ITV

Category: iWorld

  • Rajeev & Surveen’s digital debut on ALTBalaji’s Haq Se

    MUMBAI: OTT platform for original and exclusive shows ALTBalaji has announced the star cast of its new show Haq Se. Ekta Kapoor has brought two extremely popular faces together, Rajeev Khandelwal and Surveen Chawla.

    Rajeev will be debuting his digital innings with ALTBalaji’s Haq Se. There is a lot of buzz around the lead pairing, which is, needless to say, both fresh and inspiring. Creators of the show are really excited about them playing the lead roles. Other than them, famous actors like Simone Singh and Karanveer Sharma are playing important roles.

    Haq Se is set in the beautiful valleys of Kashmir, apart from being a beautiful love story Haq Se is also a captivating story about four sisters Meher, Jannat, Bano and Amal in Kashmir, Haq Se explores their ambition how are they bound down by their geographical situation and the rising fundamentalism in the region. The show is directed by Ken Ghosh, who has directed films such as Amit Sahni ki List and Phir Se and quite a few web shows prior to Haq Se.

    Notable cast also includes: Parul Gulati as Jannat Mirza, Aanchal Sharma as Bahira Mirza and Nikeesha Rangwal as Amal Mirza.

  • Facebook to reduce unintentional ad clicks, announces new metrics

    MUMBAI: Facebook, last October, outlined what it will take to create a healthy advertising ecosystem: great experiences for people, meaningful business results for advertisers, and sustainable growth for publishers.

    Ad placements that are built to drive unintentional clicks run counter to that goal. While they can be profitable for publishers, they fail to deliver good experiences for businesses or people. For advertisers, these kinds of unintentional clicks can drive down the value of their campaigns.

    Over the next few months, Facebook will be making updates to stop delivering to ad placements that encourage unintentional clicks. These updates include policy clarifications on unintentional clicks, product changes to invalidate these clicks, and proactively pausing implementations that exhibit abnormal click behavior.

    Removing unintentional clicks from Audience Network: When browsing across the web or in an app, ads may pop up in places that cause people to accidentally click on them.

    Facebook is no longer counting Audience Network clicks where people “bounce back” in under 2 seconds. FB found that these clicks are almost always unintentional.

    Total campaign impressions: FB is providing two new metrics to offer clarity on the number of ads shown to people including gross impressions, auto-refresh impressions.

    Utilizing Signals About Intentional Clicks

    To understand if a click is intentional, one of the metrics FB looks at in FB delivery models and quality detection systems is “drop off rates” — the time a user spends on the landing page of an ad. Facebook found that people who click on an Audience Network ad and spend less than 2 seconds on a destination page almost always clicked accidentally. Moving forward, FB will no longer count clicks categorised as unintentional. Facebook will continually refine and adjust this threshold as Facebook gathers more data and signals.

    Pausing Implementations with Abnormal Behavior

    Publishers sometimes create ad experiences that fail to deliver true advertiser value. This can be due to implementation error, or because the ad is in the wrong flow of the app experience. When Facebook sees abnormal behavior, such as an inflated click-through rate (CTR), it will automatically pause placements to protect people and advertisers. Facebook also inform publishers so they can make necessary changes.

    Clarifying FB Policies

    FB also heard from publishers that they want more examples of FB policies, and specifically how to create better native ad experiences. So it recently updated FB policies with clear examples to avoid unintentional clicks (https://developers.facebook.com/docs/audience-network/policy), and went a step further by introducing a new policy that prohibits clickable “whitespace” on native ads. By requiring users to click on an advertiser asset, FB expects to see further reduction in unintentional clicks.

    Going forward, FB will be experimenting with more ways to reduce the number of unintentional clicks by looking further into bounce rates, additional metrics, and trying to prevent users from accidentally clicking in the first place.

  • Disney parts ways with Netflix, plans sports & TV shows VoDs, buys BAMTech majority

    MUMBAI: Traditional studios too would want to take advantage of the changing viewing habits. Disney has agreed to acquire a majority ownership of the streaming and marketing service BAMTech, LLC and will launch its ESPN-branded multi-sport video streaming service (VoD) in early 2018, followed by a Disney-branded direct-to-consumer service in 2019. It will be Netflix-like services — one for films and television shows and another for sports. To that end, Disney is paying $1.58 billion for majority ownership of BAMTech.

