ITV

Category: Video On Demand

  • Star India partners Accenture for Hotstar

    Star India partners Accenture for Hotstar

    MUMBAI: Intending to spark a billion imaginations, Star India roped in Accenture to help develop, launch and deliver its over-the-air programming through Hotstar. 

     

    The video on demand (VOD) platform, built on the Accenture Video Solution (AVS) software platform, is funded primarily through advertising, using the platform’s new digital advertising functions. Taking advantage of a fully cloud-based infrastructure, Hotstar is serving the entire country with a catalogue of more than 45,000 movies and television series.

     

    Accenture helped Star India develop and launch the online video service to establish an online entertainment destination by building on a “mobile first” strategy. Leveraging AVS, Star can deliver broadcast-quality content to consumers on a wide variety of devices over Wi-Fi, 4G, 3G and 2G networks, including those with limited bandwidth resources such as 2G feature phones.

     

    “With Hotstar, our ambition is nothing less than the establishment of a whole new model for on demand video consumption in the world,” said Star India COO Sanjay Gupta. 

     

    “We will drive dramatic innovation on this platform with benefits for both users and advertisers. Accenture has been a valuable partner in this effort. They are walking side by side with us in creating this compelling platform, bringing the best of their product and technology expertise to the table. Together, we will establish compelling new benchmarks in the Over the Top space,” he added.

     

    In addition to service delivery, Accenture is managing the Hotstar operations round the clock utilising the client’s on-site team in Hyderabad and Accenture’s Global Video Operations Center in the Philippines. The service supports more than 7,000 different digital devices with its mobile-friendly platform, which delivers video streaming and downloads in any of India’s urban and suburban areas. The powerful AVS analytics engine will also provide Star with the capability to predict and help drive user behaviors with personalized content recommendations.

     

    In February, Hotstar, along with starsports.com, its digital platform counterpart, served more than 25 million video views during an Indian-Pakistan cricket match to make it the most watched sports event online of all time.

     

    “By creating a digital video service available on multiple screens, Star has secured its status as India’s most advanced next-generation content provider,” said Accenture communications, media & technology managing director Ashish Khanna.

     

    “It is one of the first services globally to offer entertainment, movies and sports on a single platform for free while enabling new consumption models. This provides consumers access to a rich catalogue of content delivered online with interactive advertising formats that provide multiple opportunities for content monetization by Star’s advertisers and we’re excited to be Star’s delivery partner,” he added.

  • Five Reasons Why Hotstar is Hot

    Five Reasons Why Hotstar is Hot

    With 10 million users in just 40 days, it set a benchmark in the digital space. In a record time span, Hotstar the new app from the Star India network, catapulted the audience’s attention and is showing continued signs of growth.

    While VOD platforms are being selective in drawing up their content map, Hotstar has opened its large library for users, that too in regional languages. With smartphones increasingly altering the consumption landscape in the country, Indiantelevision.com gives you five reasons why this is a must have app for your phones.

    A rich video experience

    Gone are the days when enthusiasm levels of experiencing a video would be marred by buffering issues. Through almost zero buffering, the app claims that it can change the pixel value of the content depending on the bandwidth so that users witness uninterrupted services. In layman’s terms, when the bandwidth decreases, the video will continue playing but there will be a decline in the HD pixilation value. Video is downward optimized to playback continuously in as little as 64 kbps.  

    Want IPL, download Hotstar!

    With the eighth season of India Kya Tyohar returning, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the biggest event on the sports calendar this year. Therefore, it is imperative that you download the app so that you don’t miss out on your favourite Kolkata Knight Riders or Chennai Super Kings scoring some brilliant wins on the palm of your hands. 

    Novi Digital Entertainment, a unit of Star India, which owns the digital rights of the Indian Premier League, will stream this glitzy event on the VOD platform in its first such endeavour. Plus, in this cricket event, India has no fears of losing in the semi finals. Everyone is a winner here including Stuart Binny!

    India’s content hub 

    Where will you find 20,000 hours of content, across languages including 12 plus full length TV shows, 500 plus movies and live screening of popular sports like cricket, football, tennis and kabaddi on a single platform? The answer is – Hotstar! 

