ITV

Category: iWorld

  • Nexgtv acquires Sooperfly parenting shows’ international digital telecast rights

    Nexgtv acquires Sooperfly parenting shows’ international digital telecast rights

    MUMBAI: Nexgtv has acquired the international digital telecast rights to the immensely popular parenting TV series, ‘The Tara Sharma Show’. The move enables new and existing nexGTv users to view content that focuses on childcare, family-centric topics and women’s & children’s issues, spread across 13 episodes each from Season 1 and 2 of the show. This unique and differentiated content is produced by digital creation agency Sooperfly, which is joint venture between Digaonal View and 120 Media Collective, South Asia’s leading content production and distribution firm.

    Nexgtv COO Abhesh Verma commented, “At nexGTv, our aim is to offer consumers compelling entertainment with complete ease and convenience. Our acquisition of the digital telecast rights of ‘The Tara Sharma Show’ further strengthen our commitment to consistently get relevant content serving to the need of our customers beyond just entertainment and will enable our viewers to access inspirational stories and healthy discussions aimed at helping viewers to learn tips and tricks to good parenting. Indian viewers, both in India and abroad, can look forward to experiencing informative entertainment on our platform through their laptops, phones and tablets.”

    Users at nexGTv can avail of entertainment solutions through captivating videos that run seamlessly across 2G, EDGE, 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi networks, and across Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Tizen devices. The Tara Sharma Show and other featured content by Sooperfly is made available as a part of the paid packages at nexGTv, and can be accessed be either through www.nexgtv.com or through the nexGTv mobile app.

  • Nexgtv acquires Sooperfly parenting shows’ international digital telecast rights

    Nexgtv acquires Sooperfly parenting shows’ international digital telecast rights

    MUMBAI: Nexgtv has acquired the international digital telecast rights to the immensely popular parenting TV series, ‘The Tara Sharma Show’. The move enables new and existing nexGTv users to view content that focuses on childcare, family-centric topics and women’s & children’s issues, spread across 13 episodes each from Season 1 and 2 of the show. This unique and differentiated content is produced by digital creation agency Sooperfly, which is joint venture between Digaonal View and 120 Media Collective, South Asia’s leading content production and distribution firm.

    Nexgtv COO Abhesh Verma commented, “At nexGTv, our aim is to offer consumers compelling entertainment with complete ease and convenience. Our acquisition of the digital telecast rights of ‘The Tara Sharma Show’ further strengthen our commitment to consistently get relevant content serving to the need of our customers beyond just entertainment and will enable our viewers to access inspirational stories and healthy discussions aimed at helping viewers to learn tips and tricks to good parenting. Indian viewers, both in India and abroad, can look forward to experiencing informative entertainment on our platform through their laptops, phones and tablets.”

    Users at nexGTv can avail of entertainment solutions through captivating videos that run seamlessly across 2G, EDGE, 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi networks, and across Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Tizen devices. The Tara Sharma Show and other featured content by Sooperfly is made available as a part of the paid packages at nexGTv, and can be accessed be either through www.nexgtv.com or through the nexGTv mobile app.

  • India’s OTT video market to expand at 40% CAGR by ’20; RecoSense wins F&S award

    India’s OTT video market to expand at 40% CAGR by ’20; RecoSense wins F&S award

    MUMBAI: Over-the-top (OTT) video delivery has opened up business opportunities for new entrants as well as existing media companies. Frost & Sullivan’s 2016 Over the Top (OTT) Video Market Update, India, 2016 finds that the OTT video market in India has over 20 market participants and could expand at a CAGR of 40% to 355 million in terms of unique video viewers by 2020. As OTT video delivery becomes imperative for media companies, it is essential to understand the importance of customer engagement with insightful recommendations and content delivery. RecoSense provides a platform that uses automation and can help track user behavior across the Internet. It then interprets content recommendations suitable for a viewer and prolongs user engagement on a site with personalization. It also offers analytics with visualization and a content management system to enable OTT providers realize the efficacy of their services.

    RecoSense, an innovative venture providing SaaS-enabled platform for Data Intelligence, has been felicitated with the ‘India OTT Video New Product Innovation Award’ at the 2016 Frost & Sullivan India Best Practices Awards held in Mumbai recently. Its SaaS-enabled platform is built on complex Graph Computing, Analytics, and Machine Learning frameworks that can facilitate efficient personalization and customer engagement for rich media content.

