ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Amazon Prime Video inks pact with Disney India for Marvel, ABC titles

    Amazon Prime Video inks pact with Disney India for Marvel, ABC titles

    MUMBAI: Amazon Prime Video announced a landmark content deal with Disney India to make it the streaming home for seven brand new upcoming international titles from Marvel and ABC. These shows will be available to Prime members in India immediately after they premiere in the US.

    The seven shows include four exciting new Marvel series, including Inhumans and Runaways, that are already available to stream, as well as Cloak and Dagger and three ABC series including The Crossing, Station 19 and the already available show – Freeform’s Alone Together. Additionally, Prime members can watch complete seasons of their favorite international hit series, including Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Castle, Scandal and Scrubs.  

    “We are elated to bring quality content from Marvel and ABC to our Prime members. Whether it’s bingeing on past seasons of an old favorite or discovering your new favorite show, we believe that everyone will find something to enjoy,” said Amazon Prime Video India director content Vijay Subramaniam.

    South Asia regional head – media distribution & OTT Amrita Pandey said, “It’s critical for us to make our diverse content available to fans everywhere. This opportunity with Amazon Prime Video in India allows us to bring some of our fan favorite shows from Marvel and ABC to Indian audiences on a device of their choice and convenience.”

    Amazon Prime Video claims to have the largest selection of latest and exclusive movies and TV shows, stand-up comedy, ad-free across Indian and Hollywood movies, US TV shows, top/popular Indian and international kids’ shows, award winning Amazon Prime Original shows along with content from top Bollywood, regional, Indian and international studios – all available in one location/service.

  • Localised content the way forward for Netflix in India

    Localised content the way forward for Netflix in India

    MUMBAI: Global to local seems to be the key strategy of Netflix to spread its wings in India. ‘Netflix and Chill’ is the popular term across the OTT ecosystem but the number of Indian consumers chilling with Netflix’s high-quality content dwarfs in comparison to users in other markets. However, it is adapting to Indian tastes and modifying its pure international content line-up. Will this shift drive the growth for Netflix?

    Netflix launched in India in January 2016 and has since created a niche for itself for high-quality TV series and Hollywood movie content for the English-speaking audience in the country but it is far behind other OTT players in terms of subscribers. Currently, it is the fifth largest player in India, behind players such as Hotstar, Voot and Amazon, according to the Counterpoint Technology Market Research report.

    With the rollout of 4G internet services by the top telecom providers, especially Reliance Jio, streaming in India has taken a giant leap forward. In the year 2017, Netflix acquired more subscribers than local cable connections in the US (according to data from Statista and Leichtman Research Group). However, even after spending two years in India, things aren’t quite as rosy for the company as in the US. On average, the Indian consumer would spend around $32 dollar (close to Rs 2200) per year on entertainment, whereas in the US, people spend around $2260 (close to Rs 1.5 lakh) annually, according to global entertainment and media outlook 2017-2021 report by PWC.

    How does Netflix aim to take over the minds of India when cable connections give you 100-150 channels at just Rs 1100-200? Netflix subscriptions can vary from Rs 500-800 a month. An annual plan can range from Rs 6000-9600.

    Netflix CEO Reed Hastings believes that the amount that an Indian consumer pays for cable services, on a global level, is very low, which keeps the industry smaller than it should be. Speaking at an event, he had said that Netflix’s strategy is to build up local and global content. Though he admitted that Netflix’s rates were higher than cable TV, they were significantly lower than movie tickets and other entertainment experiences. Hastings is aligning the OTT player as competition to the bigger entertainment options and not the idiot box.

    So far, Netflix has focussed on pushing its global content such as House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Master of None, Stranger Things, Narcos and Daredevil to Indian subscribers. While it has made significant progress in adding regional content, it still has a lot of ground to make up.

