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Tag: Content

  • Penta esports records more than 7.6 lakh viewership and 34 lakh watch minutes

    Penta esports records more than 7.6 lakh viewership and 34 lakh watch minutes

    Content and esports platform, Penta Esports’s initiative, the Penta Amateur League, has registered new growth numbers. It has recorded more than 7.6 lakh viewership and 34 lakh watch minutes. With an aim to go beyond metros, to tier 2 and 3 cities, the platform will enable the amateurs to carve a career as esports athletes.

    The Penta Amateur League’s broadcast more than 4,600 players and 800 teams participated in over 1,350 matches during the course of the league.

    The esport platform aims to lead and develop grassroot esports by providing opportunities to aspiring esports athletes. The Penta Amateur League’s Season one launched in October 2021 and concluded in March 2022 with a total of ₹30 lakh distributed in prize pool. It featured multiple eSports titles across mobile, PC and consoles each month which were World Cricket Championship three, Gran Turismo Sport, Valorant, Battlegrounds Mobile India, Free Fire, Pokemon Unite, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Tekken 7, Clash Royale and Brawl Stars.

    The league had seventy six match days and twenty days of broadcast, including the ‘Penta Talk Show’ preceding every month’s broadcast. The matches from the league were broadcast on multiple platforms including Facebook, YouTube, Loco and Booyah, culminating in more than 116 hours of total broadcast with a peak concurrent viewership of 6,853. Social media posts about the league across social media platforms of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter had a cumulative engagement of 24 per cent.

    Penta Esports founder and CEO Anurag Khurana commented, “We launched the first edition of the ‘Penta Amateur League’ with a vision to provide opportunities to budding esports athletes across titles and platforms. This will give further impetus to the growing esports ecosystem of India and contribute to sector growth.”

    Penta Esports co-founder and head of esports Kiran Noojibail said, “Our objective with Penta Amateur League was to incentivize esports enthusiasts to start and continue their grind to becoming an esports athlete irrespective of the game and platform. We are ecstatic with the response for Season 1 and plan to announce Season 2 of the league in the coming weeks.”

    The finals of each month were preceded by music performances by indie artists, like Gamini Khurana, Sushant Satija, Ashter X, Saahil Bhargava, Anindita Dey, Muktak Kanjilal and LiveIn Blues.

    The entire registration and scheduling of the league was carried on Penta Esports’ platform, Pentaesports.com. The platform is a one stop destination for all things esports, including match schedules, match results, VODs of tournaments and leagues, content, news, announcements and much more.

  • Zee5 unveils its content line-up for 2022

    Zee5 unveils its content line-up for 2022

    Mumbai: The video streaming platform, Zee5 has unveiled their blockbuster content slate for 2022 with 80+ titles spanning across Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, and Bengali.

    The slate encompasses 40+ original shows and 40+ movies featuring an expansive gamut of genres, including cutting-edge thrillers, high-voltage action, gripping dramas, light-hearted comedies, and soul-stirring romances.

    In line with its content strategy, ZEE5’s vision is to narrate stories that mirror the viewer’s soul and cater to every consumer cohort across the country. As part of this approach, ZEE5 has also announced collaborations with leading creative minds like BBC Studios, Applause Entertainment, The Viral Fever (TVF), along with powerhouse cinematic talent like Vetrimaaran, Prakash Raj, Amitabh Bachchan and Nagraj Manjule amongst others.

    The slate of Hindi originals includes the riveting, TAJ – an epic tale of succession, the much-anticipated Forensic, Duranga – a romantic thriller, latest seasons of audience favourites like Abhay 3, Pitchers 2, Sunflower 2, Tripling 3, Never Kiss Your Best Friend 2 and Rangbaaz 3 amongst many more.

    Amping up the ante, the platform will also feature the digital release of some of the biggest theatrical blockbusters like The Kashmir Files, Amitabh Bachchan’s Jhund and John Abraham’s Attack to name a few.

