ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Eros Now partners with netgem.tv, further consolidating its leading position in Global Markets

    Eros Now partners with netgem.tv, further consolidating its leading position in Global Markets

    MUMBAI: Eros International PLC (NYSE:EROS) (“Eros”), a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, announced today that Eros Now, its cutting-edge digital over-the-top (OTT) South Asian entertainment platform has partnered with netgem.tv, the fast-growing TV service offered in the UK which is delivering the best customer TV experience with a global presence. netgem.tv simplify the access to entertainment using an immersive User Interface allowing enhanced content discovery, whether it is from a remote control, a simple app on phone, or through voice control for the Connected Home.

    Eros Now, the premium Indian OTT player, is on a spree of expanding its global reach to deliver quality content and with this partnership, it will be further spreading its presence in countries such as France, Ireland, Australia, Switzerland, Gibraltar and many more, where netgem.tv is providing its services. Eros Now is the only South Asian OTT platform available on netgem.tv for all Bollywood lovers residing abroad.

    Commenting on the partnership, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO – Eros Digital said, “Eros Now and netgem.tv share a similar focus and aim at providing user friendly experience to consumers. Hence, it is a win-win partnership with netgem.tv as through this partnership Eros Now looks at expanding its global presence and further enhance consumer experience. Our aim remains to deliver quality content and user delight to our global audience and this partnership strengthens our core promise”.

    Sylvain Thevenot, Managing Director of netgem.tv said “This partnership is great news for netgem.tv and Eros Now. Both brands share a common goal of providing the best content with a flawless consumer experience. At netgem.tv, we are excited to be taking our transformative proposition of personalised, on-demand and online entertainment to a wider audience. With the fantastic Eros Now content, associated with our experience that can be enjoyed anywhere, any time, we are confident that this is another step ahead to offer the most comprehensive TV proposition in the UK and other markets”

    Eros Now currently holds 142 million registered users and with similar partnerships, aims at growing their user base on a global scale.

  • Spotify gets over 1 mn people hooked within a week in India

    Spotify gets over 1 mn people hooked within a week in India

    MUMBAI: Within a week of its launch in India, Swedish music streaming platform Spotify has earned over one million users, the company shared.

    "One week since its launch, Spotify now has more than one million Indian users, across both its Free and Premium tiers," a company spokesperson told IANS.

    The Spotify app, which is available on mobile, desktop and tablet, is free to download and users need to spend Rs 119 a month to upgrade to Spotify Premium. It is currently offering more than four crore songs and 300 crore playlists for music fans in Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu languages among others.

  • ZEE5 deepens its presence in Malaysia with Celcom in partnership with Apigate

    ZEE5 deepens its presence in Malaysia with Celcom in partnership with Apigate

    MUMBAI: In a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today, Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer-ZEE5 Global announced ZEE5’s partnership with Celcom, Malaysia’s premier and most experienced telecom operator.

    This partnership will provide Celcom customers a secure and convenient payment mode, through Apigate’s Direct Carrier Billing API, to subscribe to ZEE5’s rich content bouquet.

    ZEE5, which is a part of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) offers 100,000 hours of Indian Movies, TV Shows, News, Videos and exclusive Originals, across 12 languages including Hindi, English, Bengali, Punjabi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri and Gujarati. It also offers 60+ popular Live TV channels, including ZEE’s best loved channels.

    This collaboration brings the range of ZEE5’s exciting content, including top Tamil TV Shows like Sembaruthi, Poove Poochoodava and Yaaradi Nee Mohini, ZEE5 Tamil Originals including Kallachirippu, America Mapillai and D7 as well as recent blockbusters like Mersal and Kalavu to Celcom customers. The bouquet also includes Bollywood blockbusters like Kedarnath and Veere Di Wedding as well as dubbed Originals like Abhay (Kunal Kemmu), Final Call (Arjun Rampal) and Rangbaaz (Saqib Saleem).

