ITV

Tag: English content

  • YouTube announces free TV shows and films for US viewers

    YouTube announces free TV shows and films for US viewers

    Mumbai: Google-owned YouTube has announced that popular television shows and films from major studios will be available in the US for free, with ads, using smart televisions, mobile devices or web browsers. The video platform has over 1,500 films from Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, FilmRise, and more.

    The American audience will now have access to nearly 4,000 episodes of TV shows like “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Andromeda,” “Heartland,” and many more. New titles in March include “Gone in Sixty Seconds,” “Runaway Bride” and “Legally Blonde.”

    US users can access these films and shows and up to 100 new titles each week on web browsers, mobile devices, and most connected TVs via the YouTube on TV app.

    “More people are choosing to experience YouTube on the big screen with friends and family. In fact, according to Nielsen, YouTube reached over 135 million people on connected TVs in the US in December 2021. YouTube is at the forefront of the consumer shift to CTV viewership as the top ad-supported streaming platform with the content people enjoy and the creators they love,” YouTube said in a blog post.

    To enhance the viewing experience, the video platform is also unveiling brand new streamlined navigation and immersive banner art. The rich visuals and new menus will help users more easily find their favourite TV shows, whether they choose to rent, purchase, or watch for free with ads. Many of these titles are also now available in high definition 1080p with 5.1 surround sound audio on supported devices.

  • HOOQ, Hotstar enter unique strategic partnership

    HOOQ, Hotstar enter unique strategic partnership

    MUMBAI: Southeast Asian OTT platform HOOQ has struck a unique deal with India’s leading streaming service Hotstar. Under the partnership, HOOQ’s 6000-hour catalogue of Hollywood TV shows and movies will be available for Hotstar Premium users.

    The deal is a win-win situation for both. HOOQ can leverage Hotstar’s massive 150 million monthly active users while the latter will be able to upsurge its premium English content easily. Star India’s digital arm already features content from studios like HBO, Showtime, Fox and Disney. Now, titles such as The Big Bang Theory, Arrow, The Flash, S.W.A.T., The Goldbergs and HOOQ Originals like The Oath will be available on Hotstar. Hollywood blockbusters and classics including Wonder Woman, Harry Potter, Spider-Man and Pulp Fiction will be also available on the platform.

    “Hotstar Premium’s English catalogue is unlike anything you’ll find on any other platform in the world – an aggregation of content from across studios and content producers, at a single destination. This partnership with HOOQ, with its portfolio of curated blockbuster Hollywood content, seals the argument – for an English content fan, there is nowhere else to go,” Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan commented.

    “We are so pleased to announce this collaboration with Hotstar that combines their reach with our offering as the ‘Home for Hollywood’ in India. With the appetite for Hollywood content in India growing at a furious pace, we are poised to offer the Indian customer easily accessible and a very affordable way to watch the best of Hollywood. This partnership with Hotstar underscores our commitment to satisfying the Indian market’s appetite for on-demand content,” HOOQ CEO Peter Bethos commented.

    According to FICCI-EY’s research on India’s entertainment industry, box office collections from Hollywood films, inclusive of all regional language dubbed versions, totalling Rs 8.01 billion in 2017, making up 13 per cent of the overall movie box office in the country. English titles have witnessed significant uptick over last couple of years. As per the FICCI-KPMG Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2017, gross box office collection of English films in India grew by 10 per cent in 2016 compared to 2015.

    “When it comes to English content, Hotstar Premium is uniquely placed in that it boasts titles from global studios like HBO, Disney, Showtime and Fox and now with HOOQ, iconic shows like The Big Bang Theory, The Flash, S.W.A.T and even cult classics like Friends in the fold. Regardless of mood, genre preference or which side of the superhero debate you sit on, Hotstar Premium is the single destination where English content consumers find everything. The partnership with HOOQ firmly strengthens that position,” Hotstar Premium business head Prabh Singh commented.

    “This is the start of a great relationship between HOOQ and Hotstar in India, we are excited to bring to life a wealth of content for a new audience. The OTT market is an exciting space and our belief is that it is imperative for consumers to have easy access to content. With this Hotstar partnership, HOOQ takes another step forward in becoming the service known as the “Home of Hollywood” on major platforms,” HOOQ managing director India Zulfiqar Khan said.

  • SonyLIV’s amplified focus on English content portfolio

    SonyLIV’s amplified focus on English content portfolio

    MUMBAI: Sony Network India’s (SPNI) OTT platform Sony Liv recently extended its English content portfolio in the premium offering. It also has plans to add originals in regional languages.

    On the back of SPNI’s FIFA World Cup 2018 broadcasting right in India, SonyLIV attracted thousands of football fans across the country. The month-long sports event gave a major boost to the platform. Soon after it ended, it expanded the English content library to retain viewers. Three critically acclaimed and admired shows from Hollywood- Damages, Unforgettable and Timeless have also been added.

