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Tag: MX Player

  • MX Player, Red Bull & Smule hunt for India’s next rap superstar

    MX Player, Red Bull & Smule hunt for India’s next rap superstar

    MUMBAI: With the hip-hop scene in India fast evolving and artists from the country making their mark on the global stage, a new series gives the next generation of rappers a platform to learn from the best and hone their skills. An MX Original Series, Red Bull Spotlight, featuring beats from Smule’s hip hop music app AutoRap, is a nationwide hunt to discover and support India’s best emerging rappers, now streaming for free on MX Player.

    Started in 2019 as a platform to discover India’s newest rap talent, Red Bull Spotlight is now a six-part series that will see eight rappers go head-to-head for the title. The winner will receive the opportunity to record a full-length album in a professional studio, a music video, an EPK and more, selected following a finale judged by the biggest names in Indian hip-hop – Divine, Naezy, Emiway Bantai and Dee MC.  

    MX Player COO Vivek Jain said, “We’re delighted to have partnered with Red Bull and AutoRap to bring alive the biggest battleground for budding rap enthusiasts in India. This three-way partnership presents as the perfect harmony of brands coming together for a bespoke integration and digital first content solutions, that we’re able to weave into stories or formats that can appeal to our large user base.”

    Smule president Bill Bradford described Red Bull Spotlight as a launch pad for the next generation of hip hop talent in India. “We’re proud to provide the musical creation platform these rising stars can use to share their stories, and to serve as the backdrop of their art,” he added.      

    In the series, produced by Red Bull Media House and MX Player with Supari Studios and directed by Nisha Vasudevan, the finalists spend a week under the mentorship of some of the finest in Indian hip-hop, attending workshops and sessions, doing challenges and more. Mentors include Sofia Ashraf, Naezy, Dopeadelicz, Sez on the Beat, and D’evil.

    “I was pleasantly surprised by the wide-ranging talent in the finale. I think that says a lot about the selection process and also about the quality of talent waiting to be discovered and given a platform in India,” said hip-hop artist Divine, who was a judge at the finale. “Red Bull has been supporting music and culture in many different formats right from before I started as well and up to now. Spotlight is another endeavour in that long line of platforms given by them in helping talent get discovered and work towards building sustainable careers for them.”

  • MX Player to offer dubbed international shows with MX VDesi

    MX Player to offer dubbed international shows with MX VDesi

    KOLKATA: After enthralling viewers with its original series, MX Playe is now bringing international content from across the world with the launch of a brand new category – MX VDesi, which will host India’s largest catalogue of dubbed shows in local Indian languages – Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

    Starting 24 March, the platform will be dropping new shows every Wednesday – depicting the same emotion but from different regions. Recent studies have shown that certain sentiments are shared by all cultures and when it comes to entertainment and genres like romance, action or comedy –  viewers across the globe share the same universal experience of emotions.  

    With MX VDesi, the platform is bringing compelling international content for the discerning Indian viewer – be it Turkish, Korean, Japanese, French, Spanish or English super hits that are dubbed in Hindi, Tamil or Telugu. International dubbed content is one of the fastest growing verticals on the platform and sees engagement from the top metros as well as tier-1&2 towns of the country.  

    MX Player content acquisitions & alliances head Mansi Shrivastav said, “International content, as a category, is witnessing immense traction on the platform. With MX VDesi, we’ve curated the largest catalogue of international shows that feature beautifully crafted narratives of relatable, ordinary protagonists that are universally appealing. Today, global content is accessible at your fingertips and we’re delighted to be the frontrunners in introducing India to such a diverse range of international content that can be consumed in preferred local languages.”

    The top 10 shows on the platform include Turkish dramas like Day Dreamer, The Promise, Our Story, The Girl Named Feriha, Endless Love, Brave and Beautiful and Forbidden Fruit, as well as Korean dramas like Where Stars Land and Dr. John.

