ITV

Tag: Content

  • Josh partners with Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle TV to explore international content

    Josh partners with Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle TV to explore international content

    Mumbai: Josh, India’s fastest-growing and most engaged short-video app has entered into a one-year strategic partnership with Deutsche Welle, popularly known as DW, Germany’s leading international broadcaster to provide high-quality content to users on Josh in an engaging short-video format. Through this partnership, DW aims to bolster its reach across Bharat with news and informational content, leveraging the Bharat-centric platform that Josh is.

    Speaking on the partnership, Josh’s Head of Creator and Content Ecosystem Sunder Venketraman said, “We are looking forward to our partnership with DW TV, as we strive to leverage Josh’s reach and deep engagement with Bharat to bring to the users of Bharat news and infotainment from a global perspective. Through this partnership, we aim at empowering our users with the knowledge and global awareness using engaging formats and narratives while also ensuring to meet the local language content needs of our audience.”

    Commenting on the collaboration, DW’s Distribution Manager – DW in Asia Daniel Schulz and DW Distribution Representative for India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, Jaya Oberoi said: “At Deutsche Welle, we aim to produce versatile content which is not only entertaining and educative but a conversation starter. Our partnership with Josh presents us with a unique opportunity to connect to a much younger and vibrant audience in India. The timing couldn’t be better as we are planning to expand our bouquet on regional languages with DW’s flagship programs in the coming months. We are excited to be joining hands with Josh, in our journey to distribute DW videos to the heart of India.

    As DW looks at significantly expanding its presence in India, the partnership with Josh enables DW to engage more meaningfully through their content thus making news more informative and engaging. The collaboration further elevates the objectives of both brands as they aim to cater to the demand for high-quality infotainment content in a format that is snackable and engaging while also meeting the local language needs of the users. The international content from DW will be available to users in English and Hindi.

    DW will be bringing information and content on diverse topics such as current affairs, climate change, history, health, and unique human interest among others, from around the world to users on Josh. 

  • Funskool acquires licence to manufacture Chhota Bheem

    Funskool acquires licence to manufacture Chhota Bheem

    Mumbai: Indian domestic toy manufacturer Funskool India has acquired the licence to manufacture and distribute the action figure Chhota Bheem and other seven characters from the famed cartoon animation series.

    Funskool has obtained the licence to launch the series of action figures from Green Gold Licensing & Merchandising India.

    Green Gold Animation, which creates original Indian animation content has over the years transcended and established itself in licensing and merchandising, movie production and distribution, digital business, retail stores and events.

    The parties state that this move proves that India is moving towards being “Atma Nirbhar” in manufacturing of quality toys. Funskool said that it has been leading the way in pro-actively and consciously choosing to promote the “Make-In-India” programme and the acquisition of Chhota Bheem & Friends has been a step in the right direction.

    Funskool India CEO R Jeswant said, “We are excited to add Chhota Bheem to our well established manufacturing and distribution capabilities. Our existing scale and distribution network establishes an ideal platform to achieve the full potential of Chhota Bheem in India and will address the significant unmet needs of the portfolio of products.”

    Green Gold Animation executive director & COO Samir Jain said, “When it comes to manufacturing high quality and toxin free toys for children, there is no substitute for Funskool in India. We are immensely pleased with licensing Funskool India with manufacturing and distributing Chhota Bheem and another seven action figures. With its expansive distribution network prowess, we are confident that Chhota Bheem Action figures will reach to every child in the country.”

  • Marketers underspending in media campaigns affecting ROI: Nielsen report

    Marketers underspending in media campaigns affecting ROI: Nielsen report

    Mumbai: Nielsen released its first-ever ROI report, which identified gaps in marketers’ budgets, channels and media strategies that are compromising returns on investment (ROI) on media plans. The global report reveals data and delivers insights on what drives returns on ad spends, how to measure the returns, and how to improve on the metrics brands already have, with content unique to advertiser, agency, and publisher audiences.