    Now, Netflix sees a potential of adding a massive 100 million Indian customers. According to Hastings, Netflix has around 120 million subscribers in over 190 countries who consume over 140 million hours of TV shows and movies per day, and about 60 million are from the US. However, in the price sensitive market of India, Netflix banks on close to 1.5 million subscribers.

    How does Netflix aim to break the ice? The answer is local content. Hence, instead of price, Hasting suggested that Netflix wants to be sensitive to great local stories and content and be able to invest in them. So, the strategy will be to build up the local content that includes regional stories as well.

    But will producing local content be enough for Netflix to chill in India? Commenting on the same, PwC partner & leader, media & entertainment Frank D’Souza says, “Growing smartphone and internet penetration across the country has created a wide range of opportunities for OTT players. Focus on creating and producing regional content should be of utmost importance considering the fact that India is a multilingual country. A ‘one size fits all’ approach would not work for the country with over 22 official languages.”

    OTT platforms have realised the power that regional content has over the dissected Indian audiences. Amazon Prime was one of the first to take the plunge followed by Zee5, Hotstar, ALTBalaji, Voot, Viu etc.

    Netflix recently announced three Indian original productions Ghoul, Leila and Crocodile apart from four productions already under works which include Sacred Games, Selection Day, Again, and Bard of Blood. On Valentine’s Day, Netflix released its first India original Love Per Square Foot by Ronnie Screwvala.

    Where the platform is likely to get cold feet is in growing in tier II and III cities and the rural audiences. Commenting on the same, D’Souza says, “These are price sensitive segments of the Indian market. Considering the fact that OTT requires one to incur additional costs like that of internet subscription, it is important for players such as Netflix to have value added services or bundled services to penetrate these markets. Tying up with internet service providers and telecom operators in rural markets would give them an early mover advantage.”

    Netflix has one more interesting feature to bet on—sharing the subscription package among people. Many networks limit the number of people who can watch programming at the same time. Netflix allows two to four simultaneous streams per subscription, depending on the plan, and charges more for the higher number of streams. So, the premium plan can be shared among four people or in a family of four.

    By focussing on producing more local content from India, Netflix is betting on product over pricing when it comes to adding the next 100 million users. As a part of its future strategies, it should create movies and TV shows that Indians will be ready to die for while also keeping in mind the various languages.

    Also Read :

    2017: The year OTTs went regional in India

    Regional OTT content more than just catch-up TV    

    Indians among top commute streamers for Netflix

    Amazon strikes the balance between bingeing and episodic with ‘Breathe’

  • Bloomberg|Quint partners with Penguin Random House India to delve into India’s unique business history

    Bloomberg|Quint partners with Penguin Random House India to delve into India’s unique business history

    MUMBAI: India’s premier business and financial news brand Bloomberg|Quint in partnership with Penguin Random House India is taking its coverage of India’s business ecosystem back to the beginning with an exclusive six-part show titled ‘Tales of Trade’, edited by management guru Gurcharan Das. Based on a book series by leading academicians and scholars, ‘Tales of Trade’ will have the authors delve into some of the most fascinating stories in the history of Indian business with an episode every week, starting February 24 with Bibek Debroy. Through the series, Bloomberg|Quint will introduce its audience to the startling and delightful ways in which these historical events are relevant to modern-day institutions and has an impact on the practice of doing business in the country today.

    The ‘Indian way of doing business’ – with all its infinite cultural, regional, and linguistic variations – is the product of a rich legacy full of adventure, risk, and romance, tempered by Indian principles and values. The series’ 6 episodes will use provide an immersive, in-depth snapshot of India’s business history with an engaging narrative. The episodes will cover the Indian Railways, the East India Company, Managing Agencies, Mumbai’s 19th century merchants, the Marwari community, and the interplay of dharma and business in medieval India. Gurcharan Das will be joined by Bibek Debroy, Tirthankar Roy, Omkar Goswami, Lakshmi Subramanian, Thomas Timberg, and Donald Davis in his explorations of the rich and complex tapestry of India’s economic history.

