ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Arnab to start ‘original VR journalism’ on Republic World

    MUMBAI: For the first-ever time in India, Republic TV is all set to launch VR television next week. This was announced at Zee Melt, one of the biggest festival for disruptive marketing and communications under way at Mumbai.

    Republic TV editor Arnab Goswami said that VR will have a separate and original feed on Republic World digital platform.

    “We have got cameras, we have studios and we are shooting in VR. It will be available on all native devices and will take us to a new level — it is going to be principally journalism,” Goswami said.

    “It will come to you free of cost but you will have to use your VR gear,” he added. Republic World has tied up with American and Canadian companies on the technology front, he said.

    Virtual Reality (VR) is the computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors.

    Is VR really how we will all watch TV in years to come? At an earlier media industry’s annual meet in Cannes, VR was discussed as the next mass medium that will take TV to a new level.

    Films such as The Lawnmower Man and The Matrix, as well as books such as Ready Player One presented visions of technology whereby strapping on a VR headset enabled people to explore virtual, computer-generated worlds, the Guardian had reported.

    In 2017, these cultural highs are fresh in mind for the television industry, as it tries to understand whether real-life headsets can be used to deliver new forms of documentary, drama, and storytelling.

    Several attempts to make VR a real-world success had failed. The release of a new-generation VR headsets, however, from Sony, HTC, Google, Samsung, and Facebook-owned Oculus VR has brought the technology back to prominence.

    At MIPTV industry conference in Cannes, VR was a major theme for producers, broadcasters and tech companies alike. HTC’s Rikard Steiber had said that VR, the new computing platform, was going to be the next mass medium.

    VR is however far less popular than apps. YouTube has over a billion monthly viewers and Instagram has over 600 million. VR experts however agree that only around 20 million headsets have been sold, including fewer than two million of the “tethered” devices, which require a connection to a powerful computer.

    Republic TV COO Jay Chauhan said: “Virtual Reality is the first of our initiatives to bring new content experiences to the audience. It’s a cool way of storytelling because it transports people right to where the action is – no barriers stand in the way. Besides it also opens up new monetisation opportunities for us.”

    He further added, “The VR content will be available on RepublicWorld.com, as a new stream and the company’s newly-constituted VR Cell built in collaboration with experts from across the globe will begin rolling out amazing VR content in the weeks ahead.”

  • Arre Outdoors to bring more travel fiction after ‘Real High’ made by Nimbu Mirchi

    MUMBAI: Arré has launched Arré Outdoors, a new vertical, focused on travel, adventure, and more. Arré Outdoors, like Arré, is a multi-media, multi-genre platform with content ranging from videos to text to audio to doodles and more.

    The first property from the Arré Outdoors stable is a first-of-its-kind travel-and-adventure reality series – The Real High, in partnership with Arunachal Pradesh Tourism, Nissan Terrano, Woodland and O’cean Active. It was made at a cost of a crore rupees by the production house ‘Nimbu Mirchi Media Solutions, sources said. Arre Outdoors is planning to launch more fiction shows on travel.

    Arré Outdoors is a call to city slickers to get out of their automated city lives and comfort zones, and get real and raw in nature. Arré Outdoors will take viewers and readers on a series of interactive digital journeys to undiscovered places and experiences in their purest form, starting with Arunachal Pradesh.

    The show is an eight-part series where leading youth icon Rannvijay Singha takes six ultra-urban city dwellers on an incredible journey to the forests of Arunachal Pradesh, to experience life without beds, baths, and phones. The participants are given a once-in-a-lifetime experience to rethink their life and choices, and to discover “The Real High”

    Arré, the digital destination for award-winning original content, launches a new vertical – “Arré Outdoors” – focused on travel, adventure, and more. This would be Arré’s second expansion after the launch of its food vertical – Arré Grub.

    Shot in the breathtaking mountains, rivers, and forests of Arunachal Pradesh, the show is a visual delight blended with the fun experiences and wild adventures of the six participants along with Rannvijay, as they pitch their own tent, build their own raft, cook their own food, mingle with the locals, and experience life in a way unknown to any of them. Episode 1 of the series will be out on arre.co.in, the Arré app, and its partner platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, SonyLIV, Yupp TV, Jio Cinema, and Ola Prime Play on June 10.

    Arré B founder B. Saikumar said, “Travel is no longer just a passion point pursued by some, but is increasingly becoming a way of life, as places and people get closer in the digital age. We travel the world in 80 minutes or even 80 seconds through pictures, 360-degree videos, interactive maps, and every other technology at our disposal.

