ITV

Category: Over The Top Services

  • Hotstar innovates; to explore 3D virtual reality with Kabaddi World Cup

    Hotstar innovates; to explore 3D virtual reality with Kabaddi World Cup

    MUMBAI: The Twenty First Century Fox owned video streaming platform is setting new benchmarks. First, it announced that it had become the most downloaded video app in India with the figure at about 90 million. Then it announced that it was looking at a watch time of a billion minutes a day. And then it made it possible for users to download its portfolio of local TV shows, movies and sports highlights to the phone Now it has announced that it will be streaming the upcoming Kabaddi World Cup in Ahmedabad from 7-22 October in stereoscopic 3 D virtual reality, something which has been rarely attempted in more developed streaming markets.

    All that viewers have to do to enjoy the 3D VR experience on is don the Samsung VR headsets and Google Cardboard devices while watching the action on both IoS and Android handsets. The VR experience will allow sports fans to get a complete panoramic view of the game and the stadium using touch and gyroscope. Fans will also be able to switch between different cameras in a 360 degree experience, thereby taking full control of their experience

    “We owe our loyal and growing platform users the very best video experience in the world,” says Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan. “Fans in India look to Hotstar to set the benchmark for video streaming. We are excited to bring a dramatic new live experience to sports fans.”

    To enable this dramatic new experience, the Kabaddi World Cup games are being shot in stereoscopic 3D using two camera pods (in addition to the multi camera setup of the traditional production) including 12 cameras per pod, which allows for an immersive production and stereoscopic capture. Users of Samsung Gear VR will have access to the Hotstar app on the Oculus store, another groundbreaking initiative from the video streaming service.

    The live VR stream for the Kabaddi World Cup will be available to fans in two formats: a personalized, 2D user-controlled experience for viewers without headsets, and in full stereoscopic, TrueVRTM for Google Cardboard and Gear VR headsets. It is the first time VR content from a live event of this magnitude will be available on multiple headsets and mobile operating systems.

    Hotstar users will be able access the live TrueVR feed by either selecting the Google Cardboard feature in Hotstar’s iOS and Android apps or by downloading the Hotstar Gear VR app from the Oculus Store.

    The Kabaddi World Cup will see 12 National teams participating from across the globe. These teams have been divided into two groups, namely A and B. Group A comprises of India, Bangladesh, South Korea, Australia, England and Argentina, while Iran, Thailand, Japan, the US, Poland and Kenya are placed in Group B. Tournament favourites India begin their tournament journey with the first match against South Korea on 7 October , 8 pm IST onwards.

    The Kabaddi World Cup, meawhile, has managed to attract five sponsors among which figure Patanjali Special Chawanprash as co-presenting sponsor, Volini, Thums Up, Indo-Nissin as partners with the fifth sponsor being Syska LEDs. Star has made the telecast of the Cup available in four languages: while Star Sports 1 and 2 will provide English commentary. Star Sports 2 and 3 will provide the Hindi feed and Suvarna Plus and Maa Movies will telecast in Kannada and Telugu respectively

  • Hotstar innovates; to explore 3D virtual reality with Kabaddi World Cup

    Hotstar innovates; to explore 3D virtual reality with Kabaddi World Cup

    MUMBAI: The Twenty First Century Fox owned video streaming platform is setting new benchmarks. First, it announced that it had become the most downloaded video app in India with the figure at about 90 million. Then it announced that it was looking at a watch time of a billion minutes a day. And then it made it possible for users to download its portfolio of local TV shows, movies and sports highlights to the phone Now it has announced that it will be streaming the upcoming Kabaddi World Cup in Ahmedabad from 7-22 October in stereoscopic 3 D virtual reality, something which has been rarely attempted in more developed streaming markets.

    All that viewers have to do to enjoy the 3D VR experience on is don the Samsung VR headsets and Google Cardboard devices while watching the action on both IoS and Android handsets. The VR experience will allow sports fans to get a complete panoramic view of the game and the stadium using touch and gyroscope. Fans will also be able to switch between different cameras in a 360 degree experience, thereby taking full control of their experience

    “We owe our loyal and growing platform users the very best video experience in the world,” says Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan. “Fans in India look to Hotstar to set the benchmark for video streaming. We are excited to bring a dramatic new live experience to sports fans.”

