ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Line between international & Indian content blurring: Amazon Prime Video’s Aparna Purohit at Vidnet 2019

    Line between international & Indian content blurring: Amazon Prime Video’s Aparna Purohit at Vidnet 2019

    MUMBAI: Sensing the wide array of opportunities in the Indian video streaming market, major international platforms have dived in to take a share out of it. Amazon Prime Video is one of the players which have built an impressive slate of local content with hits like Breathe, Made in Heaven, Mirzapur and The Family Man amidst the intense streaming battle. As the platform has a presence across the world with a large international content catalogue, Amazon Prime Video India Originals head Aparna Purohit said the line between Indian and international content is blurring.

    At the stage of Vidnet 2019 organised by indiantelevision.com, Purohit shared her interesting insights on the market in a short but freewheeling chat with The Linus Adventures founder and chief evangelist Sunil Lulla, a media veteran with extraordinary experience in the industry.

    “The lines between here and there, international and India (content) are blurring. The Marvelous Mrs.Maisel, Jack Ryan connects with us as much as Made in Heaven, Breathe, The Family man trends across the world. So, I think those lines are blurring. But I really want to tell stories of us. We are a nation of storytellers,” Purohit said.

    Lulla started the chat curious to know the stories she is chasing now. Purohit said she is always after good, compelling, exciting stories that are deeply rooted within Indian but has resilience across the world; stories that will transcend boundaries of ethnicity, caste, religion, gender, etc.

    “Different people get excited about different stories. Fortunately, we have a full range of stories. My father can get excited about the stories we have, my three-year-old niece can get excited about stories. We have romance, psychological thriller, and political satire so we hope we are getting everyone excited,” she added as the chat progressed.   

    She also added that the platform has a full array of stories including exciting unscripted shows that are coming up in the comedy genre. Moreover, the platform’s popular series Inside Edge is returning for a second season along with an exciting period drama, a musical romance.

    She also added that Amazon recognises that people like to consume content in the language they prefer. In addition to Hindi content, the platform is now creating a directory of content in regional languages. It already has content in ten languages. She also pointed out that shows like The Family Man have actors from the south, up north, Kashmir and Maharashtra.

    “For us everything is customer-backward. It’s our customers that make us relevant. We try to see what is the need gap that exists,” she answered when Lulla asked about Amazon’s meaning of relevance in India.

    “Even for me understanding the consumer is extremely important. I would not say our consumer is just one kind of a person. An educated working liberated woman like me, a smart, entrepreneurial person like you, it could be a retired government official like my father sitting at home and watching our content, it’s like my uncle sitting in a remote town – our audience is varied. Now we have footprints in 400 cities of the country,” she commented on the importance of consumer understanding.

    There have been talks on how Amazon Prime Video and Netflix are spoiling the Indian market with their deep pockets and increasing the cost of content for others. Purohit said creative people can never be owned and they never have the intent of owning anybody.

    She said that what they are doing is trying to create a cinematic TV experience. Every show is like three and a half or four films. No matter who looks at the show, Indian or internationally, it should never look like it isn’t international.

    As saas-bahu saga is largely tagged as TV content, Lulla asked how this filtration has been done. Purohit said that they will also have shows involving families where there will be mothers-in-law, fathers-in-law, and daughters-in-law.

    “We just got started. We just touched the tip of the iceberg. There are so many marvellous stories to be told. There will be an ecosystem where writers and creators will be respected. We will tell all kinds of stories that can never get a platform,” she added further on probable progress in the next five years.

    “The interesting thing about this medium is that it’s not formulated. It's not driven by any options like box-office. So, we can cast any actor. We can truly cast a character freely,” she said towards the end of the engaging session.

  • Content creators discuss the challenge of acquiring and maintaining OTT audiences at Vidnet 2019

    Content creators discuss the challenge of acquiring and maintaining OTT audiences at Vidnet 2019

    MUMBAI: The fourth edition of the Indiantelevision.com’s Vidnet had a successful run of the marquee “Creators Track”, on the first day of the two-day-long video and content conclave that wrapped up on Thursday in Mumbai. The track had some of the finest creators, writers, and directors from the OTT world speaking on many important topics like how to write good stories and how to make them travel beyond national boundaries.

    The day-long conference was opened by Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO, and editor Anil Wanvari and some of the speakers by an auspicious lamp lighting ceremony. 


     
    Following which, Wanvari in his opening remarks said, “India’s video ecosystem had never been so exciting in the last two decades. Similar excitement was seen during the satellite boom period in the early 90s. With OTT today, a similar phenomenon is happening where lot of Bollywood professionals are making content for OTT just as how the industry created content for satellite channels . I believe that the content boom has still not hit India and we are at the beginning of content boom on OTT platforms. With OTT coming into the picture, there will be more opportunities for content creators in our country.”

