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Category: Over The Top Services

  • Mallika Dua joins the cast of Hotstar Specials ‘The Office Season 2’

    Mallika Dua joins the cast of Hotstar Specials ‘The Office Season 2’

    MUMBAI: The employees of Wilkins Chawla are back! After spreading laughs across the country with its character-defining first season, Hotstar Specials is ready to double the madness and double the fun with ‘The Office Season 2’. Armed with Naya Staff, Naya Laugh this season welcomes ace comedian Mallika Dua as its latest employee. The 15-episode mockumentary where typical office characters find themselves in atypical situations is here with more fun-jabi jokes, hilariously awkward moments and unexpected relationships.

    Created for Applause Entertainment by BBC Studios India; The Office Season 2 is directed by Rohan Sippy and Bumpy. The ensemble cast including Mukul Chaddha, Gauahar Khan, Ranvir Shorey, Gopal Datt, Sayandeep Sengupta, Samridhi Dewan, Priyanka Setia, Abhinav Sharma, Gavin Methalaka, Preeti Kochar, Sunil Jetly, Chien Ho Liao amongst others will reprise their roles. Hotstar Specials presents ‘The Office Season 2’ is set to tickle funny bones from 15th September 2019 on Hotstar VIP. 

    Actor, Comedian and social media queen, Mallika Dua said, “If you think you know the characters by now – think again! Season 2 of ‘The Office’ is going to be full of hilarious surprises. I’ve had a great time working on the show and we couldn’t stop laughing during scenes because they were so funny. Enjoyed the experience with the entire team of Applause and Hotstar. The show is innately Indian and humorously relatable. Bringing alive the essence of any type of Delhiite is always a fun experience and I hope I have managed to add more quirks to this already mad bunch!”

    Director Bumpy added, “We are excited to continue the story of the employees at Wilkins Chawla, and this time with naya staff that promises to bring in more laughter. Season 2 of ‘The Office’ delves deeper into everyday situations and explores the nuances of unexpected relationships with its own unique twist, making it a fun watch.”

    Set in Faridabad, the show chronicles the 9-to-5 lives of the employees at Wilkins Chawla as they navigate through their mundane routine that invariably gives rise to comical situations. From a ‘fun’jabi branch manager Jagdeep Chadda and the gullible and obsequious TP Mishra to unexpected relationships that can crop up in the corporate world; this slice-of-life comedy features relatable characters found in every workplace.

    Catch a glimpse of the latest season of Hotstar Specials presents The Office – Season 2.

  • Hotstar VIP announces the digital premiere of Hrithik Roshan starrer-blockbuster ‘Super 30’

    Hotstar VIP announces the digital premiere of Hrithik Roshan starrer-blockbuster ‘Super 30’

    MUMBAI: Hotstar VIP has added yet another blockbuster title to its expansive movie library – Super 30. Having collected over 200 crores worldwide at the Box Office and still running in select cinemas, the movie is now set for its digital premiere on Hotstar VIP from 10th September 2019, much before its TV premiere. Starring Hrithik Roshan, Super 30 is based on the real-life story of a Patna based mathematician Anand Kumar.

    Anand Kumar, a Mathematic genius from a modest family hailing from Bihar is on a mission to prove that even the poor man can create some of the world's most genius minds. He starts a training program named 'Super 30' to help 30 IIT aspirants crack the entrance test and make them highly successful professionals.

    Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Mrunal Thakur, Nandish Singh and Pankaj Tripathi

  • ZEE5 partners with Lebara Australia to bring the largest library of content for South Asians to its subscribers

    ZEE5 partners with Lebara Australia to bring the largest library of content for South Asians to its subscribers

    MUMBAI: ZEE5, the digital entertainmentplatform from ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.,today announced a new partnership with LebaraAustralia to bring the largest library of entertainment content for South Asians to Lebara customers down under.