    The content slate also comprises a strong line-up of regionals, with the recently launched Anantham and Gaalivaana along with some of the most awaited shows and movies in Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, and Bengali like Nilamellam Ratham, Fingertip S2, Paper Rocket Recce Kinnerasaani, Yaar Anmulle Returns, Fuffad Ji, and Main Viyah Nahi Karona Tere Naal, Shikarpur, Raktakarabi and Swetkali.

    https://f.io/I3EUz9By

    Commenting on the announcement, Zee5’s chief business officer Manish Kalra said, “We are enthused by the response that Indian OTT viewers have given to Zee5, it has further encouraged us to curate a slate that caters and connects to the audiences across India. As a consumer-first brand, we have invested in expanding our creative pool bringing India’s diverse talents, creativity, culture, and stories closer to the people across the nation and to the global audience.”

    “The growth has been remarkable with a significant share coming in from the regional markets, as we bolstered our presence in South and Punjab. We have increased our investments with a concerted focus on regional content as we stand open to partnerships with global studios, independent creators, and premium content production houses across regions and languages. At Zee5, the vision has been to be the platform of choice and I am certain the 2022 slate will address the varied interests of today’s audience,” he added.

    Speaking about ZEE5’s content strategy and the new content slate, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, president-content and international markets, Punit Misra, said, “Over the last couple of years, the OTT ecosystem has undergone a significant transition due to constantly evolving consumer preferences and consumption patterns. At ZEE5, our #SoulToScreen approach continues to be a critical pillar in conceptualizing the content slate for various markets and designing our content strategy. We are proud to unveil our content slate for 2022 across languages and reaffirm our commitment of engaging viewers with premium quality content. Keeping in mind the dynamism of this ecosystem and our sharp insights into India’s diverse cultural preferences, we are confident that ZEE5’s extensive mix of new originals and movies will be successful in entertaining audiences in India and globally.”

    Zee5’s chief content officer Nimisha Pandey added, “At ZEE5, our endeavor has been to narrate real, authentic, compelling stories, and expand the canvas of entertainment; a strategy aimed to cater to our multiple consumer cohorts. We have already begun 2022 on a great note, with encouraging audience response for Mithya, Love Hostel, Abhay 3, and Bloody Brothers to name a few. At ZEE5, we are obsessive about new ideas, narratives and working with exceptional creators who are passionate about their craft. Our slate for 2022 encompasses all of this and much more, and we are confident of raising the entertainment quotient further as we move forward. We are certain 2022 will be a power-packed year for our viewers with intriguing, inspiring, and innovative storytelling.”

    Zee5 also has a robust slate planned for their Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi and Bengali-speaking audiences as well. The recently announced Tamil slate includes names like Valimai, Nilamellam Ratham, Anantham, Paper Rocket, Five-Six-Seven-Eight, Alma Mater, Ayali, Thalamai Seyalagam, Fingertip 2, Kolaigara Kairegaigal and Aindham Vedham. The Telugu slate includes titles like Gaalivaana, Kinnerasaani, Recce 2, ATM Prema Vinam ,Maa Neella Tank and Aha Naa Pellanta. The Punjabi content titles on the platform include Yaar Anmulle Returns, Fuffad Ji, and Main Viyah Nahi Karona Tere Naal, along with Bengali titles like Shikarpur, which marks the OTT debut of Ankush Hazra, Raktakarabi featuring Raima Sen and Vikram Chatterjee, and Swetkali. These titles will join marquee names like Radhe, Uri: The Surgical Strike, Break Point, Rashmi Rocket, Sunflower on ZEE5.

  • aha unveils its content line-up, 40 titles in plan for May

    aha unveils its content line-up, 40 titles in plan for May

    Mumbai: The regional OTT platform, aha has announced on Thursday a stellar content slate for the month of May, which includes 40 titles for their Telugu section.

    The new titles will provide 100 percent local entertainment to the people globally. The slate, directed by some of the industry’s best filmmakers, will include regional programming as well as the most popular Hollywood films, which will be available in the Telugu section of aha. Viewers will be able to watch international titles, which include,  Sam Raimi’s Spiderman series, the Men in Black series, Django Unchained, Black Hawk Down and others.

