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Tag: Hulu

  • Media consumption in India growing @9% in last 6 years: CII-BCG report

    Media consumption in India growing @9% in last 6 years: CII-BCG report

    MUMBAI: The Indian media industry, experiencing disruptions, is witnessing an increase in consumption that has been facilitated by proliferation of broadband too and over the last six years has been growing at the rate of nine percent.

    According to a CII_BCG report released today at CII Big Picture Summit event in New Delhi, at 4.6 hours of consumption per capita per day, India is still behind China (6.4 hours) and US (11.8 hours), suggesting further headroom for growth.

    “Unlike in developed countries, in India this growth has been additive and not cannibalising traditional media, yet. For the next several years, we expect India to remain a multi-modal market where all forms of media, including traditional media like TV and digital will continue to co-exist," the report states.

    In 2012, total media consumption per capita per day was 2.7 hours which was further distributed into print (0.2 hours), radio (0.2 hours), TV (1.9 hours) and digital (0.4 hours). On the other hand, 4.6 hours consumption per capita per day has increased to print (0.3 hours), radio (0.3 hours), TV (2.7 hours) and digital (1.3 hours).

    Over the past 2-3 years, the number of broadband users has become 2X (~480 million broadband users across mobile and fixed) and the data consumption has become 10X (~10 GB per user per month).

    Indian media formats are primarily advertising driven and consumer costs are minimal. Unlike the US where the cost of a cable connection can be as high as $80 per month, India with $3 cost of cable per month doesn’t have the need for skinny bundles.

    India is undergoing a video explosion. Indian consumers are consuming ~190 minutes of video per day per user across platforms, which has been growing at ~8 per cent over the last five years. 30+ digital platforms have been added to the wide range of TV channels. While an average consumer consumes 10-15 channels per day and 2-3 apps in any given month, the overall spectrum of platforms from a content creators/curator’s perspective is massive.

    Global players are realising the importance of creating curated content, in line with viewer preferences. Players like Netflix invest aggressively to match 3X the investment made by top players like Amazon Prime and Hulu. Top 5 global players as per their annual content budget are Fox ($16.7 biilion), Comcast ($15 billion), Disney ($12.7 billion), Time Warner ($12.4 billion) and Netflix ($12 billion).

  • Disney’s flagship streaming service to enter market in late 2019

    Disney’s flagship streaming service to enter market in late 2019

    MUMBAI: Walt Disney (Disney) reported strong earnings for the fiscal fourth-quarter topping analysts' expectations. While Media Networks revenue for the quarter increased 9 per cent year-over-year to $6 billion, Studio Entertainment revenues for the quarter increased 50 per cent to $2.2 billion. Along with the financial result, the company also announced that its streaming service set to launch late next year in US market which will be called Disney+.

    “Disney+ will be offering a rich array of original Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic content, along with unprecedented access to our incredible library of film and television content, including all of our new theatrical releases, starting with the 2019 slate,” Disney chairman and CEO Robert A Iger said.

    The content pipeline of the flagship service will also include The Mandalorian, the world's first live action Star Wars series written and produced by Jon Favreau. A rebooted version of Disney’s super hit The High School Musical franchise will be also a part of the content pipeline. Moreover, the service will be the exclusive home of the next season of the popular Star Wars animated series Clone Wars. A live-action Marvel series about Loki starring Tom Hiddleston is also being developed.

    Its other streaming service ESPN+ which was launched six months ago already has more than 1 million subscribers. As of now it owns 60 per cent stake in Hulu also. Disney thinks there's an opportunity to increase investment in the digital platform on the programming side. However, as Comcast and AT&T Time Warner are other two partners in Hulu, it will keep an eye toward being fiscally responsible to the other shareholders.

    While Disney purchased Fox for $71.3 billion in cash and stock, it is confident that the television business that it is buying is very attractive, not just in the US. “If you factor in Star in India and the rest of Asia, and you factor in Europe where they have a substantially greater footprint of channels than we do, which by the way may ultimately end up helping us with content and distribution when it comes to the direct-to-consumer business,” Iger commented.