    Commenting on the show, Gurcharan Das said, “Tales of Trade is a six-part documentary series based on Penguin’s ‘Story of Indian Business’ conceived, edited and curated at my end. It is an exciting tale of adventures in the bazaar and the romance on the high seas beginning from ancient times of trade with the Roman world to today’s most successful business communities. The series takes you on exciting journey through conversations with scholars who reveal forgotten fables and rediscovered texts. With a 5000 mile coastline, the tales cover ancient Tamils who carried Indian culture to greater Asia; the caravans of 20,000 camels on the Silk Route who crossed the Hindu Kush mountains to trade with Central Asia and Russia; of risk taking Marwaris who spread across India in the 19th century with the coming of the railways; of the trail blazing merchants who shaped modern Mumbai; of Gujarati merchants from Kachch who traded along the golden triangle of Mandavi, Muscat, and Zanzibar;  and of course, the story of the world’s first and most powerful corporation the East India Company.”

    Talking about the partnership, Preeti Chaturvedi, AVP- Marketing and Publicity, Penguin Random House India, said “We are constantly looking for ways to make our books more discoverable and accessible to a wider readership. Tales of Trade is a series we are really proud of and we are confident that the partnership with BloombergQuint will help a relevant audience engage with the stories in an exciting format.”

    Bloomberg|Quint reaches more than 2 million monthly users across its on-site and partner platforms. More than 50% of Bloomberg|Quint’s audience comprises of C-level executives and entrepreneurs. During Budget 2017, Bloomberg|Quint delivered over 50 million in reach, including 15 million video views and more than 25k shares on social media, ahead of several legacy players in the space. (Source: Google Analytics, Partner & Social Analytics). It was also recently rated as the most viewed business news brand on Facebook amongst new-age publishers. (Source: Vidooly, Facebook Video Report) and has been voted ‘Business Website Of The Year’ (Digipub Awards 2017)

  • Malayala Manorama revamps news and entertainment channel with brightcove

    Malayala Manorama revamps news and entertainment channel with brightcove

    MUMBAI: Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOV), the leading provider of cloud services for video, today announced Malayala Manorama selected Brightcove Video Platform to power Manorama Online, the online news vertical of Malayala Manorama. As the leading Malayalam-language publications in India, Malayala Manorama serves news and entertainment content to local and Malayalee diaspora audiences worldwide.

    Established in 1888, Malayala Manorama Group is one of India’s largest publishing companies, with more than 40 publications in circulation. ManoramaOnline is the digital arm of Malayala Manorama seeing traffic from 200 countries and 16 million unique visitors per month.

    ManoramaOnline launched its video offering using Brightcove Video Platform in October 2017 with an exclusive video on-demand streaming of a beauty pageant titled ‘Miss Millennial’. Malayala Manorama is also using the Brightcove Video Platform to power the on-demand video content on five of its online properties comprising ManoramaOnline, Manorama News TV, Mazhavil Manorama TV, The Week, and Vanitha.

    “Over the past few years Manorama Online has been hosting video content on third-party DSPs to monetise the videos. We soon realised that the prospects of monetisation on such platforms was limited. As news content consumption continues to shift towards to video, we needed to revamp our video platform to a platform that would give us more control our video inventory and help us to achieve sustainable ad funded revenue model,” Mariam Mammen Mathew, chief operating officer at Manorama Online said.

    “Any buying decision at Manorama is a complex process which involves many stages of testing and feasibility checks. After evaluating close to 12 different video platforms, we decided on Brightcove. When it came to features like quality of service, ease of ingestion, player performance, real-time reports and streamlined workflows, the Brightcove platform met all of our stringent requirements. Our decision was put to test during Manorama’s recent web streaming of ‘Miss Millennial’. Brightcove clocked half a million video plays and more than 2 million minutes of stream consumption for the Miss Millennial event over a week. It is interesting to note how a simple adjustment to our video experience can make a big difference to our viewership rate,” Mariam Mammen Mathew said.

