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Category: iWorld

  • Serial entrepreneur Srikant Sastri to mentor digital news venture Nyoooz.com

    NEW DELHI: In an age when most established news organisations, including the new-kid-on-the-block Republic TV, have digital news portals to augment reach, one of the first few to get into this space, news media veteran Alok Verma and his Nyoooz.com have roped in serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Singapore-based big data company Crayon Data Srikant Sastri as a mentor.

    Sastri, who has also joined the board of Newzstreet Media Private Limited, parent of Nyoooz.com, will help the company sharpen its focus on micro-revenue opportunities and a methodology to deliver value to its clients.

    Apart from Sastri, Raja Shukla has joined Nyoooz.com as the national sales head. Raja, an accomplished media sales professional, will drive the digital sales and content-led sales both at the national and city levels. His earlier stints had been in organisations like Gram Vani, Zee Media, The Indian Express group and The Times of India group.

    Commenting on the new leadership team, Nyoooz.com founder and editor-in-chief Verma said, “Srikant Sastri will help Nyoooz.com to focus on quantitative and qualitative improvisations in the way local news content is generated and served using technological innovations and will mentor not only the team, but also me, while Raja’s presence will add more zing to our sales as we look to consolidate our core base and also explore spreading wings.”

    One of the early entrants into the digital space, Nyoooz.com serves contextual and relevant local news for and from tier II and tier III cities in India with a primary focus on Northern India. Presently, the company serves and covers news of and from about 70 cities and has an audience reach of 3.5 million in text news and 6 million in video news, including latest blockbuster the IPL 2017 cricket matches.

    Verma, a journalist of over 30-year standing, has held senior news management positions, including that of the editor, in media groups such as TV Today Network, Zee Media and Star India. The entrepreneurship bug bit him when he sensed the importance of the digital space.

    Nyoooz.com curates all important news stories of target cities from trustworthy and competent publishers from across the web. It uses its TrueView algorithm’s to scan and fetch news published about 70 individual cities across India. Subscribers can customize their unique news feed after registering to gather news from the cities they love.

  • OTT: Millionlights to provide skill-based progs on Asianet Mobile TV +

    MUMBAI: Millionlights, an education content provider which uses technology to create a better future for millions across India through skill development, has announced a partnership with Asianet, the leading Multi-Channel Video Provider, in Kerala to launch Millionlights on Asianet Satellite Communication’s OTT platform, Asianet Mobile TV +.

    “Our partnership with Asianet’s OTT services further strengthens our capability to reach the millions of users who do not have access to the best educational content. We have collaborated with Asianet to provide access to all their users and help drive employability and skill courses through their mobile OTT platform,” says Akshat Shrivastava, CEO and Founder of Millionlights.

    “Our association with Millionlights will not only result in educational content reaching everyone, but will be a major step in using OTT as a distribution channel to deliver premium content.” Says S Satish Kumar, business head of Asianet Mobile TV +, the OTT division of Asianet Satellite communications.

    The Millionlights Educational channel will now be available on the OTT platform and also in the about to be launched Video on Demand (VOD) service of Asianet OTT. The channel will showcase Live lectures, Faculty interviews, Tech reviews, Education news and Career guidance to name a few.

    This is a premium service and the service provider will charge the user a small fee to get access to the content
    The content is sourced from leading OEM’s and Universities, with Microsoft being the primary technical content partner. Courseware from Microsoft relating to the newer age courses that enhance the skills of learners are going to be showcased on the channel.

    The Channel will also have premium content related to skill sets required by the industry and aligned to creating a employable workforce.

  • Paytm aims at 50% share of movie weekend collection

    MUMBAI: Paytm has announced that its movies segment is aiming to contribute 50% to the opening weekend online collection of leading Hollywood and Bollywood Movies by end 2017. The company will achieve this with extensive marketing partnerships to further increase its adoption and reach.

    Paytm Movies has received an exceptional response with more than Rs. 400 crore in GMV within a year of launch. Contributing more than 20% to the opening weekend collection of all major Hollywood and Bollywood movies, the platform is garnering major traction from Tier II and Tier III cities by upgrading traditional offline ticket booking systems in local theaters to online ticketing. It is also using its widely popular Paytm QR codes to implement easy scan-and-book offline ticketing at their box-office and F&B counters.