    Going beyond Wall Street’s projected earnings of $6.94 per share on $58.87 billion in revenue for the full year, Disney reported adjusted earnings of $7.08 per share on $59.43 billion in revenue. While the company is happy with the financial performance in fiscal 2018, they want to remain focused on the successful completion and integration of 21st Century Fox acquisition and the further development of our direct-to-consumer business.

  • India’s Porus Rises In the land of the Rising Sun- Japan

    India’s Porus Rises In the land of the Rising Sun- Japan

    MUMBAI: One Life Studios premium historical drama series Porus, which depicts the legendary warriors battle against the world’s biggest conqueror Alexander the great will now be showcased in one of the top premium OTT platforms in Japan- Hulu. 

    "Porus is the first Indian series to be aired in Japan, this is really special for all of us. We had dreamt  to make Porus as India's first global series and now covering 11 countries and 14 territories. We are moving in the right direction" says Siddharth Kumar Tewary, Writer, Director & Producer – Porus. 

    “We are thrilled to introduce our first acquisition of an Indian drama series “Porus" to the audience in Japan. We are keen to introduce unique and outstanding shows which Japanese audience will not have a chance to watch if Hulu Japan does not exist.”
     Says- Kazufumi Nagasawa – Chief Content Officer of Hulu Japan

    “ Being the first premier Indian television content to be associated with  one of the top  premier OTT platforms in Japan- HULU, it proves that quality content can be of any language- if made well it will relate with the audiences’ worldwide. We are sure our audience in Japan with similar culture will appreciate Porus”
     Says Rahul Kumar Tewary – Managing Director

  • Murdoch promotes 5 top execs to Fox ahead of Disney deal

    Murdoch promotes 5 top execs to Fox ahead of Disney deal

    MUMBAI: After Disney won the bid to acquire 21st Century Fox (21CF) assets against Comcast earlier this year, future CEO and chairman Lachlan Murdoch has set key leadership positions for the properties left behind in the merger that will now be called new Fox.

    Steve Tomsic, currently deputy CFO for 21CF, will be promoted to chief financial officer at new Fox. Eric Shanks, currently chief operating officer and executive producer at Fox Sports, will become CEO of Fox Sports.

    In a statement, Murdoch said, “Collectively they bring to Fox the vision, entrepreneurial spirit and proven track records to position Fox to seize future opportunities for its leading and deeply resonant brands across sports, news and entertainment.”

    Mike Biard will become president of operations and distribution for Fox, another key revenue function. His current title is president of distribution for the Fox Networks Group.

    Paul Cheesbrough will remain chief technology officer, but his job will be expanded to include oversight of the company’s direct-to-consumer platforms in anticipation of launching a streaming service.

    Marianne Gambelli will see her portfolio expand as she becomes president of ad sales. She manages ad sales for the Fox News channel and the Fox business network.

    Tomsic said, “We are fortunate to be able to continue working with these enormously talented executives who have helped make our businesses the incredible successes they are today.”

    The appointments of the soon-to-be leadership team will take effect after the Disney transaction closes. Disney is buying Fox’s television production and movie studio, FX cable channel, National Geographic, stake in Hulu and such international operations Star India.

  • Netflix dethrones HBO’s 17-year reign at Emmys with 112 nominations

    Netflix dethrones HBO’s 17-year reign at Emmys with 112 nominations

    MUMBAI: HBO needs to guard its territory. The New York based network has been holding the position of the most nominated network for the last 17 years at the prestigious Emmy Award. Netflix, the new content king, has dethroned HBO this year with 112 nominations.

    The 70th annual Primetime Emmy awards is to be held on Monday, 17 September. Last time, the streaming giant scored 91 awards. High-profile projects including The Crown, Stranger Things, Godless and GLOW added big to the list each with ten or more than ten nominations.

    “We are particularly enthused to see the breadth of our programming celebrated with nominations spread across 40 new and returning titles which showcase our varied and expansive slate—comedies, dramas, movies, limited series, documentary, variety, animation, and reality,” Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said.

    However, HBO is also not far behind Netflix with 108 nominations with Game of Thrones leading the way for the network. “HBO is very pleased with its 108 nominations, especially the wide range over so many categories,” the network also said in a statement. But it’s a real challenge for networks to keep pace with Netflix’s spending on content. The streaming giant has planned to spend $8 billion this year, focusing highly on originals.

