Category: Over The Top Services

ADIA to invest Rs 5683.5 cr in Jio Platforms

MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Ltd and Jio Platforms Ltd announced an investment of Rs 5,683.50 crore by a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (“ADIA”). This investment values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore. ADIA’s investment will translate into a 1.16 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised Rs 97,885.65 crore from leading global investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala and ADIA in less than seven weeks.

Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries, is a next-generation technology platform focused on providing high-quality and affordable digital services across India, with more than 388 million subscribers. Jio Platforms has made significant investments across its digital ecosystem, powered by leading technologies spanning broadband connectivity, smart devices, cloud and edge computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, augmented and mixed reality and blockchain. Jio’s vision is to enable a Digital India for 1.3 billion people and businesses across the country, including small merchants, micro-businesses and farmers so that all of them can enjoy the fruits of inclusive growth.

Established in 1976, ADIA is a globally-diversified investment institution that prudently invests funds on behalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi through a strategy focused on long-term value creation. ADIA manages a global investment portfolio that is diversified across more than two dozen asset classes and sub-categories.

Reliance Industries chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani said, “I am delighted that ADIA, with its track record of more than four decades of successful long-term value investing across the world, is partnering with Jio Platforms in its mission to take India to digital leadership and generate inclusive growth opportunities. This investment is a strong endorsement of our strategy and India’s potential.”

ADIA executive director of the private equities department Hamad Shahwan Aldhaheri said: “Jio Platforms is at the forefront of India’s digital revolution, poised to benefit from major socio-economic developments and the transformative effects of technology on the way people live and work. The rapid growth of the business, which has established itself as a market leader in just four years, has been built on a strong track record of strategic execution. Our investment in Jio is a further demonstration of ADIA’s ability to draw on deep regional and sector expertise to invest globally in market leading companies and alongside proven partners.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals.

Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Reliance Industries and AZB & Partners, and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsel.

June 8, 2020
Silver Lake and co-investors to invest additional Rs 4,546.80 crore in Jio Platforms

Mumbai: Reliance Industries Limited and Jio Platforms Ltd has announced that Silver Lake and its co-investors will invest an additional Rs 4,546.80 crore in Jio Platforms, in addition to the Rs 5,655.75 crore of investment by Silver Lake announced on May 4, 2020. This brings the aggregate investment by Silver Lake and its co-investors to Rs 10,202.55 crore. Silver Lake’s investment values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore, and will translate into a 2.08 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised Rs 92,202.15 crore from leading technology investors in less than six weeks.

Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries, is a next-generation technology platform focused on providing high-quality and affordable digital services across India, with more than 388 million subscribers. Jio Platforms has made significant investments across its digital ecosystem, powered by leading technologies spanning broadband connectivity, smart devices, cloud and edge computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, augmented and mixed reality and blockchain. Jio’s vision is to enable a Digital India for 1.3 billion people and businesses across the country, including small merchants, micro-businesses and farmers so that all of them can enjoy the fruits of inclusive growth.

With approximately $40 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a singular focus on the world’s great tech and tech-enabled opportunities, Silver Lake is the global leader in large-scale technology investing. Its mission is to build and grow great companies by partnering with world-class management teams. Its investments have included Airbnb, Alibaba, Alphabet’s Verily and Waymo units, Dell Technologies, Twitter and numerous other global technology leaders.

Reliance Industries Ltd chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said, “Silver Lake and its co-investors are valued partners as we continue to grow and transform the Indian digital ecosystem for the benefit of all Indians. We are pleased to have their confidence and support, as well as the benefit of their leadership in global technology investing and their valued network of relationships, as we drive the Indian digital society’s transformation. I would like to emphasise that Silver Lake’s additional investment in Jio Platforms, within a span of five weeks during the Covid2019 pandemic, is a strong endorsement of the intrinsic resilience of the Indian economy, which will surely grow bigger with comprehensive digital enablement.”

