MUMBAI: The Sherni is all set to sharpen her claws as OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar greenlights a new season of International Emmy-nominated Hotstar Specials’ Aarya. The series from filmmaker Ram Madhvani has officially entered its scripting stage. This show follows the journey of a fierce mother to keep her family safe from the world of crime after entering the vicious network following her husband’s demise.
The show’s lead actor Sushmita Sen said, “It is a new dawn for Aarya Sareen, and she is fierce. In Season 3, she is going places and starting her own story free from the obstacles of her past. Reprising the role of Aarya is like slipping into old jeans but for a brand-new journey. It feels great to be back with Ram Madhvani and the Disney+ Hotstar team, can’t wait to return the love and appreciation viewers have showered on Aarya.”
Madhvani said, “Disney+ Hotstar has been an amazing partner in building Aarya through two seasons and we are delighted to associate with them once again for yet another season. The journey of developing a gripping storyline, thrill and family love has started and we are sure this will once again leave audiences wanting more! The stakes are only getting higher from here…! It’s great to be back with Sushmita Sen and co-producer Amita Madhvani and the full Ram Madhvani films team.”
Disney Star HSM Entertainment Network head Gaurav Banerjee said, “Being nominated in the International Emmy Awards last year, Aarya is a crown jewel of Disney+ Hotstar. Since its first season, the show has truly been a game-changer, redefining Indian storytelling with women breaking stereotypes. We have received immense love and appreciation from viewers for the first two seasons, coupled with high anticipation on knowing what follows. We look forward to unfolding what happens next through the narrative of season 3! ”
Mumbai: OTT platform Watcho, known for providing viewers with new and interesting content, announced on Monday to host 34 Korean web-series dubbed in Hindi on the platform.
With the motto of #RozanaKDrama, Watcho will release three hours of Korean content every day from its exhaustive Korean content library. The shows, ranging from drama, action, and romance to sci-fi, promise to keep its millennial viewers entertained and hooked. With this, Watcho is one step closer in democratising international content for mass Indian audiences by offering Korean shows dubbed in Hindi. A total of 650+ hours of Korean content will be released sequentially, with new episodes being streamed on the platform every day.
The first in the line-up is Welcome 2 Life, a fantasy drama that tells the story of a selfish lawyer who helps people who want to take advantage of the law. One day, he has a mysterious car accident and is drawn into a parallel world.
In addition to these, the line-up also features some of the leading dramas like Something About 1 Percent, Extraordinary You, Kairos and Flower of Evil among others.
DishTV & Watcho, Dish TV India, corporate head – marketing Sukhpreet Singh commented, “Korean content has, of late, made significant inroads into India’s mainstream popular culture. And, as the Watcho base expands, it also becomes imperative that we cater to this growing customer demand. We are thrilled to bring Hindi dubbed Korean content to our audience, helping reach audiences in Tier II and Tier III markets as well.”
Bringing in a unique assortment of snackable content cutting across all genres, Watcho offers many original shows including web series like The Morning Show, Happy, Bauchare-E-Ishq, Gupta Niwas, Jaunpur, Papa Ka Scooter, Aghaat, Cheaters – The Vacation, Sarhad, Mystery Dad, JaalSaazi, Dark Destinations, It’s My Pleasure, 4 Thieves, Love Crisis, Ardhsatya, Chhoriyan, and Rakhta Chandana along with also having original influencer shows like Look I Can Cook and Bikhare Hain Alfaaz. It also has a unique UGC platform called Swag where users can create their original videos and discover their talent. Available across screens. Watcho presently provides over 35 plus original shows, 300 plus exclusive plays, and 100 plus live channels in Hindi, Kannada, and Telugu.
Mumbai: Mythoverse Studios, a venture of media entrepreneurs Madhu Mantena and Sheetal Talwar on Monday announced that the company is all set to enter the Web3.0 space and will concentrate on bringing newer immersive experiences for its audiences inspired by stories from Indian Mythology. As a part of expanding its horizons, Mythoverse Studios has appointed Anshu Patni as its CEO of gaming and WEB3.0.
