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Tag: Karan Bedi

  • MX Player crosses one billion downloads on Google Play Store

    MX Player crosses one billion downloads on Google Play Store

    Mumbai: OTT streaming platform MX Player has crossed one billion downloads on Google Play Store over two years after its launch.

    According to data, there are only 15 non preinstalled apps, worldwide, that have more than one billion downloads (70 apps if default Google Apps on Android are included).

    MX Player has over 280 million monthly active users in India and features alongside Netflix, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Spotify as one of the apps that has more than a billion downloads.

    It ranks in the same league as Microsoft Word, Skype, ShareIt, and popular games such as Subway Surfers and Candy Crush Saga.

    “We are very excited to have crossed the one billion downloads mark, which is a testimonial to Indian audiences adopting this platform as their preferred destination for all things entertainment,” said MX Media chief executive officer Karan Bedi. “Our vision since the launch has been to cater to the true Bharat and in just over two years since the launch of our OTT offering, we’ve managed to achieve this iconic business milestone. We are looking forward to continuing this momentum on the back of compelling content and innovative product offerings in the imminent future.”

    The OTT platform’s hit shows include “Ek Thi Begum 2,” “Aashram,” “High”, “Chakravyuh – An Inspector Virkar Crime Thriller,” “Hello Mini” season 2 and 3, and “Samantar 2,” with upcoming shows like “Matsya Kaand” and “Girgit” amongst others.

    The video streaming platform was the first to upgrade its video encoding and compression technology to H.266 (versatile video coding) that slashes data usage for streaming videos by more than half.

    MX Player’s diverse content library ranges from their exciting slate of MX originals, MX exclusives, MX vdesi – international content dubbed in local Indian languages, and branded content as MX specials. The platform has also expanded its OTT service internationally in March 2020 across 12 territories including UAE, US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Bhutan.

  • Beginnen Media’s Azaad and MX Player announce strategic partnership

    Beginnen Media’s Azaad and MX Player announce strategic partnership

    Mumbai: Beginnen Media’s premium rural entertainment channel Azaad and entertainment app MX Player have announced a strategic partnership to enable exponential growth by bringing together the linear, rural, and digital worlds.

    With the strong belief in the ‘power of engaged connections’ and the aspiration to meet its viewers at their doorstep, Azaad and MX Player are all set to reach out to the Indian diaspora with new stories embedded in the rural fabric and culture, said the statement. “Azaad will soon add to its repertoire original content, besides the syndicated content that is currently on air,” it added.

    Beginnen Media recently launched Azaad with the premise of being ‘People First. Rural First’ and MX Player, with its large and diverse audience of over 200 million monthly active users caters to its audiences with varied entertainment palettes.

    “The union with MX Player offers a seamless consumer experience on both mediums as we attempt to be innovators at the intersection of TV and digital,” said Beginnen Media’s managing director, Bharat Kumar Ranga. “Azaad is for people with rural mindsets where people access entertainment on both TV and the internet. We needed to find the right anchor that compliments Azaad on the internet. MX Player immediately aligned to our vision as we share a commonality of consumer centricity that will assist us with our expansion goals. MX valued our idea and intent, and Azaad loved their youthfulness, vigour, hunger for growth, and uncanny consumer centricity. For consumers, MX and Azaad will appear like one common platform. This reflects Beginnen Media’s entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to using our experience of innovation as the roadmap for propelling the industry forward to an all-new way of doing business,” he added.

    “In an industry first, this association will transcend traditional TV and digital OTT to drive synergies and foster growth for both players, by creating innovative new content and catering to a larger audience set. As a platform that can reach consumers at every touchpoint, this strategic partnership with Azaad is sure to entertain the masses and drive more engagement for both brands,” shared MX Group CEO, Karan Bedi.

    “We believe that this distinct UnionShip with MX Player will surely be the best manner in which two standalone brands together will unlock the power of TV and OTT in an integrated manner by leveraging synergies to reach and engage with maximum viewers,” said Beginnen Media CMO, Rachin Khanijo. “We have approached this association creatively as well as strategically to ensure that there’s a strong audience fit and have planned on scaling it with projected metrics of what TV and digital are expected to deliver – both at an attributed and holistic level.”

