ITV

Category: iWorld

  • Dekkho & VuLiv tie up for video sharing & syndication

    Dekkho & VuLiv tie up for video sharing & syndication

    MUMBAI: Dekkho, an online streaming platform, has partnered with popular mobile-based platform VuLiv. The tie-up is aimed to help both achieve a 100 million+ viewership base over the next 3-4 years. Dekkho and VuLiv will collaborate to showcase more than one lakh videos of ‘snackable content’ across genres including music, food, fashion, comedy, gossip, and lifestyle.

    Content from major providers such as ScoopWhoop, Pocket Aces, Times Music, AIB, EIC, Miss Malini and Pinkvilla available on Dekkho can be accessed on VuLiv. A major component of this partnership is to address content discovery by users to supplement on-device video consumption and the need for content curation.

    Dekkho co-founder & MD Tanay Desai said, “When we talk about online video content, YouTube holds a good position in the global OTT market. However, YouTube is a search-driven platform lacking a strong recommendation feature, which has reduced the discovery of content on the platform. Similarly, Google and Facebook are based on aggregating online user information and re-targeting relevant content to them. With this partnership, Dekkho and VuLiv will aggregate on-device offline data as well as online content to adopt a similar targeting approach as these players. We believe that this data can be leveraged to build better solutions and offer insightful recommendations to achieve greater reach for both platforms.”

    VuLiv co-founder Manoj Gupta said, “It is hard to believe, but today so much of offline, on device information exists which has never been utilized by any ecosystem player. We believe that this on-device un-connected state information can be leveraged to build a better solution with recommendations and build bigger reach and relevance. With the partnership and Dekkho’s extensive content directory, users will get a seamless on-device and online watching experience.”

    In addition to mainstream English and Hindi videos from popular creators, Dekkho will offer its extensive catalogue of content in six regional languages to target a larger non-English speaking market in the country. Additionally, Dekkho will provide a gamut of social features to users for in-content and in-app interaction through its catalogue on VuLiv.

  • Amazon Prime to stream new originals in reality series format

    Amazon Prime to stream new originals in reality series format

    MUMBAI: Amazon Prime Video India has announced the creation of multiple Unscripted Originals (reality shows) for India, a first for a digital streaming service.

    The lineup comes to life with three new reality shows – Jestination Unknown, The Remix and Comic Kaun featuring industry stalwarts such as Vir Das, Anu Menon, Amit Trivedi, Sunidhi Chauhan and Nucleya; and comedians Tanmay Bhat, Sumukhi Suresh and Abish Mathew. With this foray into reality shows, Amazon Prime Video is once again changing the way video content is created and consumed in India.

    Prime Video head of content – Asia Pacific James Farrell said, “Reality shows are now more popular than ever, across a variety of genres. Customers globally have told us how much they enjoy reality shows, like the Japanese Prime Video fan favorite, The Bachelor Japan. With the launch of multiple new Original reality shows, we’re aiming to offer our Indian customers a variety of quality new reality content to enjoy.”

    Amazon Prime director – content Vijay Subramaniam said “We’re always looking for new ways to engage with our customers. We know Indians enjoy reality TV, so we are creating new originals with the best new concepts and local Indian talent. We’re excited to add more variety to our service, and continue to reinvent the way Indian customers watch TV.”

    Amazon revealed details of three reality shows which include a mix of comedy, music, travel and experiential content.

    Jestination Unknown: Jestination Unknown will be a six-episode travelling comedy show that follows celebrated Indian comedian, Vir Das, and a rotating group of his comic friends. As each episode explores a new city across India, Das and his comic friends will explore the most important question of this show: what does India find funny, what doesn’t it find funny, how does the whole package of local culture – be it food, folklore, music, dance – change the perspective of a stand-up comedian, and their quest for comedy in India. Each episode will feature a series of sketches, vignettes, keen insights into how a comedian ticks, and will, eventually, culminate to a new stand-up comedy performance based on the group’s experience in the current city.

