ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Mastiii and PEN tie-up for win-win deal

    Mastiii and PEN tie-up for win-win deal

    MUMBAI: Mastiii is all set to make a mark in the mobile app industry. The channel will soon expand its digital footprint via an exclusive content association with PEN India and will be available on its latest, Bollywood Times Mobile App, a one-stop destination for entertainment needs starting 9 December 2017.

    Bollywood Times, a pre-dominantly movie focused platform, has a vast reach and majorly youth audience. This strategical move of associating with Mastiii will give the platform a boost to reach out to a wider audience. At the same time, it brings Mastiii closer to its 200 million monthly viewers who would now be able to enjoy the content on the go.

    Commenting on the association, PEN India chairman and managing director Jayanti Lal Gada expressed that, “In a bid to ensure that digital-first audiences of today have access to the best of entertainment, we are glad to come into this association with Mastiii in an exclusive linear feed sharing deal, that will be available on our latest Bollywood Times App. The relentless efforts of the team and particularly my younger son Akshay Gada, in the creation of this app catered to Bollywood enthusiasts & lovers has culminated in the fruition of this association. With the backing of an established industry name like Mastiii, the premier music channel from SAB Group, we are confident the launch of the app will see success.”

    Talking about the tie-up, SABGroup group CEO Manav Dhanda stated, “Mastiii has always been the flag bearer and the undisputed leader of the music and youth genre. With the association, we aim at reaching out to the youth where they are. The association with PEN comes at a time when the mobile app industry is booming in India and has shown tremendous growth with over six billion apps downloaded in 2016 alone. The launch of the Bollywood Times app and the streaming of our content on it will not only strengthen each brand individually but help give the youth of India a variety of content on a single platform.”

  • Apple to acquire Shazam

    Apple to acquire Shazam

    MUMBAI: Apple is making another big move this year. The Cupertino-based company is acquiring Shazam to bolster its music services. According to TechCrunch, Apple is all set to buy the popular music-recognition app in a nine-figure deal that could be valued around $401 million.

    Shazam has crossed 1 billion downloads in September 2016, which will eventually benefit Apple. After the acquisition, the existing products of Shazam would blend with Apple.

    Shazam has already integrated with Siri, but the acquisition gives Apple a path to deeper personalised recommendations through the virtual assistant integrated with Apple Music.

    Shazam Entertainment, founded in 1999 by Chris Barton, Philip Inghelbrecht, Avery Wang, and Dhiraj Mukherjee, is a British app development company that created an app that can identify music, movies, advertising, and television shows, based on a short sample played and using the microphone on the device. According to its CEO, Shazam was one of the top ten most popular apps in the world in December 2013.

  • Green Gold, Amazon Prime put Kerala martial art on the map

    Green Gold, Amazon Prime put Kerala martial art on the map

    MUMBAI: Green Gold Animation is rediscovering Kalaripayattu, a lost martial art form of Kerala. With the purpose to educate through entertainment, the animation studio is making an exclusive series for Amazon Prime titled Kalari Kids. The series will be launched around Christmas with 20 episodes of 11 minutes each in season one.

    Recently, the animation house also inked a deal with Netflix to digitally broadcast Mighty Little Bheem—a spinoff of its popular character Chhota Bheem.

    Talking about the new series, Green Gold Animation CEO Rajiv Chilaka said, “The IP rights of Kalari Kids will be with Green Gold but we may have co-producers as partners. Amazon Prime will hold the OTT rights and programming license. This is a multi-season deal between us. The first season will take a year of production to complete.”

    The show will be telecast on television later as one episode per week. Currently, the deal is under process to give television rights to the broadcaster. The production cost of Kalari Kids is higher than Chhota Bheem but lower than Mighty Little Bheem. Green Gold is making a total of 60 episodes for Amazon over three seasons with a dedicated team of 100. Twelve episodes are already in the bank.

    According to Green Gold Animation vice president (content sales) Bharath Laxmipati, Kalaripayattu is a dying art and not many kids are aware of it. “We have never made any show on Indian martial art form, so for us, it is an opportunity to entertain kids with a purpose. Therefore, through our show, we want to teach martial arts and talk about courage & bravery because a sport like Kalari builds strength and character in children,” he said.

