WAVES 2025: Soft Power to Attention Economy Capital
"IP might start as a web-series, spin off into a video game, have influencers amplifying it on Instagram, and culminate in a live events tour"
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Agenda
Global Relevance: Soft Power and International Playbook
Capital: Investment Flows and Startup Ecosystem
Screens and Convergence: The Multi-Platform Battlefield
The WAVES Model: Lessons for Global Media & Entertainment
And….Action!
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Continuing our analysis of WAVES 2025, we evaluate a few other important vectors of the marquee event that firmly positions India as a force to be taken seriously in the world of the “attention economy”.
Global Relevance: Soft Power and International Playbook
WAVES 2025 was as much about placing India on the global stage as it was about domestic industry. The very presence of global media chiefs like Ted Sarandos, Neal Mohan, Instagram head Adam Mosseri, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, and others signaled that the world is paying close attention to India’s M&E potential. In turn, Indian leaders used the summit to articulate a vision of the country as a content and media tech powerhouse whose influence can shape global trends. Prime Minister Modi described the creative economy as India’s new pillar of diplomacy and “soft power,” comparable to how Bollywood and yoga have long carried Indian culture abroad. He invoked the example of legendary filmmaker Raj Kapoor, whose movies made India a soft power in the Soviet Union decades ago, and urged today’s digital creators to similarly showcase India’s culture and knowledge to the world. The summit’s theme “Connecting Creators, Connecting Countries” underscored this intent. Notably, it coincided with India’s G20 presidency year, aligning the creative economy with broader geopolitical outreach.
For global OTT and tech firms, India’s message was clear: the country is not just a market but a partner in innovation. Netflix’s Sarandos lauded India’s storytelling ingenuity and confirmed the company’s continued heavy investment in Indian originals (following successes like Sacred Games and Delhi Crime). YouTube’s Mohan went a step further, stating that “YouTube connects creators anywhere with audiences EVERYWHERE, and few nations have leveraged this as effectively as India.” He revealed jaw-dropping statistics – over 100 million Indian YouTube channels uploaded content in the past year, and 15,000 channels have crossed 1 million subscribers each. This demonstrates how Indian digital creators are achieving global scale unprecedented in any other country. Platforms like YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Instagram used WAVES to announce partnerships that export Indian content globally: for instance, Amazon Prime Video inked a distribution deal with Korea’s CJ ENM at the WAVES content market, to bring K-dramas to Indian viewers and simultaneously take Indian films to Asia. Such two-way content flows position India as a global content exchange. The summit also highlighted how India’s massive user base provides a testbed for new features that can be rolled out worldwide – whether it’s YouTube’s offline downloads (piloted first in India) or Netflix’s mobile-only plans catering to smartphone viewers.
India’s emergence as a global M&E player is buttressed by numbers: the industry is projected to grow nearly four-fold to $100 billion+ in the next decade, according to Mukesh Ambani. This optimism is shared by international investors who see India’s creative sectors as the next big growth frontier. Deals and MoUs worth ₹8,000+ crore were reportedly signed during WAVES, including co-production treaties and studio investments. By formalizing forums like WAVES, India is effectively writing the playbook for how a country can convert cultural and consumer heft into global economic influence. The “India model” involves government backing, huge domestic demand, diaspora audiences abroad, and collaborations with foreign studios/tech firms. Global media industries can learn from this integrated approach. For example, Hollywood and K-pop executives at WAVES noted how India’s diversity (22+ official languages, multiple film industries, etc.) has forced content platforms to innovate in localization and personalization – lessons that can apply to other large emerging markets. Likewise, India’s experiments in low-cost mobile streaming and hybrid monetization (mix of ad-supported and micro-transactions) offer a template for reaching the “next billion” viewers worldwide. In short, WAVES solidified that India is no longer at the periphery of the global entertainment conversation; it is moving to center stage. This greater global relevance will benefit Indian OTT platforms, studios and creators by attracting international funding and audiences, while also inspiring other countries to emulate aspects of India’s creative economy strategy.
Capital: Investment Flows and Startup Ecosystem
One of the clearest signs that India’s digital media has hit a tipping point is the influx and formalization of capital in the sector – something on full display at WAVES 2025. The event featured a dedicated startup track (WAVEX 2025), where entrepreneurs pitched to venture capitalists and industry leaders. According to organizers, over 1,000 startups applied to participate in WAVEX, and 30 were selected to pitch directly to investors. Sandeep Jhingran of IAMAI noted the enthusiastic response and confirmed that many of these startups entered serious funding discussions during the summit. In fact, some investors who historically “shied away” from media and entertainment deals have changed stance – “WAVEX is helping change this mindset,” said an angel investor, highlighting that at least 11 startups were already in advanced talks as a result of the event. The formation of a dedicated angel network for M&E startups was a key outcome of WAVEX, aiming to connect creative tech founders with smart capital that understands content-oriented business models. This is a pivotal development: it means Indian content creators and media-tech innovators (from video analytics SaaS to animation studios) will increasingly have access to homegrown funding sources, rather than relying only on global tech investors.