    Meantime, Disney, in one of the boldest moves a traditional studio took against a leading digital platform, is ending its distribution agreement with Netflix for new releases. The subscription services (SVoD) would appeal to the millennials who are turning away from traditional media and subscribing to digital platforms Netflix. The ESPN service may feature 10,000 sporting events annually including Major League Baseball games.

    Under terms of the transaction, Disney will pay $1.58 billion to acquire an additional 42% stake in BAMTech—a global leader in direct-to-consumer streaming technology and marketing services, data analytics, and commerce management—from MLBAM, the interactive media and Internet (HHH) company of Major League Baseball. Disney previously acquired a 33% stake in BAMTech under an agreement that included an option to acquire a majority stake over several years, and today’s announcement marks an acceleration of that timetable for controlling ownership.

    “The media landscape is increasingly defined by direct relationships between content creators and consumers, and our control of BAMTech’s full array of innovative technology will give us the power to forge those connections, along with the flexibility to quickly adapt to shifts in the market,” said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “This acquisition and the launch of our direct-to-consumer services mark an entirely new growth strategy for the Company, one that takes advantage of the incredible opportunity that changing technology provides us to leverage the strength of our great brands.”

    The ESPN-branded multi-sport service will offer a robust array of sports programming, featuring approximately 10,000 live regional, national, and international games and events a year, including Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, Grand Slam tennis, and college sports. Individual sport packages will also be available for purchase, including MLB.TV, NHL.TV and MLS Live.

    The new service will be accessed through an enhanced version of the current ESPN app. In addition to the multi-sport service, the ESPN app will include the news, highlights, and scores that fans enjoy today. Consumers who are pay TV subscribers will also be able to access the ESPN television networks in the same app on an authenticated basis. For many sports fans, this app will become the premier digital destination for all their sports content.

    The new Disney-branded service will become the exclusive home in the U.S. for subscription-video-on-demand viewing of the newest live action and animated movies from Disney and Pixar, beginning with the 2019 theatrical slate, which includes Toy Story 4, the sequel to Frozen, and The Lion King from Disney live-action, along with other highly anticipated movies. Disney will also make a significant investment in an annual slate of original movies, TV shows, short-form content and other Disney-branded exclusives for the service. Additionally, the service will feature a vast collection of library content, including Disney and Pixar movies and Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD television programming.

    With this strategic shift, Disney will end its distribution agreement with Netflix for subscription streaming of new releases, beginning with the 2019 calendar year theatrical slate.

    Plans are for the Disney and ESPN streaming services to be available for purchase directly from Disney and ESPN, in app stores, and from authorized MVPDs.

    “We’re very proud of the content distribution innovations driven by MLBAM and BAMTech over the past 15 years,” said Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. “Major League Baseball will continue to work with Disney and ESPN to further grow BAMTech as it breaks new ground in technologies for consumers to access entertainment and sports programming.”

    “This is an exciting validation of our team, its achievements and the customer-centric platform it’s built,” said Michael Paull, Chief Executive Officer of BAMTech. “Yet, we’ve merely scratched the surface of what can be accomplished in a future where we combine Disney and ESPN’s world-class IP and our proprietary direct-to-consumer ecosystem.”

    The BAMTech transaction is subject to regulatory approval, and upon closing, Mr. Iger will serve as Chairman of the BAMTech Board. MLBAM and NHL will continue as minority stakeholders in BAMTech, with seats on the Board. Mr. Paull will report to Kevin A. Mayer, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, The Walt Disney Company. John Skipper, ESPN President and Co-Chairman, Disney Media Networks, will manage the new ESPN-branded service.

    The BAMTech transaction is expected to be modestly dilutive to Disney’s earnings per share for two years. Additional dilution as the Company implements its direct-to-consumer strategy will be dependent on the Company’s licensing approach and the level of investment in original programming.