    To enable this dramatic new experience, the Kabaddi World Cup games are being shot in stereoscopic 3D using two camera pods (in addition to the multi camera setup of the traditional production) including 12 cameras per pod, which allows for an immersive production and stereoscopic capture. Users of Samsung Gear VR will have access to the Hotstar app on the Oculus store, another groundbreaking initiative from the video streaming service.

    The live VR stream for the Kabaddi World Cup will be available to fans in two formats: a personalized, 2D user-controlled experience for viewers without headsets, and in full stereoscopic, TrueVRTM for Google Cardboard and Gear VR headsets. It is the first time VR content from a live event of this magnitude will be available on multiple headsets and mobile operating systems.

    Hotstar users will be able access the live TrueVR feed by either selecting the Google Cardboard feature in Hotstar’s iOS and Android apps or by downloading the Hotstar Gear VR app from the Oculus Store.

    The Kabaddi World Cup will see 12 National teams participating from across the globe. These teams have been divided into two groups, namely A and B. Group A comprises of India, Bangladesh, South Korea, Australia, England and Argentina, while Iran, Thailand, Japan, the US, Poland and Kenya are placed in Group B. Tournament favourites India begin their tournament journey with the first match against South Korea on 7 October , 8 pm IST onwards.

    The Kabaddi World Cup, meawhile, has managed to attract five sponsors among which figure Patanjali Special Chawanprash as co-presenting sponsor, Volini, Thums Up, Indo-Nissin as partners with the fifth sponsor being Syska LEDs. Star has made the telecast of the Cup available in four languages: while Star Sports 1 and 2 will provide English commentary. Star Sports 2 and 3 will provide the Hindi feed and Suvarna Plus and Maa Movies will telecast in Kannada and Telugu respectively

  • dittoTV to show Zee Cafe content alongside U.S.

    dittoTV to show Zee Cafe content alongside U.S.

    MUMBAI: Be content with this treat! TV buffs are in for a treat as Zee Digital Convergence Limited’s (ZDCL) OTT platform dittoTV will bring Zee Cafe’s shows to viewers live. With an array of five popular shows, along with a brand new action series, the platform’s subscribers can watch these shows on-the go, anytime, anywhere on their internet connected devices.

    “Indian viewers often have to wait for weeks, even months to watch their favourite U.S. shows. With Zee Café now broadcasting these shows along with the US, fans can watch the latest seasons and be as updated as their U.S. counterparts.

    With this new lineup of international shows, dittoTV brings together an interesting mix of genres – drama, comedy and action on a single online platform, which caters to the content preferences of the young Indian audience,” said dittoTV business head Archana Anand.

    Secrets and Lies season 2 will air on Mondays at 10 pm whereas Big Bang Theory season 2 will air on Tuesdays at 6:30 pm. The season 3 of Gotham will air on Tuesdays at 10 pm. Series premiere of Lethal Weapon will happen on Thursday at 10 pm. The season 2 of Supergirl will air on Tuesdays at 7 pm while season 12 of Grey’s Anatomy will air on weekdays at 6 pm.

    Apart from this addition, the platform offers access to over 100 live channels like the entire Zee Network, Colors, Sony, Aaj Tak, BBC, MTV and Ten Sports.

  • dittoTV to show Zee Cafe content alongside U.S.

    dittoTV to show Zee Cafe content alongside U.S.

    MUMBAI: Be content with this treat! TV buffs are in for a treat as Zee Digital Convergence Limited’s (ZDCL) OTT platform dittoTV will bring Zee Cafe’s shows to viewers live. With an array of five popular shows, along with a brand new action series, the platform’s subscribers can watch these shows on-the go, anytime, anywhere on their internet connected devices.

    “Indian viewers often have to wait for weeks, even months to watch their favourite U.S. shows. With Zee Café now broadcasting these shows along with the US, fans can watch the latest seasons and be as updated as their U.S. counterparts.