    In a first for India, Indya Interactive Services (which runs Hotstar.com) earlier premiered the Star Guild Awards 2015 on the video on demand service on 17 January. The award function was aired on Star Plus a day later on 18 January.  It recently also premiered Bollywood movies like Baby and Roy first on the platform, much before the world TV premieres. Star India also recently acquired the weekly film and entertainment broadsheet Screen from the Express Group. Content from here will now move to digital as the print edition gets closed. Hotstar is definitely turning hotter! 

    Marketers, catch up with your digital audiences

    Marketers and brands dread when audiences click on the tiny yet powerful option Skip This Ad Now. Weeks of ideation and production of a costly advertisement that is invested on digital mediums, goes down the drain. But fret not, Hotstar does not allow this potent option as audiences have to witness the ads. Besides, consumers wouldn’t mind the same as fresh as well as nostalgic content like Sarabhai versus Sarabhai too is up for grabs. With the India-Pakistan match during the World Cup receiving 25 million views on digital, there is a large chunk of young audiences that can’t be missed by marketers and brands alike. 

    Personalization and availability across devices

    The app allows users to create their own playlists with content they curate for at leisure viewing. Individual episodes, movies, full collections of even movies can be curated. It has also managed to do the impossible as it unites a diverse range of mobile phone users. It doesn’t matter if you own a Samsung or an iPhone, it is compatible for Android, iOS and Nokia ASHA users too.

     

  • #fame probes what led to the Nirbhaya documentary ban

    #fame probes what led to the Nirbhaya documentary ban

    MUMBAI: India (in fact the whole world) just can’t stop reacting to the much-argued ban on the documentary India’s Daughter. While the Nirbhaya debate rages, #fame talent Shanaya Sardesai hit the streets in Mumbai to get first-hand impression of what people feel and had to say. Their views do make for a learned and meaningful watch.

     

    The cross section of people ranged from the young to old, working men to elderly women to college students but they all make sense. “They need to tell the people what exactly is the reason for doing so (putting a ban on the documentary)”? asks a young man. He then suggests, “The documentary should be shown in theatres so that people can see what mindset the rapist has.”

     

    The common feeling across has been of “Don’t ban it. This is not a solution.”

     

    Interestingly, people felt that the government has chosen to ban the documentary “because they are helpless. Do not want to take a stand and hence the easiest way out.” Some also said that there is a fear of the world coming to know of the mentality of such criminals.

     

    An elderly person highlighted it apt saying, “The ban itself makes one curious as to what is going on?”

     

    A young teen girl too isn’t off the mark as she opines, “They know somewhere they are faltering. And if the documentary comes on television, then people will start agitating again”!

     

    So is that the real fear? Click on #fame’s excellent work on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlN_mwgM-a0 to see what India feels and how it is reacting on India’s Daughter. It is sure to get you thinking.

  • Online VOD platform The Viral Fever gains one million subscribers

    Online VOD platform The Viral Fever gains one million subscribers

    MUMBAI: The recent past has seen a large number of video on demand (VOD) mushrooming in the country, with each of them trying to differentiate itself from the other with unique content. Youth entertainment network The Viral Fever (TVF), which is one of these platforms, scored a recent milestone. The platform has gained one million subscribers on its online network. 

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, The Viral Fever founder and CEO Arunabh Kumar says that it is a very special achievement for the online network because India is globally known as the least subscriber savvy country. “No matter how much content you produce, audiences and viewers generally do not have the tendency to subscribe,” he says.

     

    When quizzed about the reason for success, Kumar says, “Besides great content, we were also able to evolve with our content and stay relevant. Our attitude is to stay new.”

     

    Kumar says the number holds significance as usually it is established names such as Sony, T-Series and Yash Raj Films who have 5,000 to 10,000 videos that gain million plus subscribers, but TVF as a small network has just 126 videos for now.

     

    Close to 30 videos of the network have gone viral so far. Sharing an interesting insight, Kumar says, “One of TVF’s shows titled Rowdies, (which is a spoof on the popular MTV Roadies show) received more than a million views sometime back, but it took 36 months before the network saw one million subscribers latching onto the online network.”