    According to the report, about half of marketers are not spending enough in a channel to get maximum ROI. While a poor ROI might cause brands to pull back on spending, Nielsen found that spend often needs to be higher to break through and drive returns. Nielsen’s “50-50-50 gap” states that while 50 per cent of media plans are underinvested by a median of 50 per cent, ROI can be improved 50 per cent with the ideal budget.

    Beyond budgeting, the ROI report delivers key insights and recommendations to deliver higher ROI across multiple marketing areas including:

    ● Full funnel marketing: It’s rare for channels to deliver above average returns for both brand and sales outcomes, with 36 per cent of media channels faring above average on both revenue and brand metrics. To grow ROI, brands should pursue a balanced strategy for both upper and lower funnel initiatives. Nielsen found that adding upper funnel marketing to existing lower and mid funnel marketing can grow overall ROI by 13-70 per cent.

    ● Emerging media: It’s difficult for brands to spend big amounts without proof that the new media works, but spending small amounts can make it hard to see if the media is working. Nielsen found that podcast ads, influencer marketing and branded content can deliver over 70 per cent in aided brand recall, and that influencer marketing ROI is comparable to ROI from mainstream media.

    ● Ad sales growth strategy: Ultimately, ROI will inform publisher pricing power. Publishers are not just competing against others in their channel, but also against other channels, so comparing channel ROIs can help set pricing strategy. The ROI report uncovered that social media delivers 1.7x the ROI of TV, yet social gets less than one-third of TV ad budgets.

    ● Audience measurement: Campaigns with strong on-target reach deliver better sales outcomes. However, only 63 per cent of ads across desktop and mobile are on-target for age and gender in the US, meaning that on the channels with the most exhaustive data coverage and quality, over one third of ad spend is off-target. To capitalise on opportunity and drive impact, advertisers should prioritise measurement solutions that cover all platforms and devices, with near-real-time insights. 

    “Nielsen’s 2022 ROI report serves as a guide for brands, agencies and publishers. In a time when there are more channels than ever to reach desired audiences, it’s critical that insights on ROI are attainable and easy to understand,” said Nielsen vice president, media & advertiser analytics Imran Hirani. “Brands can’t afford to waste valuable ads on the wrong audiences. By investing wisely and having a balanced strategy of both upper-funnel and lower-funnel initiatives, brands can reach the right audiences and maximise their ROI.” 

    This is the first ROI report produced by Nielsen. The ROI report findings were generated by Nielsen using a wide range of measurement methods including marketing mix models, brand impact studies, marketing plans and expenditure data, attribution studies, and Ad ratings collected in recent years. In most cases, Nielsen’s findings were organised into normative databases or meta-analyses across a sample of studies to produce insights that are representative of Nielsen’s experience, providing marketers, agencies and media sellers a more complete view of media effectiveness compared to a single company drawing from its own experience.

    Check the Full Report here: https://global.nielsen.com/insights/2022/roi-report/

  • Taboola and Jagran ink two-year exclusive partnership

    Taboola and Jagran ink two-year exclusive partnership

    Mumbai: Taboola, which powers recommendations for the open web, helping people discover things they may like, on Wednesday announced a two-year partnership with a multi-lingual news platform Jagran New Media. Under the partnership, Taboola will become the renowned publisher’s exclusive content recommendation partner to amplify its audience engagement and increase revenue growth.

    With Taboola’s discovery platform and suite of products, Jagran New Media will enable their 91.48 million Hindi, English and Punjabi language users with content recommendations across desktop, tablet, and mobile web for increased reader engagement.

    Jagran will leverage Taboola newsroom to empower its editorial team with content performance in real time and help them with actionable insights from Taboola’s network to create relevant content for its readers. Moreover, Taboola News will enable Jagran to feature its content and acquire new readers through exclusive touchpoints on devices beyond the open web. Jagran will also leverage Taboola feed, a vertical-scrolling feed experience similar to social networks that allow its users to access numerous content they enjoy, including articles and videos. Using Taboola video, Jagran will provide a non-intrusive and in-feed video experience to its audience and encourage visitors to stay on the site longer by providing targeted and relevant content.