    Available in 17 different languages, ZEE5 offers subscribers 100,000 hours of on demand movies, Originals, TV programs, videos and news content. From September, Lebara Australia customers will be able to get a six-month ZEE5 subscription bundled with select prepaid plans.

    ZEE5’s entertainment content includes leading Hindi TV shows (e.g. Kum Kum Bhagya and Jodhaa Akbar); the latest ZEE5 Originals (e.g. The Final Call with Arjun Rampal, Kaafir with Dia Mirza) and 2000+ movies (e.g. Simba with Ranveer Singh, Kedarnath with Sara Ali Khan and Sushant Singh Rajput, and Veere Di Wedding with Kareena Kapoor Khan).

    Popular Tamil TV shows (e.g. Sembaruthi, Yaaradi Nee Mohini and Poove Poochoodava), blockbuster Tamil films (e.g. Mapla Singam, Mersaland Kalavu) and ZEE5 Originals (e.g. Auto Shankar and Thiravam) are also available to subscribers, along with 60+ live streaming TV channels including India’s largest news stations.
    Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global, said that Australia is a key market for ZEE5 as the digital entertainment destination continues to expand globally. 

    “Australia is an extremely important market for us as we expand across the globe and we’re extremely excited to announce our very first partnership with local telecom operator, Lebara Australia.”

    “With this partnership, we’re looking to increase our presence in Australia using Lebara Australia’s subscriber base which will now have access to the best of Indian entertainment on any device of their choice,” continues Anand.

    Ash Saini, General Manager, Lebara Australia, said “We are thrilled to have partnered with ZEE5 in Australia and we cannot wait for all our users to sample the huge library of content that ZEE5 has to offer.”  

    “With a huge appetite for Indian entertainment amongst our ethnic market, we are very excited to launch our bundles with ZEE5 subscriptions and we aim to ensure that every individual on the go uses ZEE5 as a one stop destination to consume the best of Indian entertainment,” continues Saini.  

    ZEE5 is available using Samsung Smart TVs, Apple TV, Android TVs and Amazon Fire TV, and via Google Play Store, iOS App Store andwww.zee5.com.
     

  • Netflix rolls out new ‘Latest’ tab to alert subscribers about upcoming shows

    Netflix rolls out new ‘Latest’ tab to alert subscribers about upcoming shows

    MUMBAI: Streaming giant Netflix has rolled out a new feature designed to alert subscribers about what’s new and coming soon on the platform. The new move will allow members to explore all the latest additions to the service and also get a sneak peek at what they’ll be watching next.

    According to a Netflix blog, the new ‘Latest’ tab, located on the left side navigation bar, will break titles down into three helpful new categories: ‘New This Week,’ ‘Coming This Week,’ and ‘Coming Next Week.’ The three rows will reach across all content areas like drama, comedy, horror, docs, foreign, original, licensed and even kids’ content.

    Moreover, users will now be able to click a ‘Remind me’ button on specific upcoming titles to receive a notification when they are available to stream.

    The feature which was launched in August will continue to be rolled out by the company on eligible devices over the next few weeks. The ‘latest’ tab will be available on all Netflix enabled devices, including many game consoles and Roku devices while Smart TVs and others will get this upgrade in the coming months.

  • Unlock the power of brand amplification with ZEE5’s ampli5

    Unlock the power of brand amplification with ZEE5’s ampli5

    MUMBAI: ZEE5, India’s fastest growing ConTech brand has launched a unique brand amplification tool called ‘Ampli5’, a one of its kind offering from ZEE5’s industry defining Ad-suite stack. Ampli5, as the name suggests, will strengthen brand loyalty, and improve sales conversions by helping brands execute high impact campaigns with the help of Influencer engagement, Social marketing, Branded content, Content marketing and Integration.

    A powerful brand story instils a sense of bigger purpose that is beyond the product or service being offered. With the help of Ampli5, brands will be able to evaluate what type of content works best for them; images vs video, short form vs long form, listicle vs standard editorial. By understanding what users respond best to, brands will be able to adapt their content strategy and improve the effectiveness of the campaign which can be easily tracked and optimised.

