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Tag: HBO

  • HBO gets quirky with its new brand campaign

    HBO gets quirky with its new brand campaign

    MUMBAI: HBO South Asia has come up with a new campaign to promote HBO’s belief ‘Nothing should come in the way of entertainment.’ 

    Executed by DDB Mudra, the campaign highlights the core strength of the HBO premium channels: HBO Defined and HBO Hits, wherein audiences have an uninterrupted ad-free viewing experience. The objective of the communication is to get people to visit the channel’s website and subscribe to HBO Premium channels or directly through DTH operator or digital cable operators. 

    “Both the HBO premium channels maximise the entertainment experience by airing HBO original content and blockbuster movies 100 per cent break-free. We have initiated a multimedia campaign developed by DDB Mudra to promote the visibility and popularity of this unique proposition of HBO Defined and HBO Hits across platforms including print, cinema, TV, digital and social media. Our aim is to spoil our viewers with the very best non-stop, high quality programming, thus providing an unparalleled viewing experience,” said HBO India managing director-South Asia Monica Tata.

    HBO premium has taken a new route in its quirky TVCs with HBO Premium Accessories like HBO Agriculture, HBO Super Clone and HBO Ultimate Couch. While HBO Super Clone is a clone that manages everything in life so that one is not interrupted while watching TV, HBO Agriculture is a set of plants that grows foods like popcorn, burgers, etc., so that hunger doesn’t interrupt one from watching TV. The HBO Ultimate Couch is a couch that has just about the whole house built into it – dumbbell holders so that one doesn’t have to get up to workout, a wash basin so that one doesn’t need to get up to go to the restroom, an in-built kitchen and phone charging station and much more. 

    Click here to watch the video

    “Through this campaign, we want to establish the HBO premium channels as your most preferred destination for break free entertainment. And to promote this belief and product of ours, we’ve come up with the idea of HBO Premium Accessories – that makes sure that life doesn’t come in the way of your entertainment either. Our creative approach for this campaign drives home this point, in a fun way. Positioned at the young adult segment, the campaign empowers the viewers to reap the benefits of a completely enhanced ad-free viewing experience,” added Tata.

    Click here to watch the video

    “Content promotion on a channel has a very formulaic approach. The usual strategy is to build intrigue through teaser like edits by using existing footage of the content that needs to be promoted. We wanted to break away from this traditional approach and leverage the USP of uninterrupted original HD quality content in a way that goes beyond just claims and announcements of the product offering. Thus came about our creative proposition of ‘addictive viewing experience’ dramatised through two TV spots showing the consumers going through the experience. We believe it is imperative for a content brand to build the ideology of viewing experience in addition to the promise of fresh content for the consumers to feel compelled to subscribe,” concluded DDB Mudra senior vice president Anurag Tandon.

  • IAA launches IAA Young Turks Forum

    IAA launches IAA Young Turks Forum

    MUMBAI: The International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter has announced its next important initiative – IAA Young Turks Forum – which is focused on young executives who are keen to interact and learn from industry leaders.

     

    This will be a bi-monthly series and for the inaugural one, Akzo Nobel India’s chairman Nihal Kaviratne, has kindly agreed to meet the young professionals to address as well as mentor them. Kaviratne will initially present an analysis of consumption trends in Asia and then interact with the audience on leadership in turbulent times. HBO south Asia is the presenting partner for IAA Young Turks Forum.

     

    Kaviratne was cited in the Queen’s 2004 New Year Honours list in the UK and was awarded as the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to UK business interests and for sustainable development in Indonesia. In January 2004, he moved from being Chairman of Unilever Indonesia to a regional role in the Unilever Asia Business Group based in Singapore as Senior Vice President – Development & Environmental Affairs. In January 2005, he assumed additional responsibility as Chairman of Unilever’s US$2.5 billion Home & Oral Care business in Asia.

     

    Currently, Kaviratne is director of DBS Group & Bank, StarHub, Singapore Airport Terminal Services Limited (SATS), Wildlife Reserves Singapore, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited. He is a member of the Governing Board of Bombay Mothers & Children Welfare Society.

