ITV

Category: iWorld

  • Zee gets aggressive with dittoTV relaunch

    Zee gets aggressive with dittoTV relaunch

    MUMBAI: Media watchers have been speculating for some time about what Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) would do in the live and linear OTT and VOD space with its dittoTV service. The reason: even as rivals Hotstar, Voot and others such as Hooq, YuppTV seemed to be having strategic direction, dittoTV seemed to be going adrift.

    The riposte came from the Zee management yesterday with its announcement that it would be launching dittoTV with a bouquet of 100 plus channels at a price point of just Rs 20 per month.  As part of the relaunch Zee Digital Convergence Ltd (ZDCL) has re-positioned dittoTV as desh kaTV with a promise to make live television available to every Indian via any device – viz phones, tablet or PC. The price gets even more lip smacking for users subscribing for three months (Rs 50), six months (Rs 90) and annually (Rs 170). 

    The platform has tied up with major Indian broadcasters with the exception of the SunTV group and Star India giving it a portfolio of 100 plus Hindi, English and regional language channels, encompassing general entertainment, sports, movies, news and lifestyle on board.

    “With the new avatar of dittoTV, we aim to change the media landscape to suit the evolving media consumption preferences of consumers. It will allow users to control where they watch television in a way that has not been possible before. We are proud to present a platform that will help scale up this transformation by making it affordable for people across a wide economic spectrum,” opines Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka.

    dittoTV business head Archana Anand gives the rational for the competitive and low pricing. Says she: “We really wanted to go mass and affordable with this pricing.  We see it serving as your first and only screen, as your second screen or just your TV on the go! Keeping the Indian landscape in the mind, dittoTV will soon be available in all regional languages. A huge aspirational audience of ours is college students who we believe will use this especially given the Wifi in the colleges. They are the specific TGs that we are chasing. We have found that there is a huge need gap in hostels and we intend to be at youth festivals and various events to make sure that ditto is their one stop entertainment destination.”

    She points out to dittoTV’s adaptive technology which will adjust to a range of internet speeds in order to deliver a seamless viewing experience, making it suitable for both urban and rural markets. A broad marketing campaign – which observers say will include TVCs on the Zee network, Siticable and dishTV – has been drawn out to push the #deshkatv and #beeskaTV to the potential target audience.  

    In a bid to encourage sampling of dittoTV, ZEEL has partnered with Birla group owned telecom provider Idea Cellular. Under this, a promotional offer has been drawn up which allows customers in Idea 3G and 4G provider circles to subscribe to dittoTV free of cost, along with select monthly data packs until 31 July 2016.

    “With the rapid rollout of our 4G services and increased penetration of smartphones in the country, we are providing our customers an array of rich digital services to meet their demand for engaging apps and content,” explains Idea Cellular chief marketing officer Sashi Shankar. “TV being synonymous with entertainment for the Indian masses, we are excited to partner with dittoTV to enable consumers to carry their entertainment wherever they go.”

    Anand adds that dittoTV has sewn up carrier billing deals with almost all the telecom providers. Says she: “It’s not just with Idea. But we are glad to have them on board to bundle dittoTV with their data cards.  We have reached out to a wonderful telecom partner for our distribution. They also see this as valid proposition for them because there is nothing more massy which consumes data than TV. They see it as a good service for their subscribers and in the process getting data consumed. So, there is an increased synergy between the two.”

    dittoTV has also reached out to other service providers within the Essel group – Siti Cable and ITZ Cash – to give it a retail push and make it available to subscribers. 

    Will the low rates of dittoTV spark off a price war in this segment? The jury is out. A media observer states that it is quite possible that rivals such as YuppTV, Airtel’s PocketTV may have to reduce what they charge to consumers.  While YuppTV’s larger offering of 200 plus channels (it also offers SunTV channels) is priced at Rs 99 a month, Airtel’s PocketTV is priced at Rs 45 a month for a bouquet of 150 plus channels.  And then there is the Reliance Jio juggernaut which is set to roll with its much larger channel portfolio JioPlay. The pricing for JioPlay has not yet been revealed but observers expect it to bring about a paradigm shift.

    Anand, on her part, is not letting the competitive noise frazzle her. “Reliance is going to disrupt everything in the broadband ecosystem. So I don’t let that worry me at all,” says she. “We are focused on offering our customer a service that’s good and that’s ditto for television, which means, offering television to them wherever they go.” 

