ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Disney+ and Apple TV+ see success during first six months

    Disney+ and Apple TV+ see success during first six months

    MUMBAI: New OTT services Apple TV+ and Disney+ have captured significant market share in the streaming video space, rounding out the top five behind the "Big 3" Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu, according to a recent consumer survey research by Parks Associates.

    The research firm's Market Snapshot: Disney+ and Apple TV+ highlights the impact of the entry of Disney+ and Apple TV+ in the OTT market, including insights into the factors driving their growth.

    Disney+ has skyrocketed to 25 per cent adoption among US broadband households after just six months in the market. Apple TV+, which launched around the same time, has reached nearly 10 per cent adoption. Disney+ and Apple TV+ are fourth and fifth, respectively, among SVOD services adopted by consumers.

    Data presented in this market snapshot were drawn primarily from an online survey of more than 10,000 consumers fielded between 8 March and 3 April to heads of broadband households, after the Covid2019 crisis had begun in the United States.

    Additional data from the market snapshot:

    Nearly three in ten broadband households report their use of online video services has increased because of the Covid2019 outbreak.

    81 per cent of Disney+ subscribers subscribe to Netflix, as do 72 per cent of Apple TV+ subscribers.

    Nearly one-half of Disney+ subscribers cancelled another OTT service over the last 12 months, as did roughly two-thirds of Apple TV+ subscribers.

    "Disney took a broad-based content approach to its Disney+ service, including its Pixar, Stars Wars, Marvel, Nat Geo, and 20th Century Fox properties to make it broadly appealing, far beyond its traditional audience of families with young children," said Parks Associates research director Steve Nason. "Very few Disney+ subscribers subscribe only to this service, so households are not picking up Disney in place of another service but adding to their home's other OTT services. We will see, as household budgets tighten up, if Disney+ has done enough to become an 'essential service' for its subscribers."

    Disney+ also benefited from promotions such as the introduction of the Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle and its partnership with Verizon where unlimited mobile subscribers and new internet subscribers get a free year of the service.

    "Apple TV+ promoted a small stable of original programming and is now looking to supplement that with more third-party content," Nason said. "Apple TV+'s growth is due largely to a free year of service for those who recently purchased an Apple device, which brings the firm's brand loyalists into the service. Apple TV+ does have a higher percentage of exclusive non-Netflix subscribers, plus a higher number of households that recently cancelled another OTT service, so it appears Apple does have a core group of dedicated subscribers. Apple's challenge is to expand beyond that group."

    Parks Associates is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. The company's expertise includes digital media and platforms, entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television services, etc. 

  • GoQuest Media acquires MX Player originals for worldwide distribution

    GoQuest Media acquires MX Player originals for worldwide distribution

    MUMBAI: Independent content distributor GoQuest Media has closed a deal with MX Player. As per the deal, GoQuest Media will acquire the worldwide distribution rights for two of its top-rated epic drama originals: Queen and Ek Thi Begum (The Mafia Queen).  Inspired by true events, the gripping web series unfolds the stories of two powerful women who in their own unique ways defined an era in Indian history.

    Directed by national award winner Gautham Vasudev Menon and Prasath Murugesan, Queen brings to life the story of Shakthi Seshadri – a reluctant actress, a reluctant politician and a non-conformist until the very end.  She was destiny’s chosen child who rose from the ashes like a phoenix to rule the state of Tamil Nadu as its youngest female chief minister. Headlined by Ramya Krishnan who portrays the role of Shakthi, the series also stars Anikha Surendran, Anjana Jayaprakash and Indrajith Sukumaran in key roles.  The show premiered in December 2019 and garnered an IMDB rating of 8.3 as well as exceptional reviews.

    Directed by Sachin Darekar, Ek Thi Begum (The Mafia Queen) stars Anuja Sathe as Ashraf.  Life as she knew it changed when the city’s biggest don Maqsood turned out to be responsible for the death of her husband Zaheer.  Inspired by true events, this is the story of begum Ashraf aka Sapna who turned femme fatale, pursuing the most dangerous underworld gangsters of Bombay to avenge her husband’s murder.  Set in the Bombay of the 1980s when organized crime was at its peak, this crime thriller is a refreshing take, where a female protagonist is portrayed taking on an overwhelmingly male dominated world of mafias and underworld to become the ‘Mafia Queen’ of her time.