     

    IAA India Chapter president & IAA VP development Asia/Pacific region Srinivasan K Swamy said, “IAA has been thinking of doing something for young executives who are the backbone of industry tomorrow. With the launch of IAA Young Turks Forum, we hope to fill this gap. We are delighted to have someone like Nihal Kaviratne who has rich global experience to be our guest at the inaugural IAA Young Turks Forum series. We are sure young professionals will take full opportunity to learn from his insights on whatever he expounds.”

     

    “HBO has always had a strong connect with youth audiences and we are delighted to be associated with this thought exchange platform for young leaders,” said HBO south Asia’s managing director Monica Tata, presenting partner of the IAA Young Turks Forum.

     

    Mahindra’s special services group’s head marketing and public relations Manish Advani who is also chair of the IAA Young Turks Forum series added, “The IAA Young Turks Forum is a unique effort to bring together international gurus and young professionals face-to-face. We are confident in presenting top notch leaders every two months to this young audience”.

     

    Meanwhile, in an attempt to generate interest in the topic, the IAA (India Chapter) has invited Young Turks to send their thoughts on “Asia, Who’s Consuming” or “Leadership in Turbulent Times” in about 500 words to IAA. The chosen best article will win a Nokia cellphone along with a Certificate from the International Advertising Association.

  • ‘Fandry’ honoured with top feature award at IFFLA

    ‘Fandry’ honoured with top feature award at IFFLA

    NEW DELHI: The Marathi film Fandry by Nagraj Manjule centering around a romance between two people of different castes has been chosen for the grand prize of the best feature film at the Twelfth Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles which concluded in Hollywood this week. 

     

    The Grand Jury Prize for best documentary went to Powerless, directed by Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar. 

     

    The prize for best short, which included a cash grant from HBO, was presented to Alchemy, directed by Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat and Janmeet Singh. 

     

    Honourable mentions were awarded to the narrative feature Siddharth directed by Richie Mehta, and the short film Love.Love.Love directed by Sandhya Daisy Sundaram. 

     

    Audience awards were given to Richie Mehta’s Siddharth, the documentary Faith Connections by Pan Nalin’s and the short film Kush. 

     

    “All of the films were a pleasure to watch,” the jury said in a statement. “We are in awe of and inspired by the stories that the filmmakers brought to us. Many of the films dealt with the exploitation of children, such as child labour. The film we chose – Fandry – features stunning cinematic quality and powerful story-telling, capturing the inner life of its young hero, and providing a detailed and intimate illustration of the social power structure of his village.” 

     

    The jurors were Variety critic David Chute, Crackle and Sony Pictures Television head of digital development John Orlando along with actresses Shohreh Aghdashloo and Meera Simhan. 

     

    Powerless is about India’s struggle to get electricity to its people. “For its portrayal of a community faced with a power struggle over limited resources and its complex web of stories, the jury gives the documentary award to Powerless,” the documentary jury said. 

     

    Filmmaker Brian Knappenberger, festival programmer Dilcia Barrera and producer Chris Salvaterra served on the documentary jury. 

     

    The short Alchemy.received the award for being “Culturally rooted and formally inventive, this film used mixed media to create a one of a kind film-going experience,” said the jury comprising HBO’s Gena Desclos, festival programmer Heidi Zwicker, and filmmaker Kamal K.M. 

     

    The Festival had concentrated on films made outside the Bollywood studio system to Hollywood. The six-day event screened 33 feature films, documentaries and short films by filmmakers from nine countries exploring Indian stories. 

     

    Festival director Jasmine Jaisinghani said the IIFLA aims to be “the Sundance of Indian cinema”, with films that contrast Bollywood’s often glamorised escapism with vivid realism. “A lot of our filmmakers are interested in telling stories of people that are not represented,” Jaisinghani added, “The films we curate are dealing with touching on various aspects and concerns of the filmmaker’s own society.”

     

    The festival began with Sold, a gritty drama by director Jeffrey D. Brown about a 13-year-old girl sold into prostitution in India. Brown said he wanted the film to be a call to action globally for people to take a stand against child prostitution and slavery, which as of 2013, involved 115 million around the world, according to the United Nations. 

