Category: Over The Top Services

  • Sony LIV rolls out digital film ‘Chhoti Khushi’ for Diwali

    Sony LIV rolls out digital film ‘Chhoti Khushi’ for Diwali

    MUMBAI: In the lead up to the festival of Diwali, Sony Pictures Networks’ (erstwhile Multi Screen Media) OTT platform Sony LIV has rolled out a digital film called Chhoti Khushi to support its social media campaign ‘LIV This Diwali.’

     

    The film features Naveen Kasturia, Suneel Sinha and Ashish Verma. The social media campaign weaved around the digital film invites participants and viewers to send Diwali Wishes to their family and friends.

     

    The story explores the complex relationship that Indian siblings share with each other, and how Diwali can become the raison d’etre for bringing together those, whom circumstances and situations often pull apart.

     

    Chhoti Khushi is about two brothers, Gaurav and Sharad, who have stopped talking to each other following an argument. However, as the momentous occasion of Diwali approaches, the brothers reminisce about each other and realise how petty their fight was.

     

    The film was meant for especially for the millennial audience, which knows how tough it is to maintain the delicate balance between education, work and commitment to friends and family over ever-increasing distances. The story takes viewers through an eventful journey that finally results in the brothers being reunited on Diwali.

     

    Sony LIV EVP and head – digital business Uday Sodhi said, “With #LoveBytes and Tanlines, we have established our pioneering status in the industry as the first digital video-on-demand (VOD) platform to introduce a show exclusively for online viewers. With the launch of Chhoti Khushi, we are looking to providing our digital viewers with a heart-touching story that is bound to take their web content entertainment experience to a new level.”

     

    The film was aired exclusively on Sony LIV’s web, app and YouTube platforms from 4 November onwards.

  • Yupp TV launches first web series with Brian Lara

    Yupp TV launches first web series with Brian Lara

    MUMBAI: Internet based TV streaming service provider YuppTV is all set to launch its first original web series production starring cricket legend Brian Lara.

     

    The five-episode web series titled Brian Lara is Not Out! will launch on 6 November. The web series will be available on subscription basis on the YuppTV app.

     

    YuppTV CEO and founder Uday Reddy has produced the series along with Madhura Sreedhar Reddy.

     

    The story of web series Brian Lara is Not Out! is based on Sachin Tendulkar, inviting Brian Lara to play in three- match All Stars Cricket 2015 series to be held in November 2015. All Stars Cricket 2015 is a platform for all legendary players to play their favorite game again after retirement on American soil. The two teams to play are Sachin’s Blasters and Warne’s Warriors.

     

    The script revolves round Lara’s personal Life, his passion for cricket, his tips on cricket for aspirants, more sneak peek into the real Brian Lara and how he prepares himself physically, mentally and emotionally to play again at 46 in the All Star Matches.

     

    This web series can be watched globally on all internet connected devices via the YuppTV app.

     

    Speaking about the launch, Reddy said, “Brian Lara web series is a major step for YuppTV towards providing access to high quality content to all its viewers over numerous internet connected devices using YuppTV app. We are excited to launch this original content with a passionate sportsman – Brian Lara. The first original content, the sports connect the debutant producer opportunity; adds more feathers to YuppTV.”

     

    Lara added, “I am excited to play again, I am more excited to see that people love me even more than before. I am overwhelmed to see the huge response for Not Out’s curtain raiser. I thank YuppTV and Uday for this great endeavour.”

     

    Madhura Sreedhar Reddy said, “Brian Lara was inspiration to all the cricket lovers across the world. But, it’s great to see him inspiring even at the age of 46 years. We are very happy to make this video series with Brian to inspire all the passionate sports lovers.”

  • HOOQ expands viewing experience with Google Chromecast

    HOOQ expands viewing experience with Google Chromecast

    MUMBAI: In a bid to expand the viewing experience of users in the country and address the home entertainment market, video-on-demand service HOOQ app’s latest version will support Google Chromecast.

    With this, HOOQ subscribers will now be able to use Chromecast to cast movies and TV series from any connected device to their television screens. HOOQ offers unlimited streaming of over 15,000 English, Hindi and regional language films as well as TV shows on its platform. 

    HOOQ chief marketing officer Ravi Vora said, “We are very thrilled to bring the best in class entertainment from HOOQ to Chromecast users enabling them to enjoy the best content on their televisions right in their living rooms. We believe this partnership further solidifies our position as the country’s biggest premium video-on-demand service.”

    Chromecast is a thumb-sized media streaming device that plugs into the HDMI port on TVs. Viewers can use an Android phone, tablet, iPhone, iPad, Mac or Windows laptop, or Chromebook to cast the HOOQ app and its programming onto a television.

