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Tag: ALTBalaji

  • How OTT players re-calibrate OOH advertising during social distancing

    How OTT players re-calibrate OOH advertising during social distancing

    MUMBAI: The world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented crisis in living memory that has almost crippled our everyday lives and left the whole country deserted. And the reality has been unpalatable to the media and entertainment industry, especially the outdoor advertising segment, which is bearing the brunt of the stay-at-home/social distancing stipulations.

    The out-of-home (OOH) medium has been one of the go-to points for OTT services in India so much so that leading streaming platforms had started outdoing even retail brands in OOH advertising. Now, with that option totally shut, streaming services are looking at ways to re-calibrate their ad spends. 

    In this new series, we explore how the OTT industry is coping with its communication strategies amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. We start off with the OOH industry. 

    As people have suddenly been forced to shift to seek entertainment online, digital advertising has gained traction. However, none of the platforms denies the importance of OOH in the media mix.

    ALTBalaji marketing, analytics & direct revenue SVP Divya Dixit says that the platform has been at the forefront of executing creative and innovative OOH formats for its varied shows. However, she mentions that their strategies have always been a mix of varied tools, and in times such as these, they seek to explore the rest of them with innovation and uniqueness. 

    "For marketers, with OOH advertisement being suspended, it does create a dent in the overall marketing outreach. As all of us exercise the mandatory stay-at-home-stay-safe measure during the lockdown, audiences across the country are now consuming content digitally every part of the day. In such a situation, digital marketing, buoyed by social media, influencer marketing, meme marketing, OBD calls, SMS and email blasts etc., can prove to be the best bet for brands right now. Especially for a digital-first platform like ours, it promises to play a crucial role in the overall marketing mix, seeing 50 per cent of the allotted marketing budget," she adds.

    Hungama Digital Media COO Siddhartha Roy comments that the stay-at-home measure has enabled the TV and digital media to find captive audiences while the audience for OOH and other forms of outdoor and experiential marketing has decreased dramatically. "As a platform, we realised a long time ago that our audience is present on the digital medium; hence, our marketing strategy, even in the past, has been heavily skewed towards digital and social platforms," he says.

    Broadcaster-led platforms, like VOOT, ZEE5, etc., whose traditional business has also been bullish on OOH, accept it as a key component of the media mix. Voot Select and Viacom18 youth, music and English entertainment head Ferzad Palia says that outdoor is very important when a new service is launching, especially in markets like Mumbai. But he also adds that they have never been over-indexed on outdoor; hence, cutting back on this area is not a huge change. While having an outdoor option could have been an advantage, he mentions the OOH spends are being shifted to a mix of TV and digital ads.

    ZEE5 India SVOD marketing head Reilly Rebello also echoes Palia's thoughts. While terming OOH as a key component of its advertising mix, he does not forget to mention that there are a lot of other mediums that have been used regularly. Rebello also says that they are focusing a lot on digital and TV. ZEE5 India is doing heavy targetted advertising on the ZEE5 app while focusing on other digital mediums. A major part of ZEE5's OOH cost has moved to the digital medium.

    However, TheSmallBigIdea CEO and co-founder Harikrishnan Pillai has a different take. He is of the view that outdoor was never a pivot platform for OTT. According to Pillai, while OOH builds perception and is a great reminder medium, it is seldom the core medium. "What outdoor helped OTT do is place itself alongside broadcast television in terms of scale. Over the years, TV has built a perception on the back of the outdoors. So for OTT, which is digital-first, absence of outdoor doesn't matter much in these times, since TV, too, isn't making much use of it," he says.

    "Given the stay-at-home, stay-safe mandate, a lot of outdoor media has had to be removed from the marketing media mix, but at MX Player, we firmly believe that all else can wait, but your daily dose of entertainment must go on. We've gone live with eight shows just in the month of March and the first week of April," MX Player marketing and business partnerships head Abhishek Joshi states.

    While OOH hoardings stay barren for now, the hope is that the industry will be back on track after this crisis passes us.

  • ALTBalaji partners with PayPal

    ALTBalaji partners with PayPal

    MUMBAI: ALTBalaji, one of India’s leading homegrown OTT platforms, has joined hands with popular payment gateway PayPal, to ensure its audiences non-stop entertainment and offering them a host of convenient payment experiences.

    As a part of the association, audiences via a PayPal payment can get a minimum of Rs 10 and a maximum of Rs 300 cashback vouchers during the offer period. Valid till 30 June 2020, the offer is on the first PayPal transaction. The terms of the deal require one to make a minimum transaction of Rs 100 to utilize the offer. 

