ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Prime Video announces K-drama slate; brings 10 new titles on the service

    Prime Video announces K-drama slate; brings 10 new titles on the service

    Mumbai: Following the success of “Parasite” and “Minari,” Amazon Prime Video has launched a Korean content slate to capture the booming interest in Korean dramas (K-dramas) in genres like romance, mystery, thriller, and horror. Starting from 21 October, a repertoire of K-dramas will be available on the streaming platform.

    “Video streaming has brought a host of varied cultures into our living rooms. Users are now enjoying watching content from different regions of India and from around the world, finding resonance in stories, characters, and cultures,” said Amazon Prime Video India head of content licensing Manish Menghani.

    The shows launching on the service include “True Beauty,” which dwells on the classic makeover of a young high school girl, bullied for her appearance; “Strangers from Hell” that will transport the viewers to a dingy apartment building with shady neighbours and a series of mysterious events, and the new season of a high-octane action-packed series, “Taxi Driver” featuring Lee Je-Hoon and Esom. While the saga of the supernatural will continue with Lee Dong-Wook and Cho Bo-Ah starrer “Tale of the Nine Tailed,” “Hotel Del Luna” will introduce a mix of eeriness and a gripping plotline.

    Prime Video will continue to release Korean titles until the end of November. “The Penthouse: War in Life” season one to three will begin streaming on 28 October, followed by “Mr Queen” and “Secret Garden” on 4 November, “Voice” seasons one to four on 11 November, and “Doctors” whose release date is yet to be announced.

    “Korean content, in particular, has made significant inroads into India’s mainstream popular culture. Our users were highly appreciative of Korean films like ‘Parasite’ and ‘Minari’ on Prime Video – the films saw viewership from across the length and breadth of the country,” Menghani further said. 

    “The announcement marks our efforts to program for evolving consumer choices for immersive content. We will continue to curate a compelling library of content that is diverse, resonates with our audience, and gives them the choice to explore stories from around the world,” he added.

  • Netflix adds 2.2 million subs from APAC in Q3 2021

    Netflix adds 2.2 million subs from APAC in Q3 2021

    Mumbai: OTT Giant Netflix announced its results for Q3 2021. The company grew its revenues by 16 per cent to $7.5 billion year-on-year and added as many as 4.4 million paid subscribers globally bringing its total subscriber base to 214 million subscribers.

    For the second consecutive quarter, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region was the largest contributor to Netflix’s subscriber growth with 2.2 million subscribers coming from this region alone. The streaming giant added 1.8 million subscribers from the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) market.

    The company forecasted 8.5 million subscriber additions for Q4 2021.

    Netflix also reported that ‘Money Heist- Season five’ and ‘Sex Education- season three’ were two of its biggest returning shows of the quarter reaching 69 million and 55 million households, respectively. Korean drama ‘Squid Game’ became its “biggest TV show ever” by reaching 142-million-member households in its first four weeks of launch. The show has ranked #1 in Netflix’s top ten shows across 94 countries including the US.

    The streaming giant said it will shift its metrics to ‘hours viewed’ for its titles rather than the ‘number of accounts that choose to watch them’ later this year.

    “There is some difference in rankings but we think engagement, as measured by hours viewed, is a slightly better indicator of the overall success of our titles and member satisfaction,” it said on Wednesday. “We will start to release title metrics more regularly outside of our earnings report so our members and the industry can better measure success in the streaming world.”

    Barring unforeseen events that result in large-scale production shutdowns the company anticipates a more normalised production slate for 2022 with even more originals releasing than 2021.

    During Q3, Netflix announced its agreement to acquire the Roald Dahl Story Company pending regulatory approval and acquired video game developer Night School Studio.

    Netflix also reported that when Facebook experienced a global outage for several hours on 4 October, the streaming platform saw a 14 per cent increase in engagement during that time period.

  • SonyLIV announces new web series ‘Pulwama Key No 1026’

    SonyLIV announces new web series ‘Pulwama Key No 1026’

    Mumbai: SonyLIV has announced that it will create a series on the Pulwama terror attack called “Pulwama Key No 1026,” helmed by National award-winning director Onir. 

