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Category: iWorld

  • Ronnie Screwvala enters online education space; to invest Rs 100 crore

    Ronnie Screwvala enters online education space; to invest Rs 100 crore

    MUMBAI: Bitten yet again by the entrepreneurial bug after selling UTV to The Walt Disney Company, Ronnie Screwvala has entered the education sector with the launch of UEducation, an online portal focusing on higher education.

     

    Screwvala has earmarked an outlay of Rs 100 crore in the first phase, which goes mainly into content, interactivity, platform, technology, assessments, adaptive learning, marketing and building a national footprint.

     

    “India has the largest college going age cohort in the world, yet only one out five of them enroll into higher education, resulting in one of the lowest higher education enrolment ratios, even among most developing nations. If we have to meet our GDP growth targets, we need to at least double the participation rate immediately, otherwise we will miss out on our demographic dividend,” he said.

     

    With a decade of experience in the education sector across India, China, Latin America, SE Asia, Middle East and Africa, Mayank Kumar has come on board as co-founder and MD of UEducation. “Our goal will be to foster the next level of degree education / learning and train the next generation Indian workforce to take on the industries of the future,” Kumar said.

     

    UEducation aims to capitalise on the fast increasing demand for digital learning and online education, leveraging technology and working to exceed the experiences and rigour even of on campus programs, whilst focusing on employability.

     

    The new venture will cover sectors such as management, law, marketing, finance, technology, engineering, entrepreneurship, new economy expertise, sports, media, fashion, travel, hospitality and tourism.

     

  • Star India’s hotstar.com to premier Star Guild Awards 2015

    Star India’s hotstar.com to premier Star Guild Awards 2015

    MUMBAI: In the US, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have taken the lead by streaming original series like House of Cards, Transparent, Orange is the New Black, Arrested Development, The Hot Wives of Orlando to their subscribers.

     

    Indian over the top services (OTTs) like BigFlix, Spuul, BoxTV, Sony Liv, ErosNow, DittoTV have been serving as aggregation models to stream linear channels or programmes to subscribers simultaneously or after they have been aired on TV.

    Now stealing a march on them is the Star India promoted online streaming services hotstar.com. In a first for India, Indya Interactive Services (which runs hotstar.com) announced that it will be premiering the Star Guild Awards 2015 on the video on demand service on 17 January from 7 pm onwards. The awards will be aired on Star Plus a day later on 18 January.

     

    A source close to the development says that this is the next big step towards change in the way content will be delivered to viewers and consumed by them.

    The Star India network, however, is going easy on the promotion of the VoD premiere:  ads were released today in leading dailies, even as 92.7 Big FM and YouTube had promos and commercials airing.  “The platform is still in the testing stage,” revealed the source. “Hence, it is just seeding the service to potential subscribers.”

     

    But at first glance, the hotstar.com service seems interesting as it offers a vast programming catalogue on mobile and the web. With everything found under one roof, the platform has all the genres that the network dabbles in – from popular dailies to live sporting events.

     

    In all it has around 20,000 hours content spread across seven languages, which include 120+ full length TV shows, 500+ movies and live screening of popular sports like cricket, football, tennis and kabbadi.

     

    A media planner labelled the Star Guild Awards VoD premier an experiment. Said he: “I believe it is just an initiative to kick start hotstar.com.  It is just for their internal learning process as the platform is still in its beta version. The Star Guild Awards will allow them to try and test whether the platform can manage the traffic and whether it can deliver a good experience to viewers. It also allows them to correct any errors if they do crop up.”

     

    Media observers believe that premiering the awards show is not going to really ruin the telecast on Star Plus on 18 January in terms of viewership ratings. He said: “People like you and me know about it because we are in the space. But do the millions of people who watch television also know about the VoD premier?  However, as a test, an experiment I think it is good as it could attract some subscribers to try the hotstar.com service.”

     

    That would be music for the Star India management ears. Under the leadership of CEO Uday Shankar it has been making some pioneering moves and initiatives; hotstar.com is another one of them.  

  • Raghav Bahl on why digital is the next big medium for journalists

    Raghav Bahl on why digital is the next big medium for journalists

    MUMBAI: Raghav Bahl, who recently launched his venture The Quint, is quite bullish about the booming digital ecosystem in India. In a self written note published on social media, the media mogul lists the various opportunities offered by social media platforms.

