Category: People

Mumbai: The Asia Video Industry Association’s (AVIA) Future of Video  India conference opened to a full house with a keynote conversation with Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) secretary Apurva Chandra. Chandra stated that with OTT, Indian content has become more accessible and more acceptable to a global audience. “Quality of content has always been very good in India, but now it is easier for Indian content to travel across the world. OTT has helped it in a big way,” said  Chandra. He also reiterated the need for OTT to continue with a soft touch approach, as the three tier self regulatory system has been working well. While there were concerns that light touch regulation has led to less  desirable content, he remained of the view that the industry needed to be more self-aware so that the  government need not step in. Chandra also shared that a National Broadcasting Policy has been in the works, as the industry was becoming more fragmented. However, this would take time in order to balance the conflicting  interests of all the disparate parties.

With the explosive growth of OTT and original content in India, the MIB also remained committed to the fight against piracy. “The new Cinematograph Bill that is underway seeks to protect the entertainment industry from piracy. We are ready to take action against not only those who record the content illegally, but even those who  are transmitting it online. The websites which stream pirated content will be blocked,” said Chandra.  

This focus on content was a theme that followed throughout the conference. Prime Video India country director Sushant Sreeram talked about the importance of authenticity in a market as diverse as India. “By being locally authentic, it provides the best opportunity for regional and global success,” noted Sreeram. India also maintained the second largest development slate after North America, signalling Prime Video’s commitment to the market.

Similarly, Disney+ Hotstar India head Sajith Sivanandan said, “We are building for all India. There is no one  India, there are many Indians and it is important that we speak to all of them.” However, much greater interactivity with the content was on his wishlist for the future, as well as the ability to serve the masses but at a scale of one. “Creative and technology should be working together to serve every single person to get the content they want,” he added.

Meeting the digital consumers’ demand was also part of the vision for Viacom18. “We have a digital-first mindset  for the foreseeable future. We want to back the digital India vision and put our might behind it,” said Viacom18 CEO Jyoti Deshpande with most of the money spent on content going to digital and not TV. “All formats  will co-exist for the foreseeable future. The consumer should be free to interact with content the way they please,” added Deshpande. Applause Entertainment managing director Sameer Nair also noted that ‘streamers have done a great service to the content industry, making content more easily available to consumers.’ “We are in the business of creating mass-distraction,” quipped Nair.

MIB Joint Secretary (policy & administration) Vikram Sahay, who participated in a content panel with some of  the industry’s top content leaders, also said that the best thing about OTT was the democratisation of talent. “The  greatest thing is the democratisation of talent which this industry has allowed across all parts of the creative  content chain,” said Sahay.

However, the jury is still out on the best way to monetize the content that is flooding the Indian market. For Shemaroo Entertainment COO Arghya Chakravarty advertising was highly dependent on the economic climate,  as the advertising markets changed. Hence the sweet spot was always somewhere in the middle, and for long  term sustainability, it would require a mix of both. Warner Bros Discovery APAC director retention engagement & growth strategy DTC marketing Praveen Chaudhury also noted that the high cost of direct customer  acquisition meant aggregation and partnerships remained key.

As the fragmentation of advertising delivery was continuing to put huge downward pressure on rates, the role of  operator bundling was also super important, said INVIDI CBO Prasad Sanagvarapu. “With very  rich first party data sitting with the aggregator at a level dwarfing what any individual OTT service could manage,  they had a crucial role to play in advertising,” added Sanagavarapu.

The very important issue of female representation in the television and entertainment industry was discussed by a distinguished panel of female industry leaders. Network18 CEO business news Smriti Mehra highlighted the fact that all too often workplaces had defining gender roles and too many talented former colleagues had dropped out of the industry. There were societal issues at play as well of course, but there was much positive action that could be taken within the corporate context. Earlier in the day. Jyoti Deshpande had defined it as the search for equity, not just equality.  

Wrapping up the conference, Media Partners Asia (MPA) VP Mihir Shah said that India’s growth story  remained intact amidst global turmoil, with macro tailwinds and digitalization propelling growth for video  advertising, and digital penetration now on par with television. Content spend was also expected to double to  US$10bn in the next five years, with online video content investments catching up with pay TV. Shah also noted  that mergers and acquisitions will continue to fuel scale and profitability for the major incumbents. And with  Connected TV adoption on the rise, premium inventory will fuel the growth for the AVOD segment. “Content is  king, and it’s reigning supreme,” summarised Shah.  

