ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Netflix and YG Entertainment to launch YG future strategy office Bigbang’s Seungri

    Netflix and YG Entertainment to launch YG future strategy office Bigbang’s Seungri

    MUMBAI: Netflix Inc., the world’s leading internet entertainment service, announced today that it is launching YG Future Strategy Office(FSO, working title), a new Netflix Original Series with YG Entertainment, home to some of Korea’s top talent. YG FSO will launch this year exclusively through Netflix.

    Featuring YG artists Seungri of K-pop group BIGBANG, writer/television personality Yoo Byung-jae of SNL Korea fame, Lee Jae-jin of Sechskies, the show will also have various guest appearances by other K-pop groups including BLACKPINK, iKON, and WINNER. The 8-episode series will be directed by Park Joon-soo, known for his unique humor on The God of Music series, and written by Kim Min-seok, who took part in SNL Korea.

    YG FSO stars Seungri as the head of YG’s newly formed department, The Future Strategy Office, where many of YG’s troublemakers have been sent. The sitcom series will follow Seungri and his team of misfits as they work to regain their place in the company.

    “We are ambitiously introducing the new show YG FSO and are looking forward to it being introduced in 190 countries around the world,” said YG Entertainment’s Park Joon-soo, director of YG FSO series. “We plan on introducing more quality entertainment content that many people can enjoy.”

    “We are excited to team up with YG Entertainment and Seungri of BIGBANG to introduce YG FSO,” said Erik Barmack, Vice President of International Original Series at Netflix. “We will continue to bring great Korean content for our viewers around the world to enjoy.”

  • Video Lighting up Data and Smartphones, Says Hotstar

    Video Lighting up Data and Smartphones, Says Hotstar

    MUMBAI: Releasing the first India Watch Report 2018, Hotstar, India’s leading premium streaming platform, today shared insights on the dramatic transformation sweeping the Internet landscape in India. In a first of its kind report for any streaming platform in the world, the service has disclosed usage patterns on its platform.

    The big news? Nearly 5 times growth in video consumption in the last 12 months, with 96 percent of all usage being focused on long form video. This marks an inflexion point in India where the early years of online video were characterized by short form consumption from users deeply fearful of data charges. The last 12 months have also seen access to data and consumption of video go deeper into inner India. The report shared that growth in smaller cities, less than 10 lakh in population, outstripped that in the large metros. And, while the gender gap in access to data persists, affordability is opening up new opportunities for women, with women in smaller cities coming online faster than in the metros.

    Speaking about the report, Ajit Mohan, CEO, Hotstar said, “A new generation of users are emerging in India who take for granted round the clock access to the best stories; who know that they can watch the best shows from around the world at the same time as the world (and sometimes way ahead of most of the world); who do not worry about being forced to skip their team’s weekend football games because they are not at home in front of their television; and who have the implicit faith that all breaking news will reach them without any effort on their part.”

    Other highlights from the report:

    · Streaming video has hit critical momentum. The Champion’s Trophy Final 2017 on Hotstar hit 4.8 million simultaneous viewers, a record!

    ·Streaming habits have gone well beyond being ‘snacky’ time fillers. More and more users are treating the mobile as their first screen.

    · Streamers don’t follow stereotypes. Data reveals that consumption habits cut across stereotypes and traditional boundaries. 26% of Game of Thrones viewers also watched Hindi TV shows; 24% of Modern Family viewers watched cricket; and 50% of watch time of Star Plus’s show Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, came from men.

    ·While cricket still rules the roost, other sports are sprouting well. VIVO IPL consumption grew nearly 7 times between 2016 and 2017. However, VIVO Pro Kabbadi and Premier League also grew nearly 10 times.

  • Amazon Prime blends East, West in ‘The Remix’

    Amazon Prime blends East, West in ‘The Remix’

    MUMBAI: Amazon Prime Video wants to hit the right chords with the music lovers of India. Its latest and third Indian original prime show The Remix wants to grab the eye of the music-loving spirit of the nation.  It is a spin-off challenge between DJs and singers to blend Indian and western music beats including regional songs. The Remix will launch as a 10 episode series starting 9 March 2018, with two episodes launching together followed by one every week.

