ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Amazon Prime Video to globally premiere 9 highly-anticipated movies across 5 Indian languages

    Amazon Prime Video to globally premiere 9 highly-anticipated movies across 5 Indian languages

    KOLKATA: This festive season is an unusual one when people will mostly be confined to their homes. There are few chances of blockbusters getting released in theatres as the cinema halls will open after six months with limited seating capacity. Amazon Prime Video appears to have its plan laid out to keep users hooked as it is premiering nine movies.

    Amazon Prime Video has announced a brand new slate of 9 highly-anticipated movies that will premiere directly on the streaming service. Spanning five Indian languages, the diverse line-up features titles such as Coolie No. 1 starring Varun Dhawan (Judwaa 2, Street Dancer 3D) and Sara Ali Khan (Simmba), Chhalaang starring Rajkummar Rao (Trapped, Stree) and Nushrat Bharucha (Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety), Durgavati starring Bhumi Pednekar (Shubh Mangal Savdhaan, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha), Bheema Sena Nala Maharaja (Kannada) starring Aravinnd Iyer, Middle-Class Melodies (Telugu) starring Anand Devarakonda, Maara (Tamil) starring R Madhavan, and  Manne Number 13 (Kannada) starring Varsha Bollamma (Bigil), Chetan Gandharva (Melody) along with previously announced Zakariya Mohammed’s Halal Love Story (Malayalam)and Suriya starrer Soorarai Pottru (Tamil). The movies will premiere exclusively on Prime Video within 2020 and will be available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

    The new slate follows the successful launch of the first wave of direct-to-service premieres of 10 films across five languages, which led to Amazon Prime Video expanding its footprint in India with viewership for these movies coming from over 4000 cities and towns, across the country. Viewership titles in languages such Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam received more than 50 percent viewership from customers outside the home states, with customers from Lucknow, Kolkata, Pune and beyond streaming Penguin, Ponmagal Vandhal, Law, French Biriyani, Sufiyum Sujatayum, CU Soon V and Nishabdham. The movies were also streamed and enjoyed by TV audiences in 180 countries and territories, allowing Indian filmmakers to reach a wider audience through Prime Video’s global presence. Hindi titles Gulabo Sitabo & Shakuntala Devi emerged as the two most watched movies since the launch of Prime Video in India. Gulabo Sitabo and Shakuntala Devi were also the most watched Hindi movie on Prime Video globally!

    “Gripping content transcends geographical boundaries. The audience are always on the look-out for great entertainment, and good content will always find an audience. The resounding success of our first wave of direct-to-service movie premieres is a testament to that. This further reinforces our commitment to offering our customers a selection of riveting movies, cinematically produced, across a wide range of genres and languages,” Amazon Prime Video India content head and director Vijay Subramaniam said.

    “The disruptive, pioneering format of Direct to Digital movie premieres has, in many ways, been a game changer in the way films are watched in India. Amazon Prime Video is playing a key role of not only expanding the reach & viewership of these films across the country, but also providing global customers across 200+ countries and territories access to world-class films originating from India”, Amazon Prime Video India country general manager and director Gaurav Gandhi said.

    “The fact that more than 50 per cent of viewership of our Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam Direct to Digital titles came from outside of the respective home states is representative of how digital distribution can expand the audience for great content. We are super excited to present our new slate and are confident that it will delight our customers in India and around the world,” he added.

  • ShemarooMe Box Office courts southern audiences with Varmaa

    ShemarooMe Box Office courts southern audiences with Varmaa

    KOLKATA: Homegrown OTT platform ShemarooMe Box Office is now venturing into the regional space with Varmaa, the Tamil remake of Telugu blockbuster Arjun Reddy.

    Varmaa is helmed by the national award-winning director Bala and features Tamil superstar Chiyaan Vikram’s son Dhruv in the titular role. The movie, seen as the master filmmaker’s intense take on romance, is available to audiences on pay per view.

    The brand recently launched its TVoD service, better known as pay per view, for regional audiences and is attempting to break the language barrier when it comes to entertaining cinema lovers.

    Varmaa can be watched on ShemarooMe Box Office by subscribers and non-subscribers alike. Fans can log on to the ShemarooMe website or BookMyShow and purchase a ticket, priced at Rs 140, and tune into the movie online. The ticket allows families to enjoy the film over and over again for three days.

