Infosys BPO (formerly Progeon) and media company TV18 have entered into a strategic alliance to launch Source18, a media process outsourcing company that will offer a range of services to media and entertainment companies globally. Among its first few clients is National Geographic International. The new firm will re-purpose current as well as archival content for the mobile platform.
This is the second such major alliance in the media BPO space, the first being the tie-up between NDTV and Genpact, announced a year ago. To begin with, there will be no equity tie-up between Infosys BPO and TV18, but the nature of the relationship could change in the future, Haresh Chawla, CEO, TV18, said. Amitabh Chaudhary, CEO and MD, Infosys BPO, said that media and entertainment would be a key growth driver for the company.
"Content consumption (through mobile, PCs and ipods) is personalised today. Since the delivery mechanisms for content have changed, it needs to be re-engineered to suit new platforms," Chawla said.
The media process outsourcing opportunity is huge since most of the existing contents worldwide are in the analogue form and they need to be digitised for new platforms. For instance, if a 3-minute episode of a TV programme needs to be configured for the mobile screen, Source18 could do it with the help of technical support from Infosys and its own team of editors and content creators, explained Chawla.
Source18 will offer services in enabling content for digital media, including digital archiving and metatagging, re-purposing content, etc. It will utilise the services of Tangerine Digital Entertainment, a company specialising in content repurposing and media process outsourcing, for part execution of the contracts. The global media and entertainment industry is expected to grow to almost $2 trillion by 2008, and in view of the proliferation of content in multiple formats across media platforms, there is a sizeable business opportunity in the media outsourcing market waiting to be tapped.