    Overall, the platform will make over 30 Hollywood films available in Telugu to their audience.The launch of the regional slate in May also ensures that the platform maintains the innovative and diverse content library with the continuation of Telugu Indian Idol, one of the emerging local talent shows hosted by Sree Ram Chandra, with actress Nithya Menon, music composer Thaman, and singer Karthik as its judges.

    The other high profile reality show that will continue in the month of May will be the second season of the super hit reality game show Sarkaar, hosted by Pradeep Machiraju. The season started on 29 April.

    Fahad Fasil’s Thondimuthalum Drikasakshiyum, a national winning film is set to premiere as “Dongata”. The film will exclusively premiere on the platform this week on 6 May from 12 am.

    Speaking on the launch for the month, aha’s ceo Ajit Thakur said, “We at aha are focused on offering diverse content that appeals to all age groups. The platform is expanding and diversifying itself by creating an original slate and streaming highly popular Hollywood films in the local language. We have recently launched a stunning Tamil slate in association with immensely talented creators. However, our stint in curating and creating Telugu content for the local audience has already made aha, a reliable platform for accessing Telugu entertainment.”

  • Goafest 2022 returns after a gap of two years to inspire

    Goafest 2022 returns after a gap of two years to inspire

    Mumbai: Goafest returns back once again! For advertising and media businesses, it is one of the important celebrations. 15 years of Goafest is truly a special milestone. What makes it more special is that it is being celebrated after a gap of two years. Many have braved the hard times as it got affected due to covid pandemic.

    The pandemic brought forth the superpower within each one of us. When we thought we were down and out, we were compelled to dig deeper and find courage and resilience. Not just people, businesses discovered their own unbeatable spirit to survive and thrive, so did governments and countries. Now, it is time to acknowledge this power within each one of us that makes us unique, that enables us to face challenges with ease and helps us make the world a better place. It is time to celebrate “The Superpower Within”.

    The event will bring together under one roof 28 highly accomplished, power-packed speakers, who will share valuable insights of their knowledge on content, creativity, strategies, stories and experiences from new-age media like OTT, social media, gaming, health & wellness along with an attention to policies and regulations.

    Goafest will have iconic personalities from Indian Sports and Bollywood inspiring us with their achievements and stories of strength. The festival will focus on the superpower of Bharat and its growing digital reach, and on the rich startup ecosystem with Shark Tank India’s Vineeta Singh of SUGAR and Unicorn builder, Ankush Sachdeva. No growth can be achieved if personal well-being is ignored, and for that, we have the exceptional Rujuta Diwekar, nutritionist and influencer.

    There will be the presence of stalwarts like SS Rajamouli, Kash Sree and Menno Kluin amongst others. The story of perseverance from a graceful actress like Madhuri Dixit along with stories from the fearless Kiran Bedi, the indomitable PV Sindhu, the courageous Mithali Raj and the man with the unwavering faith to win, Kapil Dev! In addition to this, leaders like Level Ex founder and ceo Sam Glassenberg, Ministry of Consumer Affairs & Food Distribution’s Secretary, Aqilliz’s Ceo Rohit Kumar Singh, Gowthaman Ragothaman co-founder Web3 Marketing Association,   Sandeep Bhushan, Director & Head of GSM (Global Marketing Solutions) India, Meta will share their invaluable insights.

    There will also be nine empowering Knowledge Masterclasses this year including topics like ‘The Power of Camera Marketing’, Creative workshops by FCB Ulka, Snapchat, Publicis Groupe and many more interesting workshops from Meta, Sharechat, and Google.

    Entertainers like Sukhbir and Shilpa Rao will be performing at the event. The event will take place between 5-7 May at Grand Hyatt, Goa.