    Some of the talent that will feature in the show, produced by ‘Weirdass’, along with Vir Das include Sharul Channa, Anu Menon, Kavi Shastri and Ashwin Mushran.

    The Remix: Based on an established format that has been sold in 15 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe, The Remix will be a 10-episode music reality competition show where DJs and singers pair up to create remixes and compete for a big prize. In each episode, the DJ/singer pairs will reinterpret a popular song in a new style or format, which will change from challenge to challenge. At the end of every performance, a panel of celebrity judges will choose who advances and who will be eliminated. The Remix will be the first series to incorporate a DJ and electronic music, but will feature many of the same core storytelling elements as its predecessors.

    Some of the talent that will feature as judges in the show, produced by ‘Grey Matter’, will include Nucleya, Sunidhi Chauhan and Amit Trivedi.

    Comic Kaun (Working Title): Comic Kaun will be a 10-episode nationwide hunt to find India’s next big comic sensation. A panel of top comedian judges will preside over a pool of emerging comedians in India who will compete for the coveted prize. Each episode will focus on a specific comedy genre (e.g. anecdotal, observational, and improvisational) and the judges will serve as mentors in their genre of expertise. Comic Kaun offers an opportunity to embrace this genre in a fresh, new competition format that has not been used in India yet.

    Some of the talent that will feature in the show, produced by ‘OML’, will include well-known comics Abish Mathew and Sumukhi Suresh as the hosts along with top comedians like Tanmay Bhat, Kenny Sebastian, Naveen Richard, Aadar Malik, Sapan Verma, Kanan Gill, Kaneez Surka and Biswa Kalyan Rath.

  • Shemaroo associates with ‘Lalbaugcha Raja’

    Shemaroo associates with ‘Lalbaugcha Raja’

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment, one of India’s leading integrated media content houses, acquires rights for the live feed of one of the most popular Mandals of Maharashtra – ‘Lalbaugcha Raja’ for mobile, Internet and DTH platforms. Shemaroo Entertainment will distribute content of Lalbaugcha Raja (video and images) to all the telecom operators.

    Consumers will now be able to enjoy live darshan & ‘maha aarti’ of Lord Ganesha on their mobile and TV sets. It will be available on Shemaroo’s latest android app “Gods” and few other select mobile apps. One can also SMS – “SELBR” to 56060 to enjoy the Darshan, post which, a link will be received on the mobile set and one can enjoy live darshan of ‘Lalbaugcha Raja’ by simply clicking on it. Live Darshan of Lalbaugcha Raja will be available from 25 August 2017 onwards. Consumers who want to enjoy the Live Darshan on their TV will have to subscribe to the devotional service from their DTH Operators. Live Darshan will be available on Airtel – Om Shakti (Service No 674), Tata Sky- Devotion (Service No 1051), Dish – Bhakti Active (Service No 1069)& Videocon – D2H Darshan (Service No 481).

    Shemaroo director Jai Maroo said, “It feels great to be blessed with an opportunity to distribute the Live Darshan of Lalbaugcha Raja to lakhs of devotees across India on various platforms. Every year we make an effort to make the Darshan easier and a better experience for our consumers. Hence, this year it is also available on our own app – Gods. Also expanding the number of platforms means reaching to a wider audience. We also take pride in the fact that Shemaroo is one of few companies in India that offers such a wide range of content to all the platforms where entertainment is consumed.”

    Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshostav Mandal secretary Sudhir Salvi added, “We are glad to continue our association with Shemaroo for seven consecutive years. It is through Shemaroo’s efforts that these devotees are able to enjoy the Darshan of Lalbaugcha Raja in the comfort of their homes.”

  • Hotstar rolls out attractively-priced Premier League offer

    Hotstar rolls out attractively-priced Premier League offer

    MUMBAI: From time to time, Hotstar, the VOD streaming service from Twenty First Century Fox’s  Star India, has been making short-term promotional subscription offers through its payment partners like HDFC, Citibank, PayTM and what have you.

