providing a platform for all stakeholders, including small newsrooms and independent publishers, to share their perspectives and contribute to the industry’s growth.
The recently concluded South Asian Digital Media Conference covered a range of topics, including sustainable media business, revenue strategies, technology and CMS. The conference hosted several panels and notable speakers from the media industry. Ritu Kapur, Co-Founder and CEO of The Quint, chaired the CEOs Panel, which discussed sustainable and diversified media business strategies. The panel featured L V Navaneeth, CEO of The Hindu Group, Bharat Gupta, CEO of Jagran New Media, India and Mariam Mammen Mathew, CEO of Manorama Online.
The rise of language journalism in India was discussed by Saurabh Dwivedi, the Editor of The Lallantop, who shared some of the best practices to engage with the audience and monetize content.
In addition, there were sessions on revenue strategies, including a discussion on how Prothom Alo Digital maximizes revenue from advertising and beyond. Vivek Pandey, Vice President of Revenue Strategy at Times Internet Ltd, shared insights on the dynamic pricing strategy used by The Times of India for digital revenue maximization.
Boby Paul, Senior General Manager of Marketing at Manorama Online, discussed initiatives to prepare for the cookie-less world and acquire first-party data.
The Technology Track panel featured Subhamoy Chakraborti, Chief Technology Officer of ABP Pvt Ltd, as the moderator, and had Deepit Purkayastha, Co-founder of Inshorts and Public app, and Pradeep Gairola, Vice President and Business Head of Digital at The Hindu Group, as speakers.
Dr. Nivash Jeevanandam, Senior Research Writer at INDIAai (Govt. of India), National AI Portal of India at NASSCOM, discussed the potential use cases for AI in media businesses and where to start with AI in newsrooms. Swapnil Malpathak, Business Head at Sakal Digital, presented the best practices for content strategy and CMS.
Finally, Shelly Walia, Executive Editor of The Quint, chaired the Winners Talk, where the Best News Website Award winner of the South Asian Digital Media Awards 2023 presented their strategies for converting casual readers to loyal readers and insights from their recent coverage of British PM Rishi Sunak’s first week in office.
The second day of the South Asian Digital Media Summit saw a range of discussions and presentations on various topics in the technology and revenue tracks. The Revenue Track began with a discussion on Short Form Video (SFV) consumption in India, which has reportedly increased to more than 60% among internet users. Moderator Priyanka Tyagi, Managing Editor of Times Internet, was joined by Mehak Kasbekar, Editor-in-Chief of Brut India, to discuss what makes a good SFV and how to engage Gen Z.
Next, the conference heard from Hanna-Israel, Head of My Country Talks at ZEIT ONLINE, Germany, about their innovative case of audience engagement at scale. My Country Talks connects readers with opposing views from across Germany to foster mutual understanding, and this year it will connect readers around the world with a unique global media alliance.
Janni Frederiksen Kalafatis, User Experience Lead at Verdens Gang Norway, shared how their news app failed but initiatives like personalizing news content for other platforms, using AI to tailor articles for young readers and increasing engagement and subscriptions helped retain young users who were increasingly becoming news avoiders.
The Technology Track started with a discussion on the selection of content management systems (CMS), where Yudhvir Mor, Chief Product & Technology Officer of HT Media Ltd., highlighted the need for a CMS to be future-ready.
Dr. Konstantinos Zachos, Chief Technology Officer of CebAI, talked about the creative intelligence tool for journalists and newsrooms, which helps journalists to discover new angles, introduce new content, and connect with more diverse voices aided with AI capabilities, research-based algorithms, and features that offer insights and ideas to inspire new directions and fresh perspectives.
A panel discussion on the good and bad of AI was chaired by Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor of The Wire, and included Sunny Sen, Founder – CEO of ConsCent.ai, and Sohini Guharoy, Head of Audience Growth & Platforms at Network 18 Group.
In the Revenue Track’s next session, WAN IFRA Expert Advisor and Independent Media Consultant, Ola Henriksson, shared a round-up of digital subscription success in Scandinavia. The different models these publishers followed and the lessons for South Asian publishers were discussed.
Nandagopal Rajan, Editor – New Media & Business Head at Indianexpress.com, shared Indian Express’s success story of starting premium sections in their portal which resulted in a dramatic increase in their digital subscription numbers.
Bettina Widmer, Head of Vertical Hub at Blick Group, Switzerland, discussed the audience-first journalism and mini-publisher model of Blick Group and shared their experiences and insights from the Table Stakes Europe Programme conceived to help drive digital revenue growth.
In the Technology Track, Nagaraj Nagabushanam, Vice President of The Hindu, talked about setting up a strong data analytics team to harness the data for better decision-making in news media companies.
The conference then heard from Saemmool Lee, Head of Digital Innovation at Dong-A Ilbo, South Korea, about their initiatives to attract new audiences and engage them in various ways by harnessing data. The session ended with a discussion on customer data analytics for advertising and reader engagement.
Lal Chand Bisu, Co-Founder & CEO of Kuku FM, shared the success story of how the app-based podcast platform managed to get 4 million downloads and more than 1 million paid subscribers, discussing the growth strategies of Kuku FM and how they managed to beat the odds. Nikhil Pahwa, Founder and Editor of MediaNama, then discussed Web 3, the decentralized web, and its impact on the future of the news media business.
The Digital Media India Conference 2023 was an excellent platform for industry leaders to discuss the latest trends and best practices in the digital media landscape. With expert speakers and engaging sessions, attendees were able to leave the conference with new insights, ideas, and connections to help drive the digital media industry forward.