    The first panel discussion of the day was around “Unlocking a Story’s Potential” between Zee Studio Originals VP creative and head Ashima Avasthi, MX Player chief content officer Gautam Talwar, BBC Studios business head Sameer Gogate and Vista India CEO Rajiv Raghunathan. The session was moderated by Bodhitree Multimedia co-founder and director Mautik Tolia.

    Discussing the importance of localisation, synopses, subtitling, dubbing, and visuals in helping subscribers discover and enjoy stories they love, the panel emphasised on ways to aggregate content on OTT.

    Raghunathan said, “OTT is the most exciting thing that happened to us. The platforms are evolving every day. Some OTT players have identified certain niche segment which is working well for them while other players are still figuring out what will work for them.”

    Avasthi noted that there can’t be a better time for content makers than today. Sharing her strategy for the OTT platform she said, “The mantra is to look into the stories and develop something which has strong character. The stories or content does well is only because of the character. Audiences tend to forget story or plot of the show but they remember the characters which they like. So, we focus on stories which are very character-centric. Even on OTT, the advantage is that we are able to bring our created characters to the larger audience.”

    The panelists also spoke about the initiatives taken by them towards localised content. They discussed how, with OTT, catering to specific TG has become easy and focused. They also informed that acceptance of fiction format has also taken up in our country via OTT platforms.

    Next panel discussion, “Empowering the Creative Vision” had Friday Filmworks head-digital content and IP Devendra Deshpande, Yoodlee Films producer and Saregama India VP films and TV Siddharth Anand Kumar, and Ellipses Entertainment managing partner Tanuj Garg, in discussion with moderator Film Companion’s Sucharita Tyagi, discussing how streaming platforms are backing storytellers in translating their vision on the screen. They elaborated on the key role the platforms play in identifying and promoting content that resonates with the audience.

    Next up was another panel discussion on “The New Creators’ Breed” between TVF global head-business & content Rahul Sarangi, Swastik Productions and One Life Studios producer and managing director Rahul Kumar Tewary, BToS Productions partner and independent director Angshuman Ghosh, Monozygotic Solutions co-founder Rajiv Laxman, WPP national business head-motion content group India, and Rose Audio Visuals Pvt Ltd director Goldie Behl, moderated by WWM Content Studio VP Vidyut Patra. The panelists shared their thoughts on how the new-age creators are transforming the way Indian audiences consume content.

    They elaborated that OTT platforms are chasing content creators for two reasons; one is to acquire and retain users on their platforms in the best way through content, and second there are no such parameters to measure success on the platform and that is the reason why they invest so much money. They also understood that due to the geographical and demographic masses of the country the platforms are willing to go to much length for finding the new creators.

    The panelists agreed that this is the best time for the content creators, as now they can try whatever they want. Later it can be a bit difficult as very soon the platforms will figure out what’s working for them.

    This session was followed by an insightful panel discussion on “Making Indian Stories Travel”, in which the speakers talked about the processes—both creative and technical—which can take Indian content to foreign screens. Sitting on the panel were MUBI India content advisor and producer Guneet Monga, creator, director, and writer Richie Mehta, and Red Chillies Entertainment producer and chief revenue officer Gaurav Verma. The discussion was moderated by BookMyShow VP content and strategy Monisha Singh Katial.

    To make Indian content travel around the world, the panelists said that subtitles and dubbing of the content in different languages is important. Apart from this, they also noted that appealing stories and subjects play an important role in reaching to the wider audiences across the world. The panelists agreed that the only way to dazzle audiences on OTT platform is through content and script.

    The proceedings of the day were taken ahead by a fascinating panel discussion on the topic of “Redefining Storytelling with Technology” between Endemol Shine India CEO Abhishek Rege, SonyLIV SVP and head-original content and partnerships Amogh Dusad, and Monozygotic Solutions co-founder Raghu Ram. Moderating the panel was TVFPlay head Vinay Pillai.


     
    The moderator began the discussion by giving a background on how technologies are helping content to evolve. The panel gave an understanding that technology has helped in two ways, one is in the making of content and the other is in translating that content to the consumers. The panelists also informed that technology has not influenced the way of storytelling but it has definitely influenced the way content is consumed.

    The discussion was followed by a “Deep Dive with Pocket Aces” on how to build and run a successful media tech company between Pocket Aces founders Ashwin Suresh and Anirudh Pandita, and moderator Hungama Digital Media Entertainment VP Soumini Sridhara Paul. The founders of the company threw light on the inception of the company in 2014 and its journey. They shared their experience of early days’ challenges faced by startups.