    Amen to that!

  • Zee gets aggressive with dittoTV relaunch

    Zee gets aggressive with dittoTV relaunch

    MUMBAI: Media watchers have been speculating for some time about what Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) would do in the live and linear OTT and VOD space with its dittoTV service. The reason: even as rivals Hotstar, Voot and others such as Hooq, YuppTV seemed to be having strategic direction, dittoTV seemed to be going adrift.

    The riposte came from the Zee management yesterday with its announcement that it would be launching dittoTV with a bouquet of 100 plus channels at a price point of just Rs 20 per month.  As part of the relaunch Zee Digital Convergence Ltd (ZDCL) has re-positioned dittoTV as desh kaTV with a promise to make live television available to every Indian via any device – viz phones, tablet or PC. The price gets even more lip smacking for users subscribing for three months (Rs 50), six months (Rs 90) and annually (Rs 170). 

    The platform has tied up with major Indian broadcasters with the exception of the SunTV group and Star India giving it a portfolio of 100 plus Hindi, English and regional language channels, encompassing general entertainment, sports, movies, news and lifestyle on board.

    “With the new avatar of dittoTV, we aim to change the media landscape to suit the evolving media consumption preferences of consumers. It will allow users to control where they watch television in a way that has not been possible before. We are proud to present a platform that will help scale up this transformation by making it affordable for people across a wide economic spectrum,” opines Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka.

    dittoTV business head Archana Anand gives the rational for the competitive and low pricing. Says she: “We really wanted to go mass and affordable with this pricing.  We see it serving as your first and only screen, as your second screen or just your TV on the go! Keeping the Indian landscape in the mind, dittoTV will soon be available in all regional languages. A huge aspirational audience of ours is college students who we believe will use this especially given the Wifi in the colleges. They are the specific TGs that we are chasing. We have found that there is a huge need gap in hostels and we intend to be at youth festivals and various events to make sure that ditto is their one stop entertainment destination.”

    She points out to dittoTV’s adaptive technology which will adjust to a range of internet speeds in order to deliver a seamless viewing experience, making it suitable for both urban and rural markets. A broad marketing campaign – which observers say will include TVCs on the Zee network, Siticable and dishTV – has been drawn out to push the #deshkatv and #beeskaTV to the potential target audience.  

    In a bid to encourage sampling of dittoTV, ZEEL has partnered with Birla group owned telecom provider Idea Cellular. Under this, a promotional offer has been drawn up which allows customers in Idea 3G and 4G provider circles to subscribe to dittoTV free of cost, along with select monthly data packs until 31 July 2016.

    “With the rapid rollout of our 4G services and increased penetration of smartphones in the country, we are providing our customers an array of rich digital services to meet their demand for engaging apps and content,” explains Idea Cellular chief marketing officer Sashi Shankar. “TV being synonymous with entertainment for the Indian masses, we are excited to partner with dittoTV to enable consumers to carry their entertainment wherever they go.”

    Anand adds that dittoTV has sewn up carrier billing deals with almost all the telecom providers. Says she: “It’s not just with Idea. But we are glad to have them on board to bundle dittoTV with their data cards.  We have reached out to a wonderful telecom partner for our distribution. They also see this as valid proposition for them because there is nothing more massy which consumes data than TV. They see it as a good service for their subscribers and in the process getting data consumed. So, there is an increased synergy between the two.”

    dittoTV has also reached out to other service providers within the Essel group – Siti Cable and ITZ Cash – to give it a retail push and make it available to subscribers. 

    Will the low rates of dittoTV spark off a price war in this segment? The jury is out. A media observer states that it is quite possible that rivals such as YuppTV, Airtel’s PocketTV may have to reduce what they charge to consumers.  While YuppTV’s larger offering of 200 plus channels (it also offers SunTV channels) is priced at Rs 99 a month, Airtel’s PocketTV is priced at Rs 45 a month for a bouquet of 150 plus channels.  And then there is the Reliance Jio juggernaut which is set to roll with its much larger channel portfolio JioPlay. The pricing for JioPlay has not yet been revealed but observers expect it to bring about a paradigm shift.