    MX Player head, content acquisition & syndication Mansi Shrivastav said, "We believe in producing and acquiring narratives that make for universal storytelling.  Our vision of ‘everytainment’ or entertainment for every mood, reason and season is now going out for global distribution and we are delighted to have 2 of our MX Original Series’ – Queen and Ek Thi Begum make their international debut via the distribution deal with GoQuest Media."

    GoQuest Media co-founder Vivek Lath commented, “There’s a thirst for more premium Indian content and MX player has produced two epic drama originals which are certain to inspire and engage global audiences beyond the reach of traditional Bollywood.  We aim to offer the very best content from around the globe and from India.  Queen and Ek Thi Begum (The Mafia Queen) are both in their unique way uplifting and inspirational stories to watch.”

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  • ZEE5 India unveils its new brand campaign

    ZEE5 India unveils its new brand campaign

    MUMBAI: ZEE5 has amassed a loyal following due to its unique premium content library on offer across genres and languages catering to diverse consumer taste clusters. With a mix of Originals, shows, music and movies in 12 languages, the platform has a bespoke catalogue of premium content for the audiences across the country.

    Recognizing this very diverse, new-age audience’s choices and expressive attitude, ZEE5 has launched its new campaign for their ZEE5 Premium offering – “Atrangi Dekho. Atrangi Raho”. ‘Atrangi’ celebrates eccentricity of audience choices pertaining to their life decisions and content that they consume and as part of the campaign, ZEE5 acknowledges the persona and content choices that are unique to this new-age audience. ZEE5 through its wide-ranging, premium subscription-based content encourages the viewers to become Atrangi.

    Today, content consumption is a driving factor in shaping up one’s identity and ability to connect to each other, either personally or professionally. The choices an aspiring youth makes to entertain themselves in the current digital era is also driven by the circle of influence, acceptance in peers, friends.

    The campaign attempts to narrate the reality that in an increasingly connected environment, where great ideas flow each minute, all of us have access to a creatively charged world. A world where individuality and quirks are celebrated. And this change in mindset is a result of the vast spectrum of content we have. Gone are the days of the saying ‘you are what you eat’. Today, ‘you are what you watch’. 

    ZEE5 India senior vice president SVOD head Rahul Maroli said, “India lives in their languages and ZEE5, through its bespoke and premium content offering in 12 Indian languages want to cater to all such audiences. Our new SVOD campaign ‘Atrangi Dekho. Atrangi Raho’, celebrates the very eccentric identity that an individual parades by challenging the status quo. As India’s Entertainment Super-app, we want to reimagine content by our unique storytelling approach which reflects the intrinsic fabric of our culture. We are thankful for all the love given to us by the audiences and we aim to enhance their content viewing experience as we move ahead in our journey to entertain India 24×7.”

    What’s Your Problem managing partner and COO Amit Akali explains, “When it comes to content, there’s a certain consumer who’s the pioneer and influencer, the one who always looks for different, cooler, Atrangi content, finds it and then is followed by the others. He/She is Atrangi and one of the ways this Atranginess is expressed is through Atrangi content. Which they find in abundance on ZEE5, be it original shows like Rangbaaz, or cutting-edge movies, Hindi or the best of original regional content. They are the one who others admire and wonder how they are always ahead of the curve. That’s the consumer we wanted to celebrate by saying, “Atrangi dekho, Atrangi raho.” While executing the film it was important that we captured this inherent coolness or Atranginess in every possible way; the cast, the music, the writing, the attitude. That’s where Arun Gopalan and Storytellers did their magic, making every frame look beautiful and celebrating the Atranginess in it. Like every WYP campaign, there’s a full-fledged digital burst planned across platforms. The idea is also to tie up with people connected to the large Zee family, innovatively as influencers, to reach out to the Atrangi in all of us.”

    The content we watch, the characters we identify with, the stories we live through, are great factors in shaping up our identities. And the campaign encourages one to connect with these Atrangi stories on ZEE5 and encourage to be an Atrangi yourself.

    ZEE5 has something to offer to everyone, right from original content, digital movies, shows, news and so on. As a new age platform, ZEE5 understands changing mindsets and trends of the changing landscape of India and the digital transformation. This campaign is a step in further in strengthening the ZEE5’s connects with their audience and giving them a space to happily be as Atrangi as they can.