     

    The network currently has close to two to three million unique visitors lapping up its content every month. “Additionally three to five million also come on board who visit our site regularly and are not subscribers,” he adds.

     

    Going forward, the company is looking at strengthening their non-fiction property, Recycle Bin. “I wish that TVF’s Live Shows reach the magic figure of one million too. I would also want one million to register on TVF InBox, which showcases films,” Kumar says.

     

    The company’s next target is to get at least five to 10 million viewers every month.

     

    The Viral Fever’s subsidiary network TVF 1 is looking at breaking even and making a profit this year. Currently the company operates out of the profits from its parent company The Viral Fever Media Labs.

  • Privcap Media launches new game show for private equity

    Privcap Media launches new game show for private equity

    MUMBAI: Privcap Media has released a new video series, called PPM Smackdown, that shows seasoned private equity investors applying sophisticated analysis to fictitious private equity funds.

     

    The series brings to life the kinds of robust debate and deeply researched decision-making that typically takes place behind closed doors.

     

    “Private equity is an asset class in need of greater education and transparency, and we think PPM Smackdown is a fun step in the right direction. The regulatory peculiarities of private equity make it hard for industry professionals to openly express their views about specific funds and firms. By using fictitious fund offerings, the experts on our program can offer illuminating analysis of fund attributes they frequently encounter in real life,” said Privcap CEO and co-founder David Snow.

     

    PPM stands for Private Placement Memorandum, the ubiquitous and confidential marketing books used in private equity fundraisings.

     

    The first three episodes of PPM Smackdown focus on three fictitious private equity fund offerings:

     

    PebbleOak Fund II – being raised by a Chicago middle-market buyout firm whose uneven track record includes one big exit and one big bankruptcy

    TKTK Capital Fund VI – offered by a London mega-firm that generated weak performance through the Great Recession and saw heavy turnover among its investment professional

    Kramer Healthcare Fund I – a Los Angeles specialist investor that split with a predecessor firm and now takes credit for only the best-performing deals

     

    Each episode includes conversation among the three featured private equity experts namely Cambridge Associates MD Andrea Auerbach, PineBridge Investments managing director – global head of Private Funds Group Steven Costabile, OptiCulture Private Equity Consulting founder and Street Partners former partner Dr. Timothy Kelly.

     

    In addition to discussing the team and track record of each fund offering, the experts each reveal one fictitious due diligence finding and describe how these revelations might affect their decision on whether to commit capital to the fund.

  • ErosNow to showcase SET and Sab TV shows

    ErosNow to showcase SET and Sab TV shows

    MUMBAI: Eros International Media’s on-demand entertainment portal ErosNow has added shows from Sony Entertainment Television (SET) and Sab to its catalogue. The content will be available to members at no extra subscription costs.

     

    Since most of the shows are currently on-air, archived content will be made available on the platform as well. Shows like CID, Taarak Mehat Ka Ooltah Chasmah and Balveer will be made available to subscribers on the platform.

     

    ErosNow CEO Rishika Lulla Singh said, “We are very excited to have partnered with one of India’s leading entertainment player Sony for providing premium television content on ErosNow platform. This strengthens our library with prime television programming from Sony and Sab and helps deliver our subscribers with wide range of soaps, serials and reality shows. With this, we are offering extensive content from four leading entertainment channels and are confident this content will be enjoyed worldwide on ErosNow.” 

     

    Multi Screen Media EVP & head digital business Uday Sodhi added, “We’re always looking to associate with leading entertainment portals to syndicate our content and expand our audience base. Digital syndication is a key focus for us and it’s important for us that we work with established and quality players in this space and from that perspective, ErosNow was a perfect fit.”

  • India Vs Pakistan match creates digital viewership record

    India Vs Pakistan match creates digital viewership record

    MUMBAI: The high voltage ICC Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan created global history by recording more than 25 million views on Star’s digital platform Hotstar and Starsports.com. This is the highest ever video views for a single game in any sporting event across the globe in one country.