The Future of Video India is sponsored by AKAMAI, Bharucha & Partners, INVIDI, Magnite, MEASAT,  PubMatic and Samsung Ads.

Mumbai: Mahindra Group has appointed Kedar Apte as chief of international operations – Farm Equipment Sector and Two-Wheeler business. In his new role, Apte will head the company’s global operations for the farm equipment sector and its two-wheeler business. He made the announcement on LinkedIn.

Prior to this, Apte was with Reliance BP Mobility Ltd (RBML) as the chief marketing officer of RBML. Earlier this month, he stepped down from the post of CMO at the company and mentioned on LinkedIn that he will be starting new innings in ten days.

He joined the Reliance company in August 2020 after moving on from Castrol. Previously, he had worked with Castrol and Hindustan Unilever.

Mumbai: OML or Only Much Louder is a media and entertainment organisation working across various media and experiential formats to impact pop culture. The organisation has pioneered on-ground and online experiences that have resulted in lasting memories shaping how fans know their favourite artists and brands. Apart from continuing to be an artist management company in music and comedy, over the years OML has evolved to include a production house and has also moved into creating television and digital content.

Indiantelevision.com caught up with OML Entertainment CEO Gunjan Arya. She has been working in the field of media, marketing and design since the age of 16 and started her own brand consulting company ‘Design of Information’ in 2009, which won several coveted awards globally. Arya, who has been part of OML since 2015, was instrumental in building OML’s global creator network over the last three years which now operates across 20+ countries and 700+ content creators that helps artists, brands and platforms build equity.

On the expectations from the Hypothesis

I am keen to see how people respond but I think that we have something that has gotten a proven track record. It is no secret that influencer marketing is only growing and has become an important part of the media mix for even traditional brands. So, this is literally the need of the hour.

Moreover, anything that promises higher efficiency will have a high offtake. I am keen to get it launched. It is about what artists need. Artists are the media brands of today not of the future. Nobody is telling artists things like which creators their fans follow. And, I truly want to build that intel where artists can take that data and work on it. This will not mechanise the process but will sharpen the brief.

On how the company has benefited from organisational restructuring done a few years back

Our former founder Vijay moved on and I took over. I even replaced him on the board as well. And, I think that we have done fine. We have been profitable for the past four years and are still growing. We did Rs. 300 crores last year – almost 40 percent of that came from abroad and I do not know how many Indian companies can say that.

On the contributions of the three business lines

I would say that brands constitute the highest billing. But given the nature of our work, each business flows into the other because we have a strong artiste roster and various brands come to us. Since brands come to us, artists also want to work with us. Again because we have artistes, platforms work with us. Our teams build original shows and hence artistes come to us. Therefore, each line feeds into the other.

On how OTT allows for experimentation

It is about the barrier to entry. In cinema, there is a certain threshold at which they make sense. It costs money to mount a film. If you have to hit that number you need a certain cast, it has to be worth it for them and the producers. On the other hand, digital has allowed a lot more experimentation. The narratives that we get to see and hear and the people as well both in front and behind the camera, are very exciting. Digital has also changed media planning. It is an audience of one.

Digital has exploded the multiplicity of choices. And because that multiplicity of choice exists, and individual feeds differ because different choices are made, hence it allows for a lot more unique storytelling opportunities. You get to select what you watch. In addition to that, OTT has a richness of data. The data engines have shown that people watch Turkish TV, South Korean content, and even Spanish shows, so maybe it is not all about Bollywood, after all.

On what OML looks for before signing on talent and working with 70 artists across genres

They must be super excited to get their original voice out there. Sumukhi went from being a stand-up comedian to creating a show ‘Pushpavalli’ which got a second season. Now, she is writing movies for big Bollywood producers and writing shows that will soon come out on OTT platforms. It is her individual point of view of the world that makes it so exciting for us to work with her. She has now set up her own content company which has a very specific take on the world. That is what makes it exciting.

Zakir did a video on Mother Dairy. Tanmay has also worked with Netflix. Janice has worked on Social Media Star. There are many examples.

The name of the show is Swipe Ride – Tinder  which actually started with Youtube and ended up on Voot. We also did a show with Bumble called ‘Dating These Days’ that started on Youtube and is now on Disney+Hotstar. In Poland, we started a show about friends hanging out, which was sponsored by Martini, and went on an OTT platform there. All these are wins.