    The day continued post-lunch with a panel discussion on the very interesting topic of “Creating Binge-worthy Content”. On the panel were MX Player CEO Karan Bedi, House of Cheer founder and CEO Raj Nayak, Vikatan Group managing director B Srinivasan, and Viniyard Films founder Ashvini Yardi. Moderating the panel was Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.


     
    The panelists shared their individual perspectives on what makes content binge-worthy. The panelists said that it is important to hook the audiences for the first five minutes, and last seven minutes. They also informed that efforts to hook the audience on AVoD are more than SVoD as the former has more migrating audiences.

    Next item on the list was a panel discussion on “India’s New-age Writers” between writers Ameya Sarda, Suhani Kanwar, Sagar Haveli, and moderator Tulsea content & creatives Samabesh Das. The panelists being the first generation writers of this golden age of OTT platforms find themselves being bogged down by the huge responsibility that comes with being a content creator. The trio also believes that on OTT there is a challenge to create content in more interesting and better ways to hook the audience. Another challenge which they highlighted is to execute the demands coming every now and then.

    The day was concluded by “Conversation with Creators” section, in which teams from ‘Afsos’ and ‘Bard Of Blood’ talked to the moderators about the whole creative and technical process of creating the series.


     
    First in was Afsos co-creators Anirban Dasgupta and Dibya Chatterjee in conversation with OML managing partner Gunjan Arya, who shared their experience from being writers to show-runners.

    The day was concluded by Bard Of Blood author & creator Bilal Siddiqi and director Ribhu Dasgupta talking about creating this exquisite thriller with The Story Ink founder and chief storyteller Sidharth Jain. The duo shared their experience on making of show for the first time on the OTT platform. Bard of Blood is Red Chillies’ first show for Netflix while Emran Hashmi and Dasgupta debut on OTT platform as an actor and director respectively. 
     

  • OTT players stress the need to create massy content for robust future at Vidnet 2019

    OTT players stress the need to create massy content for robust future at Vidnet 2019

    MUMBAI: The ‘Business and Tech Track’ of the fourth edition of Indiantelevision.com’s two-day-long video and content conclave, Vidnet, became a raging success with some of the most successful and powerful names from the digital video industry coming together and highlighting the challenges and opportunities that they are dealing with right now. A special screening of “The Hitler Chronicles: Blueprint for Dictators” and “The Bisexuals” was also organised for the attendees. 

    Organised on the first day of Vidnet 2019, parallel to a ‘Creators Track’, the ‘Business and Tech Track’ hosted a number of panel discussions and fireside chats to present an in depth image of the functioning of the video ecosystem.

    The proceedings of the day were opened by a powerful speech by Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari who discussed about the challenges that the current OTT ecosystem is facing ranging from getting users to subscribe to preventing piracy. He urged those present in the audience to work on more massy content to create and support robust businesses for the future.

    The first item on the agenda was a panel discussion titled “Making Indian Entertainment Great”, which highlighted some of the constraints that shroud the video industry, ranging from the technological to the artistic aspects of the business. On the panel were Zee5 India head-AVOD, SEO, news & stories Yogesh Manwani, Sony Pictures Networks India business head-digital Uday Sodhi, Viacom18 business head-digital AVOD ventures Akash Banerji, Viu India country head Vishal Maheshwari, Balaji Telefilms group COO and Alt Balaji CEO Nachiket Pantvaidya, and HOOQ India’s managing director Zulfiqar Khan. The session was moderated by Nepa India’s managing director Esha Nagar. 

    The panel also insisted that there is a need to create more regional and massy content by OTT platforms to create a better ecosystem. They also pressed the need for better investments in technology. 
    Khan revealed that his company is shifting focus to more AI-led content and ventures. He said, “We hope to be the first platform to have fully machine-dubbed localisation of content.” 
    Following this was a presentation by Think Analytics SVP Richard Dowling on “The Power of Personalised Search and Recommendations.” Dowling shared a few case studies from his firm as he talked about how personalised content can help in gathering better audience.

    Next on the list was another panel discussion on “Captive Audience of the Telecom Trace” between ZEE5 Global chief business officer Archana Anand, IndiaCast Media Distribution group CEO Anuj Gandhi, Apalya Technologies founder and CEO Vamshi Reddy, Lionsgate MD south asia Rohit Jain, Shemaroo Entertainment COO digital Zubin Dubash, and Hungama Digital COO Siddhartha Roy, moderated by Elara Capital VP – research analyst (media) Karan Taurani.