  • MX TakaTak launches influencer collaborative space

    MX TakaTak launches influencer collaborative space

    KOLKATA: Short video apps have paved the way for millions of young content creators to grow into digital superstars. With its vision of nurturing such budding talent, leading short format video app MX TakaTak not only aims at giving young creators a platform to showcase their talent, but is also empowering them to make better content with the launch of MX TakaTak My Home. This first of its kind initiative in India is a content creator collective that will see some of the country’s finest talent come together week on week, to collaborate and help each other amass more followers. 

    My Home is a month-long activity that will see a fresh churn of content creation every day, with a dedicated team giving the KOLs all the professional support/assistance they require. Spread across entertainment hubs – Mumbai and Delhi, these two luxurious homes will host 15 audience favourites every week and these talented digital enthusiasts will be given the opportunity to innovate and create cool content.

    MX TakaTak business head Janhavi Parikh said, “My Home has been devised to offer our content creators an equal opportunity for growth. The doors of this house will be open for those creators who are passionate about their craft, who are consistent with their videos and those who want to pioneer change in digital content consumption. This house is about creating a collaborative environment  that encourages our digital enthusiasts to produce compelling content to entertain India.”

    Delhi My Home participant Faizal Siddiqui shared, “The concept of creating an engaging environment for creators to join forces and make fun content is a great thought, opportunities like these give rise to the greatest digital stars."

    Wish Rathod, yet another creator on the platform, said, “Creating a space like this is a very international concept and it’s great that MX TakaTak is doing so much to give creators like us a once in a lifetime chance such as this. You get to meet like-minded people, discuss ideas, ideologies and grow creatively, and that’s what I am looking forward to.”

    Some of the influencers who are a part of My Home Delhi include Oye Indori, Sofia Ansari, Wish Rathod, Mahira Khan, Deepak Joshi, Vishal Bhatt and Mihir Gupta, among others. 

  • 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 Player & Akamai partner to deliver seamless viewing experience

    MX Player & Akamai partner to deliver seamless viewing experience

    KOLKATA: MX Player has partnered with Akamai Technologies to provide its increasing user base in India with a seamless digital experience.

    In 2020, MX Player was ranked by App Annie as the no.1 streaming app in India and the onset of the pandemic saw the platform witness not just a massive boost in viewership, but also new subscribers, and a newer audience. This accelerated growth heightened MX Player’s need for infrastructure that could support the scale and availability of the app across different networks and locations.

    MX Player found Akamai’s world class media delivery solution to be the right choice in order to deliver a high-quality viewing experience to their customers across different cities. The enhancement in performance and user experience was particularly pronounced in the case of MX TakaTak, a popular short video platform, that has seen a rapid surge of users, with a large portion of them coming from tier-2 and tier-3 towns.

    According to Redseer, online content consumption in India grew by 35 per cent in April 2020 compared to January 2020. It further stated that short-form video content consumption recorded the most significant jump during the lockdown.

    MX Player COO Vivek Jain said, “In the last couple of months, our user base has increased exponentially. The demand to consume content on the go and the need for virtual entertainment amongst the middle, mass, mobile, millennial audience in India is growing faster than ever before. MX Player has seen more than 7X jump in time spent on the app. “

    “Even MX TakaTak, which we recently launched, crossed one billion video views per day within a month from launch and has quickly become the market leading app in the short video category. We have always obsessed about best-in-class video load times. Akamai is a pioneer in Edge distribution and its presence particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 towns has helped us deliver an unmatched viewing experience for our customers across India’s mega cities as well as the hinterlands,” Jain added.

    Akamai media and carrier section India sales head Mitesh Jain noted that unprecedented demand for content coupled with rapidly evolving user behaviour poses a challenge for apps trying to ensure high-quality viewing experience across a complex network topology.

    “We are glad to have partnered with MX Player to help them scale the user base and step up to conform with user expectations of evolving Indian consumers. Given MX player’s ambition, I am sure that this is just a start and we will be accomplishing many more milestones together,” Jain said.

