ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Hoichoi restarts outdoor campaign for its new original

    Hoichoi restarts outdoor campaign for its new original

    MUMBAI– Hoichoi is ready to stream its biggest release of the first half of the year, Tansener Tanpura, shot extensively in beautiful locations across West Bengal (before the lockdown). Since the release of the Official Poster in March, subscribers of hoichoi have been eagerly counting days to watch this Treasure-Hunt/Adventure series starring popular faces Vikram Chatterjee and Rupsa Chatterjee in the lead along with Hindi-serial actor Jayati Bhatia.

    Post-Lockdown phase, Kolkata opened its roads, office and leisure section(s) doors for the public, however, what was drastically missing were the big billboards that once enamoured the city! Hoichoi with its much-awaited series, Tansener Tanpura in its pocket, decided to launch an outdoor campaign that will drive up the anticipation level among the Hoichoi audience, becoming the first in the Entertainment sector to do so.

    A Hoichoi Original Series, slated to stream from 26 June, Tansener Tanpura is a quest to attain the ultimate musical level. The quest for the “Tanpura” of Tansen which has been passed on to the next generations is a metaphor to understand which among the students has attained the ultimate understanding of music. The Tanpura must be earned after solving a lot of riddles and only the person who knows his music well and is free of the lust for fame can get it.

  • ALTBalaji garners 60% rise in viewership and 21% growth in MAU

    ALTBalaji garners 60% rise in viewership and 21% growth in MAU

    MUMBAI: With the number of digitally connected audiences consuming content in Hindi rising, this emerging trend in the country sees ALTBalaji, one of the country’s leading homegrown OTT platforms, yet again scale new heights. Owing to the rapid internet proliferation and digitization in the hinterlands, this demand for Hindi originals has seen the platform’s viewership rise exponentially in May 2020 compared to the figures from May 2019. As per data collected from more than 1800 cities and towns, ALTBalaji garnered a 60 per cent rise in viewership and a 21 per cent growth in MAU (Monthly Active Users). With the Hindi market booming and content consumption headed for sharp growth, these numbers are a growing testament to ALTBalaji conquering the important HSM audience based in Bharat.

    The cities that raked in a two-fold growth in May compared to the same month last year include Patna, Ranchi, Shimla, Jodhpur, Gorakhpur, Imphal, Gaya, to name a few. These cities are yet another indicator of the Hindi language subset growing faster than any other spoken language in the country, which represents an increase in new users being added to the user base at a rapid pace. These numbers further attest to an industry report by KPMG titled – ‘Unravelling the digital video consumer’ whose findings reveal that 64% of India’s digital video consumers prefer consuming content in Hindi.

    On the growth, ALTBalaji CEO and Balaji Telefilms group COO  Nachiket Pantvaidya said, “This rise in viewership is a growing testament to the huge untapped Tier 2,3 & 4 markets for OTT players. At ALTBalaji, we are focusing on ensuring that we dominate the Hindi speaking markets and cement our position as a leader in this segment. By tapping into these hinterlands, we’ve realized the growing demand for Hindi originals that those audiences find immensely relatable. This has helped us understand our viewers better and led to us curating more engaging and entertaining offerings that resonate with them.”

    With a vast library of 60+ originals across genres that cater to all kinds of audiences, the shows at ALTBalaji are a mix of thriller, drama, romance, youth drama, horror, comedy amongst others. Each show present on the platform or in the pipeline has been created keeping in mind the audience’s interest across demographic and sociographic segments. Romantic dramas like Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain, Karrle Tu Bhi Mohabbat, It Happened in Calcutta, Baarish, Dil Hi To hai etc enjoy a growing fandom amongst women in the 25-45 years TG. While on the other hand, thrillers like Apharan, Ragini MMS, Code M are consumed by men in the 22- 45 age bracket. In addition to the above, shows such as Mentalhood, The Test Case, MOM: Mission Over Mars, Bose: Dead/ Alive, The Verdict – State vs Nanavati are being consumed extensively by urban Indians across all age groups.

  • ShemarooMe partners with Celcom to entertain audiences in Malaysia enabled by Apigate

    ShemarooMe partners with Celcom to entertain audiences in Malaysia enabled by Apigate

    MUMBAI: ShemarooMe, the OTT platform from the house of Shemaroo Entertainment today announced its partnership with Malaysia’s leading telecom player – Celcom Axiata Berhad (Celcom) which is enabled by Apigate, a leading global content monetization ecosystem. This partnership comes in line with ShemarooMe expanding its geographies in 150 countries which further strengthens ShemarooMe’s foothold in Malaysia by expanding its presence in South East Asia, at the same time enhancing the telecom operator’s consumer experience.  