    Subscribers have either been getting 100 per cent cash back for one month or two months depending on the subscriber’s card. Including the first free trial month, that effectively gives an annual subscription at anywhere between Rs 1, 800 or Rs 2,000 as compared to the monthly subscription price of Rs 199.

    However, since 11 August, it has been running an extremely tempting subscription scheme called the Premier League offer, which has a sticker price of Rs 999 for nine months. The only catch: the payment is non-refundable and has to be made using a debit card and is for a limited period till 12 September.

    The idea obviously is to get potential football lovers who have been fence sitting  so far to sign up with a massive discount of around 40-50 per cent.

    Over the past year, the government has been driving consumers toward digital payments, and also open bank accounts. The Indian consumer – normally wary of piling too much debt – has been loathe to sign up for a credit card. However, opening a bank account normally gets a bank customer a debit card in most cases.

    By pushing the Premier League offer, it is hoping to make it a very lucrative proposition for those consumers and others to start using their debit cards.

    Hotstar, smart TV apps of which are in the pipeline, currently offers around 50,000 hours of movies and television content together across eight languages, and almost all major sports are covered live.  

    Even as the research firm KalaGato reported 73 per cent jump in Hotstar’s market share in 10 months, that is expected to spurt further with the addition of the CBS catalogue, and of course Game of Thrones which has been in the news for its crackling seventh season and its leakage from different partners worldwide, including India.

    Recently announcing a pipeline with 18 originals from India, Amazon Prime offers perceptibly the most reasonable annual plan at Rs 499. Sun TV’s Sun NXT subscription plans start from Rs 50 per month. Netflix however is expensive – with plans starting at Rs 500 per month, but is reflective of the catalogue size and its target audience, the crème de la crème of Indian consumers.

    Amazon Prime has reportedly bagged a market share of just 9.66 per cent, Sony Liv pocketed 6.96 per cent share and Airtel-run Wynk Movies was at 6.36 per cent, the KalaGato report had added.

    We reached out to Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan, but received no response.

     

  • Viacom18 & govt announce anti-piracy partnership

    Viacom18 & govt announce anti-piracy partnership

    NEW DELHI: In a step highlighting seriousness of stakeholders, Viacom18 has forged a partnership with the Cell for IPR Promotion and Management or CIPAM, a professional body under the Commerce Ministry, to launch an anti-piracy awareness campaign laying stress on the importance of IPRs.

    “A possible solution to the problem of piracy lies in creating awareness about intellectual property rights (IPRs) among the masses. It is pertinent that one of the main objectives enshrined in the national IPR policy is creating awareness about IPRs to build a healthy IP ecosystem in the country,” Commerce Ministry’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) joint secretary Rajiv Aggarwal said.

    Aggarwal, speaking on the partnership that was announced during an ongoing three-day national workshop on enforcement of IPRs, lauded the industry’s contribution in taking a lead to rally around the cause of IPR protection.

    According to Viacom 18 Media group general counsel and company secretary Sujeet Jain, “When it comes to consumption and circulation of pirated content, there is limited knowledge about its economic and social impact. Through this partnership with CIPAM, we hope to raise awareness amongst youth and children about the perils of piracy and the need for the protection of IPRs.”

    Content piracy, especially online, is a menace that has started to cause serious dent to revenues of content owners and also the Indian government in terms of taxes. And, it is high time that the industry and the government collaborated on a war-footing to create awareness about IPRs and anti-piracy measures being undertaken.

    As part of the association with CIPAM, Viacom18 has created a behavior change awareness videos, involving popular animated characters of its flagship kids’ channel Nickelodeon and Sonic (Motu-Patlu and Shiva, respectively), spreading the message that content piracy was equivalent to stealing.

    The campaign will see CIPAM and Viacom18 airing these videos across schools, colleges and various educational institutions, in addition to the network’s kids channels.

    Because IPRs are increasingly becoming crucial drivers of social and economic growth in the 21st century DIPP has organized a meet here, which was inaugurated by Home Minister Rajnath Singh in the presence of Minister of Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju. Sessions on various aspects of IPR, its protection, existing laws and anti-piracy measures are scheduled to be discussed by industry and government representatives.