Silver Lake co-CEO and managing partner Egon Durban said, “We are excited to increase our exposure and bring more of our co-investors into this opportunity, further supporting Jio Platforms in its mission to bring the power of high-quality and affordable digital services to a mass consumer and small businesses population. The investment momentum behind Jio validates a compelling business model and underscores our admiration for Mukesh Ambani, his team and their courageous vision in creating and building one of the world’s most remarkable technology companies.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals.

Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Reliance Industries and AZB & Partners and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsels. Latham & Watkins LLP, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal counsel to Silver Lake.

June 6, 2020
Why Indian OTT services should adapt to survive after pandemic

Despite huge spikes in streaming service viewership during Covid209 lockdown, OTT streaming services in India need to remain vigilant in these uncertain times, especially with the global recession reaching its worst. The stakes are especially high for independent players who have heightened pressures to meet their metrics, or else face the same fate as OTT platforms like Viu and HOOQ.

According to Evergent VP and GM Paolo Cuttorelli, streaming services need to entice consumers to keep their memberships for the months ahead with new bundles, services, and special retention offers to keep users on their platform. a global provider of revenue and customer management for telcos, streaming providers, and digital entertainment companies. In an interview with Indiantelevision.com, he provides some insights on the pitfalls streaming services in India have to avoid at this time.

Excerpts:

What are some pitfalls streaming services in India have to avoid during this time?

Currently, streaming services around the world, India included, are capitalizing on an increase in subscribers during country lockdowns. Having said that, Covid2019 will pass, meaning viewership and subscriber numbers may fall as individuals are allowed to socialize and resume their everyday activities. Streaming services need to entice consumers to keep their memberships for the months ahead and can do so by having the agility to respond accordingly with new bundles, services, and special retention offers to keep users on their platform. With respect to India in particular, overall video viewing behaviour continues to increase in both the traditional Pay TV or OTT segments. We expect this trend to continue beyond COVID for the foreseeable future.

How can streaming services stand out from the crowded space of OTT?

To stand out, OTT players need to leverage innovation and digitalization. The legacy mindset must be replaced with a new approach focused on delivering value to customers. Digital (and even traditional) players need to utilize integrated revenue and customer management platforms to help reduce time to market for products and services. This also helps them simplify the complex monetization models and back-office processes so that they run more efficiently.

OTT businesses must also genuinely engage with consumers to help them manage and subscribe to new services without being invasive. The ability to listen to their audience and quickly pivot both systems and people will help keep Indian video streaming businesses on course for continued success. Combining these improvements together will result in dramatically improved customer experiences. Enabling customers to digitally manage all aspects of their connected services provides superior customer experience and sets the stage for personalized offers that are much more likely to succeed.

How can OTT streaming services navigate the landscape in India post-pandemic?

As mentioned above, businesses must understand the need to convince customers to continue with their services post-COVID or risk getting left behind. An unwillingness to innovate, listen to their customers, and adapt, coupled with a refusal to evolve with the market will have devastating effects on any business — it is crucial that streaming services keep this top of mind post-pandemic. Streaming services must respond accordingly to the needs of their customers with new bundles, services, special retention and win-back offers.

For streaming services in India to be successful, it's absolutely critical to have a deep understanding of payment, product and content preferences specific to each market. It’s also important for OTT providers in India to look beyond their borders and understand how they can best service their international audiences who may be more inclined to pay for access to OTT services that give them a taste of home. Getting the mix of offers, promotion and payment types right by region is critical to the success of any OTT platform with global aspirations. In addition, it is essential to adopt a continuous learning mindset and avoid the temptation of replicating models that work elsewhere — all markets are completely different and streaming services need to acknowledge this from the get-go.

June 6, 2020
Disney+ Hotstar forges partnerships with health and fitness leaders Brilliant Wellness, Cult.Fit and Sarva

MUMBAI: Disney+ Hotstar is now offering global health and wellness content to its subscribers. With the aim to strengthen the health and fitness category, Disney+ Hotstar has entered into a strategic alliance with Brilliant Wellness to introduce value-added content from top fitness experts, yoga and spiritual gurus, along with celebrity nutritionists spread across more than 100 fitness programs. Additionally, Indian start-ups and game-changers Sarva and Cult.Fit, known for their state-of-the-art workout models, have also come on board with Disney+ Hotstar to instil a healthy lifestyle and fitness regime among audiences bound by social distancing and lockdown restrictions.

