ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Bolo Indya temporarily removed from Google Playstore

    New Delhi: Google has temporarily removed home-grown social media app Bolo Indya from Playstore following a copyright complaint made by music giant T-Series. The live-streaming platform has around 70 lakh users.

    Super Cassettes Industries Pvt Ltd, which operates under the brand name T-Series is the largest music record label in the Indian music industry. Last year, the company served an infringement notice to social media and video sharing platforms to pay around Rs 3.5 crore in damages from using its copyrighted contents and “render accounts of all revenues illegally earned” by the platforms from the copyrighted content.

    While most of the companies including Mitron, MX Player’s Takatak, Triller, and Josh have settled the issue with the music company, Bolo Indya has not resolved the matter yet, according to T-Series.

    “We had sent them (Bolo Indya) various legal notices but they continued to infringe our copyrights and, thus, we wrote to Google under applicable laws to take down this infringing app from their app store. We take infringement very seriously and will not shy away from taking more stringent legal action against Bolo Indya and any other such infringing platforms to protect our copyrights,” T-Series president Neeraj Kalyan told PTI.

    Bolo Indya spokesperson said the company is temporarily unavailable from Google Playstore due to some conflicts with T-Series and it is in talks with T-Series and Google to resolve the issue at the earliest and the platform will be back on playstore shortly.

    “We assure our users that all their created content and transaction details for in-app currency purchases are safe and Bolo Indya will be back soon on playstore for them to continue having their friends download the app to enjoy the new features,” said the spokesperson.

  • ZEE5 to launch new series ‘Dhoop Ki Deewar’ on 25 June

    New Delhi: The countdown to the launch of Zindagi’s third original web series ‘Dhoop Ki Deewar’ has begun. The new series will be launched on 25 June and its episodes will premiere every Friday at 12 noon, ZEE5 announced on Wednesday.

    ‘Dhoop Ki Deewar’ revolves around the void that war leaves behind for the martyrs’ families on both sides of the border. ZEE5 has decided to stream the finale episodes on the Independence Day weekend – a historic day for people on both sides of the Indo-Pak border and South-Asian diaspora globally.

    ZEE5 India, chief business officer, Manish Kalra said, “An opportunity to tell such a powerful yet touching story does not come by easily. Through ‘Dhoop Ki Deewar’, we want to touch as many lives as we can and start a conversation about ‘heart over hate’. At ZEE5, we believe in innovating constantly and look forward to seeing greater success with weekly episodic releases of the show and a renewed launch time of 12 noon.”

    ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, chief creative officer, special projects Shailja Kejriwal said, “This show is a sincere effort to demonstrate the collateral damage caused by war and a call to viewers from both sides of the border and across the world to introspect the need for peace. We hope the viewers will connect to the show and would love to hear their response as we release fresh episodes week on week.”

    Produced by Motion Content Group and Hamdan Films, written by Umera Ahmed, and directed by Haseeb Hasan, Zindagi’s upcoming original ‘Dhoop Ki Deewar’ is a tale of family and loss with real-life couple Sajal Aly and Ahad Raza Mir in the lead.

  • Voot bags streaming rights for Maratha Cricket League T20

    Mumbai: Viacom18 backed video-streaming platform, Voot is set to collaborate with India’s first cricket reality show, Maratha Cricket League T20 as its exclusive streaming partner. 

    The talent hunt reality show will consist of a total of 34 cricket matches scheduled to begin on 15 August, with the grand finale on 5 September. As a unique feature, the cricket league will also have a ‘public voting’ system.

    Maratha Cricket League T20, Squarecut Sports Pvt Ltd, CEO Vincent John said, “Maratha Cricket League – MCLT20 is India’s first Cricket Reality Show designed to discover less fortunate cricketers of India and to give them a platform to tell their stories and display their cricketing talent to the world. The league represents the iconic heritage and glorious history of the Great Maratha Empire and embodies its warrior spirit. Over ten thousand such cricketers were given an opportunity to display their talent out of which the best 200 will feature in season one of MCL-T20. Through the platform of Voot, they will be able to tell their stories. We look forward to the long-term successful association with Voot.”