    Congratulating RecoSense, Frost & Sullivan Global Innovation Center and Digital Media Practice research director Vidya S. Nath said, “There are three inherent problems that exist for an OTT service provider — offering an attractive video library, which is easily searchable; understanding the behavior and likes of their target audience; and keeping them engaged on their site or application as long as possible. RecoSense’s service helps solve some of these challenges as it offers a customizable platform that helps in effective discovery, personalization of recommendations, and user analytics.”

    RecoSense CEO Amith Srinivas said, “RecoSense will leverage this platform to pioneer data intelligent automations for digital content to reach the suitable target users. RecoSense will strengthen the indigenous Knowledge Graph IP and build expertise in the data science areas of personalization, recommendation, and analytics. We are grateful to our customers, our team for their committed efforts, and our investors for their contribution to achieve this milestone and seek continued support from the industry to reach higher goals.”

    The award recipient was judged on a variety of parameters that included financial performance rate, addressed unmet needs, key achievements, implementation of best practices, customer service experience, and brand equity. It involved in-depth primary interviews of various industry participants and secondary research conducted by Frost & Sullivan. Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Innovation & Leadership Awards identify companies that exhibit exemplary growth potential, attributed to high quality solutions and superior service capabilities.

    RecoSense uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable automatic keyword generation, effective meta tagging, and effective recommendation engine. OTT viewership in India is highly fragmented due to diverse and multiple languages and preferences. This trend has boosted the creation and aggregation of a sizable inventory of regional content. RecoSense’s clients are leading companies in the industry, both in India and abroad, providing Video Streaming networks, Digital Publisher networks, YouTube networks, Ad networks, and e-Commerce.

    RecoSense offers data intelligent platform for Metadata Generation, User Personalization, Content Recommendation, and Analytics. Given the exponential growth of digital media content across categories of Entertainment, News, Business, Sports, Music, etc.,

    Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today’s market participants.

  • India’s OTT video market to expand at 40% CAGR by ’20; RecoSense wins F&S award

    India’s OTT video market to expand at 40% CAGR by ’20; RecoSense wins F&S award

    MUMBAI: Over-the-top (OTT) video delivery has opened up business opportunities for new entrants as well as existing media companies. Frost & Sullivan’s 2016 Over the Top (OTT) Video Market Update, India, 2016 finds that the OTT video market in India has over 20 market participants and could expand at a CAGR of 40% to 355 million in terms of unique video viewers by 2020. As OTT video delivery becomes imperative for media companies, it is essential to understand the importance of customer engagement with insightful recommendations and content delivery. RecoSense provides a platform that uses automation and can help track user behavior across the Internet. It then interprets content recommendations suitable for a viewer and prolongs user engagement on a site with personalization. It also offers analytics with visualization and a content management system to enable OTT providers realize the efficacy of their services.

    RecoSense, an innovative venture providing SaaS-enabled platform for Data Intelligence, has been felicitated with the ‘India OTT Video New Product Innovation Award’ at the 2016 Frost & Sullivan India Best Practices Awards held in Mumbai recently. Its SaaS-enabled platform is built on complex Graph Computing, Analytics, and Machine Learning frameworks that can facilitate efficient personalization and customer engagement for rich media content.

    Congratulating RecoSense, Frost & Sullivan Global Innovation Center and Digital Media Practice research director Vidya S. Nath said, “There are three inherent problems that exist for an OTT service provider — offering an attractive video library, which is easily searchable; understanding the behavior and likes of their target audience; and keeping them engaged on their site or application as long as possible. RecoSense’s service helps solve some of these challenges as it offers a customizable platform that helps in effective discovery, personalization of recommendations, and user analytics.”

    RecoSense CEO Amith Srinivas said, “RecoSense will leverage this platform to pioneer data intelligent automations for digital content to reach the suitable target users. RecoSense will strengthen the indigenous Knowledge Graph IP and build expertise in the data science areas of personalization, recommendation, and analytics. We are grateful to our customers, our team for their committed efforts, and our investors for their contribution to achieve this milestone and seek continued support from the industry to reach higher goals.”

    The award recipient was judged on a variety of parameters that included financial performance rate, addressed unmet needs, key achievements, implementation of best practices, customer service experience, and brand equity. It involved in-depth primary interviews of various industry participants and secondary research conducted by Frost & Sullivan. Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Innovation & Leadership Awards identify companies that exhibit exemplary growth potential, attributed to high quality solutions and superior service capabilities.

