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Tag: Hoichoi

  • hoichoi drops trailer for its 100th original ‘Tiktiki’

    hoichoi drops trailer for its 100th original ‘Tiktiki’

    Mumbai: Bengali entertainment platform hoichoi has unveiled the trailer for its 100th original “Tiktiki.” Directed by Dhrubo Banerjee, the web series is slated to premiere on 18 March. 

    The launch event celebrated the web debut of actor-director Kaushik Ganguly as the lead cast of the series, as well as the directorial debut of Banerjee on the platform. The show also features Anirban Bhattacharya alongside Ganguly for the first time.

    The trailer starts with suspense-laden visuals of a palace and goes on to show a meeting between the polar opposites, Soumendra Krishna Deb (played by Ganguly) and Milan Basak (played by Bhattacharya). Taking off on a cordial note, the meeting soon turns into a duel, absolute chaos as the characters begin to unveil themselves. The trailer ends with a gunshot, leaving the audience at a cliffhanger.

    The event also witnessed the launch of the “Tiktiki Game of Chess,” where players can challenge either of the two lead characters of the series. A maximum of 150 kills within 100 seconds, will give them a chance to win a coupon code offering 25 per cent discount on the hoichoi annual subscription. The game is available on the hoichoi app.

    “It is an unparalleled moment for me to showcase the trailer of my first web directorial venture in such a grand manner. I feel grateful to my entire team and hoichoi for making this day so special,” said director Dhrubo Banerjee. “Right now, I am cherishing every moment that we have spent in creating Tiktiki. I hope audiences love the show and recognise the passion that has gone into making it.”

    “I am happy about not only getting to play such a powerful character as Milan Basak, but also to share the screen with an accomplished actor like Kaushik Ganguly,” added actor Anirban Bhattacharya. “‘Tiktiki’ is the kind of project that I feel will leave a mark in people’s mind. I am grateful to Dhrubo Banerjee for making ‘Tiktiki’ and making me a part of it. I will always have special regard for hoichoi for bringing in such unique content for our audience. I am looking forward to the audience reactions once the show gets released.”

    Commenting on his web debut, Kaushik Ganguly shared, “It is an absolute delight for me to be marking my debut with something that is as grand as ‘Tiktiki.’ I am thankful to Dhrubo Banerjee for Soumendra Krishna Deb and simply hope that I have done justice to the character. I would also like to thank Anirban Bhattacharya for being such an amazing co-actor. I am immensely thankful to the entire team of ‘Tiktiki’ and hoichoi for making the journey of my first web series memorable.”

  • hoichoi unveils trailer for ‘Sundarbaner Vidyasagar’

    hoichoi unveils trailer for ‘Sundarbaner Vidyasagar’

    Mumbai: Bengali OTT entertainment platform hoichoi has released the trailer of its upcoming original “Sundarbaner Vidyasagar.” The series is slated for release on 11 March.

    The social drama brings national award-winning actor Riddhi Sen and Tollywood starlet Ushasi Ray together for the first time to narrate the tale of the land of Kumirkhali – an eccentric village of widows. It is set in the mangrove islands of Bengal is wrapped with the tinge of humour that comes across with the fateful entry of a boy thought to be Vidyasagar.

    The trailer of the show prominently displays the diverse moods and cast of the show including Sankar Debnath, Rupanjana Mitra, Pratik Dutta, Doyel Nandy, Kaushik Kar, Sajal Mondal, and Sudeep Dhara.

    “Sundarbaner Vidyasagar” is directed by Korok Murmu and written by Arkadeep Nath.  

  • hoichoi premieres ABP Studios’ ‘Mukhyamantri’

    hoichoi premieres ABP Studios’ ‘Mukhyamantri’

    Mumbai: ABP Studios’ produced docu-series “Mukhyamantri” premiered on Bengali on-demand video streaming platform hoichoi on 25 February.

    The docu-series is directed by the famous Bengali director – Indranil Roychowdhury and is presented by Pratik Dutta and Shaoli Chattopadhyay.