    Through this collaboration, Celcom subscribers can get access to ShemarooMe’s vast content library of multi-genre, multi-regional content. The offerings include Bollywood Premiere, Bollywood Classic, Regional, Devotional, Kids and Comedy content. Furthermore, the video streaming platform will be soon adding the most loved genre Bollywood – Indonesia Bahasa dubs along with Bengali and Nepali movies to its content catalogue. 

    Commenting on the association, Ms. Kranti Gada, COO, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd. said, “Shemaroo has always aimed at entertaining the asli fans of Bollywood across the world. This expansion is in line with the platform being available in 150 countries to satiate the Indian masala entertainment needs of one and all. Bollywood content holds a special place in the hearts of Malaysian audiences and our association with Celcom will help strengthen our foothold in that market. We enter the market with our promise of wholesome entertainment where the audiences can get access to a wide variety of Bollywood, Regional and Devotional content and thus build a deeper engagement with consumers in the country.”

    Sharing his thoughts on the association, APIgate APAC senior vice president  Raja Mansukhani said, “Apigate has been at the forefront of catering to the ever growing demand for digital entertainment services and we are happy to announce our association with ShemarooMe that will enable Malaysian audiences’ to access a wide variety of live and on-demand entertainment content on mobile devices.”

    With this partnership, ShemarooMe is expanding its presence in the South East Asian market and further strengthening its global presence. The video streaming platform exists in more than 150 countries, including Canada, UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the Middle East and North Africa.

  • ZEE5 offers its premium subscription to JioFiber users

    ZEE5 offers its premium subscription to JioFiber users

    MUMBAI: While the world is still battling the effects of the pandemic and the resulting shutdowns and restrictions, ZEE5 has risen to the occasion to keep all those at home constantly entertained. With constant innovations and upgrades, the Super-App has been ceaselessly leading digital transformations to create a wholesome entertainment ecosystem that caters to each segment of their diverse audience.

    Furthering these efforts, ZEE5 now offers its premium subscription to JioFiber users. This complimentary subscription to ZEE5’s premium content is available to new as well as existing JioFiber users on Silver plan and above.

    The association offers JioFiber users unlimited entertainment through complimentary access to ZEE5’s library of 4500+ movies and 120+ originals for eligible customers. With continuous content additions across 12 languages, JioFiber’s users can look forward to an exciting library of content that is ready to keep them company 24/7. With ZEE5’s addition, Jio further strengthens its entertainment offering for its JioFiber customers.

    Speaking on this collaboration, ZEE5 India business development and commercial head Manpreet Bumrah stated, “As India’s Entertainment Super-App, ZEE5’s focus has always been on delivering the best of entertainment to every segment of our diverse audiences through custom plans. This association is in line with our vision to further consolidate our presence across the country by leveraging the synergies between the two iconic consumer brands. And this step will benefit the users of Jio and ZEE5 by bringing the convenience of streaming a choice of content, be it shows, originals or popular movies. With the lockdown, we have witnessed a significant uptick in subscriptions and streaming on our platform and this integration will help us keep JioFiber customers engaged and entertained, across spectrum of devices.”

  • Constant communication with consumers is Rahul Maroli’s mantra to grow ZEE5’s subscription

    Constant communication with consumers is Rahul Maroli’s mantra to grow ZEE5’s subscription

    KOLKATA: Streaming services have found more relevance in the post-Covid2019 period. ZEE5, one of the leading contenders in the ‘streaming war’, has brought a new head to build its subscription business when more consumers flocking to those services. ZEE5 senior vice president and business head Rahul Maroli aspires to touch the top both in terms of subscription and viewership.

    “We want to be relevant to every Indian. Content has to resonate with every Indian. An extension of that became the Atrangi campaign where we are trying to say that every person is unique, that’s what this country is all about and we respect your uniqueness. In terms of our specific goal, we want to be the largest OTT platform in the country both in subscription and viewership,” Maroli says in an interaction with Indiantelevision.com.