    Through this partnership, ALTBalaji adds another feather in its social awareness campaign, #StayALT, which urges the audience to practice social distancing by staying at home and be entertained by the platform’s extensive and diverse content library. Being a responsible brand, ALTBalaji has been running #StayALT by introducing exciting offers to motivate the audience to stay at home. The OTT platform earlier this week announced its association with Amazon Pay and Paytm under the same initiative. ALTBalaji’s associations with these payment gateways will help reach out to a wider set of audience and have enabled a slew of payment options to choose from. 

    Balaji Telefilms group COO and ALTBalaji CEO Nachiket Pantvaidya said, “We have always worked in the direction of creating an ecosystem for our viewers where they not only get quality content but easy access to it. Our association with PayPal is a strategic move in this direction that improves our relationship with our audiences and provides them with multiple payment gateways to choose from. During times like this, we have been urging everyone to stay at home while we make sure that they are getting smooth access to our content library and hence keep themselves entertained.”

    ALTBalaji has built a legacy of creating iconic shows like Apharan, Mentalhood, Code M, Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain, Karle Tu Bhi Mohabbat, M-O-M: Mission Over Mars, Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala, The Verdict – State v/s Nanavati, Broken…But Beautiful, Ragini MMS Return, Test Case, Bose among others which have been lauded by the audience. The subscribers of ALTBalaji will get access to a content library of 60+ Indian originals created for the masses.

  • ALTBalaji management confident of breakeven by April-June 2020

    ALTBalaji management confident of breakeven by April-June 2020

    MUMBAI: Ekta Kapoor’s over-the-top platform has managed to solve the OTT revenue question. The ALTBalaji management always spoke of profitability and breaking even rather than cash-burn and tons of investment and it seems that aspiration will soon be achieved.

    The management at Balaji Telefilms remains relentlessly upbeat about lowering the recorded loss in the balance sheet gradually. In the third quarter, it stood at about Rs 16 crore. As shared with investors in an earnings call, the management is optimistic to bring it down to single digit in the fourth quarter. “April-June onwards we will practically breakeven the ALT business,” the company says. It also mentions that the breakeven is at the P&L level.

    Before September 2019, ALTBalaji shows were available for free on telco services. The indirect customers were yielding very low average revenue per user (ARPU) bordering between Rs10 to 15. The platform last year entered in a deal with ZEE5 also. All 42 shows which were produced before September are exclusive to ALTBalaji and the 13 co-produced shows on both platforms. Due to the changes, now all ALTBalaji content is behind a paywall, be it on its own service or on ZEE5.  

    “This has enabled us to one raise our ARPU. Secondly we have direct subscriptions going up, as a result year-on-year. We are doubling our subscription revenue overall and also through direct subscribers, so that is the benefit of going behind paywall. We feel that as our library increases we need to ensure that people form the habit of paying for our content and our content is not offered free. We had to do telco deals and give it off free in the first, probably 30 months of our existence because our library was small, but now we have taken a call, now with the library is growing that we are going to go only behind paywall,” the management reaffirms.

    The revenue has gone up this quarter too which stood at Rs 23.1 crore in Q3. The management thinks numbers are looking more and more cheerful in terms of the topline. It attributes it to two factors – one, the exclusive 42 shows and the ZEE deal. Because of the deal, it has been able to manage P&L and revenues.

    “It is a 60-40 content share, 60 per cent of our content cost is picked up by ZEE and I think on an annual basis that will amount to at least about Rs 80 crore to 90 crore and the rest of the money that we spend on the apps has to be made by us directly through our exclusive live and show that exploit and as a result of that we hope to breakeven between 36 to 48 months from our launch,” the management states.

    The management is very confident that its direct subscription revenues are doubling every year. At the closing of this financial year, it estimates the figure to stand well above Rs 31 crore to 32 crore . It is also expecting to double direct subscription revenues next year as well. Moreover, the two-year  ZEE partnership will also span most of the next financial year leaking into the year after.

    “We want to be the only OTT platform in the country that has broken even that too with a considerable base of originally-produced shows. We are now the number one store house of originally produced Hindi content in country and we will also demonstrate that we are able to market our shows exclusively better than everybody else because our efficiencies are better. We are achieving this at a much lower marketing spend than the competition,” the management says.

    “That is reflected in the fact that we are consistently in the top four gross billing OTT apps on the Android and the iOS web store pick any month in the last 12 months we will always be in the top four, though our rate to the consumer is probably one of the lowest it is Rs 100 for three months and Rs 300 for a year."