    Varmaa is a direct-to-OTT release. While both the original Arjun Reddy and its Bollywood adaptation Kabir Singh starring Shahid Kapoor made bank at the box office, they were called out for glorifying misogyny and abuse.

    Critics dubbed Varmaa a faithful adaptation of its source material, while also mentioning that Bala has added his own little twists in some aspects of the characters and story.

  • Tata Sky Binge+ partners with India Film Project

    Tata Sky Binge+ partners with India Film Project

    KOLKATA: Tata Sky’s OTT + TV aggregator service Binge+ and India Film Project, Asia’s largest content fest, have entered into a strategic partnership with an objective to engage meaningfully and curate a series of content-driven virtual sessions celebrating the contribution of content creators in the digital space. 

    India Film Project, since its inception in 2011, has put in efforts to build a community of content creators across the varying forms of art. Tata Sky, India’s leading content distribution and pay TV platform entered actively into the OTT platform aggregation space through its pioneering service, Tata Sky Binge last year and with Tata Sky Binge+ this year, it has brought both OTT and live TV together under one service. 

    This partnership is a continuation of the effort towards making content platform agnostic and democratising its reach. Through this collaboration, Tata Sky Binge+ and India Film Project aims to spark meaningful conversations around the digital ecosystem and felicitate the journey of creators who have helped in the growth of Indian content.    

    Commenting on the association, Tata Sky chief communications officer Anurag Kumar said, “Tata Sky as a brand has always believed that content is king regardless of the platform it is been showcased on and understands the increasing demand of digital content. Tata Sky Binge+ service is our step towards making the best of content across mediums available for our customers on a single platform. We are glad to be associated with India Film Project who have been at the forefront of discovering new content creators, valuing and showcasing their creation for the world to see. Through this partnership, we are furthering our individual brand promise to drive synergies towards appreciating the contribution of content creators in digital space.”     

    Commenting on the association, India Film Project festival director Ritam Bhatnagar said, “At IFP, we witness the celebration of some of the best content created across the world. Within IFP’s creator community, we noticed a need for creators to watch content that transcends not just geographical boundaries but also the limitations of switching between app subscriptions. The partnership will enable our community to explore a world not limited by subscriptions but sheer love for content.”

  • Jio partners USP Studios to strengthen kids content library

    Jio partners USP Studios to strengthen kids content library

    KOLKATA: India’s fastest growing telecom company Reliance Jio has partnered with leading kids content creator USP Studios thus strengthening its platform’s offering for kids in India. Through this partnership with USP Studios, Jio users will now have access to eight exciting edutainment apps including Kids First, Kids TV India, Junior Squad Kid Songs, Top Nursery Rhymes, Kids Channel India, Bob The Train, Little Treehouse Rhymes, and Farmees Nursery Rhymes.

    A specialist in creating engaging content for pre-schoolers, USP Studios has been recognized for making learning fun and screen time a positive and enriching time. USP Studios fun learning apps will be available for Jio users in English and other regional languages for free August 2020 onwards.  

    USP Studios has a strong footprint in India that continues to grow. The content creator has a global subscriber base of over 130 million and commands over 2.5 billion views per month. An industry leader, USP Studios continue to produce original content and unique animated character IPs that pre-school kids can relate and connect with. Jio’s partnership with USP Studios will further amplify the accessibility and availability of USP Studios content for kids across India and in the language of their choice.

    On adding content that caters to pre-schoolers, Jio 's Akash Ambani said, “We are extremely excited on this partnership with USP Studios that has helped us expand our offerings for kids and preschoolers. At Jio, we are focused on expanding our content library to suit the needs of our consumers across all ages. USP Studios is a domain expert and a leader in its category. Through this partnership, we are sure that parents will have a new way to keep their kids engaged and make screen time more meaningful with content that is educative and enriching”

    Speaking on expanding presence in the digital ecosystem, USP Studios founder Uday Singh Phoolka said, “Providing kids with content that is differentiated and resourceful is at the heart of what we do at USP Studios. Over the last six years, we have built an edutainment ecosystem consisting of IPs with interesting and engaging characters and channels that have had a lasting and positive impact on toddlers, kids as well as parents. While we have been reaching out to over 130+ million subscribers, we believe it’s time that we further expand this reach to the next 100 million in India and our partnership with Jio will help us achieve this goal.  Jio has been a true gamechanger in how India has been accessing content. It has not only reduced costs, but has opened up new avenues in terms of how consumers access content. We are extremely excited on this partnership with Jio and are certain that both kids and parents across India will benefit from this association.”