    RecoSense uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable automatic keyword generation, effective meta tagging, and effective recommendation engine. OTT viewership in India is highly fragmented due to diverse and multiple languages and preferences. This trend has boosted the creation and aggregation of a sizable inventory of regional content. RecoSense’s clients are leading companies in the industry, both in India and abroad, providing Video Streaming networks, Digital Publisher networks, YouTube networks, Ad networks, and e-Commerce.

    RecoSense offers data intelligent platform for Metadata Generation, User Personalization, Content Recommendation, and Analytics. Given the exponential growth of digital media content across categories of Entertainment, News, Business, Sports, Music, etc.,

    Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today’s market participants.

  • YouTube Red announces list of new originals; ‘Step Up’ to release in 2017

    YouTube Red announces list of new originals; ‘Step Up’ to release in 2017

    CANNES: With Japan being the country of honour this year, one of the biggest content markets in the world MIPCOM took off with a great start by having Sony Corporation CEO and president, Kazuo Hirai, delivering a keynote session on the company’s work and its recent Playstation VR launch. While Japan promises to be 8K-ready by 2017, there was another interesting keynote session by YouTube global head of content Susanne Daniels about the original series and movies being featured on YouTube Red.

    She was joined on stage by: Lionsgate TV chairman Kevin Beggs and Rooster Teeth co-founder and chief creative officer Burnie Burns.

    Susanne Daniels starts off by introducing what YouTube Red is. While YouTube’s content is available at free of cost, YouTube Red is a paid membership that enables the ultimate YouTube experience. Members get all of YouTube uninterrupted, a premium YouTube music experience, and exclusive access to new original series and movies from top YouTube creators. YouTube Red is currently available in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, with plans for additional international expansion throughout 2017.

    “People have asked me what’s our original programming strategy? Are we planning to mirror Netflix or Amazon in bringing TV to digital, or recreate the programming themes of MTV? The answer to those questions is no. Our goal is to be uniquely YouTube. And our thesis is simple: Identify YouTube’s most engaging stars and top genres, and invest in the content that fans tell us they want. In other words, let our community drive our content.”

    Daniels goes on to mention that over the last year, YouTube Red has seen its original series become one of the leading drivers of subscriptions, with viewership that rivals cable shows in the US. Over half the time people spend watching originals on their mobile phones. And in the living room, Red members watch over 75 per cent more YouTube on their TV’s than the average YouTube viewer.

    Talking about their digital strategy, Kevin Beggs says, “At Lionsgate, we pride ourselves on going new places and forming innovative new partnerships that have never been tried before. Time and again, we’ve been first movers on new platforms. I believe YouTube is embarking on something big, a new chapter in its history that has the potential to change the way people think about its brand in a way that can benefit all of us here.”

    “I often get asked about the secret of our success. And to me, it easily comes down to two things: community and conversation,” a cheery Burnie Burns says. Talking about his journey, Burns elaborates, “When Rooster Teeth was born there was no YouTube and no real online advertising opportunity. So we had to engage our audience not only to watch our content, but also invest in it as well. We learned early on that talking “at” our audience was not enough. We knew we had to start a conversation, take them from being just viewers, to fans and friends, and ultimately create an engaged community around our brand for our business to succeed.”

    In the end, good news came in for YouTube fans as new season renewals and shows was announced. These include:

    Renewal of another season of the series Foursome, the sequel to Burnie Burns’s Lazer Team movie, and season two of Scare PewDiePie.

    They have greenlit a second season of Joey Graceffa’s murder mystery series, “Escape the Night.”

    YouTube Red has commissioned a drama with Universal Cable Productions called IMPULSE, from director Doug Liman. IMPULSE is a sci-fi thriller about a young girl who discovers her ability to teleport away from danger. The series will feature top YouTubers and will have Jeff Lieber – best known for the TV series “Lost” – attached to write and produce.

    Next is a scripted comedy series from Dan Harmon’s Emmy Award-winning production company Starburns Industries. The series will feature YouTube stars Dan Avidan and Arin Hanson of Game Grumps and follows a newly-formed team of eSports players trying to make it to the top in the cutthroat world of competitive gaming.

    The next original is going to excite you as together with Studio 71 and Corridor Digital, Dwayne Johnson will executive produce a new half hour action series about a life insurance company that send its agents forward 33 days in time to prevent the accidental deaths of its clients.

