ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Applause Entertainment marketing head Ashok Cherian to join TikTok India

    Applause Entertainment marketing head Ashok Cherian to join TikTok India

    MUMBAI: Applause Entertainment marketing and revenue head Ashok A Cherian has moved on to join TikTok India as marketing head. Cherian joined Applause Entertainment back in 2018.

    He has over 20 years of rich and varied experience across print, television, consulting and retail. Prior to Applause, Cherian was the CMO at SMAAASH Entertainment for four years, where he was part of the core team that helped expand the company and its revenues, by rapidly multiplying to 27 units across India and one at the Mall Of America, the largest mall in the USA. He also helped grow the brand swiftly via effective digital marketing and leveraging of brand ambassadors Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.

    Cherian's repertoire of work comprises: a seven-year stint at MTV India, which also included three seasons of marketing, monetizing and “picking” Roadies as a judge/casting-director on the hit show MTV Roadies, followed by the launches of UTV Broadcasting’s Bindass channels (now Disney); award-winning integrated marketing of the first Coke Studio India while at Naked Communications, as well as an insightful domain widening entrepreneurial consulting venture, where he provided strategic and digital solutions for clients ranging from real estate to music bands. 

    After completing engineering from Mumbai University in 1999, he responded to his creativity’s call and started off as a writer with campus magazine JAM.

  • Web series SIN will keep you hooked till the very end!

    Web series SIN will keep you hooked till the very end!

    Addatimes Media Private Limited is screening SIN, a premium Hindi web-series, directed by Arunava Khasnobis, and starring Aryan D. Roy, Sweta Mishra, Lakshya Punjabi, Jaideep Singh, Iqbal Sultan, and Kripal Sengupta among others. The six-episode series, shot across Kolkata and other parts of Bengal, is an investigation drama focusing on the world of carnal fantasies, Drugs, and deep criminal conspiracies. 

    The story is built with a fast pace narrative involving quick plot twists with parallel development of the investigation and building up of a crime. Mysterious death of a young girl in the hills triggers a suspicious investigation that reveals the alleys of a high-profile organized crime in Kolkata, involving Drugs, sex-trafficking and murders. While a reluctant police officer meanders through the maze of missing clues and a troubled past, a young couple gets entangled into a journey to explore their carnal fantasies. The exploration reveals a dark secret leaving both the couple and the police officer disoriented and at the brink of collapse.

    SIN has been shot over six months in close to 30 locations in and around Kolkata. Some of the lead actors had to go through complete overhaul of their normal look to fit to the characters. The Cinematographer, R Ratno, has created a real look for the series, without gaudy unbelievability, although the psychedelic interior of the main protagonist will not go unnoticed.

    SIN is his maiden web series of Director Arubana Khasnobis, and is the fruit of more than eighteen months of research, conceptualization, scripting, character chronicling and making.

    Addatimes is the first Kolkata based international video on demand  (OTT) platform with a wide array of original contents, ranging from Films, Shorts, Web-series, Sporting Events, Musical shows, and Live events. The platform caters to its international and regional audiences, with avid interest in contemporary Indian and traditional Bengali culture, through carefully curated, smart digital entertainment.

  • ZEE5 India bolsters its ad:tech offering with key senior level appointments

    ZEE5 India bolsters its ad:tech offering with key senior level appointments

    MUMBAI: With a vision to augment its growth trajectory in the Ad:Tech space, ZEE5 has further strengthened the team by on boarding three industry veterans led by Anita Nayyar, ex-CEO of Havas Media Group, India & South East Asia, Jayesh Easwaramony, a seasoned entrepreneur and an expert in the tech and media world known for his ability to scale businesses, and Dhruvadeep Roy, who formerly was the head of digital platforms at DAZN.

    These new hires along with the current ZEE5 team will be spearheading and be responsible for paving the next phase of ZEE5’s advertising business growth.