This is not a challenge. There is so much more to do. The roster is super wide. We work with a mentalist who got a chance to work to be the face of Vodafone. We work with Dolly Singh who is a creator who came from Instagram. Due to her crooked teeth, she got the chance to work with Colgate. There is also Zakir Khan who is now the highest-paid comedian in the country. It is a really exciting time to work with all these amazing artistes.

On examples of bringing brands and content creators together

About five years ago, we looked at Lebanon. A brand wanted to activate there and Lebanon has a really big music scene but not a comedy scene. The brand did not have the budget to collaborate with Lebanese musicians. So, we actually looked around and found a comedian who was willing to do a Youtube show. This show was him wheeling around a channel speaker, a speaker on a trolley.

He walked into co-working places, bars, nightclubs, and hobby rooms and tried his 10 minutes routine there. This then became a Youtube comedy show with a host, a live audience, guests, and a band on stage. The best part was that in Lebanon when a show is shot, audiences are paid to sit. But here audiences paid ticket money to be a part of the live taping. This was a three-year journey and it happened due to the support of a brand.

In Poland, four years ago, we worked with a brand that typically activates in the music space. We did a deep dive into the market and felt that hip-hop would explode as people were trying out interesting things. We thought of launching Poland’s first hip-hop awards and this is supported by Bacardi. This year, over 700,000 people voted.

All these were possible because we always look at content creators as being conduits to culture.

On whether more brands are looking at live entertainment as an alternative to ATL

The biggest replacement is digital content. This is where we see the most growth as well. More than two-thirds of our revenue last year came from brands spending on content marketing.

On the key international markets

We will look at the US and the UK in a big way. So far, we have looked at the Middle East, all of Africa, Southeast Asia, and India of course. This year, we are adding Japan, Hungary, the Czech Republic, China, and South Korea.

On the goals that OML has set for itself in 2023

This will be an interesting year. There is a recovery from the break that all of us had due to the pandemic. Now, there is talk of an international recession though it is not so much India-specific. At OML, there are three lines of business – the number one is artistes, the second is content production and the third is brand solutions.

Speaking of our first line of business, we started as an artist management company 20 years back and used to manage independent musicians. Our pitch was that fans will pay to watch them and that bet paid off, all thanks to Youtube! Our artist management roster grew to include digital celebrities of all types- comedians, writers, and directors like Zakir Khan, and on the creator side, there are people like Dolly Singh and many more.

The second line is about content production which was about making videos for musicians. And, now it has become an original content studio for OTT platforms. We work with everyone from Netflix to Amazon to Disney+Hotstar and have altogether produced 76 shows.

The third line is the brand solutions business. We realised that brands want to participate in culture and artistes are the most effective conduit to various communities. And hence, we activate brand campaigns with creators; it could be about brands supporting tours of artistes. This is a full-fledged brand solutions business that operates in over 20 countries. We can even operate there without having teams in those countries as we have built our own social prediction engine.

This guides brands on which creators to work with. And, I think it is one of the most sophisticated tools out there in the market. The proof is in the pudding. We have had 300 top trending videos in countries where we do not even speak the language. We are flipping this to a tech play, a MarTech service provider for agencies and for brands who do not want another retainer agency. But they want the intel, the process, and the know-how. So it is a Saas business. It is an off-the-shelf plug-and-play service called Hypothesis. You can use the tool to plan creator content, and influencer marketing etc. It will help with tracking, planning, and measuring ROI.

Another line that we had was the live events business and we have been known for this due to the B2C angle. We sold this to Nazara last year. We also had Insider which we sold to PayTM in 2018. This was born from an artiste’s need. So today, OML is largely a content business.

Mumbai: The art of storytelling is one of the key factors that is giving rise to OTT platforms in India. Thanks to streaming services, the makers can now put forward their raw thoughts in the most natural ways. This Is possible due to the viewership in OTT platforms that provides a wide range of content to choose from. The Future of Video India event aims to address the change in India’s storytelling ecosystem.

Vanita Kohli Khandekar, Consulting Editor, Business Standard in conversation with Sushant Sreeram – Country Director, Prime Video, India on the rise of OTT content in India at the AVIA – Future of Video India Summit.

On where is Amazon Prime Video being positioned today

It’s an interesting parable of us being the heroes and heroines in the story of taking Indian entertainment globally. And if I were to extend that, I would say I think we are the act of scene one.