  • 2020: The tipping point for the Indian OTT ecosystem

    2020: The tipping point for the Indian OTT ecosystem

    KOLKATA: The Covid2019 pandemic has walloped many industry verticals this year but digital-first categories including over-the-top (OTT) or streaming video services have actually been given a leg up. A host of new users, paid subscribers have tuned in to consume online platforms, due to stay-at-home directives, limited social activities, enforced theatre shutdowns, fewer entertainment options. With multifold growth across metrics, the sector has witnessed growth that would have normally taken four to five years.

    The Indian OTT industry has been steadily growing in the past couple of years, especially since Jio democratised internet for the country’s masses. As the country entered into lockdown, fresh content on TV dried up and OTT platforms emerged as the most sought after medium for entertainment. India’s data consumption went through the roof with demand on OTT and VoD platforms rising by a whopping 947 per cent within July compared to the pre-pandemic period, according to data from internet exchange DE-CIX.

    As the curtains to 2020 are being pulled down, we look at not only statistics but at the emerging trends as well.

    Indian consumers are willing to pay more than ever for OTTs:

    Along with the growth in consumption and users, the number of paid subscribers has also gone up during the year. Back in 2017-18, there was a myth in the market that Indian subscribers would not pay for premium content. While 2019 was already indicating otherwise, 2020 has strongly broken all notions. According to a Boston Consulting group report, pandemic has increased growth of over-the-top (OTT) subscriptions by 60 per cent. It is not only a fad but more than half of these new users are likely to continue using the service. A PwC report has also forecast that subscription based video-on-demand (SVoD) will be the prime driver of revenue, growing at a 30.7 per cent CAGR.

     Although global streaming giant Netflix has not released any country-focused data as yet, it is likely to end the year with 4.6 million paid subscribers in India, as per estimates from researcher Media Partners Asia (MPA). Previously held estimates for 2019 were two million subscribers. Media giant The Walt Disney Co. (Disney)’s digital arm Disney+ entered in India combined with the existing Hotstar service as Disney+Hotstar. Now, Indian streamer accounts for 30 per cent of Disney’s overall subscriber base that is 26 million subscribers. Among indigenous players, ZEE5 also contributed significantly to its parent company’s overall revenue, thanks to its subscription revenue growth. Other platforms like ALTBalaji saw daily additions of 17,000 subscribers at the beginning of lockdown. Newly launched subscription services like Voot Select, Discovery Plus also claimed that the platforms exceeded expectations around customer acquisition.

    Launches, relaunches, the rush continues, even as some exit

    India is seen as the new streaming Mecca and the OTTs are rushing in like lemmings.  Both international and local players launched their services this year. Apple+ which launched towards late 2019, pushed forward with its customer acquisition plans through the year. And one of the most awaited services, Disney+ entered the country through its Indian cousin Hotstar, part of the Star India network, which it acquired the previous year from Twenty First Century Fox. The service was branded Disney+Hotstar and it was introduced just as India was entering the Covid2019 lockdown. Discovery began its video streaming journey with the launch of Discovery+. Hollywood Studio Lionsgate strengthened its direct-to-consumer presence with Lionsgate Play, while it was playing earlier in a distribution partnership model. SonyLiv went in for a relaunch, serving out a very different looking new version Voot from Viacom18 introduced its Voot Select offering.  ErosNow – a part of Eros Media – went for a refresh announcing the launch of new extensions and services  after its merger with US entertainment mid-sized player STX Entertainment.  

     A host of new hyperlocal platforms have also been launched like Aha as they strive to capture a piece of the regional language preferring audiences. Telugu diaspora targeted YuppTV took another shot at domestic audiences by launching an educational service as well as launching new shows.

