More About Rajshri Media’s Mobisodes – Akbar Birbal Remixed

We had previously covered Rajshri Media’s decision to launch a series of 90 mobisodes – each mobisode being 3 minutes long. 

Here are some more interesting facts on the Rajshri Strategy. It may lend some insights with respect to the creation of a mobile entertainment franchise.

According to Mr. Rajjat Barjatiya, “the Future of Mobile in India is Mobile Entertainment” and all this entertainment has to be Bollywood inspired to really go mass. Thus the 90 mobisode series is called “Akbar – Birbal Remixed”. It follows a Bollywood routine. 

 Mr. Barjatiya has also hinted that he clearly understands that initially there may not be too many takers for this kind of a video series for the first time round atleast and thus he is treating “Akbar – Birbal Remixed” as an ‘experiment’ or a ‘learning exercise’. According to him Rajshri Media has about 11 more such series already scripted and their future will depend on Akbar Birbal Remixed to a large extent. 

It should also be noted that Rajshri Media has tied up with a mobile operator to sell the series through (whose name Mr. Barjatiya did not reveal at the recently concluded IAMAI Mobile VAS 2008 Summit) and that according to him he has got a fair share of revenue agreements. Mr. Barjatiya hinted that he is more than happy with a revenue share of about 40% – 50% because according to him, even in film production, once the reels of a particular film are given to a theatre, the producer also accepts only 40% – 50% thus he does not think that mobile operators are being unreasonable (a lot of others in the industry have been beating drums about mobile operators’ inability or unwillingness rather to share revenues). He however, categorically stated that this does not mean that content providers should not ask for more.

The series will be available not only through video but also on audio as well. Thus consumers may be able to dial a particular number and listen in on the 3 minute series everyday for 90 days. This is a smart idea of hedging risks. It makes even more business sense considering consumers may not have access to high end phones and GPRS.

The other interesting thing that Mr. Barjatiya wants to do to make the series profitable is sell ringtones and other VAS content centered around the series. He hinted that he wants to make Akbar Birbal Remixed – “India’s crazy frog”. A pretty interesting business model that highlights the multifarious revenue opportunities that come with mobisodes. 

One must also note that each mobisode has been compressed down to 1. 2 MB thus that too is quite interesting to note because now it will cost consumers on GPRS only about Rs. 1.2 + the Content Charges (10 p per 10 kb) to completely download and watch an episode on the go.

Mobile entertainment is in a pretty nascent stage. There’s a lot of questions that will need to be answered for example what kind of content will consumers prefer  considering that the mobile is possibly India’s 1st ‘personal’ screen?, what will be the ratio of revenues coming from the various ‘business models’ for mobisodes (the video, the ringtones etc., and the audio)? 

Only time will tell. Mr. Barjatiya has promised to come on WATShow soon so hopefully by then some questions will be answered.

Akbar – Birbal launches in about 3 – 4 weeks and they have a strategy for the International Market as well.