  • ZEE5’s Manpreet Bumrah joins Eros STX Global Corp

    ZEE5’s Manpreet Bumrah joins Eros STX Global Corp

    KOLKATA: Content powerhouse Eros International (Eros STX) has appointed Manpreet Bumrah as senior vice president- distribution and alliance, techzone head. He will continue to be based out of Mumbai.

    Prior to this, Bumrah was working with leading OTT platform ZEE5 as vice president- business development and commercials. At ZEE5, he was spearheading the strategic partnerships with telecom operators,  e-commerce players, OEM manufacturers, edutainment platforms and tech partners.  

    Read more news on Eros STX Global

    He has nearly two decades of rich experience in business development, customer relation, revenue expansion. Bumrah, an alumnus of Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, has worked across brands including LG Electronics, Vodafone, Reliance Broadcast Network, Samtel and others.

  • Amazon Prime Video unveils trailer for Mirzapur season two

    Amazon Prime Video unveils trailer for Mirzapur season two

    KOLKATA: Guddu Bhaiya, Munna Bhaiya and Kaleen Bhaiya, the much-loved characters of Amazon Prime Video's Mirzapur are back.   

    The streaming platform has unveiled the trailer for its much-awaited second season of Amazon Original Series Mirzapur. It will start streaming from 23 October 2020. The show produced and created by Excel Media and Entertainment has gained popularity not only in India, but outside the country as well.

    According to a SEMrush study published in July, Mirzapur was the second most-searched show in January-December 2019. Among other Indian content churned out by Amazon Prime Video, this show is undoubtedly the most discussed one also.

    The 10-part new season of the hinterland crime drama, where power and revenge are the means to maintain order, will reveal what happened  to the infamous residents of Mirzapur, following the aftermath of a shocking season one finale. The new storyline dives deeper into the murky and rustic world of guns, drugs and lawlessness and traverses through myriad layers of vengeance, conspiracies, romance, drama and the formidable women power in the terrains of Mirzapur.

    “At Amazon, we do everything keeping our customers in mind. Their incessant demand for Season 2 of Mirzapur is a testament to the fact that we have spearheaded our efforts in the right direction,” Amazon Prime Video India originals head Aparna Purohit said.

    “The fandom that has built for the world of Mirzapur over the last two years has been phenomenal; viewers have expressed their love and appreciation for the show and are highly engaged and immersed in the lives of the characters. It’s characters have become a part of the popular culture. We have had a wonderful collaboration with Excel Media and Entertainment over many years and we are thrilled to join forces again for yet another gripping season. We are delighted to bring the highly-anticipated new season of the captivating and gritty crime drama, Mirzapur,” Purohit added.

    The streaming service has constantly kept its fans engaged with various marketing initiatives around its tentpole show. Recently, it uploaded the entire first season of Mirzapur on its official YouTube channel to gear up the audience up ahead of the second season hitting the platform.

    “For the last two years, our phones have been constantly ringing with fans waiting eagerly to watch Mirzapur Season 2. We are happy to put an end to the wait and present an all-new season to them.” Excel Entertainment producer Ritesh Sadhwani said.

    “We created the first season with the intent to ‘get our hands dirty’ with a pure hinterland drama; what really surprised us was the worldwide love that’s grown for our local show,” creator Puneet Krishna commented.

     “The success of the first season has set a benchmark and encouraged us to take the new season several notches higher. Viewers will be in for an immersive experience through the plot twists, character developments and captivating storyline in Season 2,” he added further.

  • GEMS: Designing the next level of gaming and e-sports in India

    GEMS: Designing the next level of gaming and e-sports in India

    NEW DELHI: The gaming and e-sports industry in India is quickly levelling up, Covid2019 possibly being the biggest booster augmenting its growing popularity amongst the masses and advertisers alike. With more and more people spending increased time on these virtual platforms promising thrill, excitement, fun, and also lucrative career opportunities, the industry is staring at a massive boom. 