    Like in satellite television, pan Asian or global  streaming services backed with relatively less capital and by local entrepreneurs, went belly up or restricted their focus on specific countries. Five year old Hooq – a streaming service which promised a lot – shut shop by May 2020, including its Indian operations. The just as the year 2019 was ended, another streamer Viu promoted by HongKong based PCCW, wound up in India.  The biggest disaster was the downward spiral of the Jeffrey Katzenberg-Meg Ryan run short from professional produced video streamer Quibi after guzzling down nearly a billion dollars in investment worldwide. In the US, AVod service Tubi, which had its eye on India, was acquired the Murdoch-run Fox Corp for $440 million. Expect some India play from this player going forward.

    OTT platforms increases direct-to-digital releases:

    The streaming services started premiering movies directly on the platforms earlier but this year saw movies with big names also debuting on those platforms as theatres were closed for six months across the country. Deep-pocketed  players including Amazon Prime Video, Disney+Hotstar went aggressive to acquire big-budget movies. A PwC report has stated that global SVoD revenue will overtake box office spend in 2020.

    At the initial phase of the lockdown, Disney+Hotstar launched  its ‘Multiplex’ feature and went on an acquisition binge acquiring titles such as Laxmmi Bomb, Dil Bechara, Lootcase, Sadak 2. Amazon Prime Video, the Jeff Bezos owned platform, also released Gulabo Sitabo , Shakuntala Devi and several others. Netflix jumped on the bandwagon with the likes of Ludo, and  Gunjan Saxena. Platforms like SonyLIV, Zee5 also turned to old, unreleased films. This trend is not only limited to India but is reflected globally. For instance, WarnerMedia has announced to release its entire 2021 movie slate on HBO Max and simultaneously in theatres. At the same time, ShemarooMe also launched Box Office to release small budget Bollywood movies. 

    Higher investment in original content:

    As the user base, consumption rate grows; appetite for quality premium content amongst India’s massive populace has also ballooned. For consumer stickiness, broadcaster led OTT platforms are heavily investing in original content. One of the early movers in the OTT segment SonyLIV has reinvented itself this year with a higher focus on churning out original content like its runaway hit Scam 1992. The idea was to increase its subscriber base significantly. Viacom18’s Voot also launched a subscription service called Voot Select with a promise of releasing more than 30 originals. Other international OTT players like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+Hotstar are also upping their content significantly. London-based technology research and consulting firm Omdia has projected that the three OTT players are expected to collectively spend approximately Rs 2824.9 crore ($383 million) on original content in India in 2021.The OTT players are collectively expected to spend Rs 4,905 crore ($665 million) in 2021. However, Covid2019 restrictions have postponed around 30 per cent of the projects programmed to start in 2020.

    Enriching content library with diverse content, new features:

    Many of the OTT players are aiming to build themselves as super apps. ZEE5 has forayed into short-video category HiPi, gaming. Times Internet’s MX Player has also built a short video platform Mx TakaTak which has been considered as one of the most successful user generated apps post the  TikTok ban. To provide more value to users, ZEE5 partnered with an edu-tech platform at the beginning of the year. During the lockdown, Disney+Hotstar, Voot expanded their health and wellness portfolio on the back of new partnerships. Another niche area,  the kids segment , has also emerged as a big area of attention. While Voot already launched Voot Kids in 2019, ZEE5 added a dedicated section for kids this year with content focused on a blend of fun and learning. Amazon Prime Video which has already established a stronghold with its rich original content, has forayed into live sports acquiring rights for broadcasting New Zealand cricket matches in India. 

    Rising regional market:

    A recent BCG-CII report has shown that 35-40 per cent of the consumption on OTT services happens in local languages. And the hours of original programming in local languages have tripled in the past two years standing at 1,400-1,800. Throughout the year, a number of hyperlocal platforms have sprung up. Many among them, like the Telugu language Aha have committed huge investments to release more than 50 originals in a year. Bengali OTT platform Hoichoi has also announced a huge line up of content on its third anniversary. SunNXT is also looking at investing Rs 200 core for original content in FY 22. National players like ZEE5, Voot, and MX Player have strengthened their local offerings producing many hits across languages. Even international players have also gone deeper into regional markets as digital infrastructure across tier-II and III cities and  rural areas has increased, gradually leading to more traffic.

