ITV

Tag: Netflix

  • Pleased with India progress, says Netflix’s Reed Hastings

    Pleased with India progress, says Netflix’s Reed Hastings

    MUMBAI: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings today announced that he was pleased with the progress his streaming powerhouse was making in India. Speaking to Sanford C Bernstein senior research analyst Todd Michael Juenger during a Q4 2017 earnings interview, Hastings said, “We are very pleased with the progress that we’re making in India, throughout Southeast Asia and Japan. So, really, all across the board, we’re seeing growth penetrations that look like the first couple of years of Latin America, which, as you know, has worked out very well for us.”

    Estimates are that Netflix has anywhere between 700,000 to a million paying subs in India. At that level–with the average subscription being Rs 600–the streaming giant is currently turning over anywhere between Rs 42 crore and Rs 60 crore a month, giving it annual revenue of Rs 504 crore to Rs 720 crore. As compared to that, estimates are that Star Plus alone tots up Rs 2,100 crore in revenue.

    “That’s pretty good going for such a new service,” says a media observer. “You can’t forget that it is an international service offering with very limited localisation so far.”

    The company announced that it had registered net global additions of 8.3 million–the highest quarter growth numbers in its history, up 18 per cent compared to 2016’s high of 7.05 million net adds. Netflix’s average paid streaming memberships rose by 25 per cent year on year in Q4. Combined with a 9 per cent increase in ASP, global streaming revenue growth amounted to 35 per cent. Operating income of $245 million (7.5 per cent margin) vis-a-vis $154 million in the prior year (6.2 per cent margin) was slightly above the firm’s $238 million forecast. Operating margin for FY17 was 7.2 per cent, on target with the firm’s goal at the beginning of this year.

    Internationally, Netflix added 6.36 million memberships (compared with the firm’s earlier guidance of 5.05 million), a new record for quarterly net adds for this segment. Excluding a foreign impact of more than $43 million, international revenue and ASP grew by 59 per cent and 12 per cent year over year, respectively. The increase in ASP reflects price adjustments in a wide variety of Netflix’s markets over the course of 2017. With contribution profit of $227 million in 2017 (4.5 per cent contribution margin), the international segment delivered its first full year of positive contribution profit in the firm’s history.

    For Q1, the firm has projected global net adds of 6.35 million (against 5.0 million in the year ago quarter) with 1.45 million in the US and 4.90 million internationally. On the whole, the company has upped its content budget to $7.5-$8 billion for 2018.

    Its original content slate from India should start rolling out sometime later this year. In the earnings press release, the company said, “We’re finding continued success with international originals. High-quality content can travel globally, irrespective of language…we will expand this initiative with over 30 international original series this year, including projects from France, Poland, India, Korea and Japan.”

    In India, the firm has been striking partnerships with platforms such as Videocon d2h and Airtel wherein the Netflix app has been embedded in an easy-to-view user interface. It has been extending this partnership to cable TV MSOs. Said the company: “We are partnering with a growing number of MVPDs and ISPs across the world to the benefit of our mutual customers. These partnerships make it easier for consumers to sign up, enjoy and pay for Netflix while our service allows our partners to deepen their relationships with these subscribers. “

    Hastings revealed that he did not expect Disney’s proposed acquisition of Fox’s India assets, including Hotstar, to impact it any differently than it used to in the past year. “Not particularly. I mean, YouTube gets the most streaming in India, but Hotstar gets the second most. So it’s not a wildly different landscape. So that wouldn’t particularly change our view in India. Hotstar’s a great competitor, and sometimes collaborator now, and I’m sure they would continue to be under Disney,” he said.

  • Amazon India to launch 10 originals in 2018

    Amazon India to launch 10 originals in 2018

    MUMBAI: With the advent of digital and data cost coming down, there is a cut-throat competition among digital players to grab as many eyeballs as they can. Amazon Prime Video is set to launch 10 original shows in 2018 for India.

    These include unscripted shows like Remix which is nearing its release, Comicstan which will be a hunt for the next stand-up comic and two more shows where the titles are in the final stages. This will later be followed by director Zoya Akhtar’s premier striped fiction – Made in Heaven along with Mirzapur and 4 More Shots. While calling the shows a pure labour of love, Amazon Prime Video India director content Vijay Subramaniam says, “We are very clear that we want to give our customers high quality and the process of setting that up takes a really long time. For every story we create, we make sure it gets the amount go time it deserves to be put together.”

    E-commerce website amazon.in helps prime video in a great deal to penetrate into smaller markets as people already have a relationship with the brand. Subramaniam is of the opinion that young consumers in India like unscripted content and Amazon Prime Video and although the platform is only a year old, they want to get to a place where they will know what the right mix between scripted and unscripted is.

    With a solid set of content on its platform and an equally aggressive attitude like Netflix and Hotstar, the platform banks on creative content marketing for the promotions of its shows. Amazon chose a funny path to promote American comedy web series The Tick with Indian comedian Jose Covaco who created hilarious videos about what the audience can expect from the show. 

    José Covaco‏

    With digital changing the way brands communicate with audience, Amazon Video uses social media in a large way to connect with the consumer and as a marketing tool but also leverages out of home (OOH) in a big way to promote the shows and the platform itself. But it wants to restrict its OOH only to metro cities as that is where the majority of viewership comes from. 