    Jagran New Media CEO Bharat Gupta said, “Jagran New Media has been at the forefront of delivering news to a variety of audiences across regions and languages in order to maintain its leadership position among the top 10 news and information publishers in India.  Our partnership with Taboola holds great value, as it will enable us to tap the potential of their technology expertise for improved product experience and grow our digital audiences across languages. We are certain that the partnership will enable us to attain growth in terms of user engagement, retention, and revenue.”

    Jagran New Media chief revenue officer Gaurav Arora said, “It gives us immense pleasure to announce our partnership with Taboola. With their technology expertise, innovations, and offerings, we are confident that it will enable us to increase engagement for our growing audiences across categories. We are excited about the partnership and look forward to their valued association to drive value for our readers and explore new frontiers of revenue growth.”

    Data from Taboola newsroom identifies topics and news categories that have seen an increase in page view traffic. The insights help publishers create user friendly content and improve website engagement.

  • HBO Max to stop original content creation in the Nordics, Central Europe, the Netherlands & Turkey

    HBO Max to stop original content creation in the Nordics, Central Europe, the Netherlands & Turkey

    MUMBAI: Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is putting a stop to original productions by its streaming service HBO Max in the Nordics, Central Europe, the Netherlands and Turkey.

    In a statement, the company said, “As we continue to work on combining HBO Max and Discovery+ into one global streaming service showcasing the breadth of content across Warner Bros. Discovery, we are reviewing our current content proposition on the existing services.”

    “As part of this process, we have decided to remove a limited amount of original programming from HBO Max, as well as ceasing our original programming efforts for HBO Max in the Nordics and Central Europe. We have also ceased our nascent development activities in the newer territories of Netherlands and Turkey, which had commenced over the past year,” it stated.

    “Our commitment to these markets has not changed. We will continue to commission local content for Warner Bros. Discovery’s linear networks in these regions and we remain substantial acquirers of local third-party content for use on our streaming services,” the company statement added.

  • GUEST ARTICLE: Audience insights empower OTT businesses to gain competitive advantage

    GUEST ARTICLE: Audience insights empower OTT businesses to gain competitive advantage

    Mumbai: India is witnessing a monumental shift in the consumption of entertainment with the emergence of OTT platforms dominating traditional television and big screens. The heightened demand to access quality content conveniently, has led digital video content to rise in popularity. According to a recent report by CII and BCG, between 2019 to 2022, India noticed a growth of only two per cent in the adoption of TV services by households, but a 51 per cent rise in SVoD (subscription video on demand) services, in comparison. Additionally, given the exponential rise in internet access and the rapid developments in online video streaming platforms, India’s OTT streaming market is anticipated to become the sixth largest by 2024, as per the PwC report.

    This growth has resulted in tremendous opportunities for all OTT companies in the country, widening the business landscape for OTT players to grab adequate market share/outwit competition. To stay ahead of the curve, companies are increasingly looking for ways to deliver as per consumer’s appetite for entertainment and improve online video viewer growth.

    How can businesses identify their best content and uncover actionable audience behaviours across devices and geographies to track customer interest and engagement?

    Customer engagement is the primary driving force behind the SVoD ecosystem. SVoD providers in the space are largely emphasising on data to improve the end-user experience by providing recommendations based on customer preferences more effectively. However, companies need a more innovative way to bring their value to the market and set them apart from their competitors. By taking analytics to the next level, businesses can have a greater understanding of audience dynamics and customers’ lifetime value, build more successful personalisation, acquisition, and retention strategies from data.

    Another consideration is user experience. This is an important factor in getting viewers to subscribe to an OTT service. This, of course, is taking into account that the content is engaging, and the genre is of interest to the audience being targeted. The user friendliness of the app and its seamless flow needs to be taken into account while building an OTT service. If not, it can become a deterrent for consumers to subscribe, preventing audiences from seeing the curated content.