    Arré Outdoors is a fresh take on travel through stories and formats that will take our viewers and readers to places and nudge them to get out of their homes and journey these experiences themselves, one trip at a time. ‘The Real High’ is our first property from the Arré Outdoors stable and we are very thrilled to be partnering with Arunachal Pradesh Tourism, Nissan Terrano, Woodland, and O’cean Active to create this special show for our viewers”.

    Arunachal Pradesh parliamentary secretary – tourism P. D. Sona commented, “We expect the number of tourist arrivals to grow exponentially this year, through many projects that engage with the youth. We are very delighted to partner with Arré on such an interesting initiative.”

    Nissan India Motor VP – marketing Sanjay Gupta said, “Our association with ‘The Real High’ offers us a platform to demonstrate the smarter and bolder presence of the New Nissan Terrano. The incredible journey undertaken by these six youngsters is high on aspiration and resonates with our target audience.”

    Singha said, “It will be interesting for viewers to see how the participants adapt to life outside the city and without taken-for-granted comforts, apart from the breathtaking sights of Arunachal Pradesh. We had a lot of fun shooting the show and I hope the audience enjoys it as much.”

  • Arre ready to stream interactive travel & adventure content: The Real High

    MUMBAI: Arre, a new-age digital infotainment platform for stories using fiction, non-fiction, documentaries, social experiments and podcasts, on Wednesday, plans to launch a new show — The Real High.

    At Taj Land’s End in Bandra (Mumbai), actor-model Rannvijay Singha will launch the show that was shot in the pristine valleys of Arunchal Pradesh.

    “With this show, we begin a journey of interactive travel and adventure content with our new vertical — Arre Outdoors,” an Arre statement said. 

    Arunachal Pradesh Parliamentary secretary (tourism) PD Sona is scheduled to grace the occasion along with the show host and adventure enthusiast Singha, Arre founder B Saikumar, and Nissan India VP – marketing Sanjay Gupta.

    Earlier, indiantelevision.com reported that Arré’s first web series A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend won five awards at the LA Web Festival for Best Series, Best Editing, Best Direction, Best Actress and Best Overall Premise within the Drama Category, from among a selected shortlist of 35 webseries across the world. The series was also nominated for Best Sound Design, Visual Effects, Outstanding Score, Cinematography, Supporting Actor, Best Actor and Writing. 

    This is the third set of international awards for A.I.SHA after winning Best Overall Web Series and Best Suspense/Thriller at the South Florida Web Festival held in Miami and for Exceptional Merit at the WRPN.TV Global Webisode competition. 

    Arré’s Official Chukyagiri was also named an Official Honoree in the Film and Video Long Form or Series Category at the 21st Annual Webby Awards 2017. 

    A.I.SHA, Artificial Intelligence Simulated Humanoid Assistant (A.I.SHA) is India’s first AI-based digital series. The story pivots around the widely debated and chilling premise of what happens when artificial intelligence develops feelings and consciousness?  Sam, the show’s protagonist, creates A.I.SHA, without realising the consequences, and thus begins a series of events that rapidly spirals out of control. Catch the full series here.

    Also read:

    Arre’s ‘Virtual Girlfriend’ wins five awards at LA Web Festival 

  • Dark tale of relationships web-film Sneh to be directed by Amit Malik

    MUMBAI: Sneh, a crime thriller web-film, inspired by true events, has been launched.

    Directed by Amit Malik, the film is an attempt to create quality content on varied genres. The mini-thriller, Sneh, is a gripping tale of a missing man, who happens to be a police officer. The plot focuses on the mystery of his disappearance and revolves around how his mother, wife and daughter deal with the situation. With this film, ScoopWhoop, a youth media network, has expanded its portfolio.

    The film is told mostly through the man’s wife Sneh’s perspective, and captures her plight of missing her husband. Broken into 5 parts, the film begins near the end of the story, and traces its steps backwards into the murky dealings of the human mind, debauchery, love, hatred and that dangerous thing called ‘desire’. Apart from an unusual approach to filmography, it’s also the film’s performance that will keep the audience at the edge of their seat.

    ScoopWhoop chief content officer Sriparna Tikekar said, “There simply isn’t one genre, or one kind of story. Our goal has always been to feed our audience with the most interesting stories. And since we have never explored the dark side of story-telling, a crime thriller had to happen. With Sneh, we have experimented with the non-linear approach of execution, ensuring that the audience are gripped till the end.”