    Maroli comes with a rich experience but not within the media industry. He worked in automotive, mobility, e-commerce and consumer businesses earlier while his last assignment was with Ola. Asked about what learnings he wants to incorporate here, Maroli says that he has mostly looked after the consumer business in Ola, so the ethos remains same. 

    “As long as you understand who your consumers are and how are they reacting, what is it they like, what is it you don’t like, you keep constantly going back and talking to them and trying to understand, then your ability to communicate with them, to produce good services is absolutely the same,” he adds. 

    The reports and high-level data are not sufficient but the teams have to keep talking to the consumer. Talking about his other lesson, he said that working very closely with the team is very important. Hence, he would try to apply these lessons in his new role.

    He adds that partnership is a very important foundation of their business. “Telcos are looking at OTTs as means of building consumer loyalty. We want to go deeper into that and build more relationships. We clearly see that where you have provided access to OTT platforms there is much more consumer loyalty,” he shares. 

    Maroli further mentions that ISPs are also partners with strong propositions as they have direct access to last-mile consumers. ZEE5 has a deep partnership with ACT Broadband and the platform will roll out more partnerships in the coming days.

    ZEE5, like other OTT platforms, has gained more users and subscribers during this period. Although lockdown is easing, Maroli states that it has not seen much change in the platform’s retention cohorts. According to him, the number remained the same for both direct consumers and b2b partnerships. 

  • Disney+ Hotstar ropes in Google’s Sunil Rayan as president & head

    Disney+ Hotstar ropes in Google’s Sunil Rayan as president & head

    KOLKATA: The rebranded Disney+ Hotstar service gets a new head in India. As per reports, the streaming service has appointed Sunil Rayan as the new president and head. Rayan comes from Google where he was managing director for Google Cloud for Games. Former Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan left the company in 2018.

    At Google, Rayan helped oversee product, engineering and business development strategies to help build Google Cloud for Games as managing director of the segment managing the mobile app promotion business team in 13 locations across the world. He left Google in April 2020. He also worked as associate principal at American management consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

    Rayan will be working closely with Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific president and Star and Disney India chairman Uday Shankar. As the new head, he will be leading a service which has seen major changes in content strategy, subscription model as as rebranding in last one and half year. Walt Disney's Disney+ was integrated into Hotstar in April 2020.

    “Five years ago, we set out to disrupt the way India consumed content and that mission has turned out to be totally revolutionary. Sunil is an exciting talent with global accomplishments and I am very excited to have him lead the talented Disney+ Hotstar team. At Disney+ Hotstar India, we are on a mission to create the country's largest and most advanced platform for curated content, and Sunil is just the right person to drive that ambition,” Shankar commented.

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  • Want to help apps in creating short video platforms: Roposo’s Avinash Saxena

    Want to help apps in creating short video platforms: Roposo’s Avinash Saxena

    MUMBAI: At a time when local versus global is being heavily promoted, a number of homegrown start-ups are also gaining from the trend. While the user-generated content (UGC) ecosystem in India has largely been dominated by a few global players, a number of homegrown ones are gradually emerging. Roposo, which falls among the promising ones, now has more than five crore users. 

    In a virtual roundtable by Indiantelevision.com, Roposo co-founder and Glance VP product management Avinash Saxena said that it has more than 100 million daily active users (DAU) now. Roposo was acquired by InMobi Group’s Glance last year, making its ecosystem stronger. Saxena said that a lot of people see content through lock screen on their phones through Glance, which has video content, news and a game centre.

    While Saxena mentioned that millions of videos are being created on Roposo, it has various channels on which those videos go up. Rather than having a singular feed like other short video platforms, Roposo believes in the diversity of content, allowing for multi-channel viewing. He also added that content on Roposo is very diverse including creators showcasing talents, users expressing views, updating local news, teaching, etc.

    “Roposo is working brilliantly with communities and Glance is helping communities to increase the outreach of videos created through the community. So we thought why not help other apps to create short video platforms and that is why we have a very important SDK. We are testing with a couple of partners and have got wonderful results. It can help any app to become a short video platform for their own community,” Saxena added.

    Usually, on Roposo, every user spends 20-25 minutes every day, watching nearly 100 short videos per day. While during the Covid2019 crisis more people have turned online, Saxena said  Roposo is serving a purpose to connect people and keeping the connection alive through interesting videos and helping them get over the boredom. According to him, community engagement is keeping their morale high. 