  • We are in the race to build a niche product, not to increase user numbers: Aditya Pittie

    We are in the race to build a niche product, not to increase user numbers: Aditya Pittie

    “We are not in the race of having x million DAUS or MAUS or active users. We are in the race of building a niche product.” IN10 Media Network managing director Aditya Pittie is pretty much clear about where he wants to position the network’s OTT business in an ever-growing market. Anand Mahindra- and Aditya Pittie-promoted IN10 Media has a bouquet of varied media offerings such as television (Epic TV), OTT platforms (Epic On and Docubay), and production house (Juggernaut).

    During a virtual fireside chat with Indiantelevision Group founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, Pittie asserts that Epic On and Docubay are not driven by number of users. They are rather driven by time spent, organic tractions, etc. Instead of increasing the number of users, the aim is to build a niche product as a vertical player. That is the OTT strategy the company is following. He is also bullish about Juggernaut, which is going to be one of the company’s key businesses going forward. He says that having an asset like Juggernaut will definitely be a big value addition. “We have the probably largest order book in the industry right now with more than 11 shows confirmed for production,” he states.

    Here he dwells at length on the network’s OTT business, strategy, etc.

    Excerpts:

    After the successful entry into the broadcast business, you launched Docubay. Tell us about it.

    Docubay came about because of our love for factual entertainment. We were very interested in documentaries and we believed that as a genre it is the most popular in the world. Prominent OTTs like Amazon have a good library of documentaries. A lot of people across the world enjoy watching them. Then we thought: why don’t we look at a dedicated platform for documentaries. Then we thought of going global, instead of making India-centric. Today, Docubay is a very powerful product; the experience of watching documentaries on Docubay is far superior than any other platform. And we don’t call our subscribers. We call them members, because the idea is to build a community. That’s why it has the tagline of ‘one tribe, many stories.’ The message is that there are many things to explore in this planet, but we are all one tribe. That is the message of Docubay. We just went live on Roku in North America.  And we are one of the very few companies – in the smaller media networks segment – in India that has its own OTT technology in-house. We spent almost a year and a half in building that technology. As an organisation we are really proud of both our OTT products.

    How are Epic On and Docubay faring in terms of pricing and number of subscribers?

    As regards the KPIs and metrics, Epic On and Docubay are not driven by number of users. They are driven by time spent, how many organic tractions, etc. We are not in the race of having x million DAUS or MAUS or active users. We are in the race of building a niche product.  The pricing of Epic On or Docubay is far higher than any of the horizontal or generic OTT. We are very clearly a vertical player. We have very specific offering and then charge a premium for that offering. That is the model we are working on. By no way we try to fret about how many users we have or how faster our user base is growing. We are not hungry just to drive traffic. We wanted quality traffic. Some of the conversion rates that we have in terms of install vs number of people who are subscribing is probably one of the best in the industry. Those are the kind of models we try to work on. Stickiness, higher paying members who are looking for a specific service as opposed to getting everybody to come on the platform and give what they like. That is not our strategy.  

    Since you are not looking at metrics, what is your business game plan to monetise?

    Profitability in the media business is about how much content you want to put out. We have a business plan in place. We believe in a direction we want to take. Going forward, 15 to 20 years from now, when OTTs become mainstream, there will be a big market for vertical OTTs where people will subscribe and pay you a premium for the kind of content you create and curate for them, which is dedicated to the genre they prefer focusing on. So the differentiation is that in horizontal you have all kind of content under one umbrella, whereas vertical is slightly more focused on niche. That is the base model behind our OTT strategy. There are various other vertical OTT players all over the world. They have less number of users, but very viable business model.

    But here you have entered a global space. So are you competing with Curiosity Stream?

    Curiosity Stream has a lot of short-form content and docu-series. Docubay is a feature platform. We only do films. We carry content that has minimum duration of 20-25 minutes. The product offering thus is very different. Theirs is a very knowledge-based, and about science, research, etc. On the other, we give perspective for you to form your own opinion. That is how the documentary genre should be. If you look at the content at Docubay you will realise that they give perspective but let you form your own opinion about the topic. While they are in some degree competition to us, we believe that we are a completely different platform than Curiosity Stream. And we don’t necessarily consider them to be a competition.  

    What is the thinking behind having own production company and forging partnership with Applause?

