ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Covid relief: Indian YouTubers team up to raise Rs 50 lakh

    Covid relief: Indian YouTubers team up to raise Rs 50 lakh

    KERALA: To aid India’s Covid relief efforts, Slayy Point, a YouTube channel run by Abhyudaya Mohan and Gautami Kawale, and Mythpat, along with OpraahFx, an influencer marketing firm hosted a seven-hour long charity stream on 25 April and raised Rs 50 lakh.

    The entire amount will be donated to the Hemkunt Foundation, the non-profit organisation at the frontlines of helping Covid patients avail hospital beds, oxygen and other medical necessities. 

    The YouTube live stream was hosted by Slayy Point on Mythpat’s YouTube channel. Over 35 Indian influencers and YouTubers including Techno Gamerz, Kusha Kapila, Technical Guruji, Salonayy, Total Gaming, Ashish Chanchlani, Mythpat, Carry Minati, Viraj Ghelani, Abish Mathew, Ankush Bahuguna, BeYouNick, Tanmay Bhatt, Ranveer Allahbadia and Dolly Singh joined the live stream.

    The Covid fundraising effort organised by YouTubers is now receiving positive responses from all corners. Popular YouTuber Ashish Chanchalani expressed gratitude to Mythpat and Slayy Point for coming up with an initiative that could help India fight the second wave of the deadly pandemic. 

     

     

    Amid all these relief efforts, India is facing the heat of the resurgent Coronavirus. On Tuesday, the country witnessed more than 3,79,000 coronavirus positive cases and 3,645 deaths. With the number of positive Covid cases rising dramatically across the nation, the entire healthcare infrastructure is also facing a crunch. 

    It was in 2020 that Slayy Point became a viral sensation. Abyudaya and Gauthami, last year, decided to examine the comments section of their channel, and in a video titled ‘Why Indian Comments Section is Garbage (BINOD)’, the duo portrayed some weird comments that appeared on their channel. One of those comments was written by a person named Binod Tharu, and it just contained his first name ‘Binod’. The name became the defining meme of the year and also helped the channel scale new heights of internet stardom.

  • Value of Rs 499 plan not limited to Radhe, says Zee5’s Manish Kalra

    Value of Rs 499 plan not limited to Radhe, says Zee5’s Manish Kalra

    KOLKATA: The Covid2019 pandemic has rewritten many rules of the media and entertainment sector. One of the most noticeable trends has been direct-to-digital releases throughout 2020 in India as well as globally. While Salman Khan’s upcoming blockbuster Radhe was supposed to release in theatres only, it has turned out to be the first film in India to take multi-format route. With the moving coming to be showcased on Zee5, the platform has rolled out a new yearly subscription pack at Rs 499, bundling Radhe to boost its subscriber base.

    The OTT has also scored 50+ theatrical releases across languages for the year. Moreover, it will launch 40-50 original shows throughout 2021. Hence, the entertainment value of the new plan is much higher than only one view of Radhe, Zee5 India chief business officer Manish Kalra said.  

    Inquired about the promotion plans for the new subscription plan, it is all about Salman Khan and his equity, Kalra commented. “Obviously Radhe is a big driver. Indian consumers have been starved of good quality content for last few months with such a big blockbuster coming and consumer getting access to it, we want to ensure that we are able to reach out to all the fan of the franchise and give them this high value package. That will happen 360 degrees – that is TV or digital or any medium where the consumers are. We want to ensure we send the message out that with Radhe, they also get access to the entire library,” he noted.

    “The assumption is if you are a fan and you want to buy a good value added package, you will buy the subscription and watch it. The objective remains to leverage the asset to create a win-win situation for all of us. Consumers get to watch content from the comfort of their home, we get to tie-up with new users and it kind of becomes a long-term relation for us,” said Kalra when asked if the plan will increase the subscriber base of the platform.

    Along with a wider library, Zee5 is looking at a deeper language library too. The platform is focusing highly on Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada market and will launch original series, movies, bring theatrical releases. Kalra is of the view that the next round of growth for Zee5 will come from these markets. While Hindi continues to lead, Telugu, Bengali, Tamil are the highest growing languages for the platform in terms of consumption, time spent, number of users coming in.

    To reach the hinterlands of India, the streamer is not only strengthening its content library but looking at financial inclusion. It entered a partnership with retail network Sahaj to get access to more than 76,000 gram panchayats, and over 96,000 tier-3 and tier-4 rural locations. Kalra said more such retail partnerships are in offing.

    “The objective is to reach out to people in a format they are comfortable with. The intent from our perspective is to enable the users, empower them with more and more access whether it is through their internet provider or telecom provider or they directly want to pay and subscribe. The objective remains how we reach more and more users across India,” he noted.