    Unlocking ‘Audience Insights’ to create ‘Measurable Results’

    Audience data is necessary to drive revenue and business value for OTT companies, particularly those operating with an SVoD model. By leveraging a robust intelligent video platform, businesses can collect and analyse data from multiple sources in a single, reliable, secure, and scalable platform to produce valuable insights. Bringing these data sources together enables business leaders to make data-driven decisions to optimise content, marketing, and product strategies. When video performance metrics are coupled with the audience insight data, the video works better for the business and for its revenue goals.

    With this approach, businesses can unlock new insights to achieve the much-needed edge in an increasingly saturated market. For example, in order to lower customer acquisition costs and churn rates, while maximising investment in content, companies should augment data metrics with content and subscriber insights to drive the following business strategies successfully:

    •  Focus on high lifetime value (LTV) customers – Net-new acquisition costs for OTT companies are high but audience insights can lower acquisition costs by identifying which marketing sources have the highest conversion rate and lowest cost per acquisition.
    •  Engage stalled trialists – Audience data can indicate which subscribers signed up for the service but have yet to stream a video. Such viewer insight can inform automated marketing emails to those viewers, prompting them to watch and engage.
    • Reduce churn of at-risk customers – Businesses can prevent churn by identifying which audience chorts are declining in their engagement and have a high likelihood of cancelling based on behavioural patterns in their viewer history.
    • Increase loyalty – Creating the most value for customers is critical to build loyalty. Businesses can leverage insights for targeted, personalised marketing campaigns to promote relevant  content based on viewer behaviour.
    • Optimise content investment – Content acquisition costs are a huge investment. Audience insights can help understand what content is driving the most subscribers and the most consumption. Businesses can further licence more similar content that bring additional value to its customers.
    • Promote the videos that will drive the most revenue – Using content performance intelligence can direct audiences to the content assets and maximise the revenue achieved through the acquisition of content.

    Winning in the era of transformation

    Marketers have taken advantage of lots of data points over the years: subscriptions, video views, customer payments, marketing touchpoints, video metadata, marketing channel investment. All of the metrics speak to critical business needs. However, in today’s fast-paced market, having the right data is no longer enough. Businesses need intelligence from that data. They need centralised solutions that not only house that data but translate it into measurable results. With an additional layer of machine learning on top of the data infrastructure, businesses can integrate diverse data sources together and apply advanced analytics to predict customer dynamics and fuel profitable growth.

    By aggregating the data, businesses can achieve a comprehensive, 360-degree view of the video performance tied to customer engagement. Aggregated intelligence is thus becoming a critical component for business success. This next evolution of audience and content insights are central to engage customers, monitise content, and prepare OTT businesses to make the most of the changing dynamics in the entertainment industry.

    The author is Brightcove managing director – sales, India & SAARC region Subhasish Gupta.

  • Netflix’s brand & content marketing lead Dipashree Das moves on

    Netflix’s brand & content marketing lead Dipashree Das moves on

    Mumbai: Netflix brand and content marketing lead Dipashree Das has moved on after a six-year association. Based out of Mumbai, she was a manager in Netflix’s marketing team focusing on film launches across India and Southeast Asia (SEA).

    “I recently made the decision to wrap up an almost 6-year stint at a place I have had the highest honour of calling my professional home, Netflix. Oh, and what a wild ride it has been! Netflix is a place like no other, it changes you, redefines you, bends you out of shape, makes you believe you in yourself in a measure you didn’t think possible. I learnt much more than I was ever able to contribute,” she said in a LinkedIn post.

    She also hinted that she has joined another entertainment company at an Asia Pacific and China (APAC) level role.

    Das was responsible for launching some of Netflix’ biggest successes in India including “Haseen Dilruba”, “Ludo” and Sacred Games season two.

    With over 18 years of experience, Das has been responsible for launching and architecting brands across India and SEA. Prior to Netflix, she was associated with Singtel. She has had stints at Channel NewsAsia, Oak3 Films, NDTV and Unilever.

  • TCH 2022: Will the 2020s decade drive an insatiable demand for content?

    TCH 2022: Will the 2020s decade drive an insatiable demand for content?

    Mumbai: The world is undergoing a fierce transformation courtesy the pandemic, streaming services, new content forms and formats and changing work and entertainment consumption habits. The excitement and expectation are palpable amongst those in content creation and distribution – TV, film, streaming, short format, audio series, games, metaverses and what have been to serve those emerging needs.