    Former India International cricketer and Squarecut Sports Pvt. Ltd. VP and VC, Rudra Pratap Singh said, “What attracted me most about the MCL-T20 is its unique concept to give a platform to so many less fortunate cricketers to showcase their talent and live their dream through the MCL-T20. Getting Voot as our broadcasting partner magnifies this opportunity a thousand-fold for these undiscovered talented cricketers to tell their stories to the world both on and off the field.”

    Viacom18 Digital Ventures, head – AVOD (Voot), Chanpreet Arora said, “Voot is a platform that seeks to provide diverse content experiences and a differentiated and first-of-its-kind sports talent hunt reality show that seeks to encourage cricketing talent in the country is a great way for us to connect with our users. The partnership with the Maratha Cricket league as streaming partners presents MCL with the opportunity to tap into the large user base of Voot while it allows Voot to drive meaningful engagement with sporting enthusiasts in the country through the unique format. This is the first of more such content innovations to come from our end at Voot.”

  • Chingari’s World Music Day concert raises funds for Covid relief

    Mumbai: Homegrown short-video sharing platform, Chingari has been at the forefront of out-of-the-box fun engagements for its users. Recently, the ‘Chingari World Music Day Concert’ under #MusicForACause successfully achieved musical fun while supporting the country in its fight against the pandemic. The event was aimed at offering aid for pandemic relief by donating its entire share of profits.

    Chingari App’s co-founder & CEO Sumit Ghosh said, “Chingari does not believe in being just a run-of-the-mill short-video sharing platform. ‘Chingari World Music Day Concert’ under #MusicForACause was our way to connect with the ever-growing user base and keep them engaged in a manner that they enjoy as well as feel included. The event gave users an opportunity to come together for a good cause. It was all about staying entertained while being safe, being useful, and having a great time under a single roof.”

    Chingari App’s co-founder & COO Deepak Salvi said, “We, at Chingari, are aware of the brutal scars that the pandemic has etched in our hearts permanently. But that shouldn’t stop us from enjoying and being there for each other in such times. People’s tremendous response is proof that they want to enjoy and prefer doing it through music. The huge profit donated to the pandemic relief support has left us smiling and reveals that the Chingari family wears its heart on its sleeve. We look forward to rolling out more such activities in the coming times.”

    The concert saw an exciting line-up of celeb performers – from Salim Merchant, Ved Sharma, Sahil Sharma to Indian Idol Season one finalist Harish Moyal, Abhijit Sawant, and Paroma Dasgupta.

  • Koo inks partnership with CleverTap to engage more users

    KOLKATA: Homegrown micro-blogging platform Koo has announced its partnership with CleverTap, a SaaS-based mobile marketing company. The decision follows a steady success of Koo’s partnership with CleverTap for their first product, Vokal.

    This partnership is aimed at engaging app users via push and in-app notifications using CleverTap’s real-time, data-driven insights promising high user engagement and retention.

    According to the Contribution of Smartphones to Digital Governance in India report by The India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) in partnership with KPMG India, India is expected to hit 829 million smartphone users by 2022. This increased mobile adoption presents marketers and brands with a massive opportunity to not only reach out to current and potential customers but also enhance their engagement and deepen loyalty by delivering a seamless brand experience.

    Riding on this opportunity, CleverTap is aiming to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to personalise the customer experience using real-time behavioural data. CleverTap’s technology offers live user segmentation, sophisticated omni channel campaigns, and deliverability of 23 million push notifications a minute. Furthermore, the company offers 12 different channels for engagement, it said on Tuesday.

    CleverTap co-founder and CEO Sunil Thomas says, “Koo’s understanding of user experience and expertise in promoting regional content is uniquely complementary to CleverTap’s omnichannel marketing platform. With our passion for enabling brands to deliver highly successful marketing campaigns and delightful end-user experiences, we are excited to help Koo gain a deeper understanding of user behaviour that will help them achieve their goal of connecting with 100 million users this year.”