    HOOQ launched in India earlier this year with a subscription price of Rs 199 per month. Users can access entertainment content, which can be viewed on upto five connected devices. The service also offers a unique offline download feature of up to five titles at a time ensuring that there is always video content to be enjoyed even when users are offline or facing connectivity challenges.

    Customers, who purchase Google Chromecast through Snapdeal and Reliance Digital, will get free access to HOOQ for six months, which is worth Rs 1500.  

    Some of the content that is available on HOOQ includes movies like The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight Rises, Iron Man 3,Don, Chennai Express, Barffi, Kai Po Che, Lai BhaariHarishchandrachi Factory and Chandrmukhi, and TV shows like Friends, Nip Tuck, ER and first and exclusively in Asia – Ash vs. Evil Dead.

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  • Times Internet launches Samayam in South India

    Times Internet launches Samayam in South India

    MUMBAI: Times of India Group’s digital products company Times Internet (TIL) has launched Samayam – a news, entertainment and lifestyle content destination in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages.

     

    Samayam aims to bridge the gap between users looking for quality content in their language and trustworthy platforms providing them.

     

    Times Internet head of news business Puneet Gupt said, “We are really excited to launch Samayam. Mobile led media landscape is evolving rapidly in India and we hope to become the destination of choice for millions of Indians and Indian diaspora users across languages and platforms.”

     

    Samayam is available as an Android app, on mobile web and also on desktop. With the launch of Samayam, Times Internet’s language offerings are now available across eight Indian languages namely Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi and Bangla – in addition to English.

  • TVF & AIB triumph at WebTV Asia awards

    TVF & AIB triumph at WebTV Asia awards

    MUMBAI: They are probably the most innovative of digital content creators in India. And they have a cult following nationally, which is to be seen. And both TheViralFever and All India Bakchod (AIB) received recognition for their content initiatives at the inaugural WebTVAsia Awards 2015, which took place on 23 October, 2015 night at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Center in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

     

    While TheViralFeverVideo channel took home India’s most popular online video channel, AIB’s take on ‘Alia Bhatt – Genius of the Year’ special pocketed the most popular India video award.

     

    The ceremony had a star-studded attendance from Asia’s best digital content creators. For the first time ever, the region’s online video stars were awarded several recognitions including top honours in The Most Popular Channel and Most Popular Video awards for each of the participating nation’s best, with top video contents in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

     

    Eight more awards completed the first ever recognition for digital creators in Brand of the Year, Digital Campaign of the Year, Freaking Awesome Video of the Year, Channel of the Year, Song of the Year, Breakout Artiste of the Year and the Spirit of Mankind award.

     

    Below is the full list of 2015 WebTVAsia Awards winners:

     

    Malaysia’s Most Popular Channel: JINNYBOYTV

     

    Malaysia’s Most Popular Video: Namewee – High Pitched

     

    Korea’s Most Popular Channel: YD Gaming Channel

     

    Korea’s Most Popular Video: Awesome Haeun – Shake It

     

    Japan’s Most Popular Channel: Hikakin

     

    Indonesia’s Most Popular Channel: Lastday Production

     

    Indonesia’s Most Popular Video: LINE – Ada Apa Dengan Cinta

     

    India’s Most Popular Channel: THEVIRALFEVERVIDEOS

     

    India’s Most Popular Video: All Indian Bakchod – Alia Bhatt – Genius of the Year

     

    Vietnam’s Most Popular Channel: BB&BG Entertainment

     

    Vietnam’s Most Popular Video: DAMtv – Chau Hoan Cua Chong (Hoan Chau Cong Chua Parody) – Official

     

    Singapore’s Most Popular Channel: WAHBANANA

     

    Singapore’s Most Popular Video: Jian Hao – Past vs Present: Teenagers

     

    Hong Kong’s Most Popular Channel: GEMBLOG

     

    Hong Kong’s Most Popular Video: FHPRODUCTIONK – One Day

     

    Thailand’s Most Popular Channel: BIE THE SKA

     

    Thailand’s Most Popular Video: FEDFECLIP – Wanna Poop So Much

     

    Taiwan’s Most Popular Channel: HIM Music

     

    Taiwan’s Most Popular Video: TGOP – Classic Family Feud

     

    China’s Most Popular Channel: The Unexpected

     

    China’s Most Popular Video: Chopstick Brothers – Little Apple

     

    Philippines’s Most Popular Channel: Mikey Bustos

     

    Philippines’s Most Popular Video: Mikey Bustos – I Go to Palengke

     