    “Publishers like Malayala Manorama are going all in on video and placing an imperative on monetising video as part of their revenue stream. Brightcove is right there to partner with them to help scale their business as they adapt to the shift in how news and entertainment content is being served and monetised,” Ben Morrell, General Manager, Asia, Brightcove, said.

    Malayala Manorama is one of the first publishers to use the latest in video compression technology called Context-Aware Encoding (CAE). CAE is Brightcove’s patent-pending encoding method designed to deliver quality video at the lowest size possible, reducing video operations and delivery costs by up to 50%.

  • Neelesh Misra, The Quint to unveil webseries on everyday heroism

    Neelesh Misra, The Quint to unveil webseries on everyday heroism

    MUMBAI: While celebrating the success of fictional heroes, we often overlook the heroes of everyday life. ‘The Neelesh Misra show’, a new web series brought by The Quint, will narrate the extraordinarily heroic deeds of ordinary people.

    Neelesh Misra, the famous journalist who has been dealing with stories of rural india through Hindi news portal Gaon Connection, has teamed up with The Quint. The 26-episode series will connect the urban population with rural India through real-life stories. The show will premier on 27 February 2018 and will be available on Quint Hindi’s YouTube channel and Facebook account as well.

    The upcoming series has an underlying theme of ‘hamare hero hamare aas-pas hain’ that is ‘our heroes are among us.’ The audience will come to know about those brave hearts who are silently working for society in areas such as women empowerment, health, farming and rural aspirations.

    “At Gaon Connection, we have been telling stories related to the heartland for five years now. But it is really exciting for me personally that we are collaborating with The Quint to take these stories to a far bigger, English- and Hindi-speaking audience in urban India. I hope our show will help them better understand issues that are often on the margins of mainstream media,” Misra said of the show.

    Also Read:

    Bollywood actors hit their stride in web series

    Netflix announces 3 new India originals

    UTV action packs in more power for fans

  • ZEE5 ropes in Tata Elxsi for front-end development

    ZEE5 ropes in Tata Elxsi for front-end development

    MUMBAI: ZEE5, the new OTT platform by Zee Entertainment Enterprises, has partnered with Tata Elxsi for its front-end application development. Tata Elxsi has driven the integration of ZEE5 with the video backend, multi-lingual front-end user experience and multi-CDN networks.

    Zee International and Z5 Global CEO Amit Goenka said, “With language as its central proposition, ZEE5 is a digital entertainment platform for every Indian, irrespective of what language they speak and how tech savvy they are. Considering this varied user base, we have used superbly sophisticated technology to make the platform extremely easy to use, with features like display language and content-language selection, voice search and download to watch offline. Tata Elxsi brings in great technical expertise and domain knowledge, and has been a key partner for us in enabling a great user experience on ZEE5.”

    At the device level, the Tata Elxsi teams have powered the next generation voice-based user interfaces and integration with multiple DRMs on Android, iOS, Web as well as Android TVs.

    Tata Elxsi VP and head – broadcast business unit K P Sreekumar said, “We congratulate ZEE Entertainment on the successful launch of ZEE5.  This next generation platform is a key milestone for the industry. With its unique multi-lingual, multi-screen offering, ZEE5 sets a new bar as far as personalised viewer experience is concerned, with its 11 display language options, 12 content language options, download and watch offline and voice search features.”

    The app offers the originals, Indian and international movies and TV shows, music, live TV, and health and lifestyle content across 12 languages.

  • Times Internet and GirnarSoft partner to offer marketers access to 27 million in-market vehicle buyers

    Times Internet and GirnarSoft partner to offer marketers access to 27 million in-market vehicle buyers

    Times Internet, India’s leading digital products company, has partnered with GirnarSoft, parent company of leading auto portals CarDekho.com, BikeDekho.com, Gaadi.com and Zigwheels.com to offer marketers an opportunity to reach out to 17 million in-market car buyers and 10 million in-market bike buyers, through integrated advertising and business solutions.