    Through this docu-series, ABP Studios aims at introducing the layman to the effervescent landscape of Bengal politics. It’s a way of analysing Bengal’s modern political history through the eyes of the state’s eight chief ministers.

    Indranil Roychowdhury has produced and directed multiple award-winning films over a period of 25 years of his career. His renowned production company Flipbook produced Indranil’s first full-length feature film Phoring in the year 2013. Moreover, his noteworthy work includes – ‘Tapanbabu’, ‘Ekti Bangali Bhooter Goppo,’ ‘Bhalobashar Shohor’ and ‘The Lovely Mrs Mukherjee.’

    “We are thrilled to have forayed into Bengal with our very first docu-series,” said ABP Studios business head Zulfia Waris. “It’s a never-before-told story about the history of West Bengal told through the tenures of each of its illustrious chief ministers. We are committed to use our rich 100-year-old archive of stories not just nationally but internationally as well. ‘Mukhyamantri’ marks the first of many shows that ABP Studios will produce in the future that have its roots in the state.”

    ABP Studios is collaborating with emerging national and international talent, as well as National Award-winning writers and filmmakers, to realize their larger aim of bringing local stories to a worldwide audience. They are also excited about developing and presenting content from its recent acquisitions in adventure, horror, and crime drama genres.

  • Airtel launches Xstream Premium aggregator service, onboards 15 OTT brands

    Airtel launches Xstream Premium aggregator service, onboards 15 OTT brands

    Mumbai: Further democratising the growing digital entertainment ecosystem in India, Bharti Airtel (Airtel), on Thursday announced the launch of its new video streaming aggregator service – Airtel Xstream Premium. The company is targeting 20 million subscriptions through the new offering.

    Aggregating content from 15 Indian and global OTT platforms in one app, Airtel Xstream Premium will give customers access to Live channels and a catalogue of over 10,500 films and shows from SonyLIV, ErosNow, Lionsgate Play, Hoichoi, ManoramaMax, Shemaroo, Ultra, HungamaPlay, EPICon, Docubay, DivoTV, Klikk, Nammaflix, Dollywood, and Shorts TV. More OTT players will be onboarded going ahead, said the statement.

    Airtel Xstream Premium offers its service with a single app, single subscription, single sign-in, unified content search and AI-driven personalised curation for each user. It can be accessed across mobile devices through the web, and on TV through the Xstream set-top-box. The service will be available exclusively to Airtel customers at Rs 149 per month.

    “Airtel Xstream Premium is a game-changing innovation to democratise OTT content in India by solving the key challenges of content discovery, affordability and distribution,” said Airtel digital CEO Adarsh Nair. “As a unified digital platform, it’s a win-win proposition for customers and OTT players alike as we begin an exciting journey to make digital entertainment mainstream in India.” 

    SonyLIV’s growth and monetisation head Manish Aggarwal added, “Our partnership with Airtel Xstream will bring premium content – from originals, movies, sports and Sony India network content in all the leading languages, along with top shows from Hollywood to over 340 million Airtel customers. SonyLIV’s rich content library coupled with Airtel Xstream’s deep distribution reach and massive scale capabilities make it for a perfect partnership for both sides and we look forward to a long and successful association.”

    “Hoichoi has always been committed to making its content available to a wider audience base. Airtel, being one of the most widely used network, with a similar aim of serving people from all corners of the country, makes this partnership a truly dynamic one. This will enable Hoichoi to penetrate deeper into the Tier – II and Tier – III cities by providing Airtel users with a Hoichoi subscription bundled with an attractive Airtel recharge pack,” remarked Hoichoi CEO Soumya Mukherjee.

    “Eros Now is a mass-market consumer proposition with thousands of movies, original series, music videos, short-form content and more in multiple languages,” stated Eros Now CEO Ali Hussein. “This symbiotic partnership with Airtel Xstream will further accelerate Eros Now’s adoption in India and allow an even larger number of video users to access our popular and engaging content. I am confident that consumers will enjoy the experience of accessing the best of entertainment and internet on a single platform.”