    Business models expand

    The year 2020 also saw attempts being made at unearthing a new business model transactional video on demand, with ZEE5, Shemaroo and bookmyshow announcing initiatives in this direction. The latter two at least have been planning their services seriously in building such a model. They are taking heart from the tremendous success that Universal’s Trolls World Tour had from digital rentals logging in almost $100 million in collections.

    Of course, the most prevalent model in the OTT ecosystem is the AVoD one or one that depends on advertising and offers free content to subscribers. Amongst the biggest players in this space is MX Player which claims around 200 million subscribers. Of course all the Indian majors – Disney + Hotstar, ZEE5, SonyLiv, Voot – have skin in this game, but their premium shows, sports events, and films are behind pay walls. The free content is used to upsell subscribers to premium services. Advertising is expected to contribute 43 per cent of all OTT revenues.

    Almost every player experimented with pricing during the year. Netflix was the prime example with the introduction of the mobile only plan of Rs 199 per sub in 2019, followed by a mobile+ package of Rs 349 in 2020 which offered streaming to handsets, tablets or laptops. Others too launched varying pricing points to cater to different audiences.  

    Connected TV viewership growth:

    The lockdown has not only increased consumption but has brought significant change in how online content is consumed. While India has been always described as mobile centric market, the growth in high-speed broadband connectivity, and affordable smart TVs has brought more users to connected devices. Moreover, the spike in family viewing has boosted connected TV viewership. A few leading players like ZEE5, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+Hotstar has seen it as a potential trend which can emerge soon. In addition to that, the steady rise in home broadband and increasing OTT partnerships with internet service providers will boost the viewership.

    Challenges ahead:

    2020 has definitely been the tipping point for Indian OTT market, albeit few challenges. The regulatory intervention into online content has ignited the fear of censorship with a negative sentiment looming over the players, and the creative fraternity. A number of petitions are pending before several Indian courts challenging a number of shows. While users flock to OTT platforms for more progressive content, it would be a challenge for the latter to balance between creative freedom and the regulatory noose.

  • Insight TV lands in India with MX Player

    Insight TV lands in India with MX Player

    KOLKATA: Millennial-focused global content creator Insight TV has struck an exclusive distribution deal with MX Player, marking its foray into the Indian market. Under the partnership, Insight TV will launch the channel on MX Player India, as well as on its international platforms in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Nepal. The announcement was made today by VP media sales and Insight TV Studios US, and Mansi Shrivastav, SVP & head – content acquisition at MX Player. 

    “Being available on MX Player provides Insight TV an opportunity to reach a massive audience in India and around the world,” said Boot. “With 65 per cent of India’s population below the age of 35, Insight TV is the ideal network for the country’s burgeoning gen-Z and millennial population.”

    MX Player has fast grown into becoming an entertainment super app on the back of its vast range of OTT offerings, games, audio music and video playback, all seamlessly integrated on one platform for the discerning viewer. Streaming premium content for free, this ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) platform caters to over 200 million monthly active users in India. The brand expanded its OTT services to select markers across Southeast Asia, Middle East, North America and the United Kingdom in March of this year to help serve quality digital-first entertainment to a wider global audience.

     “Audiences today are open to experimenting with OTT content, trying new genres/formats from across the globe. We strive to curate a wide range of previously inaccessible content that is available to stream for millions of users, not just in India and the Indian diaspora in international markets, but for all audiences globally," added Shrivastav. 

    Insight TV is currently available in 49 countries on a myriad of linear and digital platforms around the world. The channel specialises in influencer-led adventure sports, travel and lifestyle story-driven content for millennial and gen-Z audiences. MX Player viewers will have access to hundreds of original programs on Insight TV such as the new esports competition series Making the Squad: FIFA 21 Edition.

