Category: iWorld

Ad budgets in US shift from television to digital platforms

NEW DELHI: Even as the switch over to digital technology is beginning to show pace in India, digital video ad spend grew by 42 per cent over the past year to total $7.46 billion in 2015 in the United States for the sixth consecutive year.

Within the next four years, that number is expected to nearly double and reach over $13 billion by 2019, according to a report on 2015 US State of the Video Industry by Verizon’s AOLPlatforms.

According to the report, marketers are reprioritising traditional advertising budgets and adding dollars to digital video. TV budget growth is stagnating, with a sizeable portion of those dollars being reallocated to video advertising.

Mobile and video are converging, posing new opportunities and challenges to the industry. Overall mobile video advertising spend increased 18 per cent since 2014, but marketers say measurement remains a key pain point.

Almost 91 per cent of brands and agencies are buying video programmatically and continue to make larger investments into the technology year-over-year. Eighty-eight per cent of publishers claim they sell their video inventory programmatically, a noticeable 37 per cent leap from 2014.

Programmatic TV is gaining popularity as audience fragmentation hits an inflection point. Over the next year, 41 per cent of television buyers–a 3x increase since 2014–plan to rely on programmatic technology to make more strategic TV investments.

Advertisers and agencies devote over 30 per cent of their overall video budgets to branded video content. Brands intend to grow these investments 10 per cent in the next year.

AOL Platforms surveyed nearly 300 US brands, agencies and publishers to get a holistic view of the current state of video advertising.

October 24, 2015
Infosys & Huawei jointly develop hi-speed for stadiums

NEW DELHI: High-speed Wi-Fi access has been jointly developed by Infosys and Chinese telecom network vendor Huawei for stadiums.

“The software product integrates Huawei’s Agile network with our entertainment experience platform to offer high-speed Wi-Fi access and smart services for users in stadiums and exhibition centres,” Infosys said in a statement.

With rising mobile consumption and advanced digital marketing standards, internet services will need end-to-end solutions, including wireless networks and innovative services, it said.

“Need for better connected stadiums made us offer wide local area network infrastructure for enhanced user experience, with multi-tenant, cloud-based platform with managed operations and services,” it added.

“Entertainment hubs offer an opportunity for traditional entities to transform with a digital layer. Potential to deliver value to attendees and entertainment centre owners increases owing to intersection of physical and digital,” Infosys Engineering Services Global Head Sudip Singh said.

Logging on to the Wi-Fi network through a mobile app is the authentication for end users, enabling them to avail online services.

The app also offers services for in-stadium engagements like social media, campaigns, shopping and other services.

Huawei has deployed Wi-Fi networks in 20 stadiums worldwide, including Borussia Dortmund in Germany, AFC Ajax in the Netherlands, St. Louis Rams of NFL in the US and Gold Coast Suns in Australia besides in China.

“The critical point of the smart solution is to link people, games, terminals and displays in a stadium through a wireless network. Operators and sponsors can achieve effective operations through the digital platform,” said Huawei’s Agile network general manager Ma Da.

October 24, 2015
ErosNow ties up with Ortel for movie streaming service

MUMBAI: Eros International’s over the top (OTT) service ErosNow has tied up with multi system operator (MSO) Ortel Communications for a subscription based movie streaming service.

The service will be called Ortel Broadband Movies and will allow Ortel Communications to stream movies from ErosNow’s library to its broadband users, who will be able to access the content across various platforms like TV, laptop, PC, tablet and mobile.

The subscription-based service will be available to all Ortel broadband customers with a one-month free subscription for ErosNow.

Eros Digital CEO Rishika Lulla Singh said, “We are happy to partner with Ortel Communications for providing an uninterrupted movie viewing experience through their extensive reach across these states in India. We aim to maximize our consumer base across various platforms and the association with Ortel further consolidates our goal.”

Ortel Communications president and CEO Bibhu Prasad Rath added, “We are delighted to offer ErosNow broadband movies to our subscribers. It is a unique digital entertainment platform that will help our customers to watch and listen to movies, music and other content in Indian languages. Our superior technology to deliver high speed broadband connection has been possible through implementation of DOCSIS technology.”