    “Understanding the need for quality international content, we have consistently focused on bringing shows that promise intrigue and entertainment. Post a successful tournament like FIFA 2018 that set new benchmarks in consumer engagement with over 70 million views, we wanted to add onto this momentum further. We expanded our English content portfolio to offer world’s most fascinating stories to our audience and keep them glued onto out platform,” SPNI digital business head Uday Sodhi said in an interaction with Indiantelevision.com.

    Sodhi, happy with the initial response, says other shows from the genre such as Underground, Outsiders and Line of Duty continue to garner good traction. However, the new shows which have been added recently span across genres to ensure they appeal to a wide section of the audience. Continuing the development, the platform is about to announce a string of 8-10 new launches.

    Meanwhile, the English entertainment channels AXN, Sony PIX, and Sony LePLEX HD from the network have recently made their digital debut. For traditional TV broadcasters, promoting catch-up TV through existing content catalogue is a common formula though.

    “Live TV continues to be a potential driver for us as its viewership is significantly large. There has been a natural on-boarding of viewers who like the content offered by these three channels,” Sodhi commented.

    Primarily, viewers aged between 18 to 24 is the target audience of the platform, while the 25-34 age group is targeted next. To create awareness of new content, SonyLIV is making the most use of social media and digital platforms. It is also optimising TV ads and outdoor marketing given the great reach of these two mediums among the audience.

    While sci-fi and crime thriller shows are trending in Hollywood right now, SonyLIV’s newly added English content bouquet includes both the genres being a definite option for making an engaging watch. “We have ensured that our current and upcoming shows have gripping content. Indians have a huge appetite for content that keeps them at the edge of their seat and I do not see a reason for these genres to not work in the Indian market. We are positive about the response these shows are going to get,” said Sodhi.

    The media veteran gave a witty answer to the question of competitors in this category. He said that as they operate across all three business models and various segregating buckets, every player in the market is a healthy competitor. The digital right of Game of Thrones gave a major boost to the subscriber base of Star India’s digital arm Hotstar. International players like Amazon Prime and Netflix already offer a huge chunk of popular international shows. Thus to woo the young urban audience, SonyLIV definitely has to add several other titles to make the library more lucrative.

  • Guest Column: English content consumption showed upward trend in 2016

    Guest Column: English content consumption showed upward trend in 2016

    Consumption of English content continued to show growing trends during the year 2016 and the momentum is expected to be sustained this year as well.  An interesting and encouraging trend was the continual surge in Hollywood box office collections in India as compared to previous years. This reflects the growing affinity of Indian audience towards English content. There has also been substantial growth in social media conversations on Hollywood and other English content and expect the trend to continue in a big way in 2017.

    Coming to Hollywood movie channels, the key to success is to have a strong pipeline of premieres and library films. This is at the core of our business and a big reason why we invested aggressively to get the best content for our viewers. The tie up with NBC Universal enhanced our programming with blockbuster films and franchises like Jurassic World, Fast& Furious, Minions, Steve Jobs, Straight Outta Compton, Jason Bourne, Sing and Secret Life of Pets to name a few. We have also extended the PIX Brand to the South Asian markets.

    public://Sherlock_s4_ep1_006 (1).jpgOur market research indicated that the audiences are segmenting into two parts. One that loves mainstream cinema. The second is that loves good cinema, irrespective of the fact it being mainstream or not. We capitalised on this opportunity with launch of our new movie channel in 2016 – Sony Le PLEX HD – which brings to its viewers movies that are critically acclaimed and are based on powerful stories and characters. Our objective was to create a differentiated product and present content in a never-seen-before manner, while positioning the channel as a fun hangout for the community of movie lovers who converse around quality cinema. With premieres of Oscar winning film like Spotlight, The Walk, Concussion and other acclaimed movies on the new channel we have opened up an opportunity to consume great cinema for an audience set whose needs were grossly underserved.   

    public://raptors_owen_960.pngIn the English general entertainment space we relaunched our flagship channel AXN making it more contemporary and appealing to the audience through the new brand positioning – Live R.E.D. We were able to build strong character and show associations with the channel which was one of the key tasks we had set out to achieve. Our content is highly diverse, which is reality, entertainment and drama – and that is what Live R.E.D stands for. From a viewer gratification perspective, LIVE R.E.D. stands for Rush Excitement and Dream; that is what our shows provide. We have leveraged R.E.D. to define our characters as well. For example, Live Eccentric, Live R.E.D defines Sherlock’s character.