    Albeit, there are some underlying issues related to data safety, screen timing, the nature of the games, and some peculiar nationalist sentiments to be addressed, and a growth plan to be charted that can offer the most to all stakeholders involved; from technicians to designers, to players, to aggregators, to advertisers, and to the viewers. 

    Indiantelevision.com and AnimationXpress.com will, therefore, be facilitating the process of direct communication amongst all the people involved in the process with its proprietary gaming, e-sports, and more summit, GEMS. The summit is co-powered by Tata Communications.

    The two-day virtual conference will bring together the biggest gaming studios, game developers, broadcasters, OTT platforms, streaming giants, pro players, brands, and agencies to discuss the next level of this raging saga. 

    Read the whole agenda here 

    Our speakers will include the likes of Trinity Gaming founder and CEO Abhishek Aggarwal, Nodwin Gaming director Akshat Rathee, Reliance Entertainment Digital CEO Amit Khanduja, Pocket Aces founder Anirudh Pandita, ESPL CEO Michael Broda, and Parle Products Pvt Ltd sr category head marketing Krishnarao S. Buddha, among many others. 

    You can register here for the sessions.

  • Netflix releases Bad Boy Billionaires, albeit an episode short

    Netflix releases Bad Boy Billionaires, albeit an episode short

    KOLKATA: After months of legal tussles, Netflix has finally released its controversial docu-series Bad Boy Billionaires: India, although with only three episodes. 

    The Netflix original that dives deep into the stories of India’s most infamous billionaires – liquor mogul Vijay Mallya, fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, Sahara group chief Subrata Roy, and Satyam Computer Services founder B Ramalinga Raju – got embroiled in litigation due to its provocative content.

    “This investigative docu-series explores the greed, fraud, and corruption that built up — and ultimately brought down — India’s most infamous tycoons,” Netflix said in the show's synopsis.

    Read more news on Netflix

    The series was originally scheduled to release last month but was delayed following an order from a district court in Bihar, where the Sahara group argued that the show would damage Roy's reputation. According to reports, the injunction was lifted last Saturday.

    Currently, episodes based on Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Subrata Roy are streaming. The digital platform, however, held back the episode on B Ramalinga Raju and his Rs 71.36 billion embezzlement scam. Raju and Gitanjali Group owner Mehul Choksi, whose name appears in the series, had also approached courts seeking a stay on the docu-series, claiming that it would affect their trials.

    Given the fact that Raju’s case is presently pending in Hyderabad court, it can be said that Netflix wisely chose not to release the episode on him till it gets the legal clean chit.

  • From stock market to screen: SonyLIV’s Scam 1992 is a cautionary tale

    From stock market to screen: SonyLIV’s Scam 1992 is a cautionary tale

    KOLKATA: In April 1992, mayhem hit the Indian financial sector as the nation woke up to the biggest stock market scam. So huge was its impact on Dalal Street that it led to structural changes in the financial security system of India with new reforms in stock trades. However, what remains untold is the story of the mastermind behind it. Scam 1992 – The Harshad Mehta Story, SonyLIV’s latest tentpole show, is about the charismatic stockbroker who orchestrated a previously unheard-of Rs 5,000-crore securities scandal.

    Unravelling the man from the myth over the course of 10 nail-biting episodes, the show will drop on the OTT platform on 9 October. With it, SonyLIV is hoping to boost its subscriber base while fulfilling its promise to deliver more original content.

    Produced by Applause Entertainment in association with Studio Next, this series is a financial crime thriller based on the bestseller book The Scam written by notable journalists Debashis Basu and Sucheta Dalal.

    Read more news on SonyLIV

    The series is a gripping tale of the meteoric rise and fall of the flamboyant big bull of the stock market – Harshad Mehta. Directed by national award-winning filmmaker Hansal Mehta, the series is led by Pratik Gandhi and Shreya Dhanwanthary along with an ensemble cast of Satish Kaushik, Sharib Hashmi, Anant Mahadevan, Nikhil Dwivedi, KK Raina and Lalit Parimoo, among others. The creative team comprises dialogue writers Sumit Purohit, Saurav Dey, Vaibhav Vishal and Karan Vyas.