    As per the Google KPMG report, the Indian internet user base will increase to 735 million by the end of 2021. Indian language internet users are expected to grow at a CAGR of 18 per cent to reach 536 million by the end of 2021, while English users are expected to grow at only three per cent reaching 199 million within the same period.

    In a market dominated by global apps like Twitter and Facebook, Koo is trying to emerge as a differentiator by promoting vernacular content while reaching out to multilingual audiences across the country.

    Commenting on the partnership, Koo’s co-founder, Mayank Bidawatka said, “Our partnership with CleverTap will be instrumental in creating actionable user segments and keeping users engaged on our platform. We believe that CleverTap’s real-time insights and omnichannel solutions will not only help us establish a stronger connection with our existing users, but also attract more customers. Through this partnership, we are confident in our ability to increase clickthrough rates and achieve a double digit increase in the overall app sessions”.

  • RTL Group, Talpa Network merge to create a strong Dutch cross-media group

    KOLKATA: RTL Group and Talpa Network have signed agreements to merge their broadcasting and affiliated media businesses in the Netherlands and create a strong Dutch cross-media group.

    As the competition with global tech platforms grows, the merger will allow the combined group to step up investments in local content, technology, and data, offering Dutch audiences the broadest spectrum of high-quality entertainment and reliable information programmes.

    The transaction, which has been approved by the board of directors of RTL Group and Talpa Holding, is subject to approval from the competition authorities and is expected to close in the first half of 2022. The advisory process with the respective works councils will start in due course.

    According to the agreements, Talpa Network will contribute its TV, radio, print, digital, e-commerce, and other assets to RTL Nederland and will receive a 30 per cent stake in the enlarged RTL Nederland in return. RTL Group will hold the remaining 70 per cent in the combined group and will continue to fully consolidate RTL Nederland in its accounts. Sven Sauvé will continue in his current role as CEO of RTL Nederland, leading the combined group after closing the transaction. Pim Schmitz, CEO of Talpa Network, will represent Talpa Network by joining the new Supervisory Board of RTL Nederland which will be chaired by RTL Group COO & Deputy CEO Elmar Heggen.

    In addition, Talpa Network’s content units (Talpa Concepts, Talpa Entertainment Producties) – which are not part of the deal – and RTL Nederland will enter into a content agreement for newly developed formats for linear TV channels and for the streaming service Videoland. The combined group would have a 2020 revenue of €909 million and an operating profit (EBITA) of €84 million. The annual content spends of the combined group amounts to more than €400 million. The potential synergies of the merger (EBITDA run-rate impact) are estimated between €100 million and €120 million per year, to be fully realised in 2025.

    RTL Group CEO Thomas Rabe says: “Following the proposed merger of Groupe TF1 and Groupe M6 in France, the combination of RTL Nederland and Talpa Network is the second major step to scale up our broadcasting businesses across our European footprint. The new cross-media group will have the size, resources, and creativity to compete with global tech platforms in the Netherlands when it comes to investing in premium content, offering the most advanced addressable advertising opportunities, and expanding Videoland, the leading national streaming service for Dutch viewers.”

    RTL Group COO and deputy CEO Elmar Heggen says: “This merger demonstrates that a combination of national commercial broadcasters in a rapidly changing environment forms a strong and sustainable basis for future growth in the interest of our shareholders. John de Mol has an outstanding entrepreneurial and creative track record. Our long-term partnership and collaboration in the area of content development will be an important success factor for our linear TV channels and streaming offers.”

    Talpa Network owner John de Mol says: “I started Talpa Network to build a strong Dutch media company able to compete with the growing global platforms in order to preserve local content. This next step will allow us to do just that – and I am pleased that the deal creates a strong Dutch company that not only guarantees Dutch quality content but is also able to take on the American and Chinese tech players. On top of that, it allows me to fully focus once again on what I like best: the creation and development of new innovative content.”

    Talpa Network CEO Pim Schmitz adds: “We have been able to build a strong, local, creative media company, despite challenging circumstances. There is no better time to combine forces with RTL.”

