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Tag: Jio

  • 5G to challenge 4G services: Jio President

    5G to challenge 4G services: Jio President

    MUMBAI: With time, third generation services (3G) were replaced by fourth generation services (4G) and Reliance Jio played a vital role in the transforming phase. And once again India’s youngest telecom company is eager to quickly roll out the ultra-fast fifth generation services (5G).

    While speaking to the Economic Times, Jio president Mathew Oommen spoke about the challenges which 4G will face after the deployment of 5G.

    Oommen explained, “Once 5G digital services arrive, business will be based on the actual value that the telcos offer a consumer in terms of digital solutions, content, and services.”

    He briefed about traditional pricing models being revamped, “4G will be challenged by the imminent wave of 5G services that will no longer be charged based on minutes, bits or bytes anymore.” Rather telcos would adapt to a new pricing mechanism which would look to measure the “overall revenue per subscriber” for a combination of digital services.

    With that being said, Jio believes that it’s high time for telcos to “either disrupt the marketplace or face disruption”.

    Oommen stated that “normalcy would soon get restored” in the telecom sector as once the telcos catch up with the technological advancement which will only increase usage that would drive compensation from newer services.

    The 5G spectrum allocations will take place by the second half of 2019 according to the government. Jio Chairman Mukesh Ambani recently had said that India would be ready for 5G services by 2020. Jio has indicated its eagerness to roll out 5G services as it seeks an early auction of 5G airwaves, whereas Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea want the auction dates to be pushed back to late-2019 and 2020, respectively.

  • Tejkaran Singh Bajaj joins Jio

    Tejkaran Singh Bajaj joins Jio

    MUMBAI: Tejkaran Singh Bajaj has jumped to Mukesh Ambani-led Jio after quitting ZEE5 last month. The former ZEE5 original content head will now drive scripted original content across languages at his new position.

    Bajaj will serve the responsibility as Reliance Industries Ltd in-house studio head-scripted. He will look after web series as well as digital films.

    The media professional led ZEE5’s original content team across six languages. Karenjit Kaur, Lockdown, Life Sahi Hai 2, Kallachirippu , Kaali , B.Tech , Liftman and Utsaha Ithihasam (Malayalam) are some of the originals launched under his leadership among which the first one is the flagship show of ZEE5.

    Earlier he also worked with companies like Maxus, Miditech, NDTV and Aquarius Production.

  • ZEE5 Originals’ content cost to be 3x more than TV: Punit Goenka

    ZEE5 Originals’ content cost to be 3x more than TV: Punit Goenka

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd’s (ZEEL) digital venture ZEE5 has shown impressive growth in a very short span of time. To continue taking rapid strides, the Punit Goenka-led company will beef up its content investment for originals as well as film titles. While ZEE5 is betting big on quality entertainment, the  content cost for digital originals will be around three times more than the television business.

    After Q2 results, ZEEL managing director and CEO Punit Goenka spoke about content cost, strategy, marketing plans for ZEE5 in an earnings call. “The content cost will not be similar to television, they will be higher. If you leave out the things like Karenjit Kaur, etc., I think you can safely assume a 3x kind of a number in your content cost compared to TV,” the media veteran commented.

    As of now, ZEE5 has released 29 originals and the pace of new launches is expected to pick up in the second half of FY19. Initially, the target of 500-600 hours of original content without dubbing was set. According to Goenka, the company is on track to reach that goal.

    The episodic lengths of the properties will also be expanded as the platform has got more traction for 1 hour episodes compared to 0.5 hour episodes. However, there will be short-form series as well as long form, mostly depending on the storylines.

    “Unlike television, where it's a factory and we have to fill 260 episodes a year, here, we do not have any of those benchmarks or yardsticks. Here, an episode can range from 35 minutes to a full-length feature film, which could be also a web series,” he added.

    Notably, since its launch, ZEE5 has emphasised on “content in the language of comfort” which has clearly yielded results. Consumption in regional languages is far more than in Hindi. Both in AVOD and SVOD front, the regional languages are contributing almost 60 per cent of the viewership. Hence, the company will churn out more regional content going forward.