  • hoichoi to double spending on content, announces 20 new shows

    hoichoi to double spending on content, announces 20 new shows

    Mumbai: The Bengali OTT platform hoichoi has bolstered its content library with as many as 20 new shows as it marked its fifth year in the streaming space. The streaming service brand recorded 2x growth in active monthly subscribers and now planning to double its investment in content to power the next phase of growth, it shared during the virtual event #HoichoiSeason5 held on Friday.

    The go-to-market strategy will now rest on the pillars of content, tech and distribution, and expansion. “Since we only have a yearly subscription, it is very important for us to have high engagement on the platform. At (minimum) Rs 600 and Rs 900, it’s no way cheap to be on hoichoi, and hence we must continue to offer a great catalogue of films and shows on a regular basis for our premium users in order to drive subscription and engagement,” said hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta.

    hoichoi currently has over 80 originals and is eyeing to reach the target of 100 shows by the end of 2022. Going forward, the main focus will be to drive subscriptions by bolstering its content offering and expand in both Bengali and non-Bengali markets in India and globally, said the platform.

    Content – Bengali/Dubbed Regional and Branded

    Of the 12 world premiere films planned for next year, five titles will be led by noted directors such as Srijit Mukherji and Anjan Dutt, which will add to the existing catalogue of 600+ films.

    Some of the originals revealed at Friday’s event include “Srikanto,” “Byomkesh 7,” “Mahabharat Murders,” “Eken Babu 5,” “Troilokkyo,” “Mandaar,” “Rudrabinar Obhishaap,” “Montu Pilot 2,” “Khyapar Shohor,” “Gora,” “Tiktiki,” “Swapan Kumar Obolomboney Bottolar Goyenda,” “Uttaran,” “Indu,” “Boli” (Bangladesh), “Karagar” (Bangladesh), “Sabrina” (Bangladesh), “Kaiser” (Bangladesh), and “Bodh” (Bangladesh).

    The platform also announced that it has witnessed a 2X growth in its overall watch-time and monthly active streaming users as well as a 4X growth in viewership, not only in India but in Bangladesh as well. It has recorded 60 minutes of average daily watch-time among subscribers, with each user visiting the platform thrice every day on an average.

    “We are overwhelmed with the response we have received for hoichoi in both the regional and as well as national OTT space in the span of past four years,” said co-founder Mahendra Soni. “hoichoi’s relevant and dynamic content has made it possible for us to build a diverse audience base, and as we step into the fifth year, the goal is to curate more remarkable content in collaboration with the best creators and talents of the industry.”

    The platform’s monthly subscription numbers in Bangladesh have also doubled every month since last year. Buoyed by the success in the neighbouring country, it intends to produce at least seven to nine originals for the Bangladesh market in association with local talent.

    While the pandemic-induced lockdown catapulted OTT platforms into accelerated growth, co-founder Vishnu Mohta believes the OTT culture began setting in among people for a few years now, and the pandemic only amplified it. “Since the pandemic surfaced, generally, people started getting accustomed to direct-to-digital releases along with the wide array of web series presented by the platforms. Post the lockdowns, OTT platforms have hardened their space in society. Therefore, this trend is here to stay. It will continue even in the post-pandemic world,” he said while talking to Indiantelevision.com ahead of the event.

    For hoichoi, the growth was also led by its Hindi dubbed content, which has been very well-received on partner platforms, said Mohta. “In order to replicate this success across regional markets and establish a connect with Indian and global non-Bengali audience, the platform is now planning to dub its content in other languages like Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam,” he added.

    Running into its fifth year, hoichoi has also stepped up its branded content and launched a ‘Freemium’ service that allows users to watch ad-free shows without having to pay. So far, two shows have been released in collaboration with jewellery brands – Turu Love with Senco Gold & Diamonds and Subharambha with PC Chandra Jewellers. “While we stick to our strategy of offering ad-free content, we believe that branded content does not interrupt the viewing experience. Freemium section is primarily intended to cater to different brand needs while ensuring the content remains engaging and high-quality,” he added.