     

    According to Bahl, first and foremost there is immediate threat to the editor but in order to survive, he must adapt to evolving needs in the digital environment. For starters, he will have to ensure that content is not text heavy but crisper and sharper and focused towards the consumption patterns of “millennials”. For the uninitiated the term stands for those individuals reaching young adulthood by the year 2000 or simply known as ‘Generation X’.

     

    In his second point, Bahl explains how in the current day “journalistic scoops,” which give an exclusive edge and add the “I broke it First” feeling to a journalist, will be over time replaced by scoops that are released first online and distributed to the public. He provides examples of how infamous outfits like the Boko Haram have been releasing detrimental videos online.

     

    Moving further Bahl is of the opinion that social media and its blue eyed platforms namely Facebook and Google, will be an independent journalist’s best friend instead of a newspaper and TV, which have limited reach. He compares the strength of the digital medium a force that offers ‘viral velocity’ to a newsman’s work.

     

    In his fourth point, Bahl elaborates about the two way communication model involved in the cyber space, which allows content creators, journalists and opinion leader to receive real time feedback. Thanks to the algorithmic trend sheets and tools a journalist can very well be equipped to know exactly how to spark argumentative conversations that can help fuel fruitful debates.

     

    In conclusion, Bahl says that the new team at Quint has taught him to learn valuable lessons at daily edit meets as he grasps the new lingo of Generation X.

     

    The full article can be read here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/quint-six-months-flat-raghav-bahl?trk=mp-reader-card

     

  • ‘Kill/Dil’ now on Spuul

    ‘Kill/Dil’ now on Spuul

    MUMBAI: Spuul, an online streaming service for Indian cinema and television, has added ‘Kill/Dil’ on pay-per-view to its movie catalogue offered via subscription services.

     

    ‘Kill/Dil’ is the story of two killers; Dev (Ranveer Singh) and Tutu (Ali Zafar) who roamed free. Abandoned when young and vulnerable, Bhaiyaji (Govinda) gave them shelter and nurtured them to kill. All is normal in their lives until destiny throws free spirited Disha (Parineeti Chopra) into the mix. What follows is a game of defiance, deception and love.

     

    Spuul users worldwide can watch this entertaining thriller about guns and romance on all second screen devices including mobile, tablets, web, smart TVs, as well as stream to their TVs via Chromecast.

     

    Spuul chief content officer Prakash Ramchandani said, “It has been a constant endeavor at Spuul, to provide our users with novel offerings every month. We have added Kill Dil within few months of its release to ensure that we provide the latest and the best of Bollywood movies to our subscribers. Every content added on Spuul is to enhance the users overall experience in terms of quality and we aim to continue this process.”

     

    “A digital distribution platform like Spuul provides us a window to connect with all YRF movie lovers and enables access of our film catalogue by allowing a real movie watching experience anytime and anywhere, as per our viewer’s convenience,” said Yash Raj Films VP – digital Anand Gurnani.

     

    Spuul, standing by its promise of delivering diverse content to its users, has been adding new-age movies and TV show such as Mardaani, Ankhon Dekhi, Main Tera Hero, Queen, Gunday, Bigg Boss 8 hosted by Salman Khan, and many more. Spuul users can also access hassle-free entertainment at home or while travelling with free offline download. We are working behind the scenes to bring you the best in Indian entertainment so stay tuned for more!

     

     

  • Rajshri Entertainment launches Marathi food channel on digital platforms

    Rajshri Entertainment launches Marathi food channel on digital platforms

    MUMBAI: Rajshri Entertainment has launched the first Marathi food channel called Ruchkar Mejwani on digital video platforms. The channel is being launched on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. It brings authentic and delectable Maharashtrian and other Indian and international recipes to food lovers across the world – anytime, anywhere and on any device.

     

    The channel will launch with a show by chef Archana Arte, featuring a wide array of recipes, from ‘Gulpoli’ to ‘Cupcakes’ and from ‘Kolhapuri Tambada Rassa’ to ‘Pizza’. Arte is a food aficionado, with vast experience, having trained hundreds of food lovers in her cooking techniques. She brings her expertise to ‘Ruchkar Mejwani’ with her tried and tested recipes, with a unique Maharashtrian twist.