    The web-film was the Official Selection at Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI) 2016. It’s fresh, bold take on compelling storytelling in the big bad world of Content Creators, has garnered it with many praises at the prestigious film festival.

  • YuppTV pockets ICC Champions’ exclusive digital rights, Canada & Europe to enjoy it live

    MUMBAI: To the delight of cricket enthusiasts on its platform, YuppTV, the world’s largest OTT player in South-Asian content, has bagged the exclusive digital rights for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2017 for Canada and non-exclusive digital rights for Continental Europe. With the latest development, YuppTV users in Canada and Continental Europe, excluding Germany, Switzerland and Austria, will be able to catch the intense cricketing action live on YuppTV.

    YuppTV users can grab all the action, live from 1 – 18, June 2017.

    Commenting on the latest undertaking, Uday Reddy, Founder & CEO, YuppTV, said, “We are glad to bag the Digital Rights for the ICC Champions Trophy, 2017. It has been our constant endeavour to make it easier for users to access entertainment over the internet. Now, with the latest development, cricket enthusiasts will be able to catch the intense cricketing action LIVE on YuppTV. Since cricket enjoys a cult following across the globe, we look forward to receiving a positive response from our customers”

    The ICC Champions Trophy 2017 is going to witness eight top-ranking teams in the world to compete for the top spot. The 18 days long event is going to commence on June 1, promises to an action-packed cricketing extravaganza.

  • The shape of Indian OTT universe circa 2021 according to Rethink Tech Research

    MUMBAI: This should put OTT players on alert and gladden the hearts of linear TV distribution and programming executives. The latest numbers about how India’s video guzzlers are going to consume VoD services by the UK-based industry tracker Rethink Technology Research reveal that India will have about 14.6 million VoD subscribers by 2021. Indiantelevision.com estimates are that, comparatively, Indian DTH will account for about 75 million active subscribers and cable TV more than 100 million by then.

    Clearly, VoD will have made a marginal dent in eroding linear TV distribution platforms stranglehold on Indian viewers thanks to the lower sticker prices for cable TV and DTH, which will possibly continue to be in play even in 2021. Cord-cutting, which is becoming increasingly common in many markets, may not really make its way to Indian shores.

    Yes, the data suggests that India will be the second largest market in Asia Pacific after China which will account for 60 per cent of the Asia Pacific’s $10 billion subscription revenues and 200 million subs, by 2021. (The corresponding figures for 2016 are at $6.5 billion and 100 million respectively.)

    “Asia Pacific is made up of a multitude of contrasting individual markets, making it fragmented and complex with broadband penetration above 50%, in some regions and below 10% in others,” said a statement from Rethink Technology Research.
    There will be a hard pitched battle for subscription shares between the 30 odd OTT players in the game in India. By then probably many more OTT providers will have stomped into the terrain. And hence one wonders how many of them will be profitable.

    Both, Netflix and Amazon Prime, are just about beginning to plonk down top dollars – like India has not seen before – on original shows which should hop on to their India – and later global – offering by next year. Hotstar and Viacom18’s Voot have also been investing heavily to acquire customers. Estimates are that the two have pumped in around Rs 4000 million and Rs 1400 million, respectively, since launch. Others such as Viu, NextGTV, Spuul, ErosNow, Hooq, SonyLiv, YuppTV and Alt Balaji too are in a customer acquisition phase, having just got onto the runway.

    The good news, according to Rethink, is that pure play SVoD services in APAC (expected revenues by 2021: $6.29 billion) will dominate operator-supplied services.

    As far as APAC is concerned, the research house predicts that Indonesia and Japan will be third and fourth, with each increasing to 9.96 million and 8.1 million by 2021, respectively.

  • “We are targeting the 1.5 m Indians in mainland Europe” – bubbles Media CEO Arnold C. Kulbatzki

    Launched in August 2016, the satellite-to-OTT platform TV services of bobbles.tv is aimed at expats of Asian, Latin American and African origins based in Europe. Supported by MX1, Bobbles can also be enjoyed via OTT for online viewing, via connected TV or mobile devices. bobbles.tv is a product of Hamburg-based privately held bubbles Media GmbH, a new pay TV provider specialising in TV offerings for international target groups.

    With diverse experience in the media and telecom sectors spread over 20 years, Arnold C. Kulbatzki is the founding partner and CEO of bubbles Media GmbH. Prior to establishing bubbles media GmbH in January 2016, he was the CEO of a2b media (2004-2015), a management consulting firm with extensive expertise in customer experience management, digital transformation, paid content and OTT audio-video services. In an interaction with Indiantelevision.com, Kulbatzki spells out his company’s plans and explains why the services offered are unique. Excerpts from the interview:

    Can you please tell us about Bobbles TV?