    Along with these, the announcement made by Kevin Beggs would be loved by all the dance lovers as he disclosed that Lionsgate will be coming out with episodes of their hit movie franchise Step Up in 2017.

  • YouTube Red announces list of new originals; ‘Step Up’ to release in 2017

    YouTube Red announces list of new originals; ‘Step Up’ to release in 2017

    CANNES: With Japan being the country of honour this year, one of the biggest content markets in the world MIPCOM took off with a great start by having Sony Corporation CEO and president, Kazuo Hirai, delivering a keynote session on the company’s work and its recent Playstation VR launch. While Japan promises to be 8K-ready by 2017, there was another interesting keynote session by YouTube global head of content Susanne Daniels about the original series and movies being featured on YouTube Red.

    She was joined on stage by: Lionsgate TV chairman Kevin Beggs and Rooster Teeth co-founder and chief creative officer Burnie Burns.

    Susanne Daniels starts off by introducing what YouTube Red is. While YouTube’s content is available at free of cost, YouTube Red is a paid membership that enables the ultimate YouTube experience. Members get all of YouTube uninterrupted, a premium YouTube music experience, and exclusive access to new original series and movies from top YouTube creators. YouTube Red is currently available in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, with plans for additional international expansion throughout 2017.

    “People have asked me what’s our original programming strategy? Are we planning to mirror Netflix or Amazon in bringing TV to digital, or recreate the programming themes of MTV? The answer to those questions is no. Our goal is to be uniquely YouTube. And our thesis is simple: Identify YouTube’s most engaging stars and top genres, and invest in the content that fans tell us they want. In other words, let our community drive our content.”

    Daniels goes on to mention that over the last year, YouTube Red has seen its original series become one of the leading drivers of subscriptions, with viewership that rivals cable shows in the US. Over half the time people spend watching originals on their mobile phones. And in the living room, Red members watch over 75 per cent more YouTube on their TV’s than the average YouTube viewer.

    Talking about their digital strategy, Kevin Beggs says, “At Lionsgate, we pride ourselves on going new places and forming innovative new partnerships that have never been tried before. Time and again, we’ve been first movers on new platforms. I believe YouTube is embarking on something big, a new chapter in its history that has the potential to change the way people think about its brand in a way that can benefit all of us here.”

    “I often get asked about the secret of our success. And to me, it easily comes down to two things: community and conversation,” a cheery Burnie Burns says. Talking about his journey, Burns elaborates, “When Rooster Teeth was born there was no YouTube and no real online advertising opportunity. So we had to engage our audience not only to watch our content, but also invest in it as well. We learned early on that talking “at” our audience was not enough. We knew we had to start a conversation, take them from being just viewers, to fans and friends, and ultimately create an engaged community around our brand for our business to succeed.”

    In the end, good news came in for YouTube fans as new season renewals and shows was announced. These include:

    Renewal of another season of the series Foursome, the sequel to Burnie Burns’s Lazer Team movie, and season two of Scare PewDiePie.

    They have greenlit a second season of Joey Graceffa’s murder mystery series, “Escape the Night.”

    YouTube Red has commissioned a drama with Universal Cable Productions called IMPULSE, from director Doug Liman. IMPULSE is a sci-fi thriller about a young girl who discovers her ability to teleport away from danger. The series will feature top YouTubers and will have Jeff Lieber – best known for the TV series “Lost” – attached to write and produce.

    Next is a scripted comedy series from Dan Harmon’s Emmy Award-winning production company Starburns Industries. The series will feature YouTube stars Dan Avidan and Arin Hanson of Game Grumps and follows a newly-formed team of eSports players trying to make it to the top in the cutthroat world of competitive gaming.

    The next original is going to excite you as together with Studio 71 and Corridor Digital, Dwayne Johnson will executive produce a new half hour action series about a life insurance company that send its agents forward 33 days in time to prevent the accidental deaths of its clients.

    Along with these, the announcement made by Kevin Beggs would be loved by all the dance lovers as he disclosed that Lionsgate will be coming out with episodes of their hit movie franchise Step Up in 2017.

  • Airtel 4G to reach nine circles via US$ 230-mn deal with Nokia as latter expands global PON

    Airtel 4G to reach nine circles via US$ 230-mn deal with Nokia as latter expands global PON

    MUMBAI: Finnish telecommunication network company and gear maker Nokia has pocketed a 4G network deal from Bharti Airtel in nine telecom service areas. Nokia meantime is also extending its fiber solution for universal next-gen passive optical networks (PON) to help operators more effectively scale, deploy and automate their networks as the demand for data grows.