    The transformation leads to a lot of questions such as will the 2020s see a further revolution and exploitation of the opportunities the decade offers? Or will there be a cooling off? Will Indian content follow the trajectory of the Korean Wave? And how? Will the 2020s prove to be India’s roaring twenties?

    Finding and discussing the answers to these questions, the first panel of the sixth edition of Viacom18 presents Indiantelevision.com’s The Content Hub Summit 2022 saw an insightful debate on the theme ‘The Roaring Twenties: Repeating The Successful Era Of Content Explosion.’

    Moderated by Indiantelevision.com Group founder & CEO, the panel included Indian screenwriter, director and producer Alankrita Shrivastava, Indian Film Director Arif Ali, Pratilipi  head, IVM Podcasts Amit Doshi, Neela Films Productions founder and managing director Asit Kumarr Modi, Balaji Motion Pictures creative producer and executive vice president Ruchikaa Kapoor and Zee Studios chief business officer Shariq Patel.

    The industry event is co-powered by Applause Entertainment and IN10 Media Network. Aaj Tak Connected Stream is the association partner. Industry partners are Fremantle India, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, One Take Media, Pratilipi, Pocket FM and The Viral Fever. The Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association (IMPPA) is our community partner.

    A century ago, after the global pandemic known as the Spanish flu, much of the world enjoyed a boom period, later immortalised as the ‘Roaring Twenties’.Opening the discussion, ITV founder, CEO & editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari asked the panel, “Are we about to experience another Roaring Twenties?”

     Pratilipi head, IVM Podcasts Amit Doshi said, “we’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of what exactly kinds of content we’re going to see in future.”

    “Technological transformation over the last ten years has already unleashed creativity in this country and it is going to continue,” he added.

    Further, Wanvari asked Neela Films Productions founder and managing director Asit Kumarr Modi, who has successfully run over thirty-five hundred episodes of ‘Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma’, how he sees this remarkable show in the 2020s?

    “We started back in 2008 where technology was way behind than where we are today and we have seen it all changing over the years. Now, things are developing rapidly, it might be more challenging but we are more excited to create stories in the new age of technology,” answered Modi.

    Taking the discussion further, Zee Studios chief business officer Shariq Pate said, “pandemic has shown that all of us have this insatiable amount of content that all of us could consume and this prompted platforms to step up on investments.”

    “We can expect a roaring 2020s with huge amounts of content to be created which is definitely far more than what the existing platforms can digest at present,” he added.

    Sharing her outlook for the roaring 2020s, Balaji Motion Pictures creative producer and executive vice president Ruchikaa Kapoor said, “the big realization about this changing content landscape is that there’s an audience for every genre, however the size of the audience differs.”

    She added, “the content consumption has increased dramatically over the last three years. But as far as movies are concerned, the urgency of going to the theatres has come down drastically due to the growth of OTT.” Talking about the future, she said, “we expect exponential growth in the 2020s too.”

    Agreeing with what his co-panellists had said, Indian film director Arif Ali said, “being behind the doors for so many months during the pandemic has actually opened a lot of doors for content creators.”

    “Pre-pandemic there was more focus on making money, but now content creators want to have a legacy and it is going to lead to a thrilling 2020s,” he asserted.

    Further, highlighting the challenges that the transformation in the content space brings, screenwriter, director and producer Alankrita Shrivastava said, “today the major challenge is to go back to the core of storytelling and not get overwhelmed.”

    Watch the complete video of this insightful session here.

  • ShemarooMe partners with OTTplay to make content easily available to users

    ShemarooMe partners with OTTplay to make content easily available to users

    Mumbai: The OTT app by Shemaroo, ShemarooMe has partnered with OTTplay, to make ShemarooMe’s content easily available to the existing and potential users by opening up an entirely new way to access entertainment.