    However, as now lockdown is easing in many places, Saxena said that many of the videos being created out of the home. He said that many videos are being created on Covid2019-related topics on the back of their interesting filters. They also have a channel dedicated for Covid2019-related topics.

    Saxena said that they are directly competing with TikTok although being a different product. He said that the local crowd is supporting them and also sharing constructive feedback. However, he stated that if someone makes a good product, the community will support and extend the app’s awareness, making it viral. But if a product is not good it won’t be able to thrive whatever the origin might be. 

    “From November we have been a part of InMobi group, which works across the globe. There is a committee which takes care of everything related to security and user information. We have not experienced any attack which has altered content but if there is any we will be quick to respond,” Saxena added on security concerns.

    He also opined that allowing creators to be creative, building a community and creating a smart recommendation engine is mandatory for such platforms to succed.

  • DE-CIX India establishes new point of presence at Sify Technologies

    DE-CIX India establishes new point of presence at Sify Technologies

    MUMBAI:  DE-CIX India, the largest carrier and data center neutral Internet Exchange (IX) operator in the Indian market, establishes a new point-of-presence (PoP) in Mumbai at Sify Technologies. This will be the fifth PoP of DE-CIX India in the Mumbai market. This partnership provides an opportunity to both DE-CIX India customers and Sify Technologies customers to connect with each other via cross-connect and exchange traffic improving their end-users internet experience.

    “By establishing a presence at Sify Rabale DC we offer our customers a highly connected PoP with dense fiber in DC and the vicinity with failover to public cloud services along with redundant multipath network connectivity suitable for both enterprises to access our DirectCLOUD and ISPs' needs. The new PoP will attract additional clients with low-latency edge requirements and help them cost-effectively extend their reach through access to a global network platform that reaches hundreds of networks around the world. By offering interconnection solutions that are powerful, flexible, and scalable, we can meet the rapidly growing connectivity needs of global clients across all verticals,” says DE-CIX India senior vice president, nation head sales Sudhir Kunder said.

    DE-CIX India serves around 220+ networks in India with presences in Webwerks DC2, Netmagic DC5, STT Telemedia DC, GPX Mumbai and now Sify Technologies Rabale. DE-CIX is the only Open-IX certified IX in India connecting the ISPs, Content Delivery Networks, Cloud Companies, OTTs and other network providers, along with educational institutes in the connected networks.

  • VOOT adds to its robust content slate, partners with Cult.Fit & Isha Foundation

    VOOT adds to its robust content slate, partners with Cult.Fit & Isha Foundation

    MUMBAI: To help de-stress and cope up with the current situation, people are increasingly turning to digital platforms to maintain physical and mental well-being. VOOT, India’s leading streaming platform understands this, and has associated with Cult.Fit, India’s biggest health and fitness start-up and Isha Foundation, founded by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev that aims to bring physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. The partnership opens doorways for its users to seamlessly access the best of fitness workouts and provide solace and guidance on how to stay calm through such trying times. With these thoughtful partnerships, VOOT, home to 70,000 hours of entertaining content across formats and genres is now diversifying the content under the larger umbrella thought of body, mind & soul, beyond the core offerings of new shows, originals and movie titles.

    VOOT AVOD business head Akash Banerji said, “As we battle with uncertainty and tough times, there is a need for positivity and calmness in our daily lives. With digital consumption taking an upward swing, our aim at VOOT is to deliver content that is as diverse as it is relevant. By strengthening partnerships across industries, we believe in giving the best experiences to our consumers. Considering the implications of the on-going crisis on the direct consumer, through our collaborations with Cult.Fit, Isha Foundation and upGrad, we look forward to consistently work towards offering a wider and deeper content library to our viewers to keep them fit – mind, body and soul.”

    In association with Cult.Fit, the DIY workout segment will engage its viewers with 12 episodes of workout sessions every week. The segment will include some of the most intense workout sessions such as high intensity interval training (HIIT) focusing on endurance, and mobility which have been carefully curated to help beginners achieve adequate levels of fitness.

    Cult.Fit growth and marketing head Naresh Krishnaswamy said “With the pandemic, people have become more conscious and are gravitating towards working out from home. This has led to a tremendous number of users working out with us on our platform. At a time when there is such a demand for health and fitness, the partnership with VOOT will prove to be strategically viable for both businesses. Together our objective is to expand our reach and help users avail the best content we have to offer from the comfort of their homes.”

