ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Prime Video drops a 17-title firecracker ahead of Prime Day 2025

    Prime Video drops a 17-title firecracker ahead of Prime Day 2025

    MUMBAI: Prime Video is bringing the noise—and the binge—with a blistering line-up of 17 Indian and global titles in the lead-up to Prime Day 2025 (12th–14th July). With something for every mood, language and genre, the streamer is out to ensure your July watchlist is longer than your shopping cart.

    It’s already game on with The Traitors (Hindi), an Indian take on the cult reality format, hosted by Karan Johar. With 20 celebs and one big pot of cash, the drama drops every Thursday at 8 PM.

    For desi diehards, Panchayat Season 4 returns from 24th June, back with Abhishek, Pradhan Ji, and Phulera’s eccentric ensemble. Meanwhile, Telugu satire Uppu Kappurambu premieres 4th July, spinning a quirky yarn about a village battling a graveyard crunch—led by Keerthy Suresh and Suhas.

    If thrills are your thing, Ground Zero, starring Emraan Hashmi, has already hit. Coming soon is Heads of State (2nd July), a glossy Hollywood caper headlined by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, John Cena and Idris Elba—expect explosions, espionage, and equal parts sass.

    The international slate gets grittier with Ballard (9th July), spun off from the Bosch: Legacy universe, and Dexter: Resurrection, slicing into Prime on 12th July with weekly episodes.

    K-drama fans, breathe easy: action-comedy Good Boy continues to pack a punch on weekends, while swoonfest Head Over Heels airs on Mondays and Tuesdays.

    Already streaming are Deep Cover, a spy romp featuring Bryce Dallas Howard and Orlando Bloom, and The Monkey, a horror-comedy led by Theo James.

    From rural satire to global shootouts, Prime Video’s got July loaded. Prime Day 2025 isn’t just a sale—it’s a full-blown screen-fest.

  • Digital i report: Netflix’s ad-tier viewing soars by nearly a third across Europe

    Digital i report: Netflix’s ad-tier viewing soars by nearly a third across Europe

    MUMBAI: Here’s some data that validates what Indian streamers have known all along and have been following for quite some time. If you want masses to consume you, then give away content at a lower price or for free – especially entertainment shows – but populate it with ads. Viewers don’t seem to mind it all.

    Global streaming media measurement firm Digital i conducted a study between November 2024 and April 2025 which revealed that viewing time on Netflix’s ‘Standard with Ads’ plan jumped 32 per cent across five key west European markets, signalling robust growth for the streaming giant’s advertising business. The Standards with Ads plan is priced at Euro 6.99 per month as against the standard plan which has a sticker price of Euro 13.99 and the premium one which costs Euro 19.99 This Standard with Ads package offers ad-supported streaming on two devices simultaneously in Full HD (1080p) and allows for downloads

    Digital i’s study  revealed  a collective rise of 152.7 million hours in the UK, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain. Total viewing hours on the ad-supported tier surged from 470.2 million in November 2024 to 622.9 million by April 2025.

    Germany led the charge with a 44 per cent increase, as hours viewed on the ‘Standard with Ads’ plan climbed from 81.3 million to 116.9 million. Spain and the UK each saw a 34 per cent uplift, with viewing rising from 59.9 million to 80.2 million and 150.7 million to 202.6 million hours respectively. France experienced a 26 per cent rise (from 129.1 million to 163.2 million), while Italy registered a 22 per cent gain (from 49.1 million to 60 million).

    Digital i chief analytics officer Matt Ross hailed the figures. “Netflix’s ad-supported tier has experienced strong growth in the past six months, and the increased take up has led to increased viewership across all regions,” he remarked. “This is good news for Netflix’s ad business which now boasts strong levels of reach combined with high levels of viewership.”