    Till now, music reality shows were restricted to the television but this time it will be a digital-only appearance. The show is created and produced by Greymatter Entertainment while T-Series is the music partner. The success of previous showsInside Edge and Breathe gave Amazon the spirit to come up with a new one in a short time.

    In the new show, according to Amazon Prime Video India director-content Vijay Subramaniam, popular music will be re-imagined by singers and DJ duos, which has never been attempted in the space of reality. He said, “With The Remix, we’ve taken two things that Indian customers have told us they love – reality TV and Bollywood music and made a unique show that we hope will appeal to the whole family. With the launch of this show, we are set to give 10 dynamic musical duos an opportunity to present their unique talent to a global audience.”

    He goes on to say that today is the era of fusion and music was the perfect medium to launch an unscripted original series. “With ambient sound and Indian instruments coming together we feel The Remix as a show will perfectly reflect the blend,” he highlighted.

    Amazon will follow the same release format like Breathe. The strategy of releasing Breathe on weekly basis has worked out well with Amazon according to Subramaniam. “The staggered release allows more consumers to come in and engage over a period of time versus binge watch,” he said.

    The multimedia marketing campaign will soon commence but Subramaniam believes that since the show is about music, there will be much activity on social media.

    The contestants of the show will be judged by popular singer Sunidhi Chauhan, national award winning music composer Amit Trivedi, and king of the DJ console Nucleya, while the element of humor will be added by Karan Tacker as the host of this digital reality series.

    The contestants of the show are a mix of singers and DJs. Among the singers, they have Anirudh Bhola, Rashmeet Kaur, Sreerama Chandra, Rupali Jagga, Thomson Andrews, Prakriti Kakar, Akasa Singh, Sonam Topden, Yash Narvekar and Manasi Scott. And, in the talented DJs, they have Megha Kawale, SuReal, Candice Redding, Nawed Khan, NSG, Kiran Kamath, Skip, Rink, Kryll and Akhil Talreja.

    The competition features fusions of multiple genres of music from trap mixed with bhangra, to future bass mixed with East Asian sounds, from blues to desi beats and much more. The contestants explore different themes like ambient sounds, retro remixes, live instrumentation, sounds of India, global beats and more in each episode. Over the course of ten episodes, one team will be crowned the winner who will walk away with a booty of Rs 50 lakh.

    The Remix is the second original releasing in 2018 after Breathe and Amazon is planning to launch 10 originals in all this year.

    Amazon is keen to creep into every aspect of what makes an Indian viewer tick and it is leaving no stone unturned for it.

    Also Read :

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

    2017: The year OTTs went regional in India

    Regional OTT content more than just catch-up TV

  • Google launches support for tamil languages ads

    Google launches support for tamil languages ads

    MUMBAI: Google India announced the launch of Tamil language support for its advertising products – Google AdWords and Google AdSense to support the Tamil language web publishers and also help advertisers to reach out to the large base of Internet users in Tamil. With this launch, Google has now scaled support for Indian language advertising to cover Hindi, Bengali and Tamil.

    Advertisers will now be able to develop a rich and seamless campaigns to target their audience through Tamil-language search and display ads. In addition to that, content creators who have websites and blogs in Tamil will be able to sign up for Google Adsense and run ads on their content and attract advertisers from across the globe.

    According to Google India, Director – Google Marketing Solutions, Shalini Girish, “Majority of India’s Internet users are not fluent in english, and we have been very focussed on enabling Indian language support across our key products to make the Internet more useful for everyone. With the launch of Tamil support in our advertising products, today we are enabling both the content creators and advertisers to connect with the Indian language users in their languages. We saw a huge acceleration in Hindi content creation, when we launched support for Hindi languages, and we hope that the addition of new languages like Bengali (launched late last year) and now Tamil will provide the necessary boost to content creation in local languages and grow digital advertising in Indian languages.”