We have been in India for six and a half years and we are still relatively young, we have discovered the customer and the Indian customer has some amazingly delightful intricate nuances in what they see from online streaming entertainment. There are similarities to other forms of entertainment consumption, but at the same time, they are dissimilar. So six and a half years can feel like a lot. I mean, we have launched more than 40 local originals. Launched more than 60 direct service movies, and we have licensed movies, but all of that put together still feels like just getting started.

On the reach of content globally

Almost all of our original and local content is launched in more than 240 countries and territories and they get a global reach. And that’s actually one of the things that makes us really compelling for creators because they find a global audience. Take the example of ‘Farzi,’ as you mentioned, and I personally love it, too. At the first launch weekend of the show, not only was it an amazing success in India, customers loved it, but it actually entered the top trending title lists in more than 10 countries worldwide. We are talking about the US, UK, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and New Zealand. I think that’s actually one of the big parts of what makes it a bigger proposition and really exciting for the partners that do other licensing. I think we do provide a global reach, but the exact number of countries varies depending on the other distribution agreements. I can give an example, the movie Jai Bheem. It was actually rated on IMDb as the number-one Indian film in 2021. It was launched on Prime Video and it was streamed by customers in India and overseas. That’s the kind of reach that it got.

On the type of stories that work in the Indian market

I want to target that Indian sensibility because the thing about India is that it is so delightfully diverse, that it’s actually not one homogeneous set of sensibility. It’s not just about languages, one of the first things that we really discovered is, that there is massive heterogeneity when you look at Indian entertainment whether it is language, genres and things like that, but also the nature of stories that really are local. So the first thing that we sort of discovered pretty early on and we really doubled down on it was in telling stories that are incredibly authentic. I mean, look at ‘Suzhal,’ for example. It was the first long-form scripted Tamil original show, it absolutely stays true to the locale. It stays true to the milieu in that it is located and appeals to an Indian sensibility. We have actually over a period of time realized that the best chance of being truly global is actually being deeply local, with our storytelling.

On how a show has been received, what is the matrix

It’s a good question. Let me break it into two parts. The first is, as you rightly pointed out, the form of assessing what our show is doing based on how many people are watching. And it’s pretty and obviously, there are some nuances. We love numbers, we look at all of that, how well it travels and so on and so forth. The other thing that is unique to Prime Video, is its part of a Prime membership program. It’s a multi-benefit membership program. The role that Prime Video is playing as a benefit is not only bringing in new customers into the Prime program. Secondly we look at the success of our entire slate and our content investments as we create a compelling benefit as part of prime. If you look at the Prime program and say this is incredible, it not only has free and fast shipping, it has video entertainment, it music and gaming.

So that’s the second part of how not only do we engage customers, but actually retain long-term Prime members. The third one, if we have a look at the impact of our shows is let’s call it the three C’s, I don’t I just came up with it. That is the consumer impact on the customer, which is something that we just talked about. The other is the impact on the content partners that we work with. Do we have content partners who feel thrilled by what we bring as a platform that has such a rich audience, not just locally, but globally? We end up having long-standing relationships with them. We take that very seriously not just with established creators and storytellers but the ecosystem that we’re working with.

On the associations either writer, production has

Actually, it has made me reflect on what we all do and end up doing. The first is, if you just go back six-seven years like the ecosystem, and how creators looked at storytelling, it was not built for long-form cinematic storytelling for a digital audience. It was predominantly a form of storytelling that is suited for linear broadcast, or movies that are suited for theatrical viewing. So the first thing that we really had to spend time with our creators was in tuning them to visualise really long-form episodic cinematic stories for a digital paid subscribers. I don’t want to say it was not a skill set, it was not an orientation, or that it existed, we really took a lot of effort to get that. The second is, we actually go through the things that you mentioned, we’d go through writers’ workshops, and writing was for the longest time a solitary profession. The third support that we provide, and it’s something that we take upon ourselves is how do we build localization support for shows to travel. In ‘Farzi’, it was all about subtitles and close to 40 languages to find a global audience

On the budgeting and investing in shows

We do it in many different ways. But ultimately, it’s a question of what you are investing in the country. And by the way, it’s all one accumulation right across content, distribution and building other products and marketing. In fact, last year in April incidentally, we announced that we’re actually doubling our investments over the next five years and we are absolutely committed to that. But even today, our approach is to have a really good story to tell, why tell the story and why tell the story now? Then look for them both in front and behind the camera.