    Expansion, distribution, and partnership

    Running into its fifth year, one of the main focuses for hoichoi now is to drive more subscriptions on its platform through both direct subscription and subscription bundling partners. In India, besides its existing partnership with Jio Fibre for broadband subscription bundling, it has now partnered with Airtel as its preferred partner for mobility, broadband, and DTH bundling. There are other collaborations with ISP players like Alliance, Wishnet, Meghbela in India, and Link3 and Grameenphone and Sohoj in Malaysia.

    In 2022, the brand aims to have more such subscription bundling partners across telecom, ISPs, e-commerce, and DTH services.

    In order to reach out to tier 2 and 3 towns, hoichoi has also recently entered the retail vertical to enable subscription through offline payment mode where users can simply visit a local partner store and purchase a subscription by paying in cash. Sohoj and Paynearby are some of the current retail partners. Tie-ups with over 500 retail stores in both India and Bangladesh are planned for the next six months.

    At present, at least 40 per cent of hoichoi’s direct subscription revenue is contributed by the international market. With an aim to deepen its presence among the large Bengali population in South-Asian countries like Malaysia and Singapore and the middle-east, hoichoi is looking to partner with key telecom operators in the region. The launch of sachet pricing for both these markets is also on the anvil.

    Additionally, it will be launching digital gift cards offering special pricing plans for this Durga Puja across many countries like the US, UK, Australia, Singapore, and the Middle East. Mohta shares that as part of the recurring payment ecosystem that exists in most international markets, hoichoi subscription charges hover at nine dollars per month.

    Technology

    On the tech front, hoichoi will soon be available with a new interface displaying added features such as content description, trailer auto-play feature on the content details page, new and improved search layout functionality, Hamburger Menu Navigation, and new signup, streaming player, and login page.

  • Hoichoi’s first independent property Tangra Blues debuts on the platform

    Hoichoi’s first independent property Tangra Blues debuts on the platform

    KOLKATA: Bengali OTT platform Hoichoi’s first independent property, Tangra Blues, premiered on the platform on Saturday a month after its theatrical release while simultaneously being available in multiplexes.

    Directed by National Award-winning director Supriyo Sen, along with National Award-winning cinematographer Ranjan Palit, and music director Nabarun Ghosh, the film is an underdog story of a band that refuses to die and rewrite its destiny through music. 

    Ahead of its World Premiere on Hoichoi, Tangra Blues had opened to an overwhelming response and rave reviews in theatres a month back on 15 April. The film is inspired by the lives and struggles of Sanjay Mandol & group, Kolkata’s most popular waste band group, who went on to become a runner-up in a popular talent reality show in the country.

    The film stars renowned actors Parambrata Chatterjee and Madhumita along with Saimul Alam, Oishani Dey, and Atmadeep Ghosh among others.

    Hoichoi revenue & strategy VP Soumya Mukherjee said, “With our huge bank of World Premiere movies and Original Shows, we are prepared to provide entertainment to our user base even at a time like this. Tangra Blues being our first independent property, we are excited for our users across the globe to enjoy it from the safety and comfort of their homes. At Hoichoi, we endeavour to bring great content and latest releases on our service for our users to experience.”

  • As regional content explodes, Hoichoi eyes 60-80% revenue growth in FY22

    As regional content explodes, Hoichoi eyes 60-80% revenue growth in FY22

    KOLKATA: In the last couple of years, Hoichoi has been in the limelight for its bold moves in the regional over-the-top (OTT) segment. The Bengali streaming service revealed its cumulative subscriber base had breezed past the 13 million-mark on the third anniversary of its launch. To boost its user base further, the platform has recently announced a stellar content line-up for 2021, with 18 fresh stories.