    An industry veteran, Anita Nayyar, in her new role as head of customer strategy and relationships, will help build the agency-partner eco-system for ZEE5 India business. In her expansive career spanning of over 20 years, Anita has been instrumental in driving strategic business development, client relations and creative narratives for brands across her stints at varied Indian and Global firms. An alumnus of IGNOU in Masters in Management, she has been responsible for driving growth at Havas Media Group as the CEO India & South East Asia. She has been acclaimed and received accolades on various platforms over the years for her leadership and achievements.

    While Jayesh Easwaramony joins ZEE5 as a consultant for Ad:Tech to drive all advertising, user data and audience-related initiatives, right from strategy to implementation with vendors and product teams. He has been an integral part of the team that has been instrumental in building the Ad:Tech capabilities of ZEE5 India. Prior to this, Jayesh was responsible to drive the APAC business of Softbank-invested advertising firm InMobi for several years and helped scale their business manifold, from setting up the Asia team to creating deep partnerships with advertisers. He brings with him vast expertise in digital advertising and data monetization. With over 20 years of experience in TMT, he has worked both as a consultant and executor in companies such as Frost and Sullivan, Tata Sky, Star India and Tata Group.

    The third leader, Dhruvadeep Roy who joins ZEE5 India product team as director product – AdTech, will be responsible for leading all the product initiatives within AdTech and help ZEE5 move towards building a self-serve platform. He brings with him an array of experience spanning over 16 years and was leading the platforms and product at DAZN sport streaming service across the UK, US, Canada and APAC in his previous avatar. He has also worked with streaming services such as SoundCloud, Xbox in Microsoft and Apple Music. Dhruvadeep holds a BSc in business administration majoring in digital media from the University of Bedfordshire. Originally from Mumbai, he has lived in Kolkata and has been living in the UK since the last 22 years.

    ZEE5 India CEO Tarun Katial said: “I am ecstatic to share that ZEE5 has already taken a step towards flagging-off its next phase of growth by welcoming three acclaimed leaders of the industry to lead the advertising tech business. I welcome Anita, Jayesh and Dhruvadeep to the ZEE5 team and I am confident that their experience will further enable ZEE5 to achieve even greater heights. This current strengthening of our leadership team is line with a clear focus to build a robust digital advertising eco-system like no other.”

    Anita and Jayesh will work closely with the recently hired chief revenue officer Rajeev Dhal to script the next chapter of growth for the platform. The library of knowledge and skills that all of these leaders possess, will give ZEE5 an advantage to truly be India’s Entertainment Super-App!

  • Why 2019 was the worst year for security breaches in this century

    Why 2019 was the worst year for security breaches in this century

    Did you know that 2019 was the worst year for data security? Cases of data breaches were escalating not only in the United States, but across the entire world. In fact by mid-2019 it was clear that it would be a bad year, with the number of data breaches up 54% year-on-year.

    The losses companies face due to each data breach is substantial. According to this report by The Ponemon Institute, the average cost of a data breach stands at about $4 million – and in the case of small and medium businesses, it often puts them out of business.

    But before you can protect yourself from security breaches, you need to understand why they happen in the first place.

    Main Causes of Data Breaches

    More often than not the data breaches in 2019 weren’t because of some highly-skilled hacker pulling off a stunning heist. Instead, while hackers may have been involved in some fashion – the root cause often lay elsewhere.

    On the whole, the main causes of most of the data breaches in 2019 are:

    •  Malware that sneaks onto company computers and creates vulnerabilities that can be exploited.
    •  Human error that includes the use of weak passwords, sharing personal information, or falling for phishing scams – all of which can lead to company accounts being compromised.
    •  Unpatched security vulnerabilities that in some cases could have been fixed via an update.
    •  Insider threats by malicious actors working within the company to transmit data or compromise cybersecurity measures.

    Based on these reasons you may have started to realize that many data breaches could have been avoided – and that much is definitely true. The only question is: How?