    Anand, on her part, is not letting the competitive noise frazzle her. “Reliance is going to disrupt everything in the broadband ecosystem. So I don’t let that worry me at all,” says she. “We are focused on offering our customer a service that’s good and that’s ditto for television, which means, offering television to them wherever they go.” 

    Amen to that!

  • SAB Group unveils digital initiative Happii-Fi

    SAB Group unveils digital initiative Happii-Fi

    MUMBAI: SABGroup unveiled the first look of their latest initiative, Happii-Fi at a recent awards event organized at St. Regis Hotel, Lower Parel.

    What sets SABGROUP’s digital initiative, Happii-Fi apart from other comedy content providers is the fact that its outreach is not limited. The idea is to create cutting edge comedy content and then build unprecedented digital reach via strategic partnerships with various OTT platforms, OEM’s, Teleco’s as well as digital aggregators. Some of their partnerships include those with Micromax, Hungama, FunOnGo, nexGTv, Indus, Daily Motion, Facebook, YouTube and One Digital Entertainment.

    Sri Adhikari Brothers Group CEO Manav Dhanda said, “We are looking to change the trend in the way content reaches out to people with our latest initiative Happii-Fi. Happii-Fi will create cutting edge comedy content for the Indian masses which as a segment is still terribly underserved & has only catch up TV/Movies to consume online. As India touches a 1 billion online population, the first 200 million and the next 800 million who come online are starkly contrary beings. We are creating an opportunity where real India lies.”

    Multiple shows that will be launched under Happii-Fi include Ghar Bar, Nayiwali Girlfriend, Kya Cheez hai India, Bro Court, Controversial Bhabhiji, Dholi&Kholi, The Rat Race and lots more. Some of the notable names associated with the shows include Shakti Kapoor who is the lead actor of Ghar Bar & Sagar Ballary(Of Bheja Fry Fame) who is the director of Ghar Bar. Also Shilpa Shinde will feature in the series of Controversial Bhabhiji.

  • SAB Group unveils digital initiative Happii-Fi

    SAB Group unveils digital initiative Happii-Fi

    MUMBAI: SABGroup unveiled the first look of their latest initiative, Happii-Fi at a recent awards event organized at St. Regis Hotel, Lower Parel.

    What sets SABGROUP’s digital initiative, Happii-Fi apart from other comedy content providers is the fact that its outreach is not limited. The idea is to create cutting edge comedy content and then build unprecedented digital reach via strategic partnerships with various OTT platforms, OEM’s, Teleco’s as well as digital aggregators. Some of their partnerships include those with Micromax, Hungama, FunOnGo, nexGTv, Indus, Daily Motion, Facebook, YouTube and One Digital Entertainment.

    Sri Adhikari Brothers Group CEO Manav Dhanda said, “We are looking to change the trend in the way content reaches out to people with our latest initiative Happii-Fi. Happii-Fi will create cutting edge comedy content for the Indian masses which as a segment is still terribly underserved & has only catch up TV/Movies to consume online. As India touches a 1 billion online population, the first 200 million and the next 800 million who come online are starkly contrary beings. We are creating an opportunity where real India lies.”

    Multiple shows that will be launched under Happii-Fi include Ghar Bar, Nayiwali Girlfriend, Kya Cheez hai India, Bro Court, Controversial Bhabhiji, Dholi&Kholi, The Rat Race and lots more. Some of the notable names associated with the shows include Shakti Kapoor who is the lead actor of Ghar Bar & Sagar Ballary(Of Bheja Fry Fame) who is the director of Ghar Bar. Also Shilpa Shinde will feature in the series of Controversial Bhabhiji.

  • BFM signs MOU with DTDC and DCG for new eCommerce platform in India

    BFM signs MOU with DTDC and DCG for new eCommerce platform in India

    MUMBAI: BFM, a new player in eCommerce in China, announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with DTDC, India’s largest express delivery network, and DCG Tech Limited, an eCommerce tech company founded by DTDC’s promoters and directors, to jointly develop an eCommerce business in India.

    The core BFM management team comes from the eCommerce giant players in China and is now extending its cross border eCommerce business in China and India claims a BFM release. DTDC Express Limited, a strategic partner of DPD Group, has been operating over 25 years and covers 10,000 locations. DCG Tech Limited is an eCommerce Tech company operating in India for the last 10 years. The company provides online corporate, promotions and packaging solutions for Indian eCommerce and logistics industry.