    I think we need to separate the Applause Entertainment deal from us being in production. While they are connected they are two separate business models. We were able to foresee last year that the demand for content for OTT platforms is going to skyrocket. Unfortunately, good content creators who understand what kind of content works for OTTs are limited in our industry. There are only a handful of players that are able to create good quality content. As an organisation we have created so many hours of content for our broadcasting business. We felt that we could leverage that knowledge and expertise to build successful production business for other platforms. In terms of scale, we felt that the business can be large enough to justify our resources, time, and energy. That’s why we hired Samar Khan to lead our production business for OTT. And Code M was a super-hit (which came on ZEE5 and Balaji).

    And we have the probably largest order book in the industry right now. We have more than 11 shows confirmed for production, with an order book of over Rs 100 crore for the next one year. Juggernaut is going to be one of our key businesses going forward. We are really excited about the ability to create content at scale. Samar and his team have really worked hard to build our good talent of writers and convince OTT platforms that we have the ability to deliver solid products. I am really excited about the Juggernaut business. Having an asset like Juggernaut in our portfolio will definitely be a big value addition.

    You work for local OTTs or big international ones like Amazon, Netflix, etc.?

    I won’t be able to divulge specific contract details because that will be breach of confidentiality with them. We have one or two shows with every Indian platform. We are obviously in conversation with international OTT players. While Samar has a very big pedigree of content creation, Juggernaut as a company is new. So we are building some traction. Our aim is to deliver some hits this year and then start working with OTTs like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO Max, etc. at some point as well.

    What genre is Juggernaut positioned in?

    We have seen the success of Code M and Samar as a content creator has been very good at certain shows, but we don’t want ourselves to be restricted to that. Content creation is a collective effort. Success in content creation happens by bringing the right people together for the right type of project. So we are not focussed on just doing thriller shows, fiction or non-fiction. The idea is to create good content that is in demand by platforms. OTT is such a fast-feedback medium. It is not like television. You come to know the feedback – whether it works or not – the same day of launching the show. And there is so much data. The platforms specifically know what they want, what kind of content works, and in which region. So rather than focusing on a particular genre like thriller or non-fiction, etc., we want to focus on knowing what works with audiences, learning from experiences in creating good content, working closely with the platforms, leveraging our relationships to pre-empt what kind of concepts and stories are going to work down the lane and prepare our content bank to cater to that need. That’s the broad strategy we are looking at. You can see that we are creating shows across genres.  

  • VOOT Studio collaborates with Indian Cancer Society on World No Tobacco Day

    VOOT Studio collaborates with Indian Cancer Society on World No Tobacco Day

    MUMBAI: On this World No Tobacco Day, India’s premium video on demand platform VOOT has partnered with Indian Cancer Society on its World No Tobacco Day 2020. The campaign endeavors to raise awareness about the health hazards of smoking and tobacco usage. Executed by VOOT Studio, the short and high impactful video featuring one of the most popular actors Sunil Grover will urge people to stop smoking.

    The film is a mockumentary and offers a satirical take on the contents required to cook up a cigarette. The film will see Sunil Grover with his usual sass and ease making a cigarette with all the lethal ingredients that one would never consume. The film culminates with a strong behavioral change message of giving up tobacco and cigarettes given its toxicity and long terms effects on health.

    Akash Banerji, head AVOD business, VOOT, said, “At VOOT Studio we are focused on empowering our partners to effectively deliver on their brand and campaign message effectively through engaging, innovative and relevant brand solutions. Partnering with Indian Cancer Society for this imperative behavioral change initiative is even more special and solves for a critical issue plaguing the world.  We are sure that this innovative and sarcastic take on the issue will strike a chord with the audiences and allow the message to be delivered far and wide through the reach of the platform.”

    Indian Cancer Society marketing director Shivani Sanghavi says: “While it is common knowledge that smoking is harmful, it is unusual that people at large are ignorant of the use of such chemicals that go into making a cigarette. Indian Cancer Society through the campaign attempts to create an awakening that results in people quitting smoking. We believe that everyone, including the protagonist will rethink their habits with the compelling facts presented in the video.”

    The script was written by her to spread awareness and educate the masses to make informed choices.

    Tobacco leads to more than seven million deaths every year worldwide and the campaign aims to put an end to the tobacco consumption menace by spreading nationwide awareness around the alarming issue.

