ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • ErosNow gets into a mess with provocative social media posts

    ErosNow gets into a mess with provocative social media posts

    MUMBAI: These are sensitive times. Brands and influencers have to tread carefully, almost as if they are walking on egg shells. Streaming service Eros Now learnt it the hard way over the past couple of days.  

    Ever since the start of Navratri 2020, Eros Now – which is part of Eros STX –  has been posting short videos and digital stills from movies produced by Eros International. Some of these  featured Deepika Padukone from 2015's Bajirao Mastani. Kareena Kapoor Khan in her Chhammak Chhallo avatar from the 2011 film Ra.One on Twitter. These were accompanied by provocative – and what could be called raunchy messaging, obviously to evoke a grin from the young who flock to dandiya and garba gatherings. The person behind the push is a young social media executive.

    "Be naughty, sweet toh mithai bhi hai," read a tweet shared alongside one of the Navratri posters.

    Another poster featured a picture of actor Katrina Kaif along with the caption "Do you want to put the ratri in my Navratri?"

    All hell broke loose as a section of  the Twitterati found the language offensive and vulgar and derogatory of Hindu icons and festivals. And the trolls got to work with a vengeance: starting a hashtag boycott ErosNow which soon became a chorus – so much so that it trended worldwide.

    Some even alluded that Ali Hussein the head honcho of ErosNow is a Muslim, which is why the streamer was insensitive to Hindu sentiments. We, at indiantelevision.com, know that a religious slur was not the intent, the idea was to connect with the youth in a manner they talk and joke amongst themselves.

     

     

    But the trolls had a field day.

    "Dear Eros Now, Why have you posted these double-meaning vulgar banners for the auspicious festive season?" asked one Twitter user.
    Others called for strict action to be taken against the company.

    Nevertheless, following the uproar ErosNow decided to pull down the so-called offensive tweets and images.

    And it shared in a tweet where it explained itself: “We at Eros love and respect our cultures equally. It is not, and it has never been our intention to hurt anyone’s emotions. We have deleted the concerned posts and apologise for having offended anybody’s sentiments.”

     

     

    At the time of writing, the anti-ErosNow campaign was losing steam, even though a bunch were still posting their annoyance on Twitter. 

  • Synamedia appoints Paul Segre as CEO to spearhead next growth phase

    Synamedia appoints Paul Segre as CEO to spearhead next growth phase

    MUMBAI: Video software provider Synamedia has brought in Paul Segre as CEO, with immediate effect. Segre takes over from departing CEO Yves Padrines, who has overseen the company since its inception in 2018.

    Prior to this, Segre spent 18 years at customer experience software firm Genesys, latterly as CEO and then chairman. He led the $1.6 billion spin out of Genesys from Alcatel-Lucent (now Nokia) in 2012, backed by the Permira Funds. In six years, he scaled the business to become one of the ten largest privately held software companies in the world, and the largest cloud provider in its space. Paul was also president of Alcatel-Lucent’s applications group and sat on the Alcatel-Lucent Management Committee.

    Synamedia chairman Abe Peled said, “Paul’s appointment signals our readiness and enthusiasm for the next chapter in our journey. His leadership track record, breadth of business experience, and ability to scale software businesses will be invaluable as we move forward with innovative solutions and services designed for the IP era.”

    Segre’s software and telecoms software industry pedigree and his experience building high-growth businesses make him the right choice to lead Synamedia’s next phase of growth. The firm’s goal is to help existing customers and new direct-to-consumer players embrace IP distribution and build sustainable, profitable businesses.

    “Synamedia has a fantastically innovative portfolio, including the Infinite platform, a raft of anti-piracy solutions, video network technologies and the new Synamedia Iris addressable advertising solution,” added Segre. “I am thrilled to lead the firm as we accelerate our growth and become the uncontested leader of video solutions for an IP world.”

    Synamedia is a leading video-first technology specialist, which has contributed immensely to the expansion of pay-TV with OTT distribution, and the development of innovative solutions to protect revenues from streaming piracy and develop new revenue streams from addressable advertising.

  • Watcho launches interactive Quiz contest ‘Watcho Aur Jeeto’ for its subscribers

    Watcho launches interactive Quiz contest ‘Watcho Aur Jeeto’ for its subscribers

    Committed to delivering an innovative and engaging content experience to its users, Watcho, Dish TV India’s OTT platform has announced the launch of ‘Watcho Aur Jeeto‘- an engaging quiz contest. The contest will be running daily with additional bonanza offers on weekends. Each quiz will have a specific set of questions that will be shared on the platform as well as telecast on Dish TV and D2H platforms, throughout the day at periodic intervals. Users can participate by logging in on the Watcho App or on the website watcho.com and submitting responses.   