    This year’s line-up is a leap from what the platform did last year, especially from a story point of view, Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta said. The streamer had the opportunity to work with a number of renowned directors, filmmakers and a lot of other marquee talents, he highlighted. Hence, the platform has doubled down on content investment as compared to before.

    Talking heads are enthused about the regional space, as reports have indicated that the share of language content will increase to around 50 per cent of overall OTT consumption, up from 30 per cent in 2019. Hence, a wider library will drive more subscribers to Hoichoi as the Bengali OTT market is still largely unpenetrated by major OTT platforms in terms of original content.

    The Bengali streaming service has set its sights on aggressive direct subscriber acquisition this year. “This year we have changed our strategy a little bit. We are not trying to syndicate our content. We were on the biggest telco players; our content was available as syndicated content. Now we have decided that our content will not be available on syndication from this year, it will only be bundled with aggregators like Jio Fiber or other big ISPs. The acquisition has to be direct,” Mohta explained.

    The rationale behind the move is that ARPU is much higher through direct subscribers who pay around Rs 500 every year. According to Mohta, the platform has put together a good line-up to excite customers to pay for original content. Currently, revenue from direct subscriptions stands around 50 per cent for Hoichoi. With greater emphasis on direct acquisition, Mohta is hopeful Hoichoi’s revenue will go up at least 60-80 per cent in FY 22.

    Acclaimed actors like Rahul Bose, Anirban Bhattacharya, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Swastika Mukherjee, Sohini Sarkar, and award-winning filmmakers such as Srijit Mukherji, Kamaleswar Mukherjee, Anjan Dutt are some of the popular faces behind this new line-up. In addition to episodic series like Byomkesh and Eken Babu, films like Tangra Blues, Golondaj, Prem Tame will premiere on Hoichoi.

    Along with building up a diverse content portfolio, the OTT player has initiated a multi-dimensional promotional strategy as well. With a follower base of five-six million, the platform is leveraging its social media communities highly to promote new shows. To get more personal feedback, it has recently started calling every single customer to get their opinion on which show or film on the platform was to their liking, Mohta detailed.

    Additionally, Hoichoi has recently introduced a refer and earn scheme for subscribers, he shared. The person who refers will get one month extension on existing subscription and the other person who joins based on the referral gets a 20 per cent discount.

    Although digital payments growth has skyrocketed in India, there are still barriers to adoption of such services among certain sections. To overcome this obstacle, Hoichoi has started reaching out to different shops which sell mobile phones, accessories, telecom recharges to enable them to sell the platform’s subscriptions. This strategy, implemented in tier-3, tier-4 towns, allows people to subscribe to the platform through cash also.

  • Hoichoi gives a glimpse of its 2021 content slate

    Hoichoi gives a glimpse of its 2021 content slate

    KOLKATA: Bengali streaming giant Hoichoi today unveiled its content line-up for, 2021, which includes  18 powerful and irresistible stories. Apart from its impressive March line-up, the OTT also plans to add more shows and movies this year than it did in the past years.  

    Hoichoi has roped in top talents of the industry, such as Rahul Bose, Dev, Anirban Bhattacharya, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Srabanti, Soham, Swastika Mukherjee, Sohini Sarkar, Monami Ghosh, Saswata Chatterjee, Anirban Chakrabarti, Arjun Chakraborty, Anindita Bose, Tridha Choudhury debutants Soumya Mukherjee, Sweta Mishra, Susmita Chatterjee, Debasish Mondal. Along with Bangladesh sensations like Mosharraf Karim, Badhon, Shamol Mawla and more; creators Srijit Mukherji, Kamaleswar Mukherjee, Anindya Chattopadhyay, Anjan Dutt, Sahana Dutta, Mainak Bhaumik, Anirban Bhattacharya’s directorial debut will also join its vast library.