    “This unique union compliments MX strategically – adding many hues of entertainment to our diverse content offering and bringing with it fresh, young, and new flavours reflecting the ethos of today’s rural Indian fabric,” said MX Player, SVP, and head – content acquisitions and alliances, Mansi Shrivastav. “With this distinctive slate, we are well poised to cater to every palette and are excited that this association with Beginnen Media’s premium heartland entertainment channel Azaad will enhance viewership and aid market expansion.”

  • MX Player deploys H.266, slashes video streaming data usage by half

    KOLKATA: Online video consumption in India has grown exponentially, accounting for 80 per cent of consumer internet traffic. However, the user experience remains highly dependent on data usage and network speed.

    Now, MX Player has upgraded its video encoding & compression technology to H.266 (Versatile Video Coding), cutting down data usage for streaming videos by more than 50 per cent. MX Player as well as MX TakaTak users will be the first in the world to experience the benefits of H.266, enabling them to consume higher quality HD video streams with significantly less data consumption.

    With H.266, MX Player users will be able to stream more content with less data and network bandwidth – video streams will load faster and buffer less since they require only half (or less) the data it would need otherwise. H.266/VVC is the world’s most advanced video codec designed to succeed H.264/AVC and H.265/HEVC, used by most streaming video services worldwide today. Unlike its competitors, the H.266 upgrade makes MX Player the first OTT platform in the world to deploy this technology.

    MX Player and MX TakaTak CEO Karan Bedi said, “Video consumption dominates internet usage wherever you go across India, but the quality of experience deteriorates in areas with inconsistent data networks. The new standard is an opportunity for MX Player to give millions of users, regardless of where they are, an exceptional streaming experience that allows them to consume content the way content creators intended: faster loading, buffering-free, and true-to-life HD quality.”

    MX Player SVP Product Sidd Mantri further added, “At MX Player, the future is now. We relentlessly focus on raising the customer experience bar for Indian users. We were amongst the 1st few OTTs to deploy AV1 that reduced data consumption by 20-30 per cent compared to H.265. With H.266, we are taking it to the next level. H.266 offers the most advanced video compression standard available in the world and reduces data usage by more than 50 per cent. Many users in India live on daily data consumption caps, so with H.266 they can watch more as well as watch better on MX Player.”

  • Gift of the jab: MX Player rolls out vaccine program for employees & their families

    Gift of the jab: MX Player rolls out vaccine program for employees & their families

    KOLKATA: As India prepares to enter the third phase of the Covid2019 vaccination drive, MX Player has announced the MX Covid19 Vaccine Program and has taken the responsibility of inoculating its employees and up to four dependents of their family.

    The program will be implemented in line with government regulations, following the same protocols as being advised by the Centre from time to time. With registrations set to be announced soon, this employee-first initiative safeguards the well-being of not only the employees but also their loved ones.

    MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said, “We have always been a people first organisation and as we continue to navigate through the pandemic and its implications – the priority for us remains to be the safety and well-being of our people. As a young and responsible organisation, we have abided by all government guidelines and continue to consider advice from experts on how to best deal with this situation. This initiative is a means to provide our employees with as much support as possible, putting their health first, as well as aiding the government’s efforts to combat and contain the pandemic.”

    Employees have proved to be the core of every organisation’s business strategy and MX Player is driven by a positive workplace culture that focuses on the overall well-being of its employees. Through this drive, the brand is further strengthening its commitment towards its employees.

  • MX TakaTak announces Rs 100 crore creator fund

    MX TakaTak announces Rs 100 crore creator fund

    New Delhi: MX TakaTak, a popular short form video platform, has shown huge growth in terms of users, usage time and its large community of content creators amongst other metrics. It has now announced a new initiative for creators – the MX TakaTak creator fund to encourage India’s talented and innovative set of established and emerging creators to create engaging, impactful and inspiring content on the platform. The fund will deploy one billion rupees (Rs. 100 crore) for creators. In a promise to support its existing creators as well as to encourage new creators with impactful content ideas, the fund is meant to help them use their creativity to build an exciting career. The fund will support creators of all sizes and backgrounds, rewarding the passion and creativity they put into inspiring, engaging and entertaining the community on MX TakaTak. 