  • Arré Launches a music & comedy festival headlined by only women, called Arré Siren

    Arré Launches a music & comedy festival headlined by only women, called Arré Siren

    MUMBAI: This Women’s Day weekend in March, all roads will lead to Arré SIREN – Arré Earworm’s first big step into the live music and entertainment space, in partnership with celebrated world music songstress Zila Khan. 

    Arré Earworm was launched last year and soon became the definitive voice of music and culture, through premium music content and live experiences that drive movements, scenes, and stories. Arré Siren is a one-of-its-kind media property driven via digital content, culminating into a two-day music and comedy festival headlined entirely by women artists that will bring together renowned musicians, stand-up comics, and role models to celebrate a year that has been seminal for women across the world. 

    The combined voice of powerhouse women entertainers has the potential to influence the zeitgeist and shape the dialogue in a way that laws and news opinion seldom can. Arré, Creative Editor, Sharan Saikumar said, “This two-day festival with unique digital content at its core, is our first step toward building an electrically charged community of young, liberated, and forward-thinking women who will shape a more equal future for all of us.”

    “India has some of the most talented and enterprising women artists in the world, and they deserve to have a platform that gives them their due. There has been massive disparity in the representation of women artists at festivals across the globe. Even the most reputed festivals keep their headlining spots for male acts. We hope to change this trend through Arré Siren,” said Zila Khan.

    Arré, Director, Jaideep Singh said, “We want the industry to be more inclusive, have greater gender diversity, and give more visibility to women. Along with the festival, we are also rolling out Siren Campus, a mentorship programme for exceptionally talented students and professionals through which they can meet and be mentored by some of the most successful women in the creative industry.”

    Arré Siren will be held at one of Mumbai’s best live music venues, Razzberry Rhinoceros, on Juhu Beach. It will shine a spotlight on more than 15 artists, serving up an eclectic mix of exciting performances across genres like Hip Hop, Funk, Electronica, Jazz, and Indian Fusion, all of it served with a side dish of India’s best comedy. Over the next few days, Arré Siren will begin a concentrated content roll out that will include crowdsourcing projects, opinion polls, doodles, interviews, and The Siren Anthem, featuring all the artists in the line up. 

    Tickets for Siren are now live on Bookmyshow.com https://in.bookmyshow.com/mumbai/events/arre-siren-festival/ET00071234/artist. Grab a chance to create phenomenal memories and be a part of a festival that demonstrates India’s vibrant creative community and its forward-thinking new generation on March 10 and 11, 2018. Follow the Arré Siren Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/ArreSiren/) for announcements, updates, and engaging content. 

    The artist line up at the festival comprises of Richa Chadha, Sumukhi Suresh, Madboy/Mink, Raja Kumari, Maati Baani, Zila Khan, Kaneez Surkha, Urooj Ashfaq, Zoya, Sonali Thakker, Sumaira Shaikh, Mohini Dey and Ladies Compartment. 

  • Hooq announces release of first Hollywood original series

    Hooq announces release of first Hollywood original series

    MUMBAI: Hooq is marking its presence as one of the homes of Hollywood original series. The platform announced its first foray into Hollywood originals with Crackle’s The Oath. The series is debuting with all 10 episodes on 8 March 2018 in the US, and it will be fully available on Hooq after 24 hours, from 9 March 2018.

    Hooq chief content officer Jennifer Batty said, “This marks a truly significant milestone for HOOQ Originals. While we continue to blaze a trail for homegrown Asian content and talent, we are now proud to strengthen our offering and bring in the best original content that Hollywood has to offer. With established producers of gritty visual stories like Joe Halpin and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson on the team and not to mention hard hitters like Ryan Kwanten and Sean Bean, we’re confident that we’ve got a winner here. I can’t wait for you all to see it.”

    Set in Los Angeles, this hard-hitting crime drama dives deep into a world of gangs made up of those sworn to protect and defend. The Oath chooses to tread where most cop dramas don’t, shedding light on corruption and “police gang” culture by examining secret societies that are nearly impossible to join. Only a select few make the cut but, once inside, members will do what they must to protect each other from enemies not only on the outside but also from within.