She comes with over a decade of experience in the content, talent, and gaming business under her belt. In her new role, she will have her eyes set on bringing the immersive world of Mythoverse in its Web3.0 Avatar.
Mythoverse Studios founder Madhu Mantena commented, “The work we have done over the past few years at Mythoverse lends itself to the huge opportunity that Metaverse offers. As part of this expansion, I am happy to bring on board Anshu as our CEO for the WEB3.0 and gaming business. I am confident that under her leadership we will open and explore new frontiers of immersive experiences that we hope to explore and exploit not only at Mythoverse Studios but for all the wonderful IP that we own and create at Phantom Studios and Cinergy Films.”
Patni said, “After having worked with content platforms, producers and artists across entertainment and gaming in the WEB2.0 space, I am looking forward to creating new experiences in the WEB3.0 space for Mythoverse and the immersive world of entertainment that we are building.”
With over 15 years of experience in the entertainment and content ecosystem, she brings with her a unique set of expertise across content, talent management and brand building. Anshu also hosts a podcast called QUESTIONS I WANTED TO ASK across various audio and video platforms. In her previous roles, Anshu has helmed CHNO Media and also as the business head at CAA Kwan.
Mythoverse Studios is focused on bringing immersive experiences across various mediums and platforms inspired by Indian Mythology. The company is currently producing two epics- Ramayana and Mahabharata which it said are expected to bring together some of the biggest names in the Indian film industry.
Mumbai: Cartoons and Anime have unarguably been the most preferred form of entertainment for kids. To cater to this growing and varied demand of kid’s entertainment, Tata Play (formerly known as Tata Sky) on Monday introduced a new platform service – Toons+. Created for kids across all age groups and fans of anime, Toons+ is dedicated to transporting viewers to the animated universe of fun and adventure in the language of their choice. The extensive library of popular cartoon and anime shows are available in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali and Punjabi, and will appeal to both kids and adults alike.
The plus in Toons+ indicates the vast bouquet of cartoons, anime and movies, that have been curated and presented in six languages to offer a non-stop, ad free experience. Toons+ will be bringing back cartoon shows like Simba and the King Lion, Bablu Dablu and anime shows like Fury Spinner, Unite-2-Blast along with short engaging content like Captain Pepe, Rattic Mini, Pat & Mat etc., in delightful bundles. Kids can also enjoy cartoon movies like “Felix Around the World”, “Gattu: Lolipop in Fantasy” and much more. Widening the watch list of children, the service will also introduce a charismatic world of anime with popular anime shows like World Peacekeepers, Drago Monsters, Thunder Machines, Armor Monsters and cartoons like Billa Jassos, Gormiti, Kung Fu Masters and more. These Anime shows are exclusive to Tata Play and will be premiered for the first time on Toons+. Tata Play will also offer non-subscribers of the service a sampling time of two minutes. Launched at a price of Rs 60 per month, this service is sure to entertain kids across regions with power packed content.
Tata Play chief commercial and content officer Pallavi Puri said, “The newly launched Toons+ furthers Tata Play’s endeavour to provide entertainment for all. We have seen a rising demand for fresh kids content over the years, and we believe, Toons+, with its exclusive curation of international cartoons and anime content, will become the next entertainment hub for the fans of this genre. Keeping the diversity of audience in mind, we are also presenting the content in six different languages which will just add to the viewer engagement.”
Mumbai: The Indian audio and music landscape has undergone a paradigm shift in the past few years. On-demand audio content and podcasts are transforming people’s listening habits, just as on-demand video has changed how viewers watch television. Music streaming platforms have been gaining traction driven by the growing appetite for on-demand music and the rising popularity of podcasts, with a pandemic-prompted shift in the public’s content consumption patterns. The Indian music streaming market is projected to cross $870 million by the year 2025, according to the data from market research firm Statista.