    In a statement, Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta said, “At Hoichoi, we aim to bring distinct stories for our diverse audiences with variant taste. Our upcoming line-up is a reflection of that idea; each one of which is a gripping story of human emotions, filled with suspense, comedy, love, drama, thrill and longing. Every season we try to reinvent ourselves, with content from the brightest and newest creators of the region. So, #NotunGolpoHoyejak?”

    The exciting line-up is as follows:

    1.     Maradonar Juto – Directed by Mainak Bhaumik, this romantic comedy with a fresh casting, filled with the spice of family drama talks about neighbouring families, residing in North Kolkata (Dutta family & Chowdhury family), who have a generational feud about a pair of shoes, which belongs to the great football legend, Maradona.  

    2.     Dujone – A thriller, not a love story, Dujone marks the digital debut of much-loved on-screen pair, Soham and Srabanti, which talks about a wife’s dilemma to decipher her husband’s true personality.

    3.     Mohomaya – Helmed by Sahana Dutta, Mohomaya is a unique tale of a boy, jilted by his traumatic past, involving his mother, essayed by National Award-Winning actress Ananya Chatterjee, at a tender age, finds affection he longed for all his life in his friend's mother, played by powerhouse actress Swastika Mukherjee. National Award-Winning director Kamaleswar Mukherjee marks his digital directorial debut with the series.

    4.     Mohanagar – The story revolves around three characters and a pair of police officers whose lives get connected due to an incident that changes them and their belief in the system. Mohanagar marks the hoichoi debut of Bangladesh superstar Mosharraf Karim.

    5.     Srikanto – A modern day take of the cult novel in & within the matrix of childhood simplicity, adolescent innocence to complex neo-liberal social & interpersonal predicament of human existence. Will star a young talent Rishav Basu, in the lead.

    6.     Mandaar – Created and directed by Anirban Bhattacharya, Mandaar will be the first among ‘hoichoi World Classics’ segment that will bring Shakespeare's literary classic, Macbeth, to screen, featuring Debashish Mondal, Sohini Sarkar and Anirban Bhattacharya himself in the lead.

    7.     Mouchaak – A dark comedy, which will mark the digital debut of television personality, Monami Ghosh, Mouchaak chronicles a series of funny unfortunate events surrounding a housewife under house arrest, a series of guests and a lottery ticket.  

    8.     Robindronath Ekhane Kawkhono Khete Aashenni – An adaptation from the popular Bangladesh novel of the same name by Mohammad Nazim Uddin, which will mark Srijit Mukherji’s first series on hoichoi starring the dynamic Rahul Bose as the detective who reaches a famed restaurant to uncover the truth behind its mysterious owner, Muskaan Zuberi, essayed by Bangladesh sensation, Azmari Haque Badhon.

    9.     Murder in the Hills – The suspicions death of a Bengali film star of the 90s unravels to expose the seedy underbelly of Darjeeling’s pasts. Written, directed and acted by Anjan Dutt, the series is well balanced with a slew of casts, such as Arjun Chakraborty, Anindita Bose, Rajdeep Gupta, Sandipta Sen, Sourav Chakraborty, Suprobhat Das amongst others.

    10.  Shei Je Holud Pakhi 2 – The much-awaited series returns with its second season which will culminate the popular musical-drama about Vaidehi’s death. Saswata Chatterjee and Tridha Choudhury are reprising their roles in this season.

    11.  Paap 2 – with Puja Banerjee & Rahul Banerjee as the lead, the mysteries of season 1 will unravel in season 2 with another set of deaths and unexpected deaths.

    12.  Eken Babu S5 – Anirban Chakrabarti will reprise the role of Eken Babu as the much-loved crime-thriller returns for its fifth season with a new mystery that unfolds itself.

    13.  Byomkesh S7 – Starring the very versatile Anirban Bhattacharya as Byomkesh, along with Suprobhat Das as Ajit, and Ridhima Ghosh as Satyabati, our popular detective will return with a new mystery based on Byomkesh Bakshi created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay.  