    Nokia will deploy its available 4G technologies across Airtel regions of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Rest of Bengal, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Odisha, Kerala and UP East. The coverage expansion will include major cities such as Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Patna and Siliguri.

    According to sources cited by Financial Express, the deal between the two telecoms is estimated to be worth around US$ 230 million.

    Nokia’s head of India market Sanjay Malik said, with the latest agreement, they had become the largest supplier of 4G for Airtel. The network expansion would provide the speed, capacity, coverage Airtel needs to meet the next wave of data demand in India, he added.

    The new agreement with Nokia will see Airtel expand the deployment of 4G technology in three new circles in addition to six circles it already serves, enabling launch of new services that started in September.

    Agreement between Nokia and Bharti Airtel will enhance coverage and access in urban, suburban and rural areas within nine circles in India, it added.

    Nokia’s universal PON solution launched in 2015 leverages existing fiber platforms and infrastructure to help operators evolve networks in a gradual way, adding wavelengths in line with demand.

    The solution offers various next generation PON technologies including XGS-PON and TWDM-PON on a single platform and line card. Operators can connect subscribers with any type of optical network terminal (ONTs) regardless of whether it’s XGPON1, XGS-PON or TWDM-PON, eliminating the risk of technology and platform lock-in, the New Indian Express reported.

    Now, Nokia is enhancing its universal solution to provide operators with a higher density option that can reduce costs. Increasing deployment flexibility, the enhancements include new SDN/NFV-based capabilities that automate and simplify the deployment, maintenance and evolution of traditional fiber networks. This provides a smooth evolution path to 10G symmetrical or asymmetrical speeds with cost-efficient non-tunable XGS-PON optics and to TWDM-PON with tunable optics.

  • Airtel 4G to reach nine circles via US$ 230-mn deal with Nokia as latter expands global PON

    Airtel 4G to reach nine circles via US$ 230-mn deal with Nokia as latter expands global PON

    MUMBAI: Finnish telecommunication network company and gear maker Nokia has pocketed a 4G network deal from Bharti Airtel in nine telecom service areas. Nokia meantime is also extending its fiber solution for universal next-gen passive optical networks (PON) to help operators more effectively scale, deploy and automate their networks as the demand for data grows.

    Nokia will deploy its available 4G technologies across Airtel regions of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Rest of Bengal, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Odisha, Kerala and UP East. The coverage expansion will include major cities such as Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Patna and Siliguri.

    According to sources cited by Financial Express, the deal between the two telecoms is estimated to be worth around US$ 230 million.

    Nokia’s head of India market Sanjay Malik said, with the latest agreement, they had become the largest supplier of 4G for Airtel. The network expansion would provide the speed, capacity, coverage Airtel needs to meet the next wave of data demand in India, he added.

    The new agreement with Nokia will see Airtel expand the deployment of 4G technology in three new circles in addition to six circles it already serves, enabling launch of new services that started in September.

    Agreement between Nokia and Bharti Airtel will enhance coverage and access in urban, suburban and rural areas within nine circles in India, it added.

    Nokia’s universal PON solution launched in 2015 leverages existing fiber platforms and infrastructure to help operators evolve networks in a gradual way, adding wavelengths in line with demand.

    The solution offers various next generation PON technologies including XGS-PON and TWDM-PON on a single platform and line card. Operators can connect subscribers with any type of optical network terminal (ONTs) regardless of whether it’s XGPON1, XGS-PON or TWDM-PON, eliminating the risk of technology and platform lock-in, the New Indian Express reported.

    Now, Nokia is enhancing its universal solution to provide operators with a higher density option that can reduce costs. Increasing deployment flexibility, the enhancements include new SDN/NFV-based capabilities that automate and simplify the deployment, maintenance and evolution of traditional fiber networks. This provides a smooth evolution path to 10G symmetrical or asymmetrical speeds with cost-efficient non-tunable XGS-PON optics and to TWDM-PON with tunable optics.

  • Pricing, analytics, customization, video quality crucial to decide OTT market leader: Frost

    Pricing, analytics, customization, video quality crucial to decide OTT market leader: Frost

    MUMBAI: The nascent over the top (OTT) video market in India is growing as smartphone penetration and 3G and 4G subscribers continue to increase rapidly. The recent launch of Reliance Jio’s affordable data services and initiatives, such as Bharat Net, will continue to drive down data service prices, boosting video consumption over fixed and mobile broadband.