    Amazon Video was launched in 2006 but came to India only in December 2016. Launched with an initial offer price of Rs 499 for free and faster delivery of goods bought on Amazon, free content viewing, and free music streaming, the subscription cost is expected to go up to Rs 999 this year. The move might come as a bad news for several subscribers as they might not be willing to pay the extra buck resulting in a drop of subscribers. 

    Although the platform had a lukewarm beginning when it began operations in India, its original show – Inside Edge became a game changer for the player as the show went out to become one of the most successful property for the platform. The OTT player marked the new year by announcing its new scripted thriller show, Breathe which has the quality of cinematic television. With the availability in over 200 countries, the show will be available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

    In order to expand its reach, Amazon Video recently tied up with Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel to offer one year of free subscription. Amazon Prime India director and head Akshay Sahi opines that the move enables seamless access to Amazon Prime for Airtel postpaid customers, providing a world of new video streaming content and more.

    But the player faces stiff competition from global giant Netflix that also entered the Indian market in January 2016. Netflix in India comes with three different subscription plans – basic, standard and premium where the basic subscription plan starts as low as Rs 500. With data becoming cheap and smartphones become more accessible to a large part of Indians, it will be interesting to see how the digital and OTT space shapes up and how players create content for consumers. 

    Also Read :

    Guest column: Ads that didn’t work!

    The ins and outs of femvertising

    Industry applauds Sam Balsara as he turns 67

    Going from clicks to bricks

  • Discovery Jeet signs content deal with Netflix

    Discovery Jeet signs content deal with Netflix

    MUMBAI: The upcoming bull in the competitive general entertainment channel (GEC) space, Discovery Jeet, has already signed up with Netflix as its exclusive global OTT platform, even before the channel has launched. The deal will ensure that Jeet’s marquee content will be available to audiences in more than 190 countries worldwide. 

    Netflix viewers can binge-watch all Discovery Jeet shows after they have aired. Discovery Communications India SVP and GM Karan Bajaj revealed that the major idea behind the tie up was the similarity in philosophy regarding differentiated content. The other reason was Netflix’s global reach, which would be ideal for Jeet’s content to reach the vast diaspora. It also adds more screen on which the network’s content will be viewed. 

    Discovery’s partnership with Netflix comes almost a month after the broadcaster announced the launch of four niche digital channels (in partnership with video streaming platforms YouTube, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Play).

    Bajaj considers Discovery as a strong leader in the digital infotainment space and wants to develop very passionate niche communities.

    In an earlier interaction with Indiantelevision.com, Bajaj said that the channel’s focus is on ‘perception selling’. With premium and purposeful content, Jeet will scrape a good chunk of the creamy layer. He said, “The context of the show where you advertise is at times strikingly in contrast to what the brand stands for. So, to get scale, advertisers have no other option.” However, he says that Jeet will allow brands to flourish by not only providing them with scale but also premium content that matches the brand philosophy. Thus, the channel’s target is to net this top layer of India’s TV consumers.

    At present, Discovery operates 12 factual entertainment channels in India, including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery HD World, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Kids and sports channel Dsport.

    Starting 12 February 2018, the channel will launch with five hours of programming band daily, out of which three hours will be ground-up original programming built on the thesis of the underdog emerging as the winner, available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages.

    Discovery plans to focus on mass and premium audiences in India. As part of the plan, Jeet, and kids channel Discovery Kids will target the mass audience, while to tap the premium audience segment, which is shifting towards digital platforms for content consumption, the network is planning to launch multiple theme-based digital channels.  

    Discovery Communications India VP head of mass entertainment-South Asia Sameer Rao said, “Discovery Jeet’s differentiation comes from our lineup of dramatic, compelling stories of real, relatable characters presented in a cinematic, larger than life format. It is a representation of a strong emotion of ‘hai mumkin’ which is palpable in tier II and III towns across the country.”

    While Discovery has completed two decades of operations in India, its focus was on factual entertainment only. However, under the new leadership, the company has decided to significantly scale up the investment as it has set an ambitious target of making India one of the top three fastest growing markets with entry into new genres.

    Discovery Jeet’s marketing campaign will focus on key tentpole properties Swami Ramdev: Ek Sangharsh, 21 Sarfarosh: Saragarhi 1897 and Mere Papa Hero Hiralal capturing the insurmountable odds that the protagonists had to overcome in their lives to achieve success.

    Also Read:

    Video consumption by premium audience on digital exploding: Karan Bajaj

    Discovery Jeet gears up for Feb 12 launch

    Discovery launching Hindi GEC in Q4, re-brands ID as Discovery Jeet

  • 2017: The year OTTs went regional in India

    2017: The year OTTs went regional in India

    MUMBAI: Over-the-top (OTT) services were undoubtedly the centre of attraction in 2017. The boom in India’s internet users, mainly aided by the growth of Reliance Jio, ensured that OTT players got the right reception and target audience. Not just  mainstream TV broadcasters but even smaller players exponentially increased their consumer engagement on digital.

    Viewership increased as data cost decreased. Consumers were entertained and content makers got a boost to create fresh stories. The online content library was flooded with genres like comedy, thriller, drama, romance, rom-com, suspense, action, humour, reality, etc.

    Regional India was the focal point for 2017 and will continue to be in 2018. It also enabled new companies to take a risk in the OTT space. Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi and Gujarati languages have been pampered the most by the creators.