Beyond venture funding, large-scale corporate and institutional capital is now flowing into India’s attention economy. Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani – who himself has poured billions into JioCinema, Viacom18, and studio ventures – urged more investors to see M&E as a “strategic and economic opportunity” for India, not just a cultural domain. He projected that the sector (currently around $28–30 billion in revenue) can “grow to over $100 billion in the next decade”, creating millions of jobs. This optimistic forecast, backed by data from consultancy KPMG and FICCI-EY reports, is changing investor perception of media companies from high-risk to high-growth. The launch of the Nifty WAVES Index is emblematic – by packaging 43 creative economy stocks into an index, the NSE has made it easier for mutual funds and institutional investors to allocate money into this segment. Industry experts at the summit hailed this as a “timely move” that will encourage data-driven investments and possibly new financial products (ETFs, etc.) focused on media and gaming. In parallel, the government is signing co-production agreements and facilitating foreign direct investment in media. At WAVES, partnerships were announced involving studios in France, Japan, and Hollywood co-investing in Indian productions, signaling greater cross-border capital exchange in content creation.
For entrepreneurs and operators, this influx of capital means more than just easier fundraising – it indicates a maturing value chain where viable exit paths and scaling opportunities exist. Ten years ago, an Indian OTT startup or gaming company had limited options for large-scale funding or going public. Today, with giants like Amazon, Netflix, and domestic conglomerates in acquisition mode and public markets warming up to content firms, the capital ecosystem is far more robust. The summit’s numerous MoUs (₹8,000 crore worth, per reports) included not just content deals but also commitments to infrastructure financing (such as studio complexes) and skill development funds. This multi-faceted investment approach is accelerating the professionalization of India’s media-tech industry. Entrepreneurs targeting Indian digital audiences now see a clear runway to scale – from seed incubators and angel networks (like WAVEX) to large Series B/C rounds, and even the chance to list on a future “creative economy index.” In short, money is no longer a missing piece of India’s M&E growth story; it’s pouring in, with government blessings. The onus is on operators to craft strong business models and IP, as capital availability increasingly ceases to be the limiting factor.
Screens and Convergence: The Multi-Platform Battlefield
When discussing India’s “attention economy,” one must consider the sheer variety of screens and platforms vying for consumer attention – from cinema screens and living-room TVs to the 650 million smartphones in Indians’ hands. WAVES 2025 repeatedly touched on the theme of convergence across these screens, reflecting how content consumption and creation now happen fluidly across platforms in India. A telling insight from the recent FICCI-EY report is that digital media (streaming and online content) has overtaken television to become the largest segment of India’s M&E sector, finally ending TV’s 20-year dominance. This historic shift, achieved in 2024, was front and center at the summit – indicating that the primary “screen” for Indians is now the personal digital screen rather than the traditional TV. As a result, OTT streaming services (Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ Hotstar, JioCinema, etc.) and short-video apps are investing aggressively in content and features tailored to mobile viewing. One outcome is the blending of formerly separate domains: for example, films now often have simultaneous theatrical and OTT release strategies; television shows extend their reach via catch-up streaming apps; and user-generated content on YouTube competes with (and sometimes surpasses) mainstream entertainment in viewership.
WAVES panels explored how to harness this multi-screen environment. Mobile-first content strategies were a hot topic – with over 500 million Indian smartphone users watching video, platforms are experimenting with vertical video formats, interactive fiction on messaging apps, and AI-driven personalization to keep users engaged on small screens. At the same time, large screens are far from dead: India’s theatrical box office has rebounded post-pandemic, and big-ticket sports broadcasts (like cricket’s IPL) draw tens of millions of concurrent viewers on connected TVs and streaming apps alike. In fact, one of the world’s biggest live streaming audiences was recorded in India in 2023, when JioCinema’s free stream of an IPL cricket match hit 25 million simultaneous viewers, exemplifying how sports tech and streaming are converging on the digital screen. Sports-tech startups at WAVES demonstrated features like multi-camera angle selection and real-time stats overlays for streaming – innovations that turn passive sports viewing into an interactive digital experience. The summit also recognized gaming as part of the screen convergence: with roughly 500 million Indian gamers (from casual mobile games to hardcore esports), gaming is both a competitor for screen time and a new form of content that often overlaps with video (e.g., game streaming on YouTube, interactive narrative games). This is why the AVGC-XR focus (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality) was prominent, and why India’s creative strategy includes establishing excellence in these fields. The lines between “video entertainment” and “games” are increasingly blurred, and India is embracing that reality – for instance, streaming platforms are hosting gaming content, while game companies are creating animated series from game IP.