According to industry studies of the Indian fitness market in December 2019, India spent $350-400 towards fitness services, which amounted to a market size worth $2.6 billion. As per estimations by Brilliant Wellness, there are about 200 million people in India seeking fitness services and this market is growing at a CAGR of ten per cent. There has been a significant shift in outlook when it comes to health due to the Covid2019 pandemic. People are now more inclined towards virtual workouts and are on a constant lookout for interactive sessions.

With the endeavour to increase access and enhance the consumer experience with regards to high-intensity interval training, yoga, gym workouts, and other forms of cardio exercises, Disney+ Hotstar, along with Brilliant Wellness, Cult.Fit and Sarva, has introduced a wide variety of content to choose from the all-new health and fitness library. Disney+ Hotstar will bring 3,000 pieces of content in English, Hindi and Telugu on the platform. The category and offerings are aimed at helping viewers monitor and maintain their wellness quotient while quarantining at home, and even after, as and when they resume their normal lives.

On partnering with leaders in the health and wellness domain, Disney+ Hotstar spokesperson said, “The alliance with these three industry leaders in health and fitness has provided the necessary impetus to our mission to connect with our audience in ways that help them lead happier lives. Health and fitness has become extremely important in our stressful lives, and never more so than today. With free access to video offerings tailor-made to suit the staying-at-home population, workout regimes that can be done through the day and fitness mantras to suit the current times, we want to help people to be healthy. To make this relevant across India, our content will be available in English, Hindi as well as Telugu. Going forward, we will also provide content in Kannada.”

Celebrity Malaika Arora said, "Now more than ever, people are excited about trying new modes of working out because they have realised that this is the new normal. Sarva's app is a huge step in this direction and our association with Disney+ Hotstar is to fuel this fire. We hope it'll help us reach a wider set of audience and open them up to consuming daily content on an everyday platform. We're excited to see how it'll perform and the reaction to it.”

Speaking about the strategic alliance with Disney+ Hotstar, Brilliant Wellness found and director Adarsh Gupta said, “The current pandemic has really brought fitness and immunity building to the top of the agenda. Our current estimate is that India has an addressable market of over 200 million people, who are at various levels in their journey to fitness. Over the last five years we have worked tirelessly to create the most definitive library of do-it-along home-based workout content with India’s leading experts that addresses every conceivable need of people in the space of yoga/fitness/celebrity fitness/nutrition and gym workouts. We are happy to announce a strategic tie up with Disney+ Hotstar to power this category with the intention of making a positive difference in the lives of their subscribers.”

Cult.fit growth and business head Naresh Krishnaswamy said, “With the Covid-19 induced lockdown, we have seen a surge in the number of users on our platform. Since we also conduct online live fitness sessions, we have witnessed a 3x increase in the amount of time its users spend on cult.live. At a time when there is such a demand for health and fitness, the partnership with Disney+ Hotstar will prove to be strategically viable for both businesses. Together our objective is to expand the reach and help users avail the best content we have to offer from the comfort of their homes.”

Elaborating on the collaboration, Sarva founder Sarvesh Shashi said, "The past two months have only shown us the opportunity for health and fitness as an industry and this association with Disney+ Hotstar is a huge step towards tapping that opportunity. Yoga as a category and Yoga for immunity specifically has seen a huge surge in the last two months, given the increased importance in building immunity amid the global pandemic. We're excited to see where this association is headed and how many new doors it opens for us.”

June 5, 2020
OnePlus TV launches dedicated Amazon Prime Video section on Oxygen Play

MUMBAI: OnePlus, the global technology brand, announced their latest update for OnePlus TVs, with the launch of a new dedicated Amazon Prime Video section on the Oxygen Play platform.

The launch of this new, deeply integrated feature on OnePlus TV’s Oxygen Play further enhances the overall seamless user experience provided by OnePlus TVs, on both OnePlus TV 55 Q1 and OnePlus TV 55 Q1 Pro. With this exciting feature, new and existing OnePlus TV users will now be able to directly view popular movies and series exclusively from Amazon Prime Video Library through an integrated channel on Oxygen Play. As an added benefit, OnePlus users can easily access a variety of carefully curated content from Prime Video’s extensive library without having to scroll through at length.