  • Lauki meets cooker in Panchayat’s spicy Season 4 campaign blitz

    Lauki meets cooker in Panchayat’s spicy Season 4 campaign blitz

    MUMBAI: What do you get when lauki meets pressure cooker? A full-blown election dhamaka, of course. But this time, the cooker isn’t in the kitchen, it’s on billboards, in street installations, and it’s whistling louder than Phulera’s political tempers. Ahead of Panchayat Season 4’s release on June 24, Prime Video is turning up the heat with a brilliantly desi OOH campaign across cities. At Patna’s Marine Drive, Indore’s Chappan Dukan, and Lucknow’s buzzing 1090 Chauraha, unsuspecting passersby were met with massive laukis being squashed by equally massive pressure cookers or vice versa. The lauki isn’t going down without a fight.

    The high-decibel marketing complete with hoardings that blow a real seeti every few hours plays up the season’s central conflict: Kranti Devi vs. the OG Pradhan. The quirky slogan game is also strong: Banrakas ka Vaar, Ya Pradhan ka Prahaar? and Kaun Hogi Phulera Ki Queen? echo across installations, channeling every bit of small-town poll drama with spicy flair.

    It’s political theatre with a legume twist, reflecting the heartland chaos Panchayat fans love. If lauki symbolises old-school values and calm, the cooker is all pressure and power play and Phulera’s streets are the new battleground.

    Returning with its signature warmth and satire, the series stars Jitendra Kumar, Neena Gupta, Raghubir Yadav, Faisal Malik and more. Created by Deepak Kumar Mishra and Chandan Kumar, the show is ready to serve a fourth helping of heartfelt hilarity. And if the campaign is any hint, this season’s narrative will be just as cooked, crisp, and chaotic.

    So mark the date, because Panchayat isn’t just streaming, it’s steaming. 

  • Prime Video adds a reel treat with NFDC’s ‘Cinemas of India’ for just Rs 199 a year

    Prime Video adds a reel treat with NFDC’s ‘Cinemas of India’ for just Rs 199 a year

    MUMBAI: Prime Video India has rolled out the red carpet for film buffs, announcing the launch of ‘NFDC – Cinemas of India’ as an add-on subscription, priced at just Rs 199 per year. The collection is a goldmine of Indian cinema, featuring landmark films by the likes of Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal, Mira Nair, Kalpana Lajmi, and more.

    The newly added bouquet includes cinematic heavyweights like Gandhi, Mirch Masala, Rudaali, Salaam Bombay!, Agantuk, and Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda — all carefully curated by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), known for nurturing India’s parallel cinema movement.

    Part of Amazon’s growing video entertainment marketplace, the service provides frictionless access to over a hundred critically acclaimed films across 12 Indian languages — from Bioscope (Malayalam) to Parinamam (Malayalam), Percy (Gujarati) to Qissa (Punjabi).

    Many of the titles boast honours from Cannes, Venice, Toronto and the National Awards, making the NFDC channel a veritable masterclass in Indian storytelling.

    “NFDC has been the cornerstone of India’s finest cinema, nurturing path-breaking films for decades. We’re excited to announce NFDC – Cinemas of India as our newest add-on subscription, featuring an exclusively curated collection of cinematic masterpieces,” said Prime Video head of marketplace (add-on subscriptions and movie rentals), Gaurav Bhasin. “The collection showcases the rich heritage of Indian cinema across our linguistically diverse entertainment industry. Whether you’re a cinephile or just beginning to explore Indian cinema, NFDC’s catalogue offers an unparalleled window into our country’s most acclaimed and culturally significant films. Through add-on subscriptions like these, we continue our commitment at Prime Video to super-serve customers with more of what they love, all in one place.”

    “We are thrilled to collaborate with Prime Video to make NFDC’s rich collection of movies accessible to a wider audience. For decades, NFDC has supported pioneering filmmakers and impactful narratives that showcase India’s cultural diversity. With Prime Video’s massive reach across the country, we are confident that these timeless, thought-provoking, stories will reach and be enjoyed by new audiences, and enable us to take Indian cinema far and wide,” said NFDC Ltd MD, Prakash Magdum.

    For the price of popcorn, viewers can now stream decades of cinematic genius — all in one click. Lights, camera, nostalgia.