“Screens” also refers to emerging mediums: Extended reality (XR) and the metaverse, while nascent, were discussed as future arenas. India doesn’t want to miss the next paradigm shift – hence the partnerships with NVIDIA and others for training in AR/VR content at IICT. Some WAVES masterclasses showcased AR effects for concerts and VR experiences for education, hinting at how tomorrow’s attention economy might include immersive headsets alongside phones and TVs. The overarching point is that platform integration is the way forward. Rather than viewing cinema, TV, streaming, gaming, and social media as isolated silos, the WAVES summit treated them as parts of one continuum of content experience. For operators, this means strategies must be platform-agnostic: a story or IP might start as a web-series, spin off into a video game, have influencers amplifying it on Instagram, and culminate in a live events tour. India is uniquely positioned for such 360-degree execution because audiences consume across all these channels in huge numbers. The concept of “one audience, multiple screens” is now entrenched – a user might watch a cricket match on TV, highlight clips on phone, and play a fantasy sports game all at once. This is the reality entrepreneurs must design for. The tipping point here is the acceptance that success in India’s attention economy requires omni-channel content strategies, leveraging every screen to build an ecosystem around content IP. WAVES 2025, by uniting stakeholders from film, OTT, gaming, music, and sports in one forum, embodied this convergence and made it clear that the next decade of growth will belong to those who can navigate and unify the multi-screen experience.
The WAVES Model: Lessons for Global Media & Entertainment
The integrated approach showcased by WAVES 2025 offers valuable insights for media and entertainment industries worldwide. Traditionally, different segments of the attention economy – film, television, digital media, gaming, music, sports – often operate in silos or have separate conferences and trade events. India’s WAVES model broke down these silos, providing a single platform for cross-sector collaboration. This has several advantages that global M&E stakeholders are noting:
Holistic Ecosystem Development: By convening creators, technologists, policymakers, and investors under one roof, WAVES created a feedback loop between all parts of the value chain. Creators could directly hear what investors are looking for; tech companies could showcase tools to filmmakers and gamers; regulators could grasp industry pain points in real time. This 360-degree view accelerates problem-solving and innovation. Other countries could emulate this by ensuring their film festivals, tech expos, and content markets intersect or align timing to encourage cross-pollination.
Public-Private Partnership: WAVES was spearheaded by the government but had significant industry ownership too. The public-private partnership (PPP) model ensured government announcements (funds, policies) were met with industry co-investments and commitments. For example, the government’s creator fund was complemented by YouTube’s private investment; the IICT institute plan was enriched by partnerships with private tech firms. This balancing act is instructive: global media industries often thrive best when neither the state nor the private sector works in isolation. Countries with strong public broadcasters or arts councils can take a page from India by involving streaming giants and startup communities in joint initiatives, and vice versa.
Strategic Soft Power Vision: WAVES framed entertainment as not just commerce but also strategic soft power. Many nations have cultural export programs (e.g., South Korea’s support for K-pop and K-drama, or Hollywood’s outreach via diplomacy), but India’s approach is to formalize it at the highest political level and tie it to economic goals. PM Modi’s personal championing of the creative economy lends it legitimacy on par with other industries. Global M&E leaders can advocate for similar recognition from their governments – the idea that film, music, and gaming are serious economic drivers and tools of global influence, deserving coordinated strategy. As a result of WAVES, India is instituting annual WAVES awards and perhaps a permanent council on the creative economy, embedding M&E into policy-making. Others could establish creative economy task forces that unite culture and economy ministries – much like India did for this summit – to ensure long-term support.
Embracing Digital-Native Talent: The summit gave equal footing to digital-native creators (YouTubers, influencers, game streamers) alongside traditional media stars, signaling an inclusive view of “media talent.” Global industries can learn from this inclusivity. Rather than treating new media upstarts as outsiders, traditional studios and broadcasters should integrate them and learn from their audience engagement techniques. WAVES panels had, say, a film director chatting with a TikTok star – a scenario that breaks down hierarchy and spurs mutual learning. This is crucial as Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences blur the line between professional and user-generated content. Bringing all content creators into the fold will be key to keeping media relevant worldwide.
Marketplace for Ideas and IP: By hosting WAVES Bazaar (a digital marketplace for content IP and service exchange) alongside the physical event, India created an ongoing mechanism for B2B matchmaking in the creative sector. Global industries could adopt similar “always-on” marketplaces where, for instance, a Turkish series format can find a Latin American adaptation partner, or an African animation studio can connect with a European game publisher. The WAVES model suggests that summits can be launchpads for enduring digital exchanges of content rights, talent and innovation.
In essence, the WAVES model illustrates that treating the attention economy as an integrated whole – and as a priority sector – yields synergy. Countries aiming to boost their cultural industries might consider organizing their own “WAVES,” adapted to local context, to jumpstart the kind of dialogues and deals that India witnessed. There is also a lesson in optimism and ambition: India set audacious goals (e.g. $100B M&E revenue, 3 million jobs, $1T consumer spend influence) and aligned stakeholders to chase them. Even if other markets differ in scale, the act of uniting creative ambition with execution plans can galvanize growth. Global M&E players, from Hollywood studios to regional content hubs, can benefit from engaging with India’s approach – either by participating in WAVES in future years to tap into the market, or by encouraging similar comprehensive forums in their regions.
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