    However, it will also expand the number of movies in the library. Currently standing with exclusive digital rights of 3000 movies, the titles will be brought on gradually on the platform. “So over the next three months, you will start to see all of the 3,000 titles available on ZEE5,” Goenka said.

    While the company is aiming at moving more traffic to the app version over web version, it won’t sideline latter as it is the funnel to attract early users. Before downloading the app, consumers usually go to web version to test the waters.

    Recently, ZEEL buried the hatchet with Reliance Jio and renewed its content deal. According to the deal, ZEEL’s linear channels will be available on JioTV and the rest of the content will be available only on the ZEE5 platform.

     On live content front, the company will get paid for the content it shares with the telecom behemoth. As Goenka said, end consumer usage and data will all come to the company. If a consumer wants to access the content behind a paywall, they can pay for both or even individually.

    Standing with all the plans chalked out, Goenka confidently expects its digital entertainment platform to contribute 30 per cent revenue to its topline in five years.

     “If it is anything less than that then it is quite disappointing. And keep in mind that my overall business also will continue to grow,” the exec said on an optimistic note.

  • ZEE’s 37 LIVE TV Channels now available for Jio’s Subscribers

    ZEE’s 37 LIVE TV Channels now available for Jio’s Subscribers

    Mumbai: ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (“ZEE”), a global media and entertainment powerhouse and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. (“Jio”), India’s leading digital  services  provider,  today  announced  that  an  agreement  has  been  achieved  to release ZEE’s entire content library on Jio’s platforms, with immediate effect, enhancing the growth of the overall digital ecosystem.

    This decision enhances the experience of 227+ Mn subscribers of Jio, giving them an access to ZEE’s rich and engaging content, which comprises of 37 LIVE TV channels.

    In order to further integrate this strategic content alliance, ZEE5 App, the home of extensive digital content library of ZEE, which includes the Video on Demand (VOD) network content along with the recently launched ZEE5 Originals, Movies, TV Shows, Music Videos, Lifestyle shows, Kids shows and Plays, will also be available for download.

    The alliance aims to leverage ZEE’s rich and hugely popular content portfolio and nationwide reach of Reliance Jio to serve customers with exciting and innovative content solutions.

    Speaking on this decision, Mr. Amit Goenka, CEO, ZEE International & Z5 Global said, “We are extremely glad and excited about this positive development. As content creators our primary objective is to create rich and engaging content for our viewers across the nation and the globe. The expansive reach of Jio enables us to entertain a larger base of consumers with an appetite to consume content-on-the-go. Our content which spans across
    12 Indian languages, empowers Reliance Jio’s value offering to its subscribers and we’re
    extremely glad to take this association forward.”

    Akash Ambani, Director, Jio, said, “We are delighted that our esteemed customers will now  have  access  to  the  engaging  and  diverse  content  from  Zee  Group.  At  Jio  we  are

    committed to providing our consumers the best of content from India and the world in our
    quest to accelerate digital inclusion in the country.”

    ZEE Entertainment and Reliance Jio will jointly market the unique content offering by leveraging its independent consumer facing touchpoints.

  • Airtel, Jio have bid for assets of Aircel

    Airtel, Jio have bid for assets of Aircel

    MUMBAI: Leading telecom players Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio both have bid to separately purchase assets of bankrupt telecom operator Aircel. According to a Mint report, lenders to Aircel are keener on a lump sum sale to a single party which could get better value of the assets.
    The telecom operator Aircel Cellular Ltd and Dishnet Wireless Ltd, together known as Aircel, owe about Rs 50,000 crore to creditors which includes Rs15,545 crore debt to financial creditors and about Rs 35,000 crore to operational creditors.
    Several factors worked as the catalyst to the telecom operator’s downfall. At a time when it was already trying to take a breath in the highly competitive sector after entry of Reliance Jio, the latter called off its plan to merge its wireless business with Aircel, citing legal and regulatory uncertainties. The move made the situation worse.
    According to the report, Airtel is the sole bidder for Aircel’s spectrum assets and Jio is the sole bidder for the telecom towers. Jio is also in the race for Aircel’s fibre assets, along with Sterlite Industries, private equity firm I Squared Capital, and distressed asset fund Aion Capital.
    Deloitte is reportedly happy with the outcome. Four weeks will be taken to know the final result while bids for the asset closed on Monday.