    ALSO READ :

    Disney gives 2D characters physical form

    Abhishek Maheshwari takes charge of Disney Media, Subramaniam quits

    Ben Pyne to end 25-year journey at Disney Media Distribution

  • Can’t wait to harness Millarworld’s creativity, says Netflix’ Sarandos

    MUMBAI: Streaming giant Netflix is making great strides both, in India and abroad. It has made its first-ever acquisition, buying comic book publishing powerhouse Millarworld. Netflix recently announced two new original series from India — Selection Day and Again. Netflix vice president of international original series Erik Barmack said the India projects had specifically local subjects, but would be great for its global audience.

    Millarworld’s seems like a natural progression in Netflix’s effort to work directly with skilled creators and also acquire intellectual property which has stories having compelling characters and timeless, interwoven fictional worlds.

    Millarworld was founded by Mark Millar, the legendary creator of iconic characters and stories such as Kingsman, Kick-Ass, and Old Man Logan, Advanced Television reported. Netflix and Millar together will bring Millarworld’s portfolio of critically-acclaimed character franchises to life through television series, films and kids’ shows to global Netflix members. Millarworld will be continuing to create and publish stories and character franchises — now under the Netflix label.

    Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said, as creator of the most memorable characters and stories in recent history, ranging from Millarworld’s Kick-Ass, Kingsman to Marvel’s The Avengers and Wanted and Reborn franchises, Mark was as close as one can get to a modern-day Stan Lee,.

    Millar said that it was the third time in history a major comic book company was bought at this level. He believes: Netflix is the future, and Millarworld couldn’t have a better home.

    In his eight years at Marvel, Millar developed books that inspired the first Avengers movie, Captain America: Civil War, and Logan (Wolverine), which together grossed over $3 billion in worldwide box office.

  • Eros stock gains even as it denies being privy to parent’s talks with Apple or Netflix

    MUMBAI: Shares of Eros International gained 4.5 per cent on Monday even as it clarified that it was not privy to any strategic discussion that its NYSE-listed parent Eros International PLC may be having with various potential partners.

    There were speculative reports that the Mumbai-based film production house Eros was in talks with the tech giant Apple to sell its 3,000-plus film and music library including ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, ‘Dabangg’ and ‘Bajirao Mastani’ for around $1 billion (Rs 63.7 billion).

    The unconfirmed potential deal, for which Eros reportedly started exploring six months ago, could include Eros Now — Eros’ digital OTT platform. Discussions were also reportedly being held with competitors — Netflix and Amazon. Eros Now, having 55 million global users, has rights to over 5,000 movies in 10 Indian languages and over 250,000 audio tracks from 13 Indian music labels.

    Eros’ parent, which is facing a class-action lawsuit for allegedly overstating Eros Now’s subscriber base, had attempted engaged with broadcasters including Sony, Viacom, 21st Century Fox’s Star India and Zee to sell the library, it was reported.

    AlsO Read :

    Eros Now available with free Amazon Fire TV subs

    Zee gets Sarkar3 & Munna Michael syndication rights in deal with Eros

    Eros International signs co-production deal with Turkish co Pana Film

  • CBS revenues up 9%, gains from retransmission, skinny bundles & OTT

    MUMBAI: CBS Corporation has reported record second quarter revenues, operating income, and diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) from continuing operations.

    “CBS delivered outstanding second quarter results while continuing to take a number of steps to achieve our long-term financial goals,” said Leslie Moonves, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CBS Corporation. “First, we had a terrific upfront with gains in pricing and volume, including more and more deals that better reflect how people are watching our programming on a delayed basis. In addition, we took significant steps during the quarter to grow our affiliate fees from both traditional and ‘skinny’ bundles. Retransmission consent and reverse compensation increased 25% in the second quarter. And we are now seeing the benefit of our recent skinny bundle deals with Google’s YouTube TV, Hulu, fuboTV, and just today we announced that we will be a part of DIRECTV NOW as well. At the same time, our in-house over-the-top subscription services, CBS All Access and Showtime OTT, continue to grow beyond our expectations and are on track to surpass a combined four million subscribers by the end of 2017. We are now gearing up to take the next strategic step with All Access by expanding it into the international marketplace, starting with Canada in the first half of 2018. Showtime also had a terrific quarter, led by the successful return of Twin Peaks, which boosted OTT subscriptions dramatically, and we continue to expand the Showtime brand overseas with new deals to license our entire portfolio in France, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and others. So, 2017 is turning out to be a great year for the CBS Corporation even without the Super Bowl and political spending that we had in the prior year. And as we look ahead, we are positioned to have an even better year in 2018.”