    The eight-episode show will be based on the book “The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur” by award-winning author and journalist Rahul Pandita. “As a journalist reporting from conflict areas, my endeavour always has been to lend a face to people who otherwise get buried in history as statistics. The soldiers killed in the Pulwama attack had names, lives, dreams, hopes of the future. So do those who investigated the case painstakingly, often putting themselves in danger. I am glad that with my friend Onir we will be able to tell these individual stories all woven in one epic drama,” said Pandita, about the upcoming project.

    On 14 February 2019, a gruesome terror attack claimed the lives of 40 Indian soldiers and evoked the nation’s anger. “The series is a tribute to all those martyrs whose dreams were blown to smithereens the minute the suicide bomber’s car hit the bus,” the streaming platform said in a statement. 

    “The Pulwama terror attack did not just claim the lives of 40 CRPF Jawans, it broke India and its people,” said director and showrunner Onir. “It’s a story every Indian should know, and I feel honored to helm this project along with writer Rahul Pandita.”

    “Since its revamp last year, SonyLIV’s constant endeavor has been to highlight stories of India that have a global relevance,” said Sony Pictures Networks India head of content for SonyLIV and Sony Entertainment Television Ashish Golwalkar. “Rahul Pandita’s book The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur is a noteworthy read and brings out the unknown facts about the incident and what ensued thereon. We are pleased to announce this project that’s backed by Onir, an amazing director.”

  • Disney+ Hotstar to livestream warm-up matches for T20 World Cup 2021

    Disney+ Hotstar to livestream warm-up matches for T20 World Cup 2021

    Mumbai: Disney+ Hotstar will exclusively livestream the warm-up matches of the top eight teams at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 that is slated to begin on 17 October. The warm-up fixtures amongst the top eight teams will be played between 18 and 20 October.

    India’s first warm-up game against England and Australia will be played on 18 October starting at 7:30 p.m IST and will be followed by its warm-up game against Australia on 20 October starting at 3:30 p.m IST. The matches will be available for viewing on Disney+ Hotstar as well as the Star Sports Network, said the statement.

    “ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is the pinnacle of international T20 cricket and in an industry first we will exclusively stream all the warm-up matches of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on our platform,” said Disney+ Hotstar India president and head Sunil Rayan. “In line with our strategy, Disney+ Hotstar continues to strengthen itself as the preferred digital destination for all the sporting action, constantly offering newer engagement opportunities to fulfill the growing appetite of the sports fanatics in India.”

    Post the warm-up matches, India will begin their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 campaign against Pakistan in Dubai in a Super12 Group 2 stage clash on 24 October. 

  • Roposo launches live entertainment commerce

    Roposo launches live entertainment commerce

    Mumbai: With an intent to disrupt the mobile and online commerce space, Roposo on Thursday announced the launch of a digital destination for creator-led, live entertainment commerce. According to a statement, the new offering will enable consumers to shop for top-notch products in real-time within a live, virtual mall environment.

    Shoppers on the Roposo will now be able to discover products recommended by creators through entertaining live streams, visit hundreds of creator-led pop stores, and get up close and personal with some of their favourite stars. While shopping across categories such as fashion & beauty, health & fitness, electronics, home décor, and lifestyle, they can simultaneously attend live events by some of Gen-Z’s favourite creators. Roposo will enable multiple features for social interactions on both sides of the screen in its live streams, the platform said in a statement.

    Going forward, creators can also have the opportunity to monetise their expertise by conducting paid masterclasses, and through ticketed live shows such as music concerts, stand-up comedy, talk shows, and fashion shows. 

    “While we have several big celebrities, the real hero for Roposo will be creators; be it the young fashion designer from Mangalore who wants to live-stream her collection on the platform and sell nationwide through her own pop store, or the indie rapper from Punjab who wants to reach millions through a ticketed concert,” stated Roposo vice president and general manager Mansi Jain. “We intend to be the platform of choice for enterprising creators, who are not only great entertainers, but are experts in their domain, have authentic connections with their audience, and are skilled at influencing buying decisions.”

    For its creators, Roposo will integrate a wide range of monetisation levers on the platform. Besides creating live experiences, they will be able to run their own multi-brand pop stores on the platform. With opportunities to go live on Glance lock screen, they can potentially have access to Glance’s user base of over 150 million in India alone, said the statement.