  • Essel’s Subhash Chandra on Zee, OTT giants & the Jio juggernaut

    Essel’s Subhash Chandra on Zee, OTT giants & the Jio juggernaut

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zee) has withheld challenges from international broadcasters to acquire a place as one of the top media companies in India. While several players with deep pockets are investing a high amount in content, Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra, with 26 years of experience, says only money cannot buy the best content.

    Speaking to The Hindu, the media veteran said telecom, voice, data, and video all are merging into one single pipe. Moreover, Reliance Jio’s low pricing has made the delivery pipe cheap and affordable forcing other telecom players to do the same. This change will help content companies.

    “Even the Amazons, Googles and YouTubes of the world now call themselves media companies instead of tech companies. So, thanks to Jio, this process, which could have taken 5-10 years, has accelerated in India,” he added.

    However, he also pointed out Jio’s different nature of the business. The company tends more towards monopoly rather than being a part of the industry. This trend could catalyse the merger of content players with pipe and data, as it happened in America and Europe.

    Hailing content as the prime factor, he also said creativity comes above money. A big budget show cannot assure good ratings always. Despite expensive deals, he is sceptical of Jio’s ability to scale.

    “We have competed with all media companies. Today, NewsCorp is in India through Star. Time Warner was here, Viacom came, Sony is here, Discovery is here. So, of the top eight global media firms, five are here and we have competed with all. In 2007, a management consulting firm said India would be left with just three players and Zee is the weakest link that will either close or get sold. That didn’t happen,” he said.

    Amazon Prime and Netflix are also trying to acquire a stronger foothold in the Indian market given the high potential of the digital content business. Chandra said that Amazon being largely an e-commerce player tries to lure customers for shopping through content. Zee also shares content with the company. But as Netflix is a pure content play, it won’t share content with the streaming giant. The OTT platform’s situation is also different in the country due to its high pricing.

  • BTVI says biz news will continue to stay relevant

    BTVI says biz news will continue to stay relevant

    MUMBAI: It isn’t easy to make a mark in niche genres but two years post launch, Business Television India (BTVI), the English business news channel, has leveraged on editorial strengths to grab the third spot.

    BTVI COO Megha Tata said, “In the last two years of our existence, we have had an incredible journey. Our content has been a huge differentiator and there is always scope for innovation. Of course, there are multiple other reasons as well such as growth in reach through our marketing distribution activities, digital performances.”

    The channel is currently available on several financial apps like, IIFL, Kotak, HDFC Securities, Axis Bank, etc and caters to the audience who are keen to know about this space. BTVI is the only channel which is live streaming on these apps. It is also distributed on all key OTT platforms like Hotstar, Reliance Jio, Yupp TV, Airtel VOD and also on Tata Sky VOD. 

    Tata believes that the conversations that are happening are more relevant than a weekly analysis of data. The average time spent on the channel currently is 25-30 minutes.

    BTVI executive editor Siddharth Zarabi said, “There are other sectors of news globally which are seeing de-growth but financial news will continue to retain relevance and importance because it is a highly specialised offering and the stock markets in India has done phenomenally well and they will continue to do so.”   

    The channel will soon launch a campaign about its digital offering and growth. The channel’s current focus is on six metros because that’s where its core audience is and the channel is 100 per cent distributed here. BTVI says its market share has shot up from 2-4 per cent to 18-20 per cent in these two years.