    "What we are therefore setting to establish is that there is a mass market, which we are successfully able to target and operate a profitable OTT business with the topline of about Rs 150 crore to Rs 200 crore in the coming two financials,” it adds.

  • Shahabuddin Shaikh joins ALTBalaji as CTO

    Shahabuddin Shaikh joins ALTBalaji as CTO

    MUMBAI: ALTBalaji has appointed Shahabuddin Shaikh as the chief technology officer (CTO). In his new role, he will be responsible for designing a strong tech-driven ecosystem that seamlessly aligns with the brand’s tech vision and leading their overall technology transformation goals.  Shaikh will directly report to ALTBalaji CEO and Balaji Telefilms Group COO Nachiket Pantvaidya.

    With an experience of 20 years in the technology infrastructure, Shaikh’s expertise lies in envisioning solutions that propel product development. His in-depth knowledge of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, internet of things, and big data, among others, will help in expanding company growth. Prior to this, he has worked with brands like Vuclip Pvt Ltd , Mauj Mobile, Orios Ltd, Informatic Systems, among others.

    Shaikh launched the VIU app to support 21 million active user base and generate 2.3 billion video minutes a month with an increase in revenue by 2.5 million. During his stint with Mauj Mobile, he was responsible for expanding and stabilising growing MVAS content management platforms.

    Pantvaidya said: “We at ALTBalaji have been working towards building a strong application that’s supported by a talented team and flourishing technology. Shahabuddin has an impeccable record of building and aligning technology organisations with business objectives to achieve results. We welcome him to our organisation.”

    Shaikh said: “I am elated to be undertaking a new responsibility with a leading OTT brand like ALTBalaji. I look forward to working towards building a more seamless and engaging experience for the customers while meeting brand’s tech needs.”  

  • ALTBalaji’s ‘Gandii Baat’ enjoys popularity across demographics

    ALTBalaji’s ‘Gandii Baat’ enjoys popularity across demographics

    MUMBAI: ALT Balaji's  highly viewed show Gandii Baat enjoys a tremendous fan base for its projection of stories revolving around the harsh realities of the society, mental taboos in regards to sexual orientations and many more relevant issues.

    Its fourth season being launched in less than two years of its inaugural season is proof of its popularity and how immensely it is being accepted by the audiences throughout the globe. To be precise, the web-series attracted 22 per cent views from global audiences whereas the show earned a place in the heart of the Indian audience with a staggering 78 per cent of views coming from this respective demographic, as per company data. Its controversial content has struck a chord with the ladies as well, with an unprecedented 24 per cent of the viewership pie belonging to women, a number that grows by 10 per cent with every season.

    Gandii Baat is one of ALTBalaji’s most-watched and appreciated series which has, in no time, created many milestones. Offering viewers content that is not only new but also engaging and intriguing, the show has witnessed a massive completion rate of 78 per cent across seasons. Apart from highlighting the major issues which are usually brushed under the carpet, Gandii Baat breaks the common notion that the show is perceived only by people coming from a lower-middle-class background. Viewers with high-end devices (Apple+ Connected devices) who watch Gandii Baat are 18.5 per cent and this number has seen an 8 per cent incremental growth each season.

    While ALTBalaji caters to audiences across ages, viewership figures further reveal that Gandii Baat audience base comprises of 86 per cent in the 18-35 years age bracket that strongly translates into an audience that is young, savvy and has a higher wallet share.

    ALTBalaji Balaji telefilms and CEO group CEO Nachiket Pantvaidya said, “Exceeding expectations of the entire team as well as audiences around the world, the series has gone on earn such a massive fan following that today, if there is a name synonymous with erotic web content, it would have to be Gandii Baat. Pushing the envelope in every season, the core in each of our stories is leaving a lot of room for one's imagination. Enjoyed by audiences around the globe, both young and old, as we offer a new take with every season by depicting the myths and beliefs of rural India, we shall continue to do so and present content in a bolder avatar with a fresh take on situations.”

    ALT Balaji yet again with its show Gandii Baat has managed to break the stereotypes while highlighting the major issue prevailing in the country which is unaddressed.

  • Were you writing off ALTBalaji’s Gandii Baat? Here’s why you should not!

    Were you writing off ALTBalaji’s Gandii Baat? Here’s why you should not!