    The panel unanimously agreed that getting associated with telcos can help OTT platforms in getting more audience, however, the challenge of who owns the consumer will remain for the foreseeable future.

    “I don’t believe there is a better platform than telcos. Direct carrier billings allow the consumers to stay confident. It also allows us the marketing might. They really help us find our audiences,” Anand said.

    Reddy also noted, “Telcos bring in a universal and seamless experience across content. The consumer doesn’t have to go to 10 platforms and enjoy the experience. Eventually it should evolve into a payment mechanism.”

    Zubin Dubash noted that this association between platforms and telcos is going to go on as the core of this partnership for telcos is not to own the content but to increase the guzzling of mobile data.

    Afterwards, NAGRA product line management director Diroshan Ratnarajah gave an interesting presentation on “Combating OTT Streaming Piracy”. He outlined some pressing and pertinent problems that exist in the online video space, which can impact the monetisation as well as content discovery process on streaming platforms.

    He highlighted that fighting piracy will require a joint effort from all the players in the industry and development of robust, scalable, and high-performance security platforms.

    The proceedings of the day were taken forward by a panel of ZEE5 India head technology Tushar Vohra, Hoichoi TV technology head Aloke Majumder, ErosNow CTO Lokesh Chauhan, NAGRA product line management director Diroshan Ratnarajah, and MX Player chief of product, tech and operations Vivek Jain, moderated by Castle Media CEO Ru Ediriwira.

    They discussed about “The Challenge of Content Protection” in the new age media scenario. The panel agreed that there is a need for the whole ecosystem to come together to fight the menace of piracy as it might only increase with robust changes happening in the system. They also talked about the importance of fingerprinting of content.

    Vohra said, “We need to get together because the lines are really blurring. As now there are new business models, content producers are being paid on the basis of number of streams and number of minutes watched.”
    Jain insisted that enforcement of piracy laws in India needs improvement so that not only can pirated content be identified easily but also pulled down immediately.

    The “Business and Tech Track” of Vidnet 2019, continued post-lunch, with a fireside chat between Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, and Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gourav Rakshit. The duo discussed how the nature of the content in India is evolving with the audience sensibilities.

    Following it was panel discussion on “Fine-tuning Models of Monetisation and Consumer Engagement”. On the stage were Vimmi co-founder and co-CEO Eitan Koter, ALTBalaji SVP and head marketing Divya Dixit, Google industry head-media and entertainment Sandeep Ramesh, MX Player SVP and revenue head Virat Jit Singh, Merkle Sokrati SVP Sampath Rengacheri, and myNK co-founder Deepak Jayaram. The panel was moderated by PwC India partner and advisory leader entertainment, media, and sports Raman Kalra.

    The panel discussed the different opportunities and challenges that AVOD and SVOD mode of subscriptions come with and what role does technology, content, and telcos play in the system. This panel also indicated that a massy approach to content generation will help in driving better revenues.

    Next in line was a fireside chat between Amazon Prime Video head of India originals Aparna Purohit and moderator The Linus Adventures founder and chief evangelist Sunil Lulla who talked about how Amazon Prime India is working towards improving content on the platform.

    Purohit shared that it is the best time for writers as well as actors and directors to be in the industry as not just Prime but all other platforms are looking for good stories to be told. 
    It was followed by a short Q&A session with the cast of MX Original series, produced by Applause, ‘Hello Mini’—Gaurav Chopra and Anuja Joshi. The duo not only talked about the show but also unveiled its official trailer.

    The day ended with a screening of “The Hitler Chronicles: Blueprint for Dictators”, and “The Bisexuals”, which were first telecasted on Hulu, by myNK co-founder Deepak Jayaram. 
     

  • How to Disrupt the Piracy Ecosystem

    How to Disrupt the Piracy Ecosystem

    When it comes to protecting valuable content, the threat of piracy evolves alongside innovation. Every time a technical countermeasure is deployed, every time an illegal website is shut down, every time legislation is changed, pirates will invent new solutions, reappear as a new organization or set up shop in a more permissive country. The growing scale and sophistication of the pirate threat is something that cannot be ignored.

    By definition, a successful anti-piracy program must increase or maintain the legitimate market by disrupting supply and demand, making piracy unattractive, unprofitable and a risky business to be involved in. Valuable content is the lifeblood of the industry’s success, and this must be supported by an optimized user experience. Both of these elements must be protected to ensure long-term success.

    To accomplish this, a comprehensive approach, featuring the following five areas, is needed to address and manage the piracy problem.