     

     Sold, starring young actress Niyar Saikia who turned 13 while filming explores the harsh, terrible reality of child prostitution in India, but with a pinch of song-and-dance to “get the audience through” the dark themes, Brown said. 

     

    Brown, who won an Oscar in 1986 for best short live-action film, said India is experiencing a “golden age” as filmmakers from the subcontinent breakout into the wider film industry. “It’s a new wave of Indian cinema,” he said. “This is really mainstream, global cinema. It’s not art house exclusively.” 

     

    Others included Liar’s Dice about a rural village woman who sets off to find her missing husband. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah in January, the largest gathering for the independent film community in the United States. 

     

    In Siddharth, a father and mother go in search of their 12-year-old son who disappears after leaving home to find work in Delhi. 

     

    Bombay Talkies is an anthology of short films from four celebrated Indian directors, exploring love stories of ordinary people. The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers is a documentary of two Kolkata brothers who own one of the oldest auction houses in the city.

     

    The festival’s closing night film was Jadoo by British director Amit Gupta, a light-hearted comedy about a British-Indian family, and two food-loving brothers torn apart over the sale of a recipe. Set in Leicester, a city in the East Midlands of England, Gupta mined his own experiences of growing up in a family-run restaurant to tell “a simple story” about family and cuisine. 

     

    Jadoo, starring Amara Karan as the daughter trying to repair the rift between her father and her uncle, works as both a glimpse into the British-Indian community of Leicester, and the bigger theme of family feuds and culinary traditions, which the director believes will resonate with a larger audience.

  • Writers of ‘Game of Thrones’ decide on next film project

    Writers of ‘Game of Thrones’ decide on next film project

    MUMBAI: Writers of the HBO Original series Game of Thrones, which yet again surpassed its viewership and garnered record ratings, have taken on their first feature project since becoming the architects of the HBO series adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s bestselling fantasy series, which will open its fourth season this Sunday on HBO Defined.

     

    According to Deadline, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have made a deal with Fox to write, direct and produce Dirty White Boys, the 1995 novel, written by Stephen Hunter, who also wrote Point Of Impact, the novel that was turned into the Mark Wahlberg film Shooter.

     

    Benioff and Weiss have had to dedicate their entire attention to the series because of the creative demands that came with writing and producing the ambitious signature HBO series Game of Thrones (GoT). This is the first project that they will helm together and the first since they began the GoT journey. They said it all started while they were shooting the breeze with a bunch of writer pals.

     

    Dirty White Boys follows Lamar Pye, who has escaped from Oklahoma State Penitentiary, accompanied by his idiot cousin and a vicious but cowardly artist. To have stayed in prison was certain death, but his chances on the outside are not much greater: his excesses know no bounds – one killing follows another.

     

    Benioff and Weiss are currently in postproduction on the remainder of Season 4 of GoT.

  • HBO GO sets crashing record for US subscribers

    HBO GO sets crashing record for US subscribers

    MUMBAI: HBO GO suffered under weighty demands as viewers desperate to catch up with Khaleesi, Jon Snow and the ravaged Stark clan are greeted with an error message, less than one month after a similar breakdown left True Detective fans staring at a blank screen. Such was the clamor of Game of Thrones fans tuning in to watch the premiere of season four on Sunday evening that HBO GO once again crashed. Less than a month after the channel’s streaming service broke down during the finale of True Detective, subscribers were once more left frustrated by the message “Fatal error” when the hit fantasy show resumed. Twitter embed code:

    I’m outraged about @HBOGO. Someone else’s parents pay good money for HBO and I expect to be able to watch what I want when I want.

    — Ed Casey (@edcasey) April 7, 2014

    Almost two years ago, HBO launched HBO GO, a website which features 1,000 hours of content available for streaming in standard or high definition. Content available on the service includes HBO original programming, movies, comedy specials, documentaries, sports, and late night adult programming. Twitter embed code:

    Having trouble accessing @HBO GO? Send a raven. @GameOfThrones will be available soon on HBO On Demand with some cable providers.