  • Amazon Prime Video boasts 175mn+ viewers, investment in content & live sports to grow

    Amazon Prime Video boasts 175mn+ viewers, investment in content & live sports to grow

    KOLKATA: Video has emerged to be a key play for the tech giants, especially over the past year. After Google’s YouTube knocked over the industry with astounding ad revenue and viewership in the last quarter, and now, Amazon has also revealed how its streaming service Prime Video has fared in recent times.

    In what may sound warning bells for market leader Netflix and upstart Disney+, Prime Video’s viewer base has surpassed 175 million. In a letter to shareholders, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos shared he’s proud to have Prime Video in the family.

    “As Prime Video turns 10, over 175 million Prime members have streamed shows and movies in the past year, and streaming hours are up more than 70 per cent year over year. Amazon Studios received a record 12 Academy Award nominations and two wins. Upcoming originals include Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, The Tomorrow War, The Underground Railroad, and much more,” wrote Bezos.

    In mid-April, Bezos revealed that the e-commerce behemoth’s Prime service now has over 200 million subscribers, up 50 million from the beginning of 2020. The service includes fast free shipping, music, video, reading, gaming which is priced at Rs 129 per month, and Rs 999 per year in India.

    The numbers are not only talking. Prime Video is making its way into critics’ mind too as it has shined in recent award ceremonies. It earned 12 Academy Award nominations across four films this year; moreover, Sound of Metal won an Oscar in the newly-created sound category.

    Interestingly, the OTT is not limiting its video aspirations to original titles and movies but has thrown its hat into the competitive sports content too. “The live sports offering for Prime Video continues to grow internationally,” Bezos said in the letter. Very recently, it became the first streaming service to secure an exclusive national broadcast package from the prestigious NFL. It has ventured into cricket too, the most popular game in India, by acquiring the India territory rights for New Zealand cricket through 2025-2026. It may look at other popular cricket rights in India in the coming year to bolster its sports library.

    The company looks at video as a component of broader prime membership. Prime members who watch video have higher free trial conversion rates, higher renewal rates, higher overall engagement, an Amazon spokesperson said in the earnings call.

    “There’s great examples of places like Brazil where you launch a video only subscription for example that preceded the broader Prime membership with shipping components and that was as an example a great way to expose people to Amazon. And as we launched a broader Prime in Brazil, it was a great mechanism to get folks into that program,” he added.

    The content spend is expected to grow and the investment will go beyond original content to boost the live sports portfolio.

    Overall, the e-commerce giant has continued to cash in on our new shop-work-relax-from-home habits in the first three months of this year, reporting a huge rise in sales and a tripling of profits.

    Amazon’s overall revenue has gone up by 44 per cent year-on-year basis to reach $108.5 billion revenue. Net income skyrocketed to $8.1 billion compared to the corresponding quarter of 2020, when it stood at $2.5 billion. As online shopping has been one of the businesses to benefit in the ongoing pandemic, the quarterly results show how the digital drive is still fuelling its business.

    Net sales are expected to be between $110.0 billion and $116.0 billion for the next quarter, or to grow between 24 per cent and 30 per cent as against the second quarter 2020, the company guided. Operating income is expected to be between $4.5 billion and $8.0 billion. The company will also host its Prime Day event sometime in the second quarter.

  • Kids Safety Pin: Epic On introduces child-safe viewing feature

    Kids Safety Pin: Epic On introduces child-safe viewing feature

    KERALA: OTT platform Epic On, from IN10 Media Network, has introduced a new feature on its platform – the Kids Safety Pin. The kid-safe enabled login requires a pin to access content exclusively made for children. 

    The pin login feature will help parents monitor children’s viewing habits and protect them from unsuitable content for the age group.

    Epic On is also planning to create originals, acquire children’s movies, edutainment, and gamification around quizzes for its young audience, making it a one-stop 24/7 entertainment OTT app with parental control.

    The platform, which has a separate section for children, offers a mix of VoDs and a linear feed of the network’s children’s channel, Gubbare. With its 360 degrees’ offerings for children targeted for the five plus years, the streamer has a whole section of VOD libraries from Gubbare (ViR The Robot Boy, My Bhoot Friends, Marcus Khiladi among others), Amar Chitra Katha, Jam Studio, E-books, and many unique podcasts.

    “We at Epic On are constantly working towards bettering our audiences’ viewing experience. With children being indoors due to the pandemic, there has been an increase in viewership in the kids’ category, the latest feature will give control in the hands of the parents so that they can create the best experience for their children. We encourage parents to talk openly about these safety features with kids,” said IN10 Media Network COO Sourjya Mohanty. 