    According to the MOU with a non-compete clause, a joint venture will be formed to build an eCommerce platform. The cooperation aims to engage the experiences and resources of the companies to allow sellers mainly from India and China to introduce their products to buyers all over the world.

    Through the combined effort, a new online platform (BFMe.in) targets to facilitate logistics and fulfilment with the support of DTDC’s international network. BFM will provide marketing and supplier resources in China. Together with DCG Tech, BFM will also provide the knowhow in operating the eCommerce website.

  • BFM signs MOU with DTDC and DCG for new eCommerce platform in India

    BFM signs MOU with DTDC and DCG for new eCommerce platform in India

    MUMBAI: BFM, a new player in eCommerce in China, announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with DTDC, India’s largest express delivery network, and DCG Tech Limited, an eCommerce tech company founded by DTDC’s promoters and directors, to jointly develop an eCommerce business in India.

    The core BFM management team comes from the eCommerce giant players in China and is now extending its cross border eCommerce business in China and India claims a BFM release. DTDC Express Limited, a strategic partner of DPD Group, has been operating over 25 years and covers 10,000 locations. DCG Tech Limited is an eCommerce Tech company operating in India for the last 10 years. The company provides online corporate, promotions and packaging solutions for Indian eCommerce and logistics industry.

    According to the MOU with a non-compete clause, a joint venture will be formed to build an eCommerce platform. The cooperation aims to engage the experiences and resources of the companies to allow sellers mainly from India and China to introduce their products to buyers all over the world.

    Through the combined effort, a new online platform (BFMe.in) targets to facilitate logistics and fulfilment with the support of DTDC’s international network. BFM will provide marketing and supplier resources in China. Together with DCG Tech, BFM will also provide the knowhow in operating the eCommerce website.

  • April-2016: Poor growth in wired broadband subscribers

    April-2016: Poor growth in wired broadband subscribers

    BENGALURU: Historically April seems to be a poor month in terms of wired broadband subscriber additions, if one were to go by the numbers reported by The Telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).  For the month of April ended 30 April 2016 (Apr-16), TRAI has reported addition of just 70,000 subscribers (0.39 percent growth over Mar-16). TRAI data for Apr-16 shows 170.5 lakh wired broadband subscribers and 169.8 lakh for Mar-16. This growth is however much better than the numbers reported by TRAI for Apr-15, which actually saw a decline in wired broadband subscribers by 10,000 from 136.4 lakh in Mar-15 to 136.3 lakh.

    As per TRAI data, the top five players in India in the wireline broadband internet space in pecking order are the public sector Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel), public sector Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Atria Convergence Technologies Private Limited (ACT, ACT Broadband) and You Broadband (You BB). Among these 5, only BSNL and Airtel could be termed as national players at present. BSNL, Airtel and MTNL also provide wireline telephony voice and data and mobile services while Airtel also has a direct to home (DTH) segment. ACT started off as an MSO with operations concentrated in a few major cities and towns located mainly in South India. It started internet services (ACT Broadband) a little later and has grown its broadband internet subscriber base over time, to the extent that it is quite likely the biggest private wireline broadband player in South India. You BB offers broadband operations in a few cities in Maharashtra, Gujarat the NCR region Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

    Note:(1) 100,00,000 = 100 Lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

    (2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to 2 decimal places. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.47 million (4.7 lakh) subscribers for You BB for July-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages have been mentioned up to two decimal places, the accuracy may vary, depending upon the exact number.

    (3) Industry sources say that TRAI numbers in the case of ACT for May-2015 are incorrect at 0.66 million and the correct number would be 0.693 million. This paper considers the number as 6.93 lakh or 0.693 million.

    (4) MSOs’ have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger. Hathway is a case in point.

    So how much did the top 5 wired broadband players add to the growth of 70,000 subscribers in Apr-15? Just 10,000- because the net subscriber additions by the three private players of 50,000 was eroded by the loss of 40,000 wireline broadband subscribers (30,000 by BSNL and 10,000 by MTNL) by the two public sector service providers. Please refer to Fig 1 below.