     

    The number has significantly surpassed online views for any sports event in the world. No other sports event, including the National Football League (NFL) Super Bowl or the Wimbledon, has ever received more than five million unique online views on a single platform on a given day.

     

    Star India COO Sanjay Gupta said, “The opening day of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 registered 6.5 million video views and 5.4 million unique visitors across web, mobile and app on our digital platforms. This was over double the prior record high set last year. Next day, the India Pakistan match created history in online sports viewership with 25 million views for the game on two of our digital platforms — hotstar and starports.com. This has set a new record for the highest number of video views on the digital platform ever for a single match of any sport across the globe.”

     

    The prior record highs in video views were set during India – Sri Lanka game on 13 November, 2014 with 3.6 million video views and the IPL Semi-final on 28 May, 2014 with 3.2 million video views.

     

    Hotstar is the newly launched digital platform with compelling content across sports, TV shows and movies in seven languages. With four million downloads in 15 days, the application has witnessed the fastest adoption of any digital service in the world. Hotstar has been built to adapt to Indian conditions and can work on lower bandwidth. It can operate on speeds as low as 64 Kbps, and ideally on speeds of 128 Kbps.

  • Star to stream IPL matches on Hotstar.com

    Star to stream IPL matches on Hotstar.com

    MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday awarded the global Internet and mobile rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL) to Novi Digital Entertainment, a unit of Star India, for Rs 302.2 crore for a three-year period ending 2017.

     

    This time around, Star will stream the matches live on its newly launched Video On Demand (VOD) platform hotstar.com. In the last season, the matches were streamed at Star India’s sports VOD venture starsports.com, which works on paid subscription. While IPL 7 recorded 64 million video views on starsports.com, the broadcaster is expecting a jump of 50 per cent or more in the numbers this year.

     

    Starsports.com streams numerous sports event live and exclusive, which includes marquee football tourneys like Barclays Premier League, La Liga, FA Cup. The sports VOD platform will also stream ICC cricket world cup matches live.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, a source from Star India said, “Pepsi IPL rights has been primarily bought for Hotstar. We formally launched Hotstar a week ago and its already above Whatsaap and Facebook in play store top free list. The VOD platform has drama, movies and sports and I am sure it is the next big thing.” The source added, “We are yet to decide whether we will stream IPL 2015 on Starsports.com.” 

     

    The decision to stream the matches on Hotstar.com indicates Star’s will to promote the venture. IPL is one of the biggest sports event in the calendar and would be the apt platform for Hotstar’s promotion.

     

    In a first for India, Indya Interactive Services (which runs Hotstar.com) earlier premiered the Star Guild Awards 2015 on the video on demand service on 17 January. The award function was aired on Star Plus a day later on 18 January.

  • A new ‘Cloudwalker’ in the virtual world

    A new ‘Cloudwalker’ in the virtual world

    MUMBAI: As the digital ecosystem in India is set to expand, the market for Video on Demand (VOD) platforms is only growing. A new kid on the bloc is Half Ticket, which claims to be India’s first curated VOD megastore.

     

    Launched 45 days ago by CloudWalker Streaming Technologies, the company researched for seven months before giving a go ahead to the beta version of the site. CloudWalker founder Jagdish Rajpurohit says, “We call ourselves as an enabler of one’s content in the digital world. If one has content which has a strong demand, and if people watch this content, then one will earn money.”

     

    But how different is Half Ticket from its competitors? Rajpurohit says as a matter of strategy they decided to curate content across the internet and bring it to the platform. They see themselves as digital exhibitors at par with brick and mortar multiplexes. “The difference between YouTube and other VOD’s is that one has to search content while in our case we make the content available to the audiences with ease,” says Rajpurohit while adding that they didn’t pay for the content.

     

    Besides curating, the company is also creating digital content. Explaining the same he says, “We are offering pre-marketing digital services. If one is making a film, one also shoots a lot of the making of the film which is useless. By using this and adapting our own scripts, we make customised content for producers to use for promotions.” It is also making a digital comedy serial in Hinglish of which the IP will rest with CloudWalker.

     

    The platform is also creating a space for independent cinema which will give them an opportunity to earn revenue for a longer time. “Half Ticket is not a video platform but it’s a digital distribution platform. It works on the strategy to help producers’ monetise better,” he says.