    Director Hansal Mehta said the story, or cautionary tale, is more relevant than ever in these troubled times where a new multi-billion dollar scam is uncovered every other day and the conmen responsible fly the coop with uncanny ease.

    “This show gives you an intimate peek into the middle-class aspirations of a common man who rose from rags to riches while managing to subvert and deceive the banking system. It talks about what the system, if not mended, might make people do. The system doesn’t seem to have mended. There is scam on scam,” Mehta averred.

    Having helmed films about complex socio-political issues, like Shahid starring Rajkummar Rao, and Manoj Bajpayee-led Aligarh, Mehta found the enormity of Scam 1992 to be a quite a unique challenge.

    "I've told many true stories but to put this kind of long-form writing on screen was a huge challenge. It was perhaps the biggest, single largest challenge that I've had after making almost 15 feature films," he said.

    Read more news on Applause Entertainment

    The makers spent over three years on the show to ensure absolute accuracy, from the script, to choice of actors, and the overall treatment. 

    “Scam 1992 – The Harshad Mehta Story reflects on a landmark event in the Indian stock market. The incident was integral in shaping India’s financial security systems and hence was a story waiting to be told,” Studio Next head Indranil Chakraborty said.

    Applause Entertainment CEO Sameer Nair said that with Scam 1992, the company hopes to raise the bar of premium series in India in terms of creativity and production while staying true to the original source material.

  • OTTs gear up for battle against content pirates

    OTTs gear up for battle against content pirates

    KOLKATA: With the tectonic shift in technology, piracy has found new ways to expand its reach and impact. And given the ongoing lean period in TV and movie releases, pirates are charting new waters for prey. Streaming platforms, which are investing heavily in premium content, offer easy pickings. While stringent regulation is the need of the hour, major over-the-top (OTT) platforms are devising comprehensive techniques to check this threat.

    One of the leading OTT services in India, SonyLIV, is now moving away from basic solutions to a 360 degree approach. SonyLIV technology head Manish Verma said in a webinar hosted by indiantelevision.com that the platform is now looking at advanced measures like watermarking, fingerprinting and code protection to safeguard its content. It is now in the process of evaluating how they can utilise some of these tools to reduce piracy.

    Read more news on SonyLIV

    Presently, DRM is the preferred mode of encryption for the platform. But Verma admits that DRM has certain loopholes as well, especially when it comes to screen mirroring. Hence, the platform is in talks with vendors and partners to find out other ways to counter piracy. As part of its enhanced security measures, SonyLIV recently started a two-way authentication with username and one time passwords, instead of the traditional login with password system.

    According to ZEE5 India technology head Tushar Vohra, creating a barrier is very important, as is instilling the fear of getting caught among pirates. To this end, tracing the source of a breach can be helpful. For example, ZEE5 will launch a forensic watermarking for its web player this month itself and later across all devices. This step will enable the platform to track the source of pirated content. Hence, Vohra is hopeful that there would be a decline in piracy rate within six months.

    Echoing Vohra’s bent of mind, Verma said: “We need to put deterrence in terms of making it difficult to pirate the content, degrading the experience for pirated content. When a consumer is not getting that experience of premium content on illegal sites, they will come back to our platform.”

    Both tech experts concurred that there is no particular trend of piracy in the Indian market. But Vohra mentioned an interesting fact: premium Indian content is being pirated more outside the country. Some contradictions do exist. While ZEE5 saw an increase in piracy during the lockdown, SonyLIV’s Verma said that the tendency to pay for premium content went up during the same period.

    Read more news on ZEE5

    “We have put in machine learning through which we can detect multiple users logging in or consumer consuming content for a longer duration of time. We can do a token revocation; we can go from the back end and revoke the token if we see some sort of abnormality in the behaviour. I think we are making it difficult to pirate the content,” Verma added.

    The panellists agreed that rationalising cost structure for security will lead to higher adoption of technology solutions. ZEE5, which is already investing five-seven per cent for data and application security, has now developed a full-fledged security team, due to join in December.