    In the general entertainment category, there exists two distinct audience segments. The first set is called the influencer and the other set is called the adopters. While the influencer is an audience who is clued on to the latest shows as and when they are released worldwide, the adopters are those who are easing into the category and would want to consume long running cult shows. Our programming caters to both the audience segments. It consists of new as well as old shows that have been well received by the US audience. For instance, under AXN’s property Fresh from the US, we enable the audience to watch the latest and popular shows closer to the US timeframe like Sherlock, Billions, Orphan Black, Bull, Elementary and Supernatural to name a few. Getting to watch new shows on their TV sets will certainly discourage the viewers from downloading content and help curb piracy.

    public://Benedict-Cumberbatch-and-Martin-Freeman-in-Sherlock-Season-4-Episode-2.jpg2017 is going to be a year where we will consolidate the gains from our investments of the previous year. Our programming strategy is likely to remain consistent with the previous year and we don’t foresee significant changes in the audience behaviour or need.

    Maintaining our loyal fan base along with targeting fresh consumers is another task at hand and I am sure we will execute it well. We have a lot of exciting content in store for the year 2017 across channels as we strive to bring the best of Hollywood to our viewers. And we start all of this with the much awaited premiere of Sherlock season 4 on AXN.

     

     

    public://Saurabh-Yagnik-800x800.jpg (The writer is EVP and Business Head, English Cluster, Sony Pictures Networks, India. Views expressed in this article are personal and Indiantelevision.com need not necessarily subscribe to them.)

     

     

  • Guest Column: English content consumption showed upward trend in 2016

    Guest Column: English content consumption showed upward trend in 2016

    Consumption of English content continued to show growing trends during the year 2016 and the momentum is expected to be sustained this year as well.  An interesting and encouraging trend was the continual surge in Hollywood box office collections in India as compared to previous years. This reflects the growing affinity of Indian audience towards English content. There has also been substantial growth in social media conversations on Hollywood and other English content and expect the trend to continue in a big way in 2017.

    Coming to Hollywood movie channels, the key to success is to have a strong pipeline of premieres and library films. This is at the core of our business and a big reason why we invested aggressively to get the best content for our viewers. The tie up with NBC Universal enhanced our programming with blockbuster films and franchises like Jurassic World, Fast& Furious, Minions, Steve Jobs, Straight Outta Compton, Jason Bourne, Sing and Secret Life of Pets to name a few. We have also extended the PIX Brand to the South Asian markets.

    public://Sherlock_s4_ep1_006 (1).jpgOur market research indicated that the audiences are segmenting into two parts. One that loves mainstream cinema. The second is that loves good cinema, irrespective of the fact it being mainstream or not. We capitalised on this opportunity with launch of our new movie channel in 2016 – Sony Le PLEX HD – which brings to its viewers movies that are critically acclaimed and are based on powerful stories and characters. Our objective was to create a differentiated product and present content in a never-seen-before manner, while positioning the channel as a fun hangout for the community of movie lovers who converse around quality cinema. With premieres of Oscar winning film like Spotlight, The Walk, Concussion and other acclaimed movies on the new channel we have opened up an opportunity to consume great cinema for an audience set whose needs were grossly underserved.   

    public://raptors_owen_960.pngIn the English general entertainment space we relaunched our flagship channel AXN making it more contemporary and appealing to the audience through the new brand positioning – Live R.E.D. We were able to build strong character and show associations with the channel which was one of the key tasks we had set out to achieve. Our content is highly diverse, which is reality, entertainment and drama – and that is what Live R.E.D stands for. From a viewer gratification perspective, LIVE R.E.D. stands for Rush Excitement and Dream; that is what our shows provide. We have leveraged R.E.D. to define our characters as well. For example, Live Eccentric, Live R.E.D defines Sherlock’s character.

    In the general entertainment category, there exists two distinct audience segments. The first set is called the influencer and the other set is called the adopters. While the influencer is an audience who is clued on to the latest shows as and when they are released worldwide, the adopters are those who are easing into the category and would want to consume long running cult shows. Our programming caters to both the audience segments. It consists of new as well as old shows that have been well received by the US audience. For instance, under AXN’s property Fresh from the US, we enable the audience to watch the latest and popular shows closer to the US timeframe like Sherlock, Billions, Orphan Black, Bull, Elementary and Supernatural to name a few. Getting to watch new shows on their TV sets will certainly discourage the viewers from downloading content and help curb piracy.

    public://Benedict-Cumberbatch-and-Martin-Freeman-in-Sherlock-Season-4-Episode-2.jpg2017 is going to be a year where we will consolidate the gains from our investments of the previous year. Our programming strategy is likely to remain consistent with the previous year and we don’t foresee significant changes in the audience behaviour or need.

    Maintaining our loyal fan base along with targeting fresh consumers is another task at hand and I am sure we will execute it well. We have a lot of exciting content in store for the year 2017 across channels as we strive to bring the best of Hollywood to our viewers. And we start all of this with the much awaited premiere of Sherlock season 4 on AXN.

     

     

    public://Saurabh-Yagnik-800x800.jpg (The writer is EVP and Business Head, English Cluster, Sony Pictures Networks, India. Views expressed in this article are personal and Indiantelevision.com need not necessarily subscribe to them.)