    In June this year, Glance had acquired the full-stack e-commerce platform Shop101. A business unit of Glance, Roposo intends to leverage Shop101’s technology, comprehensive supply chain infrastructure, and vast experience in managing end-to-end digital shopping to drive its commerce proposition. Glance also recently launched Glance Live which brings users some of the best of live content from across the internet on the lock screens of their smartphones. Roposo will be one of the major content developers on Glance Live. 

    “Our intent is to build the largest platform for creator-led live shopping in India, and take it to Southeast Asia and the USA in the coming quarters. There is rising global demand for immersive shopping experiences that closely replicate the offline world, online,” stated InMobi Group co-founder and Glance president & COO Piyush Shah. “As we have seen in other markets, live streaming commerce, conducted by talented creators, is becoming a successful way to meet that demand. With Roposo’s popularity amongst creators, the scale and Live stack of Glance, and the e-commerce infrastructure of Shop101, we are well poised to take this new Roposo experience out in a big way.”

  • ‘Squid Game’ reaches 111 million fans on Netflix

    ‘Squid Game’ reaches 111 million fans on Netflix

    Mumbai: Netflix has announced that the Korean drama “Squid Game” has reached 111 million fans, making the series the OTT platform’s biggest launch ever. It is also the first series to be watched across 100 million accounts.

    The show began streaming on 17 September and is on Netflix’s top ten lists in countries around the world. At the time of filing this report, it is trending at the top spot in India.

    The series creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk first began writing the script in 2008 and finished it in 2009. The show was initially planned to be a feature film. However, it was only 10 years after penning the idea that Netflix picked up the show and actually began working on it.

    “Squid Game” features actors Lee Jung-Jae, Park Hae Soo, HoYeon Jung, Wi Ha-joon, and Lee Byung-hun among others. The plot revolves around 456 contestants who are deeply in debt who are enticed into a dangerous game and made to play Korean children’s games where the winner will take away 45.6 billion South Korean won.

    In the past, Netflix has seen a lot of success with the Spanish series “Money Heist” and the German series “Dark” which grabbed the attention of viewers across the world.

    Netflix reported having 209 million paid subscribers globally in their Q2 2021 earnings release. In September, Netflix released a chart of its most-watched shows that feature “Bridgerton” at the top with 82 million subscribers tuning in for at least two minutes in the first 28 days.

  • Gaurav Khetan joins Koo as VP, business

    Gaurav Khetan joins Koo as VP, business

    Mumbai: Gaurav Khetan has joined homegrown microblogging site Koo as vice president-business, as per his updated LinkedIn profile.

    Khetan was last associated with Star Sports as vice president, rights acquisitions and strategy. He managed various portfolios in his nine-year stint at the Star network channel.

    Prior to Star Sports, Khetan had a four-year stint at PwC as a business consultant, working on CXO suite projects across industry sectors.

    He is an alumnus of IIM, Ahemdabad.

  • Prashant Gupta joins Bolo Live as CTO

    Prashant Gupta joins Bolo Live as CTO

    Mumbai: Social live streaming platform Bolo Live has appointed Prashant Gupta as chief technology officer. 

    Gupta brings with him over 13 years of diverse engineering experience. Previously, he was associated with Pratilipi as co-founder and CTO, and has also had a stint with Amazon. Besides Pratilipi, he co-founded Hubblestellar Technologies and a fintech product called Zero65 technologies. 

    “I look forward to working closely with the exceptional leadership team and a group of the most talented people at Bolo Live.  I am also excited about starting my new role and playing my part in helping take Bolo Live onto the next phase of its transformation journey by building a world-class technology team and innovative culture,” Gupta said. “Building scale for technology-driven products keeps me going. I am confident that, together, we will capture the next wave of growth for Bolo Live and create a positive impact in the lives of millions.”

    In his role at Bolo Live, Gupta will lead the technology team to bolster the scale of the platform to achieve the company’s Indian and global expansion goals, while driving tech innovation to enhance user experience, said the statement.

    “We are elated to onboard Prashant as he comes with a strong track record of building and scaling technology-driven products. His experience across technology companies like Amazon and Pratilipi will help us create a significant improvement in value for our users,”stated Bolo Live co-founder and CEO Varun Saxena. “Bolo Live has an incredible opportunity with its USP of democratising monetisation for content creators, by leveraging the active engagement of live streaming.  Prashant will be integral to our leadership team as we get set to enter the next phase of our growth journey at Bolo Live.”