    “We have an extremely aggressive global rollout plan charted out for ZEE5 over the next fiscal and ensuring we have the most relevant partnerships in place is a key element of that. Malaysia is a high focus market for us, given its huge affinity for Indian and South Asian content and growing appetite for online video content. We will soon be launching content in international languages too including Malay, and we are extremely glad to partner with a key local operator like Celcom to jointly grow the opportunity in this market,“ said Amit Goenka, CEO, ZEE International and Z5 Global

    “As we rapidly expand our partnerships across the Globe, we’re happy to announce Celcom as our first partnership in the South East Asian region. We’re already seeing a strong response in Malaysia, and partnering with a leading telecom operator like Celcom will enable us to quickly scale up awareness and access to ZEE5 among their huge customer base,”  adds Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer- ZEE5 Global

    Zoran Vasiljev, Chief Executive Officer, Apigate said, “Online Video streaming is a booming opportunity and we are excited to partner with a fast-growing platform like ZEE5 to enable their global expansion starting with Celcom in Malaysia”

  • Hotstar and Applause partner for the first slate of Hotstar Specials

    Hotstar and Applause partner for the first slate of Hotstar Specials

    MUMBAI: India's leading OTT, Hotstar recently announced its foray into digital content for a billion screens with Hotstar Specials. For its initial slate of soon to be launched Specials, it has partnered with Applause Entertainment, the content studio from the Aditya Birla Group. The four shows in the initial slate are – Criminal Justice, The Office, Hostages and City Of Dreams. 

    With over 15 crore monthly active users and growing, Hotstar is the country's biggest OTT by a distance. Earlier this year, it announced its next big leap in content with Hotstar Specials helmed by India's leading creative talent. The four shows that will be rolled out as Hotstar Specials mark the coming together of some of India’s most talented entertainment professionals.

    Tigmanshu Dhulia and Vishal Furia’s Criminal Justice, the Indian adaptation of the hit British series, will feature Vikrant Massey, Pankaj Tripathi, Mita Vashisht, Anupriya Goenka and Jackie Shroff in leading roles. Rohan Sippy & Debbie Rao and Vivek Bhushan have helmed the Indian adaptation of the international cult comedy The Office, which features an exciting ensemble cast. City Of Dreams has Nagesh Kukunoor directing Atul Kulkarni, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Eijaz Khan, Priya Bapat and Siddharth Chandekar in a political drama, set in Mumbai. The widely acclaimed international thriller, Hostages is directed by Sudhir Mishra with Ronit Roy, Tisca Chopra and Parvin Dabas playing pivotal parts.

    Hotstar Specials will be available in 7 major Indian languages leveraging the platform's unmatched reach across the country and will also be accessible to Hotstar's global audiences.

    Speaking about the partnership Sanjay Gupta, MD Star India said "With Hotstar Specials we hope to create the biggest Indian stories delivered to a billion screens. To bring this vision alive we are proud to partner with Applause Entertainment on our first set of Specials."

    Added Sameer Nair, CEO, Applause Entertainment, “Hotstar is the leader of the streaming services in India and a perfect partner for us. We hope to entertain their audiences, to contribute in a small way to help achieve their business objectives and to ink a deeper, longer-term creative relationship with them.”

    Over the past year, Applause Entertainment has developed a robust and varied pipeline of shows, and is constantly improving on processes and systems to be able to deliver high quality creative output at scale.

    Hotstar Specials are slated to launch starting March 2019, on the back of VIVO IPL which will stream exclusively on Hotstar.

  • Vodafone Idea and ShemarooME announce an exclusive content partnership

    Vodafone Idea and ShemarooME announce an exclusive content partnership

    MUMBAI: Vodafone Idea, India’s leading telecom operator, today announced a strategic partnership with Shemaroo Entertainment’s newly launched video streaming service – ShemarooMe. As a part of this exclusive partnership, subscribers of Vodafone Play and Idea Movies & TV apps will have full access to Shermaroo’s content library across Bollywood, Devotion, Kids and other such genres and languages.

    ShemarooMe has a wide array of content offerings spanning various genres like Movies, shows, music, plays, devotional, kids and similar in Gujarati and many more languages.  This partnership will give all the fans of Gujarati content access to over 400+ latest Gujarati nataks, blockbuster movies and much more through ShemarooMe. The ShemarooMe Gujarati content offering includes movies like Chhello Divas, Gujjubhai the Great, Sharto lagu, Natsamrat, Thai Jashe, and plays like Gujjubhai Banya Dabang, Mari wife Mary Kom, Gujjubhai ni Golmaal and many more. All these titles are likely to reach new viewers through this association.