Ortel Communications operates in the states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

October 23, 2015
Sony LIV to launch two new online shows

MUMBAI: Buoyed by the response to its recently launched original content online show, Multi Screen Media (MSM’s) digital video entertainment brand Sony LIV is all set to roll out its two new exclusive digital web series.

The first one is called LIV Shutter and will go online on 21 October. Viewers can watch the show’s episodes every Wednesday on the Sony LIV mobile app as well as on the website.

The second exclusive digital web series is called Tan Lines will also be launched soon. Its theme, flavor and medium of consumption are tailored exclusively for Sony LIV’s viewers between the ages of 15 – 24.

LIV Shutter is centred on self-realisation and inspiration. It turns the spotlight on how the youth can push the limits of achievement and with a little positive nudge can overcome any shortcomings that they believe they possess.

According to Sony LIV, this is also the first ‘social’ show on a digital platform, which invites viewers to be a part of a show that gives them once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shed their inhibitions, shatter their fears, pick up the self-esteem and show the world what they got.

MSM EVP and head – digital entertainment Uday Sodhi said, “LIV Shutter’s format is refreshingly new and something that our young and cosmopolitan audiences will connect with instantly. It is a show about finding your own hidden talent and unleashing your full potential. It is inspirational, snappy and extremely engaging, making it the perfect kind of entertainment to catch on-the-go on one’s preferred mobile device. Moreover, it is a show where the audience can move from behind the scenes, into the show; thereby making it the first of its kind interactive show.“

“With this show and its unique treatment, Sony LIV has established its deep commitment to enthralling viewers with original content tailored specifically for the digital medium,“ he added.

Sony LIV launched its original show exclusively for the online platform earlier this year called Love Bytes.

October 21, 2015
Fork Media picks equity in Wi-Fi ad network Spid

NEW DELHI: Ad tech company Fork Media has invested in Wi-Fi ad network Spid Info Media Pvt. Ltd to leverage Spid’s technology for advertisers and publishers by offering them one of the largest audience platforms, targeting on-the-go consumers.

The partnership is in line with Fork’s vision of broadening its core offerings.

Spid currently has a bouquet of over 1,200 locations including all major airports, QSRs like McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks, and Costa Coffee, malls and other retail locations.

According to the company, his number is rapidly growing as it partners with ISPs and telecom providers to help monetise inventory. Fork Media aims to use Spid’s platform to leverage the locational behavior of consumers and target them for relevant advertising.

Fork Media CEO Samar Verma said, “Having Spid as a part of the Fork Media group is a strategic move for us. We see Wi-Fi as an alternative eco-system – a parallel economy, that’s growing rapidly. With the onset of 4G, a lot of telecom players are investing in Wi-Fi infrastructure to offset the costs involved in setting up 4G. Additionally, the Wi-Fi ecosystem takes location targeting to the next level by not only delivering relevant content to the consumer in and around a certain location, but also offering destination targeting. We are steering Fork Media to be less device-centric and more consumer-centric in our ad solutions. Therefore, this is an extremely important link in the chain for us in the consumer’s journey.”

The acquisition of equity in Spid is a part of Fork Media’s larger expansion plans. It had recently made its foray into international markets with the launch of its operations in Dubai – targeting the GCC region. Through its tie-up with Spid, the company is now better equipped to provide well-timed offers that consumers are seeking. Fork Media is now poised to tap the immense opportunity that exists in the digital marketing space in India.

Spid CEO Harsh Nagpal said, “Our partnership with Fork Media is a marriage of strengths. Fork’s reach and expertise in business development will enable us to leverage this unique proposition, further enabling brands to reach out to relevant audiences. With Samar and the entire Fork team’s collective experience and expertise, we foresee Spid deriving maximum value and growing manifold.”