On day two of the sixth edition of Indiantelevision.com’s The Content Hub Summit 2022 held on Thursday in Mumbai, executives of the music and audio content industry share their insights on ‘Decoding the business of audio, music and podcast’. The informative session chaired by Ideabrew Studios co-founder & CEO Aditya Kuber saw industry insiders comprising Hungama Digital chief executive officer Siddhartha Roy, Showbox vice president -Programming & Strategy Clyde Dsouza and Pocket FM senior vice president – content Ashu Behl discuss ways and means to drive the next wave of business growth in the digital audio space.
The summit was presented by Viacom18, and co-powered by Applause Entertainment and IN10 Media Network. Aaj Tak Connected Stream is the association partner. Industry partners are Fremantle India, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, One Take Media, Pratilipi, Pocket FM and The Viral Fever. The Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association (IMPPA) is our community partner.
With widespread internet penetration, and affordable smartphones becoming a common commodity even in the country’s tier three and four towns, the boundaries of the music streaming landscape have been pushed.
Showbox’s Clyde Dsouza, represents the more traditional media which some may say is on its way out. In his view, the more things change the more they remain the same. He said “While the platforms will keep evolving, the core piece- which’s the content- be it audio or visual- will always remain the same. So, the curation, the programming, the packaging- all of that remains the same. It’s just that the distribution models will keep changing.”
While the Indian market is now choc-a-bloc with digital music streaming platforms, OTTs that are purely ‘non-music’ and ‘audio-based’, such as Pocket FM, are also getting launched. These OTTs are evolving the audio-listening space into three broad categories, namely the traditional informative podcasts, audio books and lastly, the dominant category of audio series, explained Pocket FM’s Ashu Behl.
“The biggest barrier to user acquisition for us was there are not many audio user-acquisition channels, unless we go to competitors like Gaana or maybe, Hungama. So, we actually leveraged a video-led acquisition approach where we got consumers to sample audio content in some form of video, maybe a five-minute or three-minute clip,” continued Behl. “When the audience gets ‘stuck’ to the content or the story they then latch onto the content and download the app and continue to listen.”
How has the digital side of the business affected revenue on the traditional side, Ideabrew Studios’s Aditya Kuber asked Showbox’s Dsouza. From an advertising perspective one might have expected a downturn from digital platforms eating away at the advertising revenue, but there’s actually been an upturn, observed D’souza.
“I think traditional TV media is grounded within the ecosystem of the advertiser, the client, the audience and the measurability,” he added further. “Showbox has seen a huge uptick, not only in terms of viewership, but also in terms of advertising. So, music channels are still robust and it’s a while away for the traditional space to be upturned as such.”
The industry stakeholders discussed some of the newer payment methods in terms of micropayment models, and how smaller pieces of content can be converted into paid pieces of content.
“When we started monetising, we did so with an annual subscription model, but then we realised there’s an entry barrier for users to pay even nominal amounts,” said Behl. “So, we completely did away with it and started micro-payments, where the initial user can start spending, say as low as nine rupees, and listen to a number of episodes of a particular show.” This has lowered the entry barrier for the users, as well as, helped retention and stickiness of our long-form content.
When it comes to streaming platforms- more so music-driven- the entire category, each of us are aggressively continuing to grow our communities and each of us have different ways and forms in the way we are going about it, said Hungama Digital’s Siddhartha Roy. “From a payment perspective, it’s not the price. It’s all about the fact that if I’m getting the service free, why should I be paying? So, each of us are running different programs on how to move the consumer from a ‘free’ bucket into ‘paid’.”
What is the role that brands can play, in terms of advertising and effectively tapping into a platform’s community of users, asked Kuber, while going beyond the standard sponsorship or advertising route? The key for brands could be to step up by taking calculated risks and partnering more with the content, say the panellists.
Taking the same content, and packaging it and giving the brand proposition across music, OTT and broadcast, creating a 360-degree play with the brand’s passion was some of the other means spoken about. Another innovation is integrating the brand’s stories as a part of an audio series or content, where brands can actually monetise and see the outcome.
One of the major challenges brands face today is measuring the return on investment (RoI) on their investments in the digital audio space. How are the platforms aiding the brands on this, asked Kuber.