  • First Copy hits play on nostalgia with Munawar’s smashing screen debut

    First Copy hits play on nostalgia with Munawar’s smashing screen debut

    MUMBAI: Some stories deserve to be pirated, others, like this one, deserve to be binge-watched. The 90s are back but not through disco beats or bell bottoms. This time, they come wrapped in bootlegged DVDs, fuzzy frames, and gripping plotlines. RVCJ Media and Salt Media’s new original series First Copy, streaming for free on Amazon MX Player since 20 June, is already being hailed as a cult classic in the making.

    And who’s leading the charge? None other than stand-up star Munawar Faruqui, making his acting debut as the conflicted protagonist of a world where piracy was more than a crime, it was culture, jugaad, and, often, survival.

    Unveiled with a starry premiere in Mumbai on 19 June, First Copy has gone from “what’s that?” to “must-watch” in a matter of hours. A 10-episode deep dive into the murky film-underbelly of 90s Mumbai, the series crackles with energy, edge, and emotional heft offering not just a nostalgic trip, but a raw commentary on access, ambition and grey morality.

    The show follows a compelling storyline centred on bootleg cinema and the men who made their living dubbing dreams onto tape. Faruqui’s performance has earned widespread applause, with fans and industry insiders alike praising his screen presence and the show’s faithful recreation of a long-gone era of pirated passion.

    Firdaus Sayed of Salt Media, who produced the series, summed it up as a “love letter to a generation that experienced cinema not in theatres, but around flickering living room screens.”

    And RVCJ Media CEO Shahid Javed doesn’t mince words, “This is not just content, it’s a cultural movement.”

    With a 60M plus digital footprint and a penchant for emotionally resonant stories, RVCJ’s evolution into long-form originals seems both organic and electric. And Salt Media’s grounded storytelling sensibilities have clearly helped shape a series that celebrates hustle, heart and the VHS days of movie-watching in India.

    Whether you’re a child of the 90s or just someone craving content that cuts through, First Copy is anything but a duplicate, it’s the real deal.

  • Prasar Bharati rides new Waves with Shucae Films OTT content tie-up

    Prasar Bharati rides new Waves with Shucae Films OTT content tie-up

    MUMBAI: India’s national broadcaster is catching the OTT tide and this one’s making Waves. In a move that blends legacy media with fresh digital storytelling, Prasar Bharati has partnered with Shucae Films to host the latter’s vibrant catalogue on its OTT platform Waves, with select content also airing across its television channels. The alliance brings a medley of Shucae’s web shows to Prasar Bharati’s growing digital stable. Think romantic twists, comedic chaos, and indie grit with titles like Jaane Kyun, It’s a Match, Pyaar Ke Panne, Bolo Pencil, Love Forever, Yeh Hai Meri Love Story!, and more now streaming for free.

    By roping in Shucae’s younger, internet-savvy audience and juxtaposing it with its traditional viewership, Prasar Bharati is shaping Waves as a platform that doesn’t just preserve culture but also mirrors current content trends. The move also reflects the broadcaster’s broader digital-first ambition.

    “This partnership reflects our commitment to offering vibrant, diverse and engaging content,” said Prasar Bharati CEO Gaurav Dwivedi. “Waves continues to evolve as a digital-first platform showcasing the best of Indian storytelling.”

    Shucae Films CEO Manoj Doogra added, “We’re thrilled to bring our stories to a wider audience through Prasar Bharati. Waves is the perfect platform to blend entertainment with impact.”

    From love stories to offbeat dramas, the line-up adds colour to Waves’ growing content pool. It also signals a stronger future for public broadcasters leaning into contemporary formats and co-creating with India’s expanding OTT talent pool. Whether it’s the nostalgia of Doordarshan or the now-ness of web series, this is storytelling tuned to every screen.

  • Pandya comedy-drama to stream on Shemaroome from 19 June

    Pandya comedy-drama to stream on Shemaroome from 19 June

    MUMBAI: They argue, eye-roll, and battle for the TV remote but try messing with their dad, and all bets are off. Shemaroome is set to premiere All The Best Pandya on  19 June, a family entertainer that dives headfirst into the hilarious, heartfelt chaos of a Gujarati father-son dynamic. At the centre is Hasmukh Pandya (played by Darshan Jariwala), a by-the-book patriarch, and his easygoing son Akshay (Malhar Thakar) two men who couldn’t be more different but are stitched together by the invisible threads of love, pride and a good deal of stubbornness.