    With this new lineup of international shows, dittoTV brings together an interesting mix of genres – drama, comedy and action on a single online platform, which caters to the content preferences of the young Indian audience,” said dittoTV business head Archana Anand.

    Secrets and Lies season 2 will air on Mondays at 10 pm whereas Big Bang Theory season 2 will air on Tuesdays at 6:30 pm. The season 3 of Gotham will air on Tuesdays at 10 pm. Series premiere of Lethal Weapon will happen on Thursday at 10 pm. The season 2 of Supergirl will air on Tuesdays at 7 pm while season 12 of Grey’s Anatomy will air on weekdays at 6 pm.

    Apart from this addition, the platform offers access to over 100 live channels like the entire Zee Network, Colors, Sony, Aaj Tak, BBC, MTV and Ten Sports.

  • A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend to be dubbed in Tamil; S2 on cards

    A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend to be dubbed in Tamil; S2 on cards

    MUMBAI: Following the successful run of the season 1 of A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend, Arre plans to release its Tamil version. With this category, it intends to reach out to a wider audience.

    This version is presented by Gillette Flexball in association with Palo Alto Networks, Indo Nissin Foods and Dell.

    In addition, the show is also syndicated to the digital platform of one of France’s television networks, TF1 Xtra, apart from various Indian digital platforms such as Sony LIV, Yupp TV, Vodafone Play, etc.

    “The southern regional markets are growing markets from a mobile internet consumption and advertiser interest point of view. They’re also interesting future forays for Arré considering that digital media in these markets is more secular as compared to broadcasting and cable and there isn’t enough original content available currently. A.I.SHA, our first show, is possibly the best show to begin our regional foray with, given its universal appeal and the overwhelming viewer response so far,” said Arre founder B. Saikumar.

    The series is produced by Raghu Ram and Rajiv Laxman’s production venture, Monozygotic.

    Ram added, “A.I.SHA is a special project for all of us at Monozygotic since it was our first fiction show and also the first show that Arré launched with.”

    A.I.SHA (Artificial Intelligence Simulated Humanoid Assistant) is India’s AI-based digital series. A fiction thriller, the story pivots around the widely debated and chilling premise of what happens when AI (Artificial intelligence) develops feelings and consciousness.

    Pre-production work for A.I.SHA season 2 is underway and is planned for launch later this year.

  • A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend to be dubbed in Tamil; S2 on cards

    A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend to be dubbed in Tamil; S2 on cards

    MUMBAI: Following the successful run of the season 1 of A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend, Arre plans to release its Tamil version. With this category, it intends to reach out to a wider audience.

    This version is presented by Gillette Flexball in association with Palo Alto Networks, Indo Nissin Foods and Dell.

    In addition, the show is also syndicated to the digital platform of one of France’s television networks, TF1 Xtra, apart from various Indian digital platforms such as Sony LIV, Yupp TV, Vodafone Play, etc.

    “The southern regional markets are growing markets from a mobile internet consumption and advertiser interest point of view. They’re also interesting future forays for Arré considering that digital media in these markets is more secular as compared to broadcasting and cable and there isn’t enough original content available currently. A.I.SHA, our first show, is possibly the best show to begin our regional foray with, given its universal appeal and the overwhelming viewer response so far,” said Arre founder B. Saikumar.

    The series is produced by Raghu Ram and Rajiv Laxman’s production venture, Monozygotic.

    Ram added, “A.I.SHA is a special project for all of us at Monozygotic since it was our first fiction show and also the first show that Arré launched with.”

    A.I.SHA (Artificial Intelligence Simulated Humanoid Assistant) is India’s AI-based digital series. A fiction thriller, the story pivots around the widely debated and chilling premise of what happens when AI (Artificial intelligence) develops feelings and consciousness.

    Pre-production work for A.I.SHA season 2 is underway and is planned for launch later this year.