October 21, 2015
eBay rolls out digital ad to educate consumers on refurbished products

NEW DELHI: eBay India, which had launched its ‘ebay Choices’ campaign in August to bring refurbished supply on its platform www.ebay.in; today launched a digital advertisement to educate consumers on the ‘refurbished’ category.

Link to the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHP2_eeHs5Q&feature=emupload_owner

Since launch of eBay Choices, ebay.in has witnessed tremendous response and demand for refurbished products. The category itself has grown from 6000 listings to over 25000 listings and has grown by 200 per cent over the last two months. The demand for refurbished products has been unparalleled especially from Tier II and III cities of India.

Looking at the growing consumer interest and basis consumer feedback, there was a need to communicate of what really is ‘refurbished.’ The new digital film showcases the offerings in the refurbished segment through a story of a regular Indian family.

Consumers can view the ad film across eBay India’s digital platforms on YouTube and social media channels.

eBay India marketing director Shivani Suri said, “We are extremely excited as our refurbished ad film goes live today on all digital platforms. Through this film, we aim to strike a chord with Indian consumers and further educate them about our diverse offerings in the refurbished space. This segment has seen a huge surge in consumer demand among Indian audiences and owing to the recent festive fever the demand of refurbished goods has reached an all-time high.”

eBay India has tied-up with over 15 organised partners such as GreenDust, ValueCart, Budli, My Return Solutions amongst others to bring in consistent supply of refurbished products on ebay.in.

October 21, 2015
HomeShop18 rides the 4G wave for mobile phone shoppers this festive season!

NEW DELHI: If you’ve been looking for the best destination to shop for a new mobile phone, look no further. From the latest iPhone 6S Plus to the new 4G handsets in town, HomeShop18, India’s leading television shopping channel also available on the web and mobile is making it all accessible this festive season. The company is launching a total of 11 new mobile devices in the month of October alone. All these launches are part of Homeshop18’s biggest sale, the Diwali Mela.

Of the 11 mobiles, 6 products will be exclusively available on HomeShop18 including two next-gen mobile devices, Intex 4G mobile phone and Penta 4G Calling Tablet. These two 4G devices are a must have for customers who like to stay updated on the latest technology!

Mr. Sanjeev Agrawal, CEO, HomeShop18 said, “At HomeShop18, our endeavour is to let our offerings reflect the ongoing consumer demands and preferences. With the current smartphone market in India pegged ahead of the US and China in terms of growth rate, and the wave of 4G adoption, we wish to offer our customers the entire gamut of mobile offerings. This increases the buying propensity of our customers as they get to browse through an entire range of new products on offer, thereby, significantly increasing consumer traction and interest in our mobile category.”

With 4G handsets, customers can take advantage of superior, uninterrupted connectivity, especially during video chats and calls over the internet. For the younger generation, they can stream music, videos and movies share information online at a much faster rate than ever before. On buying the Intex 4G shoppers get a free screen guard and protection cover while, the purchase of the Penta 4G entitles them for a free keyboard.

The other exciting mobile handsets that will be launched this month are- three mobile models from Panasonic, Spice Proton 4 and 5, Celkon A36 Star, Penta 802Q, Spice 45Q and Intex Live 2. All these phones are bundled with exceptional promotions and freebies that make the proposition even more attractive.

HomeShop18’s Diwali Mela guarantees a string of prizes and offers. A guaranteed cash back offer called “HomeShop18 Diwali Shagun” that will entitle all customers who shop for Rs. 7,999 or more during the period of 13th October-15th November, 2015 to a voucher of Rs. 1,001 to be redeemed on the next purchase on HomeShop18-TV, Web and App. Apart from this, customers can also get a chance to win an LED TV every hour, every day till 31^st October ’15 and a bumper prize of a Toyota Innova during this Diwali carnival.

Where else would you get the advantage of scanning the latest and most exclusive mobile launches? So, stay tuned as HomeShop18 – your go-to shopping destination this October and make the most of the festive offers during its mobile fiesta!