    However, to retain viewership beyond market hours, which is the prime time of the channel, BTVI is taking certain measures. Tata said, “As market hours is the key focus for the channels in the business genre, we went beyond the market hours as well. We have done an analysis and we don’t see a very large audience out there in the tier II cities for the English business news play.” 

    Tata believes that the English business news genre has space only for three players. Overall, the genre according to her is Rs 400-500 crore in terms of revenue.

    BTVI head marketing, research and branded content Anuj Katiyar said, “Our strategies and our content are completely driven by the ecosystem. So we don’t do high decibel plans by pushing a lot of money but it is far more focused and strategic in terms of our target audience with specific content.”

    The channel had a phenomenal year considering advertising revenue. Ad rates increased by 60 per cent this year compared to the last. 

    “We have got some exclusive clients on board which moved out from their existing channel preferences to us. We have also got great branded content pieces on the automobile front with brands like Mercedes, Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota. The channel also has some new brands on board like Jeep and Indeed,” Tata added.

    According to BARC rating of week 34, BTVI is in the third position in English business news with 123 impressions (000s) sum. The genre is lead by CNBC TV18, with 618 impressions (000s) sum.

  • Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) partners with Edelman India to drive the PR and Digital mandate for the 20th edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star

    Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) partners with Edelman India to drive the PR and Digital mandate for the 20th edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star

    MUMBAI: Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), India’s leading platform for cinematic disruption and discovery, has appointed Edelman India to drive their Public Relations and Digital mandate for the upcoming edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star. The mandate focuses on driving strategic communication programmes for their annual property, the film festival. Edelman’s extensive experience in building brands and the firm’s expertise in running large format events, makes this an apt partnership.

    MAMI was founded in 1997 by renowned film professionals from the Indian Film Industry to create an annual international film festival in India that brings the best of cinema to the audience and also creates a world class film festival that can find a pride place in the film festival map of the world. This edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star will celebrate its 20th year milestone.

    Apart from the festival, the academy curates and runs a unique Year-Round Programme that sustains conversations around cinema throughout the year and makes cutting edge cinema from India and across the world available to audiences year-round.

    With its experienced team of media strategists, content creators and creative thinkers, Edelman is strongly poised to drive communications for the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star and help it engage with a wide audience.

    Creative Director – MAMI, Smriti Kiran said, “We are taking steps every year to strengthen our footprint and also strengthen the organization. For us, the next five years are years of institution building. A consummate film space does not exist in India and this is the one opportunity we have to create that entity. Getting Edelman on board is a step in this direction. They are one of the best integrated communications agencies in India comprising of Digital and PR professionals rooted in content. That is what we need. Disseminators who have a deep understanding of the work we do. I believe they will take the festival and the academy to the next level.”

    “We have a national team that understands the mechanics of driving successful large-format events well. Managing multiple stakeholders, conversations and expectations, while telling a compelling and coherent story is a skill that our teams have developed over the years. Our earned-centric thinking and deep local understanding will help us craft a strong programme for the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star and we’re truly excited about this partnership,” said Himanshu Saxena, Brand Head, Edelman India.

  • DEN Networks aims for 70,000 broadband subscribers by Q1 2020

    DEN Networks aims for 70,000 broadband subscribers by Q1 2020

    MUMBAI: Way before Jio’s announcement of its broadband GigaFiber venture, MSO DEN Networks revealed its plan to explore the opportunities in the market. Following the rollout of broadband service in 28 cities by end of Q1 of this fiscal year as a part of its 100 cities plan, it has also signed up the agreement with 48 more cities. In terms of rolling out the service, the company is adding 20 more cities in Q2.

    Talking to investors in an analyst call, DEN Networks CEO SN Sharma informed that cable partners are investing equally well with the same kind of enthusiasm. After the launch of Jio GigaFiber, the company mentioned it would be working with LCOs. Sharma was asked about the impact of this on the partners on ground to which he debunked the possibility of ant negative impact on LCOs. “The announcement of the telco has further brought in standards you see that has helped us in regularising this tenders and qualities to be followed by the gentlemen, i.e., our cable partners and that is helping the entire business environment,” he said. In addition to that, he also mentioned that hardly 6.7 per cent of the penetration level has been achieved in the market as of now.