    Epic On is currently available on Jio Fibre, Airtel Xstream, Apple TV, and FireTV. 

  • ‘Radhe’ rush: Zee5 rolls out new Rs 499 plan to reel in viewers

    ‘Radhe’ rush: Zee5 rolls out new Rs 499 plan to reel in viewers

    KOLKATA: OTT platform Zee5, along with ZeePlex, has rolled out a special Radhe Combo Offer to make Salman Khan’s upcoming Eid release, Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai, accessible to the masses. The special one-year offer, available at an attractive price of Rs 499 will give viewers the opportunity to watch the much-awaited film on Zee5 with ZeePlex starting 13 May, in addition to giving audience access to the streaming service’s extensive and diverse premium content library.

    The Rs 499 ‘Radhe Combo Offer’ will allow consumers to watch Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai on Zee5 with ZeePlex, along with access to Zee5 originals, movies, TV shows, live TV, ALTBalaji shows, ad-free catch-up TV, Zindagi TV shows, kids content, and much more for one year. This subscription plan will also give consumers access to the new 50+ theatricals across diverse languages and 40+ originals slated for the year.

    Zee5 India chief business officer Manish Kalra said, “Salman Khan’s films are thorough family entertainers which appeal to audiences across demographics. Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai is one of the biggest releases of the year and we are proud to launch this on Zee5 in a multi-format model. A Salman Khan film with its mass appeal becomes the perfect choice to launch our specially designed annual value proposition of Rs 499, to unify India and Bharat through our shared love for films.

    He went on to describe the Rs 499 plan as the most attractive value proposition for a user, and that it will also help the OTT platform cast a wider net into the country by tapping into newer audience segments.

    The first ever multi-platform release of its kind, Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai will be available on Zee5 with ZeePlex, theatres worldwide keeping the Covid protocols in mind, and across all leading DTH operators – Dish, D2H, Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV. The film’s trailer has already amassed 65 million+ views across all platforms and the recently released song, Seeti Maar, is topping charts, having accumulated 49 million+ views and counting.

  • Netflix rescues users from streaming indecisiveness with ‘Play Something’

    Netflix rescues users from streaming indecisiveness with ‘Play Something’

    KOLKATA: ‘What to watch now?’ – there is probably no Netflix user who has not thought of this. Now, the global streaming giant is ready to rescue viewers from the conflict with its new ‘Play Something’ feature.

    A Netflix user who presses the new ‘Play Something’ button will be shown a film or show based on his or her interest. If the user does not like the recommendation, they can move on with ‘Play Something Else’ to see a new set of options that include an unfinished series or film.

    “There are times when we just don’t want to make decisions. A Friday evening after a long work week. A fridge full of food but nothing jumps out. A family movie night where no one can agree. We’ve all been there. Sometimes you just want to open Netflix and dive right into a new story. That’s why we’ve created Play Something, an exciting new way to kick back and watch,” Netflix product innovation director Cameron Johnson said.

    Play Something can be found in multiple ways: underneath user profile name, the tenth row on your Netflix homepage, the navigation menu on the left of the screen. While the company is rolling out the feature globally, it is currently limited to TV based versions – that is, it is not available on mobile phones, laptops or tablet devices for now. Earlier this year, the streaming giant introduced a new feature that automatically downloads recommended content for users on their smartphones.

  • YouTube reports $6 billon ad revenue in Q1, up 49% from year earlier

    YouTube reports $6 billon ad revenue in Q1, up 49% from year earlier

    KOLKATA: YouTube’s advertising revenue rose dramatically in the first quarter of 2021 , up 49 per cent from the same quarter in the last year. As the parent company Google/Alphabet reported its first quarter earnings, YouTube ad revenue amounting to $6 billion has trumped all expectations.

    Google and Alphabet chief financial officer Ruth Porat has credited “exceptional performance in direct response and ongoing strength in brand advertising” for the jump in ad revenue. The direct response business is now a large and fast-growing business for the segment, Google chief business officer Philipp Schindler added.

    The platform is also working on shopping capabilities of viewers on the platform. “I think we’re still scratching the surface on what’s possible really with commercial intent on YouTube,” Schindler said. He emphasised that advertisers are using YouTube to reach audience that they can’t find anywhere else. The video viewing platform is starting to see an advertiser mix of awareness and more action-oriented formats who are driving reach and results across the funnel.

    The video giant currently boasts of over two billion monthly logged users and over one billion hours of daily video consumption. Interestingly, its short video platform has also seen exponential growth. “YouTube Shorts continues to gain popularity with over 6.5 billion daily views as of March, up from 3.5 billion at the end of 2020,” Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said.