     

    “My viewers will definitely relate to my videos as my cooking style is very easy for young Maharashtrians to understand and the ingredients used are readily available across the world. I have put in my best effort to present some of our mothers’ much loved recipes as well as some world famous delicacies,” said Arte.

     

    Rajshri Entertainment managing director and CEO Rajjat A. Barjatya added, “My team and I are proud to present Ruchkar Mejwani, a high quality destination for Marathi language food videos. With tastes changing, a younger Maharashtrian audience across the world is demanding content in their language and recipes suited to their palate. We hope Ruchkar Mejwani will bridge this gap and become the #1 destination on YouTube and other digital video platforms for authentic Maharashtrian recipes and popular recipes from across the world.”

     

    It is the fifth food channel to the kitty after Rajshri Food, Get Curried, Swaad Anusaar and Indono Daidokoro (Japanese) and the second Marathi channel after Rajshri Marathi.

     

    Ruchkar Mejwani is available on all major digital platforms including YouTube, Dailymotion, Digivive and Vuclip. It will be updated regularly adding new recipes every week. New shows hosted by new chefs will also be seen in near future.

     

  • Reliance Retail to develop market for Mukesh Ambani’s Jio

    Reliance Retail to develop market for Mukesh Ambani’s Jio

    MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, which will soon launch its pan-India 4G datacom services under the brandname ‘Jio’, has assigned the mandate to develop the market for compatible devices and drive its growth to its retail arm – Reliance Retail.

     

    As per an IANS report, Ambani in a letter to the Reliance Retail team wrote, “Devices are cornerstone in bringing broadband to the masses. The long-term evolution (LTE) ecosystem for devices in India is nascent.”

     

    Ambani also announced that Reliance Jio MD Sandip Das will step down from his current role and drive the initiative by joining the board of Reliance Retail to mentor the Jio division.

     

    The report quotes sources as saying that Ambani is attaching much importance to the 4G data telecom space and sees it as one of the major drivers of growth within the $75-billion group.

     

    The next-gen of the company, Isha and Akash Ambani, recently, secured approvals to join Reliance Jio Infocomm’s board of directors.

     

    Das had personally sought a shift in his role to mentor the Jio initiative of Reliance Industries, said the report.

     

    “It will take the resources, deep conviction and substantial expertise of Reliance to build an LTE device ecosystem to a level similar to the availability of 3G devices,” said Das, who has been associated with a host of Indian and global telecom firms in the past, in the report.

     

    And added, “As Reliance Retail is building electronic goods sales stores and channels to pioneer and dominate this ecosystem, it will be a wonderful challenge for me to mentor this.”

     

  • “Digitisation will boost GDP growth” – Ravi Shankar Prasad

    “Digitisation will boost GDP growth” – Ravi Shankar Prasad

    MUMBAI: Taking a leaf out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India initiative, Union Minister of Communication and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad today stressed on how the country’s growth is interlinked to this programme.
    “The government is dedicated to creating a digital ecosystem that will enable internet to touch the lives of all Indians,” Prasad, who was speaking at the 9th India Digital Summit of IAMAI, said.
    He further pointed out how it was imperative to create hubs in rural India that will help the growth of e-commerce, which remains unexplored so far. “Unless connectivity reaches every village of India, the dynamics of growth will remain unchanged,” he said.
    Speaking on access, Prasad said, “It took 30 years to cover 10 lakh kilometres of optic fibre laying, and in just next three years, seven lakh kilometres will be added, making rural connectivity a reality.”
    Releasing the IAMAI &The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report India@Digital.Bharat, Prasad said, “For the internet economy to touch $200 billion by 2020 that will contribute five per cent of GDP, we need to move at a fast pace towards computer literacy. The other key areas which will help the internet economy to grow is mobile internet. The government is committed to digitisation and we look at extensive public-private partnerships (PPP) to the have successful implementation.”
    The India@Digital.Bharat report establishes that India is headed towards an internet economy worth $200 billion by 2020, that will contribute five per cent of the GDP growing at 23 per cent compared to 13 per cent overall.

    As the following chart shows, Internet in India by 2018 will be more mature and mobile will be more predominant.

    The number of internet users in rural areas will touch 210 million by 2018, aiding India’s internet user base to cross 500 million by 2018.