OnePlus’ Oxygen Play serves as the content discovery platform of OnePlus TV where users can access a plethora of content from several partners.

The Prime Video catalogue features thousands of TV shows and movies from Hollywood and Bollywood, and Indian-produced popular Amazon Original series like Four More Shots Please!, Paatal lok, The Family Man, Mirzapur, among many others. Prime Video includes titles available in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi and Bengali, thereby providing a diverse range of content to OnePlus TV users.

June 5, 2020
Eros International enters into a strategic collaboration with Epic Games

MUMBAI: Eros International has entered into a strategic collaboration with EpicGames related to Eros’s use of Epic’s Unreal Engine across the production slate, paving the way for real-time technology throughout Indian entertainment. Epic Games are also creators of one of the biggest games in the world ‘Fortnite’.

The use of Unreal Engine will help in accelerating production efficiencies using real-timerendering technology, eliminating physical production restrictions on set during shoot andpostproduction. The collaboration will assist Eros in pushing the envelope of high-quality pre-visualization, virtual production, and in-camera visual effects that take the post out of production. Additionally, the strategic human resource investment into the collaboration will result in support for the growth and development of Eros's talent pool.

Traditionally used in games, Unreal Engine is ushering in a new era of storytelling across media, becoming integral in the production of episodic animation, live-action blockbusters, and short- form content, and more. The advanced real-time rendering capability of Unreal Engine provides filmmakers with the power to optimize their production pipelines, receive immediate feedback on their work, and make changes to visual assets.

Commenting on the alliance, Eros Group chief content officer Ridhima Lulla said, “We are extremely excited to collaborate with Epic games to further popularize real-time production to India through Unreal Engine. Eros is innovative by nature, and with Unreal Engine, we can bring in better cost efficiency for all our film and television projects across the globe.”

“As key figures in Bollywood production, we are excited to support Eros as they help to spearhead virtual production in India,” said Quentin Staes-Pole, GM SEA/India at Epic Games. “Real-time technology presents a huge opportunity to transform storytelling and the art of filmmaking for creators around the world, enabling new creative horizons and lifting quality, while reducing costs and time to market.”

Eros recently received an Epic MegaGrant, which will be utilized to fund an array of projects currently under development, broadening efforts to take Indian stories worldwide.

June 5, 2020
What motivates sports fans to access illegal streams, Synamedia’s first global research finds

MUMBAI: Independent video software provider Synamedia today unveiled the first in a series of trailblazing reports designed to broaden understanding of global sports piracy in order to protect the value of sports rights.

The charting global sports piracy report draws on results from a 10-country study of over 6,000 sports fans conducted by Ampere Analysis. It finds that while 89 per cent of sports fans have a pay-TV or subscription OTT service, over half (51 per cent) still watch pirate sports services at least once a month. Furthermore, of those who regularly view illegal sports content, 42 per cent watch sports fixtures on a daily basis. This is over 60 per cent higher than the average sports fan. This suggests there is a considerable opportunity for operators to drive incremental revenues with targeted sports offerings.

Notably, the report segments sports fans for the first time based on their attitudes to, and consumption of, pirate sports content. For operators and rights holders, understanding these nuances provides a springboard from which to reduce the appeal of illegal content and encourage greater uptake of legitimate services. A detailed assessment of different approaches to combating sports piracy will be covered in subsequent reports.

Synamedia has identified three main groups of sports fans (segmented into five distinct clusters in the report):

Loyal Stalwarts (26 per cent of respondents): Found disproportionately in soccer-mad nations, these armchair fans are big viewers of pay-TV sport. Almost all believe it’s wrong to watch pirate sports content yet more than a third (35 per cent) still do it at least weekly. As diehard fans, they would be prepared to top up their sports subscriptions if they could legitimately access all the content they want to watch on any device – both at home and on the move.