    “We are thrilled to have a great start to 2017 by achieving blockbuster sales for key movie releases. Our aim this year is to contribute more than half of opening weekend online collection for all major movies. We will continue working with all move theatre chains to increase online ticket sales by promoting them aggressively amongst our vast user base,” says Paytm vice president Renu Satti.

    Paytm’s online movie ticketing service is available at more than 3500 screens across 550 cities and the platform’s pan-India distribution reach has led to it currently accounting for around 20% share of opening weekend box-office collection for most movies.

  • Go by Law, click MoneyMile en route to wise investment

    MUMBAI: In a pioneering move towards increasing financial literacy across the country, award-winning veteran business journalist Vivek Law, leading financial journalist Mitali Mukherjee and well known certified financial planner Surya Bhatia are co-creating The MoneyMile – India’s first multi-platform personal finance offering.

    In this strategic pairing of journalistic acumen and investing prowess, they are joined by one of television’s most seasoned production experts, Sumit Sabharwal (founder of MASS Entertainment) as the fourth co-founder of the MoneyMile.

    “We will reach out to our audiences through digital content along with on-ground events and TV. The need of the hour is to educate and empower Indian citizens on matters related to their money through multiple platforms, predominantly mobile – that is fast becoming the screen of choice for millions of Indians,” said The MoneyMile co-founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Law.

    Law is the former editor of Bloomberg TV India and is the author of The Money Book. He has anchored multiple personal finance shows across various channels including CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz, Aaj Tak and India Today Television.

    Set to launch digitally first via social media platforms, The MoneyMile will beam across mediums to provide easy to use and thought provoking content – in the effort to help multiply the savings and investments of each and every viewer.

    The MoneyMile co-founder and MD Bhatia, who has worked for two decades in financial planning, says, “Investment is not an option. It is the need. The trouble is lack of knowledge. I am confident we will provide the best financial solutions to each and every investor or potential investor.”

    “Our intent is to decode each and every event and development that could impact our viewers and their money. In fact, a key focus area will be women and how important investing is to give women greater assertion over themselves and their choices,” says The MoneyMile. co-founder and editor Mukherjee.

    She is the former Markets & News Editor of CNBC TV18 where she anchored the flagship show Bazaar. She has also worked with the TVToday Group, Doordarshan & BBC World.

    Sumit Sabharwal who takes on the role of the chief product officer of The MoneyMile has built multiple news channels and documentary features for internationally acclaimed channels. He says it’s time for informative content on personal finance and investment. “Content is the king. Provided it reaches people in formats they find engaging.”

    Sabharwal is the founder of MASS Entertainment and Turban Studioz which has conceptualized and produced several Prime time shows for leading networks in India like National Geographic, Discovery, A+E Networks, Fox Life, TLC, CNN, Bloomberg to name a few.

  • FB Express WiFi to deploy 20k hotspots through Airtel, more tie-ups in pipeline

    MUMBAI: Times are a changing. The cable guy no longer carries optical fibre for satellite TV to the consumer’s house. Entrepreneurs will now establish WiFi hotspots through Facebook to provide internet in public places. Google has already rolled out free Net access through public Wi-Fi at 100 railway stations, in partnership with government’s RailTel. 

    India has a population of around about 1.3 billion people, but according to TRAI report, only 390 million are connected to the internet.

    Facebook’s Express WiFi is a sequel to the Free Basics platform, which has partnered with entrepreneurs to help them establish public WiFi hotspots. Facebook has partnered with Airtel to deploy 20,000 internet hotspots through the Wi-Fi service in a few months. However, unlike Free Basics, Express Wi-Fi works on a ‘paid’ model. 

    FB head of connectivity solutions – Asia Pacific Munish Seth said that it was working with ISP and operator partners to test Express WiFi with public WiFi deployments. 

    Indians would now be able to purchase reliable, fast and affordable data packs in four states (Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Meghalaya). Express WiFi is being deployed in partnership with ISPs — LMES in Rajasthan, AirJaldi in Uttarakhand, Tikona in Gujarat, and with Shaildhar in Meghalaya shortly. Express Wi-Fi is operational in four countries excluding India, that is, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria and Indonesia. 