    Bobbles delivers multiple packages of TV channels from around the globe. We aim to reach the 15 million people originating from Asia, Latin America and Africa, but currently living and working in Europe. The service can be received throughout Europe via satellite and online. Bobbles went live in August 2016 initially with programming offers for Chinese, Indonesian, Indian and Korean communities. Our most recent launch was our new package of India’s best and most popular TV channels.

    Why did you  launch a service for expats in Europe?

    I’ve travelled a lot during my career and I’m familiar with the feeling of being abroad, but wanting to know what’s going on at home. Moreover, my personal circle of friends includes many expats who’ve chosen to relocate to Europe. They’ve come from India, Korea, China and elsewhere. One thing they have in common is their desire to retain links with home, even to watch their favourite TV channels from their native countries.

    My Bobbles media partners and I imagined there must be a way to create a business built around delivering multiple packages of programming to the many people from all around the world who have chosen to call Europe home. When our research revealed there are over 15 million people originally from Asia, Latin America and Africa but living in Europe, we knew that these volumes meant such a service would truly delight a huge number of people. We also knew we had a great business opportunity.

    Can you please tell us about your new Indian package?

    We launched our bobbles.tv India package in early 2017 with 15 channels of entertainment in Hindi and English, including Bollywood blockbuster-packed B4U Movies, B4U Music, StarGOLD, Sony MAX and ZOOM. Viewers can also watch India’s most popular news services like NDTV 24×7, Times Now and Aaj Tak. Viacom18’s Colors, StarPlus, NDTV Good Times, NDTV Spice, Sony Entertainment Television (SET), Sony SAB, Life OK and  Rishtey Europe show general entertainment, comedy, drama, lifestyle, reality TV and made-for-TV movies.

    With 13 channels, Bobbles is Europe’s largest and lowest-priced satellite TV package. It‘s avaialble via ASTRA satellite for pan-European viewing. Additionally, 14 popular channels in Hindi and English can be received via OTT, available live and via seven-day catch-up with more channels on the way. No other broadcaster awywhere offers DTH and OTT services this way. Also, for many of our broadcaster patners, this is their first foray in Europe. So we know we are offering something truly unique to viewers.

    What’s the pricing for the packages?

    Subscribing is easy and affordable – this really sets us apart from competitors. It’s simply a flat monthly fee of €23.95 (1 USD= 0.90 Euro) on satellite and €12.95 online. What’s more, our viewers do not need a contract. With a potential audience of 1.5 million Indian expats living in mainland Europe, we are excited to deliver this pioneering and low-priced new service to this community.

    How many subscribers are you aiming to attract in year one?

    We haven’t set any specific subscriber or revenue targets. This is because we are launching the package of services in a roadmap of well-planned launches. It will take a certain amount of time. Only after a critical mass is reached for active and live services, we will be able to assess the overall figures for the business. Additionally, we don‘t critically need to set year-one targets, thanks to our operational efficiency and, in particular, the efficiency of our satellite-and-OTT distribution strategy.

    Are you well-funded? Who’s investing in the venture?

    We are privately-funded.

    What is your revenue model? Will it be purely subscription-based or are you also looking at advertising revenue?

    In addition to subscription revenue from consumers, there are additional monetisation opportunities going forward, including video-on-demand and B2B offerings for businesses for the worldwide hospitality sector, for example. As soon as our subscriber base reaches a critical mass, we can offer a great and a unique business opportunity for advertisers.

  • ALTBalaji to launch its first Tamil show ‘Maya Thirrai’

    MUMBAI: ALTBalaji has announced the release of its first Tamil show- Maya Thirrai, with its 16 episodes available on ALTBalaji platform. To mark ALTBalaji’s entry into Tamil regional entertainment space, Ekta Kapoor brought together distinguished team of director Kaushik Narasimhan and producer Kutty Padmini.

    Maya Thirrai, which means illusions, is a mysterious tale of a woman named Sandhya, tangled in her own reality. Despite having everything, she always felt a void and finally after years of waiting, she bumps into the handsome Prakash, who comes with a promise of all she ever wanted, but her picture-perfect marriage was nothing but just an illusion.