    Among the top 5 players, ACT has seen the largest wireline broadband subscriber growth until Apr-16 in calendar year 2016 with 1 lakh additions followed by Airtel with 90,000. You BB stood third with 30,000 wireline broadband subscriber additions in 2016 until Apr-16. The public sector players have lost wired broadband subscribers until Apr-16 in 2016 – BSNL has seen subscribers decline by 10,000 while MTNL has lost 20,000 subscribers. Overall, the top 5 wired broadband players have added 1.9 lakh subscribers between 31 January 2016 and 30 April 2016 as opposed to the overall growth of 5.4 lakh subscribers in the country during the same period. Please refer to Fig 2 below:

    In Mar-16, the largest ever number of wired broadband subscribers were added – in absolute numbers as well as in month-over-month (m-o-m) percentage terms.  2.3 lakh wired broadband subscribers were added, with m-o-m growth of 1.37 percent in Mar-16. The combined subscription numbers of the top 5 wired broadband players also had the largest ever subscriber additions in terms of absolute numbers at 1 lakh and at 0.71 percent in terms of m-o-m growth

    At the same time, the subscriber numbers share of the top five wired broadband players in the country has reduced from 87.62 percent in Mar-15 to 83.70 percent as on Apr-16. During the same period the all India wireline internet subscriber base has grown 9.86 per cent from 155.2 lakh to 170.5 lakh. The combined numbers of the top five players have increased by less than half of that in percentage terms – by 4.62 per cent from 136.4 lakh to 142.7 lakh. The top five players have added 6.3 lakh subscribers during these 14 months, with ACT and Bharti Airtel contributing a major chunk to the growth.

    Other wireline broadband players in India

    MSOs’ in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using Docsis technology. In general, they have started reporting double digit YoY increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their Average Revenue per User (ARPU) numbers. Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO – Hathway, Siti Cable, Den Networks, Ortel Communications respectively whose results are available in the public domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters. All the four have been reporting growth in average revenue per user (ARPU).

    Overall broadband subscriber numbers for April 2016 including wireless and mobile

    Overall, as per the reports received by TRAI from the service providers, the number of broadband subscribers (including wireless, mobile) increased from 149.75 million (14.975 crore) at the end of Mar-16 to 151.09 million (15.109 crore) at the end of Apr-16 with a monthly growth rate of 0.89 percent. The top five service providers constituted 83.86 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Apr-16. These service providers were Airtel (39.13 million or 3.913 crore), Vodafone (28.11 million or 2.811 crore), Idea Cellular

    (23.23 million or 2.323 crore), BSNL (20.48 million 2.048 crore) and Reliance Communications Group (15.74 million or 1.574 crore).TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

    Also read:

    ACT leads in wired broadband subscriber additions in 2016

    http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/broadband/act-leads-in-wired-broadband-subscriber-additions-in-2016-160426

     

  • April-2016: Poor growth in wired broadband subscribers

    April-2016: Poor growth in wired broadband subscribers

    BENGALURU: Historically April seems to be a poor month in terms of wired broadband subscriber additions, if one were to go by the numbers reported by The Telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).  For the month of April ended 30 April 2016 (Apr-16), TRAI has reported addition of just 70,000 subscribers (0.39 percent growth over Mar-16). TRAI data for Apr-16 shows 170.5 lakh wired broadband subscribers and 169.8 lakh for Mar-16. This growth is however much better than the numbers reported by TRAI for Apr-15, which actually saw a decline in wired broadband subscribers by 10,000 from 136.4 lakh in Mar-15 to 136.3 lakh.

    As per TRAI data, the top five players in India in the wireline broadband internet space in pecking order are the public sector Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel), public sector Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Atria Convergence Technologies Private Limited (ACT, ACT Broadband) and You Broadband (You BB). Among these 5, only BSNL and Airtel could be termed as national players at present. BSNL, Airtel and MTNL also provide wireline telephony voice and data and mobile services while Airtel also has a direct to home (DTH) segment. ACT started off as an MSO with operations concentrated in a few major cities and towns located mainly in South India. It started internet services (ACT Broadband) a little later and has grown its broadband internet subscriber base over time, to the extent that it is quite likely the biggest private wireline broadband player in South India. You BB offers broadband operations in a few cities in Maharashtra, Gujarat the NCR region Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

    Note:(1) 100,00,000 = 100 Lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

    (2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to 2 decimal places. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.47 million (4.7 lakh) subscribers for You BB for July-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages have been mentioned up to two decimal places, the accuracy may vary, depending upon the exact number.