    ShemarooMe has a wide selection of curated multiregional and multilingual content to suit every emotion. Be it Bollywood, regional, devotional, comedy, or kids entertainment, ShemarooMe has something for the entire family across age groups. After helping more than five million Indians navigate the chaotic landscape of OTT content with AI-based personalised recommendations, OTTplay is now making its foray into OTT content streaming with the launch of OTTplay premium- bundled subscription packs!

    Speaking of this partnership, Shemaroo digital business and ShemarooMe COO Zubin Dubash said, “With a plethora of options on OTT apps, selecting the right film or web series to watch can be time-consuming and intimidating. This partnership with OTTplay will shorten the search time to select the right content for the consumers as per their preferences. It will be beneficial for both partners as well as the existing and potential consumers.”

    Adding to it, OTTplay co-founder Avinash Mudaliar commented, “Our aim is to enable consumers to spend time watching their favorite shows, not searching for them; globally 60 percent of OTT consumers find the process of navigating different OTT apps “frustrating”, and that is the precise problem we had set out to solve with OTTplay. In the last year, we were successful in answering: What to watch? and Where to watch? by building an AI-powered personalised recommendation engine and a platform where users can stay updated on the latest news and reviews. Having earned the trust of millions of OTT fans in India and having positioned OTTplay as the #1 recommendation platform, it was only logical to transition into the aggregator space and democratize the experience of consuming streaming content. A common problem that many face today relates to acquiring subscriptions to multiple OTT platforms and having to navigate between them. With OTTplay premium subscriptions, we want to provide a seamless experience where users can consume all the content, they want to watch in one place. We are excited to partner with ShemarooMe and offer its vast content offering to our existing and potential users.”

  • Gather Network gives additional responsibilities to Ashesh Koul; appoints him CTO

    Gather Network gives additional responsibilities to Ashesh Koul; appoints him CTO

    MUMBAI: Dubai based Web3.0 & blockchain content monetisation platform, Gather Network has announced their expansion plans for India’s operations with additional responsibilities assigned to the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Ashesh Koul. In his new role, he will manage the company’s growth in the South Asian market and will also lead a team of 40 employees.

    Koul has been a technologist at Gather Network for over four years. He has a keen understanding of both the business as well as consumer’s needs. Therefore, his skills & experiences will help to create a Web3 powerhouse for leading business strategy, tech consulting & building blockchain capabilities.

    With core competencies in business strategy, tech consulting & software development, his role has been instrumental in leading global teams and owning end-to-end wide range of business functions & technology solutions. He comes with 18 years of experience in the technology industry, having led large teams of  more than 200 engineers as well as working hands-on in Fortune 500 enterprises and technology start-ups. Ashesh has a strong technical background in mobile, middleware, automation, and big data, & recently applied for a patent as well.

    Gather Networks intends to significantly increase its workforce in India with its new Indian operation headquarters that recently opened its doors in Gurugram, NewDelhi.

    Koul said, “I am really excited to contribute to Gather Network’s vision of expanding across the South-East Asia region. The company’s journey in South Asia over the last few months has been both enriching and exhilarating and I look forward to applying what I’ve learned in the current role in the enhanced profile. From the perspective of our clients and talent, there are tremendous opportunities to create interesting synergies across geographies. I am really grateful to Gather Network for this opportunity and their trust  in me”.

    Gather Network CEO, founder Reggie Raghav Jerath commented, “I’m overjoyed to have Ashesh lead the growth and operations in the region. We intend to capitalise on his knowledge and experience as one of our core members from the last four years to achieve even greater momentum in the Blockchain & Crypto space. To that end, we intend to pursue specific organic and inorganic growth strategies while continuing to invest in innovation. We believe that Ashesh’s experience and strong financial acumen will play a vital role in driving these initiatives and maximizing value for our clients and stakeholders in the South Asian market.”

    Gather has various products that help in enabling monetisation for content creators such as Gather Online, where web and mobile developers can monetise from the end-user processing power with their express permission,  Gather Enterprise, which is a consultancy service providing solutions for business on tokenization, and Gather Cloud, a decentralized cloud services providing businesses with the processing power that keeps the cost of cloud computing in check with the use of their own existing devices.