Digital as a medium is the most transparent measurement of what you would call ‘brand value’, says Roy. “It could be done through an impression, a view, or through the time spent. So, the amount of data that is being put out to brands, the effective RoI for the money that they deploy on advertising in digital – it can’t get more transparent than that.”
That context-setting and target-setting needs to be done at the time of engaging with the brand, he added.
The panellists also debated on having a standardised tool of data measurement for brands to measure their ROI, when it came to digital platforms.
On dealing with upcoming challenges and rising competition in the audio content space, experts were united about applying the standard tenets of staying ‘relevant’ and ‘committed’, while continuing to add something new and of value to the ecosystem.
Mumbai: GodLike Esports has joined hands with Numen Esports and Gaming for esports and gaming management services. The professional esports team, which has BGMI, Free Fire and CODR rosters, features top gamers from India including Jonathan Amaral, Arshpreet “Gill” Singh, Abhishek “ZGOD” Choudhary, Vivek “ClutchGod” Aabhas and Suraj “Neyoo” Majumdar to name a few. Through this association, Numen Esports will be managing the team’s tournament development, investment and consulting services, merchandise and more.
Founded by Chetan “Kronten” Chandgude, GodLike Esports has been making waves in the Indian and global gaming space for a few years now. Having won big at renowned tournaments like CODM India Challenge 2022, PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2021, LOCO War of Glory 2021, Skyesports Championship 3.0 and more, the members of the different rosters of GodLike Esports have managed to become established names in the esports industry in India. GodLike is among the few teams in the country with a Girls BGMI Roster, who have been creating a splash in various tournaments like BMOC, where they were semi-finalists, Truth N Fair, Rooter Underdog 1.0 and 2.0. The team also recently announced an exclusive streaming deal with Rooter, one of India’s largest gaming and esports streaming platforms.
Numen Esports & Gaming is a gaming and esports focused agency, with industry veterans, Manoj George, Sachin Parkale and Kaustubh Purohit at the helm. They bring their expertise and industry know-how to the table to provide a wide array of services from talent management, large gaming IPs, short/long format content & brand partnerships. Numen also has a host of talent, including other top creators like, Gaming Guru, Spike, Lolzzz, Novaking and more. Raking in a revenue of Rs 136 billion last year, and projected to hit Rs 290 crore by 2024-25 (as per a KPMG report), the gaming industry in India is scaling at a rapid pace and Numen Esports was founded to support this ecosystem by creating opportunities for talented gamers to pursue a viable career in it.
Talking about the partnership, Numen Esports and Gaming co-founder & CEO Manoj George said, “GodLike is undoubtedly one of the most recognized names in the Indian esports industry and we are happy to partner with them to take the team and the brand to unparalleled heights. The gaming industry in India is at a very exciting stage, with huge developments and incredible opportunities for the esports athletes and brands. We are excited to be the bridge between them and create extraordinary content and experiences for fans.”
Numen Esports and Gaming director Kaustubh Purohit said, “Our focus at Numen Esports has been to contribute to the growing Indian esports and gaming ecosystem by scouting and representing gamers and teams. GodLike is a huge phenomenon in the Indian gaming space, with all that they’ve managed to achieve in a short span of time and we are going to work together to accelerate this growth even further.”
Numen Esports and Gaming director Sachin Parkale said, “Numen and GodLike have a common vision to make India a superpower in the global gaming and esports industry. With the rapid growth the industry has been seeing recently, we are confident we can make a significant impact together.”
GodLike Esports founder Chetan ‘Kronten’ Chandgude, said, “We are ecstatic to partner with Numen Esports and are assured they will help us achieve great things. In the preliminary discussions itself, I saw the synergies and the shared passion to build something exceptional for GodLike and the Indian gaming industry and we’re looking forward to setting everything in motion.”
Mumbai: Music NFTs are an alternative way for artists, most of whom depend on extractive record labels and centralised platforms to earn a living, to increase their earning potential, according to a report by video games, data, analytics and market research firm Newzoo. This allows them to sell their singles, EPs, or albums as NFTs to their most loyal fans, it added.