    Comedy emerged as the ultimate king in 2017 along with the rise of stand-up comedy. Ideas increased and so did production cost due to competition. Movies jumped over TV to directly go for digital movie premieres. However, this turned out to be a costly affair for OTT players but a good bargain for producers.

    Another trend was of creators holding IP rights for content instead of the platform.

    There’s no shortage of OTT platforms now, just like the rising number of TV channels. Let’s take a look at how some of the main players performed last year.

    Amazon Prime

    Amazon Prime, which recently completed one year in India, hiked its annual subscription fee to Rs 999 from the initial annual subscription of Rs 499 in India. In its first month, Amazon had 5.82 million active users, according to data from app tracker App Annie. That number almost doubled by May to 9.57 million. Total engagement time tripled from 622 million minutes to 1,815 million minutes in the same period. In the month of August, Amazon India had a big fall when its director and country head, Nitesh Kripalani resigned, but then Vijay Subramaniam, who has been in the entertainment industry for 25 years, joined Amazon for the interim as content head in June 2017.

    It launched the first original series Inside Edge in collaboration with Excel Media & Entertainment in July 2017, which is now available on Apple TV, Sony PlayStation and Vodafone along with the library of Amazon Prime. The OTT platform is expected to come up with four Indian originals series, i.e., Breathe, The Remix, Comicstaan and Mirzapur in 2018.

    Amazon realised that kids content will play an important role. It tied up with Green Gold Animation for Chhota Bheem and its new series Kalari Kids. It also commissioned an animated version of mega-blockbuster Baahubali.

    Amazon Prime Video has bet big on Indian movies by releasing them on the platform before they leave theatres. It has signed a digital rights deal for five movies of Bollywood actor Salman Khan before it goes on to television for $10 million. Tubelight was the first and Salman’s next four movies, including Tiger Zinda Hai, will come to Prime first, television next. It has also bagged the streaming rights for the movies like Lipstick Under My Burkha, 2.0, Arjun Reddy and much more along with the streaming rights for the year’s most controversial movie – Padmavat.

    Comedy is a big market in India, so Amazon went after it by associating with OML for 14 exclusive stand-up comedy specials and six new series created by stand-up comedians like Anuvab Pal, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Kenny Sebastian, Zakir Khan, Sumukhi Suresh and Varun Thakur. 

    Viu

    Viu, the OTT video service by PCCW, focused on regional content in the year 2k17 and extended the library with over 3000 hours of compelling original content in Asia. As of October 2017, the global number of downloads was 26 million to which India contributes 9.5 million. Viu rolled out its first ad campaign titled ‘Kaaf feels Bro’ from 28 August. The company has appointed Times Network’s Shantanu Gangane as the head of marketing of Viu in January. It has also enrolled Eros International Media’s Sameer Gogate as distribution and monetisation head of Vuclip for converting certain costs in revenues through non-ad revenues.

    In the beginning of the year, the platform promised to create long and short form regional original shows and started with Telugu as a region with shows such as Cinema Pichollu, Pelli Gola and PillA as well as Gehraiyaan, Spotlight, No. 1 Yaari, Munching with Mahathalli and Social. It also experimented with cricket comedy chat shows like What the Duck and Virender Sehwag’s micro-original Viru ke Funde. Viu also partnered with Nicotex for an adventure journey series I Can You Can. Apart from Indian languages, it has a big original content library of Korean language shows, which is now available for Indian audience. It inked a licensing deal with content house Shemaroo Entertainment to access a handpicked catalogue of Hindi movies.

    Viu created a new trend of bilingual content in Telugu and Hindi like Social, which is the first such show. There will be more bilingual shows next year.

    As a part of the global strategy, Viu has formed strong partnerships with Samsung, Micromax, Vikram Bhatt’s Loneranger Productions and Annapurna Studios for creating refreshing original localised content that keeps the viewers glued.

    Amazon’s Fire TV streaming stick, which launched last month in India, has added Vuclip’s streaming service Viu as an app on its platform.

    Hotstar

    As an early entrant in the OTT space, Hotstar has been building a differentiated proposition for its free and premium users comprising local and international TV shows, movies and live sports, helping it cross 175 million downloads and 60 million users in January 2017. Hotstar continues to have the largest number of active users about 69 million in May, according to AppAnnie. Based on the November report, Hotstar topples the chart across all platforms with 15 billion minutes total time spent in the month.

    Hotstar has appointed Punitha Arumugam as platform evangelist, with the mandate to showcase the power of the platform to India’s leading brands. 

    This year, Hotstar launched an original series in Tamil, in association with celebrated film director, Balaji Mohan, titled As I’m Suffering from Kadhal on 6 June. Apart from Tamil, the series was dubbed in Telugu,with English subtitles available for both languages. Hotstar brings back comedy show Sarabhai vs Sarabhai this year. It streamed Kabaddi World Cup in Ahmedabad in stereoscopic 3D virtual reality. News platforms like Republic TV and ABP News were added to its live feed.

    Disney acquired 21st Century Fox in December but before the acquisition could take place, Hotstar inked a multi-year SVOD deal with Disney India to showcase the studio’s hits exclusively on its premium offering in India which includes movies like Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Disney’s The Jungle Book and Moana, Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange, Disney.Pixar’s Finding Dory amongst others.