    Watcho content is already a big draw for its subscribers and this contest will enable Watcho to connect and engage with its subscribers in a new way. The trivia quiz will be based on different subjects like trending topics, entertainment, lifestyle, and popular shows on Watcho. Three winners will be announced every day through a leader board on the app. The names of winners of the quiz will be recognized through social media posts and on Watcho channel on DishTV and D2H platforms.  

    Commenting on the contest, Mr. Sukhpreet Singh, Corporate Head – Marketing, DishTV & Watcho, Dish TV India Ltd, said, “Watcho as a platform goes beyond passive content consumption and tries to engage its users on many levels. It enables them to create their content, helps them to showcase their talent, and even gratifies users for active participation. Watcho has always aimed at delivering a versatile content portfolio to its subscribers. This vision of delivering the best in class content service has enabled Watcho to grow significantly and make a mark in the mind of its subscribers. With the launch of 'Watcho Aur Jeeto', on the platform, we will be offering them an engaging tool and a new reason to adopt the platform which will not only entertain them but also give them an opportunity to win exciting rewards on an everyday basis.”  

    Building on its vision to provide unparalleled viewing content to its customers, the platform has also recently launched its user-generated content offering “Watcho Swag”. Bringing in a unique assortment of snackable content cutting across all genres, Watcho offers many original shows including web series like Its my pleasure, 4 Thieves, Love Crisis, Ardhsatya, Mortuary, Chhoriyan, Rakhta Chandana, and original influencer shows like Look I Can Cook, Bikhare hain Alfaaz, etc. to name a few.

  • Zee5 partners with Meghbela Broadband to strengthen ISP distribution

    Zee5 partners with Meghbela Broadband to strengthen ISP distribution

    MUMBAI: The Covid2019 pandemic has changed consumers’ viewing habits, with a lot of people migrating to the OTT space for at-home entertainment in the last few months. Zee5 has seen over 3X growth in its consumer base and it is now looking to expand beyond the traditional DTH and Cable TV. To this end, Zee5 has partnered up with Meghbela Broadband to ensure access to OTT entertainment even at the grassroots level.

    Meghbela Broadband is a popular internet service provider in the eastern part of the country. Under this new alliance, customers on selected internet plans from Meghbela will get complimentary access to all of Zee5’s premium content, movies, and live channels. To get access to Zee5, Meghbela consumers need to login on Meghbela Android TV using an OTP generated on their mobile app.

    Zee5 India senior vice president & head SVOD, Rahul Maroli said, “In a connected world, the role of ISPs is critical to connect the household to the world. The strategic alliance with Meghbela Broadband enables us to provide our bespoke entertainment experience to an even wider audience. With consumers now looking at digital platforms to fulfil their entertainment requirements, we wanted to ensure that consumers get a seamless experience with the best content to choose from. The alliance will leverage Meghbela’s reach and Zee5’s content and technology to deliver seamless entertainment to the whole India’s Eastern region.”

    Tapabrata Mukherjee, director, Meghbela Broadband said, “We will surely break into the unchartered territory of the East by providing Meghbela Android TV Box bundled with Zee5 premium subscription backed with high speed internet up to 250mbps.”

    With an array of carefully curated range of offerings Zee5 has become one of the leading entertainment platforms among Indian consumers. The alliance with Meghbela will allow a wider set of diverse consumers to discover a super digital entertainment experience with these bespoke offerings. 

  • Brands leverage Amazon Prime’s Mirzapur 2

    Brands leverage Amazon Prime’s Mirzapur 2

    MUMBAI: Amazon Prime Video’s Mirzapur is hot property right now. Fans are eagerly looking forward to the gritty crime-thriller’s second season, which drops on October 23. Due to its twisty-turny plot, memorable dialogues and meme-worthiness, the show has amassed a loyal fandom. And Mirzapur 2 is expected to attract an even bigger audience than the first season. Naturally, brands are eager to tap into this fan-following.

    Amazon Prime Video has collaborated with brands such as Double Bull Cement, Vivo V20 and Bondtite ahead of the release of Mirzapur 2.