    MUMBAI: ALTBalaji, India’s leading homegrown OTT platform, once again proves that no one knows Indian audiences better. On the back of some highly engaging mass content, the OTT platform is once again making headlines for one of its most spoken about originals, Gandii Baat. The highly-watched web-series has earned a cult following amongst the masses for its depiction of stories revolving around the reality of social stigmas and mental taboos associated with sexual preferences inspired by incidents from the heartland of the country. Its 4th season, done in association with ZEE5, was launched in less than 2 years of its inaugural season and is testimony to its popularity and how largely the show is being consumed by the audiences across the globe. To be precise, the web-series attracted 22% views from global audiences whereas the show earned a place in the heart of the Indian audience with a staggering 78% of views coming from this respective demographic. Its controversial content has struck a chord with the ladies as well, with an unprecedented 24% of the viewership pie belonging to women, a number that grows by 10% with every season.

    The web series is one of the ALTBalaji’s most-watched and appreciated series which has, in no time, created many milestones. Offering viewers content that is not only new but also engaging and intriguing novel, the show has witnessed a massive completion rate of 78% across seasons. Apart from talking openly about the issues which are brushed under the carpet often, Gandii Baat breaks another perception that the show is only consumed by people coming from a lower middle-class background. Viewers with high-end devices (Apple+ Connected devices) who watch Gandii Baat are 18.5% and this number has seen an 8% incremental growth each season. 

    While ALTBalaji caters to audiences across ages, viewership figures further reveal that Gandii Baat audience base comprises of 86% in the 18-35 years age bracket that strongly translates into audience that is young, savvy and has a higher wallet share.

    Nachiket Pantvaidya, Group CEO, Balaji Telefilms and CEO, ALTBalaji said,  “Exceeding expectations of the entire team as well as audiences around the world, the series has gone on earn such a massive fan following that today, if there is a name synonymous with erotic web content, it would have to be Gandii Baat. Pushing the envelope in every season, the core in each of our stories is leaving a lot of room for one's imagination. Enjoyed by audiences around the globe, both young and old, as we offer a new take with every season by depicting the myths and beliefs of rural India, we shall continue to do so and present content in a bolder avatar with a fresh take on situations.”

    The franchise, Gandii Baat has been breaking stereotypes while highlighting certain facts and topics which no one bothers to address. The show looks at all such taboos pertaining to sexuality, desire, consent from a modern lens while bringing the flavour of rural India. 

  • Higher investment in content & tech, innovative marketing strategy led OTT industry in 2019

    Higher investment in content & tech, innovative marketing strategy led OTT industry in 2019

    MUMBAI: The over-the-top (OTT) market in India turned more saturated in 2019. To make a dent in the cluttered space, the contenders have significantly upped their game with a greater amount of high-quality original content, incorporating new technologies and increasing marketing spend.

    As per EY and FIICI 2019 report – ‘A Billion Screens of Opportunity,’ the OTT sector in India grew by a whopping 59 per cent in FY2019, growing from Rs 13.5 billion in 2018 to Rs 17 billion in 2019. The sector is estimated to reach Rs 24 billion by 2021.

    How OTT platforms significantly upped investment in content and technology

    While ZEE5 has been bullish on producing original content since the beginning among the domestic OTT platforms, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) CEO Punit Goenka said that the financial year FY 2019-20 will be the year of peak investment for its video on demand (VoD) platform. Throughout the year, ZEE5 launched over 80 originals across languages in the calendar year 2019. In this over-competitive market, ZEE5 stands ahead of SonyLIV by 1.7x, approximately 5-6 times ahead of each the platforms – MX Player, Amazon Prime Video, VOOT and 14x of Hotstar.

    Along with launching a number of Bollywood-starring web-series, bringing back popular franchises in Hindi, the platform had at least one original web series come out in six different languages each month on an average in regional languages including Marathi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil. As Indian audiences have always been an avid follower of movies, the platform strengthened the movie library as well. While the platform already boasts of over 20 original direct to digital films, it also made Bollywood hits like URI: The Surgical Strike, Dream Girl, Simmba, Sonchiriya, Kedarnath, PADMAN, Veere Di Wedding, Mulk, Parmanu, The Tashkent Files, The Accidental Prime Minister, Judgemental Hai Kya available for its users.

    After banking on catch-up and sports content for a long time, the leader in the Indian OTT pack, Star India’s Hotstar also decided to invest in premium original content. Reportedly, Hotstar jumped onto the bandwagon with a Rs 120 crore investment plan. The primary reason to launch originals is to convert users into paid subscribers in the face of increasing competition. Hitherto, adapting successful foreign shows by infusing local flavours had been an important aspect of Hotstar’s strategy but it is certain that the platform is not going to limit itself to adaptations.

    The traditional player Shemaroo also entered the OTT market in 2019 with its new platform ShemarooMe. The platform launched a host of new and exciting properties to keep the audiences entertained throughout the year including Shemaroo Bollywood Premiere, Shemaroo Comedy Studio, Shemaroo Bhakti Studio, Komal Nahta…aur ek Kahani, Mantlya Manat, etc.

    Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd COO Kranti Gada said that ShemarooMe’s Bollywood Premiere, the offering that showcases World Digital Premiere of critically acclaimed movies every Friday, was launched in September 2019 and has received positive response from not only the audiences but also the actors and the teams involved in the making of the films.

    “Shemaroo has seen a loyal base of audience as well as manifold growth with the increase of more varied content. Content is the only factor that lures viewers to any OTT platform or deters them,” Gada added.

    Times Internet’s MX Player, which entered the market in February 2019 after re-invention, also created a buzz with originals like Hello Mini, Immature, CheeseCake, Thinkistaa and Queen. International streaming giants are also looking at rich local content library to make their games stronger in India. Reportedly, Amazon Prime Video is looking to double its original content offering for India.

    At the same time, Netflix chairman and CEO Reed Hastings recently said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit that the company is looking to invest Rs 3,000 crore for original content in India this year and the next. He also added the top-performing Netflix shows from India include Sacred Games, Little Things, and Delhi Crime. He highlighted Mighty Little Bheem, since its release in 2019, has been watched by 27 million households around the world, including in Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. Since launching here four years ago, Netflix has licensed hundreds of Indian films and shows, and invested in over 40 originals.

    According to a MediaPartnersAsia report in July 2019, ZEE5 holds 44 per cent, Amazon Prime Video holds 17 per cent, Netflix holds 11 per cent, SonyLIV holds 10 per cent, VOOT and Hotstar hold 9 per cent each of the cumulative original content hours for OTT in India.

    To retain users and advertisers on the platforms, all the major platforms highly emphasised on better user experience. The way ZEE5 made its content strategy stronger, it made significant investment in technology too. The platform launched a one-of-its-kind industry-defining ad-suite, the ad:tech solutions for advertisers. The offering hosts tools likeAmpli5, Ad-vault, Infonomix, PLAY5, Wishbox.

    ShemarooMe entered into an in-app travel partnership with ixigo, app in app partnership with Dainik Bhaskar, and made the platform available on Roku. According to Gada, the availability of the channel on Roku devices further strengthened ShemarooMe’s presence in the US market by offering its vast library of Bollywood and regional language content to the Indian diaspora residing in the US while it did a global launch after seven months of its domestic launch.

    “2019 for the digital streaming industry was a revolution with multiple shows being launched, and many platforms experimenting with new technologies and new business models. 2019 also saw the rise of gamification for the non – fiction shows that were tried as a successful experiment with at least two other platforms. However, they have been for network-related apps with shows being broadcast simultaneously on television. The crux lies in independent apps adopting this to engage audiences with their Original content as a scalable model. It also saw the OTT platforms experimenting with influencer marketing, AI and VR filters, microbloggers, VR innovations, extensive usage of UGC apps etc,”  ALTBalaji senior VP and head marketing  Divya Dixit said.

    In a recent interview withIndiantelevision.com, MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said that the platform has invested a lot of money on video compression which means that the amount of video the platform can deliver in 1GB data is much more than others. Bedi added that buffering or latency is much lower on the platform which translates into lower cost for the user and the platform. He also added that the platform has also been investing a lot in recommendation systems.

    PwC, in its 2019 annual report – ‘Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2019-2023,’ estimated that the Indian OTT market will grow to Rs 11,976 crore by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 21.8 per cent. During that period, India is also slated to be the eight biggest OTT market overtaking South Korea.

    How streamers innovated the marketing strategy

    “All the OTTs in India are suffering from a similar issue which is to get the audience to pay wholeheartedly for content. On top of that, very few OTTs have been able to create attractive content. People have also followed the GEC mantra in OTT advertising. Basically, you know like take a show and cluster it across. The most remarkable thing is the absence of remarkability,” McCann Worldgroup vice chairman and managing director Partha Sinha said.

    ZEE5 India SVOD marketing head Reilly Rebello said OTT platforms made communication a lot more contextual while talking about marketing trends in 2019. He added that even radio and outdoor were very contextual to location and geography this year. Moreover, OTT platforms are going on new social media platforms like TikTok, ShareChat, Helo.

    “The third one was that we saw a lot of OTT players going in the outdoor space. We did a lot of outdoor advertising in the first half of the year and it became noticeably larger in the second half of the year. We saw a lot of video advertising happening which was quite a move away from static poster-driven advertising. We emphasised on video and it was not only TV but also social media, YouTube and other OTT platforms,” Rebello added.

