MUMBAI: “Think big, think fast, think ahead. Ideas are no one’s monopoly,” is what kept Dhirubhai Ambani going in life. And, he could do all that just because he could dream, and dream big. Taking inspiration from the founder of Reliance Industries is yet another team. Founded by Vijay Singh and Ujjwal Narayan, FunOnGo is a content aggregator and licenses value added service.
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Entertainment has bought a two-thirds stake in the FunOnGo Media and Entertainment LLP. With this deal, the younger one of the Ambani brothers has forayed into the digital media content and distribution space.
It has launched its first offering in the entertainment space, an Android app called Chillx. The app offers 90 per cent of its content for free which is advertising-supported but also has a premium content ranging from movies, viral videos, music, games, infotainment, animation, short films, games, etc for different subscription packs. The rates range from Rs 10 a week for a game to a monthly charge of Rs 49 for standard definition (SD) and Rs 99 for high definition (HD).
The paid content will be ad-free whereas any free content which exceeds five minutes will have ads. Users can either pay through payment gateways, reward points or Google Playstore. “We will launch with over 7,000 pieces of content and will add 150 pieces every week
While apps downloaded are mostly in line with the global popularity, interest in content consumption in regional language is high. We have different models like subscription based, ad-supported, a la carte, etc. The priority in urban India which accounts for 33 per cent is entertainment, communication and social interactions whereas for rural which consists of 67 per cent first go for communication than social interactions followed by entertainment. This clearly indicates the digital galore from all India,” asserted Reliance Entertainment CEO content syndication Sweta Agnihotri.
With most of the VODOTT platforms providing content majorly in English and Hindi, the app supplies content in 9 languages (apart from English)- Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi Staying true to their tagline ‘Apni Boli, Apna Entertainment,’ the app has a content strength of over 120000+ songs, 10000+ video clips, 5000+ full length movies, 5000+ TV show clips, 2000+ best movie clips, 50000+ ringtones, 50000+ wallpapers and 500+ games. The movie titles from its partners will be made available on the app in 45 days of time right after its launch.
“We saw a clear need for a one-stop multi linguistic entertainment destination in India. Chillx is a one-stop-shop enabling and delivering entertainment on multiple smart devices like smartphones, smart television, tablets, etc. It provides a platform and promotes the consumption of content in numerous ways including preloading of content in devices, memory cards, pen drives amongst other advanced services. This endeavor allows us to widen the scope of consumer engagement on a scale that is possible only when you are a part of one of India’s leading conglomerates-Reliance Industries,” voiced Singh.
It is known that smartphones are the primary device for content consumption for users. Keeping that in mind, the company has partnered with several Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and content curators. The app plans to provide a solution to not just the consumers but also their partners. Its clientele consisting of Karbonn, Lava, Micromax, Samsung, Intex, Videocon, etc, according to them make up for more than 60 per cent of the mobile market share. “32 per cent of the users consume entertainment which is mostly videos. With the mobile traffic growing to 72 per cent in 2020 from 40 per cent right now is a big thing. And they are all going to consume data in local languages. We have come up with co-branded OEM customization and exclusive content showcase with them,” added Singh.
From the past two months, all these mobile brands have included the app’s logo on their boxes thus reaching out to the masses. The app is also available at telecom retail stores and on Google Playstore. It already has got a million handsets from its Phase I, and are targeting 30 million in a year.
“Our content cost is much lower than other start-ups because of our existing relationships and group synergies. It is a good opportunity for us. We don’t plan to provide catch-up TV on our app because that is what the rest of the players are providing. For us, short format videos, games, apps and movies are a big play. We are providing the users one movie or game at Rs 10 which is very reasonable, according to me. Reliance believed in us and so did our advertisers which makes us very proud. The game section allows a user to try and buy premium games. We have an integrated telecom billing option ease of operation for the use and will launch with over 7,000 pieces of content and will add 150 pieces every week,” added Narayan.
The app also allows users to share it on Whatsapp and enables them to increase the brightness, volume and lock the screen without stopping the video. It also allows a user to choose the data limit and download options. It is backed by technology partners Wicore, Xerxes Technologies and Good value.
As far as the content goes, they have partnered with 9XM, Shemaroo, Phantom Films, Rajshri Entertainment, Disney UTV, Reliance Group Synergy, Plan C Studios, etc. Through this, the curators reach out to a larger audience, with better distribution, promotion and monetisation options. The partners can also live monitor all the action and have access to the online dashboard.
“We are very happy to partner with Vijay and Ujjwal. It all started one and half year back and the most important aspect was the kind of people we are working with. We have invested into the company because we believed in their thought process. All the credit goes to Vijay, Ujjwal, Sweta and their team for all the hard work that they have invested. Digital platforms are encouraging a wider audience with diverse consumption patterns, we recognize that this calls for innovative approach in the manner we produce and present our content. We have got more than 100 partners on board. The launch of Chillx is in line with our business vision,” said Reliance Entertainment COO Shibasish Sarkar.
With such a diverse content library, the company also plans to crowd-source content from across India. They have already got content fro 10 genre and are looking at approximately 2500 to 3000 content entries in 8 week’s time. It will also provide original content to the users.
In a world where dozens of apps remain just decorative icons on your smartphones, Chillx, standing true to its name, is a breath of fresh air for the users seeking destinations for entertainment beyond generic methods.
