Predicting online video rentals in India

Abstract

Streaming can be viewed as distribution. The basic idea is to view digital data content thatis available at a different physical location. Media streaming facilitates access to musiccollection on remote laptops, saves from the trouble of driving to the rental DVD store toview a classic movie and much more.1Streaming media has grown very fast in the last decade all over the world. The ranges ofactivities that are deployed currently using the streaming technology are not just limited toentertainment. Digital marketing uses streaming media for promotion of products and/orservices. Organizations utilise this technology as another driver for selling their products.Few industries circle around this particular technology. Websites like youtube.com,megashare.com and few other video on demand online streaming websites have madefortunes by focusing their business model around media streaming.2The study of the development of streaming media with time makes it very evident howtechnology changes, emergence of newer streaming mediums like internet and blue oceanstrategies to communicate with newer target markets have transformed the streamingmedia industry. The video rental industry is growing continuously and with the advent ofonline streaming companies that distribute traditional products face challenges ofobsolesce. The dynamic nature of the target segment poses another challenge for streamingcompanies as they are affected not only by the direct decision of their customer to chooseover streaming options but also their indirect decision of which medium they want tosubscribe to. Network externalities have a very strong influence on the way the industryshapes itself here.Internet Television, Internet Radio, Web cast, Podcast etc all have evolved from a commonresearch area of streaming media by means of incremental or radical innovation. The mostinteresting observation that from the in depth analysis of these industries is that switchingof customer base from cable TV to online streaming of entertainment media with theproliferation of broadband internet. The study of the US streaming industry inentertainment media segment has, in particular movies, has been carried out in this projectto understand the state of the Indian online movie rental industry