    How to Avoid Data Breaches

    After the damage caused by data breaches in 2019, it should come as no surprise that the focus has been on how to prevent a recurrence in the future. And while many cybersecurity measures can be implemented, the one that is definitely at the forefront is employee monitoring software.

    Employee monitoring is a unique solution to help avoid data breaches on multiple fronts. By tracking the activity of employees it is possible to prevent cases of data breaches that are caused by human error and insider threats. On top of that it can also help to prevent malware to a certain degree.

    Case in point: If WorkExaminer was installed and set up, it would be possible to track what employees are doing at any given point in time and what apps they’re using. That is key to stop insider threats, because it will help identify any suspicious activity. The monitoring doesn’t have to be in real time, and WorkExaminer can generate reports to make it more convenient.

    Aside from monitoring activity, WorkExaminer can prevent threats in other ways. It can monitor the communication of suspicious employees via IM chats, email, and keystroke logs. It is also able to capture screenshots directly to show what is going on or act as evidence.

    In the same way WorkExaminer can prevent insider threats, it can also reduce human error to some degree. When employees visit suspect websites or share personal information, the activity can be flagged for further action.

    Similarly malware can be prevented as well by using WorkExaminer to monitor files that are downloaded onto employees’ computers and making sure they are scanned if anything suspicious shows up.

    Final Words

    Make no mistake, the risk of security breaches and data theft are not going anywhere – and if anything it will only increase over the next few years. Because of that you need to make sure that you’re doing everything possible on your end to minimize that risk.

    As you can see, WorkExaminer is a good place to start. It has the features that you need to monitor your employees so that you’re aware of any threats before they end up causing a data breach. Keep in mind that you can also use employee monitoring to boost productivity and efficiency, which makes it doubly useful.

    Long story short, if you haven’t already started to implement employee monitoring and improve your cybersecurity, you should definitely think about putting it on your agenda as soon as possible.
     

  • ITV virtual roundtable on seamless video experience today

    ITV virtual roundtable on seamless video experience today

    MUMBAI: The latest roundtable in the Vidnet tech series being organised by Indiantelevision.com will be held today, 12 May, at 5 pm. Powered by Bitmovin, the webinar will discuss the “challenges of ensuing seamless video experience during the Covid2019 pandemic & beyond.”

    The pandemic meant many more people were at home, consuming content, delivered on streaming platforms and television. Data consumption rose to levels not seen before. In India, most of the streamers started delivering videos in the standard definition format as against HD because of the stress on bandwidth. What other lessons has the current crisis and pandemic taught streamers? What else did they do to deliver a better seamless experience to consumers? And going forward what else can be done? The webinar seeks to find answers to these questions, and many more. 

    The virtual roundtable will feature Dan Balis, senior product manager at Bitmovin, and will be moderated by Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO & editor in chief Anil Wanvari. 

    Bitmovin is built for technical professionals in the OTT video market with software solutions to help optimize customer operations and reduce time-to-market. Dan's work at Bitmovin focuses on the Bitmovin Player. He has over 15 years experience launching streaming video products and platforms at scale for media and technology companies that include Viacom, Bright cove, and AOL. His specialties include video platforms, cloud, analytics, SAAS, and ad tech.

    The roundtable will have technology heads of some of the prominent OTTs as delegates. They include: Hoichoi technology head Alok Majumdar, Eros Now CTO Lokesh Chauhan, Zee5 technology head Tushar Vohra, SonyLIV head of technology Manish Verma, LOCO – Pocket Aces VP engineering Viral Mehta, Lionsgate India director of product Mohit Khatwani, and ScoopWhoop Media CTO Vinay Gupta,  

    The event will be simulcast on zoom and Facebook. 