    The highly anticipated premiere of Game of Thrones Season 7 launched on the platform on 17 July, with the first episode available for viewing within minutes of its American telecast.

    A new storytelling format, CinePlay, was launched under its originals banner that showcased classics and contemporary stories from the theatre world presented in a cinematic fashion. In April, Hotstar became the first ‘Made in India platform’ to cross 100 million downloads on Google Play Store and crossed more than 200 million downloads across Play Store, App store and other Android app stores.

    Jio TV

    The game changer of telecom and digital industry, Jio TV, has recently launched a web version of JioTV app which allows Jio users to access over 500 TV channels. This service was previously exclusive to mobile users via the app. Now with the support for web platform, users will be able to access TV channels through their web browser as well.

    Reliance Jio offers a suite of apps which includes JioTV, JioCinema, JioMusic, and more. Jio’s suite of apps is free along with the Jio Prime membership and users can enjoy all the content on these apps for free. On the other hand, JioTV, an online version of cable TV, that’s free as of now, has partnerships with almost all national and regional channels, and allows users to stream content up to seven days old. It also has JioCinema, which is a free movie streaming service.

    Jio had 42 million users in May and gained momentum in a short while with free data and free content service. Based on the November report by App Annie, Jio TV grabs the second position leaving behind all the OTT players with 8.8 billion minutes total time spent on the platform in the month.

    Netflix

    Netflix’s focus this year was entirely content, partnerships and technology to build a great experience in India. IT has announced six original productions in the country, namely Sacred Games, Selection Day, Again, Bard of Blood in association with Red Chillies Entertainment, our first kids original series from India, Mighty Little Bheem and Love Per Square Foot, the first mainstream film from India to be exclusively available on Netflix. Over 2017, Netflix tied up with Airtel Digital TV, Videocon and Vodafone to make it easier for Indian consumers to watch Netflix, whether on a set-top box or on a mobile.

    Simran Sethi joined Netflix International Originals Production Group in August after leaving the position of SVP of scripted development at Disney’s Freeform to lead the creative Indian content. Netflix executive Nick Nelson moved to Ownzones Media Network as the new head of product innovation.

    According to a Netflix survey, Indians are the second-highest public bingers in the world (88 per cent), just behind Mexico (89 per cent).

    SonyLiv

    SonyLiv played safe this year. It launched the first regional original series, in the Marathi language titled YOLO – You Only Live Once, conceptualised and developed by Indian Magic Eye. Later, it launched the first ever Gujarati rom-com web series titled Kacho Papad Pako Papad in May. SonyLIV and Jossbox have co-produced a web-series called House Proud. In the month of October, the platform came up with the second season of the home-grown originalLoveBytes 2 focussed primarily on youth issues. In association with Beyond Originals, SonyLiv served the last original of 2017 titled Black Coffee. Along with that, to see India fit-n-fine, in the beginning of the year, it launched health and wellness segment LIV Fit.

    SonyLiv partnered with Web Talkies, Pocket Aces (for Filter Copy and Gobble) and Fanform Mediaworks for originals content. It bet long on short films from the catalogue of Pocket Films by including 50 award-winning shorts in its bouquet. It joined hands with super chef Sanjeev Kapoor and food YouTubers like Rajshri Foods, Varun Inamdar and Ruchi Bharani to expand its unique food content library. 

    SonyLiv has appointed Times Internet’s regional head Maruti Indoria as national sales head for its sports division in February.

    To expand the reach, it has signed deals with Videocon d2h, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV to enable customers to access a seamless broad selection of content available on SonyLIV app.

    Voot

    Viacom18’s digital venture Voot was a complete package of fun without pay. However, they unlike others, it planned a significant regional line-up for the next year. It launched several web series back to back this year which includes Time Out, Yo Ke Hua Bro, Stupid Man Smart Phone and Untag.

    Voot has also put the spotlight on the kids section and rolled out a hi-decibel TVC campaign to promote it Voot Kids in Hindi, Kannada and Marathi. It has included various internationally acclaimed characters in its kitty and aims to expand their kids library with 30 plus shows in the year 2018. In association with HDFC, Voot has launched digital talent hunt show for kids in the mid of the year.

    In its partnership with Google, Voot has turned its mobile website into a Progressive Web App (PWA) and won the coveted International Broadcasting Convention 2017 (IBC2017) Innovation Award for Content Distribution for its Progressive Web App (PWA) product – Voot Lite, in Amsterdam on 17 September. Next year, it is experimenting with making video available offline on its PWA.

    The key strategy of streaming Bigg Boss has awarded the platform with 550 million views till date and 60 minutes average time spent per viewer per day. However, shows like Splitsvilla, which is watched 52 per cent by males, has also added 150 million views.

    In 2017, Voot has gained 32 million monthly active users, six million plus daily active users and 50 minutes time spent per viewer per day. Their daily time spent has taken it to the second position after Netflix, according to App Annie November report. Also, it has secured third position with 7.5 billion minutes total time spent on the platform across all OTT platforms, followed by Hotstar and Jio TV, reported by App Annie.