    Hooq CEO Peter Bithos said, “We have always dedicated ourselves to bringing our subscribers the best that Asia and Hollywood have to offer. With The Oath now joining our family of Originals, we’re proud to continue bringing the kind of stories that our customers love and continue to expect from us. This is the first of many to come.”

    Created by Joe Halpin (Hawaii Five-O, Secrets and Lies), the characters and relationships in the series are informed by his first-hand experience working as a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy in South Central for 18 years, 12 of which was as an undercover officer.

    The Oath stars Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), Cory Hardrict (American Sniper, Gran Torino), Katrina Law (Training Day), Arlen Escarpeta (The Magicians), JJ Soria (Animal Kingdom, The Fosters) andGame Of Thrones alum Sean Bean.

  • Fox News launches OTT platform

    Fox News launches OTT platform

    MUMBAI: Fox News is getting into the digital business with an upcoming over-the-top (OTT) platform called Fox Nation. It will launch in the fourth quarter of 2018.

    Fox Nation will show live exclusive daily streaming content and there will be long-form programming content that will be accessible only to subscribers. The OTT platform will also have access to exclusive events and archival content from two decades that isn’t available elsewhere. One of them will be popular interactions with Fox’s popular opinion hosts and personalities.

    In making the announcement, Fox senior vice president of development and production John Finley said, “With our traditional cable viewership at an all-time high, we are proud to announce a new digital offering geared entirely toward the superfans, who represent the most loyal audience in cable, if not all of television. This initiative will capitalise on providing that viewer, who is among the most affluent and well educated in cable, with a highly specialised content experience on a platform they can watch anytime, anywhere.”

    Fox Nation will be housed at Fox News headquarters in New York utilising its new state-of-the-art technology and the most modern studio space in the industry. Hiring for the new venture will begin in Q2 2018.

    Fox News Channel is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. Owned by 21st Century Fox, it is available in more than 90 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape.

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    Fox Sports Asia to broadcast SFL 

    Lachlan Murdoch opens up about Fox & Star TV’s billion-dollar EBITDA target

    Disney to buy 21st Century Fox assets for $52.4 billion

     

  • The National Inclusion Cup 2018 a CSR initiative of Sony Pictures Networks India

    The National Inclusion Cup 2018 a CSR initiative of Sony Pictures Networks India

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) is proud to be sponsoring the 2nd edition of the National Inclusion Cup (NIC), which is the only national football tournament of its kind for underprivileged youth. The NIC is being held from 20th-23rd Feb’18 at Tiger Play, Lokhandwala, Mumbai and is organised in partnership with the NGO, Krida Vikas Sanstha (Slum Soccer).

    The first edition of the NIC in Feb 2017, saw participation of 40 teams (24 men and 16 women) from different states of India and a team from Nepal.  The best performing players from the NIC were selected to represent India in the Homeless World Cup 2017, in Oslo, Norway. A portable pitch along with sidings was also imported from Scotland through SPN support to help them practice for the Homeless World Cup. Team India had their best performance ever in the tournament as the Indian women’s team ranked 7th and men’s team stood at 18th. 

    This year the number of teams have increased from 40 teams last year to 50 teams including two teams from Nepal, covering close to 500 youth. There are 8 new states added to the tournament and representation from the North East has increased. With the aim of having equal representation of women, the second edition of NIC has successfully achieved an increase in the number of women’s team from 16 to 25. Several Youth leaders (about 12-14) who underwent another SPN supported ‘Game Changers’ program for building community leaders, are either leading some state teams or actively involved in bringing the teams together. This year the tournament is being played on two pitches in parallel, as compared to one last year. 

    Teams from the following states are participating this year:  Maharashtra, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Vidharbha, Orissa, Gujarat, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Punjab, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur, Bihar, Rajasthan as well as Nepal.

    Slum Soccer also invites entries from organizations like Ekjut, Childreach International, United women’s football, North East Indian goal, Maher, Narmada group of institution and Sportskedia to participate in the event.  