    What begins as generational friction spiced with misunderstandings and “I know better” debates snowballs into a courtroom comedy that has as much heart as it has humour. The film cleverly unpacks unspoken affection, that silent cup of chai, that worried glance masked as irritation, and the ever-patient mother in the background keeping the emotional thermostat stable.

    Joining the father-son duo are Vandana Pathak, Yukti Randeria, and Vedish Jhaveri, rounding out a cast that feels like your own extended family dropped into a legal sitcom.

    Malhar Thakar, reflecting on the film’s digital debut, shared, “This is a mirror to every Indian family. It celebrates the unspoken, the unsaid, and the very loud love we share with our parents. It was a hit in theatres, and I’m thrilled it’ll now reach homes across India through Shemaroome.”

    With the original theatrical release already tugging heartstrings and tickling funny bones, All The Best Pandya now invites families to relive their own inside jokes, emotional stand-offs, and bittersweet reconciliations from the comfort of their living rooms.

    So, clear your calendars for 19 June, prepare the popcorn (and tissues), and maybe ring your dad. Just don’t let him control the remote this time.

  • Kantar study: CTV revolution gains ground as 23 per cent Indians ditch linear TV

    Kantar study: CTV revolution gains ground as 23 per cent Indians ditch linear TV

    MUMBAI: India’s media landscape is turning the page, and the headline is clear: Connected TV (CTV) is booming, and one in four Indians is now digital-only. That’s the key takeaway from Kantar’s Media Compass 2025, which maps the country’s evolving media consumption habits across linear TV, print, and digital.

    With a whopping 87,000-strong sample and quarterly tracking, Kantar’s new offering aims to replace outdated guesswork with data-driven firepower. And the early signs are disruptive: 35 million Indians have jumped on the CTV bandwagon, and 23 per cent of the population now accesses the internet without watching a second of linear TV.

    While linear TV still claims 58 per cent monthly reach, the shifts are seismic. CTV, once a metro darling, is now reaching deep into rural India. And digital-only audiences are mushrooming among young, male, and lower-income demographics—dispelling old myths and throwing up new marketing equations.

    Media preferences split starkly by age: 55 per cent of Indians aged 15–34 favour OTT and social platforms, while 44 per cent of those above 45 remain loyal to the TV set. Notably, 75 per cent of digital-only and linear TV viewers reside in rural areas, demolishing the notion of urban dominance.

    CTV remains a premium medium, with its incremental growth concentrated in NCCS A households, while digital is democratising access in lower-income groups.

     Kantar director – specialist businesses, insights division (south Asia) Puneet Avasthi said: “In today’s fragmented and fast-evolving media landscape, brands are under pressure to make every media rupee count. Yet, most decisions are still being made using outdated or incomplete data, leading to suboptimal media planning and missed connections with consumers. Media Compass 2025 aims to correct this and equip advertisers with timely, in-depth insights across platforms- enabling smarter media planning, stronger audience engagement and sharper targeting for maximum impact.”

    The message to marketers? India’s media map is redrawn. The compass has shifted. Time to follow the data.

  • Cyber threats loom in Special Ops 2 trailer

    Cyber threats loom in Special Ops 2 trailer

    MUMBAI: JioHotstar has plugged in with the trailer for Special Ops Season 2, signalling the electrifying return of Kay Kay Menon as the redoubtable R&AW officer Himmat Singh. This time, the stakes are not just high, they’re sky-high, as the series pivots to a perilous cyber front.

    Created and directed by Neeraj Pandey, who also serves as a writer for the series, alongside Deepak Kingrani and Benazir Ali Fida, the show’s cinematography was handled by Sudheer Palsane, Arvind Singh, and Praveen Kathikuloth.