    Singh said that counterfeiting and piracy activities give rise to serious organized crimes and police officials should be equipped with proper knowledge and training so as to curb and restrain IPR breaches.  

    The workshop is designed to help police officials and prosecutors to understand their role in effective enforcement of IPRs. It will also provide an opportunity to the officials to share their experiences, exchange best practices and coordinate effectively with each other.

    Sitharaman, while emphasizing that people need to understand  ways to create and protect their intellectual property for a secure future, said the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in collaboration with CIPAM, was setting up two technology and innovation support centres  in Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

    Meanwhile, a statement from Viacom18 added that it was not the first time that Viacom18 was championing the cause of IPR protection. Earlier this year, along with the Bombay High Court, the media group conducted a crack-down on counterfeit merchandise of their licensed character Dora the Explorer.

    This initiative was primarily targeted to protect children from hazards of using inferior quality products under the impression of them being original Viacom18 merchandise. The company, which also owns film production unit Viacom18 Motion Pictures, had previously led a campaign against film piracy too.

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  • Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor boxing fight on Indian OTT VEQTA4

    Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor boxing fight on Indian OTT VEQTA4

    NEW DELHI: The much awaited boxing match between the two biggest stars from the world of boxing and Mixed Martial Arts, Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, in Las Vegas can be seen in India on the country’s only dedicated sports OTT service VEQTA.

    The OTT has bagged the broadcasting rights for the fight on 27 August at 9:00am (IST). VEQTA is the official broadcaster of the fight in India and will live stream the fight only on its digital platforms VEQTA.in and its Android and IOS Apps. This will be the first global mega sports event to be shown on OTT format in India.

    VEQTA in an official statement said today: “India currently has around 220 to 250 million smartphones and is expected to touch more than 500 million by 2020 reported by an industry analyst. So with rising smartphone sales, falling data tariffs, 4G rollout and improvement in payment gateways, OTT market, an important growth driver in India’s digital space, is growing at a dynamic pace of 35-40 % Y-O-Y”.

    VEQTA co-founder & director Gaurav Gill, “We will be Live Streaming all the action on VEQTA.in and the VEQTA Android & IOS Apps. Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor is a matchup that pits the legendary boxer Mayweather against the all-time MMA great McGregor in a one of its kind event.

    “As the home of global sports in India, VEQTA’s aim is to bring the best premium sports content to fans from all across the globe. Fight sports is the second biggest sports category in India and has a relatively young audience for whom digital is fast emerging as the first screen. With this event VEQTA aims to reach out to the fans of boxing, mixed martial arts, fight sports and sports fans in general,” he added

    Fans in the India will be able to watch the historic fight of the millennium live on VEQTA.in, on 27 August 2017 at 9:00am (IST), and the under-card fights will be broadcast Live on the platform from 6:30 am (IST) onwards. The fights will also be available on the platform for sports fans to view on a video on demand basis after the event.

    The event will take place in the T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, U.S.A. Las Vegas hosts most of the major boxing championships and UFC fights.

    VEQTA will be Live Streaming all the action from the event on its digital platforms. The app can be downloaded and subscribed for Rs. 99 only, to get unlimited access to over 6000 hours of live sports all-round the year.

    · Website – https://veqta.in/

    · Android – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app.veqta&hl=en

    · iOS – https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/veqta/id1044161618?mt=8

  • Comment: War on online video piracy, which matters, is here for India to fight

    Comment: War on online video piracy, which matters, is here for India to fight

    “There’s only one war that matters. And it is here”.

    So reads the caption of HBO’s official trailer for the blockbuster sixth episode of ‘Game of Thrones’ season seven that is scheduled to be aired next week. Even as Daenerys Targaryen’s Unsullied Army took up position outside the walls of King’s Landing, the online leaks of the TV series continued with unfazed pirates threatening not only to up the ransom figures, but also breach more episodes—Khalessi and dragons, notwithstanding.