  • Amazon Prime Video’s India talent focus that’s working miracles

    Amazon Prime Video’s India talent focus that’s working miracles

    MUMBAI: At Amazon Prime Video HD, if there is one war cry that’s being heard loud and clear it is: India ahoy! There’s a reason behind it, according to a report in US publication Deadline. Head of Originals James Farrell, at an event announcing the launch of its biggest slate in Mumbai, said that one of five (or 20 per cent) of its subscribers outside of India watch content produced by Indian creators. He gave full credit for this success to the head of Indian originals Aparna Purohit and her team.

    A beaming Purohit who joined the international team on stage pointed out that she truly believes India is a land of storytellers — in every nook and cranny. “This is almost like the renaissance of Indian entertainment and amidst this multitude of stories, to find one that can connect and resonate with the audiences here and across the world is a challenge,” she added. “We just want to create a home for talent; a safe space where creators feel supported and that we’re willing to invest in them.”

    According to Farrell, that support is coming in the form of the format of shows such as One Mic Stand being remade in Germany.

    Amazon Studios president Jennifer Salke believes that what sets Prime Video apart from the other streamers is its razor sharp focus to be the home for talent. “What this means is that we have to have the best teams on the ground to cultivate the talent in the regions. Talent wants to be part of the Amazon Prime family and make incredible shows for people to enjoy not only in India but all over the world. We stand apart in that away,” she said.

    International operations vice-president Kelly Day highlighted that India is one of Amazon Prime Video’s fastest growing markets and has some of the streamer’s most engaged customers. “The future of global streaming services is about global expansion and moving much more ambitiously to serving customers in international markets and truly, India is really leading the way for us,” she said.

    Are the suits at Netflix who have relatively cooled off on India listening?

  • Amazon Prime Video announces its biggest content slate for India

    Amazon Prime Video announces its biggest content slate for India

    Mumbai: Amazon Prime Video is all set to launch its biggest content slate in India. The streaming major on Thursday announced over 40 new titles in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, across original series, original films and co-productions that it plans for over the next twenty-four months.

    Prime Video also announced its foray into original film production in India with films in Hindi and Telugu, to be released directly on the servics and new multi-year licensing deals and co-productions with some of India’s biggest and most successful studios.

    The service recently completed five years of service in India, and announced that it will more than doubling its investment in Prime Video India over the next five years.

    The upcoming Amazon Originals will enthral customers by offering a wide gamut of genres, ranging from cutting-edge thrillers, high-octane action, engaging dramas to light-hearted comedies and heart-warming romances. The service is augmenting its original programming for young adult audiences, and also exploring genres like supernatural and horror for the first time in its India journey. Furthermore, Prime Video is enhancing the scope of its unscripted series catalogue to explore genres like biographies, true-crime and investigative docu-dramas.

    Prime Video aims to be a home for talent. It is working with a wide set of diverse creators with unique, cinematic voices from across the country. Almost 70 per cent of the new upcoming titles will feature new talent – both in front of and behind the camera.

    After launching Prime Video Channels last year, in another significant step towards creating a video entertainment marketplace, Amazon also launched Prime Video Store, its transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) film rental service in India. Customers can now get early access to the latest Indian and international films, including a rich catalogue of popular films from around the world on a transactional (per-film) basis.

    Prime Video’s customer footprint is set to expand even further as the TVOD rental service will be available to all Prime members, as well as, anyone who isn’t a Prime member. Customers will get early rental access to movies across languages and the rental service can be accessed via the store tab on and the Prime Video app, said the statement.

    Commenting on this, Amazon Prime Video India country head Gaurav Gandhi said, “In the last five years, we have built a strong slate of locally produced content across languages, super-serving the diverse entertainment needs of Indian customers.  With increased access and distribution, we have helped these great stories travel far and wide in India, and around the world. We have played a key role in helping expand the linguistic palette of Indian customers, thereby, increasing the audience base for creators and talent.”

    “Prime Video India today sees viewership from 99 per cent of the country’s pin-codes. India continues to be one of Prime Video’s fastest-growing & most engaged locale globally. We are humbled by the love we have received from our consumers and continue to be deeply committed to delighting our customers with great content, while also fuelling the creative economy,” he added.

