ITV

Tag: K Bapineedu

  • Samsung TV Plus adds four ETV network Telugu channels

    Samsung TV Plus adds four ETV network Telugu channels

    GURUGRAM:  Samsung TV Plus has nabbed four channels from Eenadu Television, one of India’s oldest broadcasters, as the free streaming service pushes deeper into regional markets. The deal brings ETV News, ETV Josh, ETV Music and ETV Comedy to Samsung’s platform, which now boasts over 150 channels.

    The partnership marks a shrewd play for the south Indian market, where Telugu content commands fierce loyalty. ETV network has been churning out news, music and entertainment for two decades, building a devoted following across diverse demographics.

    “We aim to unlock the potential of the South Market and enhance access to the latest content from the world of Telugu entertainment,” said Samsung TV Plus southeast Asia general manager business development Kunal Mehta.

    Eenadu TV chief executive K Bapineedu called the tie-up “a significant step in our digital journey” as connected TV adoption accelerates across India. The executive emphasised ETV’s “content-first strategy” of constantly testing and refining offerings to match shifting viewer tastes.

    The move reinforces Samsung TV Plus’s strategy of democratising premium content through its ad-supported model. By combining ETV’s regional storytelling prowess with Samsung’s technological reach, the partnership could set the template for how traditional broadcasters navigate India’s rapidly evolving streaming landscape.

    For Samsung, the deal strengthens its hand against rivals like JioTV and Airtel Xstream as the battle for India’s streaming eyeballs intensifies.

  • BBC launches news in Indian languages, ties up with Eenadu and India News

    BBC launches news in Indian languages, ties up with Eenadu and India News

    MUMBAI: BBC has launched news services in four Indian languages – Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu and Punjabi as it expanded business in the country for which BBC director-general Anthony William “Tony” Hall has arrived. BBC Duniya, a nightly television news bulletin in Hindi, has also been relaunched; it will be telecast on India News.

    The Punjabi service will initially be online and on social media and include video coverage. BBC, in its blurb, advertised Punjabi as the eleventh most spoken language in the world, used by 100 million people — the highest in Pakistan. Among the popular Punjabis, it stated, are the former Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, seven Indian army chiefs and six Air Force chiefs.

    Formally opening a BBC bureau in Delhi, BBC’s largest outside the UK, the D-G said that the audience in India had trusted the BBC for decades for bringing them independent and impartial news, and millions would get the chance to access BBC in their own languages, IBNS reported. Expanding the news bureau in Delhi and opening two television studios is a part of the UK Government’s Rs 25 billion (GBP 291 million) investment in India.

    BBC, which has now partnered India News and Eenadu TV, was already held in great regard across India, and BBC News was being offered to new audience, especially the next generation. BBC has recruited 150 smart journalists from across the country, the D-G added.

    The new services would also be available online and on social media, with BBC Prapancham, a Telugu TV bulletin which will be aired on Eenadu TV (Telangana) and Eenadu TV (Andhra Pradesh).

    Eenadu TV Network CEO K Bapineedu said, that the BBC initiative to produce international stories in the Telugu language to be aired on ETV Network will add value to their endeavour of reaching the Telugu audience with the highest reach and authenticity.

    India News operator-owner iTV Network founder-promoter Kartikeya Sharma said that BBC was famed for its unbiased and well-researched content which would be reaching its viewers in a format and language they could comprehend.

  • YuppTV-ETV partner exclusively for Telugu channels for US market

    MUMBAI: Clearly this is going to be something that’s going to work in its favour. The Emerald Media funded-UdayReddy run (over the top/video on demand) OTT/VOD service YuppTV has signed an exclusive partnership with the Ramoji Rao-promoted K. Bapineedu-run ETV Network to stream  ETV Telugu’s entertainment content in  the US market. Viewers in Uncle Sam will get to see ETV Telugu shows like Padutha Teeyaga, Jabardasth, Extra Jabadasth and Manasu Mamatha exclusively on YuppTV.

    YuppTV’s target audience is the south Asian diaspora globally and a substantial portion of the hardware and software engineers working in the US are from either Andhra Pradesh or Telangana. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella for example was born to Telugu speaking parents. An estimate is that around 250,000 Indians working the US speak Telugu. And more than 2 million Telugu speaking Indians are dispersed the world over.

    ETV is also introducing introducing ETV Life, ETV Plus, ETV Cinema and ETV Abhiruchi for the first time in the US. As part of the association, fans of ETV shall be able to access their Telugu shows on the YuppTV app available on six screens including smart TVs/blu-ray players, smart media players, PC, smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles.

    “ETV Telugu’s entertainment content has been successful in striking the right chord with the users and we are happy to make the same available in the US markets, henceforth exclusively,” says YuppTV founder & CEO Uday Reddy. “We further look forward to a long term association with channels and would always strive to surprise our users with further such engaging and entertaining associations.”

    ETV Network CEO K Bapineedu adds: “We have enjoyed our association with YuppTV for a while now. The decision to go exclusive on our partnership with the platform was taken due to the positive response, especially in the US market. Our entertainment shows have become popular over the time in the Indian expat community settled in the US. We further look forward to enhancing the reach of our entertainment content via the incredible penetration and popularity of YuppTV.”

    YuppTV has 25,000 hours of entertainment content catalogued in its library, while nearly 2500 hours of new on-demand content is added to the YuppTV platform every day It offers live TV and catch-Up TV technology. It  recently launched YuppFlix, a movie on-demand streaming service for the expat market, and YuppTV Bazaar, an online marketplace for the premium content curator.

    YuppTV is currently ranked #1 Internet Pay TV platform for Indians living abroad and also the largest internet TV platform from premium content availability in India. YuppTV is the most downloaded Indian SmartTV app and it also boasts of eight million mobile downloads with 4.0 user rating.

    Subscribers in India pay Rs 5 for a day pass or Rs 99 for a month’s pass to watch all of YuppTV’s content. US-based subscribers pay $15.99 monthly for a Telugu Gold Value Pack, $99.99 for a half yearly pack and $169.99 for an annual pack. It charges $29.99 per month for a Telugu Platinum Value Pack.

    Also Read-

    YuppTV set to close Rs 100-crore plus funding

    Arre’s ‘A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend’ wins at WebFest

  • Irdeto to help ETV make the transition to pay

    Irdeto to help ETV make the transition to pay

    SINGAPORE: Irdeto, which works in the area of providing content security for digital TV, IPTV and mobile networks, has announced that ETV has chosen its digital TV solution to help protect ETV and ETV2 as they get converted from free-to-air to pay TV services.

    ETV VP operations K. Bapineedu says, “ETV and ETV2 are known for providing the best of family entertainment and leading edge news, and thus, it was crucial that we protect this content with the most robust conditional access solution possible..

    “Irdeto’s reputation as the proven leader in the industry with an unparalleled record of three generations of uncompromised smart cards in the market was key in our decision to go with their content security solution.”

    Irdeto CEO Graham Kill said, “Leading broadcasters like ETV-Network realise that content security plays a key role in securing revenue. Irdeto offers a choice in proven content security solutions that support many different business models creating new business opportunities for content owners and network operators.”

    Irdeto’s India country manager Rahul Nehra says, “We are committed to curtailing piracy on local and national levels. In order for ETV-Network to achieve a successful conversion from free-to-air to pay TV services, a tried and tested content protection solution was crucial. We are pleased to be selected by ETV-Network to protect two of its key local-language channels.”