    But the caption of the trailer does resonate with the Indian media and entertainment (M&E) industry as well as the government and policy-makers. The war that matters – the battle against online pirates — is certainly here and worth fighting for.

    As the online video market grows around the globe, India being no exception, so has the fear of online piracy and loss of revenues to content owners.

    The leak of an episode of GOT that recently happened in India, courtesy Prime Focus Tech, Indian host broadcaster Star India’s technology vendor, brought to the fore that the menace is closer home and will grow in coming days. And it happened just in the week – or after Hotstar – started a high decibel media campaign  urging  viewers to stop downloading torrents and go for originals on the streaming VOD service. The comnsumer – it seemed – was cocking a snook at its suggestions, though the leak happened through its vendor-partner. 

    Earlier, it was primarily the Indian film industry that was battling online pirates through John Doe court orders and blocking of some websites. But now, it seems, the whole entertainment industry needs to come together with policy makers to put up a joint front against piracy. More importantly, admission of the fact that the scourge has arrived on Indian shores and will spread in the coming years more aggressively, will only help drive anti-piracy initiatives.

    It’s not that initiatives against piracy are not taking place, but they are individual acts. “There are various industry bodies operating in the M&E sector in India and since there can’t be divergent views on tackling piracy, it’s high time a single coalition is formed by all industry stakeholders in partnership with government, which will help align business interests in a common mission,” said Viacom18 Media group general counsel and company secretary Sujeet Jain, one of the industry execs at the forefront in the fight against piracy.

    Why the fight against online piracy is imperative and India must start taking counter measures to safeguard against revenue losses?

    Sample some figures. Singapore-based market research firm Media Partners Asia (MPA) recently estimated that the Indian online video industry generated approximately $ 230 million in total sales in 2016 and could reach approximately $340 million in 2017. Online video revenues, including net advertising and subscription fees, will grow at a 21 per cent CAGR across the Apac region between 2017 and 2022, climbing from US$17.6 billion in 2017 to US$46 billion by 2022, MPA reported.

    Data revenues across fixed and mobile networks in Apac will reach $318 billion by 2022 and average mobile broadband penetration will reach 73 per cent per capita by 2022 versus 59 per cent in 2017, with some of the biggest growth coming from India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

    Indian regulator TRAI’s figures state till May-June this year India had 282 million wireless and 18.33 million wired broadband subs.

    While acknowledging the potential of the Indian online video market and its weaknesses for breaches, a TV exec, on the condition of anonymity, pointed out that lack of cohesion and unity is stopping various industry associations to come together under one umbrella for anti-piracy activities. The need for finances to keep such an initiative afloat is an impediment too.

    For example, a body called Copyright Force was announced last year with much fanfare with few Indian and foreign industry associations promising to collaborate on anti-piracy measures. But, recently a senior government official in the Ministry of Commerce, which oversees IPR-related policy-making, told indiantelevision.com that he had not heard about Copyright Force, but some individual media companies were in regular touch.

    Writing a blog on the need to uphold IPR, Viacom18’s Jain very aptly had pointed out programs such as Digital Bharat may not achieve the  desired results if online piracy is not curbed as IPR enforcement for the M&E industry was no less important than IP assets emerging from innovations and R&D from other sectors and for India to be globally successful, it must ensure safeguards against IPR breaches.

    While the government admits India is a big and complex market, officials also point out efforts are on to evolve an ecosystem where IPR is respected  and online piracy is arrested, if not totally demolished as even more developed markets are finding it difficult to plug such loopholes – leakage of GOT episodes from various parts of the globe being an example.

    A senior government official also told indiantelevision.com that the Commerce Ministry is in touch with organizations like the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Electronics and IT and Ministry of Law to amend some of the existing relevant legislations (The Cinematograph Act, 1952, the IT Act and the Copyright Act, for instance) to update them in the modern context.
     