  • EPIC ON partners with CloudWalker

    EPIC ON partners with CloudWalker

    MUMBAI: EPIC ON, the premium OTT platform known for its diverse India-centric content by IN10 Media Network, today announced a significant partnership with leading online smart TV brand CloudWalker. This partnership enables EPIC ON to be pre-embedded into CloudWalker smart screens and smart TVs, allowing users quick and easy access to the platform’s exceptional content library.

    EPIC ON hosts a wide array of series focused on the premise of ‘India’s Storytellers’, and will be soon adding a mixed bag of content formats for its new and revamped avatar. Apart from the existing premium library of EPIC ON, Cloudwalker users will have access to live stream the network’s linear broadcast channels: EPIC TV – India Ka Apna Infotainment, ShowBox – Apna Music, Apna Swag and newly launched Filamchi – Filman Ka Laalchi. With this partnership, EPIC ON further strengthens its penetration in the smart TV market with CloudWalker’s 4K LED Smart Screens, thus accelerating its progress towards reaching a new set of viewers.

    Along with CloudWalker Smart TVs, EPIC ON will also be part of Cloud TV OS, a certified AOSP operating system for Android-based smart TVs. EPIC ON is now a built-in app for all Cloud TV OS powered Smart TVs like Daiwa, Shinco, Videotex, Telefunken, Hyundai, Lloyd amongst the others.

    EPIC ON COO Sourjya Mohanty said, “The Indian market has seen a rapid growth in the demand for Smart TVs and eventually the new offering of Smart Screens from CloudWalker. This shift in the consumption pattern enables us to partner and provide our high-quality content across various screens. Our association with the smart technology driven company CloudWalker, is a step forward in providing a seamless viewing experience along with further expanding our reach within Smart TV users.”

    CloudWalker president Jagdish Rajpurohit said, “In this age of digitization, consumers’ TV consumption patterns are rapidly evolving. They are now constantly looking for intelligent entertainment solutions that can allow them to easily stream a wide variety of entertainment content. We are delighted to partner with EPIC ON that offers an incredible collection of entertaining and informative India-centric TV shows, short videos, documentaries, and specials across multiple content genres. Our users will now be able to subscribe to EPIC ON as well as the ShowBox Music channel along with thousands of hours of entertaining digital content available on CloudWalker’s Smart Screens and TVs.  By bringing this vast gamut of uninterrupted immersive content, we are looking forward to an affirmative response from our users.”

    Arjun Bajaaj, director – Videotex International, CEO and founder – Daiwa and Shinco, said, “We at Videotex, want to bring the ultimate end to end experience for our OEM customers as well as our brands Daiwa, Shinco and Telefunken in India. In sync, we are glad to partner with EPIC ON which has very detailed and enriched content across genres especially for the Indian audience – Hindi language TV shows, Sports, Mythology etc. Our partnership shall strengthen the Home entertainment eco-system, with the wide base of OTT content curated for our varied demographics."

    Along with being available on the CloudWalker Smart TVs, EPIC ON smartphone app is also available across iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV and others.

  • Tata Sky launches new, improved offer on Tata Sky Binge+ Android STB

    Tata Sky launches new, improved offer on Tata Sky Binge+ Android STB

    MUMBAI: Tata Sky announced a new and improved offer on India’s next-generation Android set-top box Tata Sky Binge+, aimed at providing customers an upgraded and immersive content-viewing experience.

    Introduced at a subsidised rate of Rs 3,999, the new offer will enable subscribers to watch both linear channels (broadcast via satellite) and OTT content (via internet) from popular apps on their TV screen using a single remote.

    Tata Sky chief commercial & content officer Pallavi Puri said:  “Entertainment consumption is evolving rapidly. As content becomes multi-platform, we are constantly pushing the envelope to expand our expertise so that we can take content to our viewers through whichever touchpoint they are most attuned to. Bringing the strengths of traditional DTH with next-generation features and the world of OTT content together, the fully integrated Tata Sky Binge+ device delivers an enriched viewing experience, with the highest image quality and a consistent end-user experience on their TV screens.”

    Additionally, Tata Sky Binge+ enables viewers to play any show, movie, music, game on their laptop, tablet or mobile phone and watch it directly on their TV with its in-built Chromecast feature. Empowered by first in-class technology, Tata Sky Binge+ also includes Google Assistant that makes discovering content easy, using the voice search feature thereby allowing access to plethora of games and apps available on Google Play store. It is compatible with all types of TVs including 4K, HD LED, LCD, or plasma technology as it supports HDMI output and can also be connected to older TV sets over audio and video cable.