    “With each show the challenge is to break the mould and do something new appealing to the audience, Maybe that’s why the skyline of cities is dominated by OTT platforms. Billboards are prima facie an ‘announcement medium’ providing prominence across prime locations in target markets. It helps the vast audience pool notice and register a particular campaign, thereby increasing recall. However, from a show perspective, there are always several factors involved, largely the celeb value, the genre of the show etc. Marketing the show has science in its core element, in a never-seen-before manner. It lies perfectly in sync with adopting new-age technology that appeals to our target audience. If it’s an innovation hoarding, then it doesn’t just grab eyeballs, but registers in the minds of the audience owing to its novel concept,” ALTBalaji’s Dixit added.

    Shemaroo’s Gada commented that with bite-sized video content and emergence of regional social media apps gaining popularity, the industry eventually saw influencers and celebrities joining the bandwagon thereby driving adverting dollars to these new-age platforms.

    Rebello noted that ZEE5 changed the whole advertising game to be more video-focused as people are watching a lot more video. He also added that the measure has given a huge upside in terms of subscription and brand association.

    “We tried making things a lot more contextual. For example in our outdoor hoardings for Rangbaaz every line which has been there was made contextual to the location of the city. We got a lot of good feedback taking this approach. The dialogues are getting more popular. We also started our TikTok presence,” he added on ZEE5’s marketing initiatives.

    Talking about marketing mix, Rebello said that TV and digital hold equal importance as TV still gives most reach. Followed by TV and digital, outdoor and radio gets importance as those two mediums help in branding. He also emphasised on the importance of social media for the overall marketing strategy.

    “We saw many interesting campaigns by McDonalds and Burger King taking on each other through advertisements. Interestingly,  we also saw another form of this back home in India  when Shemaroo seized the opportunity of an ongoing “Masala Nahi Toh Mazaa Nahi’ campaign of Society Tea and placed their OOH hoarding right below the Society Tea hoarding with a continued conversation to say, ‘Toh Masala Chai ke Saath Ek Masala Movie ho Jaye? A unique way to complement each brand’s strength to woo audiences and strike a relevant connection seems natural and organic,” Gada added.

  • ALTBalaji ends 2019 with 4x growth in direct subscriber base

    ALTBalaji ends 2019 with 4x growth in direct subscriber base

    MUMBAI: Subscription-based video streaming platform ALTBalaji has emerged as the fastest-growing over-the-top platform with four-fold growth in the direct subscriber base in 2019.

    ALTBalaji has launched 23 originals this year and garnered over 33 million subscriptions to date. It has been one of the top 3 highest-grossing apps with a library of 53 exclusive originals.

    ALTBalaji chief executive officer and Balaji Telefilms Group chief operation officer Nachiket Pantvaidya said, “2019 has been a phenomenal year for us both in terms of content and subscribers growth. We have registered 4X growth in our direct subscriber-base and we will clock revenue between Rs 80-100 crore.”

    He said, “The aim is to tap the next billion users coming onto the internet by enabling easy and seamless access to the content they want to watch, wherever they want to watch and whenever they want to watch – at no extra cost to the subscriber. On the back of successful 2019, we are hopeful that ALTBalaji will break even in 2020-21.”

    ALTBalaji’s will launch 25-30 more shows in the year 2020. Some of the interesting shows for 2020 are already in the pipeline.

    Cartel, Apharan 2, Code M, Mentalhood, It happened in Calcutta, Dil Hi Toh Hai S3, Class of 2020, Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain Season 3, Baarish 2, Dev DD 2, Haq Se 2, Virgin Bhaskar 2, Gandii Baat 4 and Mumbhai among many others are some of the originals scheduled for next year.

    As OTT platforms are changing the showbiz game, Bollywood and television actors such as Sharman Joshi, Tusshar Kapoor, Mallika Sherawat, Isha Koppikar, Sagarika Ghatge, Rajeev Khandelwal, Divyanka Tripathi, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Karan Singh Grover among others made their grand debut in the web space through ALTBalaji Originals.

    ALTBalaji is also working towards strengthening its UI/UX for a seamless experience by focusing on aspects like language interface, voice search, targeted retention strategies, quick onboarding, convenient payment gateways, and tailored recommendations, a press statement said.

    Apart from its strong content library, ALTBalaji has also launched some clutter-breaking and tech-driven innovations like ‘Breast Buffer’ to create consumer awareness against Breast Cancer.

    Breast Buffer was nominated in Cannes Lions as one of the brilliant uses of technology by media as well as was applauded by subscribers, media, influencers, critics and celebrities alike.

    Similarly, the OTT platform also brought its most acclaimed series Apharan to Alexa, enabling users to now listen to dialogues, the trailer, the song and other exclusive content from this cult show.