  • No option but to protect digital IPs today: SonyLIV’s Manish Verma

    No option but to protect digital IPs today: SonyLIV’s Manish Verma

    MUMBAI: The increasing popularity of streaming platforms brings with it the threat of piracy. To tackle this menace, SonyLIV recently chose Intertrust’s cloud-based multi-DRM (digital rights management) service, ExpressPlay DRM, to protect content streaming and downloads, including both online and offline playbacks on all devices.

    “We all want to protect content. If the content is available freely, the value of the content goes down. Piracy is one of the key concerns for all of us and we want to make sure that we minimise the piracy. It is one of the key considerations when we talk about content protection,” SonyLIV technology head Manish Verma said.

    Verma said that they had been discussing the deal for six-eight months.

    “When you are using a DRM, there is a lot of backend processing, packaging, content integration, etc., and we need to make the change across all these. When you get into such a strategic partnership, you need to keep in mind what is available now, what is going to be available in the future, what is the potential of the company and the evolution of the product,” he added.

    Intertrust Technologies India strategy and business DVP Manas Mati said that it isn't just about security. As SonyLIV is available across many countries with live sports channels, it is also to ensure that it can give lower latency along with encryption services. As to what makes it different from competitors, Mati said they have better knowledge of content security standards and guidelines, having worked with a lot of large studios in the US with a larger geographical footprint.

    “We always work in the future. For example, today we are streaming SD, HD content; we have customers who are streaming 4k content. That means if somebody wants to stream 4k content, we can bring the technology soon to them,” Mati added.

    “This (DRM) is not an option anymore. Over a period of time, all the OTT players have started investing in content protection. We have no other option to protect the IP that we are producing and if you don’t do it, you will be at a loss. So it is a necessity to protect premium content and offers seamless buffering across devices,” Verma added. 

  • India’s iconic music composer and singer Vishal Mishra connects with fans via Likee Live

    India’s iconic music composer and singer Vishal Mishra connects with fans via Likee Live

    To re-energize his fans during lockdown, India’s famous music composer, songwriter and singer Vishal Mishra turned to Likee,one of the world’s most popular short video creation app by Singapore-based BIGO Technology Pte Ltd, recently. Vishal reached out to his fans through the Live streaming feature of the app and charmed them by crooning his latest songs, AajBhi and Muskurayega India, in his mesmerising voice.Likee’s extensive reach in India is attracting many celebrities, experts and other influencers to connect with their audience online, especially via Likee LIVE.

    With more than 100 thousand likes, Vishal Mishra’s recently held 1-hour long live session was a much-needed stressbuster for Likee users. Notably, Vishal’s latest single AajBhi, which is an ode to an unfulfilled love story and features popular actors Ali Fazal and Surbhi Jyoti, was recently promoted on Likee as part of a collaboration with VYRL Originals. #AajBhi clocked more than 380 million views on the app. In another remarkable development, Vishal performed the song live for the world’s biggest virtual music concert during lockdown – 'One World: Together At Home'. Kicked off by Lady Gaga on April 18, 2020, ‘One World’ is an on-going music concert by Global Citizen in support of WHO.

    The other song performed by Vishal Mishra during the Likeelive session was Muskurayega India, which is a message of positivity in the times of lockdown by the film fraternity. Produced by Jjust Music, the song was recently promoted on the app through #MuskurayegaIndia and garnered over 379 million views.The music video of the song, featuring some of the biggest names from the Bollywood, also received appreciation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who shared the same on microblogging site Twitter.Jjust Music owner Jackky Bhagnani had also held a live interaction with Likers to talk about the song. The song raised money for the PM cares fund and the Maharashtra CM relief fund.

    Available in different Indian languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Gujarati, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam and Punjabi,Likee app provides the most extensive and innovative tools to users to create dynamic and engaging videos. Recently, Likee has also won the Guinness World Record for creating the 'Largest online video album of people waving a flag in India' during its 'No matter where I am, #IAMINDIAN' campaign. The campaign saw more than 1 lac Indians participating in celebrating India's 73rd Independence Day.