    It will be open for all Indian citizens and those creators who consistently post original videos or have unique ideas for content across various categories such as education, tech, sports, art, entertainment, fashion and makeup, travel and photography etc. Once selected in the fund, the creators will receive regular rewards for their content based on various performance criteria such as uniqueness of their content, authenticity, views, engagement, followers etc. In addition, a select few aspiring creators with story ideas that make a social impact will receive a start-up fund to support the start of their journey on MX TakaTak. The guidelines of the fund are available on https://mxtakatak.com/creator-fund. 

    MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said, “The MX TakaTak Creator Fund is a way to give back to millions of people who bring their ideas into videos as well as to inspire other digital enthusiasts. Millions of users upload videos daily on the MX TakaTak App. We were thrilled to see the amount of creativity and hard work that our users put into bringing their dreams alive and into a video. We hope that the creator fund will not only reward them but also inspire them to continue creating impactful content, build an inspiring digital career, and help give back to the society that we all benefit from.”

    He further added saying, “The short format video ecosystem is fast evolving and we’re delighted to have emerged as the market leaders in this category. Home to 70 million monthly active users and with over 10 million unique content creators, we are the preferred platform of choice for both the users and creators; we aim to further scale this in the new year.”

    Through the MX TakaTak creator fund, creators will realize additional earnings to remain committed and connected to their audience, thereby creating great quality content.

  • MX Player’s super-app format offers advertisers a well-rounded opportunity: Karan Bedi

    MX Player’s super-app format offers advertisers a well-rounded opportunity: Karan Bedi

    KOLKATA: Indian audiences have acquired a taste for premium originals offered by the over-the-top (OTT) platforms in recent times, and their appetite has only grown stronger in the wake of the Covid 2019 crisis. Exploiting the huge opportunity, MX Player has witnessed 5X increase in engagement during this period, thanks to its library of originals. The user and engagement growth has translated into monetisation, with at least 150 new brands coming to the platform, MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said.

    Bedi is pleased with the platform’s performance this year across all metrics. But he mentioned that when Covid2019 swept the country initially, high anxiety was prevalent in the market. However, stakeholders soon saw the silver lining in terms of users and engagement, with the platform registering significant uptick on the revenue front within a few weeks, overcoming the concern of decline in ad-spend.

    “We have had a lot of retention of users. Along with high growth, users stuck with us because of the content we were putting out. We had a very large set of users returning to watch more and more content. Initial concern was users may come and go away but that has not played out with MX Player,” Bedi shared.

    Read more news on MX Player

    Bedi noted that the pandemic has brought about an unprecedented acceptance of OTT services. Viewers are now experimenting with previously unexplored genres and languages, especially with online content that has become the new mainstream. MX Player majorly caters to audiences in the 18–24 age bracket, followed by the 25-34 years group, with a sharp focus on tier-2 and tier-3 markets going beyond the metros.

    MX Player has added new features to the platform in recent times including music streaming and casual gaming. Bedi highlighted that they have always maintained MX player is not only a video OTT platform, but it also aims to address the different needs of users – more precisely, all entertainment needs. Hence, the experiment around new features has yielded positive results in terms of engagement and revenue, he claimed.

    It’s also worth pointing out that MX Player forayed into the short video space within a week after TikTok was banned. MX TakaTak was built entirely from scratch in the space of one week. While two-three smaller players tried to bridge the huge void, Bedi claimed that MX TakaTak had the highest growth owing to its scale, content, and technology.

    “Our super-app format promises all forms of entertainment to the user and allows us to offer our advertisers a well-rounded opportunity to suit their marketing goals – including impact, reach and engagement. We have been successfully catering to categories like FMCGs, F&B, mobile handsets, gaming, e-commerce, SMB, social media and service apps, auto and BFSI,” Bedi stated.

    “To give you an example, one of our most seamless branded content solutions was with Smule on our flagship music reality series – Times of Music. On the live streaming front, we’ve had associations with Blenders Pride Fashion Week, Oneplus TV + 8T launches. We’ve hosted content for brands like Skoda and Oppo, among others, and for gaming sponsorship, we had Duracell. We’re also looking at scaling monetisation for our recently launched short format video platform – MX TakaTak,” he added.