    Speaking at the launch of the report, BCG senior partner and director Alpesh Shah said, “India will have more than half a billion internet users in the next three years – this growth has the potential to fundamentally change the way in which consumers save, learn, play, move and work. However, the extent of shift will depend a lot on how the government and the industry come together to unlock the true potential of the internet.”
    IAMAI chairman and Google India managing director Rajan Anandan, stressed on the growth of internet in India and successful roll-out of the government’s Digital India programme. “India is the third country in the world to have over five Internet companies valued at over $1 billion. India is the fastest growing Internet country but we need to move from narrow band to broadband at the earliest,” Anandan said.

     

     

  • Zomato enters US with Urbanspoon acquisition

    Zomato enters US with Urbanspoon acquisition

    MUMBAI: Zomato, the restaurant search app, has acquired US-based food portal Urbanspoon for an undisclosed amount in an all-cash deal. The acquisition marks Zomato’s entry into the United States.

    This also establishes Zomato’s presence in Australia and Canada, while adding to its already dominant position in United Kingdom and New Zealand. After the acquisition, Zomato will be present in 22 countries across the world. Its restaurant coverage will increase from about 300k restaurants to more than 1 million restaurants across the globe. Zomato’s traffic will more than double from about 35 million visits per month to more than 80 million visits per month, probably making it the largest restaurant search company in the world.

    Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said, “Our US entry has been on the cards for a while now, and we’re delighted to be doing so by welcoming Urbanspoon into Zomato. They have a strong presence in the US and the UK, and they also dominate restaurant search in Australia and Canada. Urbanspoon has a huge following, and is home to legions of people who are as passionate about food as we are. We will soon be integrating the two products to bring the best of both products to our users in the United States as well as the rest of the world.”

    The teams will be working closely over the coming months to integrate Urbanspoon into Zomato. In due course of time, all Urbanspoon traffic will move to Zomato.com, and all Urbanspoon app users will be able to use the Zomato app. This acquisition also has a lot to offer to restaurant businesses. Zomato’s hyperlocal advertising model, combined with Zomato for business app suite, will allow restaurant businesses to reach out to, connect with, and engage customers like never before.

    “Zomato has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years, and our customer bases complement each other’s perfectly,” said Urbanspoon CEO Keela Robison. “Zomato’s significant investments in people and technology will bring Urbanspoon customers, restaurant owners, and food bloggers a number of new capabilities and features. We’re excited to combine our strengths to accelerate growth.”

    This is Zomato’s sixth acquisition in the past six months, and the biggest one. Zomato has recently acquired local dominant restaurant search players in New Zealand, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Italy.

     

  • MPA report values Asia Pacific online video revenue opportunity at $12 billion by 2020

    MPA report values Asia Pacific online video revenue opportunity at $12 billion by 2020

    MUMBAI: A research report published by Media Partners Asia (MPA) indicates that the total market for online video services across 13 countries in Asia Pacific will grow from $3.5 billion in net revenues in 2014 to reach $12.4 billion by 2020, representing an average annual growth of 23.5 per cent. Advertising will contribute more than 80 per cent to the online video pie by 2020 with the subscription revenue opportunity, largely driven by subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platforms, growing from less than $700 million in 2014 to more than $2.3 billion by 2020.

    The report, entitled ‘Asia Pacific Online Video Distribution 2015’, evaluates  the commercial distribution of legal over-the-top (OTT) video services in 13 markets with historical data and forecasts plus profiles of key OTT platforms.

    Commenting on the report, MPA executive director Vivek Couto said, “The market for the legal consumption of OTT services in Asia Pacific is at an early stage with monetisation models nascent in most countries. As barriers to entry reduce and broadband penetration increases, more disruptors are emerging and host of new platforms are proliferating, though business models are not always scalable and issues such as piracy; content; and platform operation remain problematic. This is especially true in a number of Asian markets where piracy is significant and the limited scale of OTT video revenues are not commensurate with content costs.”

    “Meanwhile, large scale global digital brands (from YouTube to Netflix) are expanding rapidly in a number of Asian markets or readying to launch in key territories over 2015 and 2016. Major local and regional television companies are also in the early stages of launching a number of large scale advertising and subscription based OTT platforms, anchored to local, Asian and Hollywood content while telecom operators are either moving upstream into content and OTT services or providing a crucial link for the ecosystem,” he added.