    Starting 23 December, Insight TV can be found on MX Player under the live tab for mobile viewing. On the web browser, viewers can find Insight TV under both the entertainment channels and live TV categories.

  • MX Player bags laurels at Asian Academy Creative Awards 2020

    MX Player bags laurels at Asian Academy Creative Awards 2020

    New Delhi: After its impressive wins in the national level at the 2020 Asian Academy Creative Awards, MX Player has now gone on to win 2 record-setting honors at the Grand Finals of the awards, being the only homegrown Indian OTT platform to win at an Asia level. Competing with some of the biggest shows pan Asia, the brand stood out in two categories – the Best Original Programme by a Streamer/OTT was bagged by its Ramya Krishnan starrer Queen and the Best Music/Dance Programme was won by its larger-than-life music reality chat show – Times of Music.

    MX Player chief content officer Gautam Talwar said, “Both these web series have been extremely special projects for us, and they’ve been an industry first – be it Queen that was mounted at a never seen before scale for a regional series or Times of Music that was genuinely a first of its kind concept. One of the top priorities for us was to offer differentiated content that would resonate with audiences and we're very pleased to receive such an honour for our efforts, not only on an India level but Pan-Asia as well.”

    “Elated that Queen has won the best original programme by a streamer/OTT at Singapore’s Asian Academy Creative Awards, and more so because we won on the very same day that we started filming for season 1 of the series! It’s great to be recognised alongside some of the biggest shows across all Asian countries. A big shout-out to the entire team and I am looking forward to filming season 2 soon”, added Ramya Krishnan as she speaks about the win for Queen.

    Times Music host Vishal Dadlani said, “The concept of Times of Music is fresh, unique, and something the audiences haven’t seen before. MX Player has done a great job of constructing the show and detailing out each aspect – be it artiste pairing, the fantastic stage or finding hidden stories that have been lost over time, which made for such great conversations. This has been one of the biggest musical stages in the digital space and this award is a win well deserved for the entire team.”

    The Asian Academy Creative Awards are Asia-Pac’s most prestigious awards for creative excellence, honoring the excellence in craft and technical discipline across multiple platforms including television, digital, mobile, streaming and any other emerging technologies. 

  • Wife wishes for ‘upgraded’ husband in MX Player’s exclusive Marathi series

    Wife wishes for ‘upgraded’ husband in MX Player’s exclusive Marathi series

    NEW DELHIA: MX Player is now streaming yet another exclusive Marathi web series titled Baykola Hava Tari Kay (What a Wife Wants). The comedy web series includes actors like Shreya Budge, Aniket Vishwasrao, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi, and others. The series is an MX Exclusive and Mirchi Play original.

    This six part series is directed by Priyadarshan Jadhav and produced by Dakhkhan Studio.

     The core theme of the show is that every wife feels that God hasn't blessed her husband with the best qualities. She finds these features in various other men around her. They want their husband to be the best and in this quest a lot of unplanned things happen, which forms a part of the storyline. 

    Shreya, an ordinary wife of an ordinary man, manages to please Lord Krishna (played by Nikhil Ratnaparkhi) with her devotion and in exchange asks the Lord to bless her husband (played by Aniket Vishwasrao) with the best of features. Krishna agrees to upgrade her husband to a version that she finds is best for her. Shreya asks Lord Krishna to upgrade her husband multiple times after experiencing the personal life that comes with each of them. Fed up with Shreyaʼs non-stop demands, Lord is left wondering – what does the wife want? 

    It is expected to be an entertaining package for the audiences and is available for free viewing.  

    MX Player is creating a strong library of shows including Ashram 1&2, High, Dangerous, Behad ka Baaghi, Bhaukaal, Rakhtanchal, and many others. The OTT platform is getting good traction from viewers and has witnessed a massive increase in time spent and visits.

  • 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.

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    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.