    Priced at Rs 3999/-, Tata Sky Binge+  provides the benefit of six months OTT content that the user can watch on their STBs including 7 days missed shows and access to 3 months Amazon Prime subscription at no additional cost. 

  • Indian OTT platforms dish out special fare for kids

    Indian OTT platforms dish out special fare for kids

    MUMBAI: Streaming services have started taking the central stage of entertainment in Indian living rooms for quite a while now, catalysed more by the Covid2019 crisis. But it’s not possible to lay a strong foundation if the new-age entertainers don’t have anything in store for those loved little ones. While YouTube with numerous kids’ channels has been reigning  supreme over others for quite a while, the game is changing as over-the-top (OTT) platforms pay their attention to kids programming with new strategies. Along with international players, leading home-grown players have also made strides towards building noticeable offerings in the vertical.

    On last children's day, Viacom18’s VOOT, one of the major home-grown services in India, launched a dedicated service VOOT Kids, despite having a good portfolio of kids’ content on the main service. Rather than limiting it to entertainment, the new subscription-based service is a combination of fun and learning. VOOT Kids business head Saugato Bhowmik said the service started showing very good results from December onwards. Followed by customer acquisition, the journey from free trials to paid subscribers also started climbing significantly till February. From the mid-March when children started staying home, VOOT Kids’ daily subscriber additions jumped 6X from the pre-lockdown period.

    “In fact, in the early days of April, the peak we reached was nine times of pre-lockdown period. We were adding nine times and then we stabilized at about six times. So, the user base has expanded dramatically. Secondly, the time spent on the platform has also grown dramatically. So we already started this platform with a very high time spent, 70 minutes per viewer per day in December itself. Now 70 minutes is higher than most other OTT platforms. Today that number stands at 95 minutes, even some days it touched a hundred minutes,” Bhowmik added. The numbers shared by him relate to VOOT’s separate venture in kids’ space.

    Another leading OTT player in the country also revealed a hefty line-up of kids content recently; ZEE5 launched ZEE5 Kids, a dedicated section within the app. “It becomes an integral part of the content offering that we need to have on the platform, so it becomes holistic in nature. We are coming with hyper sports, there are kids content, premium content, direct-digital movies, there are movie premiers, catch-up content, news content. In that sense, there is something for everybody. Kids are an important target group that we needed to address on ZEE5,” said ZEE5 India programming head Aparna Acharekar commented.

    Acharekar mentioned that even before launching the section, the platform had kids content. It saw good viewership coming from limited hours of kids’ content leading to a full-fledged vertical, she said. However, both ZEE5 and VOOT Kids are not limiting the content bouquet to entertainment, but a blend of fun and learning.

    ShemarooMe, one of the newest entrants in the OTT race, is also focusing on the vertical. “At Shemaroo, we have always kept the preferences of audiences at the core of our offerings and our kids’ content is a high point for us with a special emphasis on learning about the rich Indian heritage, culture and values, which distinguishes us. The kids’ content on ShemarooMe is for a wider age group of two to 14 years, with focus on Indian mythology, stories, Indian personalities and early learning too. The kids’ genre has always been under-indexed,” Shemaroo Entertainment Animation, Digital Kids and L&M senior vice president Smita Maroo said.

    “However, the current situation has seen a growth in the overall kids’ genre across all platforms. Kids’ content on OTT platform helps in bringing the entire family together in consuming content which has seen a significant rise. There has been a spike of nearly 100 per cent in the viewership and the consumption has nearly doubled on kids’ movies and edutainment content since lockdown,” she added.

    Although international platforms lack content in local languages, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+Hotstar have a significant amount of programming for the younger audience. Moreover, Disney+ recently making itself available in India has opened up a humongous amount of classics for the children. While Netflix has upped its local content in India, it has rolled very few original kids content in India. But in the limited store, Mighty Little Bheem has emerged as the most-watched preschool series on the service globally, and the second-most-watched kids’ series for the service worldwide. Released on Netflix in April 2019, it has now been watched by 27 million households around the world. The global streaming giant has also announced another animated show Ghee Happy.

    ZEE5’s Acharekar highlighted an important aspect: there is a great opportunity to create content for pre-teen age groups in the Indian market. While there is content like Chota Bheem for the younger age group, there is not much content available for the nine to 14 age group. While acknowledging that international content which has been created for those age groups coming to the country, she noted that there is a limitation of language. 