    Speaking about the multi-pronged approach on expanding the movies segment in India, Gandhi added, “In tune with our vision to become the most-loved entertainment hub, we have steadily innovated in the way we offer movies to our consumers, from offering films in a post-theatrical early-window to direct-to-service premieres bringing the most anticipated films to consumers’ living rooms and preferred devices. We are deeply committed to grow this segment further and are going bigger on our film licensing partnerships, expanding our co-production initiatives and are now excited to announce our foray into original movies. In addition to our investments in great content, we are super excited about the launch of our TVOD film rental service, that will not just give even more expanded reach to these films but also give customers more choice in how they want to access and watch content.”

    Elaborating on the expansive content slate, Amazon Prime Video head of India originals Aparna Purohit said, “Our mission has been to tell compelling, authentic and rooted stories that not just connect with audiences in India but resonate with audiences across the world. We feel humbled that the characters of our shows and films have inspired new archetypes, blazed a new trail, and in fact, become a part of the cultural zeitgeist. As we move forward, we are excited to partner with some of the most prolific creators to bring forth powerful stories across different formats, genres and languages for our customers. We are confident that our upcoming slate of shows and films will transcend all barriers of language, nationality or formats.”

  • Anand Sreenivasan joins Republic Media Network as National Head-Branded Content

    Anand Sreenivasan joins Republic Media Network as National Head-Branded Content

    Republic Media Network has appointed Anand Sreenivasan as the National Head-Branded Content. With an overall experience of more than 16 years, Sreenivasan will head the Fluid team. It is the branded content vertical of the network. The Fluid team has produced several award-winning series for the brand. 

    Earlier, Sreenivasan has led media organisations like ZoomTV, UTV, Sony, and A&E network. He also worked as the head of the west region for display and branded content at The Quint, the company said in a statement.

    On joining Fluid, Sreenivasan said, “The last couple of years have made the Indian content space fascinating and dynamic. The emergence of new-age content providers and multi-platform choices for the viewer has made it a challenge for all content creators. With Fluid, we will now look forward to creating bespoke content solutions for partners across Digital and Television.” 

    “This will be a one-stop shop ensuring end-to-end content development and distribution. As a network, we are already leading the way for the news genre and we will now look to establish the same in the branded content space too,” he added.

    Welcoming this move, Republic Media Network’s Group COO Hersh Bhandari said, “We would like to welcome Anand onboard then Republic Media Network. He is one of the sharpest minds in the business of content. With over 16 years of work experience in the business of content and digital, Anand will add strength to the leadership team by curating some of the large IP’s for the network and integrated brand solutions for clients. Anand will add strength to our core leadership team and lead the branded content vertical for the network nationally.”

  • New Australian TV studio Dreamchaser aims to showcase Australian content to the world

    New Australian TV studio Dreamchaser aims to showcase Australian content to the world

    Mumbai: In a bid to create local Australian content that can travel globally, former Nine Entertainment CEO Hugh Marks and Endemol Shine Australia co-founder Carl Fennessy have announced the launch of Dreamchaser.

     It is being positioned as being Australia’s first full-service production and distribution studio based in Sydney, Australia. Marks and Fennessy will serve as joint CEOs.

    The new studio will provide a home for Dreamchaser to partner with established and emerging creators to develop programming slates, cultivate distinctive creative identities and bring the next generation of Australian stories to the world.

    Backed by global content studio Endeavor Content, Dreamchaser will establish a collection of creative partnerships across the scripted, factual and entertainment genres under one portfolio, with a focus on driving global projects out of the Australian market.

    Marks and Fennessy said, “We’re seeing an explosion of global demand for premium content from new and traditional television platforms that shows no sign of slowing. At the same time Australian creatives are at the forefront of many of the biggest shows in the world. There has never been a greater opportunity for global content to be developed and sold from this market. With Endeavor Content’s strategic partnership, Dreamchaser will be a unique home for our creative partners to realise all of their ambitions and for content commissioners to have confidence that Dreamchaser will be the Australian studio where those ambitions can be delivered,”

    Endeavor Content’s Co-CEOs Chris Rice and Graham Taylor said, “We are excited for Hugh and Carl to bring their combined industry expertise to launch Dreamchaser, harnessing Australia’s flourishing creative and production communities.”