    Taranjeet Singh, Chief Revenue Officer and Business Head, ZEE5 India said, “We are thrilled with the initial response received from brands who used Ampli5 to enhance their presence in a cluttered digital market. Launch of Ampli5 and other offerings as part of the ad-suite fortifies our commitment to invest in the latest and relevant ad tech to give advertisers the best solutions for building brands, reaching their target consumer in the most cost-efficient manner and in a brand safe environment.”

    Ampli5 is the first of many offerings that ZEE5 has launched as part of its ‘Ad-suite’ offering for brands and the advertising ecosystem at large. The innovative advertising solutions from ZEE5’s Ad-suite coupled with the large and loyal consumer base of ZEE5 will help brands segment and target their consumers in an efficient manner to achieve their brand goals & boost imagery.  

    In 2019 itself, ZEE5, India’s fastest growing ConTech brand has rolled out around 25 original shows across genres, and the platform is committed to launching 72+ shows by March 2020.  It has crossed 50 million+ gross downloads since launch on the Play Store and had 76.4 million global monthly active users globally as of June 2019.

    Some of the original content launched so far include widely acclaimed Kaafir, Rejctx – new age thriller drama, Barot House – a suspense drama film and Posham Pa – psychological thriller to name a few. In the launch pipeline includes, Jamai 2.0 – a romantic thriller starring Ravi Dubey and Nia Sharma which is a digital sequel of popular Television series Jamai Raja, Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala – an Indian romantic comedy web series starring Divyanka Tripathi and Rajeev Khandelwal, Mission Over Mars (MOM) – Sakshi Tanwar, Mona Singh led drama series and Bhram – featuring Kalki Koechlin and many more.

  • Unravelling The Digital Video Consumer-Looking Through The Viewer Lens

    Unravelling The Digital Video Consumer-Looking Through The Viewer Lens

    MUMBAI: Eros Now, a premier Indian OTT entertainment platform with more than 155 million registered users and KPMG in India, a multinational professional services network, showcased an in-depth report on India’s OTT market at FICCI FAST TRACK INDIA 2019 in Mumbai. The study projects that India will have more than 500 million online video subscribers by FY 2023 making it the second biggest market in the world only after China. As per the study, 87% of users in India consume their content on mobile phones and spend an average time of about 70 minutes per day on OTT platforms. 

    The varied and innovative offerings blended with superlative services will let OTT platforms cater to the growing market. Eros Now, which is known for its extensive movie library apart from offering originals, digital movie premieres and short-format content ‘Quickie’, has been a leading OTT platform satiating increasing consumer demands across device forms like Smart TVs, tabs and so on.

    The KPMG and Eros Now study highlights interesting facets for the Indian OTT market:

    Love for films: Indians continue to love their movies and movie related content; 30% of the respondents prefer watching movies on OTT platforms.

    Original content as a differentiator – Original and exclusive Indian content is one of the biggest drivers in the OTT space. Quality Indian narratives are traveling beyond the South Asian audiences around the world. The massive base of digital content consumers prefers new stories that this country must tell.

    Online video transcending geographies – Distribution ecosystem is set to become stronger. Role of value chain partners like OEM, DTH, ISPs and Telcos is likely to grow as creators look at multiple avenues to reach the end consumer.

    Innovations in pricing to boost subscriptions – New user profiles indicate that companies have to focus on smaller towns and rural markets as a sustainable business model would need to be anchored by small town viewers and eventually subscribers.

    Fostering multi-format consumption and engagement – Short-format video content, movie premieres, documentaries, original music and other formats enable OTT players to engage diverse sets of online video consumers. Today, audiences look forward to enjoying varied content formats on digital platforms.