    Knowing your enemy
    Quality intelligence about pirates and the market they play in is crucial. How do they operate? What are their vulnerabilities? This includes understanding the technical infrastructures that deliver pirate services. When executed properly, it is possible to determine what can be done to disrupt services and predict whether anti-piracy countermeasures will be disruptive for a specific incident, or if they will have a long-term effect.

    A second, more contextual type of intelligence helps build understanding on the complete pirate ecosystem. Who is involved? How does the money flow? Where are the business interests? Knowing these ecosystems is useful for applying pressure on certain links and targeting legal actions against the right members of the system.

    Identifying the most impactful areas of piracy helps support the anti-piracy business case and define where anti-piracy resources should be targeted. For example, we know live sporting events continue to be the leading source of pay TV revenue, making them the number one target for pirates. Protecting sports programming accounts for approximately 67 percent of the privacy prevention market, with ABI Research anticipating its share to rise to 84 percent by 2020. This is a prime example of how piracy levels rise to meet the rising consumer appetite for premium content.

    Killing piracy at the source with forensic watermarking
    One the primary layers of the content protection ecosystem includes the ability to trace the source of a leak that leads to the capture and redistribution of the content. Forensic watermarking enables content owners and pay TV operators to embed a unique serial number in the content as it is playing, or at any point within the content value chain. By detecting these marks it is possible to identify which legitimate clients the stream is leaking from, and then to stop the distribution through that point.
    Using a watermark also enables companies to scan the Internet and pirated streaming services for illegally redistributed content. When identified, it empowers the rights owner to take steps to stop the illegal flow of content and help keep that content in the legitimate value chain.

    Watermarking technology is most valuable when used in conjunction with robust monitoring and take-down services that can be leveraged to track down and stop pirates quickly and effectively.

    Monitoring for piracy
    Powerful monitoring with sophisticated data collection is essential in fighting commercial piracy. Because there may be many different forms of piracy active for a given service at any particular time, an analysis of which one is having the biggest impact on the business must be carried out on an ongoing basis through automated monitoring. An effective monitoring service employs a great deal of complex technology to quickly and accurately identify illegal streams and files and then alert anti-piracy analysts.

    Time is of the essence, especially with live events, and the quicker pirate streams can be identified, the quicker they can be stopped and consumer confidence in pirate solutions reduced. The goal is to determine the scope of threats and then define the right strategy to combat pirates and bring viewers back to legitimate services.

    Taking down pirate services
    When it comes to take-down services, technical countermeasures must be on point. With the right solutions in place, it is possible to identify weaknesses in any part of the illegitimate services distribution chain. Once identified, action can be taken to allow the content rights holder to disrupt or shut down the illicit service.

    It is critical that the technical countermeasures developed and deployed can identify and disrupt pirate service while assuring 100 percent service quality for legitimate users. This can be achieved, for example, by performing a detailed data analysis of the customer database to look for suspicious trends that indicate pirate activities and then corroborating the information with intelligence databases and advanced analytics before taking targeted actions.

    More often than not, a legitimate content source is at the origin of the illegitimate service and it is here that countermeasures can usually best be deployed. Close collaboration between technical teams and administrative and legal teams is needed in order to stay within the legal framework of the given jurisdiction and to ensure that relevant laws are respected.

    In some cases, litigation, such as blocking orders, cease-and-desist orders or criminal complaints, is the only way to achieve results. However, in some situations it is preferable to avoid this in lieu of cooperation and continuous dialogue with not only all players in the M&E ecosystem, but also adjacent industries that can (perhaps unknowingly) be enabling pirates.

    Collaborating across industries
    Threats to broadcast systems, IP-connected devices, the latest streaming pirate devicesavailable in the marketplace and the cultural and moral entertainment standards by region is forcing studios, sports rights owners and pay-TV service providers to come together to understand, manage and disrupt the ecosystem in which pirates operates. To be successful, anti-piracy measures must go beyond these typical players to include adjacent industries as well – such as government/legal entities, ISPs, cloud vendors, social media sites and even payment vendors.

    The good news is that all players in the M&E ecosystem have access to the technologies, tools and expertise to improve their defense against all forms of piracy – from open and highly visible piracy on the Internet and social media, to control-word sharing and illegal commercial IPTV piracy services. By combining deep intelligence about global pirate networks with real-time monitoring, takedown and litigation services, on-the-ground expertise and forensic watermarking technologies, the industry can preserve the integrity of the legitimate content value chain.