    — HBO GO (@HBOGO) April 7, 2014

    The premiere debuted on Sunday, 7 April and many problems were reportedly fixed just an hour later, but social media was still filled with complaints, as fans yearned to hear the fallout from the infamous “Red Wedding” climax of series three.

  • “A holistic viewing experience with VAS will enlist consumer loyalty, moving forward”

    “A holistic viewing experience with VAS will enlist consumer loyalty, moving forward”

    MUMBAI: Having spent nearly 25 years in this industry, if there is one thing that has been constant over these years is the fact that there has never been a single dull moment! It’s a memorable journey which I live, learn and grow with every passing day.

     

    Whilst I have actively represented many genres in entertainment what comes naturally to me is movies, and so to be part of an iconic brand like HBO, is not only an honour but a dream come true! The path-breaking work HBO has done globally is truly a benchmark we aspire to match and go beyond in this part of the world as well.

     

    With growing fragmentation of this genre in India coupled with the tall challenge of not having much content differentiation between one channel and the other, it clearly calls out the need to bring something different to the consumer. In fact, the harsh reality of the day is that if one were to put their hand on the logo of a movie channel, one would never know which channel they were watching! Hence, I strongly believe that in the current context where lines of consumer loyalty are blurring, offering a holistic viewing experience with value added services would most certainly enlist consumer loyalty, moving forward. And this is exactly what we at HBO are currently doing and possibly paving a way for others to follow as well.

     

    Over the years, HBO has graduated from being a leading ‘Hollywood channel’ to one of the most celebrated ‘Premium Entertainment Experiences’. HBO has redefined television viewing in India through its latest offering of two 100% ad-free Premium Channels- HBO Defined and HBO Hits. Our vision is to create a cinema-like experience in the comfort of your home. In terms of content, we at HBO aim to strike a fine balance between blockbuster titles that rate year after year and our “differentiators” – critically acclaimed ‘HBO Original’ shows and movies.  Now with innovative services like ‘HBO on demand’, the subscription video on demand (SVOD) service offered for free exclusively to subscribers of the HBO Premium Channels- HBO Defined and HBO Hits- on Tata Sky, we are taking the premium experience a step further. ‘HBO on demand’ provides flexibility, choice, and convenience to subscribers, putting them in complete control of what they watch, when they watch, and how they watch. ‘HBO on demand’ will give HBO Premium Subscribers access to a wide selection of HBO original content with the convenience to watch what they like, when they like. Indian audiences no longer want to be limited to viewing content at specific times and want great flexibility and choice. The HBO Premium offering is aiming to fill that need.

     

    Having said that, we have to also admit that unfortunately, it’s not such a walk in the park and in hindsight, I guess it was never meant to be! Whilst digitisation has paved the way for players like us to come out with new revenue models, the on-ground reality with the cable fraternity leaves much to be desired. Until the marriage of MSOs and LCOs doesn’t get sorted in an amicable way, it would be testing our strengths for making these revenue models work. The need of the hour is for digital cable platforms to adopt learnings from DTH platforms and apply the same to fix some of the on-ground challenges. There definitely exists an opportunity for all platforms to address their growth against the backdrop of the ARPU challenge and I think, we all believe revenue-sharing models can be one of the ways forward. However, to make that happen, we need some tangible steps taken on the ground.

     

    Being an eternal optimist and seeing the glass always half full, I sincerely hope that these problems will fade away soon and I do see some baby steps being taken in that direction which will surely pave the way forward.

     

    If I had a genie asking me two wishes; firstly, I would ask for DTH platforms to have more bandwidth and secondly, I would ask for digital cable platforms to be more technology-ready and have a stronger customer value proposition.

     

    Some may argue that genies don’t exist so these wishes may not come true, but I believe the bottle has been opened and it’s just a matter of time before he comes out and grants me these wishes!

     

    (Monica Tata, managing director of HBO South Asia, was the Guest Editor Of the Day at Indiantelevision.com and the views expressed are her own.)

  • There is no channel loyalty in the genre: Monica Tata

    There is no channel loyalty in the genre: Monica Tata

    With nearly 25 years of experience behind her, HBO South Asia MD Monica Tata brings expertise in the management of television networks’ operations to the table.