    However, the government also expects the Indian M&E industry and related industry associations to give it exhaustive and cohesive feedbacks and suggestions to help framing of futuristic legislations to fight piracy and uphold sanctity of IPRs. Probably, such a united approach is not coming forth from the industry, even while piecemeal suggestions are being given to the government.    

    That raises another question: how is the issue of IPR piracy is being sought to be addressed in other parts of the world?

    The UK has PIPCU or the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit, which is funded by the Intellectual Property Office and run by the City of London Police to combat this criminality, with a special focus on offences committed online. Australia has a controversial, but stringent law against piracy. In Asia, various countries have different standards, but collaborate with media associations like Hong Kong-based CASBAA to crack down on pirates through jointly funded legal recourse and high-pitch anti-awareness campaigns.

    In June this year, 30 global content creators and on-demand entertainment companies launched an industry coalition called Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) dedicated to protecting the dynamic legal market for creative content and reducing online piracy.The worldwide members of ACE include Amazon, AMC Networks, BBC Worldwide, Bell Canada and Bell Media, Canal+ Group, CBS Corporation, Foxtel, Grupo Globo, HBO, Hulu, Lionsgate, MGM, Millennium Media, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Sky, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Studio Babelsberg, STX Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Univision Communications Inc., Village Roadshow, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros Entertainment Inc with Star India being the lone Indian member.

    A spokesperson of ACE told indiantelevision.com that though it’d welcome more Indian companies (apart from Star), it has no India-specific initiative on its agenda at the moment. One wonders why not? Certainly ACE with its money and influencing power – some of its supporters do have large business exposure in the Indian market – can contribute a lot in terms of international practices that could help the Commerce Ministry in framing and pushing more effective anti-piracy measures; the existence and contribution of TIPCU or Telengana Intellectual Property Crime Unit or Maharashtra’s online Cyber  crime division, notwithstanding.

    If, according to MPA, India, Japan, Australia, Korea and Taiwan will emerge as the markets (apart from market leader China) with the most scale in online video revenues and distribution, can the pirates be far behind back home?

    Jain conservatively estimated large and medium sized pirate networks in India can generate between $2-6 million per annum, but another Indian M&E industry exec said the loss due to piracy could be in high double digit millions of dollars. Incidentally, the Indian government doesn’t have a figure of revenue losses due to online piracy. If it has, that figure hasn’t been made public.

    So, if there’s one war that the Indian M&E industry and the government need to take cognizance of – it’s already here – it could very well be the fight against online piracy.

    Certainly, piracy cannot be bandied as an achievement of the government’s much touted Make In India and/or Made In India programmes.

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  • Shemaroo cautiously optimistic on Indian Rlys’ entertainment service bid

    Shemaroo cautiously optimistic on Indian Rlys’ entertainment service bid

    MUMBAI: Well, it may be one of the 24 media and tech companies that have evinced initial interest in providing wi-fi delivered entertainment on demand content to passengers of Indian Railways, but Shemaroo Entertainment is still evaluating the business proposal. Reason: it involves investment of billions of rupees in setting up the whole system, especially on moving trains that may pass through broadband dark areas, which is a technologically challenging work.

    Shemaroo whole time director & CFO Hiren Gada told indiantelevision.com, “It is a technically complicated work. It involves latest technology access, hardware components and a big capex investment. The technology involves giving access to content via a wi-fi platform that will work within a rail coach when the train is moving.”

    According to Gada, an in-house team is preparing a business plan to get a “better sense” of the potential costs and return on investments though, admittedly, the Indian Railways do offer captive eyeballs. “Once we have worked out the costs and equipments needed to put the mechanism in place, we’d make a final decision. If revenues don’t match up to our costs, then it may not be viable for us to bid,” he added.

    The Indian Railways’ local wi-fi network will be available to everyone on board via a distribution box and passengers will be able to log in through their phones or other smart devises to access the entertainment content, according to some media reports.

    Shemaroo, along with 23 other media companies like Viacom18, Zee and Hungama, has shown initial interest in the Indian Railways’ proposal to offer entertainment content on 3,000 trains. The bid will be valid for five years and extendable by another five years.