    The article has been authored by NAGRA Product Line Management Director, Diroshan Ratnarajah

  • Vidnet 2019 set to lead engaging discussions on the OTT industry

    Vidnet 2019 set to lead engaging discussions on the OTT industry

    AMUMBAI: As over-the-top (OTT) platforms have started capturing audiences from tier II, tier-III cities, beyond the top metro cities, all major players in the ecosystem have upped their investment significantly. Both international and homegrown players are trying to win more consumers with original content, innovative marketing strategy, and right distribution partnerships. 

    Despite the fact that the market is thriving, certain challenges like content protection, regulatory issues, monetisation, lack of measurement system are bothering video streaming services. Indiantelevision.com's flagship event Vidnet 2019 summit is ready to facilitate conversations on the opportunities and challenges of the ecosystem.

    Various studies have also indicated the bright future of video streaming in India. A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report said that India’s video streaming service is set to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.82 per cent to reach Rs 11,977 crore by 2023. Moreover, media agency Zenith also predicted that by 2021 Indian consumers will spend 79 minutes per day on mobile internet, up from 54 minutes today.

    The summit is hosting panel discussions on OTT streaming piracy, OTT-telco relations, challenge of content protection, monetisation, consumer engagement, technology’s influence on storytelling along with other topics.

    Red Chillies Entertainment Gaurav Verma, The Linus Adventures founder and chief evangelist Sunil Lulla, House of Cheer founder and CEO Raj Nayak, Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gourav Rakshit, ZEE5 Global chief business officer Archana Anand, Viu India country head Vishal Maheshwari, Sony Pictures Networks India digital business head Uday Sodhi, IndiaCast Media Distribution group CEO Anuj Gandhi, Amazon Prime Video India originals head Aparna Purohit will participate in the sessions along with other veterans from the industry.

    "It is still day 0 in the Indian OTT landscape and the category has already witnessed exponential growth fuelled by affordability, accessibility and availability of data. Most of the growth in the category is on the back of marquee Indian originals and catch-up content from network TV. With evolving audience preferences, content consumption has now become device and screen agnostic, presenting significant growth opportunity for the category," Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gourav Rakshit said.

  • SonyLIV, Applause Entertainment announce first Tamil original ‘Iru Dhuruvam’

    SonyLIV, Applause Entertainment announce first Tamil original ‘Iru Dhuruvam’

    MUMBAI : Startled at the sudden disappearance of his wife Geetha, Viktor an astute cop gets cracking on the case. But as he probes deeper, a series of gruesome murders put the entire city in panic leaving him in a predicament. What will he do next? SonyLIV, India’s first premium video on demand (VOD) platform along with Applause Entertainment, a venture of the Aditya Birla Group announced the launch of their first Tamil original ‘Iru Dhuruvam’ premiering on SonyLIV.

    Produced for Applause Entertainment by Pramod Cheruvalath’s Sign of Life Productions, the show which means ‘bipolar’ is directed and written by M Kumaran. The show begins with a series of horrific murders that put the city in a state of shock and chaos overnight. It turns out to be the work of a serial killer who quotes couplets from the “Thirukkural” (a classic Tamil text) as clues, leaving everyone at sixes and sevens. Inspector David Viktor, a hawk-eyed cop is assigned to hunt down the killer. But what happens when the hunter himself becomes a prey? As Viktor gets embroiled deeper into this strange turn of events, little does he know what lies ahead for him. While investigating the brutal murders, he himself is under the scanner for his wife’s mysterious disappearance. Is there a connection between these two events? Will this investigation lead him to his wife? The gripping series will see inspector Viktor encountering all details that will put him at crossroads of his professional and personal life.

    Running over 9 episodes, Iru Dhuruvam features actors Nandha Durairaj – one of the first popular Tamil actors venturing into the OTT space post a hiatus, Abhirami Iyer – former Miss Tamil Nadu who is a popular face in the Tamil web space, the young YouTube sensation Abdool and popular theatre and film artist Sebastin, Anisha in lead roles of this nail-biting web series, that is sure to leave you on the edge of your seat and hooked on till the end.

    Iru Dhuruvam is SonyLIV’s second content offering for its Tamil audience. Post its foray in the market in May 2019, the platform recently launched the Tamil version of its marquee show Crime Patrol with actor Ganesh Venkatraman that has got the audience talking. With tailormade stories like Iru Dhuruvam, Crime Patrol, My Marappu, Cookies and the upcoming Tamil original Aivar amongst others SonyLIV plans to pique the interest of its Tamil audience by engaging them with localised content rooted in Tamil traditions and sensibilities. Additionally, some of the most popular shows from SonyLIV include TVF originals such as Pitchers, Permanent Roommates, Tripling, along with over 40 iconic shows from Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) content library like CID, Patiala Babes, Ladies Special, Aladdin, Beyhadh amongst others are available in Tamil to the audience for a customized entertainment experience.