On Indian content stand in the global scheme of things

We have the largest slate in development in India, after the US. We have more than 100 projects right now, as we speak, that are in various stages of development and production in India. At the end of the day, India has one of the highest proportions of Prime members who stream Prime Video every month, because of the Prime benefit.  India is basically a front-runner for the Prime Video locale with the highest number of new customers adopting the service. We have been very vocal about our continued commitment to India by doubling our investment.

On the next market, apart from US & India which has a big slot

I can give you the example of ‘Citadel’ because it’s a good example. For ‘Citadel’ we have attempted to create interconnected franchises, it is an original IP and very interesting. But the concern was how we create an interconnected story and what we have ended up doing right now in its first leg is having the story set in three different times and three different locales. So we have ‘Citadel’ that’s launching on the 28 of April, which is the first of the series. We have an Indian version that’s going to be launching soon helmed by Raj and DK with Varun and Samantha in it. So that should give you a sense of diversity.

Mumbai: News18 Kannada, is the No1 channel in Karnataka, the channels editor Nikhil Joshi is the youngest editor there, Indiantelevision.com in conversation with Nikhil Joshi on the preparedness for the upcoming Karnataka elections, the reach of the channel both linear and digital and much more……

On your journey with News18 Kannada

It has been great and I am the youngest editor in the Karnataka electronic media, and the management has shown immense faith in me. Network 18 has a widespread bouquet to offer and is available and a great synergy which we all are working on. We move from one platform to another, one vertical to another and then connect horizontally. I feel that this is the best place for me to be right now. I am putting in my 100% to deliver and do my best

On News18 Kannada being the No1 and setting the agenda in Karnataka 

The network’s strength sets us apart and that is the differentiator factor. There are various nuances but the major factor is the network’s ability to bring in variety in a very seamless and frictionless manner, being available in multiple states and covering dynamics of polity and other stories gives us an edge over our competitors. I have options to choose and as a television medium, I can choose what is visually appealing to the viewers. These stories can be from UP or MP or any other state. I don’t need to take content from a social media post. In a minute I can take the feed from the network feed and telecast it on our channel in Karnataka.

The second point is our digital extension, we are growing from strength to strength. In the month of March, the Karnataka YouTube channel touched a lifetime high in terms of subscribers, views and revenues. Our strength is the availability and the multiple verticals and extensions be it digital or broadcast, all this adds up and makes us the strongest network in the country.

Digital reach in Karnataka

We have a Kannada website which is News18 Kannada.com, we also run our business on FB, Instagram and YouTube and we have Daily Hunt as our news aggregator. With respect to YouTube, we have about 2.05 million subscribers as of today and it is growing. In the month of March, we added close to 1 lac subscribers. Earlier there was a different style of working previously now in the past couple of months the methods and means of working has changed and that change is definitely for the good. The numbers I am quoting are not fudged and it is readily available in the public domain. 

Digital consumption in Karnataka happens in a very interesting manner depending on time band and age group, certain content which works in a particular time band and an age group that is logging in to check that content. We are constantly trying to understand which age group logs in when, the likes and dislikes, and the kind of content that will work at what time of the day. Most importantly the most loyal viewership comes from the age group of 35 – 55, this is the earning mobile population, they are on the move and not watching TV at an appointed time, but are watching the content on their phones. 

On the News strategy for the upcoming Karnataka elections

Most of our competitors are racing to be the NO 1 and this being done by a few in Karnataka is all about making a noise. We are doing the highest number of election-related stories from the ground. The show ‘Jana, Mana, Mata’ the title in 3 words explains the show. It’s about the people, what is there in their minds and how will it translate into a vote. We do constituency profiling where the team is visiting all the constituencies to understand the dynamics based on how the voting will happen this time around. This show is touching 100 episodes and we would have done 130 constituencies in the next couple of weeks. 

There are other shows called, ‘Chunavana Churmuri’, and ‘Chunavane Masale’. The first show is a short snippet capsule, which primarily pokes fun at politicians and political activities in a very healthy manner and the lines of decency are not crossed. Which is the thumb rule for us. 

‘Chunavane Masale’ is anchored by a celebrity guest, P D Satish who is a theatre artist, whose forte is comedy. The show travelled to the biggest and known places which serve the best Masala Dosas. The show is Democracy with Masala Dosa.. talk show. The show is garnering a lot of eyeballs and getting positive feedback form the people. They want to talk so the best way to talk is while eating some of the best dosas. 