    Airtel COO (India & South Asia) Ajai Puri said that the initiative would provide affordable access to high speed data to the underserved segment thus contributing to the Government’s Digital India vision.

    While Facebook did not elaborate, it plans to have similar tie-ups with other telcos, including Vodafone and Reliance Jio. It is in talks with state governments and government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam, to establish similar hotspots.

    Also Read:

    FB targets next billion Indians with local content and Express Wifi

    FB adds India-specific options, shows how to build communities

    Jaitley, stakeholders discuss broadband speed & penetration, wi-fi, digitisation, open Net & cyber security

    Facebook exec ponders: How to hold the brain’s attention?

  • Republic TV to launch on Hotstar

    MUMBAI: Hotstar, India’s leading streaming platform and Republic TV, the nation’s most awaited news venture, today announced a strategic partnership to shape the future of news online. In a first, Hotstar will open up its platform for a third party content provider, marking a big movement in the evolution of the country’s largest streaming service. Hotstar will also introduce News as a distinct category on the platform, adding to its current portfolio of TV Shows, Movies and Sports from around the world.

    Republic TV is one of the country’s first major news service to launch in a digital era. With Arnab Goswami as the founder and lead anchor, the service aims to dramatically alter the news landscape in the country.

    Announcing the partnership, Uday Shankar, Chairman & CEO, Star India said “Hotstar is the fastest growing digital platform in the world and the leading destination in India for curated, high quality stories. Young India has embraced Hotstar. We believe that young, digitally savvy Indians are deeply interested in understanding their country and the world they live in. We are deeply committed to making sure that we continuously widen Hotstar’s offering, and the launch of Republic TV on Hotstar fills a big gap in our portfolio.”

    Commenting on the partnership, Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief and Founder, Republic TV said, “Hotstar is a compelling destination for content cutting across genres and age groups. We are confident of breaking the digital barrier and believe this is the first step as news produced in India goes digital and then global. We believe the coming together of these two exciting brands and services will take news to the 90 million plus viewers on Hotstar every month. You can now catch Republic TV on the move and on demand.”

  • ‘Sarabhai’ stands out for wit & cast’s inimitable timing, says Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan

    MUMBAI: Leading VoD platform Hotstar finally announced the launch date of the much-awaited comedy, Sarabhai versus Sarabhai, to be 16 May. “We looked at the comedy space on digital and realised that there is a glut of content that liberally uses swearing and insults to create comedy. While that has its place, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’s brand of comedy stands out in sharp contrast as content that’s best known for its wit, sarcasm and the stellar cast’s inimitable timing,” said Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan.

    Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai is based on the life of a funny and quirky Gujarati family, living in Mumbai. The show’s originality and humour have earned it a spot among the best of Indian television, the sequel of which has now been made for the VoD platform.

    Hotstar is a leading premium streaming platform with more than 100,000 hours of drama and movies in nine languages, and coverage of every major global sporting event.

    “Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai: Take 2″ is the latest in our signature bouquet of content called — Hotstar Originals. Each show in this bouquet, be it On Air with AIB, Cineplay or Tanhaaiyan, is genre-defining in its own unique way, and we’re really excited to see the enthusiasm Sarabhai vs Sarabhai: Take 2 has already drummed up,” added Mohan.

    Following a unique marketing campaign that has sent fans into a frenzy of anticipation, India’s leading video-on-demand platform, Hotstar, finally announced the launch date of the much-awaited comedy, Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai, to be 16th May.

    Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai, back after a hiatus of seven years, will premiere on Hotstar as Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai: Take 2. The show features Satish Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Sumeet Raghavan, Rupali Ganguly, Rajesh Kumar and Deven Bhojani, and is produced by Jamnadas (JD) Majethia and Aatish Kapadia. The second season promises the same wit and sarcasm that became the hallmark of the show, along with some new and interesting story tracks and characters.

    Hotstar, keenly aware of the consistent and passionate fandom for the show, designed an immersive marketing campaign which would allow fans to become part of the show’s journey, while giving new audiences a peek into what makes the show a smash hit.