    Brand of the Year: OPPO

     

    Freaking Awesome Video of the Year: Leona Chin & MaxmanTV – Fast & Furious Nerd Chocks Instructors

     

    Spirit of Mankind: ALS Viral Video

     

    Song of the Year: Chopstick Brothers – Little Apple

     

    Breakout Artiste of the Year: SNH48 / LADYBABY / REDPEOPLE

     

    Channel of the Year: CHINA HUNAN TV Official Channel

     

    Digital Campaign of the Year: YOUKU – Little Apple Campaign

  • Skype partners YRF & ErosNow to develop custom Bollywood Mojis

    Skype partners YRF & ErosNow to develop custom Bollywood Mojis

    MUMBAI: Skype has partnered with Indian filmed entertainment companies namely Yash Raj Films and Eros International’s over the top (OTT) platform ErosNow to develop custom Bollywood specific mojis for its users.

     

    Mojis are short clips from movies and TV shows that Skype users can put directly into a Skype chat.

     

    In addition to the existing worldwide Mojis content, now users can react to Skype messages with clips from Bollywood movies like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Ra.One, Dhoom 2, Dhoom 3, Tanu Weds Manu Returns and Devdas; and actors such as Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya RaiBachchan, Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh.

     

    Yash Raj Films vice president digital Anand Gurani said, “Sometimes when words aren’t enough, a popular film dialogue often fills in. YRF has a rich library of films and content that caters to a wide audience base. The introduction of Skype Mojis is an extremely innovative addition to instant messaging that should get instant traction!”

     

    Eros Digital CEO Rishika Lulla added, “We are delighted to join hands with Skype and tap their massive consumer base in this ever evolving digital landscape. With Eros’ vast film content library, we are equipped to provide the best in entertainment for Skype users on their smart phones, tablets, laptops or any internet-enabled devices.”

     

    Skype has also created new emoticons highlighting some of the food, gestures and daily expressions honouring the Indian culture Bollywood stems from.

     

    “We’re hugely excited about our partnership with Yash Raj Films and Eros International studios to bring more exciting content to our users. Our goal is to provide the best possible messaging experience on Skype, and tapping into India’s extremely active and vibrant film culture is a perfect way to do that,” added Skype corporate vice president Gurdeep Pall.

  • Sony LIV gets 4 sponsors for original online series ‘Tanlines’

    Sony LIV gets 4 sponsors for original online series ‘Tanlines’

    MUMBAI: Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) over the top (OTT) platform Sony Liv has roped in four sponsors for its third original digital series – Tanlines.

     

    Brands, which have come board the web series are Unlimited (presented by sponsor), Maruti Suzuki – Swift (powered by sponsor), Truly Madly (associate sponsor) and Fogg Deos (party partner).

     

    As was previously reported by Indiantelevision.com, after launching its first original series LoveBytes, Sony Liv lined up two more original shows namely LIV Shutter, which went online on 21 October and Tanlines, which is slated to launch on 27 October.

     

    Split into 13 episodes of 10-15 minutes each, Tanlines captures the time the six protagonists spend in Goa before they part ways. 

     

    Produced by Fluence, Tanlines has been written and directed by Prosit Roy, who has previously worked on films likeJaane Tu… Ya Jaane NaDelhi-6 and All Is Well.

     

    MSM executive vice president and head – digital business Uday Sodhi said, “With LoveBytes, we established our pioneering status in the industry as the first digital video-on-demand (VOD) platform to introduce a show exclusively for online viewers. With Tanlines, we’ve taken the commitment of creating and establishing original premium web content for our digital viewers to the next level.”

     

    Tanlines is a youth focused original web show targeted at the digital millennials. Its theme, flavor and medium of consumption are all tailored exclusively for Sony LIV’s younger demographic. The show centres on the lives of six teenagers making that pivotal transition from college to professional life.

     

    “It is a show that will appeal to all our young viewers who can access the entertainment anytime, anywhere on devices they most love!,” Sodhi added.

  • Viacom18 christens VOD platform as VOOT

    Viacom18 christens VOD platform as VOOT

    MUMBAI: The digital space in India is going through a revolution of sorts. Broadcasters as well as content companies are firming up their plans to provide content to consumers on the go. The latest to join the bandwagon is Viacom18 Digital Ventures, which has christened its new digital video-on-demand (VOD) platform as VOOT, going by the popular expression used by today’s digital generation to express happiness, enthusiasm and triumph.

     

    Besides being the singular and exclusive destination for Viacom 18 network’s content portfolio, VOOT will also have an aggressive original programming strategy.