    14.  Tangra Blues World Premiere – A story of a failed musician and a band on a verge of oblivion with Tangra – the most notorious slums in Kolkata as a backdrop, the film will see the fresh pairing of Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Madhumita for the first time.

    15.  Prem Tame World Premiere – It's a story of a revolution, within a young heart, inside a home, and in society. The film brings together the fresh casting of Soumya Mukherjee, Sweta Mishra and Susmita Chatterjee.

    16.  Kakababur Protyaborton World Premiere – Audience's beloved Kakababu, aka Raja Roychowdhury, essayed by Bengal’s industry himself – Prosenjit Chatterjee, returns for the third instalment of this popular franchise with his nephew, Shantu, this time traversing the dangerous terrains of Africa. This time, the film is based on Jongoler Moddhe Ek Hotel by Sunil Gangopadhyay.

    17.  Psycho World Premiere – Anirban Bhattacharya and Birsa Dasgupta return to team up for a thriller that is about a psychiatrist-turned-resident criminologist who teams up with the top-rank officials of law enforcement to hunt down a psychopath.

    18.  Golondaaj  World Premiere – A biographical sports drama directed by Dhrubo Banerjee, starring superstar Dev in the lead, is the story of a pioneer in Indian football, named Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari.

  • Dish TV posts weak Q2 results

    Dish TV posts weak Q2 results

    New Delhi: Dish TV India has reported second-quarter fiscal 2021 unaudited consolidated subscription revenues of Rs.7,65.7 crore and operating revenues of Rs. 8,46.4 crore.

    The subscription revenue has seen a dip of 3.3 per cent year-on-year. In 2019, the subscription revenue stood at Rs 792 crore for the same period.

    Operating revenue is also down by 5.2 per cent Y-o-Y. The operating revenue for the same quarter in 2019 stood at Rs 893.2 crore.

    EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs. 525.3 crore up 0.9 per cent Y-o-Y. EBITDA margin was at 62.1 per cent, up 380 bps Y-o-Y.

    Profit after tax was Rs. 64.5 crore as against a loss of Rs. 96.4 crore last year.

    Total expenses during the quarter were down 13.9 per cent Y-o-Y despite the loss from discard of consumer premises equipment (CPE), with trade partners, due to regional floods. The loss on account of write off of such CPE was to the tune of Rs. 99 million, as against Rs. 30 million in the previous year.

    Dish TV reported strong second-quarter numbers despite the challenges of the ongoing pandemic and a generally weak quarter. Working on all fronts, the company continued to build on its strengths while exploring and developing new technologies and processes to strengthen areas requiring improvement. As one of the steps towards retaining existing subscribers the company, in a bid to enhance subscriber engagement with the platform, upgraded its home-grown OTT platform ‘Watcho.

    ’ The upgrade introduced a popular feature that allows subscribers to create and upload videos. ‘Watcho,’ hosts a variety of indigenous web series and is believed to be an important connect between the DTH platform and its subscribers. The newly introduced feature provides a stage for creators to produce content in multiple formats – short to very short videos and short films, thus giving them exposure while helping ‘Watcho’ gain momentum in the user-generated content ecosystem. With social distancing norms keeping majority of the people indoors for most of the quarter, the company considered it critical to continue to work on further streamlining the touchless and digital recharge and buying experience.

    While home delivery of set-top boxes picked up speed, the sales and service teams spent significant time upskilling themselves and the on-ground network to integrate the new normal into their regular business practices.

    On the cost front, work on enhancing operational efficiencies and cost optimization carried on. In a significant departure from years of practice the company decided to procure set-top-boxes and other key accessories from India, going forward.

    The first consignment of ‘Made in India’ set-top-boxes was deployed during the quarter and India made power adaptors and remote controls are next on the list. The company initially plans to procure almost 50 per cent of its requirement of STBs from India.

    Dish TV India CMD Jawahar Goel said, “We are excited to be a part of the Government of India’s, ‘Make in India’ initiative and are geared up to localize the manufacturing of set-top-boxes and other key accessories. With the vision of ‘Make in India,’ we reiterate our commitment to quality products that would exceed the rapidly evolving needs of customers. We thank the Government for their support and favourable policies that would help grow the sector.”