     

    While low bandwidth is one of the biggest challenges, according to Rajpurohit, the biggest opportunity will come when 4G enters the space. He further goes on to say, “Compared to the last five years, I see better days ahead. But the biggest challenge will be to make people aware that premium content is available digitally and one has to pay for it.”

     

    A 12 member team looks after curation of the content. “Our crucial point was that the internet today is uploading close to 220 hours of content every minute. In this scenario there is a 99 per cent chance of one missing the content they wish to see until and unless there is curation involved; one will not be able to choose the best,” the executive informs.

     

    So what is the checklist followed to select the content? Firstly, the content sourced is strictly family oriented. Secondly, the ratings and reviews based on film websites are taken into account before filling the content deck.

     

    The total team strength of the company is 32 and is based in Mumbai. The first level of funding came from the seven promoters of CloudWalker, who have invested a total of Rs 7 crore. It is in talks with two to three more funding companies who have expressed interest in the platform.

     

    The portal, which follows an advertisement driven model, is also reaching out to regional cinema makers. “We are telling regional cinema filmmakers that if they want to reach out to audiences worldwide, it will become much cheaper to bring the new content to a digital platform and release it. And as far as revenue is concerned, it is the same. If a film sells two to four lakh tickets across the world, then the production house can easily earn Rs 4 to 5 crore which is not possible theatrically,” he informs.

     

    The company plans to soon announce a Master Class for film distribution in the independent cinema.

     

    While content from channels like Colors, MTV, Nick, Viacom18, YouTube, History TV18, Dailymotion among others is already available on the platform, it is also in talks with two GECs. “The platform has 23,000 to 24,000 hours of content currently and is attracting a traction of 75,000 to 80,000 users every day. An app released four days ago has so far received 150 to 200 downloads,” boasts Rajpurohit.

     

    As part of its promotions, the platform tied up with My French Film Festival India and had a special screening at PVR wherein celebrities like Digamanshu Dhuliya, Ketan Mehta and Anurag Kashyap were present.

     

    Chalking the road ahead, Rajpurohit concludes, “We are in talks with new film distributors and will continue bringing festivals like ‘My French Film Festival’ to India.”

  • Digital video network Culture Machine raises $18 million

    Digital video network Culture Machine raises $18 million

    MUMBAI: Culture Machine, a digital video network, has raised $18 million in series B funding led by Tiger Global, Zodius Capital and Times Internet. The company had previously raised $3.5 million in series A funding from Zodius Capital and Times Internet.
     
    Culture Machine, co-founded by Sameer Pitalwalla and Venkat Prasad, former Disney and Youtube executives, creates digital video entertainment for the internet generation by combining cutting edge technology with great content.
     
    “In a multi-screen, multi-platform world where content is personalised and social is the new distribution, creating targeted content for global communities at scale is a challenge. These digital video platforms are the next generation of distribution, and we are building a next generation media company that uses our proprietary technology platforms, to know what content to create and create that content at scale,” said Pitalwalla and Prasad in a joint statement.
     
    Tiger Global Management partner Lee Fixel added, “Culture Machine Media has built a world-class technology platform and the largest creator network in the country. We’re excited to support the company as it innovates digital content for a rapidly growing audience.”
     
    “Culture Machine is uniquely positioned to build “the” leading media company for the internet generation. We are very supportive of Sameer, Venkat and the team given their ability to produce and curate world class content using a cutting edge intelligence platform that uses big data to help understand, identify and monetise what content resonates with which audiences across multiple video platforms,” said Zodius Capital managing director Gautam Patel.

     

    Chris LaRosa, former product head of YouTube Music, has joined the Culture Machine’s advisory board. At YouTube Music, LaRosa was responsible to build the vision, strategy, and the products that turned YouTube into the most popular music service on the internet and a $1 billion business for artists and labels.

     

    Culture Machine has offices and studio facilities in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Chennai and is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Aleph Group, Singapore.

     
    Culture Machine has offices and studio facilities in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Chennai and is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Aleph Group, Singapore.