‘Chunavane Chaduranga’, is a political analytical show, we pick 3 -4 stories which are trending on a particular day and then we analyse the news. The show has also guests from political parties, deep dive into it and brings out the best dimensions of a particular story for a better understanding for our viewers. 

‘Election to the Point’ is anchored by me and strategically positioned as a regional programme. I travel to Kalyana Karnataka which was formerly called Hyderabad Karnataka. The show discusses the issues pertaining to that particular region. The show talks about Article 371 J, the human development index and why it is lacking, the political leaders and their roles for that region and what should be the reasons on which they should cast their votes this election. 

This show has travelled to Malanadu, Coastal Karnataka, Old Mysuru region, and in the cultural capital Mysore. A show in Kittur, which was formerly called Bombay Karnataka in Hubli. These shows are very strategically positioned region-based shows which talk about their issues and their problems. It is not a generalised way of looking at issues but deep diving and talking about specific issues. 

In the coming weeks, we are planning to do a big one in Bengaluru. The election show To The Point is different from the show, ‘To The Point with Nikhil Joshi’, which is on every evening and is largely politics-based due to the coming elections. The two shows are different, the show I do from the studio every day talks about the concerns of the people in the city and the State. It is a people-centric show and all topics related to this are discussed.

On the market share of the channel

For the past month, we have constantly risen over 2% and today our market share is at 12%. Our efforts have now started to quantify during this election season. It won’t be surprising if the channel touches the 15% mark in the next 3-4 months, because of the changes and it being implemented and it will have a positive impact. With every step implemented and every positive impact, I can assure you there will be growth in the market share. 

On fake news

My team filters out the unnecessary and unbelievable news. There are stories which tempt you to put it on air immediately, but we don’t give in to that temptation, because we represent a brand and we do not want to be the fastest but be the most accurate. This is what we in News18 and particularly News18 Kannada believe in. This is our one-line motto, yes we want to be No. 1, fastest but if it comes at the cost of accuracy, it is a big NO. For us Accuracy, credibility comes first. 

On preparation for the 2024 elections

Our network strength is what I benefit from as News 18 Kannada, we have the top heads coming onto our platform when the Home Minister of the country comes to ‘Rising India’ it is a moment of pride for all of us. The network’s strength is our strength and the team here in every possible way will add to it in every possible way. What would be my strategy as a Kannada channel, there are 28 seats in the state and very critical for the BJP. It is the only state they have a strong base and it is of great importance to the party to retain as many seats as possible for which there will be factors at play and this will keep changing as it is situational in nature. One of the factors will be PM’s visit to the state, his campaigns etc will be my first stop. My second stop will be to how the Congress and JDS will look to wean away the seats from the BJP in Karnataka and the larger picture will be to add to the tally of the opposition at the national level. My strategy is to play by my strength and trust my team to do their best and we will be taking a lot of help and support from the network. With all this coming together we will be one of the best in news presentation and news gathering. 

Mumbai: In the new financial year, Rose Audio Visuals has collaborated with the former fiction head of Colors Sonnal A Kakar who will bring her creative expertise to the company apart from focusing on newer stories, getting unique formats, and widening the network of talent at Rose Audio Visuals. Together, they will produce exciting new shows for leading GEC channels and TV+ catering to a wider audience.

Sonnal has an extensive experience of 19 years in the entertainment industry and has had the privilege of working with renowned channels such as Colors and Zee TV. Her 13-year association with Colors was instrumental in the channel’s success story, wherein she played a pivotal role in the development of path-breaking shows like Shakti, Udaan, Uttaran, Sasural Simar Ka, Thapki Pyar Ki, Ishq Mein Marjawan, Mahakali, and Shani, among others.

Rose Audio Visuals director Goldie Behl, expressed his excitement over onboarding & collaborating with Sonnal and said, “Sonnal has vast experience in the entertainment industry and her repertoire of work is exemplary and exhaustive, and I am confident that she will add immense value to Rose Audio Visuals’ journey ahead. We are collaborating with her as a producer and she will play a pivotal role in our company’s upcoming plans of building strong content for GEC channels and TV+ networks. We are delighted to welcome Sonnal and look forward to her invaluable contributions.”