     

    Tata has worked as part of the leadership team at Turner and has had a consistent record of increasing sales, effective negotiations, profit and loss analysis and strategic implementation of business operations; her performance with Turner and prior to that, Star India, stand testimony to her path of excellence. 

     

    An ability to overcome obstacles and capture opportunities by closing exclusive deals and creating and implementing savvy marketing strategies has been her forte. Tata’s efforts have been validated in the past, when she was adjudged one of India’s hottest young executives in media in 2009 by Business Today; counted among the ‘Next 30’ most powerful women to look out for in 2010; and among the top 50 influential women in media, marketing and advertising by a leading industry magazine – IMPACT in 2012.

     

    Sidharth Iyer of Indiantelevision.com spoke to Tata, who was also the Guest Editor of the Day, about the progress made by HBO in the past decade and the traction received by HBO Defined and HBO Hits among other things. Excerpts…

     

    Currently, the market is cluttered with nearly 10 English movie channels. What is HBO’s strategy to stay ahead of competition? What is the impact that the new players have had on the genre? Has it really eaten into someone’s ad pie?

     

    HBO has been around for 13 years, but when we launched HBO Defined and HBO Hits, the whole integrated strategy was what we were working towards for sustaining all the three channels.

     

    The proposition in premium and basic is very different; the basic clearly runs on advertising revenues and the content mix that you will witness in the basic version is driven by genres that are well received, primarily action and comedy. And that is what drives ratings, viewership and ad revenues in the end.  

     

    For our premium channel, the main proposition is that it is 100 per cent ad-free, and it has HBO original content and allows us to take more risks as we don’t have the sword of ratings hanging over our head as we are creating and providing a proposition.

     

    So, the way the sharing of the content is structured, it brings about a viewership experience between the three which is quite unique by itself. There is competition in this space now compared to a decade back, when there were only three major players.

     

    I think there is clear fragmentation in the genre and the major point of concern is that if you compare it to the English news channels, where there was an advent of more channels and it helped in increasing the size of the advertising pie; the same can’t be said for the movie space.

     

    Even as more and more channels have come on-board, the pie hasn’t really grown and that is a cause for concern for the genre. The viewership pie has grown by about 5-6 per cent but the revenue generated from advertising still stands between Rs 450 – Rs 500 crore, which was around Rs 350 crore a decade back… so really not much has changed.

     

    Having said that, this is one of the few genres where the revenue index to ratings is very high because of the premium value it holds in the market and with genre-specific channels also coming out now, the opportunities are there to be harvested.

     

    Which studios do you have first output deals with? How big is the movie library of HBO?

     

    We have tie-ups with Warner Bros and Paramount for first output deals, and the concept in the category has been changing in recent history. And the other prevalent issue is that content flows from one studio to one broadcaster and then to others with first, second, third and fourth runs.

     

    So, if we take an example of any movie in the last five years, it would have been seen on five different channels. But, where we are different is in the fact that apart from the deals with bigger studios like Warner Bros and Paramount, we have deals with other smaller and independent studios and producers of content as well.

     

    On the acquisition front, we not only look at acquiring big titles, but also some niche movies which are high on brand value and content as well. We recently got on-board some of the best movies from the recently concluded Oscars and are proud to have exclusive rights to titles like ‘12 Years A Slave’, ‘Gravity’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’.

     

    We would be having anything between 700-800 movie titles and are certainly focused on building on this along with creating more engaging original content globally.

     

    How has the traction been for HBO Defined and HBO Hits? What are the challenges faced by the genre in today’s day and age? How can they be overcome?

     

    When HBO basic was launched, the lay of the land was only ad revenue supported and we have continued to grow in the space. And we were able to bring HBO Defined and HBO Hits into the country on the back of digitisation.

     

    The response for the ad-free service is really encouraging, after having executed it on key platforms. The challenge now lies in growing that base, as the transition on the DTH platforms has been really smooth but the hurdle comes with the cable services. I believe the cause for the issue is the fact that there are too many stakeholders coming into play with multi-system operators and then the local cable operators to funnel it down to the end consumer.

    In the end, the industry needs to come together and keep in mind the interest of all the stakeholders and come up with the right value chain for a healthy ecosystem.

