Meta is India's largest media company: A look at the ten big firms in 2022

A look at the ten big media firms in the financial year ending 2022

Meta is now India’s largest media company. Its three brands, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, are among the biggest names in the fastest growing part of the Rs 161,400-crore Indian media business — digital advertising. But the company which totally dominates that space is Google with its YouTube, which comes at number four.

Google has slipped down a bit because a new contender, the about-to-be merged Sony-Zee, makes it to number two position. And after a long time there is a second publisher in the top 10. DB Corp, which publishes Dainik Bhaskar and Divya Bhaskar among others, displaces Netflix by a narrow margin.

Those roughly are the big changes in the list of top media firms that Business Standard puts together every year. It is based on annual reports, company estimates and those from Media Partners Asia. Every year it offers new and fascinating stories of change. And comparing these with the top 10 exactly a decade back, in the financial year ending 2012, is even more interesting.

There is the growth of digital. But what stands out is how well broadcasters have adapted, changed business direction and built scale. Except for the Sun Network, all the biggies — Disney Star, Sony, Zee and Viacom18 (now part of Jio Infocomm) have gained share and created large successful OTTs. They have, so far, stood their ground against the onslaught of Meta, Google, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Many argue that Meta is not a media company. But the ubiquity of the internet has changed the definition of a media company. Telecom, technology, media and even retail firms are all searching for audiences. They monetise these through advertising (Disney+ Hotstar), subscription (Netflix) or by getting people to buy something (Amazon Prime Video).Google, Amazon, AT&T, Meta, Disney, Comcast, among others, are leading this search. A large part of Meta’s revenues comes from advertising that targets the audiences spending time on Facebook, Instagram or Instagram Reels.

This list a very good indicator of the changed reality.

Note: Tata Sky has now been rebranded Tata Play.