    Talking about the partnership, Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing officer, Vodafone Idea Limited said, “We are excited to partner with Shemaroo Entertainment to provide rich curated content across genres to our customers. Through this partnership our customers will get access to the best quality Gujarati content on the Vodafone Play and Idea Movies and TV apps exclusively. Our endeavor is to provide our customers with authentic entertainment keeping in mind their consumption pattern, culture and language preferences. We believe that video and regional content will be the key differentiator and its consumption will grow rapidly in the coming years, more so in the Gujarat market because of its affinity for watching Gujarati plays. We have been working towards strengthening our content offering and this partnership is a step further towards enriching our content portfolio.”

    Commenting on the partnership, Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited., said, “We are delighted to partner with Vodafone Idea. ShemarooMe has a huge plethora of content across genres and an unmatched offering of Gujarati content catering to the Asli fan of Indian content. Through partnerships like these, we wish to bring our content to the end-customers, and we are sure that the subscribers of Vodafone Play and Idea Movies & TV apps will thoroughly enjoy our offerings.”

    Vodafone Idea customers will get exclusive access on Vodafone Play and Idea Movies and TV apps for a period of one month.

  • VOOT announces season 2 of ‘Silsila Badalte Rishto ka’

    VOOT announces season 2 of ‘Silsila Badalte Rishto ka’

    MUMBAI: VOOT’s popular show ‘Silsila Badalte Rishto Ka’ which has been at the center of conversations is now going for a new season with a compelling new love story.  The marquee show that is a fan favorite has gained significant viewership after coming on to Voot and as an Exclusive series created by Voot Originals team it resulted in more than 2X growth in views. In the last 45 days alone It has  garnered 200 M plus views !

    ‘Silsila Badalte Rishto Ka’ known for its  brave and distinctive narrative of a forbidden love story is set to take a leap with a powerhouse cast of heart-throb Kunal Jaisingh, the beautiful Tejasswi Prakash and the talented Aneri Vajani essaying key roles as the next generation . Season 2 deals with the complex relationship decisions and dilemmas that all the young people face when needed to choose between commitment and true love . VOOT Original “Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka – Season 2 is set to go live on VOOT , starting 5th March 2019.

    Elaborating on the launch of the show, Monika Shergill – Content Head, Viacom18 Digital Ventures said “ As the only daily Original series across the entire digital landscape , Silsila has been a gamechanger by successfully doubling its audience on VOOT. On the back of its terrific performance and fandom we are very excited to now take it younger in season 2 and  explore all the relationship themes that are relevant to our huge youth TG on VOOT.”     

    The upcoming journey of the series is definitely set to get as much love and support from its viewers and create new milestones. So now, get ready to experience the changing face of your favorite show only on VOOT.

  • Contiloe launches its second state of the Art VFX Studio in India!

    Contiloe launches its second state of the Art VFX Studio in India!

    MUMBAI: Leading production house, Contiloe has changed the face of television since their inception two decades ago. Carrying this forward, Contiloe has now announced the launch of their second VFX Studio! Currently headquartered in Mumbai, the second facility is located in Bhubaneshwar and will start functioning 5th March 2019. Odisha is one of the primary source of the creative artist in Media & entertainment industry. 

    With this facility, the Contiloe team aims to provide a platform to nurture promising talent, mentor and groom them to create game-changing content across genres. Additionally, the team will go through training in the production house’s Bhubaneshwar & Mumbai facility.

    The VFX studio will be currently operating from a 5000 square foot facility, however, plan to expand this to 1.5 lakh square feet.

    “Today there is increasing demand for quality content strengthened by advanced visual effect, both in the domestic and international market. We understand this growing need and the facility is set to with the intention of offering exceptional Animation and World Class VFX. Riding on the creative talent that resides in Orissa, we believe will help us create skilled talent for the animation and visual effects industry.”, said Abhimanyu Singh, Founder & CEO, Contiloe Pictures and Films    

  • Viu forays into South African market

    Viu forays into South African market

    MUMBAI: The over-the-top(OTT) platform Viu has officially entered South African market. Following this launch, Viu is now available in 17 countries. While Viu’s programming strategy always focuses on locally relevant premium content, South Africa is not an exception.

    The OTT platform which has entered partnerships with Etv, SABC will operate in freemium model and will offer local and original content also. Viu has already licensed South Africa’s most watched local shows and users can watch the country’s leading productions such as Imbewu, Uzalo, Scandal, SkeemSaam.