    Follow Tellychakkar for the consumer facing news & entertainment

  • Hotstar brings some cheer to Disney numbers

    Hotstar brings some cheer to Disney numbers

    BENGALURU: Covid2019 has hit most businesses and hard! Events, including all the sporting ones, have been cancelled globally. Ad and other revenues have been impacted for media companies. The Walt Disney Company (Disney) had a steep fall in diluted earnings per share (EPS) in the quarter ended 28 March 2020 (Q2 2020, quarter under review) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter. The company reported a 63 percent fall in diluted adjusted EPS to $0.60 in Q2 2020 versus $1.61 in the corresponding year ago quarter. Diluted EPS from continuing operations for the quarter under review decreased 93 percent to $0.26 from $3.53 in the prior-year quarter.

    Disney has four segments: Media Networks, parks, experiences and products (Parks), studio entertainment and direct-to-consumer (DTC) and international.

    Disney said in an earnings press release for Q2 2020, “The impact of Covid2019 and measures to prevent its spread are affecting our segments in a number of ways, most significantly at parks, experiences and products where we have closed our theme parks and retail stores, suspended cruise ship sailings and guided tours and experienced supply chain disruptions. In addition, we have delayed, or in some cases, shortened or cancelled theatrical releases and suspended stage play performances at studio entertainment and have seen advertising sales impacts at media networks and direct-to-consumer and International. We have experienced disruptions in the production and availability of content, including the cancellation or deferral of certain sports events and suspension of production of most film and television content. Many of these businesses have been closed consistent with government mandates or guidance. We estimate the Covid2019 impact on operating income at our parks, experiences and products segment was approximately $1 billion primarily due to revenue lost as a result of the closures. In total, we estimate that the Covid2019 impacts on our current quarter income from continuing operations before income taxes across all of our businesses was as much as $1.4 billion, inclusive of the impact at the parks, experiences and products segment. Impacts at our other segments include lower advertising revenue at media networks and direct-to-consumer and international driven by a decrease in viewership in the current quarter reflecting Covid2019’s impact on live sports events and higher bad debt expense and a loss of revenue at studio entertainment due to theater and stage play closures.”

    Total revenues for Q2 2020 increased 21 percent Y-o-Y to $18,009 million from $14,922 million in Q2 2019. Total segment operating income declined 37 percent Y-o-Y in the quarter to $2,416 million from $3,816 million. Disney’s OTT Platform Disney+ includes Indian OTT platform Hotstar. Disney+ Hotstar is a part of Disney’s direct-to consumer and international segment and Disney+ Hotstar helped alleviate a bit of the drop in numbers according to the company. Disney+ average monthly revenue per user at $5.63 was higher than ESPN’s $4.24 and about 47 percent of Hulu SVOD only at $12.06  in Q2 2020, The company estimates that it had 54.5 million Disney+ subscribers as of 4 May 2020.

    “Disney+ launched in a number of European markets during the quarter, which contributed to a total paid subscriber base of $33.5 million at the end of the quarter. And we are very pleased with the success of our rollout in Western Europe and India, including the execution of previously announced deals with some European platforms to distribute the service to all paid subscribers on certain of the widely distributed tiers and in India to convert our pre-existing subscription based Hotstar service to Disney+ Hotstar, revealed senior executive vice president and chief financial officer Christine M McCarth during an investor call.

    Parks, experiences and products

    The largest drop in absolute numbers was from Disney’s Parks segment, followed by a steep increase in operating loss from Disney’s DTC and international segment. Parks' segment operating revenue and segment income declined 10 percent and 58 percent respectively. Disney reported revenue of $5,543 million for Q2 2020 and $6,171 million for Q2 2019 from the Parks segment. Income from the segment was $639 million in Q2 2020 and $1,506 million in Q2 2019.