    The marketing and promotions of the show will be done by the Amazon Prime team with heavy focus on digital. According to Laxmipati, Amazon is leaving no stone unturned to market the show. 

    The animation or graphic style of the show is reminiscent of the beauty, sophistication and stylisation of the traditional Kerala paintings. The animation company has taken the best artists and culturally highlighted the beautiful creations of India.

    Kalari Kids is based on Kalaripayattu martial art form that has three variants, Arappa Kay, Pilla Thangi and Vatta Thiripp, which are distinguished by their attacking and defensive patterns. Surprisingly, this lesser-known martial arts form was developed in the 6th century BC. Let’s see how Amazon and Green Gold Animation bring Kalaripayattu back to life.

  • Vikram Bhatt to launch OTT platform on 27th Jan

    Vikram Bhatt to launch OTT platform on 27th Jan

    MUMBAI: Finally, the launch date for director-producer Vikram Bhatt’s over-the-top (OTT) service is out. One of the latest entrants in the digital entertainment space, the OTT platform, titled VB on the Web, will begin services on 27 January 2018.

    Furthermore, Bhatt is all set to debut as an actor in his own web series Untouchables directed by his daughter Krishna Bhatt and produced under his banner Loneranger Productions. In this series, Bhatt plays a lawyer in a courtroom drama that revolves around a murder case.

    “I am launching my own OTT on 27 January with my three exclusive web series. The first is Untouchables, which has been directed by my daughter Krishna Bhatt and I am also acting in it. And the other two are Twisted 2 and Maaya 2,” said Bhatt.

    Twisted 2 is a thriller starring Niaa Sharma and Rahul Raj. The director of Twisted 1, Anupam Santosh Saroj, is directing the second series as well. Maaya explores the tabooed theme of BDSM.

    Bhatt has a big bank of web series on his Youtube channel, which is also called VB on the Web.

  • BigRock and Neustar tie up with TVF to promote the .biz extension

    BigRock and Neustar tie up with TVF to promote the .biz extension

    MUMBAI: BigRock in association with Neustar, operator of the global registry for .biz and .co has tied up with The Viral Fever (TVF) for their first ever video content partnership. With their association, BigRock and Neustar, will address the market jointly through the campaign, highlighting the benefits of getting online with .biz domains in India. The campaign titled “Naam Mein kya Rakha Hain” (What’s in a Name?) will be streamed through TVF’s sister channel, The Screen Patti (TSP).

    India’s push towards digitization has transformed the business and the consumer landscape in India. As consumers are moving online, the need of the hour for small businesses and entrepreneurs is to rapidly migrate to online mediums for both convenience and growth. According to a recent Google-KPMG study, digitally-engaged businesses are able to grow their customer base significantly with 52 per cent catering to customers beyond their home city versus only 29 per cent offline. In order to stay relevant, businesses will need to carve out an online presence and bring in fresh set of potential customers. The association between BigRock and Neustar aims to enhance and stimulate the demand for .biz domains by encouraging Indian entrepreneurs and small businesses to adopt the domain and get online in a seamless and quick manner with BigRock’s Website Builder.

    “India as a country is experiencing rapid internet penetration and businesses everyday are realising the importance of having an online presence. We have also witnessed an upsurge in the .biz domain as a globally accepted TLD. Through our partnership with Neustar and TVF, we are excited to promote the highlights and benefits of getting online with a .biz domain to expand their brand presence.” said Shashank Mehrotra, Managing Director, APAC at Endurance International Group (EIG). “TVF has been enthralling its audience with unique and compelling web content and brand partnerships since its inception. As we understand the importance of content, we aim to achieve great success in effectively engaging with Indian businesses and SMBs through the sketch.”

    The sketch conceptualized and created by TSP, addresses the common dilemmas faced by professionals who wish to expand their customer base. It will be promoted on all digital platforms of BigRock and The Screen Patti.