    “When you want to target nine to 14 years’ age groups, we need to serve content for them in languages they are comfortable with. In that sense, certain pockets of the kids segment are underserved.  There are opportunities to do better in regional languages and catering to Indian sensibility and creating more Indian viewers,” she added.

    VOOT Kids’ Bhowmik said that the space was underserved but now more and more players are coming in. He said that the ecosystem would only build more because kids need different solutions. Amid the rising competition, he is confident that VOOT Kids will always remain differentiated because of its approach to kids and solving their problems. He also added that the service is adding a lot more features in the next 90 days.

    ZEE5, on the other hand, intends to get into user-generated content for kids also. Describing its nature, Acharekar added that it could show auditions, talents that children can come forward and showcase on the platform. She also noted that they are building at the backend a very safe technology for children; so when they launch UGC, parents will find the platform safe to let their children be and brands realize it as a best bet.

    “As a content house, we continuously check the consumption patterns and trends in the kids’ space and plan our content pipeline accordingly while Indianness and Indian culture-inspired content always remain at the core of our hearts. We have a rich slate of films, shows and some very interesting edutainment content in the pipeline,” Shemaroo’s Maroo said.

    Yes, children will not fall out of options despite the exponential increase in screen time. 

  • Fifteen new HBO Max originals coming to Warner Media platforms in Asia

    Fifteen new HBO Max originals coming to Warner Media platforms in Asia

    MUMBAI: With the launch of HBO Max in the United States on May 27, Warner Media has confirmed that a first wave of at least 15 HBO Max Originals will land on HBO GO and channels in Asia in 2020.

    Most shows will be available first on HBO GO, such as The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo and Love Life where three episodes of each have already dropped on May 27. Premiere dates for other titles and those across HBO, Warner TV, Cartoon Network and Boomerang channels are still to be confirmed.

    The programming slate, specially curated to suit the taste of Asian audiences, includes drama series, documentaries, movies and kids shows. The content is sourced from studios and distributors including Lionsgate, Paramount, Warner Bros. and Sesame Workshop.

    Talent includes household names like Ridley Scott, Meryl Streep, Kaley Cuoco, Lena Dunham, Anna Kendrick, Steven Soderbergh, Melissa McCarthy, Ray Romano, James Corden and of course Elmo and the Sesame Street gang.

    The titles include:

    Comedy & drama series

    Love Life

    Anna Kendrick stars in this anthology romantic comedy series about the journey from first love to last love, and how the people we’re with along the way make us into who we are when we finally end up with someone forever.

    Watch the trailer:

    Raised by Wolves

    From the mind of Ridley Scott, Raised by Wolves centres upon two androids tasked with raising human children on a mysterious virgin planet.

    Flight Attendant

    Starring Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory), a flight attendant awakens in a Dubai hotel room to find her one-night-stand dead beside her. Could she have killed him? And, if not, who did?

    Doom Patrol (S2)

    The critically acclaimed DC series features a band of superpowered freaks, part support group, part superhero team, who fight for a world that wants nothing to do with them.

    Made for Love

    A series adaptation based on the tragicomic novel of the same name. Starring Cristin Milioti and Ray Romano, Made for Love is a dark, absurd and cynically poignant story of divorce and revenge.

    Generation

    Executive produced by Lena Dunham and Ben Barnz, Generation is a dark yet playful half-hour following a group of high school students. It tests deeply-entrenched beliefs about life, love and the nature of family in their conservative community.

    KIDS & FAMILY:

    The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo

    Sesame Street’s Elmo is the host of his very own talk show! He’s going to bring you some (not-too-late) fun with an all-new celeb-studded series that celebrates bedtime routines. Guests include Lil Nas X, the Jonas Brothers, Ciara, Blake Lively, Sofia Carson, John Mulaney, Olivia Wilde and John Oliver.

    Watch the trailer:

    Looney Tunes Cartoons

    An all-new series featuring the marquee characters in their classic pairings in simple, gag-driven and visually vibrant stories.

    The Fungies!

    A prehistoric comedy cartoon, The Fungies! explores Fungietown through the whimsical quests of Seth, a young student at Fungietown Elementary.

    Adventure Time: Distant Lands

    These four new specials will continue the Adventure Time stories that captured imaginations and introduced unlikely heroes Finn and Jake, best buds who traversed the mystical Land of Ooo and encountered its colourful inhabitants.