    “As you know, Disney, like many other companies, has experienced widespread disruption. In mid-March, we closed our domestic parks and hotels indefinitely, suspended our cruise line, halted film and TV productions and shuttered our retail stores. And while these were necessary steps to ensure the safety and well-being of our guests and employees, our businesses have been hugely impacted,” said Disney CEO Bob Chapek.

    “While it's too early to predict when we'll be able to begin resuming all of our operations, we are evaluating a number of different scenarios to ensure a cautious, sensible and deliberate approach to the eventual reopening of our parks. We will take a phased approach with limits on attendance using an advanced reservation and entry system, controlled guest density using social distancing and strict government required health and prevention procedures. These include the use of masks, temperature screenings and other contact tracing and early detection systems," revealed Chapek.

    Disney’s direct-to consumer and international

    Disney’s DTC and International segment operating revenue increased more than threefold (increased 260 percent) y-o-y in Q2 2020 to $4,123 million from $1,145 million in Q 2019. However, loss from the segment more than doubled (increased 111 percent) in Q2 2020 to $812 million from $385 million. Average monthly revenue per user (AMRPU) from Disney+ in Q2 2020 was $5.63. AMRPU for other contributors to Disney’s direct-to consumer and international segment numbers are:

    ESPN ARMPU $4.24 in Q2 2020 versus $5.13 in Q2 2019, a drop of 17 percent; Hulu SVOD only ARMPU $12.06 in Q2 2020, which was 5 percent lower than $12.73 in Q2 2020 and Hulu Live TV + SVOD ARMPU which increased 29 percent in Q2 2020 to $67.75 from $52.58 in Q2 2019.

    The company says that the increase in operating loss from its DTC and International segment was due to costs associated with the launch of Disney+ and the consolidation of Hulu. Results for the quarter under review also reflected a benefit from the inclusion of the TFCF businesses due to income at the international channels, including Star.

    “Results at our DTC businesses had an adverse impact on the year-over-year change in segment operating income of about $500 million which came in a little better than the guidance we provided last quarter. We expect our DTC and International segment to generate about $1.1 billion in operating losses for the third quarter and we expect the continued investment in our DTC services, in particular, Disney+ to drive an adverse impact on the year-over-year change in operating income of our DTC businesses of approximately $420 million, revealed McCarth to investors.

    Media Networks

    Disney’s largest segment is media networks which comprises of 2 sub-segments – cable networks and broadcasting.

    Media networks segment saw revenue increase 28 percent Y-o-Y in Q2 2020 to $7,257 million from $5,683 million in Q2 2019. Operating Income increased 7 percent Y-o-Y to $2,375 million from $2,230 million. Cable networks sub-segment revenue increased 17 percent Y-o-Y to $ 4,445 million from $3,793 million in Q2 2019. Cable networks operating income increased 1 percent to $1,799 million from $1,789 million. Disney says that the increase in cable networks operating income was due to the consolidation of TFCF businesses (primarily the FX and National Geographic networks), partially offset by a decrease at ESPN, and to a lesser extent, the Domestic Disney Channels and Freeform. The decrease at ESPN was due to higher programming and production costs and lower advertising revenue, partially offset by higher affiliate revenue

    Broadcasting revenue increased 49 percent Y-o-Y to $2,812 million from $1,890 million. Broadcasting operating income increased 53 percent in Q2 2020 to $397 million from $259 million. Disney says that the increase in operating income was due to the consolidation of TFCF, largely reflecting program sales, and to a lesser extent, an increase at its legacy operations

    Studio entertainment

    Studio entertainment segment revenue increased 18 percent in Q2 2020 to $2,539 million from $2,137 million in the corresponding year ago quarter. Studio entertainment operating income declined 8 percent in the quarter to $466 million from $506 million. Disney says the decrease in operating income was due to lower results at its legacy operations, partially offset by the consolidation of the TFCF businesses. The decrease at Disney’s legacy operations was due to higher film impairments and decreases in theatrical distribution and stage play results, partially offset by an increase from TV/SVOD distribution

    Confident about the future

    “While the Covid2019 pandemic has had an appreciable financial impact on a number of our businesses, we are confident in our ability to withstand this disruption and emerge from it in a strong position,” said Chapek. “Disney has repeatedly shown that it is exceptionally resilient, bolstered by the quality of our storytelling and the strong affinity consumers have for our brands, which is evident in the extraordinary response to Disney+ since its launch last November.”