    Alt Balaji CEO Nachiket Pantvaidya said, “With the expansion of internet and smartphones, the way audience consumes entertainment has changed drastically. ALTBalaji is targeting urban masses in over 60 cities, reaching out to about 75 million people via our app. The online entertainment option available to this section is either to watch non-Indian English or Hindi shows. There is definitely a gap here and a huge potential which could be tapped with our exclusive regional shows. ALTBalaji aims to penetrate into deeper pockets of Indian market through regional shows hence, 25% of our shows will be in non- Hindi languages including Tamil, Bengali, Punjabi, Telugu, Gujarati, Punjabi etc. Maya Thirrai is our first step in this direction and we are confident that the audience will be thoroughly entertained by it.”

    Producer Kutty Padmini adds, “I am glad to bring Maya Thirrai to the Tamil audience, it is gripping and has great surprise elements. Digital shows are future of entertainment, hence the show is very special and marks an important move for us. Collaborating with Ekta Kapoor has been a great experience, it’s gratifying to see how our vision has transformed so beautifully on the canvas. I am hopeful that our audience will love the show.”

    On his digital debut and association with Ekta Kapoor, Kaushik Narasimhan said, “Digital is the core focus of the entertainment industry today and I am glad to be venturing into this space with, who better than ALTBalaji. As a director, I am always on the lookout for fresh and creative storyline and Maya Thirrai is such addition. The plot is very exciting and each episode will surely get the audience stunned and looking for more.”

  • Eros profit grows despite lesser releases, demonetization

    BENGALURU: The Sunil Lulla led Eros International Media Limited (Eros) reported 7.9 percent growth of consolidated profit after tax attributable (PAT) to Eros shareholders for the year ended 31 March 2017 (FY-17, current year, fiscal) despite releasing lesser films and demonetisation as compared to the previous year. Eros consolidated (PAT) for FY-17 was Rs 2,432.9 million (18.4 percent of Income from Operations) and Rs 2,386.7 million (15.1 percent of Income from Operations) for FY-16.The company’s Income from Operations in FY-17 dropped 11.6 percent to Rs 13,997 million from Rs15,826.8 million in FY-16.

    The company released a total of 44 films including 5 high budget, 10 medium budget and 29 low budget films in FY-17 as compared to a total of 63 films including 6 high budget, 16 medium budget and 41 low budget films during the FY-16. In its investor presentation for FY-17, the company says Theatrical Revenues contributed – 42.5 percent, Overseas Revenues – 26.4 percent and Television & Others – 31.1 percent as a percentage of Income from Operations.

    Eros reveals that Theatrical revenues in FY-17 included releases of ‘Housefull 3’, ‘Ki & Ka’, Baar Baar Dekho, Banjo, ‘Happy Bhaag Jayegi’, ‘Rock On 2’, ‘Nil Battey Sannata’, Kahaani 2 (overseas), Dishoom and regional films include Sardaar Gabbar Singh (Telugu), 24 (Tamil), Janatha Garage (Telugu), C/O. Saira Banu (Malayalam), Engitta Modhathe (Tamil), Bibaho Diaries (Bengali),

    Singham 3 (Tamil), ‘Baghtos Kay Mujra Kar’, Chaar Sahibzaade2 (Punjabi) etc.

    Total Income reduced 11.1 percent to Rs 14,452.8 million in FY-17 from Rs 16,257 million in the previous year. EBIT (Earnings before interest and taxes) increased 6.1 percent to Rs 3,767.5 million (26.9 percent of Income from Operations) in FY-17 from Rs 3,549.3 million (15.1 percent of Income from Operations).

    Company Speak

    Eros executive vice chairman and managing director Lulla said: “It is a matter of satisfaction that we have ended the fiscal year on a steady note despite the impact of demonetization on theatrical revenues in H2 of FY-17. This performance has been enabled by Eros’ consistent pre‐sales strategy which helps us de‐risk our business, effective monetization of our 2000 plus films library and a strong regional film strategy during the year.

    The Indian film sector has attracted a lot of interest from international majors to build their film libraries in the recent past and as a result has driven up value of the Indian content. Eros’ key asset – a market leading content library is a major beneficiary of this trend which is only likely to become stronger. At the same time, in order to effectively manage the cost of our future content,

    the company has taken active steps to develop its own intellectual properties over the past 2 years. The launch of Trinity Pictures, our film label for franchise films, investments in our joint venture Colour Yellow Productions and identifying the right films to sequel from our film library are concrete steps taken in this direction. We are excited about these developments and are

    looking forward to FY-18 which will see the fruition of this strategy in a significant manner.