  • ALTBalaji and ZEE5 launch first Stereoscopic 3D 360 VR narrative film with ‘Ragini MMS Returns Season 2’

    ALTBalaji and ZEE5 launch first Stereoscopic 3D 360 VR narrative film with ‘Ragini MMS Returns Season 2’

    MUMBAI: ALTBalaji and ZEE5, two of India’s leading homegrown platforms, have imprinted their mark, by being the first in the Indian OTT space to create an interactive, and engaging VR  experience. Taking innovation, a notch higher, the makers introduced an industry-first Stereoscopic 3D 360 VIRTUAL REALITY narrative film at the recent trailer launch event of their upcoming horrex – Ragini MMS Returns Season 2. The specially curated 3D VR narrative from the series presented a surreal experience for the audience’ present at the event.  

    Audiences were in for an incredible visual treat as they were given VR headsets that immediately transported them to the terrifying yet sensual world of Ragini. Experiencing interesting glimpses from the series in an up close & personal fashion, the 10-minute long VR film entertained some and offered a spine-chilling experience to others. The story begins with Meena Sharma played by Sunny Leone, going to a villa and things start to slip out of hand on the first night itself when she senses something is wrong with the place. It also gives a sneak peek into the world of Ragini Shroff, a final year student played by Divya Agarwal. As her closest friend, Varsha is getting married; she goes on an all-girls trip with her friends to celebrate a bachelorette weekend.

    Commenting on this, ALTBalaji Sr. VP and Head Marketing Divya Dixit says, “VR is one of those emerging technologies that is leading the way for interesting and innovative storytelling formats. More than being an extension of entertainment, VR storytelling is unique as it creates exceptional immersive worlds and soundscapes. Even though it is still at its nascent stage, we are extremely proud to become the first OTT platform to adopt this sophisticated technology. We seek to be pioneers in using virtual reality in mainstream entertainment.” 

    Ambisonics VR Labs founder Shatadru Sarkar, the Studio that created the VR film said "We are thrilled to have worked with ALTBalaji on bringing the Ragini MMS franchise to life in virtual reality. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first stereoscopic 3D 360 VR film out of India, and we hope ALT's foray into the immersive media space brings more attention to this new format. We truly believe that this is the next 'game changing' innovation in the increasingly crowded OTT space, and an evolution in consumer experience, from story-telling to story-living." 

    Clyde DeSouza, who directed the VR film added, "With this VR film adaptation of its hit series, ALTBalaji has shown foresight in introducing Virtual Reality filmed entertainment to mainstream OTT, setting the stage for Immersive media created in India."

  • OTT & streamers 2019: Full steam ahead!

    OTT & streamers 2019: Full steam ahead!

    MUMBAI: If 2018 was big for the over-the-top (OTT) platforms, 2019 was even bigger for the ecosystem. Existing platforms pumped in in even more money into content creation, distribution and customer acquisition even as new players made a grand entry. While in the previous year, the focus was just on content creation, 2019 was about course correction, forging partnerships, striking distribution deals, entering new segments, innovating and getting to know the consumer better. Not just for the homegrown players but for the big international ones as well.

    2019 was the year when indiantelevision.com evolved its Vidnet OTT confab into one which offered conferences, training and masterclasses from some of the creators of successful originals.

    New kids on the block:

    Maybe a little late in the day, but a few platforms started their journey this year and created a buzz in the market. In February 2019, Times Internet launched a new avatar of its one of the most ambitious bets, MX Player. To grab a bigger slice of the ambitious video streaming market, the OTT platform commenced its play with five MX Original Series. Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd, one of the legacy players, which owns a rich content library, forayed into the space around the same time. However, Shemaroo banked on its existing content for ShemarooMe rather than burning cash for original content. But while MX Player went totally advertising-led, ShemarooMe took the freemium route.  

    Later in the second half of the calendar year, IN10 Media, a diversified vertical of infotainment channel Epic TV launched a new subscription-based documentary streaming platform DocuBay. The last quarter witnessed another major announcement – the launch of VOOT Kids from the house of Viacom18 which has already established a significant digital play with VOOT.  Unlike its main OTT platform, Viacom18 is relying on subscription for the kids’ platform right from the get-go. 

    Moreover, the year was equally eventful in the global OTT market as well. Tech giant Apple forayed deeper into streaming with the launch of its subscription-based video streaming service Apple TV+ in November. A few days later, Walt Disney launched its much-awaited streaming service Disney+ at a very reasonable sticker price. While the former made its streaming service available in India at Rs 99 per month, what the Star Disney combine will do with Disney+ in India has to still to be worked out, considering the huge popularity of Hotstar.