    Second Quarter 2017 Results

    Revenues for the second quarter of 2017 increased 9% to $3.26 billion from $2.98 billion for the same prior-year period, with growth across all of the Company’s significant revenue streams. Affiliate and subscription fee revenues were up 16%, driven by a 25% increase in retransmission revenues and fees from CBS Television Network affiliated stations, as well as growth from new initiatives, including the Company’s digital subscription services. Advertising revenues were up 4%, led by the broadcast of the semifinals and finals of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship (“NCAA Tournament”) on the CBS Television Network. Content licensing and distribution revenues benefited from a higher volume of television licensing sales and grew 12%, despite a difficult comparison to the second quarter of 2016, which included the international sales of five Star Trek series.

    Operating income for the second quarter of 2017 increased 3% to $669 million from $651 million for the same prior-year period, despite higher-margin licensing sales in the second quarter of 2016. Net earnings from continuing operations increased 6% to $397 million for the second quarter of 2017 from $373 million for the same quarter last year, mainly a result of the higher operating income. Adjusted net earnings for the second quarter of 2017 were $427 million compared with net earnings of $423 million for the same prior-year period.

    Net earnings for the second quarter of 2017 were $58 million, which included a noncash charge of $365 million in discontinued operations to reduce the carrying value of CBS Radio to the value indicated by the stock valuation of Entercom Communications Corp. CBS Radio is classified as held for sale and therefore, in accordance with accounting guidance, the carrying value will continue to be adjusted based on the trading price of Entercom’s stock, which could result in future gains or losses.

    Diluted EPS from continuing operations for the second quarter of 2017 increased 18% to $.97 from $.82 for the same quarter in 2016, driven by higher earnings and lower shares outstanding in the second quarter of 2017 from the Company’s ongoing share repurchase program. Diluted EPS for the second quarter of 2017 was $.14 as a result of the above-mentioned noncash charge at CBS Radio, compared with $.93 for the prior-year period. Adjusted diluted EPS increased 12% to $1.04. During the quarter, the Company repurchased 4.7 million of its shares for $300 million.

    Details of the discrete items excluded from financial results, along with reconciliations of adjusted results to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, are included at the end of this earnings release.

    Free Cash Flow, Balance Sheet and Liquidity

    For the second quarter of 2017, operating cash flow from continuing operations was $231 million, compared with $216 million for the second quarter of 2016, and for the first six months of 2017, operating cash flow from continuing operations was $909 million, which included discretionary contributions of $100 million to prefund the Company’s qualified pension plans, compared with $1.14 billion for the first six months of 2016, which included CBS’s broadcast of Super Bowl 50. Operating cash flow from continuing operations for 2017 benefited from higher affiliate and subscription fee revenues. Free cash flow was $190 million for the second quarter of 2017 compared with $181 million for the same prior-year period, and for the first six months of the year, free cash flow was $841 million in 2017, which included the aforementioned pension contributions, compared with $1.07 billion in 2016.

    In July 2017, the Company issued $400 million of 2.50% senior notes due 2023 and $500 million of 3.375% senior notes due 2028. The Company used the net proceeds from these issuances to repay its $400 million outstanding 1.95% senior notes which matured on July 1, 2017, and to redeem all of its $300 million outstanding 4.625% senior notes due May 2018. The remaining net proceeds were used for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of short-term borrowings, such as commercial paper.

    Consolidated and Segment Results (dollars in millions)

    The tables below present the Company’s revenues by segment and type; operating income (loss) excluding other operating items, net, by segment (“Segment Operating Income”); and depreciation and amortization by segment for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, and 2016.