    ALTBalaji

    ALTBalaji, the ad-free subscription-based platform that launched this year on 16 April with seven originals, today has 12+ original shows available on the platform apart from original regional stand-up comedy in languages like Marathi, Punjabi and Gujarati and content for kids. ALTBalaji recently launched the first Bengali original show Dhimaner Dinkaal and also has a Tamil original Maya Thirrai on the app and the website. It launched a big bunch of Hindi web series including Romil & Jugal, Bewafaa sii Wafaa, Boygiri, Class of 2017, CyberSquad, Pammi Aunty, Karrle Tu Bhi Mohabbat Season 1, Dev DD, Ragini MMS Returns and BOSE: Dead/Alive.

    ALT’s kid’s kitty is full with twelve shows including Get Crafty With Rob, Ding Dong Bell L-O-L, Moe Doe, Happy Lucky ki Katti Batti, Mademoiselle Zazie, Ratz, Nursery Rhymes and many more.

    Last year, Nachiket Pantvaidya was promoted to Group COO of Balaji Telefilms. In his current role as the Group COO and CEO ALTBalaji, Nachiket has additional responsibilities at Balaji Telefilms across the television and movie business.

    Within six months of its launch, ALTBalaji has been ranked amongst the top three revenue-grossing video streaming apps in the country, as per ‘State of Video Streaming Apps in India’ report compiled by App Annie Intelligence.

    ALT will begin 2018 with its Urdu language original series title Haq Se along with three Hindi originals The Test Case, Karrle Tu Bhi Mohabbat Season 2 and Mangalyaan.

    ZEE5, Ozee & Ditto TV

    The year was quite low key for Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited’s (Zeel) already existing digital platforms Ozee and DittoTV. In the mid of the year, Zeel announced the launch of its new digital entertainment platform ZEE5. Existing platforms Ozee and DittoTV will be defunct and merge into the new platform Zee5, and the subscribers of both the existing platforms will be auto-upgraded. On Zeel’s 25th anniversary celebration, it launched the new logo of ZEE5.

    Yupp TV

    YuppTV, this year, added a new category of original series to its bouquet of offerings. It partnered various directors and production houses to provide original video content. Mid-year, it launched its first series, Endukila, written and directed by Laxman Karya. Later in November, YuppTV along with prominent producer Swapna Dutt, Vijayanthi Movies has launched another new web original Mana Mugguri Love story.

    YuppTV partners with leading production house, Yash Raj Films, to offer premium Hindi cinema to its subscribers on YuppFlix. Vodafone has also joined hands with YuppTV to expand its Vodafone Play service. It collaborated with cab aggregator Ola for its connected car platform for ridesharing, Ola Play.

    YuppTV, recently received funding from Emerald Media, a Pan-Asian platform established by leading global investment firm KKR for investing in the media and entertainment sector, wherein Emerald Media acquired a significant minority stake in the company for US$50mn.  YuppTV had earlier raised its Series A round of funding from Poarch Creek Indian Tribe of Alabama.

    Sun NXT

    Sun TV Network launched its digital content app compatible with every screen format, ranging from smartphones to living room TV called Sun NXT. The platform has a movie library of over 4000 titles, over 40 channels streaming live and catch-up TV programmes in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. The company claimed that the app had already crossed more than 1.1 million downloads, within four days from its launch.

    Hoichoi

    Shree Venkatesh Films (SVF), a media and entertainment company of West Bengal, launched the first ever Bengali digital platform Hoichoi in September. In the last few months, the platform has released ten originals – Hello, Cartoon, Holy Faak, Dupur Thakurpo, Byomkesh, Bouma Detective, Paranoia Series, Bhootoorey and Stand Up across multiple genres like drama, detective, adult comedy, rom-com, thriller and non-fiction. The platform is aiming to expand the reach by launching on Amazon Fire TV, Roku TV and Apple TV in January 2018.

  • Guest column: Taking Indian content to the global market

    Guest column: Taking Indian content to the global market

    The year 2017 has been a year of paradigm shifts in the wake of Digital India. Over the last couple of years, international OTT and VOD players such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, etc, have been making inroads in the Indian market to unlock the true potential that our increasing digital-first audience provide. Telecom, print, broadcasting, FMCG, and virtually every industry has ventured into the digital space. India’s journey on the digital path saw a rise in the number of homegrown content streaming platforms, with some creating original content and some taking and distributing content from external creators. While it came as a boon to India’s digitally driven audience, there was still a paucity of locally relevant content creators and platforms. On the other hand, short length format shows/series soon began to launch in regional markets as well. Additionally, region specific OTT platforms took shape. These developments assured that not just millennials, but family audiences as well were fed entertaining content on digital that matched their tastes and preferences.

    Internet penetration and adoption in India has been at an all-time high. As per the KPMG India – Indian M&E report 2017, currently there are 462 million internet users in the country out of which 82 per cent of them access the web through mobile devices. Competitive mobile data pricing and the overwhelming mass adoption of 4G led to a revolution of gigantic proportions for content creators in the digital space. It positively aided the growth of OTT/VOD platforms and thereby, short format content. However, while we continue to open windows for international players and brands to get more and more access to Indian audiences, either by placing our shows on their platforms or striking partnerships to deliver their content here, the most significant question for me is how far are we actually taking ourselves beyond India and Hollywood?

    While India’s vision of digital continues to get served, how is that making a difference to the country’s economy? How far are we expanding our digital footprints beyond existing geographies by leveraging both homegrown and international OTT platforms? The year 2018 might well be a step in this direction which in turn would begin to provide the answers to us. A SWOT analysis for the possibility of this happening in the near future would give some key insights on the plan of action.