About HomeShop18:

HomeShop18 is India’s first comprehensive television shopping channel, selling credible brands to customers nationally, operating in a multimedia environment including Internet, TV and via mobile. As a pioneering player in the space, HomeShop18 changed the way Indians shop by launching India’s first 24 hour Home Shopping TV channel in 2008. In 2011, HomeShop18 commenced its e-commerce arm with HomeShop18.com. With the introduction of mobile shopping in 2013, Homeshop18 redefines the way consumers shop. Present over all virtual platforms of shopping, HomeShop18.com has emerged as one of the largest e-retailer in India.

Today, HomeShop18 reaches a strong loyal customer base with an impressive portfolio of over 14 million SKU’s across multiple categories and a logistical reach of over 3000 locations across India. HomeShop18 offers a complete product range across all major categories; including digital, fashion & lifestyle, beauty products, jewellery, kitchen essentials, home & furnishings, kids’ gear, food and many more.

HomeShop18 offers cash-on-delivery along with other popular payment methods of credit, debit, wallet and internet banking. HomeShop18 TV channel is available to all cable operators & leading DTH players: Tata Sky-151, Dish TV- 118, Reliance- 219, Videocon- 124, Airtel- 112. For details on HomeShop18 shows and its various products, customers can call 1800-1800-918 and for exciting contest and information, visit the Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/homeshop18 or follow the Twitter handle@HomeShop18https://twitter.com/homeshop18.

October 20, 2015
Smartphones & pay TV growth in China & India to spur A-Pac VOD demand: FMI report

MUMBAI: A-Pac rules and how. The Asia Pacific region is slated to overtake Western Europe as the second largest market for video on demand (VOD) services by 2020. And the growth in the region is going to be driven by the insatiable demand for smart phones in the fast growing economies of China and India. The Asia Pacific VOD market is expected to touch revenues of $80.5 billion, fuelled additionally by the consumer hunger for pay TV services too in the region. From 13 per cent share of the global VOD sales in 2014, it is expected to rise to 22 per cent in the next five years. These are the findings of a US-based Future Market Insights (FMI) report released recently.

Titled Video on Demand (VoD) Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2014-2020 the FMI report states that the demand for pay-TV services will continue to remain strong during the forecast period 2014 to 2020. The study has stated on a global scale the VOD market will scale $263 billion by next year.

Popularity of Pay TV services, especially digital cable services, is increasing on account of deployment of 4K Ultra HD technology. Pay TV service providers are focusing on clubbing several advanced technologies, such as ITV and DVBS-2 based MPEG-4 video format with HD DTH. Integration of these technologies has given consumers a broad array of options to choose from, increasing the Pay TV subscriber base.

The report sub-segments the global VOD market into seven major regions in which North America and Western Europe are the two largest markets globally currently.

The North America VOD market is expected to surpass US$ 100 billion mark by the end of this year. Proliferation of connected devices and increased spending on video services is expected to fuel the market in North America in the near future.

As is the global trend, pay TV services account for the bulk of the revenues in North America as well. Valued at US$ 91.6 billion in 2014, the Pay TV services market in North America is expected to reach US$ 103 billion by the end of 2016.

Cisco, SeaChange, Massive, and Pace are among the leading software players in the global VOD market whereas the leading service providers include Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, and Hulu.

The Western Europe VOD market is expected to reach a valuation of US$ 55.6 billion by the end of 2015. Demand for VOD services in Western Europe is growing at an annual rate of over 4%. The key players in the Western Europe VOD market include Agama Technologies, Exterity, Youview, BBC, and Orange.

October 20, 2015
Ditto TV aims to double revenues this fiscal; plans more original shows

MUMBAI: It’s gotten late off the blocks but it sure is looking to sprint ahead and fast. We are talking about the Zee network’s digital over the top (OTT) offering Ditto TV.

Zee Digital Convergence (ZDC) Chief Executive Officer Debashish Ghosh told PTI over the weekend that his goal is to double his company’s revenue from around Rs 30 crore to Rs 60 crore this year, with almost 95 per cent of it coming courtesy subscription.

