ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Eros Now partners with Leading Indian Online Supermarket Grofers to Grow Customer Base

    Eros Now partners with Leading Indian Online Supermarket Grofers to Grow Customer Base

    MUMBAI: Eros International PLC (NYSE:EROS) (“Eros”), a leading global company in the Indian filmed entertainment industry, announced today that Eros Now, it’s cutting-edge digital over-the-top (OTT) South Asian entertainment platform, has entered into a partnership with Grofers, a leading Indian online supermarket. As part of the association, Grofers’ Smart Bachat Club (SBC) Annual Plan will now have access to Eros Now’s rich library of over 11,000 film titles, original shows and music videos. The offer is available to both, existing and new customers of Grofers SBC annual pack subscribers, which is currently priced at 449 Rupees per year.

    Launched in January this year, Grofers Smart Bachat Club, is the first of its kind and now the biggest loyalty program in the grocery segment. The membership-based service enrolled 50,000 members within the first two weeks of its launch and currently has over 500,000 subscribers. The program gives consumers access to over 3,000 products at wholesale prices. Apart from this, Smart Bachat Club members get special discounts and cashback offers during sale days including exclusive bank offers. The subscribers are also eligible to avail lower prices when they shop for dairy, fruits and vegetables and pharmacy at offline stores that are part of the Smart Bachat Club network.

    Commenting on the partnership, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO, Eros Digital said, “It is an exciting development for Eros Now to join hands with Grofers – India’s leading low price online supermarket.  Processing and sharing large quantities of data has led to some significant disruptions in the design of business models, especially in the Indian retail sector. With Grofers’ extensive customer reach, we are looking at expanding our subscriber base and giving them access to our compelling and engaging content. Always being ahead of the curve, this partnership further reaffirms Eros Now’s leadership position with regards to unique marketing tie-ups”

    Commenting on the partnership, Albinder Dhindsa, Co-founder and CEO of Grofers said, “We are delighted to partner with Eros Now, as a part of our endeavor to reach out more and more consumers with Smart Bachat Club, a first of its kind and now the most successful grocery loyalty program in the country.  Since its start in January 2018, SBC has given a strong boost to our business. The subscription offering, where the customer pays in advance for special pricing on items has crossed half a million subscribers already and is expected to touch one million by 2018 end.”

  • HBO asia partners with Viu on viu original “The Bridge”

    HBO asia partners with Viu on viu original “The Bridge”

    MUMBAI: Today, HBO Asia and Viu, a leading OTT Video service by PCCW and Vuclip, announce that the Viu Original “The Bridge” licensed by Endemol Shine Group, will be available on HBO Asia’s channels and services throughout Asia. From November 26th, 2018, the show will be available day and date on Viu in all available markets and on HBO, HBO GO and HBO ON DEMAND in the following countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Fans of Viu Originals will now have the opportunity to view this latest adaptation of global phenomenon, “The Bridge,” on multiple platforms.

    “HBO Asia is committed to quality original local programming and working with Viu on ‘The Bridge’ is another step towards that,” said Jonathan Spink, CEO, HBO Asia. “This adaptation of ‘The Bridge’ will add to our ever-growing line up of Asian Original content that will resonate with audiences in the region and around the world.”

    “Our approach is not just to produce great content, but also continue investing in the local ecosystem by providing a platform for sustained growth. It is great to partner with HBO Asia on the Bridge, because they share our vision and passion when it comes to Original content,” said Kingsley Warner, Country Manager Malaysia and Executive Producer of The Bridge, Malaysia and Singapore.

    Viu is working with longtime partner, Double Vision, to produce a Malaysia-Singapore localised, ten-episode adaptation of global phenomenon, The Bridge, starring Bront Palarae, Rebecca Lim, Cheryl Samad and Tony Eusoff. The Bridge will be directed by Lee Thean-jeen and Jason Chong. A body is found on the border of two countries, Malaysia and Singapore, forcing an investigator from each country to work together to solve the case. This is a licensed format from international production and distribution house, Endemol Shine Group and is a compelling storyline which lends itself to great localization.

    The Bridge (Bron/Broen) was originally created and written by Hans Rosenfeldt as a joint production of Sweden’s Filmlance International, part of Endemol Shine Group and Denmark’s Nimbus Film. The Bridge (Bron/Broen) was produced in co-production with Sveriges Television, DR, ZDF German Television network, ZDF Enterprises Gmbh, Film i Skåne, NRK, Copenhagen Film Fund, Lumiere Group, Stiftelsen Ystad Österlen Filmfond, with from Norvision and in co-operation with Malmö Stad.

  • Viu launches music-filled comedy on freedom of speech: ‘banned’

    Viu launches music-filled comedy on freedom of speech: ‘banned’

    MUMBAI: Viu India, a leading OTT platform, is set to entertain Viuers with the launch of its recent most music-filled comedy series ‘Banned’. Produced by ‘Bodhi Tree’, the series will take audiences on the rollercoaster journey of four ‘Punjabi jatts’ who get stuck in a political conundrum for an antisocial act in their music video; putting the spotlight on freedom of speech.

    The series includes songs by the talented singers from the Bollywood industry, Shashwat Singh and Vivek Hariharan. The star cast includes Paresh Pahuja, Sheetal Thakur, Sahil Anand, Deepak Kalra, Vivek Mushran among others.

    Commenting on the launch, Bimal Unnikrishnan, Head Content – Viu India said, “Our original series Banned focuses on freedom of speech. We pick subjects which focus on the topics that are interesting to millennials today and bring them to life with storylines that are engaging and fresh.”

    Embark on this journey of ‘Banned’ every Friday, only on Viu.

  • Airtel, Netflix enter strategic partnership

    Airtel, Netflix enter strategic partnership

    MUMBAI: Adding to the OTT-telecom deal list is the partnership between global Netflix and Airtel in India. Airtel subscribers of select postpaid and V-Fiber Home Broadband plans will be able to enjoy free streaming of Netflix for three months. After the free subscription period of three months, they will be able to pay for the platform using Airtel postpaid or home broadband bill.

    “Partnerships are at the core of Airtel’s DNA and we are delighted to expand our strategic relationship with Netflix. Affordable high speed data services and growing smart devices have created a massive opportunity, perhaps one of the biggest in the world, for the uptake of content – both local and global. We look forward to working closely with Netflix to leverage this huge potential and continue delighting customers with some amazing offerings,” Bharti Airtel MD and CEO Gopal Vittal said.

    Customers on eligible Airtel plans will be able to avail the opportunity through the Airtel TV app and the My Airtel app. Even customers not on plans eligible for this offer will be able to sign up or upgrade to claim this and pay for Netflix using their Airtel bill. It has also partnered to promote Netflix content through a dedicated row on the Airtel TV app.

    “We are delighted to expand our partnership with Airtel and combine the latest technologies and the best of entertainment. Be it Sacred Games, Ghoul or Stranger Things, more and more fans are watching on mobile so we’re bringing together Netflix’s award-winning TV shows and movies with Airtel’s amazing mobile and broadband networks. Airtel customers will enjoy the simplicity of one monthly bill for their Netflix subscription and Airtel postpaid/home broadband bill,” Netflix business development global head Bill Holmes said.

    Airtel, which is gradually losing ground to Jio is trying to get back in the race with several content deals. Recently, it struck an exclusive deal with ZEEL under which a select premium content from ZEE5 library will be available for Airtel consumers exclusively. The telco platform has an existing deal with Amazon Prime also. All these deals may bring more users to the network owing to the digital content portfolio. Meanwhile, Netflix is also trying to gain a stronger foothold in the Indian OTT market through new Indian originals and partnerships.

  • Malayalam web series Utsaha Ithihasam wins big at Seoul Webfest

    Malayalam web series Utsaha Ithihasam wins big at Seoul Webfest

    MUMBAI: The very first Seoul Webfest held on the 16th -18th August of this year, saw the showcasing of over 200 web series from across the world and the Malayalam web series Utsaha Ithihasam produced by Studio Mojo has won big at the Fest. Seoul Webfest is the first such web series festival in South Korea and North East Asia.

    Currently running on Zee 5, Utsaha Ithihasam, bagged the award for the ‘Best Dramedy (comedy drama), at the fest. Directed by the award-winning filmmaker Krishand, the series won many more nominations in the best actor, best actress, best art director, and supporting actor and actress categories.

    Based on a brief period in the life of two youngsters, the series was a crowd favourite amongst the international audience, present at the fest. The concept of the series revolves around existential nihilism, political incorrectness & relationship dynamics.

    An elated director Krishand of Utsaha Ithihasam shares his feelings, “The recognition of Utsaha Ithihasam amidst all the web series from across the globe as the best comedy drama is in fact a great honour for us. It would have been impossible without Studio Mojo to make these episodes possible at this scale. “

    The cast line up saw some upcoming names such as Rahul Rajagopal (lead male) and Pooja Eaju (lead female). Some other fresh faces who won some nominations include, Shyamin Giressh (supporting male) and Shweta Netam Khare (supporting female).

    The series was produced by the leading regional video entertainment network, Studio Mojo, founded by the former CEO of iStream.com. “We are delighted that Utsaha Ithihasam, our first web series in Malayalam has won it big at the Seoul Webfest. We are planning to do couple of new projects with Krishand including a full length bi-lingual feature film in Tamil and Malayalam,” says Radhakrishnan Ramachandran, Founder & CEO of Studio Mojo.

    With a winning round of applause and a promise to return with newer ventures, Utsaha Ithihasam, has been etched into the memories of the attendees of the first Seoul Webfest.

  • Arré Launches Arré Studio, ropes in veteran film-maker and ad-film man Harsh Dave

    Arré Launches Arré Studio, ropes in veteran film-maker and ad-film man Harsh Dave

    MUMBAI: In a little over two years of launch, Arré has created multiple fiction and reality show franchises and properties such as the hugely popular A.I.SHA My Virtual Girlfriend, Official Chukyagiri, Official CEOgiri, The Real High, I Don’t Watch TV, The Adventures of Abbaas Mastan, Arré Ho Ja Re-gender, This Week in Food, The Farm Life, which have won accolades globally at festivals such as the Webbys, LA Web Fest and the South Florida Web Festival.

    Furthering its original content play, Arré will now see the launch of some very large-scale shows and films in partnership with OTT platforms and broadcast television, across languages and genres, in addition to its repertoire on its own platform. The Studio is putting together a team comprising of domestic and international talent to help build creative scale and collaborate with the best across the world. 

    Veteran film-maker and ad-man Harsh Dave has joined Arré for its Studio venture as Executive Producer. Harsh will strengthen Arré Studio’s development and execution capabilities in the original content space.

    Harsh has been a production veteran and has a wide body of work across television, feature film production and advertising, spanning over two decades. He has produced popular television showssuch as Uttaran, Tumhari Disha and Rakhi and has been involved inthe line production of international feature films such as The Other End of the Line, Basmati Blues, and The Man Who Knew Infinity. Harsh’s advertising work includes producing commercials for a variety of global companies such as P&G, Unilever, PepsiCo, Renault, Hero, Samsung, and Diageo. 

    The original content market in India is expected to be a multi-billion-dollar opportunity. Indian and international OTT platforms have acknowledged original programming as the driving force for growth of subscribers and viewers. Broadcast television too, is looking for new idioms in entertainment programming. Arré is aiming to be a significant player in this space.

    Sanjay Ray Chaudhuri, Co-Founder and Creative Head, Arré, said, “We’re hugely excited about our Studio projects, which I believe could be breaking new ground in the original content space in India. We’re looking to put together a varied and exceptional talent pool for the venture, and I’m delighted to have Harsh join our team.”

    Ajay Chacko, Co-Founder and CEO, Arré, said, “Harsh brings with him tremendous amounts of experience and creative energy. His repertoire is fairly diverse and spans interesting work across TV, Bollywood, Hollywood and advertising. With him on board Arré Studio, we hope to double our efforts to bring high-quality entertainment to Indian and international audiences.”

    Harsh Dave said, “Arré has been quite cutting edge with respect to its originals slate on its platform and I’m excited about the next slate of projects which are bigger and better. We aim to become the country’s foremost studio in quality original programming and I’m delighted to be part of this journey.”

  • Eros Now driving Eros International growth

    Eros Now driving Eros International growth

    MUMBAI: The popularity of digital content has got traditional media scrambling to understand and shift to newer mediums. Leading production house Eros International’s digital arm is gradually emerging as the driving factor for the company’s growth given its Q1 result while its theatrical business revenue declined. Eros Now has not only seen a huge subscriber jump but also largely contributed to the record revenue digital and ancillary business. After gaining momentum in India, the company is seeing an influx of B2C subscribers from international markets boosting the platform’s overall growth.

    “International is starting to track in line, we just started with some independent state campaigns in the US and the UK over summer. So we are going to start seeing a lot more action from international,” Eros Digital CEO Rishika Lulla said in an earnings call. Along with international, India’s B2C conversions are happening earlier than expected since B2B2C was targetted first.

    Eros Now stands with 10.1 million paying subscribers as of 30 June. Initially, it did not opt for advertising so that people get accustomed to subscription. However, the company is also very confident about reaching its target of 16 million subscribers by the end of FY 2019.

    It is now looking at nonintrusive brand integration. Lulla said that though it has not integrated with any brand yet, the initial conversations with several brands are on. “We’d probably see something being rolled out within the next quarter and hopefully we will start seeing a bit more revenue recognition from that post one quarter,” she said.

    To scale up the digital business, the company is looking at a robust library including movies and originals. The target is to premiere minimum one to two movies in each week of a month leading to a total of 50 to 100 movies a year. In terms of originals, it is looking at 18 to 20 flagship originals, which is minimum one a month, and then two in some months. Other than flagship shows, the platform will have ‘normal originals’ also.

    While the number of originals will be increased, the cost will be adjusted from the allocated $250 million capex. The content production powerhouse is looking at a mix between the movie and digital content production. Since Eros Now is helping margins to build the scales may be tiled in favour of more original shows.

    “[For] the big tenfold movies, the cost has doubled and the box office of those movies are going down and thereby the other movies, the good script and the star cast, which are not being paid more are performing well and hence you have seen increase in the margins for those movies and less capex. That’s the reason [for] the less capex for those movies. Between that Rs 250 million allocated, we could allocate the capex for the originals,” Eros international executive chairman and CEO Kishore Lulla explained the strategy.

    Eros International is looking at spending $750 million for all its businesses in the next three years. Though the amount may seem huge but cash flow from the studio business, Eros Now, gives the company the confidence that it won’t enter negative cash flow in the average of three years.

  • Hotstar most popular video streaming platform, finds study

    Hotstar most popular video streaming platform, finds study

    MUMBAI: It’s a tough game for international OTT players to beat Hotstar in India. A study conducted by SEMrush found Hotstar crossed the mark of 35 million searches during April 2018 having a difference of over 30 million searches with Netflix. It revealed the dominance of Hotstar on all other online TV and entertainment platforms.

    Hotstar with its range of content in every domain including cinema, sports, English TV series, regional shows, serials has number of options to lure viewers. The OTT platform has outrun its global peers and domestic competitors in the Indian market including Netflix, Eros Now, YuppTV, BoxTV, and others.  The search volume trends for Hotstar showed that the platform gained maximum popularity in the months of June and September 2017, and broke records in April 2018.

    The study also revealed Game of Thrones(GoT) as the TV series with the highest search volume in India marking over 600,000 searches during the year 2017-18. Hotstar having the rights of this over popular show could have acquired high number of viewers. GoT became the TV series with most searches in India since the telecast of its 7th series in August 2017.

  • Ghoul, Netflix’s First Indian Horror Series, screens in Delhi in Association with the Jagran Film Festival

    Ghoul, Netflix’s First Indian Horror Series, screens in Delhi in Association with the Jagran Film Festival

    MUMBAI: Netflix Inc., the world’s leading internet entertainment service, hosted a special screening of their first ever horror series, GHOUL , in Delhi in association with world’s largest traveling film festival, Jagran Film Festival, on 23rd August, at Cinepolis Saket and launched the JagranPremiers (A Jagran Film Festival initiative).

