In conversation with Rishi Pratim Mukherjee, Co-Founder & CEO at Jist Media

As consumers’ attention spans rapidly diminish, the demand for high-quality short-form video content has surged, aiming for broader reach. This shift has significantly impacted content creation approaches, prompting a reconsideration of strategies to align with evolving consumer preferences.

Agency Reporter interviewed Rishi Pratim Mukherjee, Co-Founder & CEO at Jist Media, to gain insights into the changing landscape of consumer preferences and content consumption trends.

Agency reporter: Can you provide a brief overview of Jist Media and what are the core values driving the company’s mission?

Rishi Pratim Mukherjee: Jist Media (India), is a pure play digital media company that creates videos to explain the world to young, curious audiences – particularly millennials and gen z. Our platform aims to empower users through accessible, authentic, engaging, and informative video content. With a dedicated team of 30+ talented individuals, we consistently produce 200+ original videos per month, catering to the preferences of audiences who have a penchant for video content consumption.

Our primary focus is to cater the audiences who have a preference for video content consumption. Over the past year, our social media channels including Facebook, Instagram and X have reached 700+ million views and amassed 5 Mn followers. This tremendous growth is a testament that there is a growing audience for meaningful content that is merely not serving news in a static manner but providing genuine value by making sense of the news cacophony surrounding today’s digital natives. This overwhelming response gives us the confidence to keep making content for our audience and continue to reimagine storytelling via multiple digital formats.

We are dedicated to providing high-quality, engaging video content that informs, inspires, and entertains our audience while upholding our core values of information, innovation, and authenticity.

Agency Reporter: Have you observed any specific trends in content consumption among the youth of India that have influenced your content creation approach?

Rishi Pratim Mukherjee: In recent years, there has been a notable transformation in the content consumption pattern of the youth in India, particularly for news and entertainment. According to a report by Global data company YouGov, young consumers between 25-34 years will be driving streaming growth in India.As consumer content consumption patterns continue to evolve, we at Jist News are committed to adapting our content creation approach including leveraging innovative digital storytelling formats, enhancing our presence on social media platforms, and exploring opportunities in the growing streaming market to deliver engaging and relevant content that resonates with our audience.

Our focus is on providing editorially curated news content that offers perspective and important contextual cues, making sense of the noise for our audience in a language and format native to their digital experience, ensuring both relevance and engagement.
Ensuring the authenticity of information is paramount to us. Our editorial team led by Mr. Rahul Shrivastava, who comes with decades of experience in esteemed news organisations like NDTV and India Today, upholds classical fact-checking and journalistic rigour to meet the highest standards of credibility and reliability.Our editorial team is mentored and moulded constantly to present content that meets the highest journalistic standards.
While entertainment content, especially scripted fiction, remains popular among Indian youth, there is a noticeable shift towards consuming more informative and issue-driven content. This indicates a growing interest among the youth in understanding and engaging with important social, political, and cultural issues.
The rise of over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms has transformed the way Indian youth consume entertainment, with on-demand viewing becoming the norm over traditional appointment-based TV watching.
We prioritise quality engagement metrics over mere quantitative indicators. Metrics such as organic views, video completion rates, average watch time, and the quality of user comments are considered more meaningful in assessing the effectiveness and impact of its content on the audience.

We recognize this shift in preferences and strive to provide content that not only entertains but also informs and educates its audience. By delivering well-researched, authentic, and digestible news content, Jist News aims to simplify complex topics and make them more accessible to the digitally savvy youth.

Agency Reporter: With the proliferation of short-form video content, how is Jist Media adapting its content strategy to cater to evolving consumer preferences?

Rishi Pratim Mukherjee: Short-format videos are booming in India due to the younger generation’s tech-savvy nature and their constant quest for engaging content. In terms of social media platforms, Instagram has already embraced vertical videos with its Reels feature, which allows users to create and share short-format videos. We’re also leveraging this trend to create content specifically that resonates with our audience.

Our most produced content IP is Answered, an anchor-led, vertical format video explainer that is Reels first. Each video has an average duration of 120-240 seconds, focusing on crunching information on key topics trending in the news and connecting information dots for our audience, providing them with context of the topic. We handle the entire production process in-house, garnering 15 Mn monthly views from this content alone.

In addition to this, all our original interviews – HotSpot (politicians), Townhall (actors, celebs), Spotlight (social media influencers) which are approximately an hour (for YouTube), are sliced into pithy highlight chunks for our Reels and Shorts section.

Agency Reporter: How does Jist Media approach the creation and development of its IPs to maintain a competitive edge in the market?

Rishi Pratim Mukherjee: Based on our analysis of current digital and social content trends, we have identified the following three most engaging formats –

Explainers,
Interviews, and
Ground Reports.

All our IPs or ‘shows’ are centred around each of the above formats.

Explainers: Answered (trending topics across current affairs, entertainment, and culture), Kisse Kursi Ke by Rahul Shrivastava (tales from past Indian political history putting into context current happenings).
Interviews: HotSpot by Rahul Shrivastava (A-list political figures like Akhilesh Yadav, Nitin Gadkari & Sachin Pilot), Townhall (actors, celebs from the film industry – Richa Chaddha, Bhumi Pednekar, Manoj Bajpayee, etc.), Spotlight (social media influencers like Amit Bhadana, Justh, Ankur Warikoo, etc.).
Original ground reports conducted by our reporters – Anil Sharda & Mukul Singh Chauhan (Manipur violence, election coverage in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, Bhavya Ram Mandir inauguration in Ayodhya, etc.)

We aim to maintain a competitive edge in the industry by prioritising our audience preferences, fostering innovation, and investing in high-quality content production. We tailor our IPs to resonate with our audience, leveraging strategic partnerships and data-driven insights to optimise engagement and relevance.

Our most popular format Unscripted Townhall has rapidly gained traction and garnered 100+ Mn views over the past year. Additionally, our shows like Street View, Spotlight and Answered further exemplify our dedication to delivering diverse and compelling content experiences to our audience.

With a commitment to creativity and excellence, we continuously explore new ideas and formats, ensuring that our content remains fresh, authentic and compelling.

Agency Reporter: In a landscape where media brands face increasing competition and changing consumer behaviours, how are you expanding your user base?

Rishi Pratim Mukherjee: We invest in creating unique, authentic, engaging and high quality content that caters to the diverse needs and interests of our audience eg – entertainment, health, lifestyle, politics, economy and sports among others. The platform reached a significant milestone in 2023, surpassing 700 Mn viewers across its social media platforms, and are thrilled to see the continued growth in viewership throughout the year. We are committed to meeting the evolving preferences of our viewers by providing them a seamless and enriching experience on the devices of their choice.

Agency Reporter: Given the regulatory complexities surrounding digital media and news content, how does Jist Media ensure compliance while maintaining editorial independence and integrity?

Rishi Pratim Mukherjee: We prioritise compliance while safeguarding editorial independence and integrity. We stay abreast of evolving regulations and engage legal experts to ensure adherence to all applicable laws and guidelines.

Agency Reporter: Are there any upcoming projects or initiatives that you’re particularly excited about and would like to share with our audience?

Rishi Pratim Mukherjee: As we embark on upcoming projects, we’re incredibly excited about the innovative and compelling content experiences we’re preparing to unveil. We’re dedicated to delivering high-quality content that meets our audience’s expectations.

Jist.news is a recently launched platform offering original articles and videos.