     

    HBO GO – the online streaming service of HBO – was launched in the Philippines yesterday, any plans of bringing the service to India? 

     

    HBO GO is a versatile service enabling subscribers to maximise their HBO experience across multiple devices, whether at home or on the move. But, there are a lot of hurdles that we need to consider before getting such a service to India. HBO GO’s broadband streaming service allows users to enjoy uncut, award-winning HBO and Cinemax Original content on multiple devices including computers, tablets and smartphones (iOS and Android) anywhere, anytime. The service is currently available only in Hong Kong and now Philippines.

     

    In India the service can’t be launched currently because we want to ensure that when the consumer logs on to watch some of his/her favourite HBO originals, they should not have to wait for the video to buffer and should be able to enjoy seamless viewing. The opportunity is really a great proposition for subscribers, who will have unlimited access to an extensive library of original movies, concerts, documentaries, and series, including complete seasons of favorites like Sex and the City, Band of Brothers, The Pacific, The Sopranos, and Entourage, and thought-provoking titles like Angels in America and John Adams. Special behind-the-scenes content of HBO Originals such as Boardwalk Empire, True Blood and Banshee will also be available exclusively on HBO GO, if and when the service comes to India.  

     

    Social media is a platform that is really acting as a great catalyst for most channels in the English movie genre, what is HBO’s strategy in the space?

     

    Social media is certainly a great focus point for us. We make a lot of effort in keeping our fans engaged on our social platforms, with a fanbase of over 3.1 million on Facebook and nearly 36,500 followers on Twitter, I believe we have encouraged the fans to really voice their thoughts on the kind of programming that they would like to view on the channel and we do consider their views.

     

    Our digital media is handled by New Delhi based OMLogic, who really help in keeping our social audience engaged with continuous uploads and comments flowing in. DDB Mudramax helps us with the planning and execution of our creative campaigns and we are well represented by Madison PR, who do a great job in handling our public relations for us.

     

    What do you think works in today’s day and age, appointment viewing or brand loyalty; or a good mix of both? What is it that viewers expect from the English movie genre?

     

    If you cover the logo of any movie channel with your hand, you won’t really know which channel you are seeing and this will be the case even five years down the line. To me, this is the biggest problem with the genre as there is no loyalty; the consumer is not watching the channel but the titles.

     

    So, if they are aware that a certain movie is coming on one channel, they will go to that channel, so the question really is how to create brand loyalty. In today’s fragmented world, there is so much of choice; the consumer is spoilt for choice.

     

    So the added value that we believe in to promote the proposition of brand loyalty is the cinematic experience. We believe we are doing that with HBO Defined and HBO Hits, with no advertisements, there will be no breaks, there is an HD experience and add to that, the technologically advanced sound with Dolby Digital surround sound.

     

    And the future lies in adopting technology in a big way, to the extent that I would go on to state that in today’s day and age, technology is king. And the idea is to bring the technological experience to the audience. We have taken the first step with ‘HBO on Demand’ on Tata Sky and these are the kind of things that will be bringing a revolution in the genre.

     

  • We’re excited to make people’s lives more Jing-a-la-la with HBO: Vikram Mehra

    We’re excited to make people’s lives more Jing-a-la-la with HBO: Vikram Mehra

    Under her watch, the English movies channel has only grown from strength to strength. Before taking charge as MD, HBO India, Monica Tata worked with Turner International India, quitting as General Manager, Entertainment Networks, South Asia, in 2012. Tata has nearly two and a half decades’ experience in the media and entertainment industry, and spent most of her formative years at Star India before moving on to Turner.

     

    Indiantelevision.com was more than happy to have Tata over as Guest Editor for a day and play fly-on-the-wall even as she grilled Tata Sky chief commercial officer Vikram Mehra about the association with HBO and more…Excerpts of the conversation between the two:

     

    Monica: What is the business model for providing the ‘HBO On Demand’ service?

     

    Vikram: The way we are looking at it right now, which is also in sync with our philosophy at Tata Sky is that apart from offering television channels which customers are used to, providing those channels with great picture quality and better customer service is our lookout.