    The Viral Fever head of brand partnerships Vijay Koshy said, “Slowly but steadily Digital is impacting all of us whether how we shop, travel, entertain, transact etc and the next big wave of adoption is going to come from the SME / Trader community. BigRock wants to talk to that community and be the stepping stone to that successful transition and have engaged with The Screenpatti (TSP) from the TVF network to tell some delightful and relatable stories with ‘Naam mein kya rakha hai.”

    BigRock has previously created ad films like Rachel’s Yoga, Satya Lie Detector and Vicky’s Make up studio, which emphasized on the importance of a .biz domain for budding entrepreneurs, while taking on a humorous tone to appeal to wider audiences.

    BigRock will be giving out a .biz domain at a discounted rate of Rs. 249 along with 50 per cent off on a 5 page website builder package (both for the first year).

  • YuppTV appoints Rajesh Iyer as COO for APAC, Middle East

    YuppTV appoints Rajesh Iyer as COO for APAC, Middle East

    MUMBAI: YuppTV has roped in Rajesh Iyer as the chief operating officer for Asia Pacific (APAC) and Middle East. A seasoned executive, Iyer has more than 16 years of experience leading functions and business with leading names in the broadcast media domain, including ZEEL, Viacom 18 and Star India. He will take charge of the new role from January 2018 onwards.

    A part of the broadcast leadership team at ZEEL, Iyer spearheaded the launch of its second GEC, & TV, in 2015. Under his leadership, & TV was successful in creating a niche for itself in the market within the first three years of the launch. Prior to this, Iyer was also a part of the launch of Colors, a GEC from Viacom 18, in 2008. Now, taking up the position of YuppTV’s COO, Rajesh’s responsibilities will include overlooking the operations in APAC and the Middle East, along with leading the task of content acquisition and spearheading the growth and expansion of YuppTV Originals.

    YuppTV founder and CEO of Uday Reddy said, “It gives me immense pleasure to welcome Rajesh to YuppTV. He comes with an excellent understanding of the entertainment ecosystem, having previously worked with some of the most renowned names in the industry. With Rajesh joining us and dedicated teams in each of the territory, we are affirmative for a multi-fold growth in the coming years especially in the new markets of APAC and ME.”

    YuppTV is a global OTT platform of live, on-demand and catch-up video content for South Asian audience. It offers upwards of 300 live channels, 5000 movies and is widely distributed through multiple devices across US, UK/Europe, APAC, ME and India. More recently, YuppTV has been associating with the veterans from the South Indian film industry to host concepts beyond cinema with cinematic brilliance for YuppTV Originals such as Edulika and Manna Mugguru Love Story.

  • The Viral Fever wins big at 22nd Asian Television Awards

    The Viral Fever wins big at 22nd Asian Television Awards

    MUMBAI: The Viral Fever, creators of the web content in India and makers of the series “TVF Pitchers”, “Permanent Roommates” have added another feather to their cap! Their original web series TVF Tripling which released last year has bagged the award for the best scriptwriting for web programme/series at the recently concluded 22nd Asian Television Awards in Singapore.

    TVF Originals head Sameer Saxena said, “Tripling is a very special show for TVF. Thanks to Sumeet & Akarsh, we had a story that was true to the experiences we share with family, and loved by Indian audiences. With this award, we are confident that these stories are true beyond India as well.”

    Directed by Rajesh Krishnan, the web series which premiered in August last year, is an unforgettable, unplanned road trip that the three siblings – Chandan (played by Vyas), Chanchal (played by Maanvi Gagroo) and Chitvan (played by Amol Parashar) – are on to meet their parents. The tale is loaded with the emotions that highlight the unique and enduring relationship between siblings. The show, which is written by lead actor and scriptwriter Sumeet Vyas along with Akarsh Khurana, has won this award in its 1st ever year. This was also The Viral Fever and India’s 1st nomination in this category. The series broke new grounds in digital entertainment in India with story-telling, production scale, and viewership. Tripling is available to watch on TVF’s original content platform, TVFPlay.

    Vyas said, “Tripling was created from very personal experiences. Beyond funny situations and crazy people, there’s a warm story that we were trying to tell, and I’m so so proud that people got it. Thank you ATA for recognising and appreciating our effort.”