The report indicated the trends in the metaverse, blockchain gaming, and NFTs. It identifies and analyses metaverse trends, case studies, the future of the metaverse, P2E, blockchain gaming, and NFT space.
According to Newzoo’s report, 2021 has undeniably been the year of NFTs, with several high-profile collections being sought after for the boost in social status and financial incentives they offered. Despite the current market pullback profile picture (PFP) NFTs are likely to be key elements when it comes to digital identity in the metaverse.
The report suggests that consumers spend increasingly more time in virtual worlds, and successful brands follow them. As a result, consumer-facing companies will be forced to develop a metaverse strategy to stay connected with their (future) customers and remain relevant.
As time spent in virtual worlds increases, our digital identity and representation will grow in importance. This opens a wide array of opportunities for traditional and digital fashion brands alike to dress our digital selves with in-game skins and virtual garments, thus giving rise to the direct-to-avatar business model. This also has important implications for the future of e-commerce.
Play to earn and blockchain gaming – As time passes, we are likely to see more blockchain games challenge traditional AAA titles in terms of technical complexity and at some point size of the player base. Though blockchain gaming faces some notable challenges particularly sustainability and regulatory concerns these are likely to be mitigated as the space matures.
The report also highlights the key challenges of this industry. Some major challenges include politics and regulations where governments will want to control virtual worlds, and regulations may create new barriers between worlds. Also, UGC spaces require strong safety and content moderation processes in place, supported by machine learning and trust/safety agents.
Privacy and ethics also need to be addressed because metaverse activity tracking has the potential to become far more powerful than web tracking. At the same time, accessibility and scale are also seen as challenging as the metaverse is not yet accessible or interoperable at scale. Lastly, new standards and protocols are needed for the industry.
Mumbai: Short-form video-making community Tiki aims to create a new record of 100 thousand budding creators through their new programme – ‘GrowWithTiki’. With an aim to promote India’s talented content creators based across regions, the brand wants to cultivate an environment of ‘authentic entertainment, peer-to-peer support and community.’ Tiki will provide complete support to the budding creators by allocating additional traffic of upto one crore and appreciating the authentic content on its app.
With this programme, Tiki is set to encourage creators to join the community and help them monetise their talent. In addition to this, Tiki will also provide creators with avenues to make content creation a viable career choice and create a sustainable revenue stream for themselves. For this campaign, the planned spending is to the tune of at least $3,000 per day for promotions and marketing of the assets.
Tiki CEO and co-founder Ian Goh said, “Our creators are the face of Tiki, and it has been our constant endeavour to encourage them and celebrate their differentiated talent. Within a short span of time, Tiki has become a preferred platform for millions, already. We are committed to offering more creative and innovative opportunities to attract emerging talents across the country.”
With the ‘GrowWithTiki’ programme, we are supporting locally made, original high-quality content that honours Indian values and cultures that is entertaining, inspiring and educational at the same time. Further to continue strengthening the creator economy, we as a brand are providing a platform and creating unique opportunities for budding creators who can start their journey through Tiki’s creator system from White V, to Grey V, and finally to Blue V, ” he added.
Jaipur-based content creator Aditya Singh said, “Tiki has provided me with a platform where I can create original content. I love acting, and I have also acted in many web series as a junior artist. I started working on my social media, but I didn’t get the recognition I wanted. I recently started using Tiki, and people have started recognising me now. I have now become a full-time influencer, and it is also helping me in fulfilling my dream of becoming an actor.”
Also, Chandigarh- based content creator Siya Sharma added, “Tiki has contributed a lot to my growth. In a really short period, millions of people have started to recognise me. I started creating videos on Tiki, and it gave me the satisfaction of fulfilling my dream. Tiki helped me polish my acting skills and create a huge fanbase. I feel I have come a long way, and people have started responding to my videos in a positive way.”