    Uday Sodhi Business Head Digital Sony Pictures Networks India said, “This partnership with Applause Entertainment blends our in-depth consumer understanding with their finesse in storytelling. With ‘Iru Dhuruvam’, we plan to scale up our Tamil offerings and be the go to OTT destination for the local audience. In a cluttered market like India, such collaborations are a leap towards an evolved ecosystem and will strengthen our promise of delivering cutting edge stories in the digital space. We look forward to a long term and fruitful association with Applause Entertainment as we collaborate to diversify our content offerings for the region.”

    Sameer Nair, CEO, Applause Entertainment said, “India is a mass of niches and at Applause we want to build a diverse content repertoire to appeal to every audience palate. The launch of ‘Iru Dhuruvam’ is a step towards that direction. It marks our foray into regional content and is the first Tamil original partnership for Applause Entertainment and SonyLIV. We are excited to associate with SonyLIV and commence our journey of localized content through this show.”

  • Vidnet 2019 to discuss untapped potential of OTT-telco partnerships

    Vidnet 2019 to discuss untapped potential of OTT-telco partnerships

    MUMBAI: In the race to reach a larger audience easily, all the over-the-top (OTT) players in India have struck deals with major telecom players. While all the video streaming platforms in India are still struggling with monetisation, telco platforms have created an alternative route to monetise content. Moreover, the OTT platforms are not limiting the partnership opportunity to telco platforms but also joining hands with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMS), broadband players, smart TVs for a stronger distribution strategy.

    According to a report from KPMG, telco partnerships have contributed 30-35 per cent to overall subscription revenue of OTT platforms in FY 19. The revenue from telco partnerships is expected to achieve robust growth in the coming years, although slower as compared to direct subscriptions.

    Vidnet 2019 summit is hosting a panel discussion on ‘Captive Audiences of the Telecom Trace’  where experts from the major platforms will share how telco partnerships have helped to gain them more audience and what are the untapped opportunities in the space. “With the unlimited choices today the customer has, it's all about giving the right content to the customer and engaging deeply with what's in the library,” Apalya Technologies co-founder and CEO Vamshi Reddy commented.

    The panel discussion will also trace answers to relevant questions like how telcos and OTT players can maximise revenue potential through the partnerships. Moreover, there are large feature phone users existing in the ecosystem. Hence, it will be also discussed if the OTT players can tap these consumers or they are happy just identifying the smartphone users.

    However, these partnerships are not only helping the OTT platforms, telco players are being benefitted as well. After the entry of the market disruptor Reliance Jio in 2016, the average revenue per user (ARPU) has sharply declined. Hence, it has become important for the telco partners to encourage more data consumption with lucrative content offerings

  • Vidnet 2019 to trace major issues related to content protection

    Vidnet 2019 to trace major issues related to content protection

    MUMBAI: While the growing over-the-top (OTT) ecosystem in the country is providing a large number of opportunities to platforms and content creators, it is still riddled with a number of challenges. Streaming piracy along with other challenges of content protection continue to daunt the OTT platforms across the world. Not having proper content security in place not only create technological challenges but can lead to the platforms towards huge loss of revenue.

    In this context, Vident 2019 summit is hosting a very timely panel discussion on the challenge of content protection. The session will have discussions over all facets of content protection and tech challenges platforms face including avenues of mitigating stream piracy where technology leads of major OTT platforms are participating.

    However, the problem of piracy is not brand new as media and entertainment had to deal with it in the past also. A secure service now-a-days not only means that it is impenetrable but also about monitoring and identifying threats in real-time and timely action on the issue. Moreover, advanced data analytics can also help platforms. Several reports also indicated that blockchain adoption is expected to increase soon, enabling OTT platforms to introduce effective access policies and restriction.

    “The ability for operators to deliver content to any device is a must in today’s digital environment – and India is no exception. Operators need to evolve their services rapidly in order to remain competitive against traditional and new competitors and need to be able to offer content on different devices with changing business models. At the same time, they need to keep their content secure to counter the growing and varied number of piracy threats and to meet the requirements of their content providers. With this in mind, a new approach to content protection is required, one that combines technology, collaboration and innovation,” NAGRA GM India  Hitesh Lokhandwala said.

    Apart from technical measures, regulation from authority is also highly needed. More government initiatives based on the discussion among the stakeholders and legislator can also bring more security. The session at Vidnet 2019 on 3 October will dive deep into all the pertaining issues related to topic. 