    We are proud to have established a company with leadership position in a market that continues to witness strong growth and are confident that with our new initiatives, we will continue to enhance our market position.”

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by Eros

    Simple EBIDTA including other income in FY-17 increased by 6.1 percent to Rs 3,863.3 million (27.6 percent margin of Income from Operations) from Rs 3644 million (23 percent of Income from Operations).

    Consolidated Net Finance cost in the current year increased 61 percent to Rs 545.2 million from Rs 338.6 million in the previous year.

    Total Expenditure in FY-17 declined 13.9 percent to Rs 11,230.5 million (80.2 percent of Income from Operations) from Rs 13,046.3 million (82.4 percent of Income from Operations) in FY-16. The company’s Films rights costs including amortisation costs in FY-17 declined 12.5 percent to Rs 7,848.4 million (56.1 percent of Income from Operations) from Rs 8,964.8 million (56.6 percent of Income from Operations) in FY-16.

    Employee Benefit Expense in the current year increased 25.5 percent to Rs 705.3 million (5 percent of Income from Operations) from Rs 561.9 million (3.6 percent of Income from Operations) in FY-16. Other expenses in FY-17 increased by 14.6 percent to Rs 2006.3 million (14.3 percent of Income from Operations) from Rs 1,751.2 million (11.1 percent of Income from Operations) in the corresponding of the previous year.

  • ALT Balaji & the Balaji Telefilms story, courtesy Sameer Nair

    MUMBAI: The ALT key on computer keyboards is quite a crucial one. As is recently launched OTT/SVOD service ALT Balaji for content producer Balaji Telefilms Ltd (BTL). CEO and broadcast veteran Sameer Nair is quite sanguine that the app is well on course to hit breakeven point as planned, but admits that  its TV content business will continue to be the “cash cow.”

    “Alt (Balaji) started with a plan of breaking even with a target of about four million subscribers who pay us between Rs 60-Rs90 per month by 2020,” Nair told CNBC TV18 yesterday after the company announced its financials for the period ending 31 March, 2017.

    Nair pointed out that card or rack rate for Alt Balaji OTT service is Rs 90 per month, but it was launched in April 2017 with an introductory first quarter offer of Rs 25.  However, the pricing for users internationally is at Rs 399.

    Mumbai-headquartered and Bombay Stock Exchange-listed BTL  is arguably Asia’s largest TV and film content production houses delivering Hindi and Indian language content across a variety of platforms. It is promoted by Hindi film actor Jeetendra Kapoor and his family comprising his wife Shobha Kapoor, daughter Ekta Kapoor and son Tusshar Kapoor.

    Nair is quite happy with the traction that ALT Balaji had got in the first five weeks since launch with downloads going past the three million mark from over 75 countries.

    “The reason we got subscribers so early in the game is because our strategy is different from the rest of the players where they (subscribers) have one month free (service), but we give five episodes free,” the seasoned media executive explained on the business news channel.

    Nair pointed out that that the company aimed at having two million paid ALT Balaji subscribers by end March 2018, with revenues  at Rs 700 million (Rs 70 crore).

    “Alt is investing Rs. Rs100-Rs125 crore (Rs.1,000 million-Rs. 1,250 million) a year and we have also got a lot of interest from strategic investors to come and partner with us,” he added.

    The company in its investor presentation said that the net realization per hour for its TV programmes increased 17 percent to Rs 2.89 million in FY-17 as compared to Rs 2.47 million in the previous fiscal.

    Nair is  confident about the the group’s television content business and expected it to remain a robust revenue stream. He pointed out that the business would grow in the range of 20-30 percent year-on-year helping the company to better its margins and added, “ARPUs are growing, which is a good thing for us. The TV business is going to remain a cash cow in the Balaji stable.”

    Nair disclosed that BTL had gone easy on film releases in FY 2017, but has begun pretty well in Q1FY18 with its offering `Half Girlfriend’, based on banker-turned-author Chetan Bhagat’s book of the same name, attracting viewers to the box office. “We had originally planned the film in a manner where we did a lot of re-sales on satellite, digital and theatrical rights. The film will make good money for distribution (people) and as well as for the company,” he explained.

    However, BTL is reviewing its exposure to movie production business, at the same time, as resources allocated to the business vertical may not be yielding the desired results.

    “We are taking a long hard look at it (the movie business) and, at the board meeting we decided …capital allocation will be towards television and Alt Balaji. The only reason why on a consolidated basis for a full year we are negative is because of the movie leak.”

    ALSO READ:

    Balaji Telefilms net realization for programs improves