  • Amazon India seasonal sale boosts Prime Video subscribers

    Amazon India seasonal sale boosts Prime Video subscribers

    Mumbai: Amazon’s bet seems to have paid off. In the past few weeks, it has been accumulating original content and striking content licensing deals. Amazon had been firming up its content strategy by tying up with several Bollywood production houses for original TV shows and films while it was gearing up for its Prime Video service launch in India. Among the few notable deals it has made were with Dharma Productions and T-Series. Amazon Prime Video, the paid subscription service of Amazon India, yesterday emerged as the highest selling product for the e-tailer.

    Amazon’s five-day festive season sale period ended on Wednesday, and one out every three units sold was membership of Prime Videos, Amazon India country manager, Amit Agarwal, told FE. The e-tailer moreover claims to have sold more than 5 million units over a period of five days. The paid subscribers of Amazon Prime will be default users of the video streaming service called Prime Videos.

    After the entry of global video over-the-top (OTT) player like Netflix in India early this year, Amazon is the second large player to announce the launch of its video streaming service in India. Amazon India is presently selling the membership at a 50 per cent discounted rate of Rs 499 for a year.

    “Despite a slump in the market, Amazon India has been growing at a rate of 150% over the the last three years. This sale was three times bigger and 30 times bigger than last Diwali,” said Agarwal. Mobile, fashion and lifestyle and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) were the other top selling categories on the platform during the sale period.

    The e-tailers claim that mobile saw a five times jump in number of orders placed apart from television which grew by 25 times. While large appliances saw a seven times growth in terms of sale.

    According to Agarwal, the platform saw a five times growth in the number of new customers who came online to shop, compared to last year. Tier 2 and smaller towns contributed to 70% of the orders. Agarwal added that during the festive season sale period, Amazon continued to witness high traffic both on the website as well as on its mobile app. “80% of the traffic came through mobile. In fact, the app recorded seven time growth in direct traffic,” he explained.

    Amazon has also signed deals with Excel Entertainment to create original TV shows for the platform and with Vishesh Films for its film catalogue. Given the backdrop of competition in the OTT space, Amazon is also reportedly participating in the IPL tender with a keen interest to bid for the digital rights.

    As a result of the partnerships with T-Series, Amazon Prime members would soon enjoy a wide variety of some of the best Bollywood movies in the country, all within a few weeks of their theatrical release, said Amazon Video India director and country head Nitesh Kripalani.

    Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had announced that the company would be investing an additional $3 billion in India, taking the total investment to more than $5 billion. It reportedly plans to invest around $300 million in producing original content for India. Amazon had launched its Prime subscription service in India in July.

  • Amazon India seasonal sale boosts Prime Video subscribers

    Amazon India seasonal sale boosts Prime Video subscribers

    Mumbai: Amazon’s bet seems to have paid off. In the past few weeks, it has been accumulating original content and striking content licensing deals. Amazon had been firming up its content strategy by tying up with several Bollywood production houses for original TV shows and films while it was gearing up for its Prime Video service launch in India. Among the few notable deals it has made were with Dharma Productions and T-Series. Amazon Prime Video, the paid subscription service of Amazon India, yesterday emerged as the highest selling product for the e-tailer.

    Amazon’s five-day festive season sale period ended on Wednesday, and one out every three units sold was membership of Prime Videos, Amazon India country manager, Amit Agarwal, told FE. The e-tailer moreover claims to have sold more than 5 million units over a period of five days. The paid subscribers of Amazon Prime will be default users of the video streaming service called Prime Videos.

    After the entry of global video over-the-top (OTT) player like Netflix in India early this year, Amazon is the second large player to announce the launch of its video streaming service in India. Amazon India is presently selling the membership at a 50 per cent discounted rate of Rs 499 for a year.

    “Despite a slump in the market, Amazon India has been growing at a rate of 150% over the the last three years. This sale was three times bigger and 30 times bigger than last Diwali,” said Agarwal. Mobile, fashion and lifestyle and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) were the other top selling categories on the platform during the sale period.

    The e-tailers claim that mobile saw a five times jump in number of orders placed apart from television which grew by 25 times. While large appliances saw a seven times growth in terms of sale.