    Overall, Alphabet reported $55.3 billion in Q1 revenue, up 34 per cent year-over-year. “Over the last year, people have turned to Google Search and many online services to stay informed, connected and entertained. We’ve continued our focus on delivering trusted services to help people around the world. Our Cloud services are helping businesses, big and small, accelerate their digital transformations,” Pichai said in a letter to the shareholders.

  • Pranav Thakker is TVF’s national head – brand partnerships

    Pranav Thakker is TVF’s national head – brand partnerships

    New Delhi: Pranav Thakker has joined as the national head-brand partnerships at The Viral Fever, the Indian video on demand and over-the-top streaming service.

    He was earlier general manager- new business development at Universal Business Group, which he joined in February 2020 and helped brands to connect with their consumers.  It is Thakker’s second stint at TVF, as he had earlier worked with the organisation from 2017-2020 as the west head-brand partnerships.

    He has also worked with Reliance Broadcast Network as account director, Magicbricks as zonal manager and Diligent Media Corporation as manager- ad sales (five years).

  • MX TakaTak & Nas Academy power Creator Fellowship Training Programme

    MX TakaTak & Nas Academy power Creator Fellowship Training Programme

    KOLKATA: MX TakaTak in collaboration with Nas Academy, has announced India’s first Creator Fellowship Training Programme, wherein 25 handpicked influencers will be trained to tell great stories and create high-quality content on-the-go. In this programme, selected applicants will get a chance to grasp the A-Z of content creation – be it scripting, shooting, editing and publishing.

    The platform has already emerged as a frontrunner in the short video space, encouraging the country’s innovative minds to create engaging, impactful and inspiring content on its platform.

    Nas Academy is a global online education platform for the Creator Economy. Founded by Nuseir Yassin (Nas Daily), with 35 million followers and seven billion plus views on the internet, it has a track record of identifying and mentoring aspiring creators across the world.

    The programme will include fellow meetings, weekly activities, contests, regular projects, training, feedback sessions, guidance on the management of social pages, 1:1 sessions from Nas Academy mentors and an opportunity to join the MX TakTak Influencer Programme.

    MX TakaTak business head Janhavi Parikh said, “Collaborating with the Nas Academy is a big opportunity that we as a homegrown platform can offer to aspiring Indian creators. The idea is to provide them exciting opportunities to grow and innovate along with newer ways of grooming themselves, and we think there is no better platform than Nas Academy for accomplishing this.”

    “Video is the future of storytelling, and content creators are the future media powerhouses. We are proud to partner with MX TakaTak launching India’s first creator fellowship training programme. We hope to empower individuals to become the next wave of content creators on one of India’s most popular social media platforms,” Nas Academy founder Nuseir Yassin said.

    Anyone can join India’s First Creator Fellowship Training Programme, where one can learn directly from amazing creators. The programme aims to help amateurs and budding content creators help find their voice and learn everything they need to get started. Applicants will be asked to submit a one-minute video of why they should be chosen for this programme, which will then be followed by a shortlisting process. 

  • With $120 million infusion, UpGrad poised to turn unicorn

    With $120 million infusion, UpGrad poised to turn unicorn

    Kolkata: At a time when edtech platforms are booming in India, higher learning major UpGrad has raised $120 million from Temasek, a global investment company headquartered in Singapore. With this, UpGrad is speeding toward a landmark $1 billion valuation.

    This is the first external funding raised by the edtech major. Since its founding six years ago in 2015, upGrad has been 100 per cent owned, funded, and run by its co-founders as a capital-efficient business.

    The Mumbai-based start-up plans to use the fresh capital to further strengthen its team, scale its global market operations, bolster its technology and product capabilities, pursue M&A opportunities, expand graduate and post-graduate degree portfolio in India, and scale up operations to achieve its $2 billion revenue goal by 2026, thereby reinforcing its position as a global higher-edtech leader emerging from India. 

    upGrad co-founders Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli said in a joint statement, “We welcome Temasek in our mission to power career success for each and every member of the global workforce as their trusted LifeLongLearning partner and drive meaningful career outcomes. This capital will further fuel our commitment towards global expansion as well as deeper India penetration, as we march forward with our goal of making India the teaching capital of the world.”

    Screwvala told Bloomberg that he expects to raise another round of capital in three to six months.

    Credit Suisse acted as the exclusive financial advisor to upGrad, and Rajaram Legal acted as legal advisor.

    UpGrad’s current repertoire includes over 100 courses in subjects like data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, coding, finance and law, in collaboration with universities like Michigan State University and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. About a million learners, mainly from India as well as four dozen other countries, take courses that run from six months to two years.