    Sesame Street

    For 50 years, Sesame Street has helped kids grow smarter, stronger, and kinder, offering preschoolers and their families the gold standard in educational children’s programming.

    Sesame Street: The Monster at the End of the Book

    Starring lovable, furry Grover from Sesame Street, The Monster at the End of This Story is a new animated special based on the acclaimed children’s picture book.

    FILMS:

    UNpregnant

    The film tells the story of 17-year-old Veronica, who never thought she’d want to fail a test – that is, until she finds herself staring at a piece of plastic with two solid pink lines. The Greg Berlanti-production offers a mix of humour and grounded human emotion as it tackles complicated friendships and the difficult road to adulthood…all while in a stolen car.

    Let Them All Talk (wt)

    The film is based on a story of a celebrated author who takes a journey with some old friends to have some fun and heal old wounds. Her nephew comes along to wrangle the ladies and finds himself involved with a young literary agent. Stars Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen, Diane Wiest and directed by Steven Soderbergh.

    Superintelligence

    Starring Melissa McCarthy, this film tells the story of Carol Peters, to whom nothing extraordinary ever happens. But the world’s first super-intelligence has selected her for observation, taking over her life…with a more ominous plan to take over everything.

    Love Life trailer:

    The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo trailer:

  • The Script Room completes one year with 41 films over five brands

    The Script Room completes one year with 41 films over five brands

    MUMBAI: – Having successfully created over 40 ad films across youth brands like Netflix, OYO, Chumbak, Beck’s Ice and Groww, a financial services app, The Script Room, a fast-growing writers' hub is celebrating its one-year completion amidst lockdown.

    A company born out of an enthusiastic and engaged eponymous WhatsApp group, once created by one of the founders, Ramsam as a place to share and discuss writing in advertising and movies has now structured itself as a full-fledged company – The Script Room, as a registered trademark, with offices in Mumbai and Bangalore.

    Founded by Rajesh Ramaswamy (Ramsam) whose last job was with Lowe, Bangalore and Ayyappan Raj (Ayyappan), whose last engagement was with Lowe (Unilever Global/Lowe Singapore), The Script Room built itself with a singular focus on writing for audio-visual advertising and content. They strongly believe that great writing is behind every single piece of celebrated content, both branded and unbranded, and the purpose of The Script Room is to celebrate writers and give writing it’s due. 

    The newly formed entity bagged its first project for Netflix India for a campaign around one of its originals – Selection day. Nine films were shot in one night. The ads appeared sequentially on last year IPL matches. The campaign won the fledgling company the Best Digital Creative Award at Star ReImagine awards. Their second campaign with a series of ten ads titled ‘So, what are you watching?’ for Netflix was on air on last World Cup and was an Effie Finalist.

    The Script Room founder Ayyappan Raj said, “We don’t have any typical organisational structure as such. We operate more as a writers hub and we spend a lot of time in jamming on what to write before we actually put pen on paper. Since we are a few and we are focussed, we are super conscious of the task, the consumer, limitations of execution and it reflects in the final output, our work. And about completion of first year, it has been a terrific one, extraordinary in all sense.  Ramsam and I started up The Script Room working out of home, added more and more writers, got offices in Mumbai and Bangalore, finished more than 40 ad films, one 30 minute short film (branded content) and with a slate of campaigns in scripting stage and bam! we are back to working from home again! Overall it’s been a fantastic first year, we don’t know if we’re creating something big or something small but we’re having a real good time doing what we’re doing”.

    Rajesh Ramaswamy said, “We have pulled together some of the best writers in the country, who have been very successful in telling insightful, engaging, crafted-to-perfection audiovisual stories. And we make sure that we write for the brand, for the context, for the budget, for the duration – no artificial colours, no preservatives, no added sugar. 100 per cent pure, handwritten ads that effortlessly do their work. We don’t want to do anything that’s art for art sake and stuff that lies in one corner of the internet. And we have clearly chosen to stay away from other channels of advertising, storytelling is our forte and what better medium than audio-visual to tell your stories?

    About one year, I am personally very excited by the spirit of the place and the collective sort of a model that we’re building. ”.

    Prior to lockdown, The Script Room had just wrapped up a series of films for Chumbak and Beck’s Ice which are in various stages of production and slated to release in the coming months.