    MX Player has a unique positioning in the market, being the only platform with premium originals not locked behind a paywall, which could be lucrative to many brands. Bedi is quite pleased with the AVod business model that MX Player is based on as it has scaled up courtesy of its swelling user base; he has no intention to abandon it for the subscription. He pointed out that the key factors behind a successful AVoD service are scale and technology.

    Additionally, the platform is deepening its library in regional languages. It is now seeing a lot of action happening in other regional markets like Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Bengali along with the core ones like Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi and Marathi. It is also making its presence stronger on the international stage, with a higher focus on the Middle East market.

  • MX Takatak onboards rapper Badshah

    MX Takatak onboards rapper Badshah

    KOLKATA: Studies show Indian millennials and Gen-Z consume video content far more than any other form of digital content on a daily basis and MX Player’s short-format video app – MX Takatak was launched to cater to this ever-growing segment of digital enthusiasts.

    The platform has witnessed tremendous growth, setting a new benchmark with its daily video views, growing from 0 to 1 billion+ only within a month of its existence and is home to the largest number of 1Mn+ digital influencers, who have chosen MX Takatak as their preferred platform of choice. Their community just got bigger with the addition of star Indian rapper and singer Badshah, who has also decided to join the MX Takatak family. 

    Read more stories on MX Player

    The ‘party anthem’ singer as termed by his fans, Badshah has delivered several chartbusters over the years and is lauded for his lyrics, slow rap and performing with Bollywood’s biggest celebrities. Speaking about this association, Badshah said, “Music and video are two very important aspects of what I do to bring a complete experience to the audience. My fans have always been top priority for me and MX Tatatak, I feel, allows me to directly reach out and interact with them even in the most remote corners of India. With all of us having limited movement/travel and with so much happening around the world, this is the best time to engage with fans by creating some fun, snackable content. I am looking forward to my short format video journey with MX Takatak”.

    MX Player CEO Karan Bedi elaborated saying, “We are proud and happy to welcome Badshah to the MX family. MX Takatak aims to provide the budding influencer talent pool a world class platform to showcase their art. And, who better than Badshah to inspire them to scale new heights like he has –  he’s innovative, creative and is an icon of pop culture in India today, which makes him the perfect fit to inspire our millions of content creators on MX Takatak as well as engage with his fans on our huge user base.”

    Read more stories on Karan Bedi

    MX TakaTak offers a wide variety of short-form content and creation tools like a well organised and exhaustive background music library, advanced beautification tools, new & innovative effects/filters, sound mixing, and voice over recording and much more to its digital superstars. Currently, it hosts digital influencers such as Gima Ashi, Ashika Bhatia, Rugees, Manjull Khattar, Khusi Punjaban, Mridul Madhlok and Ayush Yadav amongst others.

  • MX Player witnesses a big jump in consumption on its gaming platform

    MX Player witnesses a big jump in consumption on its gaming platform

    KOLKATA: Democratizing entertainment with offerings ranging from video streaming, original web series, live TV, audio streaming and gaming – MX Player has stayed true to its vision of providing Indian audiences with “Everytainment”.

    With the huge proliferation of smartphones and cheap data, gaming has evolved far beyond consoles and personal computers. Mobile platforms have become the most significant segment of the gaming industry. Having launched its gaming feature in February this year, Games on MX Player has grown exponentially, going from 9 hyper-casual games to over 60 games, that is now available across its Android and iOS apps.

    MX’s approach, like it had been across all its products, has been to create a platform for partnering with gaming giants Nazara, Gamezop, Gamespix and Google games Snacks amongst others. Its inventory ranges across categories from popular Indian board games to strategy, quiz, racing, arcade, sports, action and more to cater to the diverse gaming interest of the users.

    MX has also built various product layers on top to make the gaming experience and ecosystem more robust and alluring. The gaming platform now also has virtual currencies, PvP battles, tournaments and leaderboards, real-cash prizes and social features to provide an immersive gaming experience.

    The online gaming market has greatly benefitted from a nationwide lockdown. Reports from BARC India & Nielsen suggest that in 2020, the time spent on online gaming has grown by 44% in mid-May from around 11 per cent  in mid- March.