  • Covid2019 a disruptor for digital content delivery

    Covid2019 a disruptor for digital content delivery

    MUMBAI: It's not easy to cope with the rising anxiety and uncertainty while sheltering-in-place. Fortunately, there is a huge amount of content available online that keeps everyone entertained and informed. With the exponential rise in content consumption, the tech teams of over-the-top (OTT) platforms and publishers have taken up important roles to serve consumer needs along with the help of content distribution networks (CDNs). However, the challenges of delivering content have risen during the Covid2019 crisis due to the overwhelming surge in consumption, a panel comprising industry experts during a virtual discussion agreed.

    The panelists included Viacom18 Digital Ventures technology and engineering head Mohit Srivastava, EPIC ON COO Sourjya Mohanty, The Indian Express CTO Amardeep Vishwakarma, Asianet News Media and Entertainment assistant director of technology Anoop Mohan, Quintype head of engineering Rashmi Mittal, Snapdeal CTO Prashant Parashar, Simsim CTO Gaurav Kalra, Limelight Networks product management senior director Michael Milligan, VideoTap founder and CEO N Dilip Venkatraman, Limelight Networks India sales director Ashwin Rao and Kavasam Konnect chief information and technology officer Koushik Ramani.

    The panel discussion, on the importance of CDN for data and video explosion in the post-Covid2019 world, was organised by Indiantelevision.com and moderated by its founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari. 

    Srivastava said that consumption has gone up exponentially both for AVOD and SVOD models on VOOT; the latter has seen really skyrocketing growth.

    Mohanty also mentioned that its two OTT platforms have been doing really well. It has witnessed consumption going up 3-4x many days. He also added that along with more consumers, they have received more consumer insights too during this period.  

    Vishwakarma also added that traffic has increased 2x across its platforms. Although it's not inclined too much to video, people are consuming available static content on websites. 

    Mohan also spoke about a 2-2.5x growth across Asianet platforms. While it serves in seven languages, growth is occurring in each. It has also started producing Covid2019-related content to avoid fake news. 

    Mittal also added that the number of page views has doubled for its client publishers. On the other hand, Ramani said that it's leveraging social media platforms more as its OTT platform is not fully launched yet. 

    Snapdeal recently entered the video content space. Parashar said that during the lockdown, when non-essentials were not being shipped, it wanted to engage customers and started using video for that. Kalra, too, acknowledged that there has been an impact on the business as commerce is not happening. Hence, its focus has deviated more towards content.

    Parashar said that they have to put more efforts to deliver similar quality content at a lesser speed of data used by consumers. He brought up an important aspect that CDNs have not focused highly on mobile devices while Indian consumers mostly consume content on smartphones. According to him, it is the right time for CDN players to innovate on the mobile side of videos and images and optimise for the newer economy in the post Covid2019 world. 

    “A lot of time we experience that video delivery is not as optimised as you would expect for mobile platforms. As new content is not being created, content consumption has spread out quite a bit. As a result, it is putting pressure on CDNs in terms of efficiency. Hence, it has become tough managing traffic,” Srivastava added. Mohanty also agreed that this has been a key challenge: reduction of latency and better response time.

    Limelight Networks' Milligan noted that although smartphones are heavily dominating the Indian market, the Indian audience is also watching content on connected devices. “It's not only about the mobile experience, but content providers also have to think of connected devices. So, as a content distributor you have to find out how you can give the best experience on both,” he added.