    (3) Industry sources say that TRAI numbers in the case of ACT for May-2015 are incorrect at 0.66 million and the correct number would be 0.693 million. This paper considers the number as 6.93 lakh or 0.693 million.

    (4) MSOs’ have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger. Hathway is a case in point.

    So how much did the top 5 wired broadband players add to the growth of 70,000 subscribers in Apr-15? Just 10,000- because the net subscriber additions by the three private players of 50,000 was eroded by the loss of 40,000 wireline broadband subscribers (30,000 by BSNL and 10,000 by MTNL) by the two public sector service providers. Please refer to Fig 1 below.

    Among the top 5 players, ACT has seen the largest wireline broadband subscriber growth until Apr-16 in calendar year 2016 with 1 lakh additions followed by Airtel with 90,000. You BB stood third with 30,000 wireline broadband subscriber additions in 2016 until Apr-16. The public sector players have lost wired broadband subscribers until Apr-16 in 2016 – BSNL has seen subscribers decline by 10,000 while MTNL has lost 20,000 subscribers. Overall, the top 5 wired broadband players have added 1.9 lakh subscribers between 31 January 2016 and 30 April 2016 as opposed to the overall growth of 5.4 lakh subscribers in the country during the same period. Please refer to Fig 2 below:

    In Mar-16, the largest ever number of wired broadband subscribers were added – in absolute numbers as well as in month-over-month (m-o-m) percentage terms.  2.3 lakh wired broadband subscribers were added, with m-o-m growth of 1.37 percent in Mar-16. The combined subscription numbers of the top 5 wired broadband players also had the largest ever subscriber additions in terms of absolute numbers at 1 lakh and at 0.71 percent in terms of m-o-m growth

    At the same time, the subscriber numbers share of the top five wired broadband players in the country has reduced from 87.62 percent in Mar-15 to 83.70 percent as on Apr-16. During the same period the all India wireline internet subscriber base has grown 9.86 per cent from 155.2 lakh to 170.5 lakh. The combined numbers of the top five players have increased by less than half of that in percentage terms – by 4.62 per cent from 136.4 lakh to 142.7 lakh. The top five players have added 6.3 lakh subscribers during these 14 months, with ACT and Bharti Airtel contributing a major chunk to the growth.

    Other wireline broadband players in India

    MSOs’ in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using Docsis technology. In general, they have started reporting double digit YoY increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their Average Revenue per User (ARPU) numbers. Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO – Hathway, Siti Cable, Den Networks, Ortel Communications respectively whose results are available in the public domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters. All the four have been reporting growth in average revenue per user (ARPU).

    Overall broadband subscriber numbers for April 2016 including wireless and mobile

    Overall, as per the reports received by TRAI from the service providers, the number of broadband subscribers (including wireless, mobile) increased from 149.75 million (14.975 crore) at the end of Mar-16 to 151.09 million (15.109 crore) at the end of Apr-16 with a monthly growth rate of 0.89 percent. The top five service providers constituted 83.86 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Apr-16. These service providers were Airtel (39.13 million or 3.913 crore), Vodafone (28.11 million or 2.811 crore), Idea Cellular

    (23.23 million or 2.323 crore), BSNL (20.48 million 2.048 crore) and Reliance Communications Group (15.74 million or 1.574 crore).TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

    Also read:

    ACT leads in wired broadband subscriber additions in 2016

    http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/broadband/act-leads-in-wired-broadband-subscriber-additions-in-2016-160426

     

  • Voot will exclusively stream IIFA 2016

    Voot will exclusively stream IIFA 2016

    MUMBAI: Riding on the back of an immensely successful launch and a high decibel marketing campaign, VOOT by Viacom18, today announced its partnership with India’s most awaited and celebrated film celebration – IIFA 2016. This strategic alliance with the International Indian Film Academy is in line with Voot’s promise of bringing differentiated and engaging content to its digital audience.

    With IIFA 2016 ready to take off later this month in Madrid, VOOT is gearing up to converge the younger generation who are getting their TV entertainment from Internet-connected devices with the razzmatazz of this Bollywood extravaganza.