    Over the past few months, MX Player has seen a big jump in consumption on its gaming platform, having grown to 25m Monthly Active Gaming Users, and is seeing engagement north of 70 minutes/user per day.

    Given consistently low mobile internet costs and its existing depth of penetration, the platform has successfully welcomed India’s new digital audience to the app ecosystem and sees over 50 per cent traction coming in from Tier II markets and beyond.

     MX Player CEO Karan Bedi commented, "The past few months has seen supercharged growth for MX as a platform, across video, games and music. the COVID pandemic has seen Digital first, at home businesses move to the mainstream of life in India."

    MX Player COO Vivek Jain noted, “MX Player hosts a slew of hyper casual mobile only games that cater to both regular and new gamers. To give a consistent flavour of freshness to our users, we have been adding four-five new games every week since May. As a result, the time spend per user is skyrocketing and is up 180 per cent over the four-month pandemic period. We have curated and built these games with an India first mindset featuring popular household games like – Ludo, Cricket and Carrom. With our pervasive presence across demographics, we intend on making gaming experience democratic, and act as a one-stop solution to all entertainment needs of Indians.”

  • MX Player emerges as top entertainment app of 2019 in India: Report

    MX Player emerges as top entertainment app of 2019 in India: Report

    MUMBAI: MX Player has emerged as the top entertainment app in India, according to the annual FICCI Report on India’s Media and Entertainment Sector titled ‘The Era of Consumer A.R.T’. The ranking is based on apps classified under entertainment categories on iOS and Google Play. The entertainment streaming app that launched in February 2019 has dominated the market in terms of Monthly Active Users, followed by Hotstar, Tik Tok, BookMyShow, Jio TV, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, SonyLiv, Airtel TV, and Voot.

    Currently, MX Player has 280 million MAUs globally and 175 million MAUs in India.

    Commenting on this honour, MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said, “We’re a young brand and I’m delighted that in this short time, we’ve emerged as the #1 entertainment app of 2019 in India. Our scale and penetration remain unparalleled and our aim is to keep innovating and experimenting with genres, stories, languages, characters to be able to cater to every palette, enhancing our product and making sure that users continue engaging with a fresh experience, every time they log into MX Player. Being an AVOD platform, we also offer our clients unparalleled reach across the length and breadth of India.”

    India ranks as one of the fastest-growing app markets globally, where entertainment apps are driving significant consumer engagement. According to the report, total downloads among M&E categories grew seven per cent while total sessions grew across all M&E app categories with Entertainment growing by 31 per cent, music by 81 per cent and news and magazines by 40 per cent. Games grew by 36 per cent and MX Player recently added a gaming section that hosts high familiarity and easy to learn hyper casual games which users can enjoy even without data or internet access, and play in a competitive format.

    Staying true to the promise of providing ‘Everytainment’ – the platform is emerging as the one stop shop for all things entertainment with its best in class offline video playing capabilities, critically acclaimed original series, a large online streaming repository of over 1,50,000 hours of premium content including live channels and catch-up TV, audio music and gaming.

  • Godrej L’Affaire concludes its fourth season with a grand celebration of lifestyle

    Godrej L’Affaire concludes its fourth season with a grand celebration of lifestyle

    MUMBAI: Godrej L’Affaire, a curated experiential lifestyle platform by the Godrej Group, concluded its fourth season in Mumbai. More than 1300 people including several prominent personalities attended Godrej L’Affaire.

    It kicked-off with a masterclass marking actress Bhumi Pednekar’s debut as a chef along with Chef Varun Inamdar. They engaged in a live cook-off followed by a conversation on how to bake a blockbuster. Celebrity couple Karanvir Bohra and Teejay Sidhu spoke about inculcating spirituality in children through travel. They also unveiled the trailer of their upcoming web-series ‘Baby Yatra’.

    Music director Shantanu Moitra did a standalone talk on his 100-day fascinating adventure across the Himalayas that changed his music forever. Designers Alan Abraham (Abraham John Architects), Madhav Raman (Anagram Architects), Swarup Dutta (Scenographer) and Asha Sairam (Studio Lotus) engaged in an insightful conversation, powered by Design Dekko, on ways to design homes that give back to nature and the importance of sustainable designs.