    Focus on the strength – Content, the driving force

    While we speak about the generalisation of Indian content across territories through OTT platforms, a similar example was already set this year. Dangal’s staggering success numbers in other countries and approx Rs 200 crore (fifth-highest earning non-English film in global box office history) in China speaks for itself. A similar fate followed for Secret Superstar. These examples prove the potential that lies for Indian content creators to venture into untapped regions beyond India. These mega movies clearly state that strategy plays a vital role in accomplishing the desired results. India is another key selling factor is the original content curated by every media and entertainment entity which brings a fresh perspective. With such great pool of data that lies with us, only selling it won’t serve the purpose. Where do you sell it and how is what will decide its best outcome.

    Understand weaknesses

    The major roadblock in venturing into other regions is the language barrier. Upon deciding the target regions, next thing to consider is the national language of the country and whether its audience prefers the global language. Analysing this would mean additions or modifications for dubbing or sub-titles in the content, such that it match the sensibilities of the audience across different languages and sensibilities.

    Tap into the right opportunities

    India’s rich content resonates well with the masses. We are fed with entertainment from across the world, likewise, there also exists a majority of Indian diaspora in regions where we haven’t made in-roads yet. Evaluating such regions helps tapping onto a ready audience base. In order to expand the reach further, it is very crucial to research about the consumption pattern of the region, the inclination towards short-format content, internet usage statistics, number of mobile device users in that region. The digitally savvy audience looks for great content, be it from any source. A populous region having an audience base with varied tastes automatically ensures effective penetration of content into a newer market.

    Evaluate the threats –  adapt a differentiated approach and have an evolving nature

    The digital world in itself is quite vast with various existing and upcoming mediums that provide access to entertaining content making it widely available. A stark comparison would be between Asia’s first premium VOD service Hooq and the homegrown platform Voot. Hooq’s strong strategy reflects in its distinguished offering. It serves its customer with varied options to choose from Hollywood, local and regional shows across multiple platforms. On the other hand, Voot has tactfully planned its expansion across geographies in a short span of time. There is this agnostic nature of the players from other territories looking at a similar expansion plan that would increase the competition for Indian content creators to gain visibility overseas. Building a differentiated plan of action and being flexible is the key in such a scenario.

    While we analyse the various means by which we can best cater to the potential markets across territories, the digital platforms and content creators should continue to maintain a strong foothold within India itself. Having a catalogue of rich content and effective reach pan-India will attract more international brands that look at reaching out to their TG in the country. This in turn will bring in more international buyers which will eventually pave way for homegrown content to have a global presence few years down the line without having to actually root for the expansion, the other way round. This indeed will be a game changer in taking Indian content to global markets.

    The author is the CEO of Worldwide Media.The views expressed are personal and Indiatelevision.com may not subscribe to them.

  • Indians among top commute streamers for Netflix

    Indians among top commute streamers for Netflix

    MUMBAI: India is clearly a nation of commute streamers with internet users making the most of their travel time by binge watching. At 88 per cent, Indians are the second-highest public bingers in the world, just a tad behind Mexico with 89 per cent, according to a survey report by Netflix.

    Despite being in proximity to strangers, Indians don’t stifle their emotions and end up gasping, laughing and even crying in public. This public activity has been aided by the ability to download series and films for later viewing. Indians are amongst the top mobile downloaders in the world for Netflix content. Binge watching grew by 17 per cent from last year’s 71 per cent.

    According to the survey, Narcos, Stranger Things and 13 Reasons Why were the top watched shows in 2017 in India. Indians binge watch in three days, which is faster than the global average of four days. Though mobile viewing is prime, a third (34 per cent) of Netflix viewing in India was through connected TVs.
    To gain ground in India, the streaming service launched a slew of new relatable shows such as Sacred Games, Selection Day, Again, and Bard of Blood in association with Red Chillies Entertainment; the first kids original series from India, Mighty Little Bheem and Love Per Square Foot, the first mainstream film from India to be exclusively available on Netflix. These are local stories that will travel across the globe, finding an audience wherever Netflix is available.

    Going into 2018, Netflix eyes more partnerships with local content creators. Netflix VP communications-Asia Jessica Lee says, “We are committed to working with producers, creators, talent and crew in India to create more great content. We are constantly innovating to enhance our member experience to be able to better serve members and provide more control over their watching experience.”

    Lee is thrilled at the response India has given to Netflix content. She says, “We are pleased with how we have grown in the first two years in India and have witnessed a huge appetite for entertainment and plenty of fan enthusiasm. We have focused primarily on content, partnerships and technology to build a great Netflix experience in the country. In the past year, we have more than doubled our catalogue in India, creating a compelling and growing content library encompassing original and licenced titles.”

    Overcoming the issue of low quality of internet in the country, Netflix has invested in its own content delivery network, lowering the cost and boosting efficiency for it as well as for ISP partners. Lee says, “Our open connect programme supports hundreds of large and small ISPs to directly interconnect with the Netflix network for free in regional locations rather than going through third-party transit providers. We have been working on local partnerships to make sure that Netflix is even more accessible in India. Over 2017, we launched partnerships with Airtel Digital TV, Videocon and Vodafone to make it much easier for Indian consumers to watch Netflix, whether on a set-top box or on a mobile.”