    Other streaming platforms including Hulu, Amazon have also gathered a good number of nominations with 27 and 22 respectively. Critically acclaimed The Handmaid’s Tale has worked as the game changer for Hulu and Amazon is indebted to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

    “If you look at Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon and you add together their nominations at 161, and you add four platforms called networks together and you have 159, I think you see where things are headed. And Apple isn’t even in the game yet,” executive producer of The Handmaid’s Tale Warren Littlefield said.

  • Netflix outperforming traditional TV, YouTube in the US

    Netflix outperforming traditional TV, YouTube in the US

    MUMBAI: Netflix is outperforming traditional TV in the US. It has reached the top spot among platforms for watching entertainment on TV leaving traditional cable and broadcast television networks as well as YouTube and Hulu behind. A recent survey of US consumers by Wall Street firm Cowen & Co. has revealed the fact.

    The survey conducted in May included 2,500 US adults. The participants were asked which platforms they use most often to view video content on TV. 27 per cent of the total respondents choose Netflix. Other sources of entertainment like basic cable, broadcast and YouTube stood at 20 per cent, 18 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.

    More importantly, millennials give Netflix higher preference. 40 per cent of adults aged 18 to 34  prefer the platform most often to view video content on their TVs. Only 17 per cent of them use YouTube, 12 per cent basic cable, 7.6 per cent Hulu and 7.5 per cent broadcast.

    “Over the long term, assuming [Netflix] is able to continue to increasingly offer great content, this lead clearly bodes well for further value creation,” Cowen & Co. analysts led by John Blackledge wrote in a research note as quoted by Variety.

    Other than US, Netflix is trying to strengthen its foothold in other countries too. In India, it has recently launched Lust Stories that has been critically acclaimed. It’s also being very bullish about its original content. The company hopes to add five million international subscribers at the end of this quarter.

    “Owning a leading international content-production footprint and ramping relationships across the talent ecosystem should prove beneficial to Netflix’s ability to increase production in those markets, much of which is produced at a lower cost than similar content produced in Hollywood,” the Cowen & Co. analysts wrote.

    Also Read:

    Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos says India is ‘TV starved’

    Netflix announces new Indian original film ‘Lust Stories’

  • Comcast deal riskier than Disney, says Fox

    Comcast deal riskier than Disney, says Fox

    MUMBAI: Everyone is keeping an eye out to know when Fox will pick a partner in the tug of war between Disney and Comcast.

    Now, the American multinational mass-media corporation, 21st Century Fox is telling its shareholders that the deal with Comcast carries higher risk than the deal with Walt Disney. Fox said that risk of the deal being delayed or denied lies due to antitrust regulators. 

    In a SEC filing, Fox outlined eight concerns about the potential Comcast deal. The filing read: “While a potential Disney transaction was likely to receive required regulatory approvals and ultimately be consummated, a strategic transaction with Comcast “a strategic transaction with Comcast would be subject to a greater degree of regulatory uncertainty, including the possibility of an outright prohibition and a higher risk of divestitures and delay to closing, as compared to a strategic transaction with Disney.”

    The board for Rupert Murdoch led company, had stated that a strategic transaction with Comcast continued to carry higher regulatory risk leading to the possibility of significant delay in the receipt of merger consideration as well as the risk of an inability to consummate the transactions.

    Fox has been consistently trying to avoid selling its business to Comcast as Fox officials are of the opinion that a merger with the largest US cable company, Comcast, may not be approved by the federal government.

    According to the  SEC filing, Disney’s bid would have a smoother route to closing as the entertainment company has a mix of businesses.

    Disney’s deal with Fox will include the 20th Century Fox film and TV studios, along with the FX cable channels, Fox’s stakes in Hulu, Sky, National Geographic Partners and more. 

    Fox plans to spin off all its news assets into “News Fox” which will include all Fox broadcasting network and stations, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Networks and others. 

    The good news for Disney comes after the Fox board agreed to Disney’s higher offer of $71.3 billion last week. This was after Comcast made an all cash bid of $65 billion for Fox’s assets. 

    Comcast first approached 21st Century Fox about buying the network’s properties in November 2017, which was just a month before Fox had already struck its first deal with Disney. 