    Times Internet’s smart marketing platform, Colombia, reaches over 270 million visitors per month. Combined with GirnarSoft’s expertise for auto-related information, Times Internet advertisers can engage prospective in-market auto buyers at every stage of their decision making process. Using the power of Colombia’s machine-learning algorithms and GirnarSoft’s intent data, marketers can now convey the right message to the right audience at the most opportune time across Times Internet properties.

    Commenting on the alliance, Times Internet, Chief Revenue Officer, Gulshan Verma said, “Buying a vehicle is one of the biggest purchase decisions for Indian consumers. In order to make the right choice, buyers typically consider 4 to 5 brands and pass through different stages of the consumer funnel to arrive at a conclusion. Unlike a consumer browsing for a low involvement product online, the purchase intent of a consumer visiting a GirnarSoft website, such as CarDekho, is quite clear. Our partnership with GirnarSoft will allow marketers to ensure that a prospective car buyer is equipped with the right information to enable their decision, thus making it an imperative investment for marketers to drive results.”

    “Today, India is the fastest growing passenger vehicle market among the global eight markets. In such a burgeoning marketplace, and growing digital maturity of Indian audiences, we expect that auto companies will significantly ramp up their digital spends. Research reports estimate that by 2020, digital advertising will influence as much as 70% of India’s annual auto sales. Given that India clocked  21.8 million units in auto sales in 2016-2017, this is a big opportunity, and one that we’re extremely excited about.” said Umang Kumar, President, GirnarSoft. “Our association with Times Internet will offer the auto sector, enhanced and effective user targeting capabilities, thus helping both parties capture a significant share of the digital ad spend in the auto sector.”

  • Bollywood actors hit their stride in web series

    Bollywood actors hit their stride in web series

    MUMBAI: Film actors have found a new cosy space to snuggle into–over-the-top (OTT) platforms. OTT shows till now encouraged unknown faces to be stars but the real Bollywood stars are now taking over.

    Digital platforms experimented with Bollywood actors in 2017 and the trend is set to continue this year, too. Platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Voot, ALTBalaji and Viu featured popular actors in their web series like Rana Daggubati in Social, Rajkummar Rao in Bose Dead/Alive, Vivek Oberoi and Richa Chadha in Inside Edge, R Madhavan and Amit Sadh in Breathe, Swara Bhaskar in It’s Not That Simple, Lisa Haydon in The Trip and Nimrat Kaur in The Test Case.

    Voot EVP and head content Monika Shergill believes that digital is the way to go across the world. She says, “The opportunity to explore acting in roles that are coming up in digital are phenomenal, the kind of storytelling and performing opportunity that artists are getting are exceptional.”

    Amazon Prime India has seen the most popular faces in its shows. Says director content Vijay Subramaniam: “It always starts with the story. All our casting is driven by what does the story demands. It depends on the character requirement.”

    ALTBalaji CMO Manav Sethi agrees with Subramaniam saying, “We don’t sign actors because of their one-shot success or one-time failure. While scripting, we scout for talents to suit a character. We as a creative shop and storytellers, don’t go behind celebrities, we go behind actors.”

    The ease of restrictions is probably the most alluring part of the digital business. But does a web series work only on the name and fame of a popular actor? Shergill doesn’t agree and says, “Digital is not about faces, it is about high concept stories, disruptive and eye catchy short stories that bring curiosity and serious commitment in viewers to dedicate their 8-10 hours and watch it. An interesting face can bring people to the first episode but after it’s your content that hooks them.”

    However, Shergill feels that digital is extremely challenging in comparison to the cinema because you are just a tap and click away from disappointing viewers. Casting is a very thorough thought process and a big face may not deliver in the continuity of consumption. “We have to convince viewers a 30-60 second trailer that the actor justifies the character.”