    Lee opines that people’s tastes are broad even in an individual market like India. “By using advanced algorithms, we can make tailored recommendations based on individual users’ tastes. Since we are across 190 countries, the algorithms now draw upon a much larger audience of over 109 million members. The feature of personalisation and discovery is now even more dynamic and is only going to get better as our content library grows,” she says.

    Netflix members around the world watched more than 140 million hours of TV shows, movies, documentaries and more per day – that’s about one billion hours per week. The average global member watched 60 movies on Netflix this year.

    Also read:

    Netflix and chill but pay more now

    Netflix expects rapid content growth from India

    Netflix plans to become leading producer & distributor of high-quality Indian content

  • Netflix Now Supports HDR on Windows 10

    Netflix Now Supports HDR on Windows 10

    MUMBAI: Netflix announced the addition of High Dynamic Range (HDR) support on Windows 10 for both the Edge browser and the Netflix app. With this update, Netflix members who have a supported device and a premium plan can enjoy amazing Netflix movies and shows in HDR. With HDR enabled, fans can immerse themselves in the delicious colors of Chef’s Table, the terrifying depths of the Upside Down in Stranger Things 2, and enjoy the upcoming Netflix film Bright starring Will Smith. And this is just the beginning! Today, we have over 200 hours of HDR entertainment, and in 2018 even more HDR PCs will enter the market and support the growing number of Netflix originals.

    This feature is the culmination of a multi-year collaboration between Netflix and a number of industry partners. Intel’s 7th generation and higher CPUs provide that capability needed to play the Netflix HDR10 encodes. In addition, both Intel and Nvidia developed GPUs that use 10 bits-per-channel for each of the RGB colors, increasing the color space that can be represented. With this new hardware available in consumer PCs, Netflix and Microsoft partnered together to put the software pieces in place. Microsoft added the necessary OS and browser changes in their Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and our engineers integrated against those APIs to complete the video player work.

  • Voot sets its sights on regional & premium ad-free content

    Voot sets its sights on regional & premium ad-free content

    MUMBAI: It’s time for Voot to woot because the 18-month old digital venture from the Viacom18 stable witnessed four fold the growth in video streaming in November.

    According to App Annie’s November report, Voot is at third position with 7.5 billion minutes of total time spent. The top two slots were taken by Hotstar and Jio TV. For 2018, Voot’s focus is on original and regional content with Tamil in focus. Kannada, Marathi and Bengali are also on the radar. “We will create originals and also dub content into other regional languages,” says Voot COO Gaurav Gandhi.

    The first quarter of 2018 is dedicated to regionalisation while the next three months are dedicated to international expansion catering to the global Indian diaspora. Simultaneously, the second quarter will see Voot’s focus shift to premium ad-free content such as original series and movies. Gandhi says that there are 30 million Indians living overseas and the expansion will be to the US, UK, Canada, South Africa, Singapore, Indonesia, etc.

    The year also has something for kids with 30 new shows. There will be 20 shows in six languages that is a part of Voot’s aggressive ‘going regional’ plan. Last year it won the innovation award for content distribution for its progressive web app (PWA) at the International Broadcasting Convention 2017. This year, it wants to make video available offline on its PWA.

    Voot is getting a makeover with a new logo, refreshed packaging and a brand film that shows Voot as the ultimate entertainment destination. Says Voot head – marketing and partnerships Akash Banerji: “To connect with the audience, we need to connect with them on a thought level. #WHYNOT is not just an expression or a phrase, it is a belief system, a philosophy and a mindset that Voot as a brand aims to foster and encourage in this country.”

    The new brand campaign for Voot, created by Mullen Lintas, is designed to gratify the dynamic media consumption patterns of a new age user, seeking entertainment on their own terms.

    Mullen Lintas national creative director Shriram Iyer says that the campaign is about people who, unhappy with current content choices, moved to Voot. He says, “The idea of any new technology is to question the status quo. And Voot’s new campaign is all about that. The current campaign is about them and their question to the world ‘Why not’.”

    Voot, as a part of both AVOD and SVOD model, has bagged 175 advertisers and 350 brands trust in the year 2017. Gandhi says that this year advertisers have excitedly taken part in participating in various digital offerings, which eventually increases the revenue of content providers.

    Refering to the highlights of the year 2017, Gandhi says that Voot has gained 32 million monthly active users, six million plus daily active users, and 50 minutes time spent per viewer per day. Its daily time spent has taken it to the second position after Netflix, according to App Annie report. Colors’ flagship show Bigg Boss has given Voot 550 million views till date and 60 minutes average time spent per viewer per day. Even a show like Splitsvilla, which has male viewership of 52 per cent, got 150 million views.

    Voot has grown exponentially during the year by banking 10 original serious in the account till date. The next step is to break the regional barrier.

    Also read:

    Our work culture fosters leaders: Viacom18’s Sudhanshu Vats

    Bigg Boss Season 11 garnered 70 mn views on Voot in 10 days

    Voot originals’ strategy of disruptive shows unfolds with ‘Yo Ke Hua Bro’ from 18 Aug

  • Indians binge watch Netflix faster than global average

    Indians binge watch Netflix faster than global average

    MUMBAI: India saw a massive rise in Netflix binge-watching this year. Here’s a flashback at the most intriguing streaming moments that defined the platform’s viewership in 2017.