    Empowering India’s youth through sports is a key focus for SPN as it aims to influence the sports narrative in India through its on air and off air initiatives. Through its partnership with Slum Soccer, SPN aims to be a cornerstone of support in helping shape the lives of underprivileged youth through football. With SPN’s constant support, the Slum Soccer team has been able to encourage participation, increase reach and provide top notch training to the participants. 

    SPN is committed to co-creating India’s social development agenda through its focus on education, empowerment and environment. The objective of SPNs social impact initiatives is to promote the spirit of ‘Ek India Happy Wala’.

  • Applause Entertainment to make web series on 1992 Securities Scam based on the book ‘The Scam’

    Applause Entertainment to make web series on 1992 Securities Scam based on the book ‘The Scam’

    MUMBAI: For the first time ever, the true story behind one of the most notorious scams of the Indian Stock Market shall be brought on screen by Applause Entertainment in a 10 part series. SuchetaDalal and DebashisBasu’s ‘The Scam’ is one of the most thrilling non-fiction books ever written in India. Helmed by entertainment veteran Sameer Nair, Applause Entertainment will be showcasingthiswhite-collar crime story which took the country by storm.

    An ambitious man discovers a loophole in the system and achieves overnight success in thestock market. A woman gets on his tail and India’s biggest securities scam is exposed. This story of greed makes for a thrilling series of ambition and investigative journalism. An immediate bestseller after being published in April 1993, the book highlights the pervasive greed and misconduct of the financial world unearthed by Padma Shri award-winning journalist SuchetaDalal. Converting this exposéinto a visual format is going to make for a spellbinding story.

    Applause Entertainment CEO Sameer Nair said,”The Scam had me hooked from the start. We are thrilled to work with Sucheta&Debashis on adapting this book into a riveting drama series. With their active collaboration on the screenplay, it promises to be an edge of the seat D-Street drama. These are indeed exciting times for digital content.”

    “It is uncanny how the banking system continues to be exploited through systemic loopholes. It was Harshad Mehta using fake BR in 1992. Now it is Nirav Modi using fake LoU. As if nothing has changed.

    We are very excited to collaborate with Applause Entertainment, and see the drama and excitement of 26 years ago, from an era when there were no cellphones or internet, being recreated for the digital age.”, says Sucheta Dalal.

    In addition to ‘The Scam’, Applause Entertainment has also partnered with international powerhouse BBC Worldwide to produce the Indian version of two of their popular shows–‘The Office’ and ‘Criminal Justice’, has acquired the rights of the 1st chapter of the bestselling book ‘India’s Most Fearless’ and is also in process of making a political drama series called ‘City of Dreams’with NageshKukunoor.

  • Sony Pictures Networks India inaugurates its first music room at Bhondsi Jail, Gurugram

    Sony Pictures Networks India inaugurates its first music room at Bhondsi Jail, Gurugram

    MUMBAI: Staying true to its CSR commitment of Ek India Happywala, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has partnered with India Vision Foundation to launch its first music training room at the Bhondsi jail in Gurugram. SPN’s CSR programme focusses on creating a positive impact in our ecosystem and is built around 3 pillars; empowerment, education and environment. The Dhun Project falls under the pillar of empowerment through music that was initiated in 2016, to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Sony MIX.

    In the second year, ‘The Dhun Project’ aims to use the powerful medium of music for the rehabilitation of prison inmates, thus preparing them for a successful reintegration into society post their prison term. By believing that music can bring about harmony, SPN along with the India Vision Foundation is working towards inducing change in the mind-set of prison inmates, by helping them discover their talent and hone their music skills.

    Through ‘The Dhun Project’, SPN will also be setting up training centres in four additional prisons across the nation – Rothak & Sonipat of Haryana Prison and Dasna & Kasna prison in Uttar Pradesh. Furthermore, the network along with India Vision Foundation have appointed special trainers (vocal and instrumental) who will visit the music centre on a regular basis to train the prison inmates. The training centre is well-equipped with instruments such as a drum set and pad, tabla, dholak, harmonium, guitar and electric keyboards.