     

    We are also very keen to try out unconventional products and services, which customers haven’t tried out till now and give them a flavour of that. Whether it’s trying out varied services like Karaoke which nobody ever thought could be offered on a television-based platform, which is a global first for us. On our partnership with HBO, where customers are showing interest in watching premium content like HBO Defined and HBO Hits. Not only are they getting to watch 100 per cent ad-free content, but also older seasons that they would not have been exposed to otherwise.

     

    So, somebody who has never been exposed to say, a Game of Thrones, and is keen to watch season four, what with so much publicity around it, need not bother with downloading bad quality content from Torrentz or buying it from the pirated market. Our partnership with HBO is such that any customer subscribing to its premium offering would also get a free entitlement to watch back seasons of all leading shows on VOD.

     

    Monica: So will this be available to everybody or only to HBO premium subscribers?

     

    Vikram: This will be available only to HBO premium customers. This content is offered only as a free value-add to people who have decided to go out and subscribe to the HBO premium service. Conventionally, what used to happen; people would pay for a channel and just get that. But with HBO, for the first time in India, when you pay for the channel, you will not only get the channel but also the free VOD entitlements along with it.

     

    Monica: Please share your views on the genesis of this unique partnership. For the first time, ‘HBO On Demand’ has been brought into the country. Where did it begin and how was the experience?

     

    Vikram: Not only the ‘HBO On Demand’ part but also HBO channels are a complete breakthrough in this country. Nobody else has been able to come out with their high-profile channel which shows you great movies in great picture quality and ad-free. Nobody has that kind of service in the country today.

     

    For us, it is a very big experiment that we genuinely believe in. We have been getting fabulous response from customers about these two channels. And our constant endeavour is to keep thinking what more can we bring to customers.

     

    We have a very well established VOD service today with over 3,000 video titles that we typically sell on a transaction basis or a subscription basis. But you cannot get this content unless you go out and subscribe to the television channels of HBO premium.

     

    We are already getting a large number of calls at our call centres and people want to know more about it. If you check twitter, there are people tweeting about how Tata Sky has brought in a great initiative and we are extremely excited about it.

     

    Monica: What has the response been like and how excited is Tata Sky about the season 4 premiere of the HBO Original Series, Game of Thrones, on HBO Defined?

     

    Vikram: I am a huge fan of Game of Thrones and we are pretty excited about it. It will be an absolutely new audience that we can open up in this country for a Game of Thrones kind of high quality production. I am yet to see anything of this kind of production quality to be put on television. It’s mind-blowing and a new generation, a new kind of crowd is going to open up to this show.

     

    Hence, we are very clear that when we promote season four, it will not be limited to just larger towns but also mid-size and small-size ones. And our communication will say, “Don’t worry if you have missed the first three seasons, why don’t you download from VOD and check it out!”

     

    Monica: Do you think that the dual language proposition is an interesting one and is working well?

     

    Vikram: It is working quite well. Our endeavour is not only limited to people in Mumbai or Delhi. It’s a huge mental block for people in smaller towns who think they won’t be able to catch the accent. The moment they understand that there is a provision to shift to Hindi, it’s a huge comfort to them.

     

    So, ever since we have started promoting the dual-programming concept with HBO, we have seen absolutely fresh households opening up to the entire concept. We have seen a substantial increase in the subscription of the service.

     

    Monica: What do you expect further from this Tata Sky-HBO partnership?

     

    Vikram: Our endeavour is to keep on doing newer things. As a company, we take pride in the fact that we are not just a digital TV service provider. I think there has to be newer things brought to this market, which India has never seen and some of the things globally have never been out here. We believe that in HBO, we have a partner with whom we can go and try these things out. So, we are very excited about making the life of Tata Sky people more ‘Jinga Lala’ with HBO.

  • HBO on Demand gets on board Tata Sky

    HBO on Demand gets on board Tata Sky

    MUMBAI: The Home of Box Office (HBO) just got cosier with ‘HBO on Demand’. The new and innovative service offered for free exclusively to subscribers of the HBO Premium Channels – HBO Hits HD and HBO Defined HD – will be available on the direct to home (DTH) platform starting today.  