    Khurana added, “The win was a wonderful surprise and a reminder of how much love there is for the series. It’s the perfect motivation for Sumeet and me as we are in the process of writing Season 2. It’s also lots of pressure!”

  • SonyLIV partners Fabform Mediaworks for curated comic content

    SonyLIV partners Fabform Mediaworks for curated comic content

    MUMBAI: Consumption of content on-the-go has shown an upward trend. People across the country are scouting for content which entertains as well as evokes thought. To keep up with the trend and the demands of the viewer, SonyLIV has associated with Fabform Mediaworks.

    This association gives SonyLIV users access to all the comic content curated by Fabform Mediaworks. With this, the platform will now have five more interesting shows for its viewers to consume. The shows range from Vlogs on beauty to peeks into celebrity lives, from career choices and lives of modern women to reality shows on love and relationships.

    SonyLIV EVP and head-digital business Uday Sodhi said, “Videos from Fabform Mediaworks are extremely popular among the youth due to their engaging content. Through this partnership, we are looking at exploring different genres and staying true to SonyLIV’s constant endeavour to enhance viewer experience by delivering top-notch content.”

    The first show that premieres on the platform is House of Connections. This show is a reality show about finding that one special connection with whom the celebrity contestant can strike a chord instantly. This show will bring to screen faces like Pearl Puri, Pooja Banerjee and Pooja Mishra.

  • SonyLIV shows how hate converts to love in ‘Black Coffee’

    SonyLIV shows how hate converts to love in ‘Black Coffee’

    MUMBAI: Can you fall in love with someone you have always detested? They say, don’t get too personal at work, but what happens when business leads you to your true love?

    Addressing the complexities of love and taking on the concept of attraction, SonyLIV, brings to the small screen Black Coffee; a seven-episode web series by Beyond Originals.

    The series is about love changing perceptions and breaking boundaries. The series is centred around a bestselling novelist, Dhruv Narang (Param Singh) and Hemal Shah (Harshita Gaur), two individuals who are leading their lives with fixed notions about love. The story underlines the bittersweet romance of the lead couple, their constant clashes and their journey from hate to love.

    SonyLIV, EVP and head – digital business Uday Sodhi, said, “At SonyLIV, it is our constant endeavour to deliver content that not just entertains but also evokes emotions. We are happy to associate with Beyond Originals to bring entertaining yet relatable stories to the small screen. Keeping our brand ethos ‘We LIV to entertain’ in mind, we will continue to curate content that enhances viewer experience and establishes a connect with them.”

    Beyond Originals Founder Yash Patnaik said, “Black Coffee is the first of Beyond Originals’ offering of digital content. Our previous series with Sony Kuchh Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi was well-received and appreciated by the viewers. I am hoping that Black Coffee continues to spread love and be appreciated.”

  • Shemaroo makes key hires to boost business

    Shemaroo makes key hires to boost business

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment is all set to strengthen its leadership team with appointments in new products and digital marketing.

    Vaibhav Goyal has been appointed as general manager, head of products in new media & technologies and Omprakash Singh joins as digital marketing lead. The appointments are Mumbai-based and are expected to help drive the company’s growth in its new transitional phase.

    Commenting on the recent hires, Shemaroo Entertainment director Hiren Gada said, “It is an exciting time for us at Shemaroo and we are pleased to have Om and Vaibhav on board. In line with our accelerated growth plans, we have hand-picked all the three experts from some of the best organisations in the media and entertainment space. We look forward to scale our brand and offerings with the new hires.”

    Vaibhav Goyal has over 13 years of experience in media & entertainment and telecom. An alumnus of IIT Madras, he joins from Reliance Jio, where he was a senior product manager working on JioTV. In the past, he has worked with Hungama, Nokia and TCS. At Shemaroo, he will lead the digital products development and strategy.

    Omprakash Singh has 11 years of experience and joins from Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi, where he was the digital business head on Renault India. A bachelor of computer application, Singhalso co-founded a creative digital start-up Tiki Tech and was part of it for over five years before he moved to Everymedia Technologies. At Shemaroo he will be heading all the digital marketing initiatives.