While the Thomson-Reuters deal could create a B2B information powerhouse, Azhar Rafee, Reuters Asia’s executive vice president of media, is focusing his energy on creating a consumer offering of the Reuters brand in India. I caught up with Rafee who is based in Singapore via telephone. 

As Reuters approaches consumers directly via the Internet what revenue model are you looking at?

When we were becoming a retail media outlet we knew advertising would be a major component of our model. But at the same time we recognized that there was some higher value content in our investment channel – broker research, newsletters, portfolio applications. And for those things consumers paid for using their credit card, which is the transaction model. Roughly that is a 75 /25 split (in advertising to subscription revenues.) But the advertising market is growing and I think that ratio will settle at around 80/20.

Do you think the ratio of advertising to subscription revenue could change following the Thomson/Reuters deal ?

We have agreed to be acquired by Thomson but that is pending regulatory approval. We can clearly put in more information and we will put in more professional grade, high-end information on our site. If the Thomson deal comes through we will certainly have more paid information. Still, I don’t expect the composition of revenue to change dramatically since consumers expect the bulk of the content on an advertising supported basis.

What are your plans regarding Web, mobile and IPTV in India?

In India we also have a cable partnership with BCCL (better known as the Times of India Group). In India, television is growing in terms of viewership, penetration and advertising dollars. In terms of the Web, first of all, you will see a relaunch of the Reuters India site covering news, investing and business. Then, since we believe in the anytime, anywhere model we will also try to serve our readers’ business and investment needs via the mobile channel. The depth may be a little less on the mobile channel because of the application in the device and the screen size. But you will see us provide latest news information in terms of key categories, be it world events, sports or entertainment. We will also have an invesment channel giving people markets-related information on the mobile.
The Web site, which will be relaunched around October, will be based on an advertising model. The mobile service will probably be a combination. We could provide real time news as a paid product but you could get some delayed news as an advertising-supported service. We are also keen to see how IPTV emerges. We are trying to see how we can do more in India. We want to be frontrunners rather than latecomers in this area. But these are very emerging technologies and the adoption and penetration is not there. From the technology and content perspective we are ready. But 2008 is probably when you will see us do something (regarding IPTV). It will be interesting to see how India as a market will adopt this new technology.

What are your revenue expectations for the India business through such initiatives?

We are setting up a new content management system and are working on giving new tools to the editorial team in Delhi that will allow them to package multiple pictures and videos on to the revamped Web site. We are giving tools to the editors to change the homepage or if an event breaks to create a microsite very quickly. The site’s look and feel will change. It will be a major revamp this year and it will be done in stages next year as well. The stuff that we did in the U.S. and UK will pour into the India site. The sentiment going in is that India revenues are going to be very small. But this is a long term play. I am excited that we can create real value for our users. We want to be here through Web, mobile, IPTV and our television efforts. It is going to be an ongoing game for the next 3 to 5 years.