    “With Dreamchaser, Australia solidifies its standing as a major global destination for best-in-class content, bringing next-level storytelling from new and established voices from the continent to export there and to the world beyond.”

    Joining Marks and Fennessy are a management team including COO Sara Horn, CFO Megan Rees-Williams and head development Monique Keller.

    Marks and Fennessy added, “We’re grateful to the amazing and highly experienced team that have agreed to go on this journey with us. “Their expertise and proven track record will help achieve Dreamchaser’s ambition of taking Australian creatives and their stories to the world.”

    In the coming months, Dreamchaser will announce a number of new projects, as well as first-look and multi-title picture deals with Australian creatives.

  • Vidnet 2022: Industry experts to come together to evaluate the way ahead for the OTT sector

    Vidnet 2022: Industry experts to come together to evaluate the way ahead for the OTT sector

    The over-the-top (OTT) landscape is growing significantly in India and new paid features are increasing regularly. Time spent viewing content on OTT has surged and viewers are looking out for new choices & innovative content. Despite the changes and increase in prices, the viewers are still subscribing to different OTT platforms currently. We expect the scenario to boost further as the consumers are looking forward to the growth of OTT based content and streaming services in India.

    Indiantelevision.com has come up with an insightful two-day long VIDNET Summit to understand the changes in the OTT space and evaluate its way forward. The event will take place between 20-21 April 2022 at Sahara Star Hotel, Mumbai.

    The changing OTT ecosystem will certainly grow further as there will be new partnerships, new relationships and new opportunities, which will further emerge eventually. The idea behind this year’s VIDNET is to analyse the changing OTT ecosystem and find answers to some of the critical questions such as what is the way forward for the OTT platforms? Where do the opportunities lie? What are the challenges?

    VIDNET 2022 is India’s largest OTT streaming summit, which will bring together the industry experts on one platform. It is an ideal hotspot for technology service providers, OTT and video platforms, broadcasters, short video professionals, martech professionals, content creators, producers, studios, adtech professionals, venture capitalists and everyone with a keen interest in technology.

    The VIDNET 2022 summit will have speakers from film and OTT space. The speakers will include Filmmaker and CineMan Productions Ltd. & Oho Gujarati founder Abhishek Jain; Endemol Shine India chief executive officer Abhishek Rege; SYSKA Group head of marketing Amit Sethiya; Synamedia senior solutions consultant Arun Raghuraman; Zee Studios head-content Ashima Avasthi Chaudhuri; Lyca productions CEO Ashish Singh; Mediacom India chief product officer Averill Sequeira; ALTBalaji SVP – marketing, partnerships & revenue Divya Dixit and including other industry experts.

    The event will witness some really interesting panels giving deep insights of the industry and some proven tricks to grow in OTT space from the expert panelists.

    The first panel will see a discussion on one of the most important topics currently, “The Magic 100 Million. How Do We Get There?” moderated by Indian Television Dot Com founder, CEO & editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari. The panel will include Endemol Shine India CEO Abhishek Rege; International Media Acquisition Corp chairman & CEO Shibasish Sarkar and others.

    This is not it, there will be more than 12 panels on different topics such as “Demystifying the French OTT Landscape”, “Advertising On OTT – Connecting The New Brand Order” and so on. During the event, there will be deliberations, thought sharing, engagement and discussion of various other topics that are relevant in today’s scenario.

    VIDNET is one of its kinds of initiatives that will gather experts across the industry. It will allow you to meet and interact with industry experts. The summit will also help you to learn some tips and tactics from like-minded people. The attendees will get to hear about new tools and the key problem areas from the experts. The interesting sessions will make you learn from the experts by listening to their journey, experiences and how they overcome the challenges. Moreover, this is the biggest platform to learn beyond your field of interest.