    Entertainment (CBS Television Network, CBS Television Studios, CBS Studios International, CBS Television Distribution, CBS Interactive, and CBS Films)

    Entertainment revenues of $2.18 billion for the second quarter of 2017 were up 12% from $1.95 billion for the same prior-year period. This increase was led by 38% growth in affiliate and subscription fees, driven by higher station affiliation fees and subscriber growth at CBS All Access. Advertising revenues increased 6%, as a result of the broadcast of the semifinals and finals of the NCAA Tournament on the CBS Television Network. Content licensing and distribution revenues benefited from more television licensing activity in the second quarter of 2017 and grew 12%, despite the difficult comparison with the prior-year period, which included the international licensing sales of five Star Trek series.

    Entertainment operating income of $346 million for the second quarter of 2017 decreased 1% from $351 million for the same prior-year period, primarily reflecting higher-margin revenues in the second quarter of 2016.

    Cable Networks (Showtime Networks, CBS Sports Network, and Smithsonian Networks)

    Cable Networks revenues of $571 million for the second quarter of 2017 increased 7% from $536 million for the same prior-year period. The increase was driven by higher affiliate and subscription fees, led by growth of the Showtime digital streaming subscription offering and higher international television licensing sales of Showtime original series.

    Cable Networks operating income of $253 million for the second quarter of 2017 increased 11% from $227 million for the same prior-year period, primarily reflecting the revenue growth.

    Publishing (Simon & Schuster)

    Publishing revenues of $206 million for the second quarter of 2017 grew 10% from $187 million for the same prior-year period. The increase was led by growth in print book sales and digital audio sales. Bestselling titles for the second quarter of 2017 included Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare and I Can’t Make This Up by Kevin Hart.

    Publishing operating income of $28 million for the second quarter of 2017 increased 8% from $26 million for the same prior-year period, mainly reflecting the revenue growth.

    Local Media (CBS Television Stations and CBS Local Digital Media)

    Local Media revenues of $412 million for the second quarter of 2017 increased 4% from $396 million for the same prior-year period, driven by higher retransmission revenues. Advertising revenues for the second quarter of 2017 decreased 2%, driven by lower political advertising sales, which were offset by CBS’s broadcast of the semifinals and finals of the NCAA Tournament.

    Local Media operating income of $127 million for the second quarter of 2017 decreased 2% from $130 million for the same prior-year period due to the mix of revenues. Retransmission revenues have associated network affiliation costs paid to the CBS Television Network, whereas political advertising sales carry a high operating income margin.

    Corporate

    Corporate expenses for the second quarter of 2017 were $85 million compared with $83 million for the same prior-year period.

    ALSO READ :

    Hotstar & CBS agree to bring Showtime content & brand to India

    Competing with Google & FB on free side and with Netflix and Amazon on subscription — Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan

    US$ 232-bn TV ads market expanding at 7% CAGR, online TV fastest growing: Report

    Telly awards: Mediaboss, Discovery, Disney, Fox & Viacom among winners

  • Qyuki’s RealShit claims 1.5 mn FB likes & 4 lakh YouTube subs

    MUMBAI: Qyuki has always encouraged unique talent and this time Qyuki Digital’s creator ‘RealShit’ hit big with an astounding 1.5 million likes on popular social networking site, Facebook and over 4 lakh subscribers on YouTube!

    Conceptualised by three college friends – Piyush, Deepak and Shubham two years ago, RealShit grabbed attention with a 30 second bit on the topic “When someone tries to take your charger”. The video soon after its release went viral and immediately caught everybody’s attention. Inspired by foreign viners, RealShit founders began to base their videos on real situations that happen in everyday and documented the different reactions for the same resulting in hilarious videos!

    The RealShit have been associated with Qyuki Digital for over two years through which the creators have grown by leaps and bounds, making them one of the most recognized for their unique content.  An instant hit with the youth for their comic and relevant work , RealShit has come a long way with hitting a landmark of 1.5 million hits.