    The online platform has come up with ‘Double Bull Amazon Mirzapur 2 Contest’ which offers an opportunity for viewers to win exciting Amazon vouchers.

     

     

    Meanwhile, mobile brand Vivo has launched its new series Vivo V20 and has tied up with the show to leverage its popularity and connect with Indian audiences. The smartphone maker posted a video online which shows Guddu bhaiya and Munna bhaiya, the stars of Mirzapur 2, unboxing the all-new phone and sharing their experience while in character.

    Vivo teams up with Mirzapur2

    Adhesive brand Bondtite has also come onboard to bask in the reflected glory of Mirzapur 2. It has launched a 1 minute 35 second-long video recapping the events of season 1, with several mentions of the brand’s catchphrase Iss jod ka koi tod nahi (No one can break this bond) which highlights the various allegiances and factions in the show.

  • Netflix plans to give free access for a weekend in India

    Netflix plans to give free access for a weekend in India

    KOLKATA: Netflix has been constantly innovating its marketing and promotion strategy in India to get more users to sign up. Now, it plans to give free access to the Indian audience for a weekend.

    “We think that giving everyone in a country to access Netflix for free for a weekend could be a great idea to expose a bunch of new people to the amazing stories we have and hopefully get a bunch of them to sign up. We will try that in India and we will see how that goes,” Netflix COO and chief products officer Greg Peters said in an earnings call after q3 results.

    Read more news on Netflix

    It is not easy to make a strong subscription base in India for Netflix. The competition is here not only with two-three services like Amazon Prime Video, Disney+Hotstar but with a number of homegrown services like SonyLIV, ZEE5, MX Player. Most of them offer their premium content at a much lower rate compared to Netflix. The service also started a mobile-only plan at Rs 199 last year to beat the odds which worked well for it.

    “We're constantly assessing and testing and trying to understand what's working, what's working best, how do we improve. And we do that with our marketing and promotion tactics as well. One of the most effective ways to introduce Netflix to people in different countries around the world, and based on that testing and that actual performance, we've shifted those tactics, as you note, in many, many countries, including the United States. But we also seek to innovate and come up with what are new ways that we can use to introduce Netflix to new members,” Peters also added.

    In a letter to shareholders, the service also acknowledged that it has much work to do in India to replicate the success in other APAC countries Japan and South Korea. Considerably, APAC has contributed mostly to the q3 growth of Netflix.

  • Netflix Q3 result: Continues to grow strong in APAC, much work to do in India

    Netflix Q3 result: Continues to grow strong in APAC, much work to do in India

    KOLKATA: Netflix fell short of global subscriber additions in Q3, albeit a slower growth was forecasted by the streaming giant. The company has added 2.2 million net subscribers in the quarter, even lower than its prediction of 2.5 million.

    In the first two quarters of 2020, Netflix added 15.8 million net in Q1, 10.1 million net subscribers in Q2. However, the streaming service already warned at the end of Q2 that there would be a decline in subscriber addition due to “pull forward” in the first half.

    “As we expected, growth has slowed with 2.2m paid net adds in Q3 vs. 6.8m in Q3 19. We think this is primarily due to our record first-half results and the pull-forward effect we described in our April and July letters. In the first nine months of 2020, we added 28.1m paid memberships, which exceeds the 27.8m that we added for all of 2019. In these challenging times, we’re dedicated to serving our members,” it stated in a letter to shareholders.

    Netflix posted revenue of $6.44 billion and earnings of $1.74 per share in the quarter while Wall Street analysts on average expected third-quarter sales of $6.38 billion and EPS of $2.13. For q4, it forecasts 6.0 million paid net adds which is much lower compared to 8.8 million in the corresponding quarter last year. If it achieves the forecast, it will create a record 34 million paid net adds for 2020, well above the prior annual high of 28.6m in 2018.

    “As the world hopefully recovers in 2021, we would expect that our growth will revert back to levels similar to pre-Covid. In turn, we expect paid net adds are likely to be down year over year in the first half of 2021 as compared to the big spike in paid net adds we experienced in the first half of 2020. We continue to view quarter-to-quarter fluctuations in paid net adds as not that meaningful in the context of the long-run adoption of internet entertainment, which we believe is still early and should provide us with many years of strong future growth as we continue to improve our service,” Netflix said.

    However, despite the pandemic effect on shooting, Netflix continues to expect the number of originals launched on the service to be up year over year in each quarter of 2021. It will continue to invest heavily in local language content.