Sonnal A Kakar expressed her enthusiasm about joining the team at Rose Audio Visuals and said, “I am looking forward to the association and collaboration with Rose Audio Visuals. Together we will create and produce content that will engage and entertain our viewers.”

Rose Audio Visuals plans to strengthen its place in the TV & TV+ industry with this new appointment. Meanwhile, the OTT vertical grows stronger and continues to be headed by Shradha Behl Singh under the creative vision of Goldie Behl.

Mumbai:– MSG+, a new streaming service set to launch this summer, will use an industry-first cloud native OTT platform from Quickplay to optimize sports viewing experiences for consumers, MSG Networks and Quickplay has announced.  

In a platform innovation that will give MSG+ the significantly greater flexibility, agility and control needed to drive engagement and monetization, MSG+ will use Quickplay’s award-winning CMS, edge services, and player – all running on Google Cloud – to support the data-driven delivery of content based on viewers’ specific interests.

MSG+ is being developed as a state-of-the-art streaming platform to provide fans in the region with the ability to access MSG Networks’ exclusive coverage of their favorite teams wherever they are and on their favorite devices. Fans can subscribe to MSG+ on a direct-to-consumer basis by purchasing monthly and annual subscriptions, which will include MSG channels and all MSG-produced Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Devils, and Sabres games as well as other live sports, events and programming. Additionally, fans will be able to purchase single games of their favorite local teams, an innovative offering not made available by any other regional sports network.  MSG+ will be available at no additional charge to subscribers of participating pay television service providers of MSG Networks, replacing MSG GO as the company’s authenticated streaming service.

“In the same way MSG Networks was a pioneer in sports broadcasting, the launch of MSG+ and our migration to the cloud are pivotal for our passionate sports fans,” said MSG Networks senior VP product technology and operations David Schafer. “Using the Quickplay platform, we are creating an industry-leading direct-to-consumer streaming sports service that offers fans a feature rich experience with the choice to subscribe directly or through their TV provider.”

The Quickplay platform combines the flexibility and scalability of the cloud with the quality and reliability of traditional broadcast and cable environments. The platform is the foundation of an enriched environment in which MSG+ can quickly and efficiently create new features that uniquely cater to diverse subscriber interests and enhance the viewing experience of MSG+’s marquee live sporting events and complementary content.

“Maximizing viewership today requires the flexibility to meet sports viewers on their terms: live or archived game coverage, real-time highlights, gamification and more” said Quickplay CBO & co-founder Paul Pastor. “MSG Networks’ shift to the cloud is paving the way for truly personalized experiences that will enhance the ability of viewers and sponsors to connect with many of the world’s most important sports brands.”

Mumbai: Bitcentral, the provider of award-winning efficient media workflows for broadcast and digital video, has partnered with JW Player (JWP), the leading SaaS video platform for broadcasters, publishers, and other video-driven companies, to empower JWP customers to find new audiences and drive new revenue streams by delivering free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels to leading distribution endpoints and owned and operated platforms. The collaboration sees JWP harness Bitcentral’s streaming solution to stream video flawlessly, improve audience engagement, and better monetize video content.

Through the partnership, JWP benefits from Bitcentral’s FAST capabilities, which are combined with JWP’s Live and VOD streaming products to enable it to expand content reach across multiple platforms. JWP customers can now reap the rewards of a simplified workflow that boasts FAST channel management and monetization for content operators, with access to global distribution across owned and operated properties and third-party aggregator, vMVPD, and CTV platforms.

“Our partnership with Bitcentral is an important step in evolving JWP’s video monetization capabilities for today’s market,” said JWP vice president – global partnerships Christopher Cunningham. “Through Bitcentral, we can expand our all-in-one video solution with FAST capabilities and monetization. The partnership aligns with one of JWP’s primary goals to enable our customers to extend their cross-platform reach to new audiences highly valued by brands and marketers.”

Bitcentral GM, streaming media group Greg Morrow said, “We are delighted to be working with JW Player to ensure it stays ahead of the curve and delivers winning solutions to customers without the challenges, costs, and complexities of working with multiple vendors. Bitcentral boasts a comprehensive portfolio of tools that are perfect for media companies looking to better connect with audiences and monetize their content – in the most simple and economically efficient way possible.”

“Bitcentral and JWP give customers the infrastructure to disrupt the status quo in the competitive streaming marketplace,” said Bitcentral CEO Steve Petilli.