    In order to cater to consumer demands, Eros Now plans to invest to create new original shows for their platform. It has also introduced ‘TV Se Pehle’, wherein movies premiere on the platform prior to their satellite broadcast and started to offer original short-format content. Soon, Eros Now plans to launch over 50 short form original series under its ‘Eros Now Quickies' category. The premium Indian OTT player’s several strategic brand associations has enabled the app to be available in smaller towns of the country and in over 135 countries across the globe.

    Commenting on the key trends and insights Rishika Lulla Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Eros Digital, said, “India is one of the fastest growing entertainment and media market globally and is expected to keep that momentum. As data and digital infrastructure has become exceedingly accessible even in small cities of India, the market for OTT has widened enormously. At Eros Now, we strive to constantly engage the existing consumers and expand our reach by offering new and innovative services.”

    Girish Menon, Partner & Head Media & Entertainment, KPMG in India, said, “The online video consumer in India has evolved in a significant way in the last couple of years. With consumption now going mass and viewers spending close to 8.5 hours a week on online video, we see a homogenous pattern of consumption emerging cutting across age groups, income levels and professions. Our report also touches upon the future of this consumption evolution, and how online video could potentially disrupt traditional distribution in the coming years. This represents a large opportunity for platforms to tap into the ever-expanding universe of digitally connected Indians”

    The increasing internet penetration and access to digital infrastructure across India make it an important market for the OTT industry. The KPMG report is a testament that content innovation, services across device forms and partnerships has established Eros Now as a key player and will further strengthen its position in the growing market.

  • OTT video can bring about cord-cutting in India sooner than expected

    OTT video can bring about cord-cutting in India sooner than expected

    MUMBAI: Despite the popularity and endless love for movies and catch-up content among Indian consumers, original content is emerging as an important category for online video viewers. However, traditional content categories like movies and related content like catch-up TV content dominate the current consumption trend on online video viewing probably due to limited supply of originals in contrast to library content.

    In a report by Eros Now and KPMG India based on a survey carried out among 1458 OTT users in 16 cities of India, it has been revealed that 10 per cent of respondents prefer watching original content online given the current availability of the category standing at less than one per cent of overall content. Moreover, the preference for original content was consistent among all age groups proving that the category is no longer limited to millennial audience. The survey also revealed that 30 per cent of respondents prefer original content while 22 per cent prefer catch-up content.

    “If you look at television, there are hundreds of channels, there are 8-10 Hindi GECs and in each language there are multiple GECs, each channel targeting same consumers. In a situation like that, there isn't any major differentiation in the content being offered. The question at this stage of evolution of digital platform is that you need to differentiate against other platforms or TV. Right now the effort is to take time away from TV to OTT because the consumer has a limited time available on hand,” KPMG India media and entertainment partner and head Girish Menon commented in a press meet.

    “It came out in the survey that most consumers are using these platforms to consume catch-up content. Therefore the same level of brand awarness that exists between TV channels is existing between the platforms at this point because majority of the content is library content. If you see the content that is being consumed other than movies it is TV content, sports and original content. Original and exclusive content will trigger cord-cutting also,” he added.

    The study also emphasised on the fact that freshness and uniqueness of content are the key determining factors for installation and uninstallation of apps along with respondents subscribing to platforms as nearly 87 per cent of the respondents install an app considering the quality of content.

    30 per cent of the respondents prefer watching content in languages other than Hindi and English. The preference for content consumption is significant in the native languages across large parts of the country, with South India observed to be the most loyal to their native tongue.

    Online video platforms are truly going mass as the Indian OTT viewer spends approximately 70 mins per day on online video platforms, with a consumption frequency of 12.5 times a week i.e. more than once a day. Viewers are also accessing ~2.5 platforms at a given time. While the customer sets are fairly heterogeneous, there is a trend of homogeneity that was observed in terms of consumption frequency and duration across age groups, income levels and genders.