    Emphasising on the enthusiasm in the industry, he also said, “I am also surprised with the kind of enthusiasm that I am coming across and very soon we will be signing up with another 40-50 odd partners and then followed by LCOs and in Q2 we are supposed to deliver another 20 cities and I am quite confident that my team will give and overdo whatsoever assigned to them but that will be it is better that we talk at the end of Q2.”

    As DEN Networks has recently rolled out its service, it will still now take time to pick up due to the lengthy process. Going through LCOs to approach subscribers and then the subscriber coming back for the wired service takes a long time. In that context, rather than giving a high prediction, Sharma said the company hopes to deliver close to 40,000 to 50,000 subscribers by March 2019 and by the end of Q1 of next year to touch close to 70,000 subscribers. He predicts a ramped growth in FY 2020 as then penetration level will reach to 10 per cent. MSOs enable the homes where cable fibre already exists.

    “In the 28 new cities we have actually enabled one million home passes which are already there with us on the cable front so we are already reaching there but how many of those would actually get converted would depend on the interest levels. The moment the interest level comes in we obviously hook them up. We have already hooked up 8500 customers till now so we should be able to ramp it up,” DEN Networks CFO Himanshu Jindal said. For the 100 cities under the plan, 5 million set top box installations will be done.

    DEN’s 100 cities model is based on Rs 500-550 ARPU while in the existing 28 cities, it is capturing an ARPU of Rs 562. Sharma denied commenting on the upcoming tariff war as the pricing model from telcos is still not revealed. But indicating the price could go down, he mentioned that DEN can easily sustain till Rs 500 ARPU. It is only in metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi that consumers are already experiencing 100 MB data speed. There are cities where the speed being demanded is 5MB, 20MB, 50MB. So there’s a large chunk of broadband-deprived internet users across the country.

    “So in any case the ARPU of Rs 500 where you are delivering 50MB speed and unlimited data is not a very conservative figure, I would say it is a very aggressive ARPU that we have put across and we should be able to justify it as things unfold and as times will come, we will handle the situation. In any case, the LCO partner is quite confident and they are coming forward and investing so that also adds the positivity with us,” Sharma’s tone reflected the preparedness for upcoming battle.

    However, the company has claimed to undertake a very low capex based plan. In the current year, the company will not spend more than Rs 30 crore unless it experiences more than the expected rush of this subscriber base which could mean some minor changes in the network.

  • RCom replenishes bank guarantees of Rs 774 cr with DoT

    RCom replenishes bank guarantees of Rs 774 cr with DoT

    MUMBAI: Four weeks ahead of telecom tribunal’s deadline, Reliance Communications (RCom) and its subsidiaries have reinstated bank guarantees (BGs) aggregating Rs 774 crore with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) while the deadline was of 10 September.

    The issue stems from the time when DoT issued two show-cause notices to RCom. DoT threatened to cancel its licences in 14 circles and revoke spectrum allotted in 2013 and 2015. The latest move has ensured the non-cancellation of license and spectrum. Following the reinstating, the RCom stock was up 2.3 per cent at Rs 19.94 on the BSE at midday trade Monday.

    “RCom and its subsidiary, Reliance Telecom Ltd, have today reinstated bank guarantees aggregating Rs 774 crore with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), four weeks ahead of the last date of10 Sep 2018 as granted by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT),” said the telco in a regulatory filing on Monday.

    “The reinstatement of the BGs ensures that RCom’s licence and spectrum value of Rs 11,300 crore stands fully protected, and RCom is fully compliant with the guidelines of NIA 2013 and NIA 2015,” the telco added.

    Earlier RCom moved TDSAT against DoT’s notices and told the tribunal in prior hearings that cancelling licences would push the telco back into insolvency as it would not be able to complete deal with Jio. However, RCom expects to raise Rs 18,000 crore from the deal with Jio.