    Key takeouts from the report include:

    •    Infrastructure. Fixed broadband subscribers reached 325.3 million in 2014 across Asia Pacific, equivalent to an average household penetration rate of 36 per cent. By 2020, MPA projections indicate that this penetration level will reach 40 per cent as fixed broadband subs grow to 403.5 million mobile broadband will grow rapidly, expanding at CAGR of 15 per cent over 2014 and 2020 to reach almost 2 billion subs by 2020 (58 per cent penetration of population) versus 866 million (26 per cent penetration) in 2014.

     

    •    OTT Video Consumption. Active Asia Pacific OTT video subscribers reached 594 million in 2014, according to MPA. China accounted for more 85 per cent of the market size in 2014 and will represent 80 per cent by 2020. Ex-China, the largest markets in 2014 were Korea; India; Japan; and Hong Kong. By 2020, MPA projections indicate that active OTT video customers will reach 977 million. By 2020, in Asia ex-China, India will emerge as the second largest market, followed by Korea, Japan and Hong Kong. In Southeast Asia, Malaysia will be joined by Indonesia and the Philippines as market leaders.  

    The market for subscription-based OTT video reached 75.3 million active subscribers in 2014 and is expected to reach 225 million by 2020. China will be the largest contributor, driven by internet-enabled TV and set-top box platforms and online video companies offering premium services. Japan, Korea, India and Australia will emerge as material opportunities, powered by SVOD but India will trend towards more a freemium-oriented model.

    •    Industry economics. MPA divides industry monetization models into distinct segments:

    o    SVOD.  In terms of SVOD revenue across OTT platforms, the largest markets in Asia Pacific by 2020 will be Japan; China; Korea; and Australia. New Zealand and India will lead the next best placed group of geographies. MPA projections indicate that total SVOD-based OTT revenues in Asia Pacific will grow at a CAGR of 16 per cent between 2014 and 2020, growing from $953 million in 2014 to more than $2.3 billion by 2020.

    o    Online video and OTT advertising. Asia Pacific online video advertising exceeded US$3.7 billion in net terms in 2014, up 35 per cent year-on-year. The largest markets for online video advertising in 2014 were, by far, China and Japan, followed by Australia, India and Korea. By 2020, the total Asia Pacific online vide advertising pie is expected to grow to $10 billion, a CAGR of 18 per cent from 2014, with China dominant, followed by Japan and Australia. India will gain increasing scale and overtake Korea while Indonesia will be the clear leader in Southeast Asia.

    OTT video advertising revenue, a subset of the online video advertising pie, reached $2.1 billion in 2014, up 43 per cent year-on-year from a low base, and almost entirely driven by China. This pie, is projected by MPA to expand to $5.5 billion by 2020 at a CAGR of ~18 per cent. China will be the largest contributor with India, Korea and Indonesia starting to become gradually significant over time.

  • Jabong.com integrates fashion with technology, sets up Jabong Labs

    Jabong.com integrates fashion with technology, sets up Jabong Labs

    MUMBAI: Jabong.com, an online fashion destination, is stepping into the Silicon Valley of India with its new establishment – Jabong Labs.

    Jabong’s sole focus since its inception has been fashion and in order to provide fashion with convenience, Jabong is setting up its very own research and development center – Jabong Labs, which will provide customer experience adept with the latest scientific know-how. The goal is to marry the best of consumer experience that comes with buying and experiencing fashion with the state of art technology on the official website and mobile application.

    On the occasion of the launch of the new office at Bengaluru, Jabong.com HR head Ashu Malhotra said: “In order to further enhance customer experience, we are establishing a new office in Bengaluru singularly focused on making online shopping more transparent and user friendly. This technology lab will be used to further improve our backend systems with a focus on meeting long term IT goals for the organisation. The new office will include a talent pool of software engineers and techies with extraordinary IT skills who will further contribute to make us market leaders in the online shopping business.”

    With the advent of m-commerce and extensive internet penetration within our nation, Jabong has recognised the alarming need to improve and constantly innovate for better technology.

     

    Jabong has in place a strong leadership team that brings strong and relevant industry experience, along with a board of advisers, who are veterans in ecommerce product and technology.

     

    Jabong Technology Labs is one such platform that enables innovation and faster implementation of newer features.