    The web is a great kick-starter of careers, feels Subramanium. “To tell fantastic stories, highly compelling with a variety of things and great quality, the web is a great opportunity. The creative talent, both in front and behind the camera, they all recognise this opportunity too. They believe it is a great option to add to their versatility and add one more dimension to their acting, directing, writing or judging talent. Digital is the new way of consumption of entertainment and Bollywood recognises that and want to be a part of it,” he says.

    But does a bigger face need a higher amount of marketing spends? The answer is yes. “When you have a big cast, it works both ways. The name pulls some audience in but because of the name, we also feel to push it out more. So, it is a symbiotic process, the name gives you purchase and you push it more also,” reveals Shergill.

    The pay scale of movies is significantly higher than a web series but these actors have been paid significantly well. However, the payment also depends on the days of working and the schedule. An industry source reported that actors have been paid in the range of Rs 50 lakh to 1.5 crore for a series and far more in the case of A-list actors.

    According to Sethi, signing a known face instead of fresh is more convenient. “It increases the ability to reach to millions of people requiring significantly less effort in terms of marketing and communication, though it increases the cost of production. The difference of cost of production ranges from 25 per cent to 50 per cent after signing a known face,” he reveals.

    It may seem like the actors have no agenda in picking web series but Shergill opines that movie actors go to television either to promote their movies or to host a reality show. She said that web series is like a windfall for them. There are large gaps between their films and they keep twiddling their thumbs until the next film. But, shooting a digital series is a continuous schedule of 40-50 days at maximum and an actor is required to dedicate less than a month sometimes to complete his role. At times, the actors are signed up for multiple seasons of the same show.

    In the year 2018, some popular actors will be seen in great series like Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte in Sacred Games of Netflix, Swara Bhaskar in It’s Not That Simple S2, Vivek Oberoi in The Family, Irfan Khan in The Ministry at Amazon Prime Video. Khan has previously starred with AIB in several web videos. Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment partnered with Netflix to produce eight-episode political espionage series Bard of Blood.

    However, the international digital market is ahead of India. The international actors or the A category actors are not only helming digital series but are also becoming executive producers and producers like in the case of Issa Rae, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Kevin Spacey.

    Web series allow actors to stay in the minds of their audience during gaps between movie assignments while also compensating them well. It’s about time more actors got themselves knee deep into this budding content arena.

    Also Read :

    2017: The year OTTs went regional in India

    Regional OTT content more than just catch-up TV

    Amazon strikes the balance between bingeing and episodic with ‘Breathe’

  • Netflix announces 3 new India originals

    Netflix announces 3 new India originals

    MUMBAI: Netflix announced three new India original series, across genres and themes. The three new originals are Leila, Ghoul and Crocodile. 

    From drama to horror to mystery, these broad and diverse stories, upon completion, will debut exclusively to over 117 million Netflix members in 190 countries. These series join a larger slate of original productions out of India including Sacred Games, Selection Day, and Bard of Blood.

    Netflix vice president of international original series Erik Barmack said, “We are proud to continue to invest in original content in India. These three series, from the scary to the supernatural, represent the tremendous diversity that Indian storytelling holds for a global audience. We are thrilled to work with some of the world’s most talented writers and producers to bring these stories to life for India and the world.”

    Leila, from writer and executive producer Urmi Juvekar, based on a book by Prayaag Akbar, tells the story of Shalini, a free-thinking woman in search of the daughter she lost upon her arrest 16 years earlier. Set in the near future, this inventive, boundary-breaking story centres around longing, faith and loss.

    Ghoul, a horror series based on Arabic folklore, is set in a covert detention centre. Nida, a newly minted interrogator who turned in her own father as an anti-government activist, arrives at the centre to discover that some of the terrorists held there are not of this world. Written and directed by Patrick Graham, and starring Radhika Apte and Manav Kaul, this unique and gripping series, with a supernatural twist, traces Nida’s battle for survival.