    The proposal that seeks to raise approximately Rs. 5 billion in non-fare revenues is similar to entertainment services offered on all international and some domestic flights by airlines.

    According to reports where government officials have been quoted, a distribution box will be installed in the coaches, which will be updated regularly for a seamless experience for passengers. However, it is not clear yet how the Indian Railways proposes to monetize such a service from the passengers.

    “Based on the actual revenues that get generated, there could be some additional amount that Railways may share (with the service provider) if the revenue reaches a certain level,” Gada explained the revenue share model proposed by the Indian Railways.

    The tender documents are slated to be opened in the afternoon of 24 August 2017 after bidders have made their final submissions. Only one service provider (successful bidder) will be permitted per designated sectors. The project is being tendered on a revenue sharing model.

    The project shall be executed on a build operate and transfer model. Some of the pre-qualification demands made by the India Railways include the prospective bidders/consortium members having relevant experience in

    India or abroad in providing i) content either as content IP owner/linear broadcaster/aggregator/ OTT player (ii) in providing technology solution in entertainment domain for transport/Railways sector and (iii) experience in monetisation of content through either advertisements or subscriptions.

    Can this project help in making more enjoyable a journey on Indian Railways, apart from the scenic beauty of the country’s hinterland that is visible on long-haul trains? Only once the service starts, the question, probably, would get answered.

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  • Airtel & TVF create internet’s live reality show

    Airtel & TVF create internet’s live reality show

    MUMBAI: Nomophobia – the fear of being without your mobile phone or being unable to use your phone for some reason. Bringing this phobia to life with a hilarious twist is internet’s first ever live reality show, TVF is presenting — Airtel connected live. In a world where people have a fear of not being always connected through their smartphones, TVF and Airtel come together to create this first-of-a-kind live event & branded content IP in India.

    From the TVF stable, creators of the most compelling web content in India and makers of the immensely popular series like “TVF Pitchers”, “Permanent roommates”, “TVF Tripling” amongst others, comes a yet another first in its category. TVF presents Airtel connected live is a live web-reality event which will take place from August 18 – 20th. Featuring Jitendra Kumar, one of TVF’s most popular faces, lovingly called Jeetu by his fans, the live reality show will see him being dared to live alone in a house. Little does he know, TVF & Airtel have some surprises in store for him. That’s not all! Even you the viewers can throw a dare at Jeetu. Filled with 3 days of entertaining tasks playing on Webcast live on TVFPlay and on Facebook; Airtel Connected Live is an opportunity for fans to see their favourite TVF faces up close and personal. Featuring cameos from popular TVF faces like Anant Singh, Nidhi Bisht, Nidhi Singh, Biswapati Sarkar and others, Airtel Connected Live promises to take branded content on the web in India to the next level. Recently, TVF also took a step towards live entertainment by conducting its first live Truth or Dare.

    Jitendra Kumar popularly known as Jeetu shared, “My love to Airtel for supporting us crazy TVF people in this larger than life dare plan. Initially I was taking it lightly but now I am a little scared about these three days. At the same time I am also looking forward to it because it gives me a feeling of our childhood video games where our hero used to face different situations and clear all the stages successfully in the end. I am looking forward to a lot of fun and expecting the toughest and most entertaining tasks from our crazy TVF Truth vs. Dare team. Looking forward to the love and support from people out there in finishing my tasks.”

    Vineet Kanabar, Head of Marketing, TVF said, “The Viral Fever has always been a leader in experimenting with new formats of digital entertainment. Live videos on Facebook & YouTube emerged as an exciting format and we have used these extensively to entertain the audience. With Airtel Connected Live, we’re taking the next leap in digital entertainment. Interactive real-time live entertainment is the holy grail of digital branded content and we’re excited to be among the first movers in this space. Kudos to Airtel & GroupM for reposing their trust in us to take this giant leap. Stay tuned, there will be more to come in this space from us.”