     

    The service provides flexibility, choice, and convenience to subscribers giving them complete control of what they watch, when they watch and how they watch.  HBO Hits and HBO Defined are distributed by Turner International in India.

     

    “HBO and Turner have always been ahead of the curve with innovations on content delivery that are designed to entertain consumers like never before. We have received a very enthusiastic response from the discerning subscribers of HBO Defined HD and HBO Hits HD and are very happy to now extend their premium advertising-free television viewing experience with the additional feature of ‘HBO on Demand’ on Tata Sky,” said Turner International India, network and content distribution, senior director Kishan Cheranda in a press statement.

     

    Based on the Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) model, the service will give HBO Premium subscribers access to a wide selection of HBO original content. At launch, subscribers can catch all seasons of HBO shows such as Game of Thrones (Season 1-3), True Detective (Season 1) and Banshee (Season 1-2). Thereafter, additional content including HBO original series and movies will be added on an ongoing monthly basis thus allowing subscribers to view them at a time of their choice completely advertising free.

     

    Tata Sky chief content and business development officer Paolo Agostinelli stated, “At Tata Sky, we work towards providing our premium subscribers with world class television experience with best content to offer. Apart from just bringing entertainment to their homes, now our subscribers can enjoy the programs showcased on HBO premium channels at any time that is convenient to them. Moving with time, we are aware of the changing consumption patterns of our viewers, hence we are pleased to launch the first ever ‘HBO On Demand’ model in India.”

  • Dolby brings home cinema quality sound

    Dolby brings home cinema quality sound

     MUMBAI: Like all previous editions of the annual convention, FICCI FRAMES 2014 too is as much about the progress of the industry as it is about the success stories of individual companies that set up booths during the event.

     

    Indiantelevision.com stumbled upon one such booth by Dolby Digital, which has been participating in FICCI FRAMES for the past four years. “We have been coming down to FICCI Frames for the past four years with a booth, and it has certainly worked well for us and helped us meet our current partners, key decision makers and stakeholders. It’s a great place to network,” said Dolby Laboratories head of marketing Ashim Mathur.

     

     Not so long ago, Dolby Digital collaborated with HBO’s two niche offerings – HBO Hits and HBO Defined – to provide them with the best in sound technology.

     

    “The association with HBO is great for us as their two new channels are really gaining some traction among viewers for their offering of 100 per cent ad-free content. Dolby traditionally has been known for cinema and the collaboration fits perfectly into our scheme of things,” said Mathur about their association.

     

    Currently, Dolby is the go-to surround sound experience for nearly 20 channels and caters to all possible genres of content, including movies, music, general entertainment and sports.

     

     It all started with Star Plus, recalled Mathur and added, “We came on board the whole HD and surround sound bandwagon with Star Plus nearly four years back, which was our first asli HD channel with Dolby surround sound.”

     

    Dolby has been associated with television shows as well, the most recent being the high-octane thriller 24 on Colors. “The mode of communication from our side was simple; we had to showcase it to people. We did a lot of on-ground activation with Colors at cinema theatres, by playing a visual inside and we gave the demonstration to explain the difference in surround sound experience with Dolby,” said Mathur. For Colors HD, 24 was the first show with Dolby surround sound.

     

     The company has also collaborated with brands the likes of LG during the last ICC World Cup, where it had its products on display at nearly 200 LG-branded stores across the country. “The campaign that we had was simply to bring the in-stadia cricket experience home and it was a grand success,” beamed Mathur.

     

    The secret behind Dolby’s success is that it believes in providing the best experience to its customers and partners alike. Thus, the home of surround sound technology associates with retailers and ensures that customers get to experience its products before bringing them home. Dolby uses experiential marketing by giving demonstrations in malls and retail stores to attract customers’ attention.

     

     “The idea is to give customers the experience and explain the difference between mono and surround sound, and also the difference between standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD),” said Mathur.

     

     Currently, Dolby has its 5.1 surround, 7.1 surround and the Dolby Atmos – which is used in cinema theatres. The company continues to strive for better technology coupled with the core marketing strategy of bringing the best cinematic experience home.