    The report also revealed that OTT video could usher in cord cutting sooner than expected. While 38 per cent of the respondents could consider cord-cutting in the future as they responded to their entertainment needs being fully met online, 14 per cent of the respondents considered subscription to online video platforms as an alternative to TV subscription.

    “Cord-cutting because of regulator set up, quality of content, VAS, that transition in India will potentially jump the curve in the US,” Eros Now COO Ali Hussein said in the press meet.

    The importance of telco platforms for the distribution of online video content has again been proved in the survey as three out of ten respondents viewed online video on telco platforms. Jio TV emerged as the platform with the highest usage with Airtel TV being a distant second. The report also added that integrated telco billing is one of the factors that is likely to help drive VOD subscriptions in the future despite the fact that SVOD users preferred dire usage of specific platforms.

    "It benefits immensely. I am getting subscriber, money, time-spent, viewership. 80-85 per cent of this country will continue to be bundled market because of the price consciousness," Hussein added.

    OTT is increasingly becoming anywhere-anytime phenomenon as nearly 87 per cent of the respondents consumed content on their mobile phones, with nearly 28 per cent of the respondents consuming content during the traditional office hours of 10 am-6 pm.

  • SonyLIV partners with IndiGo airlines to deliver a superior in-flight entertainment experience

    SonyLIV partners with IndiGo airlines to deliver a superior in-flight entertainment experience

    MUMBAI: SonyLIV, India’s first premium video on demand (VOD) platform has announced a strategic partnership with India’s leading airline – IndiGo in a clutter breaking move in the Indian OTT category. For the first time ever, patrons of the airline will be able to access SonyLIV’s 30,000 hours of content catalogue at a weekly subscription pack. Starting today, this offer is available for all passengers flying Indigo to locations across India.

    Catering to over 70 million monthly active users, SonyLIV is home to award-winning English shows like Power, The Good Doctor, Counterpart, The Spanish Princess, Britannia, Victoria along with a string of acclaimed Hindi originals like Gullak, Heartbreak Hotel, Holycross and 16 amongst others. The platform recently launched over 4000 hours of binge-worthy content in Tamil and Telugu spanning films, web originals and shows. With a slew of sporting events lined up next and the 11th season of Kaun Banega Crorepati going live on SonyLIV, there’s a lot to catch up for IndiGo’s horde of customers at just Rs 25/-.

    To avail this exclusive pack, IndiGo Airlines will provide a subscription link to its passengers for first-time download. Once the transaction is closed, passengers will enjoy unlimited access to SonyLIV's premium content catalogue, even offline for the next 7 days.

  • Shemaroo hopes to grow at 38% CAGR over the next few years

    Shemaroo hopes to grow at 38% CAGR over the next few years

    MUMBAI: For the last three-four quarters, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd has been guiding for softer margins due to investments in multiple initiatives. Among other initiatives, the new streaming service ShemarooMe and device business have also left an overall impact due to the higher investment. However, the company hopes to reap benefit from the new initiatives both in terms of margin and top-line. Despite some cyclical issues, the company hopes to grow at 38 per cent CAGR or higher over the next few years.

    “If you see even for this quarter, the people expenses are up by about 40 per cent. Other expenses are up by 50 per cent. So, there is a certain investment that is being done. There are certain cyclical aspects, how long they will last? We do not know. So, it is very difficult for me to guide for the rest of the year because the economy is in a certain state,” Shemaroo Entertainment CEO Hiren Gada commented in an earnings call after Q1 FY 19 results.

    But he also noted that over the last several decades of being in business, they have seen many cycles which have been regarded as opportunities to actually build longer-lasting and better return businesses.

    While new media growth also slowed down to 25 per cent from 35 per cent, the telecom segment contributed 40 to 45 per cent to the overall revenue and the rest of the contribution was equally split between YouTube and syndication having 27 to 30 per cent. Though YouTube and syndication both continue to grow more or less equally fast, Gada hopes that over the next few quarters, ShemarooMe also will kick-in in terms of monetisation and revenue.