    J.P. Morgan is acting as exclusive financial advisor to RTL Group and PJT Partners as exclusive financial advisor to Talpa Network. NautaDutilh is acting as legal advisor to RTL Group and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringers LLP as legal advisor to Talpa Network. EY is acting as transaction advisor for RTL Group and Deloitte is acting as transaction advisor for Talpa Network.

    RTL Nederland CEO Sven Sauvé says: “Over the last 31 years, we have built a successful company with solid financial foundations. The current changes in the media industry demonstrate the importance of strong national media players that understand the art of local storytelling and invest substantially in digital innovation, social and cultural relevance, and independent journalism. This exciting new phase gives us the possibility to ramp up investments in content, technology, and data to create a competitive and distinguished alternative to global tech players.”

  • Zee5 rolls out in the US, announces Canada as another focus market

    KOLKATA: Zee5, owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) has forayed into the US market on Tuesday eyeing over five million South Asia diaspora audiences. The service has been priced at $6.99 per month, and at $84 per year. The streaming platform also announced a special discount for the student community, with the monthly pack priced at $4.99 instead of $6.99.

    Zee5 has clinched a few key partnerships as well. It has joined hands with the North American Association of Indian Students to strike a chord with the young audience. It will also be partnering with MassMutual in the US to reach the latter’s extensive South Asian customer database.

    The launch was announced by Zee5 Global chief business officer Archana Anand along with actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas as the latter attended the event as a special guest. Along with unveiling the platform’s upcoming content slate, the duo revealed the global brand campaign – ‘Welcome to South Asia: Stories from our world.”

    Zee Entertainment Digital Businesses & Platforms president Amit Goenka said: “We’ve had a long association of over two decades with this market, bringing our viewers here the best of Indian entertainment through our channels. With Zee5, we now look to offer both these audiences and the younger demographic access to a much wider choice of premium content with our Originals, digital premieres, and more, on any screen of their choice and with a completely personalized viewing experience.”

    In the coming months, Zee5 will release a number of movies, new shows, returning seasons of popular shows. RRR from filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli, Sunil Grover starrer Sunflower, Rangbaaz 3, Oka Chinna Family, returning seasons of recently acquired TVF Originals Pitchers, Tripling. Moreover, the platform has lined up Pakistani shows like Churails, Ek Jhooti Love Story, and Dhoop ki Deewar.

    Zee5 Global’s Archana Anand said: “Bringing Zee5 into the U.S. is so much more than just providing the South Asian diaspora here with a mega entertainment platform through which they can access a vast library of stories. It is a powerful bridge between them, their culture, and their languages.”

    This content is available in Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Punjabi, as well as Malay, Thai, Bahasa, Arabic, Urdu, and Bangla (Bangladeshi) with key titles dubbed and/or subtitled in English.

    Terming Canada as another focus market, Zee5 also emphasised that it is available for Canadian audiences and that it will also be launching its campaign in Canada, thereby kicking off its marketing in the country. Zee5 sees much potential in the country, given that it has a tremendous amount of content across languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu, perfect for key diaspora audiences within the Canadian landscape.

  • Lomotif announces global talent search ‘Scouted By Lomo’

    Delhi: Lomotif, the video-sharing platform, announced the worldwide talent search ‘Scouted By Lomo’ to mark the occasion of World Music Day (21 June). The talent hunt aims to offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to all the artists around the world to become a global music sensation.

    This competition will commence in July and see Lomotif join hands with Grammy Award-winning producer, singer, and lyricist Teddy Riley. Based on the votes won from Lomotif users, the global winner will receive an exclusive record label contract and producing commitment.

    Lomotif co-founder & chief executive Paul Yang said, “An idea and an inspiration can arise from anywhere. Firm believers of this ideology, we take this thought forward and are all set to give budding musicians the opportunity of a lifetime through this talent hunt. And what better day to make the grand announcement than World Music Day.”

    “We see so much promise amongst Indian artists today and curating such a talent hunt is a testament to our belief of them going toe-to-toe with their global counterparts,” Yang said while shedding more light on this global competition. “It’s great to see Grammy Award-winning producer Teddy Riley with us who shall encourage these singers on their path to glory so that they can be crowned the global winner and take home the coveted Record Label contract.”