    Qyuki Digital COO Sagar Gokhale said, “While Viners are still finding a foothold in India, Realshit has gained popularity in that segment of just 2 years. They are a unique talent and Qyuki is proud to back them in their comedic endeavor.”

    RealShit said, “We will continue to give good content and there is a long way to go.”

  • Race hots up: Netflix announces two India originals – ‘Selection Day’ & ‘Again’

    MUMBAI: The race hots up. Close on the heels of Amazon Prime and vying with 30-odd other OTT / VoD players in India, Netflix too has announced two new original series from India — Selection Day and Again.

    The former is based on the book by the acclaimed author Aravind Adiga (White Tiger) and the latter, a supernatural, female-led detective series set in New Delhi and written by Marisha Mukerjee (of Quantico fame).

    Amazon Prime recently launched its first original — Inside Edge — with all of its 10 episodes across 240 countries. Inside Edge has been produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment and the storyline brings together the world of cricket and entertainment.

    Amazon’s 17 more originals  are in various  stages of development.  “We are trying to get three to four originals beyond Inside Edge in a few months (this year) since there are different projects in various stages of development (casting or post-production, etc),” Amazon Prime country head Nitesh Kripalani had told Indiantelevision.com.

    Netflix too is gung-ho. “We are excited to be expanding our slate of originals in India. These projects have specifically local subjects, but will be great for our global audience, and are supported by world class talent.” said Erik Barmack, vice president of international original series at Netflix.

    Selection Day, a compelling story of cricket and corruption, is based on Booker Prize-winning author Aravind Adiga’s novel of the same name. This coming of age tale depicts the glory and rivalry in the city of Mumbai.

    Fourteen-year-old Manjunath Kumar knows he is good at cricket — if not as good as his elder brother Radha. He knows that he fears and resents his domineering and cricket-obsessed father, admires his brilliantly talented sibling and is fascinated by the world of CSI and by curious and interesting scientific facts. But there are many things about himself and about the world that he doesn’t know. When Manju begins to get to know Radha’s great rival, a boy as privileged and confident as Manju is not, everything in Manju’s world begins to change and he is faced with decisions that will change both his sense of self and of the world around him.

    Selection Day will be produced in partnership with Seven Stories.

    “When I first read Selection Day I was completely overwhelmed by the scale and ambition of Aravind’s vision – and moved to my core by its emotional power.….” said Anand Tucker, CEO of Seven Stories. “We are delighted to be working with Netflix on what feels like a new chapter in the age of global storytelling, and we are bowled over by Erik and his team’s passion for this story.”

    Seven Stories is the UK based production company of Directors Sharon Maguire and Anand Tucker, and is part of the ALL3Media group.

    Set in the busy and colourful city of New Delhi, detective series Again tells the story of a female homicide detective who must put her career and life on the line when a recent murder connects to closed cases from her past, proving she has a serial killer on her hands. As she seeks justice, the answers she uncovers along the way not only affect her life, but also challenge the faith, beliefs, and relationships of everyone surrounding her.

    “When it comes to telling groundbreaking evocative stories, I cannot think of a better partner than Netflix to bring this show to India and to audiences across the globe” said Marisha Mukerjee. “Again not only speaks to my own duality and cultural heritage, but also to the universal grey that exists between life and death, where religion intersects justice.”

    All leading OTT / VoD players seem to be eyeing a significant share of the 70-million unique connected video viewers (F&S) in India.

    ALSO READ :

    Just 11% video viewership is on OTT: Akamai’s Reddy

    Amazon India head Nitesh Kripalani’s amazing growth recipe

     

  • 12 Discovery channels now available on Vodafone Play

    MUMBAI: A portfolio of 12 Discovery India channels are now available on Vodafone Play – Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery HD World, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Kids, Investigation Discovery (ID), Animal Planet HD World, TLC HD World, Discovery Tamil and a sports channel DSport.

    From science to traveling, Vodafone Play user have a wide choice of viewing channels.