    More investment in original content:

    Along with new OTT platforms entering the market, the existing platforms also increased their investments in original content.  ZEE5 from Zee Entertainment Enterprises spent the year increasing its focus on large-scale originals, franchises, digital original films and regional language shows even as it has already developed a robust original content library across languages.

    Among  the shows that struck a chord with viewers include: Rangbaaz, which was launched late 2018 soared in 2019. The Kunal Khemu-starring BP Singh-produced Abhay too made its mark after being launched in early 2019. Kaafir – an original from Siddharth Malhotra’s Alchemy Films – too was much talked about. Zeel took its successful TV show Jamai Raaja to Zee5 in the shape of Jamai 2.0 during the year.

    After banking on catch-up and sports content for a long time,  Star India’s Hotstar also decided to invest in premium original content. Reportedly, Hotstar jumped onto the bandwagon with a Rs 120 crore investment plan. The primary reason to launch originals is to convert users into paid subscribers in the face of increasing competition. Hitherto, adapting successful foreign shows by infusing local flavours had been an important aspect of Hotstar’s strategy but it is certain that the platform is not going to limit itself to adaptations.

    Another player with deep pockets, Amazon Prime Video, also scaled up its local content offering along with a stellar roster of movies. With highly acclaimed originals like Made in Heaven, The Family Man, the OTT platform has already attracted enough user attention. Moreover, the second seasons of earlier hits are also in pipeline.

    Amazon Prime Video’s international rival has gradually evolved its investment in India – Netflix CEO Reed Hastings in his latest visit revealed that it is committing Rs 3000 crore in this year and next for Indian content.

    Other homegrown players like VOOT, SonyLIV also realigning their focus on original content as they don’t have significant play in the segment.

    Innovation with pricing:

    The streamers are not only experimenting with content to make build consumer love, but they are also jiggling around with pricing  in order to find the sweet spot which appeals to consumers. Rather than directly slashing prices, the streaming platforms have opted for sachet pricing.

    All the major players – Hotstar, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, ZEE5, SonyLIV followed this strategy.

    Hotstar launched a Hotstar VIP pack at Rs 365 a year, much lower than its premium service which is priced at Rs 999 per year. SonyLIV has already tested a weekly subscription package priced at Rs 29 only. While ZEE5 has  launched special packages in languages including Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, it is looking at a mobile-only plan as well.

    Even ALTBalaji is also likely to consider having sachet pricing in the next two years.

    Most importantly, Netflix in an industry-first move launched a mobile-only pack in India priced at Rs 199. Maybe the myth that Indian consumers are shy to pay for content has been broken but the players have also realised Indian consumers are value-conscious.

    Experimenting with new partnerships:

    At the same time when the platforms were trying to differentiate in the crowded space, they also forged interesting partnerships. The new entrant MX Player stitched content tie-ups with Sony Liv, Arré and Hoichoi. Hotstar did a deal with Hooq to make its Hollywood offering stronger. But the most interesting one was the betrothal announcement between ZEE5 and Alt Balaji. It went way beyond content syndication – more towards content sharing, an arrangement that includes co-creation of a number of premium originals which will be available to subscribers of both the platforms.

    Although telco-partnerships have proved to be helpful for OTT platforms, the profitability of platform-to-platform alliances in the long-run yet remains to be tested.

    Key people movements:

    Along with changes in business plans, content strategy, the OTT platforms reshuffled their teams in 2019 as well. Netflix continued expanding its Indian team with TV and streaming veterans being hired locally,  including the appointment of Voot content head Monika Shergill, and the BBC’s Myleeta Aga. VOOT on its part recruited its new COO Gourav Rakshit from Shaadi.com keeping its subscription business in mind. After Uday Sodhi quit, SPNI handed the reins of SonyLiv to television vet Danish Khan. Ekta Kapoor-led ALTBalaji has seen high profile exits as CEO Sunil Lulla and COO Sunil Nair quit the organisation this year.

    2019 was exciting for the OTT platforms undoubtedly. The cloud of content regulation over the platforms also seems to be clear as the government has reportedly agreed to allow the streamers to self regulate.

    But a few of the old issues like lack of OTT measurement systems, lower broadband penetration, content piracy are still proving bothersome.

    In addition to that, the global and Indian economic crises, a hike in telecom and data tariffs may prove a dampener for the industry, if not in the long-term, at least for the first half of the next calendar year.

    So the challenges will continue to dog the streamers as they plod on to conquer a nation’s TV junkies.