In line with the brand’s vision, the platform’s focus is to help India’s talented content creators covering genres like drama, dance, self-improvement to make a living with what they love. Until today, Tiki has successfully onboarded thousands of verified creators who produce great content for audiences. The programme will evaluate the creators on their performance transparently and fairly. The top creators will be credited money based on the stars they gain from audiences. Users can send stars to their favourite creators or content that can be earned via short videos, profile pages, and live broadcasting.
Mumbai: The new season of crime drama SHE is trending in Netflix’s Global Top 10. One of the most-watched non-English titles this week. Written and created by renowned filmmaker Imtiaz Ali, the series has turned out to be a big audience favourite featuring in the Top 10 of 11 countries within two weeks of its release. The series has been watched for more than 9.5 million hours. The series has also been trending at #1 on Netflix India’s Top TV list for the week.
SHE S2 is directed by Arif Ali and produced by Viacom 18 Studios’ Tipping Point and Window Seat Films.
The layered story and nuanced portrayal of a mild-mannered woman who discovers her confidence and sexuality has found popularity and admiration with audiences across countries and cultures. SHE S2 features a talented ensemble cast such as Aaditi Pohankar, Kishore Kumar G, Vishwas Kini, Shivani Rangole, Sam Mohan, Suhita Thatte, amongst others.
The second season shows Bhumi in a dynamic new avatar. Embracing a double life, the protagonist Bhumi constantly battles between duty and desire, juggling responsibilities, strenuous relationships and suppressed secrets. SHE: Season 2 sees Bhumi continue to discover herself, exploring themes of sexual awakening and duality. She is absolutely magnetic in the way she plays the double risk of being the hunter and the hunted, finding herself falling deeper into the complex web of Nayak’s plans whilst smoothly thwarting Fernandez’s suspicions.
Imtiaz Ali says, “I am elated at the response because I feel that the basic conflict of ‘She’ is very subtle and internal. It’s about a woman who feels she has no sexual prowess and when she has to put on an act of being a sex-worker as part of her call of duty, she discovers that the very thing that used to be her biggest disadvantage becomes her biggest weapon. Something that’s so internal and subtle has found traction with the global audience and that is a matter of great happiness and hope for me. It encourages me to come up with more interesting although subtle story ideas in the future.”
Over the past six months, Netflix’s Indian series have been consistently popular with global audiences starting from Aranyak, Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhen, The Fame Game, and most recently, Mai.
Mumbai: Digital business news platform CNBCTV18.com has launched an exclusive, video-only OTT platform for its millennial audience – CNBCTV18 Binge. Launched in June, the service is available for users on CNBCTV18.com and the CNBCTV18 app.
CNBCTV18 Binge will be the millennial’s one-stop digital destination for all news and guidance related to finance, business, investments, and a lot more. The clutter-breaking content will be driven by ideas that inspire and series that educate. This diversified platform will have video insights for all genres ranging from investments, sports, business, economics, and a lot more.
Some of the exclusive shows include CNBCTV18 Classroom, which will feature information and guidance for the viewers regarding different investments and business opportunities. Tech at Work, the show focuses on news and videos related to technological advancements. Tokenomics is a show which gives an insight into the amalgamation of technology and economics. The Anatomy Series is a detailed explainer series that dives deep into the anatomy of different lifestyle topics. Viewers can explore CNBCTV18 Binge and look for more such video-only content and learn about business, investments, and other insights.
CNBCTV18 Binge focuses on providing its viewers with a dedicated team of researchers and experts giving their points of view and opinions in different video shows. This will feature some of the biggest influencers of the business domain, as also the Group’s own repertoire of celebrated and recognized anchors.
Network18 Media & Investments CEO – business news Smriti Mehra stated, “We are extremely excited with the launch of CNBCTV18 Binge, a video-streaming platform that will marry the acumen, incisive insights and clutter-breaking content offerings from CNBC TV18 with content formats that the millennial audience understands. Boasting some marquee digital exclusives series available both on CNBCTV18’s website and app, we aim to create a strong brand presence on digital and want the end user to discover and consume the best of content.”