    “Telco piece is now in a phase where that business is transitioning from a feature phone product to the smartphone; the market itself is transitioning from feature phone to smartphone. So, that is the whole aspect of that business. So, that business in a way you can say will be shrinking over the next few quarters,” Gada added.

    Despite overall growth in the YouTube segment, the growth in revenue has been significantly lower compared to viewership growth as the realisations on a CPM basis, the ad rate basis continue to fall.

    “So, this quarter, definitely YouTube has at least grown or come back into the growth trajectory or rather, I would say remained in the growth trajectory which it was towards the end of last year that has continued. So, that is one thing, in terms of the overall growth of digital media, I think one is that the base is now significantly higher. So, definitely that base effect is bound to kick in. That is one reason for the slowdown,” Gada added.

    Shemaroo recently launched its over-the-top platform ShemarooMe in a market where more than 30 players are trying to win over consumers. Rather than creating web series or acquiring the latest and greatest movie blockbusters, Shemaroo has focused on segmenting the audience based on consumer needs.

  • IBC 2019: Synamedia to show how it helps direct-to-consumer providers win top billing for live and VOD streaming services

    IBC 2019: Synamedia to show how it helps direct-to-consumer providers win top billing for live and VOD streaming services

    MUMBAI: At IBC 2019 Synamedia will shine a spotlight on how its offerings help media companies and sports rights holders deliver a new generation of direct-to-consumer (D2C) services centred increasingly around live assets.

    Synamedia’s video network technologies, security offerings, and Infinite cloud-based platform are designed to help customers cut through the three major obstacles to delivering premium D2C services: streaming broadcast-quality live programs cost-effectively and at scale; the scourge of streaming piracy; and the desire to build a sustainable, profitable business faster. With live streaming, every second counts. Synamedia’s video network technologies deliver close to broadcast-equivalent latency and quality for live streaming. With its glass-to-glass portfolio, Synamedia is continually refining its technologies to reduce latencies at every stage of the workflow – and meet the industry goal of synchronized latency across broadcast and streamed content.

    Synamedia also supports D2C operators’ efforts to control streaming costs. The firm’s Smart Rate Control encoding algorithms minimize bandwidth requirements, while its private CDN platform gives customers the option of reducing, or removing entirely, their dependency on more expensive third-party public CDNs.  Synamedia also offers on-premise, public cloud and hybrid deployments to realize the benefits of cloud elasticity while being able to adapt to specific deployment, operational and cost constraints.

    Also integral to Synamedia’s D2C offering are market-leading security solutions and services that preserve the value of premium content rights and prevent revenue decimation. These include: the Streaming Piracy Disruption managed service; the world-leading Operational Security (OpSec) service; and Credentials Sharing Insight.

    Synamedia’s Infinite platform, which already underpins direct-to-consumer OTT services from major pay-TV customers, provides a frictionless path for D2C providers upgrading first-generation solutions, as well as supporting new market entrants. It allows customers to quickly launch, scale and monetize D2C services cost-effectively across borders, accelerating the time to profitability. Infinite supports advanced cloud-based content aggregation and search and recommendations for a highly personalized user experience. It also allows service providers to operate multiple franchise and brands, making it easy to give each service its own distinct look and feel while benefiting from the economies of scale and operational efficiencies of a single platform.

    “The D2C streaming market is in a massive state of flux. Big names are entering the fray, intensifying competition for eyeballs. And premium live streaming services are growing in importance, inevitably attracting the attention of pirates set on stealing these assets. There is also financial pressure to nurture profitable streaming business models that have longevity. At IBC we will showcase how we can help customers build a profitable streaming business that scales effortlessly across borders and devices – and will outlast the competition,” said Jean-Marc Racine, chief product officer, Synamedia.

    Synamedia is one of the anchor exhibitors in the Content Everywhere hall (hall 14, stand C.41).