    “We are currently ramping up the team aggressively and in the next few weeks will see announcements of prominent hiring across technology, product, and marketing roles,” Saxena further said. 

  • MX Player crosses one billion downloads on Google Play Store

    MX Player crosses one billion downloads on Google Play Store

    Mumbai: OTT streaming platform MX Player has crossed one billion downloads on Google Play Store over two years after its launch.

    According to data, there are only 15 non preinstalled apps, worldwide, that have more than one billion downloads (70 apps if default Google Apps on Android are included).

    MX Player has over 280 million monthly active users in India and features alongside Netflix, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Spotify as one of the apps that has more than a billion downloads.

    It ranks in the same league as Microsoft Word, Skype, ShareIt, and popular games such as Subway Surfers and Candy Crush Saga.

    “We are very excited to have crossed the one billion downloads mark, which is a testimonial to Indian audiences adopting this platform as their preferred destination for all things entertainment,” said MX Media chief executive officer Karan Bedi. “Our vision since the launch has been to cater to the true Bharat and in just over two years since the launch of our OTT offering, we’ve managed to achieve this iconic business milestone. We are looking forward to continuing this momentum on the back of compelling content and innovative product offerings in the imminent future.”

    The OTT platform’s hit shows include “Ek Thi Begum 2,” “Aashram,” “High”, “Chakravyuh – An Inspector Virkar Crime Thriller,” “Hello Mini” season 2 and 3, and “Samantar 2,” with upcoming shows like “Matsya Kaand” and “Girgit” amongst others.

    The video streaming platform was the first to upgrade its video encoding and compression technology to H.266 (versatile video coding) that slashes data usage for streaming videos by more than half.

    MX Player’s diverse content library ranges from their exciting slate of MX originals, MX exclusives, MX vdesi – international content dubbed in local Indian languages, and branded content as MX specials. The platform has also expanded its OTT service internationally in March 2020 across 12 territories including UAE, US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Bhutan.

  • Chimp&z Inc wins digital mandate for Hashtag Poker & Poker Sports League

    Chimp&z Inc wins digital mandate for Hashtag Poker & Poker Sports League

    Mumbai: Digital advertising agency from the house of Merge Infinity Global, Chimp&z Inc has won digital mandate for video poker app Hashtag Poker and Poker Sports League, affiliated with Mind Sports League. The accounts were won after a multi-agency pitch.

    Along with social media and influencer management, the agency will also oversee its production and performance campaigns. It will also drive its efforts towards creating the world’s largest poker community with the brands, stated the agency.

    “We are intrigued to work on creating powerful communications for Hashtag Poker & Poker Sports League who believe in shattering stereotypes and the team at the brand believes in the same,” stated Chimp&z Inc CEO & co-founder Angad Singh Manchanda. “Over the next quarter, you will be seeing a lot of work on social media, digital performance, and the video production front. Chimp&z Inc and Hashtag poker both share extremely high aspirations and that common value and vision will make this partnership favorable for us and a treat for our audiences.”

    Hashtag Poker and Poker Sports League aim to sportify the game of poker through a unique, team-based format. Chimp&z Inc plans to articulate its vision and USP’s using a wide array of strategies to position them as the one-stop-shop for all the poker fans. 

    “The game of poker is assumed to be a tedious task and to break that glass between the truth and assumption, we have joined forces with Chimp&z Inc to help us communicate our vision and establish poker as a fun mind sport,” commented Mind Sports League founder & CEO Pranav Bagai. “After scouting across various agencies, we have now found the right ROI-driven agency that understands our long-term goals and can amplify our voice on social media through campaigns and creative strategies.”

    “It’s time for us to enhance our reach and spread the word that poker is more of a lifestyle that aids in the development of life skills such as decision making, recruiting, financial planning, interview skills, and risk appetite,” said Mind Sports League co-founder & CFO Akshay Chachra. “Since poker is a relatively new game in India, its acceptance and development potential are enormous. We believe in the dedicated team of Chimp&z Inc and are thrilled to embark on this new journey with them.”