    The quirky digital campaign kick-started with a teaser on April 3rd, taking fans on a virtual tour of the show’s set for the ‘Muhurat shot’ via Facebook Live. Millions of fans immediately responded with incredible enthusiasm, resulting in the show trending on Facebook for 4 days.

    Hotstar dialed up the engagement further with a digital video, inviting suggestions from audiences for naming the second season of the show.

    The video went viral, attracting over 15 million views (and counting), within just 2 days of release. The suffix in the show’s title, ‘Take 2’, was selected from over 50,000 suggestions from fans.

    The new name of the show was finally revealed via the official promotional film for Sarabhai vs Sarabhai: Take 2 on social media, racking up 3 million views within 10 hours of release. The film, which shows the characters diligently cleaning various objects around the house, underscores the show’s proposition as a comedy that is ‘Clean bhi, crazy bhi’.

  • YuppTV diversifies into streaming and news reporting tech solutions

    MUMBAI: Yupp TV is known for its OTT SVOD service which delivers a rafter of Indian live channels, 5,000 movies and original programming to 25 million overseas people of Indian origin. CEO Uday Reddy has been doggedly bent on spreading the app’s reach over the past decade when he conceived it.

    Now Reddy — who roped in the Rajesh Kamat, Paul Aielio-headed Emerald Media to pump in $50 million to take the company to the next level last year — is steering it into the tech solutions space. For starters, he is all geared up to offer the tech that powers his OTT service to other content owners, TV producers, broadcasters or corporations wanting to set up their own SVOD service without having to run from pillar to post.

    “We are offering a white label solution to companies wanting to enter the online streaming space,” says Reddy. “We have built a robust platform serving almost 300 devices and working on Android, iOs, smart TVs, tablets and what have you. We have worked more than 10 years on the tech and finetuned it like a violin. Whether it is the payment gateway, the search, the recommendation, upscaling when the subscriber base grows – our clients will get the entire solution.”

    Reddy points out that the integrated service he is offering is in the realms of the solutions companies such as Accenture and Cisco offer. “Others such as Ooyala, Kaltura, Brightcove – give you SDKs which you have to build around,” he says. “Our advantage is that we are offering the entire solution.”

    He points out that his white label solution has already received interest from some clients internationally. “We hope to have completed 10-15 installations by end 2017,” he reveals. In addition to this, he is quite kicked up about an in-house developed live video streaming device Freedocast which is in its second generation and has been labelled Freedocast Pro. “ It helps in connecting the camera to the HDMI port and directly go live through it to any social media platform such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter which can be controlled by the phone,” says Reddy.

    “Any celebrity can use it to reach his audience live, any reporter, any one. It is a very simple device.”

    Freedocast, Reddy points out, will support both 3G and 4G and 1080p and 720p streams in the first phase, and the upgraded version will support 4K streams as well. The device has been priced at $249 and a commercial launch is expected in June.

    Currently, he and his team are focused on a global rollout of the product. Distribution is going to be through resellers, distributors and video equipment seller channels in India. B&H photo is the main partner in US.

    Reddy demoed the product at the recently completed APOS in Bali (Indonesia) and is expected to make some major announcements about it at Broadcast Asia in Singapore as well.

    He points out that Freedocast Pro is going to come as a shot in the arm for Indian news broadcasters, which number more than 300 in India. “They are significantly cheaper than DSNG trucks and vans and backpacks which have sticker prices running into multiples of ten thousand dollars,” he points out. “With Freedocast Pro any news reporter can, over 4G or wifi, deliver the news to the TV station with the portable device.”

    Reddy reveals that YuppTV is working on the next generation of the product which will enhance the entire editing and also allow for multicamera options. “Freedocast Pro is being manufactured in China but the entire design, chip set, hardware, software have been done in-house.”

    A news channel tech head points out that Freedocast has limitations in that it requires 4G or wifi to be effective as compared to the DSNGs which use satellite transmission from anywhere. “What if there is no wifi or 4G connectivity? Anyway the 4G connectivity is patchy even in the metros,” he says. “This could be a challenge. We will not give up our DSNG vans. But, may be, we will try some of them for our news reporters.”