    APAC, the largest contributor to q3 growth:

    While the quarter has seen a very tepid growth globally, the APAC story is somewhat different. This region was the largest contributor to paid membership growth this quarter with 46 per cent of overall subscriber addition. The revenue also rose 66 per cent year over year.

    “We’re pleased with the progress we’re making in this region and, in particular, that we’ve achieved double-digit penetration of broadband homes in both south Korea and Japan. While this is encouraging, we still have much work to do and we're working hard to replicate this success in India and other countries,” Netflix stated.

    Netflix is working with local partners like Reliance Jio in India, wherein it launched a bundle with the latter’s mobile and fibre broadband plans in Q3. As part of this broad partnership, it will integrate Netflix with two of Jio’s set top boxes. Netflix also mentioned that it partnered with financial institutions in India to make payment processing easier and more seamless, which it expects will have retention benefits. “All of these initiatives are important and work in concert with our big investment in local originals to improve the Netflix experience for our members,” it added.

  • MX TakaTak launches Fame House for top Indian influencers to create and collaborate

    MX TakaTak launches Fame House for top Indian influencers to create and collaborate

    KOLKATA: Short video app MX TakaTak is the new home for content creators across the country, with over 6 million digital influencers, and counting, under its umbrella. In order to nurture and give a platform to these talented digital enthusiasts, MX TakaTak has announced the first edition of MX TakaTak Fame House. It’s a one-of-a-kind platform wherein 15 leading Indian influencers are put under one roof in an exotic location and given an invite-only opportunity to reach millions of new fans daily.

    The influencers who made the cut for the maiden edition of Fame House include some of the biggest names like Nisha Gurgain, Lucky Dancer Lucky, Ashika Bhatia, Amulya Rattan, Ayush Yadav and Rush Twins, to name a few.

    Read more news on MX Player

    In a seven-day lockdown starting from 19-25 October in Goa, MX TakaTak Fame House will give these influencers the chance to create, collab and chill out together. Each of them will also receive professional guidance to turn their ideas into reality – be it hair, makeup, styling, cameras, equipment, or location. Each day will see a new theme with multiple tasks and all they need to do is innovate, create new content and see their following scale new heights – all the while having fun, of course!

    MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said, “Our aim has always been to bring alive the dream of fame, fandom and eventual fortune for our TakaTak family and with this edition of Fame House, we want to give them all the right tools to make it big. The concept is to create an easy-going, collaborative but exciting environment by bringing together an exclusive set of digital creators and giving them opportunities to bring out the best in them.”

    Viral TikToker Nisha Gurgain is excited to come on board with Fame House. She said: “Most of us have always aspired to be a star and with the Fame House, MX TakaTak is bringing us one step closer to our dream by hosting us in Goa and ensuring we are given every assistance to create some great content.”

    Artist and influencer Lucky Dancer added: “I think events like this challenge us to think outside the box and work on fresh concepts that can draw in more fans. I’m really looking forward to staying in the Fame House and creating videos that can go viral.”

  • Pocket Aces partners up with Tinder & Pure Me for Firsts Season 3

    Pocket Aces partners up with Tinder & Pure Me for Firsts Season 3

    MUMBAI: Pocket Aces is back with a new season of the hit Instagram series, Firsts. Presented by Tinder and PureMe, Firsts Season 3 explores a same-sex romantic relationship between two young women, who match on the dating app and experience an exhilarating journey of understanding love, life, and more together. A heart-warming story that blossoms during the lockdown, this season is a tale of acceptance, and coming together to celebrate the beauty of love, which has no labels.

    Firsts Season 3 stars the talented young actors Shreya Gupto and Himika Bose, who play the role of the protagonists – Ritu Chatterjee and Lavanya Vijaya, respectively – both in their early twenties. Their first match on Tinder leads to a whirlwind online romance, which sees them decide to move in together, after a mere month of knowing each other. Worlds collide when the carefree Lavanya, and the slightly uptight Ritu explore their many ‘firsts’ as a same-sex couple. Being as different as chalk and cheese, their story is both entertaining and relatable for couples across the board.

    The series and its production team is a beautiful representation of the LGBTQIA+ community. One of the protagonists identifies as queer, while the other is bisexual. Drawing from real-life experiences, the story is penned by Sulagna Chatterjee who identifies as queer, and is directed by the talented Bharat Misra. Over the course of the 20 one-minute episodes, Firsts Season 3 showcases how couples from the queer community cope with and navigate being in a live-in relationship in a largely heterosexual society.