    “It will be critical for market participants to gauge viewership trends, price sensitivity and technical requirements while offering their video services,” said Frost & Sullivan digital media director Vidya S Nath. “Pricing, data analytics, personalization and video quality will be crucial in defining the market leader in the next five years.”

    The Over the Top (OTT) Video Market Update, India, 2016 analysis is part of Frost & Sullivan’s Digital Media Growth Partnership Service program, which includes research, consumer analytics, consulting and advisory services on pay television (TV) services and media technologies.

    While the dominance of YouTube and TV reins in subscription-based models, making digital advertising the most used business model for now, OTT video providers have confidence in the growth prospects of the market:

    . India has over 300 million Internet users and about a billion smartphone users

    . Millennials and Gen Y comprise about a third of the population and are driving viewership trends toward personalized content

    . The country’s fragmented demography offers more than 20 types of audiences by major languages, creating tremendous opportunity for content creators and producers

    . OTT providers can target Indian immigrants internationally

    The market is already crowded with about 25 market participants that include telecom operators, direct-to-home (DTH) TV providers, broadcasters and individual OTT providers. The number of participants will grow further over the next two years.

    “Even though the return on investment for OTT services providers is slow and does not justify the business proposition in the short run, competition will spur all broadcasters to consider the OTT business,” noted research analyst Aafia Bathool. “Exclusive content at a competitive price with a sophisticated, user-friendly interface is the way forward. To achieve this, the market will see increasing strategic alliances among ecosystem players.”

    Key participants in the current market include Hotstar, Eros Now, Ditto TV (Zee Networks), Asianet Mobile, YouTube, and Netflix. New market participants who will likely intensify competition include Amazon and Balaji ALT. Other market participants include Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vodafone, Zee Network, Voot, Viacom, Spuul, Veqta, Yupp TV, Dish TV, HOOQ, Hungama, Shemaroo, SonyLIV, and Tatasky.

  • Pricing, analytics, customization, video quality crucial to decide OTT market leader: Frost

    Pricing, analytics, customization, video quality crucial to decide OTT market leader: Frost

    MUMBAI: The nascent over the top (OTT) video market in India is growing as smartphone penetration and 3G and 4G subscribers continue to increase rapidly. The recent launch of Reliance Jio’s affordable data services and initiatives, such as Bharat Net, will continue to drive down data service prices, boosting video consumption over fixed and mobile broadband.

    “It will be critical for market participants to gauge viewership trends, price sensitivity and technical requirements while offering their video services,” said Frost & Sullivan digital media director Vidya S Nath. “Pricing, data analytics, personalization and video quality will be crucial in defining the market leader in the next five years.”

    The Over the Top (OTT) Video Market Update, India, 2016 analysis is part of Frost & Sullivan’s Digital Media Growth Partnership Service program, which includes research, consumer analytics, consulting and advisory services on pay television (TV) services and media technologies.

    While the dominance of YouTube and TV reins in subscription-based models, making digital advertising the most used business model for now, OTT video providers have confidence in the growth prospects of the market:

    . India has over 300 million Internet users and about a billion smartphone users

    . Millennials and Gen Y comprise about a third of the population and are driving viewership trends toward personalized content

    . The country’s fragmented demography offers more than 20 types of audiences by major languages, creating tremendous opportunity for content creators and producers

    . OTT providers can target Indian immigrants internationally

    The market is already crowded with about 25 market participants that include telecom operators, direct-to-home (DTH) TV providers, broadcasters and individual OTT providers. The number of participants will grow further over the next two years.

    “Even though the return on investment for OTT services providers is slow and does not justify the business proposition in the short run, competition will spur all broadcasters to consider the OTT business,” noted research analyst Aafia Bathool. “Exclusive content at a competitive price with a sophisticated, user-friendly interface is the way forward. To achieve this, the market will see increasing strategic alliances among ecosystem players.”

    Key participants in the current market include Hotstar, Eros Now, Ditto TV (Zee Networks), Asianet Mobile, YouTube, and Netflix. New market participants who will likely intensify competition include Amazon and Balaji ALT. Other market participants include Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vodafone, Zee Network, Voot, Viacom, Spuul, Veqta, Yupp TV, Dish TV, HOOQ, Hungama, Shemaroo, SonyLIV, and Tatasky.