    “We are excited to be bringing a truly ‘freemium’ video streaming service anchored on local content to South Africa. Through our partnerships with Etv, SABC, and Vodacom, we have built an ecosystem that makes it easier for audiences to engage with our platform. The app is available in the IOS app store, Google Play and in the Huawei app gallery,” Viu SA country manager Ryan Solovei said.

    Viu has also partnered with Vodacom to provide greater access to customers with innovative products. The Viu Premium subscription is available at R69 per month, R20 a week or R5 per day.  

    “Vodacom entered into a strategic partnership with Vuclip over three years ago with the aim of providing a wide range of quality entertainment across various customer segments. Based on the success of Vuclip short form content as well as our Video Play service, we have made the strategic decision to enhance our video portfolio though the launch of Viu, to continue providing local and international premium content to our South African market,” Vodacom group digital and fixed services officer Zunaid Mahomed said.

  • Disney eyes 10% stake in Hulu

    Disney eyes 10% stake in Hulu

    MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company wants to have a grip on the US streaming service Hulu. According to reports, Disney is in active discussions with AT&T to acquire the 10 per cent stake that WarnerMedia owns in the streaming platform.

    Disney holds 30 per cent stake in the WarnerMedia Company, combined with another 30 per cent deal with Fox which is finalied and if it succeeds in convincing AT&T, Disney will own 70 per cent of Hulu.

    According to the reports that originated in Variety, Disney’s intentions are to keep Hulu as an adult-oriented, general entertainment hub, while its forthcoming Disney+ SVoD service will complement it as a family-friendly platform. Disney would also likely seek to expand Hulu into international markets.

    NBCUniversal's CEO Steve Burke revealed back in January that Disney also wanted to buy the 30 percent stake the media conglomerate owns, but the company wasn't looking to sell. Disney's offer for AT&T's portion won't fall on deaf ears, though: AT&T has been thinking of selling WarnerMedia's portion to prepare for its own streaming service's launch later this year. 

  • Voot, EROS Now part of UK’s first ever on-demand Asian TV apps pack by Virgin TV

    Voot, EROS Now part of UK’s first ever on-demand Asian TV apps pack by Virgin TV

    MUMBAI: Virgin TV has become the UK’s first ever Pay TV provider to add an on-demand library of films and shows through two Asian entertainment apps.

    The Desi App Pack, which Virgin TV customers can add to their package from Thursday 28th February 2019, brings together two of India’s biggest entertainment apps – Eros Now and Voot – into an easy to access apps pack that allows TV viewers to watch a range of shows and movies at a click of a button.

    There are multiple hours of content for viewers to watch which is available in more than 10 languages.

    Voot is home to exclusive original productions including It’s Not That Simple, Feet Up with the Stars and hit shows Bigg Boss, Khatron Ke Khiladi, Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka amongst others and over 400 movies.

    Eros Now has a blockbuster library of more than 12,000 films including original productions such as Operation Cobra and Enaaya.

    Those who currently have Asian Mela TV as part of their subscription can add the service for just £6 per month. It is £12 per month for all other customers.

    Customers can add the service though their TV set box or over the phone. To access the Desi App Pack, customers will need a V6 box and go to channel 800 and press the red button on their remote.

    Over the past year Virgin TV has invested and bolstered its Asian TV offering with new channels and upgraded many standard definition channels to HD.

    David Bouchier, Chief Digital Entertainment Officer at Virgin Media, said: “We designed our V6 TV box to work seamlessly with on demand apps such as Netflix and to maximise the power of our fibre network for instantaneous access to the limitless programming available on demand. The addition of the Desi apps further strengthens our lead in the on demand viewing experience”

    Commenting on the integration deal, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO – Eros Digital said: “With increasing consumption of cross border content and popularity of Indian films, we are excited to announce our collaboration with Virgin Media. Eros Now is the largest South Asian Video Service with close to 16M paid subscriber’s world over and the United Kingdom is one of our primary international markets. We are happy to cater to this growing community with best of Indian content and remain focused on expanding our global presence by exploring opportunities to connect with local audiences.”

    Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO & MD, Viacom18 said: “The UK consists of a vibrant Asian diaspora and is indeed one of our stronger overseas markets. Virgin TV’s Desi Apps pack is a winning proposition for all involved – consumers can now view the best of entertainment, on demand on VOOT, and it opens up an entire range of audiences for our content as well.”