  • Netflix’s dependence on India for growth may see more innovative experiments

    Netflix’s dependence on India for growth may see more innovative experiments

    MUMBAI: In the course of its three-year journey in India, Netflix has recognised that the rule to win Indian consumers is different. After foraying into the Indian market in 2016, the California-based streaming giant gradually reshaped its business model deviating highly from the one it follows in the US. From announcing a mobile-only subscription package to making the first episode of the newly-launched series Bard of Blood available for free for non-members viewing on Android devices, the streaming giant is not leaving any stone unturned to woo Indian consumers.

    Back in 2018, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, in his India tour, said that the streamer’s next 100 million subscribers will be "coming from India" given the fast growth of internet connectivity and usage. Although the progress for that statistic has not been revealed, the platform has created an impressive local content slate over the year. But with the amount of cash it’s burning every year, the company needs a higher number of subscribers from India, especially at a time when its domestic subscriber growth is reaching a saturation point.

    In a market dominated by AVOD and freemium models, this free-like model of offering an episode of Bard of Blood for free is definitely an interesting move. It will not only help more viewers to taste the platform but also to attract them towards paid subscription. However, it is not clear yet if they will consider doing the same experiment for other films and series in future.

    While the Indian over-the-top market is growing quickly, Netflix has strong local competition here. Among Indian viewers, Hotstar seems the most popular platform according to several reports. Sports content available on the platform has largely driven its popularity but it also has a special package of Hotstar VIP for newly-launched original content which is priced at a lower rate. Two other popular services, ALTBalaji and ZEE5, have struck various content deals. Moreover, most of the domestic players work on the freemium model with a massive catch-up content library. Netflix’s international rival Amazon is also investing highly in local content with its existing prime benefits. Hence, the way to the next 100 million subscribers is not an easy game.

    Netflix has done another unusual experiment in terms of pricing recently. The platform unveiled its cheapest plan – Rs 199 a month only for smartphones and tablets – to penetrate deeper into the market. Studies have found that India prefers smartphones to laptops more than any other country in the world. It seems the platform has started focusing on bigger audiences going beyond the tier I premium segment. In its Q1 earnings call also, Netflix added that a lower price tier will be important to adding members in India.

    "We've been seeing nice steady increases in engagement with our Indian viewers that we think we can keep building on. Growth in that country is a marathon. So we're in it for the long haul," Netflix chief content officer Theodore Sarandos said in an analyst call after publishing the Q2 results.

    In addition to that, Netflix is also expanding its team with Indian executives who already have knowledge of the market. Netflix recently hired Monika Shergill as head of its Indian original programming, who was associated with Viacom18’s Voot and Star India. The platform also tapped another Voot executive Tanya Bami very recently. Last year, Netflix appointed two experts with vast knowledge of the Indian market, Shrishti Behl and Swati Mohan.  

    In the second quarter, Netflix saw its first major loss in US subscribers last and a mere 2.7 million paid customers added globally. While the platform added almost all new subscribers from international markets this quarter, it believes there’s still plenty of room to grow there. Netflix executives also emphasised on the importance of India, where the company expects significant growth. Moreover, when its domestic market is seeing the entry of streaming services from the house of Disney and Apple, more innovative measures can be expected in India.

  • Netflix offers first episode of ‘Bard of Blood’ free for non-members

    Netflix offers first episode of ‘Bard of Blood’ free for non-members

    MUMBAI: Netflix is offering the first episode of Bard of Blood for a limited time to non-members of leading OTT platform. The strategy behind this move is to attract as many viewers as possible to the platform.

    According to the ET reports the episode is currently accessible through Netflix homepage and the Bard of Blood show listing on the platform and can be viewed across all web browsers on desktop and Android devices. Support for iOS devices seems missing, although those users will be able to generate a link by entering their email address and watch it on supported devices.

    For the rest of the episodes viewers will be made to subscribers to Netflix. The offering of initial episode by Netflix is made to hook the viewers on the story of Bard Of Blood.

    "At Netflix, we try different ways to bring people closer to great stories. We believe many people will find the thrilling story of spy Kabir Anand very appealing and are excited to make the first episode of the series available to everyone for a limited time. In the future, we will consider if we will do this for other films and series,” the company said in a statement.

    Bard of Blood is an Indian fictional spy thriller web television series based on the 2015 espionage novel of the same name by Bilal Siddiqi. Directed by Ribhu Dasgupta and produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, the series stars Emraan Hashmi in the lead role along with Kirti Kulhari, Vineet Kumar Singh, Jaideep Ahlawat and Sobhita Dhulipala.It is a seven-episode series that revolves around the story of an ex-RAW agent. The series premiered on 27 September 2019 on Netflix.