    According to Agarwal, the platform saw a five times growth in the number of new customers who came online to shop, compared to last year. Tier 2 and smaller towns contributed to 70% of the orders. Agarwal added that during the festive season sale period, Amazon continued to witness high traffic both on the website as well as on its mobile app. “80% of the traffic came through mobile. In fact, the app recorded seven time growth in direct traffic,” he explained.

    Amazon has also signed deals with Excel Entertainment to create original TV shows for the platform and with Vishesh Films for its film catalogue. Given the backdrop of competition in the OTT space, Amazon is also reportedly participating in the IPL tender with a keen interest to bid for the digital rights.

    As a result of the partnerships with T-Series, Amazon Prime members would soon enjoy a wide variety of some of the best Bollywood movies in the country, all within a few weeks of their theatrical release, said Amazon Video India director and country head Nitesh Kripalani.

    Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had announced that the company would be investing an additional $3 billion in India, taking the total investment to more than $5 billion. It reportedly plans to invest around $300 million in producing original content for India. Amazon had launched its Prime subscription service in India in July.

  • YuppTV set to close Rs 100-crore plus funding

    YuppTV set to close Rs 100-crore plus funding

    MUMBAI: The OTT video space is slated to get hyper-competitive with a slew of broadcaster-led players and even deep-pocketed telcos haring into it. YuppTV, one of the early movers, has now decided to fortify its financial resources in a bid to face the onslaught.

    The company – led by Uday Reddy – says it is on the threshold of closing its second round of funding which will see it adding funds running into three digit crore to its kitty. Speaking to Hindu BusinessLine, Reddy said that the company has already pocketed $15 million in its Series A, and was about to close its next round of fund-raising.

    Reddy sees the market heading toward consolidation. “We are contemplating acquiring a firm to strengthen our leadership,” Reddy informed BusinessLine. YuppTV has also appointed the Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu as its brand ambassador.

    It offers a bouquet of services including 200 TV channels, seven-day catch-up TV, 100-plus TV shows, and 5,000 plus movies as a VOD service. Its subscription packages vary from Rs 5 a day to Rs 30 a week to Rs 99 a month.

    YuppTV is taking a major step with making Babu the ambassador. Babu is a big name of Tollywood, and it is sure that the collaboration will work great for the promotion of the channel.

    The web portal of YuppTV was established in 2006, offers more than 898 Indian TV Channels in 13 languages that include Kannada, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Oriya, Gujarati, Punjabi, Sinhalese, Urdu and English. The best part of YuppTV is it allows access through 25 devices to six screens, Internet STBs, connected TVs, PCs, smart phones, smart BluRay players, gaming consoles and tablets.

  • YuppTV set to close Rs 100-crore plus funding

    YuppTV set to close Rs 100-crore plus funding

    MUMBAI: The OTT video space is slated to get hyper-competitive with a slew of broadcaster-led players and even deep-pocketed telcos haring into it. YuppTV, one of the early movers, has now decided to fortify its financial resources in a bid to face the onslaught.

    The company – led by Uday Reddy – says it is on the threshold of closing its second round of funding which will see it adding funds running into three digit crore to its kitty. Speaking to Hindu BusinessLine, Reddy said that the company has already pocketed $15 million in its Series A, and was about to close its next round of fund-raising.

    Reddy sees the market heading toward consolidation. “We are contemplating acquiring a firm to strengthen our leadership,” Reddy informed BusinessLine. YuppTV has also appointed the Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu as its brand ambassador.

    It offers a bouquet of services including 200 TV channels, seven-day catch-up TV, 100-plus TV shows, and 5,000 plus movies as a VOD service. Its subscription packages vary from Rs 5 a day to Rs 30 a week to Rs 99 a month.

    YuppTV is taking a major step with making Babu the ambassador. Babu is a big name of Tollywood, and it is sure that the collaboration will work great for the promotion of the channel.

    The web portal of YuppTV was established in 2006, offers more than 898 Indian TV Channels in 13 languages that include Kannada, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Oriya, Gujarati, Punjabi, Sinhalese, Urdu and English. The best part of YuppTV is it allows access through 25 devices to six screens, Internet STBs, connected TVs, PCs, smart phones, smart BluRay players, gaming consoles and tablets.