     

    The brand identity for VOOT, which is expected to go live in the coming months, has been created by Brand Gym and Elephant Design.

     

    Over the past few months, Viacom18 Digital Ventures has been working with a set of strategic partners on the brand design and logo with the aim of keeping it distinctive, differentiated and in-sync with the brand mission to create a fun filled world of entertainment.

     

    In July, Viacom18 appointed IndiaCast Media Distribution group COO Gaurav Gandhi as the chief operating officer of Viacom18 Digital Ventures. The company also recently mandated Monika Shergill to drive content and programming strategy as content head for the digital business.

     

    Viacom 18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats said, “As one of the fastest growing media companies in the country, for us at Viacom18, digital content creation, delivery and access are essential focus areas for driving growth. With VOOT, we set out to leverage an already digitally engaged audience with our content offerings. VOOT will not only be the singular and exclusive destination for Viacom18’s content portfolio, but will have an equally strong focus on original programming created especially for the platform. The brand mission of VOOT is to create a whole new world of entertainment, filled with happy discoveries and addictive content.”

     

    Gandhi added, The idea of creating this new brand VOOT comes from our desire to create a new, alternate and differentiated world of entertainment for audiences in the digital space. The core essence of the brand is ‘infectious fun’ and ‘happiness’, and this is something that not only flows through in our bright and colourful logo, but will also resonate in our content philosophy. Just like the expression VOOT, the entire philosophy and experience of the service promises to be joyous and celebratory in nature. The digital video market, both in terms of audiences and revenues, is set to explode over the coming years. VOOT will not only target to gain a sizeable share of this market over the years, but also lead the way and set new trends in original content creation in this space.”

     

    Working with technology, content and branding partners in India and across the globe, VOOT will deliver high quality content to consumers on a wide variety of connected devices over Wi-Fi, 4G, 3G and 2G networks.

  • Ad budgets in US shift from television to digital platforms

    Ad budgets in US shift from television to digital platforms

    NEW DELHI: Even as the switch over to digital technology is beginning to show pace in India, digital video ad spend grew by 42 per cent over the past year to total $7.46 billion in 2015 in the United States for the sixth consecutive year.

     

    Within the next four years, that number is expected to nearly double and reach over $13 billion by 2019, according to a report on 2015 US State of the Video Industry by Verizon’s AOLPlatforms.

     

    According to the report, marketers are reprioritising traditional advertising budgets and adding dollars to digital video. TV budget growth is stagnating, with a sizeable portion of those dollars being reallocated to video advertising.

     

    Mobile and video are converging, posing new opportunities and challenges to the industry. Overall mobile video advertising spend increased 18 per cent since 2014, but marketers say measurement remains a key pain point.

     

    Almost 91 per cent of brands and agencies are buying video programmatically and continue to make larger investments into the technology year-over-year. Eighty-eight per cent of publishers claim they sell their video inventory programmatically, a noticeable 37 per cent leap from 2014.

     

    Programmatic TV is gaining popularity as audience fragmentation hits an inflection point. Over the next year, 41 per cent of television buyers–a 3x increase since 2014–plan to rely on programmatic technology to make more strategic TV investments.

     

    Advertisers and agencies devote over 30 per cent of their overall video budgets to branded video content. Brands intend to grow these investments 10 per cent in the next year.

     

    AOL Platforms surveyed nearly 300 US brands, agencies and publishers to get a holistic view of the current state of video advertising.

  • ErosNow ties up with Ortel for movie streaming service

    ErosNow ties up with Ortel for movie streaming service

    MUMBAI: Eros International’s over the top (OTT) service ErosNow has tied up with multi system operator (MSO) Ortel Communications for a subscription based movie streaming service.

     

    The service will be called Ortel Broadband Movies and will allow Ortel Communications to stream movies from ErosNow’s library to its broadband users, who will be able to access the content across various platforms like TV, laptop, PC, tablet and mobile.

     

    The subscription-based service will be available to all Ortel broadband customers with a one-month free subscription for ErosNow.

     

    Eros Digital CEO Rishika Lulla Singh said, “We are happy to partner with Ortel Communications for providing an uninterrupted movie viewing experience through their extensive reach across these states in India. We aim to maximize our consumer base across various platforms and the association with Ortel further consolidates our goal.”

     

    Ortel Communications president and CEO Bibhu Prasad Rath added, “We are delighted to offer ErosNow broadband movies to our subscribers. It is a unique digital entertainment platform that will help our customers to watch and listen to movies, music and other content in Indian languages. Our superior technology to deliver high speed broadband connection has been possible through implementation of DOCSIS technology.” 

     

    Ortel Communications operates in the states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.