    Crocodile, written by Binky Mendez, is a young adult murder mystery thriller series set in the seaside state of Goa. When her best friend goes missing, Mira sets out on her own investigation, uncovering secrets among her friends, romantic relationships and community.

    Also Read :

    Indians among top commute streamers for Netflix

    Indian content at Netflix to be creatively lead by Disney’s Simran Sethi

    Netflix plans to become leading producer & distributor of high-quality Indian content

  • Viu and Star Suvarna launches McDowell’s no1 Soda No.1 Yaari with Shivanna

    Viu and Star Suvarna launches McDowell’s no1 Soda No.1 Yaari with Shivanna

    MUMBAI: Friendship and brotherhood is the support system that sees millennials through moments of self-doubt and obstacles and is truly responsible for shaping them. McDowell’s No1 Soda by Diageo India and the global Video-on-Demand OTT service by Vuclip and PCCW – Viu, are now bringing alive such friendships of well-known personalities from real to reel life in a brand-new talk show called No. 1 Yaari with Shivanna in collaboration with Mindshare & Group M. The series will be hosted by superstar Shivrajkumar, who is known to be a true friend in the entertainment industry. The show will be simulcast on Viu & Star Suvarna starting 25th February, 2018, every Sunday 8.00-9.00PM

    The show brings together for the first time as guests, Sandalwood stars and their real-life BFFs who will share their behind-the-door secrets, friendship defining moments & play interesting games with Shivrajkumar, while the fans will be treated to some never seen before videos and the audience, get to ask their favorite stars questions to know them better.

    “No. 1 Yaari is a first of its kind entertaining show curated for the viewers that will help celebrate the spirit of brotherhood and friendship. I value friendship since it has been one strong support pillar in my personal journey. As much as the stars are public figures, they have a side that is still private and under wraps and my job will be to help them open-up. I would love them to share how their friendships have shaped them as individuals as well as have the fans privy to some unrevealed fun and friendly moments from their lives,” Actor & Anchor of the No.1 Yaari Show, Shivrajkumar said.

    Commenting the new show Diageo India, Executive Vice President & Portfolio Head, Marketing,  Amarpreet Singh said, “Curating a show that is all about Yaari by joining hands with people who matter, was always on our agenda. With McDowell’s No. 1 soda No.1 Yaari with Shivanna we are excited to co-produce a show that brings you closer to such stories of brotherhood between renowned artists which is something audiences would look up to. Also, with this we look to take a step forward in creating more engaging content to connect and engage with the millennials of today!”

    Elaborating on the show, Viu India, Head of Monetization & Distribution, Sameer Gogate said, “With an endeavor to show premium content, we at Viu are extensively establishing content franchises that will appeal to the millennials nationwide. The franchise ‘No. 1 Yaari’ is one such exciting addition to our original content library that brings fans in touch with the personal life of popular celebrities. After Success of the show in Telegu we are glad to extend our long-standing partnership with Group M as we expand our content library with yet another engaging show hosted by an Iconic superstar of the Kanada film industry”

    “It’s a great moment of delight for us to have Shivanna as the host for the very emotional and feel good show. It is a treat to see him with stars getting connected to one another and give the audience glorious joyous time on Sundays at 8pm” –Spokesperson, Star Suvarna.

    Mindshare South Asia, Chief Innovation Officer, Mac Machaiah Commented- “After the grand success that it enjoyed on its previous runs, this time, No. 1 Yaari will celebrate the timeless friendships built between stars in the Kannada entertainment industry. Mindshare is pleased and proud to have been able to co-produce it, and deliver such enriching, branded content to Indian viewers. Shedding light on the often unknown bonds built behind the scenes, it celebrates the wonderful spirit of brotherhood and friendship. This is yet another stepping stone on Mindshare’s journey of creating unique shows and programs for viewers in the country, spanning a variety of novel areas and subjects, by utilising machine learning, creativity, adaptive marketing, and more.”