    In the absence of fresh television content from pay entertainment broadcasters, subscribers remained picky in channel selection.

    Dish TV India group CEO Anil Dua said, “We continue to be cautious yet agile, listening to market and customer voices. As we tread through these never seen before times, we remain committed to leveraging our strengths and overcoming our shortcomings to keep Dish TV India strong, relevant and profitable. Our performance during the quarter was in line with our larger strategic decisions such as, disciplined acquisition and sensible capital investment. Lower overall revenues were more than offset by our expense management measures.”

    Dish TV and d2h continued to strengthen their regional content portfolio during the quarter. Both platforms added six new HD channels for their respective subscribers down south, making them amongst the strongest content platforms in those markets. Other regional markets like Bengal and Orissa too witnessed fresh content being added to their list of channels.

    In Bengal, Dish TV India partnered with ‘Hoichoi,’ a leading Bengali on-demand platform. The ‘Hoichoi’ app was also added in the App Zone of the Companies Android based connected devices, Dish SMRT Hub and d2h Stream. The company looks forward to enhance the content offering on its hybrid STB through more such partnerships aimed at catering to the entertainment appetite of its native language subscribers.

    Dish TV India, in an industry-first initiative, announced the launch of ‘Korean Drama Active’ service. Observing a surge in consumption of content of Korean origin online, the company in its endeavour to meet subscriber viewing preferences launched the Korean Active service at a nominal subscription price of Rs. 47 plus taxes per month. The service enriches subscribers’ DTH experience by giving them access to more than 300 hours of premium Korean content dubbed in Hindi language. 

  • Sunlight, SVF Brands launch #SunlightJibonerRong campaign for Durga Puja

    Sunlight, SVF Brands launch #SunlightJibonerRong campaign for Durga Puja

    KOLKATA: Amid the Covid2019 pandemic, Hindustan Unilever’s detergent brand Sunlight has launched a new campaign telling people that they can make the best of present circumstances, enjoy the Durga Puja festivities and live life in colour.

    Conceptualised by Mindshare India and SVF Brands, the #SunlightJibonerRong campaign celebrates the colours of life through a music video featuring renowned actors Alaknanda Ray, Srabanti Chatterjee and Abir Chatterjee. The soundtrack is composed by Ranajoy Bhattacherjee and sung by Bengali playback singer Lagnajita Chakraborty.

    Directed by Dhrubo Banerjee, the music video exhibits the magnificent display of Kolkata’s Bonedi Bari (grand old mansions owned by aristocratic families) Durga Puja, setting a familiar festive mood for the audience. The creative concludes on a note of heart-warming family-feeling and brings forth the true essence of pujo. Through this ad, Sunlight wants to drive home the message that no matter the situation, Sunlight wants them to live life in colour and hold on to the colours of life forever.

    Dhrubo Banerjee, the director of the Sunlight Jiboner Rong music video said, “My main focus was to make the video resonate with the lyrics of the song. The scenes of the videos are capable of evoking a feeling of happiness and positivity amongst the audience. I hope this Puja song helps people enjoy the different colours of Durga Puja.”

    SVF Brands head Arindam Biswas said: “The campaign beautifully expresses the essential features of Sunlight as a brand in the light of festivity. This year Durga Puja is unfortunately not the same as always because of Covid. The goal was to deliver an emotional content to the audience that they can relate to, also with the brand message perfectly embedded in it.”

    Hindustan Unilever GM – fabric care Nitish Bhalotia added, "Sunlight is an iconic brand in West Bengal and the brand's message is all about celebrating the colours of life. It encourages people to "live life in colour" whatever be the context or situation. Through this video song #SunlightJibonerRong we want to inspire everyone to be safe, make the most of the situation, keep their spirits high and enjoy the myriad colours of the Puja."