    Speaking about being part of the talent hunt, Riley said, “India is a culturally rich country, with an adept sense of rhythm unlike anywhere in the world. India’s passion and variety of musical styles make it exciting to see what these next artists have in store. I am confident that they will match up to the caliber of global artists making for a talent search/hunt that will be spoken about for a very long time.”

    Spanning nine weeks, the competition will see contestants upload their audition clip to the official ‘Scouted by Lomo’ channel on the Lomotif app.

  • Netflix inks major streaming deal with Steven Spielberg’s studio

    New Delhi: Streaming giant Netflix Inc has clinched a major deal with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg for his Amblin Partners production company to supply multiple movies a year.

    The new development has come as a shot in the arm for Netflix, at a time when the streaming war is heating up, with a host of competitors including Disney plus and Amazon Prime stepping up the game.

    Known for his classics such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, and Schindler’s List, Spielberg will continue to direct and produce movies for Comcast Corp’s Universal Pictures under a different agreement, reported Reuters.

    “At Amblin, storytelling will forever be at the center of everything we do, and from the minute Ted (Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos) and I started discussing a partnership, it was abundantly clear that we had an amazing opportunity to tell new stories together and reach audiences in new ways,” Spielberg said in a statement. Amblin produces several movies apart from the ones that Spielberg directs himself. 

    Netflix operates the world’s largest streaming service with nearly 209 million subscribers worldwide. “By deepening our ties with Netflix via this new film partnership, we are building on what has for many years been an incredibly successful working relationship in both television and film,” Amblin Partners CEO Jeff Small stated.

    Under the deal, Amblin is expected to produce at least two films a year for Netflix for an unspecified number of years. It is possible that Spielberg may even direct some of the projects. Netflix is expected to provide financing for some of these productions, reported Variety.

    Recent Amblin projects included 2018 Oscar best picture winner Green Book and 2019 World War One drama – 1917 which won three Oscars and two Golden Globes. Both movies were distributed by Universal. 

  • HiPi ties up with &Pictures for #DanceFullOn contest

    KOLKATA: This World Music Day, HiPi has tied up with &Pictures to announce the #DanceFullOn contest on the channel. Started on 19 June, the challenge will continue till 23 June presenting dance lovers across the country with an opportunity to perform and recreate a 20-second hook step on HiPi. 

    HiPi has partnered with the skilled dancer and Bollywood’s popular dance director, Piyush Bhagat, to specially choreograph and create the hook step, to the thumping beats of &Pictures’ song – On Nahi, Full On.

    The challenge will give users a chance to become instant social media sensation. The performances will be evaluated by Piyush Bhagat and the top five participants will take home cash prizes worth up to Rs 50,000.

    ZEE Digital Publishing CEO and HiPi CBO Rohit Chadda, said, “We Indians love to dance and hum to the tunes of Bollywood music. On the occasion of World Music Day, we wanted to surprise our audience with a challenge #DanceFullOn that sees them recreate a unique hook step on our platform. With this challenge, we look forward to witnessing the best dancers from India express and impress one and all. We, at HiPi, are constantly looking for new ways to enhance our offerings and engage with our users”.

    ZEEL Hindi movie channel cluster head Ruchir Tiwari said: “Music connects us in more ways than we can imagine. It often goes to represent and define a generation. The energetic and addictive beats of all the new &pictures brand song ‘On Nahi, Full On hai’ will connect with the youth. The #DanceFullOn challenge set to the song is a great way to engage our viewers, and it’s aptly amplified by our collaboration with HiPi.”

    HiPi is already running a month-long #EntertainmentKiBaarish campaign that features tie-ups with renowned brands and allows users to engage with mind-blowing challenges across different genres and contests. The Dance Bangla Dance challenge is already live on the HiPi app that grants creators and viewers to win weekly prizes by performing a unique hook step as per the weekly dance theme, which is curated by the jury and mentors of Dance Bangla Dance. The #DanceFullOn contest is an addition to the overall #EntertainmentKiBaarish campaign, which gives users a chance to exhibit their delightful dance moves.

    Whiz Co is the official talent partner for this collaboration.