    Speaking about the association, Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gaurav Gandhi said, “We are delighted to partner with IIFA to bring the biggest Bollywood Awards extravaganza to the digital audiences In India. Within a very short period, Voot has already emerged as a go-to online destination for the biggest TV shows, Kids content and Digital Originals (Voot Originals). With this association with IIFA, which already enjoys a massive fan following in India, we are further strengthening our Bollywood proposition as well. Viewers in India will now be able to stream all IIFA 2016 Awards, IIFA Rocks and related content on their mobile and computer screens on-demand and this will be available exclusively on Voot”

    Wizcraft International director Sabbas Joseph said, “IIFA is all about celebrating Indian Cinema and bringing a grand cinematic experience to fans in India and across the world. Within a short span of time Voot has forged its prominence in the digital entertainment world and we are delighted to be partnering with them for IIFA 2016. The partnership will not only magnify the IIFA experience for its Indian fans – with the content now being available on-demand across screens, but it will also increase IIFA’s overall reach to a newer audience base that prefers to consume content primarily on their digital devices.”

    IIFA 2016 hosts the most spectacular celebrity weekend where the stars and their fans converge together in Madrid, Spain. The highlights of the celebrations are the Videocon d2h IIFA Weekend and the Nexa IIFA Awards powered by LeEco. The entire event is organized and produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment.

    Hosted by Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar, the star-studded event will showcase scintillating performances by the country’s foremost heartthrobs Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha, Tiger Shroff and many more. VOOT will help all Bollywood aficionados to watch them up close and personal on their preferred screens.

    Amongst all Indian OTT players, Voot, in a very short span, already has the most amount of original content.

    Voot is available for free on iOS, Android and web and delivered over mobile and WiFi networks. With a stellar line-up of content available across genres and languages, Voot assures to keep you definitely wanting for more!

  • Voot will exclusively stream IIFA 2016

    Voot will exclusively stream IIFA 2016

    MUMBAI: Riding on the back of an immensely successful launch and a high decibel marketing campaign, VOOT by Viacom18, today announced its partnership with India’s most awaited and celebrated film celebration – IIFA 2016. This strategic alliance with the International Indian Film Academy is in line with Voot’s promise of bringing differentiated and engaging content to its digital audience.

    With IIFA 2016 ready to take off later this month in Madrid, VOOT is gearing up to converge the younger generation who are getting their TV entertainment from Internet-connected devices with the razzmatazz of this Bollywood extravaganza.

    Speaking about the association, Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gaurav Gandhi said, “We are delighted to partner with IIFA to bring the biggest Bollywood Awards extravaganza to the digital audiences In India. Within a very short period, Voot has already emerged as a go-to online destination for the biggest TV shows, Kids content and Digital Originals (Voot Originals). With this association with IIFA, which already enjoys a massive fan following in India, we are further strengthening our Bollywood proposition as well. Viewers in India will now be able to stream all IIFA 2016 Awards, IIFA Rocks and related content on their mobile and computer screens on-demand and this will be available exclusively on Voot”

    Wizcraft International director Sabbas Joseph said, “IIFA is all about celebrating Indian Cinema and bringing a grand cinematic experience to fans in India and across the world. Within a short span of time Voot has forged its prominence in the digital entertainment world and we are delighted to be partnering with them for IIFA 2016. The partnership will not only magnify the IIFA experience for its Indian fans – with the content now being available on-demand across screens, but it will also increase IIFA’s overall reach to a newer audience base that prefers to consume content primarily on their digital devices.”

    IIFA 2016 hosts the most spectacular celebrity weekend where the stars and their fans converge together in Madrid, Spain. The highlights of the celebrations are the Videocon d2h IIFA Weekend and the Nexa IIFA Awards powered by LeEco. The entire event is organized and produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment.

    Hosted by Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar, the star-studded event will showcase scintillating performances by the country’s foremost heartthrobs Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Sonakshi Sinha, Tiger Shroff and many more. VOOT will help all Bollywood aficionados to watch them up close and personal on their preferred screens.

    Amongst all Indian OTT players, Voot, in a very short span, already has the most amount of original content.

    Voot is available for free on iOS, Android and web and delivered over mobile and WiFi networks. With a stellar line-up of content available across genres and languages, Voot assures to keep you definitely wanting for more!