    Amongst the news channels which have placed orders and are trying out Freedocast Pro figure ETV and TV5 in Hyderabad.

    “4G connectivity is only going to improve and the way broadband is being deployed, I don’t see this as a limitation,” says Reddy. “We have perfected our adaptive bitrate streaming technology to work at even 72 kbps connectivity in villages and smaller towns. YuppTV works perfectly well there too.”

    He points out that both the white label solution and Freedocast will help the company break even by end-2017.

  • ‘Integrated video’ key to TV’s digital transformation, aids cost optimisation

    MUMBAI: Ooyala, a global provider of video monetisation technology and services, today published a new report, “The Lifecycle of Content: From Production to Monetisation,” in collaboration with Futuresource Consulting, a specialist research and consulting firm for media and entertainment industries. The findings show content providers will seek integrated video solutions to minimize costs, streamline processes and provide growth opportunities at every step in the video lifecycle.

    The research, which included input from both traditional and new media operators across multiple geographies, identifies common concerns and challenges due to the new era of TV and its digital transformation to over-the-top (OTT) delivery. All participants agree OTT is necessary to match audience demands and grow video businesses, however, it also cites new pressures on finance and resources. Primary challenges include:

    The integration of, and interoperability between, new and legacy infrastructure
    * The need to produce more with limited or no increase in investment or ongoing spend
    * The management and distribution of an ever-rising number of OTT video endpoints
    * The lack of standardisation and automation of metadata
    * The underutilisation of metadata to improve experiences, enable personalisation and, subsequently, achieve greater monetisation

    Futuresource finds fully optimized integrated video solutions that connect disparate systems and workflows is essential to reduce the mounting pressure from OTT. Operators will seek greater efficiencies and economies of scale at every step in media operations—from production to distribution. Respondents are turning to automation for improved productivity across production workflows and metadata insertion. Further, greater data collection from OTT viewing will reduce risk in content investments, as acquisition and commissions are more tightly aligned to consumers’ viewing preferences.

    “Due to the many hurdles to still overcome, most media and broadcast organizations are not yet fully realizing the potential of integrated video solutions and automation,” said Head of Broadcast Technology at Futuresource Consulting, Adam Cox. “The continued rise of multi-platform content delivery is placing ever greater pressures on operations. Therefore, a successful approach to absorbing initial investment and operating costs, in addition to seeking alternative monetization strategies, is imperative.”

    “The report is indicative of the sheer complexity that content providers face in today’s world of global audiences, global operations and global opportunities,” said Ooyala Co-founder and SVP of Products and Solutions, Belsasar Lepe. “Achieving greater productivity for our customers is top of mind so they can maximize their resources and revenue, without letting scale burden their operations.”

  • Facebook rev, net income up in first quarter on higher mobile ad revenue

    BENGALURU: Facebook Inc., (FB) reported 51.1 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in ad revenue for the quarter ended 31 March 2017 (Q1-17, current quarter) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter. Facebook in its earnings release says that Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 85 percent of advertising revenue for Q1-17, up from approximately 82 percent of advertising revenue in Q1-16. The social media giant reported ad revenue of $7,857 million in the current quarter as compared to revenue of $5,201 million in Q1-16. a

    Total revenue however increased 49.2 percent y-o-y due to a decline of US$ 6 million (about 3.3 percent decline) in payments and other fees in the current quarter vis-à-vis the year ago quarter. FB reported total revenue of $8,032 million in Q1-17 as compared to $5,382 million in Q1-16.

    Net income in Q1-17 increased 76.3 percent to $3,064 million (38 percent profit margin) as compared to $1,738 million (32 percent profit margin) in the year ago quarter.

    Total cost and expenses increased 39.5 percent y-o-y to $4,705 million in the current quarter from $3,372 million in Q1-16. FB says that capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2017 were $1.27 billion.

    “We had a good start to 2017,” said Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “We’re continuing to build tools to support a strong global community.”

    The company says that Daily active users (DAUs) – DAUs were 1.28 billion on average for March 2017, an increase of 18 percent y-o-y. Monthly active users (MAUs) – MAUs were 1.94 billion as of March 31, 2017, an increase of 17 percent y-o-y.