    Netflix members around the world watched more than 140 million hours of TV shows, movies, documentaries and more per day – that’s about one billion hours per week. The average global member watched 60 movies on Netflix this year.

    A member in India watched The SpongeBob SquarePants movie 171 times in 2017. The most popular day for streaming in India was 29 October 2017.

    Indians binge watch faster (3 days) than the global average (4 days). Interestingly, while Indians are among the top mobile downloaders in the world for Netflix content, TV devices continue to be important for streaming, with more than a third (34 per cent) of Netflix viewing hours in India being through connected TVs.

    Narcos, Stranger Things and 13 Reasons Why were the top watched shows in India. Shows that got the family on the couch included Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Fuller House and Riverdale. In some cases, more than two hours were given to shows such as Marvel’s Iron Fist and The Defenders along with sci-fi series The Mist. Shows that were seen for a little less than two hours were Neo Yokio, Big Mouth, You Me Her and One Day at a Time. 

    The Shows That Got India Cheating in 2017

    We couldn’t resist the thrill of a thrill and shamelessly watched ahead of our significant others on Narcos, Stranger Things, Mindhunter and more.

    1. Narcos

    2. Stranger Things

    3. 13 Reasons Why

    4. Mindhunter

    5. Black Mirror

    6.       Marvel’s the Defenders

    7.       Orange is the New Black

    8.       Riverdale

    9.       The Crown

    10.      Better Call Saul

    The Shows That Brought India Together in 2017

    Whether for adventure, Chief Hopper or bromance (#DadSteve), Netflix members ranked Stranger Things as the top show to watch together as a family. Nostalgia also scored top points for family watching via Star Trek: Discovery, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and Fuller House.

    1. Stranger Things

    2. 13 Reasons Why

    3. Chef’s Table

    4. Riverdale

    5. Star Trek: Discovery

    6.       ASQUE

    7.       Fuller House

    8.       Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life

    9.       Atypical

    10.     The Good Place

    The Shows India Devoured in 2017

    We took an escape from reality, sought thrill and adventure, by devouring (watching more than two hours per day) superhero shows likeMarvel’s Iron Fist and Marvel’s The Defenders as well as sci-fi series The Mist.

    1. My Only Love Song

    2. 13 Reasons Why

    3. Marvel’s Iron Fist

    4. The Mist

    5. Shooter

    6.       Riverdale

    7.       Terrace House: Aloha State

    8.       Greenleaf

    9.       American Vandal

    10.     Marvel’s The Defenders

    The Shows India Savored in 2017

    We savoured (watching less than two hours per day) the heartwarming moments in shows such as Neo Yokio, Big Mouth, You Me Her and One Day at a Time.  

    1. Midnight Diner: Tokyo Series

    2. Samurai Gourmet

    3. Big Mouth

    4. Disjointed

    5. Neo Yokio

    6.       You Me Her

    7.       The Crown

    8.       One Day at a Time

    9.       ASQUE

    10.     The Confession Tapes
  • Green Gold, Amazon Prime put Kerala martial art on the map

    Green Gold, Amazon Prime put Kerala martial art on the map

    MUMBAI: Green Gold Animation is rediscovering Kalaripayattu, a lost martial art form of Kerala. With the purpose to educate through entertainment, the animation studio is making an exclusive series for Amazon Prime titled Kalari Kids. The series will be launched around Christmas with 20 episodes of 11 minutes each in season one.

    Recently, the animation house also inked a deal with Netflix to digitally broadcast Mighty Little Bheem—a spinoff of its popular character Chhota Bheem.

    Talking about the new series, Green Gold Animation CEO Rajiv Chilaka said, “The IP rights of Kalari Kids will be with Green Gold but we may have co-producers as partners. Amazon Prime will hold the OTT rights and programming license. This is a multi-season deal between us. The first season will take a year of production to complete.”

    The show will be telecast on television later as one episode per week. Currently, the deal is under process to give television rights to the broadcaster. The production cost of Kalari Kids is higher than Chhota Bheem but lower than Mighty Little Bheem. Green Gold is making a total of 60 episodes for Amazon over three seasons with a dedicated team of 100. Twelve episodes are already in the bank.

    According to Green Gold Animation vice president (content sales) Bharath Laxmipati, Kalaripayattu is a dying art and not many kids are aware of it. “We have never made any show on Indian martial art form, so for us, it is an opportunity to entertain kids with a purpose. Therefore, through our show, we want to teach martial arts and talk about courage & bravery because a sport like Kalari builds strength and character in children,” he said.

    The marketing and promotions of the show will be done by the Amazon Prime team with heavy focus on digital. According to Laxmipati, Amazon is leaving no stone unturned to market the show. 

    The animation or graphic style of the show is reminiscent of the beauty, sophistication and stylisation of the traditional Kerala paintings. The animation company has taken the best artists and culturally highlighted the beautiful creations of India.

    Kalari Kids is based on Kalaripayattu martial art form that has three variants, Arappa Kay, Pilla Thangi and Vatta Thiripp, which are distinguished by their attacking and defensive patterns. Surprisingly, this lesser-known martial arts form was developed in the 6th century BC. Let’s see how Amazon and Green Gold Animation bring Kalaripayattu back to life.