With 1.8 million subscribers on a monthly basis and almost 60 percent of them being repeat viewers, Ditto TV is present in 167 countries. Most of its consumption is however happening in India. With the exception of Star and Sun group channels, Ditto TV offers 156 channels across 13 languages. Ghosh further told PTI that almost 30 per cent of Ditto TV subscribers consume live TV.

ZDC has invested around $5 million in Ditto TV over the past three to four years, Ghosh disclosed. That is slated to go up in the coming months as it starts pumping in money into original content. The first of these is a music based show called Life is Music; other programmes are being planned in-house as well as with outside producers.

Clearly, the OTT original content space is seeing a lot of action.

Netflix is slated to launch in India by mid next year and invest top dollar in cutting edge content. Star India’s Hotstar already has an average of 20 million users every month. It has paid a fat commissioning fee to stand up comedy group All India Bakchod to produce shows running over 20 episodes. Then it has been premiering some of its big-ticket Bollywood movies and TV shows on Hotstar.

Entertainment major Eros International recently announced that the registered user base of its OTT service Eros Now has grown to 30 million as of 30 September. It has ordered six new original shows which are slated to debut soon and feature big name stars.

MSM Media’s Sony Liv, on the other hand, notches up an average of 5-7 million monthly users, and is also getting into OTT content. It is experimenting with a fiction show titled Love Bytes. Then the Viacom18 group is also pacing on the sidelines, gearing up to launch its own OTT service under the leadership of Gaurav Gandhi.

Ghosh, while speaking at IDOS (organized by Indiantelevision.com and MPA in September) said that the hyper activity is good for the OTT sector as a whole.

He further told PTI, that India is expected to have 500 million Internet users by 2017, out of which 382 million would be smartphone users, 70 per cent whom would be 3G/4G customers. And that is what is exciting the Zee TV network to further invest in Ditto TV. Add to that the prediction that almost 60 per cent of India’s population is going to below 40 by 2020, and that both wired and wireless broadband infrastructure will be in place. That’s the positive side.

“But the fact is that the OTT players will find the going challenging,” says a media observer. “At least until the numbers really scale up and bandwidth constraints and costs fall. Indian consumers are chary of paying for content, apart from cricket. Hence, Hotstar has taken the AVOD route (advertising video on demand). But advertisers and agencies have been reluctant to buy into the medium; at least at prices Star has envisaged. Eros Now has announced a multiple revenue stream offering which includes advertising, transactional (TVOD) and subscription video on demand (SVOD), with differential pricing for Indian and international consumers. Ditto TV is primarily SVOD and its growth has been limited so far. Each of them has to find a robust and sustainable revenue model.”

October 19, 2015
YuppTV opens on Windows 10

MUMBAI: YuppTV is one of – the world’s leading over-the-top (OTT) content players for South Asian Content. YuppTV is proud to announce the launch of its app with 200+ Live linear cable networks, 10 days of Catch-up TV and 5,000 Bollywood movie titles on the new Windows 10 Platform.

The YuppTv app is free to download from the Win 10 store and will be available globally on PCs and Tablets with Windows 10.

The YuppTv App on Win 10 has a simple interface and is user friendly, making it easy to navigate by all age groups. With this App, users of Windows on PCs and Tablets can access YuppTVs incredibly vast offering of South Asian Content.

They can view 200+ channels in 13 South Asian languages available worldwide, as Live TV, 10 days of revolutionary Catch-up TV and unlimited movies in different genres. The technologically advanced App with multi-bit rate feeds enables it to work well on virtually any broadband connection. YuppTV app will soon be coming up with the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) feature which will allow the user to push the feed to TV or other devices that support DLNA.

Speaking about the availability of YuppTv App on the new Windows 10 platform, Mr Uday Reddy said “The YuppTv App now available on Windows 10 Platform, opens up a whole new segment of viewership, utilizing the latest new technology and features to deliver content to our viewers in important markets like India and US. In line with our mission, we continue to upgrade our technology and expand our distribution to give a world class viewing experience to our subscribers, on the device they want, anywhere in the world.”

October 19, 2015