Fickle Superfans (31 per cent): Living mainly in developing markets, these multi-screen fans have a huge appetite for a wide range of national and international sports and all consume pirate sports content, with 89 per cent doing so at least weekly. They might pay more for legitimate sports services if they could access more flexible packages, a broader range of sports, or multiscreen services with frictionless onboarding and flexible terms.

Casual spectators (43 per cent): These consumers don’t follow league sports but love watching major sporting events such as the Olympic Games, the Superbowl and tennis grand slams. The least likely group to pay for a legitimate sports TV subscription, almost a fifth (17 per cent) say they watch illegal content at least weekly, despite their lower levels of interest relative to the other segments. They are likely to be lured away from pirate streams by "light" access to tournaments, flexible payment models, and pay-to-play access to big events.

Analysis of the attitudes and behaviour of viewers within each cluster holds the key to a renewed anti-piracy drive. One important element in the fight-back is the adoption of flexible solutions and services – such as those from Synamedia – that offer the freedom to target specific clusters of fans with an appealing mix of access and payment models, as well as disrupting pirates’ ecosystems.

Simon Brydon, senior director, sports rights, anti-piracy at Synamedia, said, “Global spend on TV sports rights is set to total almost $50bn in 2020. Protecting these revenues and keeping sports on screens requires a deeper understanding of the evolving piracy landscape and a cogent response. This initial research into what motivates sports fans to access illegal streams establishes a baseline for a more nuanced and targeted approach to combating piracy. Our ambition is to help sports rights holders and operators apply a more forensic approach that drives up legitimate revenues, reduces sports’ fans reliance on illegal streams and takes the wind out of the pirates’ sails.”

June 5, 2020
Mubadala to invest Rs 9,093.60 crore in Jio Platforms

Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd and digital services platform Jio Platforms announced today that Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala), will invest Rs 9,093.60 crore in Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore.

Mubadala’s investment will translate into a 1.85 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis.

With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised Rs 87,655.35 crore from leading global technology and growth investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR and Mubadala in less than six weeks.

Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries, is a next-generation technology platform focused on providing high-quality and affordable digital services across India, with more than 388 million subscribers. Jio Platforms has made significant investments across its digital ecosystem, powered by leading technologies spanning broadband connectivity, smart devices, cloud and edge computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, augmented and mixed reality and blockchain.

Jio’s vision is to enable a digital India for 1.3 billion people and businesses across the country, including small merchants, micro-businesses and farmers so that all of them can enjoy the fruits of inclusive growth.

Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said: “I am delighted that Mubadala, one of the most astute and transformational global growth investors, has decided to partner us in our journey to propel India’s digital growth towards becoming a leading digital nation in the world. Through my longstanding ties with Abu Dhabi, I have personally seen the impact of Mubadala’s work in diversifying and globally connecting the UAE’s knowledge-based economy. We look forward to benefitting from Mubadala’s experience and insights from supporting growth journeys across the world.”

Mubadala Investment Company managing director and group CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak said: "We are committed to investing in, and actively working with, high-growth companies which are pioneering technologies to address critical challenges and unlock new opportunities. We have seen how Jio has already transformed communications and connectivity in India, and as an investor and partner, we are committed to supporting India's digital growth journey. With Jio’s network of investors and partners, we believe that the platform company will further the development of the digital economy."

Mubadala invests and partners to advance Abu Dhabi’s diversified, globally integrated economy across sectors that are driving global growth and addressing critical challenges. A significant aspect of this mandate is transformative information and communications technology investments which include cognitive computing, ICT infrastructure, telecoms, and satellite operations.

To further its commitment to innovation and technology, Mubadala established its Ventures arm in 2017 to partner early with visionary founders and support innovative businesses. Mubadala’s Ventures business currently manages several venture funds in the US, Europe and Middle East.

Today, Mubadala’s portfolio spans advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, metals & mining, pharmaceutical and medical technology, renewable energy and utilities, and the management of diverse financial holdings.

The transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals.

Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Reliance Industries and AZB & Partners, and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsel.

June 5, 2020
Amazon in talks with Airtel to acquire stake

MUMBAI: The Indian telecom industry may become a hotbed of deep-pocket foreign investors as Amazon is reportedly in early-stage talks to buy a stake worth at least $2 billion in Bharti Airtel.