    Mausumi Kar, Managing Partner, Team Airtel @ GroupM elaborated, “Airtel Connected LIVE is inspired by the popular ‘escape from locked room’ concept; but that’s where the similarity ends. The edge-of-the-seat fear and anxiety fare usually connected with this format was replaced being alien to our brand DNA. Instead the viewer is made a part of a journey of fun and humor. We are glad to partner with TVF to bring alive our idea and add the dimensions of subtle brand integrations with easy camaraderie with viewers that they have delivered.”

    Airtel spokesperson shared, “As a platform, Airtel Connected Live helps demonstrate the power of Airtel network. This is a first-of-its-kind three day continuous live activation created in conjunction with TVF that challenges all thresholds of digital engagement experienced before. It also proves how the right choice of network enables the true use of smartphones.”

  • PeerLogix signs OTT ad pact with DMP & Neustar

    PeerLogix signs OTT ad pact with DMP & Neustar

    MUMBAI: PeerLogix has announced that it had signed a 12-month revenue sharing agreement with an unspecified Data Management Platform (DMP) in the digital advertising industry.

    It had earlier announced a partnership with Neustar, Inc., a neutral provider of real-time information services, as a preferred data onboarding provider to expand PeerLogix’s data distribution to data management and demand-side platforms. This partnership will enable clients of PeerLogix to execute highly targeted cross-channel advertising campaigns powered by a global audience of 170 million households of Over-the-Top television programming, movies, games and listeners of music. Neustar was selected because it provides precise, scalable, secure, and privacy-friendly data onboarding capabilities in the market.

    The DMP partnership enables PeerLogix’s digital audience segments to be sold directly on the partner company’s platform and to their clientele, including major brands and Fortune 500 companies and features a rev-share commitment to PeerLogix to be paid on a monthly basis. Furthermore, the partnership provides a new capability for the partner company — the ability to advertise, target, and measure a massive amount of previously unavailable OTT audiences based on digital television, music and movie viewing and listening habits of the residents — bolstering the DMP’s offering to its clients in the media and entertainment industries.

    OTT is now mainstream and is projected to grow from USD 28.04 Billion in 2015 to USD 62.03 Billion by 2020 as people continue to cut ties with their cable TV packages and instead opt for a combination of subscription and non-subscription based OTT services, such as streaming applications and websites.

    “Advertisers are rapidly seeking out OTT supply and other ways to make up for lost viewership from linear-tv audiences that continue to contract in overall size. Our partners are taking advantage of our OTT Audience Graph to empower themselves to reach households lost to cord-cutting and the fragmentation of cable, and maximize advertising spend to streaming and digital audiences,” said PeerLogix CEO Ray Colwell.

    The company monitors OTT viewership of mainstream television programming, movies, and major musical artists, and periodically reports on trends seen in the market.

    Cumulative video hours for non-subscription OTT viewership was observed at 306 million hours which was a +20.9% increase from the prior quarter. Based on this rate of growth, the company estimates that total video hours watched for Q3-2017 will be approximately 370 million hours.

    “Much of the increase in Q2 was driven by developing markets, such as India, which has lead OTT viewership growth this year and averaged a monthly growth rate of approximately 10% compared to an 8% growth rate in the US. These trends are consistent with those of Netflix and other OTT services that are seeing larger growth from their international presence where middle-class expansion is taking place at a faster rate than developed markets. We expect this trend to continue for the foreseeable future.” said PeerLogix chief strategy officer William Gorfein.

    Notable to both market observers and advertisers was the specific television content that was popular over the measurement period. Taking a deeper dive, the Company’s Q2 measurement results showed the very strong popularity of HBO programming with Game of Thrones leading the pack with a staggering 6.8 index rating.

    “This is not surprising as the new season of Game of Thrones premiered on 16 July and upticks in viewership are very common before new season premieres, as highlighted in our 17 July report predicting opening weekend box office success of film and television franchises. We’ve seen a halo effect for HBO as this popularity lifted viewership for Big Little Lies and Westworld. Two popular franchises of the network that are notable because they are not currently in season,” Gorfein explains