    Also Read:

    What next with Fox-Disney-Comcast ?

    Hulu signs deal for Viacom series

    Endemol Shine hires banks for a possible sale 

    Lachlan Murdoch to lead New Fox after Disney sale, James is out

  • Hulu signs deal for Viacom series

    Hulu signs deal for Viacom series

    MUMBAI: Hulu has obtained exclusive rights to stream full series from Viacom, including Daria, Nathan for You, My Super Sweet 16 and The New Edition Story. The company will gain the rights to 20 films, including School of Rock.

    According to the reports, the agreement includes content from Nickelodeon as well, like Nick Cannon’s musical show Make It Pop, animated programs Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and Penguins of Madagascar.

    Hulu, co-owned by Comcast, Disney, Fox and Time Warner, said earlier that it is parting ways with chief content officer Joel Stillerman, as well as senior VP of experience, Ben Smith and a senior VP in partnerships and distribution Tim Connolly.

    A combined technology and product group that will report to new CTO Dan Phillips, formerly COO at TiVo is being created by the company. That organisation will span engineering, data centre operations, network and broadcast operations centres, information technology and program management, as well as product management, user experience and product development.

  • More than 85% of US millennials tune in to OTT platforms

    More than 85% of US millennials tune in to OTT platforms

    MUMBAI: Over-the-top (OTT) platforms have become the new opium for millennials. According to a new report from the analyst firm Parks Associates, more than 85 per cent of millennials in the US subscribe use at least one OTT video service. Interestingly, the number of OTT subscribers among other generations is also growing gradually.

    An earlier report from Parks Associates showed that the number of households worldwide with an OTT video service subscription will exceed 265 million by 2022. Since 2010, a steady increase has been noticed in the adoption of smartTVs and streaming media players.

    Many of the millennials opt for more than one platform for browsing. More than one-fourth of millennials subscribe to three or more OTT services, and more than 50 per cent subscribe to at least two. OTT service penetration among ‘Baby Boomers’( 1946-64) and older generations grew more than 10 per cent between the two groups as a whole between 2016 to 2017.

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    “Overall penetration of subscription OTT video services among millennials has topped out, suggesting that those households that want such a subscription already have one or more. The more interesting and important question is how many subscriptions they will keep,” Parks Associates research senior director Brett Sappington said.

    Millennials are more prone to consume online content not only because of a personalized experience but also due to the flexibility it offers. Various reports since 2014 have highlighted how millennials are opting for streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon over television.

    Parks Associates researcher Hunter Sappington thinks self-aggregating content is simply a part of the entertainment experience, particularly in millennial households. 

    “Their evaluation criteria for services, and brand loyalty, differs from that of previous generations. To take advantage of this self-aggregation trend, providers need to understand the evaluation criteria consumers use for their OTT services, which can vary from household to household,” he commented.

    Also Read :

    Global OTT subs to cross 265 mn by ’22: Park Associates 

    India to enter top 10 OTT video markets in 2022: PwC

  • Sony to bring Pictures, TV division under one roof

    Sony to bring Pictures, TV division under one roof

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures TV is set to merge international TV operations to bring its television networks, home entertainment and distribution businesses together. This shuffle may lead to some job cuts, with many senior executives from Sony having already departed.

    Sony Pictures TV chairman Mike Hopkins has reportedly sent out an email to the staff informing them of the company’s plans of merging the businesses, which so far have been operated separately.

     “The aim is to bring together the various and often quite disparate, divisions, and to  create a stronger and more agile organisation, one that is better able to pivot and capitalise on opportunities in a fast-changing and increasingly complex global marketplace,” Hopkins wrote in the email, according to a report on Advanced Television.

    He went on to add that the new territory management model brings together businesses that have been historically separate. 

    “With this approach, we gain a more efficient structure giving regional leaders, along with their direct reports in each country, the ability to make smart, strategic business decisions, while keeping local consumers at the core of what we do,” he wrote.

    Hopkins was named chairman of Sony Pictures TV in October 2017 after running the streaming video service Hulu as its chief executive officer for four years.

    Also Read:

    Sony Pictures Networks India inaugurates its first music room at Bhondsi Jail, Gurugram

    Sony Pictures Networks Productions announces T for Taj Mahal