    Facilitating the entertainment needs of the upwardly mobile and always on the move young Indian looking for hyper-personalised, bespoke experiences: Vodafone Play, a one-stop entertainment destination to enjoy streaming of content; be it Live TV, popular shows, latest movies or trending music videos, today announced a strategic partnership with Discovery Communications, expanding its infotainment content portfolio for its subscribers across genres.

    Commenting on the partnership, Vodafone India national head – VAS and content Dipankar Ghoshal said “Vodafone Play is a single window offering content across genres and languages and this association with Discovery strengthens our infotainment category. All consumers, including the Velvet Rope Generation, can now watch what they want, when they want and how they want. Our partnership with Discovery Communications will make their channels now accessible to Vodafone Play users to be viewed at their convenience.”

    Discovery Communications India SVP affiliate sales and product distribution Vijay Rajput said, “As the media ecosystem continues to evolve, we remain focused on delivering more content, across more screens, to more people. We are happy that Vodafone Play subscribers will now have access to Discovery’s rich storytelling at their fingertips.”

  • Mobile data traffic grew by 76%, tele-market to cross Rs 6.6 trn by ’20

    NEW DELHI: Communications minister Manoj Sinha has said consumption of video content is forecast to be 75 per cent of India’s mobile data traffic by 2021, compared to 49 per cent in 2016.

    He said the Indian telecom industry has seen a paradigm shift from a voice centric market to a data-centric market. While voice business still contributes a large chunk towards operator revenues, data revenues have shown an exponential growth trajectory over the last few years.

    Speaking at a workshop on Telecom India here, the minister said that by the end of 2016 the number of internet subscribers in India was 391.50 million making India globally the 2nd highest in terms of internet users. He added that mobile data traffic also grew by 76 per cent in India in 2016, primarily attributed to increased smart phone penetration. This growing usage of smart phones, especially in urban areas, has increased the usage of internet on hand-held devices – in 2016, 559 megabytes of mobile data was generated per month by an average smart phone, up from 430 megabytes per month in 2015.

    Sinha said advancements in innovative IoT technologies like health monitors, smart transport, smart meters among others, is projected to result in 21 per cent increase in M2M services. These advances will result in a significant growth of mobile data, and as the telecom sector moves to newer technologies, TSPs will need to identify innovative avenues to monetise this data opportunity. He said the Indian Telecom Market is expected to cross the Rs 6.6 trillion revenue mark by the year 2020.

    Sinha said that one of the projects under the ‘Digital India’ initiative was ‘BharatNet’, launched to deploy high-speed optical fiber cables to connect 250,000 Gram Panchayat across the country by 2018. The project is being implemented in Phases, with more than100,000 gram panchayats connected under Phase-I as of July 2017 and states like Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh nearing 100 per cent completion.

    This project would also help in increasing the fiberized sites in India which currently stands at less than 20 per cent as compared to other developed countries.

    Major achievements of the Indian telecom industry, Sinha said, include over 400 million internet users; FDI quadrupled in FY2016-17 recording inflow of approximately $ 5.6 billion; greater than 20 per cent tower sites now diesel free; rural tele density increased by 30 per cent over the last five years; more than 3/4th of the data consumption was from 3G/4G; tje telecom industry generates over 4 million jobs direct and indirect’ LTE device ecosystem grew by 270 per cent from 2015; and 38 new mobile manufacturing units set up since September 2015.

    He added that the government was working aggressively to connect 54,000 unconnected villages and would speed up its efforts after getting due reports from all states. An inter-ministerial group is looking into the financial health of the sector.

    Telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan said India is attempting to do nothing short of charting a new digital strategy for growth. She said the new Telecom Policy will be a key building block for achieving the growth target of 10 per cent from the current 7.6 per cent as Telecom and IT are the two sectors contributing to 16.5 per cent to the GDP, and there are immense possibilities for it to go up to 25 per cent.

    ALSO READ :

    India leads y-o-y mobile data growth, 1m global users added per day: Ericsson

    “Cost of data is the only barrier for hyper growth of Hotstar & other OTT platforms:” Ajit Mohan

    Tele data & VoIP service rev may expand at 3% CAGR by ’21

    Digital is way forward but auxiliary for top brands: Reports (updated)