    Mohan also revealed that as Asianet users are in tier-III cities and rural areas, where consumers use a lower version of Android, it created a multi-CDN strategy. It reached out to different CDNs to see how it can optimise them and deliver content faster.

    However, publishers in the panel said that CDNs have been very helpful to deliver static content during this crisis taking up a lot of load. Their challenge was another: the decline in ad revenue despite growing consumption.

  • Lightstream releases branded medical drama series, Emergency

    Lightstream releases branded medical drama series, Emergency

    MUMBAI: Rainshine Entertainment-owned branded content studio Lightstream has conceptualized and launched a new branded medical drama series: Emergency. Produced in association with the Madurai Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre (MMHRC), the 8-part series is available on Put Chutney, one of India’s largest Tamil-focussed content channels owned by Lightstream, and chronicles the lives of three young doctors as they battle professional, societal, and personal challenges.

    The company is at the helm of another branded campaign, #MenAtWork, created by BLUSH, a leading women digital content brand owned by Lightstream. Backed by India Gate Foods, the campaign aims to honour and celebrate the men who are breaking gender stereotypes and sharing the load of responsibilities at home.

    These campaigns have been rolled out at a time when brands are focussing on messages of social awareness and highlighting social issues that are prevalent in India.

    Directed by Chidambaram Manivannan and written by Rajmohan, EMERGENCY is a drama web series on the medical staff of Madurai Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre (MMHRC) and focuses on the world of hospitals and healthcare services from the eyes of three young talented doctors. Highlighting the most important health-related issues that exist across India, the narrative takes an empathetic view of their lives and profession and how, even under dire straits, they maintain their Hippocratic Oath.

    Madurai Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre (MMHRC) chairman Dr Gurushankar says: “The web series brings out the struggles and challenges faced by doctors who have emerged as the unsung heroes in our battle against COVID and have always been at the forefront of managing calamities. The series showcases the life stories of doctors and what all they go through on a daily basis, and urges people to recognise their contribution as the biggest building blocks of the health of our society.”

    Anuraag Srivastava, COO, Rainshine Entertainment, & CEO, Lightstream, says: "We at Lightstream are always focused on creating high impact, purpose-driven content marketing campaigns. Given the current situation, our association with Madurai Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre aims to highlight the plight of our doctors that are fighting so valiantly to safeguard us. Spread over 8 episodes, EMERGENCY paints a vivid picture of the lives of these unsung heroes. #MenAtWork, our other recent branded content campaign, honours men who are breaking patriarchal gender stereotypes and are stepping up to balance the scales and restore parity at home. m/six Content+ and our digital brand BLUSH found a natural fit with our brand partners India Gate Foods, whose core values include caring for each-other, family bonding, and rising to the situation, to take #MenAtWork to the Indian consumers. In the coming months, we plan to up the ante and continue creating more meaningful branded content that is in sync with the brand ethos of our partners.”

    The trailer for EMERGENCY can be viewed here. The first two episodes of the series are out and are available on Lightstream’s YouTube channel Put Chutney. New episodes will be out every Tuesday and Friday. The first two episodes of the show trended at Number 1 on YouTube within 24 hours of releasing.

    Closer home, this current lockdown has been a major mirror in highlighting daily gender biases, especially with respect to societal expectations from women to shoulder both domestic and professional responsibilities equally. Against this backdrop, for the very first time, BLUSH, in partnership with m/six Content+, decided to collaborate with India Gate Foods to release a heart-warming campaign, #MenAtWork, which showcases how men are rising up to balance the scales and restore parity at home. Conceptualized and created by Lightstream, and curated entirely from home videos, the campaign honours and celebrates men who are consciously breaking stereotypes and acting as catalysts in blending gender roles, and urges men to continue to do the same even after lockdown. The campaign also urged viewers to share their #MenAtWork stories which would be reposted on the network social media assets in order to spread the reach of the message. The video was viewed by over 2.7 M people and has delivered a reach of over 6 M. You can view the campaign video here.

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