    Speaking about the partnership, Isha Foundation said “The world is going through very challenging times. Many people are experiencing anxiety, fear and loneliness. This darshan series from Sadhguru is an offering to enhance inner balance and spiritual wellbeing of all. We hope it will be able to uplift people’s spirit and help them tide through this crisis.”

  • EORtV expands core team with new appointments

    EORtV expands core team with new appointments

    MUMBAI: EORtV, an over the top (OTT) media service platform announced some more key appointments to its core team. The streaming service that was launched recently is now available on Playstore.

    Joining the team are the following industry experts. Bharat Bhushan Nautiyal has joined as an executive director. He is a physics graduate from Mumbai University is a senior journalist and editor of "Nutan Savera", a Hindi weekly published from Mumbai since 1993, known for its fearless journalism and credible reportage & commentary on social, economic, political, and current affairs. His other business ventures include several real estate and infrastructure projects in Uttarakhand and Maharashtra. His vast network helps him to create and market amazing business opportunities for his business partners. Through his philanthropic work, Nautiyal also actively contributes towards social upliftment of the marginalised classes and works towards women’s empowerment. He is also a part of the creative team of Dreamzz Images.

    Miiheer Shah has joined as a chief strategy officer. He has deep knowledge of competitive environments, resulting in tailored solutions which support strong, collaborative partnerships. He started his career as one of the youngest motivational leaders of the world at the age of 16. Since 2003, he has transformed more than 2,00,000 lives globally. Creator of the famous Prime Performance Training™️. & Param Meditation techniques, he has acted in famous Gujarati play, Ek Aham Ni Rani & produced the critically acclaimed Marathi Movie, Krutant under his production house Rain Rose Films in 2019. As an entrepreneur, he successfully founded – Goal Cafe, 361 Degree India & Rain Rose Hotels & Restros Pvt Ltd. Shah also has formed an NGO – School Of Ur Life ( SOUL ) working towards life skill training and counseling support for all ages.

    Peter Fernandes has joined as a Chief Marketing Officer. He began his professional journey with Indian Express. Known as a tough negotiator, he worked in various organisations including stints with Hindustan Times Media Limited and then with Radio City 91.1 FM where he was instrumental in launching 13 new broadcast stations across India being in the Purchase Department as Senior Manager Commercial – Project Head. He also spent a decade in all at Zee Entertainment Enterprise Limited followed by a stint at Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd as the Vice President of the Commercial Department. He was a consultant for Outdoor Advertising Professionals and joined Red Eye Technologies as COO and worked successfully in the expansion of the organisation. In his 26 years of professional journey, Peter has developed executable go-to-market strategies, profitable cost effective models and built and led teams that drove high revenue growth.

    Dominic Savio D’souza has joined the team of EORtV as its general counsel. He is a legal professional who has been part of the Indian Media & Entertainment Industry for over two decades. In addition to completing his studies in Law, he has a Masters Degree in Mass Communication and Journalism. He has been appointed as vice chair at the Indian National Association of Legal Professionals.
    D'souza has been closely associated with several national and international production houses, major media conglomerates, having various business interests in print, broadcasting, internet and broadband, new media and OTT platforms, broadcast channels (news, general entertainment and sports) and print and newspaper publications too. His involvement includes litigation and non-litigation related matters pertaining to M&E and IP and also to Property, Labour and Corporate matters. D'souza advises the Indian governmental bodies and industry trade bodies in the media, IP, the broadcasting and telecom regulatory sectors and shares his knowledge pro-bono, both via educational institutions as well as professionally and has been part of various National and APAC IPR summits and conferences. 

    Welcoming all the professionals to the team , EORtV executive directors, Dr Kaushik Izardar and Deepak Pandey jointly shared a statement saying, "We are delighted to have Bharat Bhushan Nautiyal and Miiheer Shah join our team to offer their expertise across varied fields to help establish EORtV as one of the leading players in its genre. Both have global management talent with a proven track record of driving significant growth and creating strategic value in companies. The addition of new members is a great way to continue furthering our objective of creating a world where individuals of all abilities are fully accepted, respected and included."

    "Peter and Dominic have been outstanding long-term partners and have created tremendous value for the firms they've worked with. We've been extremely fortunate to have experienced first-hand their ability to help companies scale their businesses while creating unique assets that have real intrinsic value. We are excited to partner with then and to leverage our expertise and network of relationships to drive growth," they added.