    Under the keen eye of director Shivam Nair, the new season plunges audiences into a volatile geopolitical skirmish. Wars, it seems, are no longer confined to muddy battlegrounds but are now waged in the digital ether, with the enemy lurking in plain sight. Himmat and his crack squad face a silent, insidious war – one of coordinated cyber breaches that threaten to dismantle national stability without a whisper of warning or a single visible scar. It’s a battle for the very soul of the nation, folks.

    A sterling ensemble cast, including Prakash Raj, Vinay Pathak, Karan Tacker, Saiyami Kher, Muzammil Ibrahim, Gautami Kapoor, Parmeet Sethi, and Kali Prasad Mukherjee, lend their considerable talents, adding layers of intensity to this high-octane narrative.

    The Grand Hyatt Mumbai played host to the grand unveiling, where the full cast mingled with the press. JioStar CMO & head-SVOD Sushant Sreeram, offered a fascinating insight into the streaming giant’s greenlighting philosophy. Addressing the perennial question of audience attachment to characters, Mr Sreeram mused that on-screen personas transcend mere viewing figures, becoming integral to a process. He elaborated, rather pointedly, that audiences seek inspiration, hope, or solace in these journeys, finding reflections of ‘either what we are or what we want to be.’

    While JioHotstar boasts a ‘repertoire’ of ‘best characters’, their true vibrancy, he noted, stems from the collective genius of ‘writing it, to directing it, to the people who actually portray the characters,’ not forgetting the ‘fantastic teams at JioStar’ who bring them to the screen. In essence, he argued, these on-screen figures are but echoes of ‘our close relationships’, promising both familiarity and ‘surprise and, you know, delight’ this season.

    JioHotstar, not one to miss a beat, shared the trailer on Instagram with a pithy caption: “This time, everyone is a Target! Cyber-Terrorism vs. Himmat Singh and his squad. #HotstarSpecials #SpecialOps2, streaming from July 11, only on #JioHotstar”.

    https://www.instagram.com/jiohotstar

    With a fresh antagonist in Tahir Raj Bhasin, and a global scale matched by razor-sharp performances, Special Ops Season 2 is set for a thrilling 11 July drop. Brace yourselves, because this time, the battlefield is everywhere!

     

  • Trust issues? Prime Video’s The Traitors makes betrayal the main game

    Trust issues? Prime Video’s The Traitors makes betrayal the main game

    MUMBAI: Backstabbers, assemble Prime Video’s The Traitors wants your trust, then twists it. The gloves are off and the masks are on in The Traitors, Prime Video’s new psychological reality thriller where lies, suspicion, and manipulation rule the game. Set in a castle-like estate and packed with 20 familiar faces think Karan Kundrra, Uorfi Javed, Raftaar, and Maheep Kapoor the show turns deception into sport and betrayal into strategy.

    Adapted from the Emmy and BAFTA-winning global format by IDTV, and produced in India by BBC Studios for Prime Video, The Traitors isn’t just drama, it’s emotional demolition. Friendships are collateral, family bonds are bait, and trust? That’s your biggest weakness.

    Each week, contestants face daring tasks and emotional landmines. But it’s the infamous Circle of Shaq that leaves viewers clutching imaginary pearls. Here, alliances are shattered, accusations fly faster than clues, and even the most loyal hearts are accused of treachery. In the first few episodes alone, Maheep openly calls out Players, Apoorva takes no prisoners, and the air is thick with suspicion.

    Celebrities like Anshula Kapoor, Ashish Vidyarthi, Jasmine Bhasin, Sudhanshu Pandey, Lakshmi Manchu, Janvi Gaur, and more find themselves second-guessing every smile and decoding every handshake. With reputations on the line, each move is a gamble and in The Traitors, someone’s always bluffing.

    The series blends brutal gameplay with emotional vulnerability, an unpredictable mix of Survivor-style endurance and Bigg Boss-style showdowns, but with an added layer of psychological warfare.

    The Traitors premiered its first three episodes on Prime Video, with new episodes dropping every Thursday at 8 pm.

    So if you’ve ever wondered how far someone might go to win when lying is the rule, not the exception log in, watch your back, and remember: Rise and shine… it’s Dhokha Time.