    The highlight of the evening soirée was ace couturiers Monisha Jaising and Shweta Bachchan Nanda’s luxury pret fashion label MxS’s first ever fashion show. The couture was street-inspired and had sportive elements and fabric mash-ups, giving the collection a jolt of energy. Supermodels like Carol Gracias, Deepti Gujral, Aanchal Kumar and Sucheta Sharma walked the ramp while the show was choreographed by Shie Lobo.

    Supporting Shweta’s first-ever MxS fashion show, Jaya Bachchan, among other celebrities, was also present. All models were accessorized with Isharya jewellery and watches by Guess Watches and Esprit, complementing the collection. India’s drag scene star, Sushant Divgikar, adorned his famed Rani Ko-He-Nur avatar for a musical performance with his band TopStorey leaving the audience mesmerized.

    The Godrej Food Trends Report – 2020 was unveiled at Godrej L’Affaire. The report curated by Rushina Munshaw-Ghildiyal is a compendium of insights, views and predictions collated from conversations with 150 experts – chefs, thought leaders and food influencers across major cities.

    Godrej Group executive director and chief brand officer Tanya Dubash said: "Godrej L’Affaire has redefined lifestyle trends with every new season. Be it personalities, experiences, footfalls and brand partnerships, our fourth season has raised the bar and turned out to be the most successful edition till date. Godrej L'Affaire has delivered on its promise of showcasing future lifestyle trends that people can adopt for a modern-day living.”

    Godrej L’Affaire soirée witnessed first time unveiling of Ginevra, a new perfume range from Tonino Lamborghini Fragrances. Radio host and producer Hrishikesh Kannan moderated an engaging panel comprising digital influencers such as Karishma Sakhrani, Khushnaz Turner, Rij Eappen, and Chef Amninder Sandhu. The panel titled ‘Make Space for Life’ by Godrej Interio, deliberated on the importance of maintaining work-life balance dynamics and explored what it takes to be an influencer.

    Tata Motors showcased its latest car in the electric vehicles segment –Tata Nexon EV. Godrej Locks unveiled an installation endorsing home safety, conceptualised and designed by Anand Menon and Shobhan Kothari of ADND, a prominent architecture, and interior design firm.

    Godrej L’Affaire’s fourth season presenting partner was MX Player, while the on-ground event was styled by Krsnaa Mehta of India Circus. The soirée offered experiences of top lifestyle brands such as Harley-Davidson, Guess Watches, BBLUNT, Esprit, Godrej Security Solutions, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Cinthol, Godrej Bambusa, Myntra, Script, Godrej Properties, and Goodknight Naturals.

    Other prominent brand partners include Godrej Veg Oils, Elior India, Slice of Pink, Godrej Professional, Godrej Protekt, Godrej Construction, Godrej Real Good Chicken, Houzz India and Godrej aer.

    MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said: "Godrej L’Affaire has been redefining lifestyle trends with every new edition, which makes it a great platform to interact with a range of premium audiences and brands. The theme for this year was 'Aarambh' – bringing together imagination, creativity, and innovation via bespoke experiences for its attendees. We are very happy to have been a part of this experience, and it was great to see the mix of ideas and concepts across various lifestyle categories."

    "The association with Godrej L’Affaire gives us the ideal platform to acknowledge and reward fashion-forward customers, while also setting new benchmarks in the industry on value creation and consumer engagement. For the second year of our association with Godrej L’Affaire, we invited over 50 Myntra Insiders to experience the best of fashion, travel, food, lifestyle and much more during this event,” added Myntra head of marketing Harish Narayanan on the partnership.

    Raymond Consumer Care director international brands Barun Mukherjee said: “Partnering with Godrej L’Affaire was a rewarding experience for us as the event reckons with everything lifestyle and luxury. We took the opportunity to launch Ginevra range of products and showcased the complete range of Tonino Lamborghini fragrances.”

    The media partners for the fourth season of Godrej L’Affaire were Sunday Mid-Day (Print Partner), Living Foodz (Lifestyle TV Partner), IWMbuzz.com (Digital Media Partner) and Radio One 94.3 (Radio Partner).  Wizcraft International managed the on-ground execution of this season.