    Read more news on Pocket Aces

    From their first confession, and first gift, to the first fight, and first feelings of uncertainty, the show captures the sensitivities of a newfound relationship, especially among those breaking stereotypes in society.

    The series, which was shot in the midst of the Covid2019 pandemic, promotes the importance of wearing masks to check the spread of the virus by seamlessly weaving in PureMe’s range of linen masks into the episodes. The partnership is the first of its kind for PureMe and the brands’ message “Be Different” was visibly highlighted throughout the show.

    PureMe co-founder Arti Yadav said, “Being our first ever digital partnership, we felt it was the right opportunity to not only showcase our range of cute and trendy masks, but also reinforce their importance. We were also drawn towards the beautiful message of love, and breaking stereotypes, which is what ‘Be Different’ is all about. Having said that, we feel extremely thrilled to have begun this journey with Dice Media and look forward to more such mutually rewarding partnerships.”

    Kunal Langer, AVP client acquisition & growth, Pocket Aces said, “Firsts as a property is an extremely unique and a disruptive format for story-telling that we at Pocket Aces introduced earlier this year. So far with all the 3 seasons, brands have shown immense interest in the format as the concept is new and highly relatable in nature. ”

    Langer said they zeroed in and decided to focus on a topic that content creators have shied away from, and through this season of Firsts, tried to normalise the conversations around queer relationships.

    “Amidst these unprecedented times, we have tried to weave in how dating and romantic relationships are transforming and the sole objective behind this season was very different from its predecessors. In addition, over the last few months, we have consistently pushed our boundaries with different takes on relationships, and this has encouraged us to continue bringing out more such content with different themes. I am exhilarated to have partners like Tinder and PureMe as they bring in their unique identities which called for the perfect fit for this season’s concept,” he adds.

  • ALTBalaji to conduct Writers’ Lab, a YouTube online masterclass series to inspire & educate aspiring students of cinema!

    ALTBalaji to conduct Writers’ Lab, a YouTube online masterclass series to inspire & educate aspiring students of cinema!

    To bridge the gap between the prolific writers of the entertainment industry and aspiring students of cinema, ALTBalaji – one of the country’s leading OTT platforms has come up with a thoughtful and unique initiative – ‘The Writers' Lab’. Proposed to be an online masterclass where renowned writers and directors from the entertainment world will provide information focusing on nuances in scriptwriting and direction directly to the students.

    The idea behind ‘The Writers' Lab’ is to create a platform on ALTBalaji's YouTube channel which imparts tips and tricks of writing for the web (films and digital shows), wherein the industry professionals would be interviewed directly by the aspiring students.

    For the same, the team of ALTBalaji has collaborated with the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (SIMC) to conduct weekly online masterclass starting from the second week of October. This intends to provide post graduating film making students with a platform to voice out their questions and get a better perspective from the writers’ point of view.

    One of the biggest and most successful content creators on the web, ALTBalaji has been able to create multi-genre Indian original content, including drama, crime, comedy, adult, thriller, love stories, etc. The masterclass will include scriptwriting tools and apps that one can use, structuring the script, ways to develop an idea, writing the script for episodic series and multiple seasons, understanding of scenes and sequences, developing character arcs and dialogues, research involved in scriptwriting, etc.

    The renowned names from the digital world comprising the masterclass activity include the likes of Harsh Dedhia (Director – Broken But Beautiful), Nandita Mehra (Director – Baarish), Abhijit Das (Director – Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain), Ritu Bhatia (Writer – Mentalhood), among others.

    Nachiket Pantvaidya, CEO ALTBalaji, and Group COO Balaji Telefilms said, “The Writers’ Lab initiative is our way of giving back to our community. It is specifically curated to support new writers and directors who want to learn and enhance their craft in their respective areas of expertise. The YouTube specials series would be led by real students asking the right questions to the working professionals having successful scriptwriting and direction background. It is a great platform to discover and develop your skills and prepare the next-gen of filmmakers for a better tomorrow”. 

    Dr. Ruchi Kher Jaggi, Professor & Director, SIMC, Symbiosis International (Deemed) University, adds, “Besides the didactic nature of the project, it is an opportunity for the students and the stakeholders in the project to draw on to the online mediums’ potential of reaching a spectrum of audiences. The aim is to have industry experts educate the generation on the nuances of using the medium for diverse storytelling.”

    Catch the first episode featuring Abhijit Das talking about stories inspired from life: