ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Viacom18 issues denial about Saugato Bhowmik appointment at Voot

    Viacom18 issues denial about Saugato Bhowmik appointment at Voot

    MUMBAI: Earlier this morning, we broke a story stating that Viacom18 executive vice president and business head of consumer products and integrated network solutions Saugato Bhowmik might be roped in to replace industry veteran Gaurav Gandhi.  

    Gandhi was one of the key drivers of the Ambani majority owned network’s OTT service Voot.

    Senior sources within Viacom 18 had informed indiantelevision.com that Bhowmik was one of the front runners for the post. There are other names being bandied about, but we would not like to reveal them at this juncture.

    Now Viacom18 head of communications Sonia Huria  has issued a denial about this speculation saying: “Such erroneous conjecture is unfounded. We will issue a statement when we have something to announce.”

    Keep reading indiantelevision.com for further updates!

    Also Read :

    Gaurav Gandhi leaves Viacom18

    Gaurav Gandhi to head Amazon Prime Video India

    Voot sets its sights on regional & premium ad-free content

  • Saugato Bhowmik may replace Gandhi as Viacom18 Digital COO

    Saugato Bhowmik may replace Gandhi as Viacom18 Digital COO

    MUMBAI: Soon after the news of Gaurav Gandhi leaving Viacom18 was announced last week, speculation was rife about who would take the hot seat to lead the company’s digital arm Viacom18 Digital Ventures, under which Voot operates. 

    A source close to the development has told Indiatelevision.com that Saugato Bhowmik is the top choice among those gunning for the spot of COO.

    Although the company is still said to be considering various profiles, the management seems to have narrowed down its choice to Bhowmik.

    Bhowmik currently serves as the executive vice president and business head of consumer products and integrated network solutions at Viacom18 leading two key businesses, which are tasked to build the network’s brands outside the broadcast and movie studio space. 

    He joined Viacom18 in 2013 and has a rich experience and understanding of consumer behaviour and insights. Bhowmik began his career at Dabur India as the area sales manager in 2002 and moved to Hindustan Unilever in 2004 where he refined his consumer-marketing skills in strategic brand management roles for key brands for India as well as globally. 

    Gandhi quit Viacom18 after eight years. Launched in 2016, Voot is Viacom’s digital service that offers content in multiple languages, including English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Bengali.

    Also Read :

    Gaurav Gandhi leaves Viacom18

    Gaurav Gandhi to head Amazon Prime Video India

    Voot sets its sights on regional & premium ad-free content

  • Survey finds word of mouth best way to discover content online

    Survey finds word of mouth best way to discover content online

    MUMBAI: All the world’s advanced technology has not been able to change this simple formula. With more video content to choose today than ever before, picking the best is a challenge. A survey from Parrot Analytics has found that word of mouth still reigns the lot when it comes to new show recommendations.

    The easiest way to find new content today is through YouTube, Netflix and Amazon etc. But it seems that the audience is not satisfied with these automated algorithms predicting their tastes. All the 10 surveyed markets have one thing in common – the habit of consulting friends and family for recommendations.

    Parrot Analytics conducted the survey in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, France, Spain, Germany, Brazil, Mexico and Japan to get an insight of the ways by which people discover new content to watch. Total 10,000 respondents participated in the survey.

    Among other ways for discovering offline content, TV guide or TV listings also play a major role in many countries. Besides this, television commercials or other sorts of advertisements help people to find new show across all the 10 markets. For online content, browsing articles or blogs help many people.

    People from the US, the largest market of television industry, widely rely on word of mouth for discovering both online and offline content. Other big markets like UK, Canada, Australia also reflect the same habit. The community is a big player to make a show popular since in many markets social media and peer-to-peer network are key sources of finding new content other than word of mouth.

    Germany is one with its peculiarity for the old. Germans mainly prefer television listings and guides for offline content and find online content via browsing articles, news. In other markets, Mexico and Japan highly depend on television commercials and a third of the people in Brazil take clues from TV listings or guides for offline shows and 32 per cent of people go for online platform recommendations.

    The availability of content and demand for it is rising proportionally worldwide. Audiences want new ways of finding relevant content. Content discovering demands more organised algorithms and search engine optimisation to make audiences happy with recommendations and moreover to make the content hunting easier for everyone.

    Also Read :

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  • TVF’s ImMature first Indian show to reach Canneseries

    TVF’s ImMature first Indian show to reach Canneseries

    MUMBAI: Digital series producer The Viral Fever (TVF) has literally gone viral. In a historic win, TVF’s show ImMature is getting its first ever screening at Canneseries – the Cannes International Series Festival. ImMature will be screened on 11 April 2018 at Canneseries.

    While releasing the first look of the web series, TVF brand partnerships head Vijay Koshy announced the news on LinkedIn on Thursday stating: “Our upcoming web-series ImMature is going to Cannes. Created by Sameer Saxena and directed by Prem Mistry, ImMature is a coming-of-age story about the many first adventures in a young man’s life.”

    Canneseries will unfold its first edition from 4 to 11 April 2018. Canneseries Digital is the competition dedicated to short formats that will take place on 11 April. The event aims to highlight series from all over the world and to give an international voice to this increasingly popular and fiercely creative new art form.

    ImMature is the only Indian show in the running for best web-series at the first ever Canneseries Digital. Other creators in this category are Rightor Doyle, Jacques Toulemonde and Lee Young-Sook.ImMature will be competing with other international web series like The Arena, Atropa, Bite Size Horror, Bonding, Cabeza Madre, Camionero, Dominos, If I Were You and Memento Mori.

    TVF’s ImMature is created by Sameer Saxena, written by Abhishek Yadav and directed by Prem Mistry. The cast of the series includes Omkar Kulkarni, Rashmi Agdekar, Chinmay Chandraunshuh and Visshesh Tiwari.

    TVF is an online digital entertainment channel started by TVF Media Labs in 2010, and currently owned and operated by Contagious Online Media. According to founder Arunabh Kumar, the thought behind starting TVF was to reach out to the younger generation who seldom watch television for entertainment. TVF was the pioneer of web-series in India with cult hits like Permanent Roommates& Pitchers.

    Also Read:

    2017: The year OTTs went regional in India

    Regional OTT content more than just catch-up TV    

    Sports fans power 35-40% of traffic on SonyLiv

  • Amazon’s content spend at $5 bn a year, confirms report

    Amazon’s content spend at $5 bn a year, confirms report

    MUMBAI: Amazon is bucking up by opening its treasure trove for content. A recent Reuters report says that leaked documents show the company spends $5 billion a year for original and licensed content, which is a big chunk of the company’s expenditure.

    Amazon has tough competition because Apple recently said it would spend a whopping $4.2 billion a year on original content by 2022, much higher than its earlier estimate of $1 billion.

    The Reuters report also stated that Amazon’s top TV shows drew more than 5 million people worldwide to its Prime shopping club in early 2017. Amazon has never released figures for its total audience. The report adds that Amazon has about 26 million people in the US who watch its Prime Video content. The video content includes films and TV shows it licenses from other companies.

    Rival Netflix is way ahead in terms of US subscribers at 55 million. The company says that it is growing at a fast pace and the extra revenue it earns via subscribers will help it in invest more in original content. The company upped its spending for 2018 by nearly $1 billion. Hulu, which has subscribers mainly from the US, claims to have 17 million subscribers.

    The first season of the popular drama The Man in the High Castle on Amazon Prime Video had 8 million US viewers as of early 2017, according to the documents. The show cost $72 million for production and marketing and attracted 1.15 million new subscribers worldwide based on Amazon’s accounting. The Grand Tour had more than 1.5 million first streams from Prime members worldwide, at a cost of $49 per subscriber in its first season.

    It has often been said that Amazon’s strategy is to use video to convert viewers into shoppers. If it is wooing you with amazing content, such as the $200-250 million on Lord of the Rings, it is only to convince you to keep returning to it to make purchases. Amazon’s investment in Prime original shows has enabled these shows to bring nearly a quarter of the total viewership from 2014-2017.

    Amazon’s Prime club includes two-day package delivery and other perks for an annual fee making shopping more attractive. But these internal documents don’t indicate how much the Prime subscribers shop on Amazon. In interviews, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has been vocal about how people who use the Prime Video service end up staying longer with the shopping club. These people even agree to become paying members after the free trial, willingly paying a higher rate than those who don’t watch Amazon videos.

    Some of Amazon’s videos have even won awards and thus you have Bezos saying, “When we win a Golden Globe, it helps us sell more shoes.”

    Also Read :

    Gaurav Gandhi to head Amazon Prime Video India

    Amazon Prime Music ties up with Saregama

  • SonyLIV banked on Akamai to leverage ad insertion for India-SA series

    SonyLIV banked on Akamai to leverage ad insertion for India-SA series

    MUMBAI: SonyLIV, which provides multi-screen engagement to users on all devices, leveraged Akamai’s dynamic ad-insertion capabilities during the India-South Africa cricket series held over January and February 2018.

    Akamai Technologies regional VP, media Asia Pacific and Japan Sidharth Pisharoti said, “SonyLIV has a vast library of original content. However, in India, few entertainment options have the capability to attract mass audiences like cricket. While the challenge on the one hand is to keep audiences engaged with a TV-like experience, the equally hard part is ensuring that advertisers see value in leveraging digital platforms to drive views and consequently, revenue through advertisements. With Akamai’s capabilities, we were able to successfully deliver what audiences and advertisers wanted over the course of the India-South Africa series.”

    SonyLIV was the official and exclusive mobile and internet broadcaster for the India tour of South Africa series and delivered it to millions of users seamlessly across a variety of devices. Digital advertisers gained the most through the course of the series with Akamai’s dynamic ad insertion delivering targeted advertisements during the live stream. With this partnership, SonyLIV achieved a near 100 per cent ad fill rate without compromising on the viewing experience for users.

    Commenting on the partnership, SonyLIV EVP and business head Uday Sodhi said, “The India Tour of South Africa series was a huge success for SonyLIV and our audiences had a seamless experience throughout. We partnered with Akamai and leveraged their technology and added it to our already existing capabilities. The series was a huge hit with all the brands we associated with.”

    Pitch Madison’s Advertising Report for 2018 projects advertising spend on digital platforms to reach Rs 11,629 crore in 2018, representing a 19.5 per cent increase over the Rs 9,303 crore spent in 2017. In 2017, the spend on mobile was 78 per cent (Rs 7,256 crore) of the total digital outlay. Video represented 35 per cent (Rs 3,300 crore) of the total spend. This indicates a strong reflection of growing consumer trends in the country. A report by MoMagic Technologies found that 40 per cent of Indians prefer to watch advertisement videos on their mobile phones over other media. Additionally, as per IDC, India is the fastest growing smart phone market globally with a total of 124 million units shipped in 2017.

    Powered by advertising technology expert Yospace, Akamai’s dynamic ad insertion is designed to help content providers offer greater monetisation opportunities through online advertising, while maintaining a TV-like experience for viewers at scale.

    Also Read:

    2017: The year OTTs went regional in India

    Regional OTT content more than just catch-up TV    

    Sports fans power 35-40% of traffic on SonyLiv

  • India’s biggest photography reality show – ‘Kanan Devan Photography Escapade 3’

    India’s biggest photography reality show – ‘Kanan Devan Photography Escapade 3’

    MUMBAI: India’s biggest photography reality show – ‘Kanan Devan Photography Escapade 3’ was launched today by Tata Tea Kanan Devan, a heritage tea brand from the house of Tata Global Beverages. After two immensely successful editions of this photography contest that is aimed at budding photographers, the brand had rolled out the third edition of Tata Tea Kanan Devan’s Photography Escapade contest in June 2017 which received overwhelming response from hundreds of photography enthusiasts across the country.

    The contest provides aspiring photographers with the opportunity to capture nature in its entirety, the natural beauty of the hills, the people of Munnar and the intrepid journey of tea from leaf to cup. Based on the theme ‘Elements of Nature’, the finalists were instructed to weave in stories using the four elements at Kanan Devan Hills namely Earth, Fire, Wind and Water. These stories will be available to the audience in the form of webisodes that will be released every week on Tata Tea Kanan Devan’s Youtube channel, starting today.

    In addition to a different theme, Photography Escapade 3 also took this contest to the next level with a refreshingly different game format called Truzzle, which means ‘Treasure+Puzzle’, and an enriching photography journey in the pristine Kanan Devan Hills. What began as a simple photography contest two years ago, is all set to sway the web with its video content in a reality show avatar. While keeping the scenic beauty and natural bounty of Munnar and tea at the heart of Escapade, the webisodes witness 10 participants engaging with each other, solving puzzles, working in a team before the top 3 winners are chosen for their vivid captures.

    Tata Global Beverages, Head – Tea marketing, India, Mr. Puneet Das said, “Kanan Devan Photography Escapade provides aspiring photographers with the opportunity to capture nature in its entirety, the natural beauty of the hills, the people of Munnar and the intrepid journey of tea from leaf to cup. While the natural landscapes of tea plantation provide scenic shots, capturing this journey can be challenging for photographers. However, the breathtaking photos of this scenery, can evoke a sense of ‘being back to nature’ and ‘freshness’ which is also the hallmark of Tata Tea Kanan Devan.”

    Tata Tea Kanan Devan will also be announcing the winner of Photography Escapade 3 in the last episode of the websiode series.

  • Amazon Prime Video secure exclusive rights to new series of american idol in UK for first time

    Amazon Prime Video secure exclusive rights to new series of american idol in UK for first time

    MUMBAI: American Idol, the iconic series that revolutionized the US television landscape by pioneering the music competition genre, goes global as FremantleMedia International completes deals for the new series in 150 territories.

    The latest deal to have been completed is with Amazon Prime Video UK, which will see American Idol air exclusively in the UK the day after it first airs in the US.

    On the deal,  EMEA for FremantleMedia International, EVP, Head of Sales and Distribution, Jamie Lynn said: “American Idol has launched to fantastic ratings on ABC in the US and we are excited that Amazon Prime Video will become the exclusive home of the new series in the UK with this unique deal. To see one of the biggest entertainment shows on a streaming service is a not only a first, but testament to the appetite for American Idol and will be a whole new way to reach fans of the series.”

    FremantleMedia International’s global sales team have secured a multitude of new international deals for new season of the entertainment series with CTV (Canada), Foxtel (Australia), Canal Sony (Latin America), MNET (Africa), SIC (Portugal and Portuguese-speaking Africa), Intervision (Greece), Three (New Zealand), Fjarskipti (Iceland), Novalifε (Greece), Sia All Media (Lithuania), Marjan Television (Farsi-speaking MENA), beIN (MENA) and beIN Series Home&Entertainment (Turkey).

    Helping to determine who will ultimately become the next singing sensation are music industry forces and superstar judges, Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie. Emmy Award-winning producer Ryan Seacrest returns as host of the beloved series.

    American Idol launched on ABC to an overnight audience of 10.3 million, making it the number one show in its timeslot and more than doubling the slot average. The “Idol” format has taken on original versions in 55 countries around the world, and American Idol itself has played to a worldwide audience across 150 territories.

    To date, American Idol has earned 57 Emmy nominations and eight wins, including the prestigious Governors Award in 2016, and its talented discoveries have already won 13 Grammys, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award, among numerous other accolades. The show has launched the careers of superstars Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Katharine McPhee, Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry, among many others. American Idol contestants have sold more than 61 million albums, resulting in more than 47 Platinum records.  Its participants have generated more than 444 Billboard No. 1 hits and sold more than 257 million digital downloads.

    “American Idol” is produced by FremantleMedia North America and CORE Media Group’s 19 Entertainment. Executive producers include FremantleMedia North America’s Trish Kinane and Jennifer Mullin, along with executive producer Phil McIntyre representing CORE Media. FremantleMedia International distributes the series worldwide

  • Hotstar Trends 2017: Women, small town, cross-language consumption rises

    Hotstar Trends 2017: Women, small town, cross-language consumption rises

    MUMBAI: Want to get a handle on what kind of traction that India’s answer to Amazon and Netflix –  Hotstar from Star India – is getting? Well, the OTT service has come out with an India Watch Report 2018 (IWR 2018) – just as the IPL is around the corner in a bid to pique brands’ and ad agencies’ curiosity and jiggle their memories.

    Says Novi Digital Entertainment (Hotstar)  CEO Ajit Mohan in a preface to the report: “The biggest change (between 2017 and 2016) has been how consumers are responding to the explosion in access to affordable data. Three years ago, most new data users would start with messaging, do text search, move on to social platforms and a few brave ones would watch video on the mobile network. This pyramid has been completely inverted. In a world that does not fear data charges, video is very often the first port of call for new data users. Familiar stories, whether TV shows, movies or sports, unconstrained by any language limitation, are acting as powerful triggers to light up their smartphones and their data connections.”

    The study says that Hotstar was the most downloaded video app for 2017 with a total of 325 downloads per minute totting up to an incredible 170 million downloads cumulatively. Hotstar users gobbled 3 GB data per month as compared to the average user who consumes 1.6 GB a month. Almost 90 per cent users logged on to the Hotstar app on their handsets even as there was a 6X growth in those consuming it on their connected TVs. What were they watching? 96 per cent of them gulped down videos longer than 20 minutes, thus rubbishing the long held notion that OTT users snack on short form content.

    According to IWR 2018, ViVO IPL 2017 saw a jump of 6.6 times in watch time as compared to 2016. And 70 per cent of men who consume video online were on Hotstar watching the T20 journey during its 2017 edition.

    The good news is that women are also coming online in a big way, says Hotstar. Consumption by women from smaller towns (between one and 10 lakh population) grew by three times in 2017, even as that by women in one million plus population towns and in metros doubled. The consumption growth is pretty rapid when it comes to women from places like New Barrackpore (5X), Siliguri (6.5X), Kanchipuram (5X) and Ranchi (4.7X).

    Overall watchtime is growing at an astounding clip, says the IWR in the non-metros.  In cities like Moradabad the growth was 22 times, Allahabad (13X), Hubli (12X) and Sonipat (12X).

    Hotstar notched up some other records, says  IWR 2018 – it crossed a billion minutes of watch time in a single day several times in 2017.

    Viewers cannot seem to be getting enough of the content IWR 2018 says: In 2017, cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune switched off their phones at 2:37 am, 2 am and 2:35 am respectively. In Gurugram, Amritsar and Kolkata, the curfew time came out as 2:08 am, 2:15 am and 2:05 am respectively while for Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderbad, the cutoff time was 1:59 am, 1:38 am and 1:54 am respectively. Not unexpectedly, the largest share of watchtime came from Mumbai.

    What were Hostar subs watching?

    Unsurprisingly, the nation’s most-watched genre is drama, and while West Bengal and Maharashtra can’t get enough of romance, Tamil Nadu and Delhi revel in comedy! And doing away with set notions that only women watch drama, IWR 2018 says that 50 per cent of watch time for shows such as Yeh Rishta kya Kehlata Hai was accounted for by men. Youngsters too are turning into drama with their tribe accounting for 63 per cent of watchtime of Ishqbaaaz. To add to that, Indian women accounted  for 18 per cent of watchtime of  Bahubaali 2: The Conclusion.

    The report points out that 70 per cent of premium users who watched English shows and movies also viewed other programming genres and languages. 26 per cent of Modern Family watchers tuned into cricket; 26 per cent of Game of Thrones viewers watched Hindi TV shows, and 14 per cent of premier league watchers popped up the app’s Bengali TV shows.

    The Champions Trophy final between India and Pakistan 2017 resulted in it – at 113 million views – emerging as one of the most globally watched online videos in the shortest span, that is eight hours.  That same nail-biting final saw 4.8 million simultaneous viewers making it the event with the highest concurrency seen in APAC.

    And the viewing of one day internationals saw a spurt of five times in 2017 vs 2016.

    Which sports are gaining popularity in India?

    The IWR 2018 says football is India’s second most loved sport and grew massively with watch time for the ISL rising 3.5 times and for the Premier League by 10 times. The Vivo Pro Kabaddi League saw its watch time skyrocketing nine times over 2016.

    The crown of the most watched show in 2017, according to IWR 2018, goes to the Rajan Shahi produced Yeh Rishta Kya Kehalata Hai. No surprises in the English show category with Game of Thrones emerging on top, and Big Boss Tamil and Telugu reigning in their respective languages.

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  • SonyLIV doubles MAUs to 15.6mn in Feb: App Annie report

    SonyLIV doubles MAUs to 15.6mn in Feb: App Annie report

    MUMBAI: SonyLIV continued to reign the online pie by grabbing more eyeballs in the month of February. It added 7.9 million monthly active users (MAUs) in its kitty. The platform has doubled its base within a month from 7.7 million MAUs to 15.6 million MAUs and has stomped to the third position from fifth last month (January), according to App Annie data report. This ranking is a combination of iOS App Store and Google Play Store.

    According to the report, YouTube is on the top of all digital platforms with 178.1 million MAUs, followed by Hotstar at 48.1 million MAUs. Amazon Prime Video was in the fourth position with 13.4 million active users. Voot garnered the fifth position with a total of 10.7 million active users overall. The international giant Netflix had 6 million active users and stood at the sixth position. The latest OTT player, Zee5, has left a remarkable mark on the audience within a month of its launch by successfully engaging 5.6 million users on its platform.

    Though SonyLIV has an array of web series, movies, sports, catch up TV shows, music and more, the credit to increase in the viewership clearly goes to the recent India-South Africa cricket series streamed during February.

    App Annie is an app market data and insights company headquartered in San Francisco, California. App Annie focuses on the state of video streaming apps in Asia-Pacific region including emerging markets such as India, China and Thailand, among others.

    Also Read:

    Localised content the way forward for Netflix in India

    2017: The year OTTs went regional in India

    Regional OTT content more than just catch-up TV    

    Indians among top commute streamers for Netflix