    Based on Arabic folklore, GHOUL is set at a covert detention center at which military officials question and often torture suspected terrorists. Nida (Radhika Apte), a newly minted interrogator who turned in her own father as an anti-government activist, arrives at the center to discover that some of these terrorists are not of this world, and she must fight for not just the truth behind the military’s hyper-nationalist goals, but for her survival in the face of demons, both human and not.

    The event saw over 150 enthusiastic fans, media and influencers who experienced the chilling world of GHOUL before the rest of the world! All three episodes of Ghoul, starring Radhika Apte and Manav Kaul, will be available in all territories where Netflix is available on 24th August. GHOUL , produced in partnership with Phantom Films, Ivanhoe and Blumhouse, stars Radhika Apte and Manav Kaul and is Netflix’s first venture into the Horror genre in India.

  • QYOU aims to create content that will bring TV closer to digital

    QYOU aims to create content that will bring TV closer to digital

    MUMBAI: The future of the Indian entertainment market may be digital but the death of television is over-exaggerated. A recent survey conducted by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India found total TV viewership in India gone up by 12 per cent from 2016. On the other hand, recent data from PwC revealed the OTT video market in India is growing at a CAGR of around 23 per cent. While the main difference lies between the consumption habit of the older generation and millennial audience, QYOU Media’s Indian arm is thriving on the convergence between TV and online. In an exclusive interaction with Indiantelevision.com, QYOU Media CEO and co-founder Curt Marvis spoke about the Indian market and the company’s expansion plan in India.

    Curt Marvis, a renowned media veteran in digital ventures of Hollywood, has had a vivid experience. Way back in 1999, he co-founded online movie retailer CinemaNow and then spent a considerable amount of time in Lionsgate as president of digital media. In 2013, he co-founded QYOU, a media and production business that provides curated internet video content for television, mobile, and video-on-demand viewing. A year back it actively started to run operations in providing and packaging content for Indian audiences.

    Though the company is still in its early days, it is putting high effort to grow its presence in India. As part of its expansion, it has secured content partnerships with Pocket Aces, Culture Machine, Desi Hip Hop Inc., TheVibe, Power Drift, Arre, The Comic Wallah, FabForm, etc.  Its rebranded channel Q India is available on Tata Sky and Jio TV. It even appointed Andy Kaplan, former president of Sony Pictures Worldwide Networks, as chairman of board of directors for QYOU India.

    “India has a thriving TV market and mobile is fast becoming the first screen for many TV audiences in the region. Andy has significant expertise in this area and deep knowledge of the Indian market, which will help QYOU develop the right programming to meet the needs for mobile-first digital content, which is becoming an ever-more important objective for TV providers,” Marvis commented on his appointment.

    Marvis thinks TV is still hugely popular in India which isn’t going to change overnight. However, he underlines the difference in media consumption habit between younger digital-native audiences and older generations. Younger audiences are fond of streaming videos on social media sites and mobile devices remain primary medium for them to access video content. He claims that by providing linear feed and custom shows, QYOU is bridging these two worlds – offering the type of content that helps TV providers tap into digital-first creativity and use it to drive their programming agenda for younger audiences.

    In India’s OTT market, outsiders like Netflix and Amazon have found it tough to break into the country given the popularity of Hotstar. “Hotstar is currently India’s most popular OTT platform, enjoying 70 per cent of video streaming app downloads. In contrast, Amazon and Netflix only account for 5 per cent and 1.4 per cent of app downloads. One of the reasons why Hotstar is so well-liked is because, it has an extensive library of regional programming available in a number of local languages including, Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu,” he said.

    Rather than fall back on importing subtitled US TV shows and films, the international players need to invest in locally relevant original programming. Amazon and Netflix have recognised this and are launching Indian original series but Marvis thinks they’re still playing catch-up to local OTT services like Hotstar. “For QYOU, these trends have meant onboarding Indian content creators and making programming that is tailored to the territory and culture. This way we know our shows are more culturally relevant and therefore have more stickiness,” he added.

    Though Hotstar’s AVOD model has worked well for its acceptability among the mass audience, Indian audiences are not simply going for the cheapest option. He reaffirms the common belief of OTT players that audience is going for the service that they believe is the best value with the best programming. “Ultimately, the model which will work best in India will depend on the value the audience places on the service and we believe that high-quality regional programming can dramatically increase that value,” he concludes.