According to a Reuters' report, if talks go well, Amazon will be acquiring a roughly five per cent stake based on the current market value of Airtel. Recently, Facebook invested Rs 43,574 crore in Jio Platforms. In addition to that, Google is also considering to buy a five per cent stake in Indian telecommunications provider Vodafone Idea.

According to the report, the talks between Bharti and Amazon are at an early stage and the deal terms could change. There are even chances that the talks will not come to fruition.

"We routinely work with all digital and OTT players and have deep engagement with them to bring their products, content and services for our wide customer base. Beyond that there is no other activity to report," Airtel said in a statement.

June 4, 2020
Story of product, digital marketing and tech to ensure customer retention: Voot’s Akash Banerji

MUMBAI: This is not only the time to focus on what the business is gaining but also giving the best experience to existing consumers, Viacom18 AVoD business head Akash Banerji believes. While he notes that there has been an obvious upsurge in engagement, Banerji highlights that consumers are watching a variety of shows and sampling a wider roster of content.

“Ealier, consumers would only come to watch certain content. But now they are much more open to watching different stuff and experiment. And then they're also trying to sample what works for them and what doesn't. So their propensity to try out new content also seems to have increased,” Banerji says in an interaction with Indiantelevision.com.

It has been more than two months since the country has started grappling with this pandemic. People had taken refuge in the leading over-the-top players including Voot to beat the monotony and blues of the lockdown. In such a crisis, Banerji believes innovation becomes an inherent part of every business’s DNA. One of the big steps that Voot has taken is doing collaborations and partnerships with content platforms at scale. He mentions that their partnerships with UpGrad, Cultfit, Sadhguru are aimed at giving knowledge, tips around health and helping them stay focused. Moreover, it has partnered with nearly about 15 linear live channels also.

Banerji also talks about Voot’s new show amid lockdown Go Fun Yourself hosted by Kusha Kapila. “Our idea was to bring a content piece to life, where engagement with the consumer has to be at the centre and driving the entire content creation path. It's a great win-win for both the platform and viewers. We get a lot of content and they find a voice and a platform to showcase their talents and abilities,” he adds.

Other than user-generated content, two types of genres have worked very well during this period for the platform: mythology and romance. Moreover, a rich roster of news has also seen good uptick.

While many of the players and experts in the OTT ecosystem are speaking about growth of connected devices during this period, Banerji says the growth already started happening at scale even before Covid2019 happened. He says, citing industry sources, that about the end of last year itself there were about 15-16 million users. He adds that it won’t be surprising if that number doubles in July-August.

“Right now, while the individual consumption on mobile has increased significantly, this is also a time when all the families and individual members in the family are coming together and watching content. The interesting thing is now these consumers prefer to watch content that they wish to do. But on a device, joint watching and group consumption can also happen. Now, connected TV absolutely sits right in the middle. It offers the flexibility of video on demand. And yet, it offers the flexibility to watch content on a bigger device and with everyone together. So the growth was already there. It has only got accelerated,” he adds.

While there has been a sudden spike in traffic on all OTT platforms creating more pressure on back-end, he mentions that most of the OTT platforms don’t only plan a capacity on the basis of average consumption but for peak levels which is always 20-30 per cent more than what the platform will be seeing naturally at any given point in time. While many OTT platforms have seen a substantial increase, he says that the backend, the tech part has always been geared to have managed to service the demand in a very, very seamless fashion. “If they have not planned for it, I think now would also be the time for a lot of the platforms to go back to the drawing board and plan it out,” he mentions.

For the tech team, another challenge is spike in users.

“I think what the product and the tech team need to see is how different will the journey of a new consumer be from that of an existing company. What is the content that you're going to dish out to a new consumer versus an existing consumer? How will the new person discover his or her target content, what is the kind of ad load you would provide or do you want to give them an ad experience for the first few times? How do you ensure that the retention levels of the new consumer are sustainable?” he asks.

“So it's a story of the product, digital marketing and tech to ensure how and what the behaviour of a new consumer is. You should have the necessary tools to know who the new consumers are and try the maximum retention possible,” he concludes.

June 4, 2020