ITV

Tag: OTT

  • HOOQ India’s new MD Salil Kapoor bets big on glocal strategy

    HOOQ India’s new MD Salil Kapoor bets big on glocal strategy

    MUMBAI: Global OTT player HOOQ, which forayed into India earlier this year, has made its first big move forward. The platform has roped in industry veteran Salil Kapoor as managing director to handle its India operations.

    At a time when Indian companies are also firming up with the OTT strategy and keeping the impeding launch of Netflix in the Indian market, Kapoor’s appointment may well be a strategic move to tackle the competitive scenario. Kapoor, who is betting big on glocal content as the way forward for HOOQ, tells Indiantelevision.com, “My primarily role will be to establish the India operations. We will set up a new team and after we have achieved targets set for the Indian market, we will foray into neighbouring countries.”

    HOOQ follows a subscription based video on demand (SVOD) revenue model and has recently inked content deals with the likes of Sun TV and Saregama India, which includes content in South Indian languages of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada as well as Hindi.

    “We will be looking at many other such partnerships, our end goal is to create a strong portfolio comprising Bollywood, Hollywood and regional content for our subscribers,” asserts Kapoor.  

    Moreover, the platform will not just be limiting itself to acquisitions, but will also looking at creating original content.

    Reliance Jio, with the employee launch of its 4G services, has rejuvenated the entire OTT fraternity. Bandwidth has been a teething issue for the sector and Reliance Jio Infocomm’s 4G services has raised the hopes of one and all. “What Reliance Jio is doing is great indeed. But it will have a holistic impact. Now other telecom players will also do something or the other and at the end of the day, data price will go down. So I think good days are ahead when it comes to bandwidth,” says Kapoor.

    The freemium revenue model is something that experts are talking about aggressively in the Indian scenario. In the freemium model, premium content is put on a subscription model, while old content can be accessed for free. At this stage, HOOQ is not looking to change its strategy. “We follow the SVOD model and at this stage we are not looking to deviate from it. It’s my second day in office and with time there will be many more developments,” adds Kapoor.

    All major broadcasters now have their own OTT platforms. Star India has Hotstar, which follows an AVOD model, while ZEE’s DittoTV is a subscription based platform. Viacom18 is yet to disclose the revenue model of its platform VOOT. On the other hand, while Sony Pictures Networks’ Sony LIV follows the freemium model, during the FIFA World Cup matches, it offered all the matches for a subscription. Earlier this year, Eros International’s ErosNow also unveiled aggressive and ambitious plans for original content on its platform. Apart from broadcasters, Ronnie Screwvala, in association with Ajay Chacko and B Saikumar, has also launched an OTT platform called Arre and has a comprehensive plans drawn out for it. In a competitive scenario like this, it remains to be seen how HOOQ manages to create a niche for itself.

  • YuppTV launches platform for original content creators

    YuppTV launches platform for original content creators

    MUMBAI: Expanding its offering with an aim to lure original content creators on to its platform, over the top (OTT) player YuppTV has launched a marketplace, which will host curated premium video content across various genres. 

     

    YuppTV Bazaar will cater to video content creators, who often find it tough to monetise and market their premium content through traditional video-sharing portals, satellite and DTH platforms. 

     

    YuppTV Bazaar will offer creators quality supervision and a large native user base to showcase their high-quality videos across the world through multiple devices.

     

    “With the proliferation of unregulated video content on the digital platform, content monetisation and visibility is a prime concern for premium video content creators who often find their content being lost in a deluge of casual user-generated content. YuppTV Bazaar is being launched as a solution that will overcome the traditional roadblocks associated with free-for-all video sharing platforms. We are confident that this development will be a major success and will empower content developers with the perfect medium to share and monetise their offerings,” said YuppTV founder and CEO Uday Reddy.

     

    Content creators can upload videos across various genres like education, short films, web series and trailers.

     

    Governor of Maharashtra Vidyasagar Rao, who was present at the launch, said, “In today’s digital age, with technology having changed the way many industries operate today, YuppTV’s launch of its premium video content platform YuppTV Bazaar comes as a very welcome move. By providing a medium to independent creative content creators for showcasing their works, YuppTV has taken the spirit of entrepreneurship to a new level. I support the initiative wholeheartedly and wish YuppTV and YuppTV Bazaar all success.”

     

    Abhishek Bachchan, who was also present, added, “India, at the moment, is brimming with talent looking for an outlet for their creativity. The launch of YuppTV Bazaar from YuppTV is a welcome move that will provide the indie moviemakers with a trusted and curated platform for showcasing their talent.”

  • Ronnie Screwvala’s Arré acquires video streaming venture Apalya

    Ronnie Screwvala’s Arré acquires video streaming venture Apalya

    MUMBAI: In a bid to strengthen its video play capabilities, Ronnie Screwvala’s digital media brand Arré has acquired a 100 per cent stake in Apalya Technologies, founded by Vamshi Reddy and Shiva Bayyapunedi.

     

    Reddy, who heads the company as CEO and Bayyapunedi, who is the chief technology officer, will join the founding team of Arré with immediate effect.

     

    With this acquisition, Arré aims to be the country’s leading digital content and platform brand, combining its multi-genre, multi-format content plans with a formidable technology platform.

     

    Apalya is a technology company with a proprietary video platform, strong engineering talent as well as content access relationships with telecom operators. This transaction will be effected via a 100 per cent buy out of shares from all investors including IDG, Kalaari, Cisco, Mumbai Angels and the founders among others.

     

    Apalya runs the OTT platform in partnership with more than 10 mobile operators across four countries, reaching 10 million subscribers annually and currently earning Rs 40 crore in revenue with positive EBITDA margins.

     

    With the telecom ecosystem and service offerings in India undergoing a rapid change with the 4G rollout coupled with the rapidly growing appetite for video, Apalya is rightly positioned to leverage this opportunity.

     

    The company has also made in-roads in various international markets and plans to expand and launch services in the Middle East/Africa and some parts of South-east Asia over the next six months.

     

    Screwvala said, “The OTT space is throwing up massive opportunities that brings together the twin forces of scale and creativity. We’ve already seen this space take off in the US and in other mature markets and we will partner with many and work closely with some on co-creating the next level of digital content. We are a digital-first and digital-only company and our focus is and will remain creating original content in all forms and these will differentiate us and yet allow us to be complimentary to many of our peers.”

     

    Arré co-founder and MD B Saikumar added, “This acquisition gives us wings to move rapidly from being a content player to a ‘content & platform’ player. We aim to operate at the intersection of creativity and technology and the Apalya acquisition is a key move in that direction. Besides, content will need tremendous distribution focus and Apalya’s telecom relationships will add power to our pursuit of reach and access. Digital advertising and Digital payments are seeing seismic growth shifts and Arré will be well positioned to exploit these twin revenue lines for its content offerings.”

     

    Reddy said, “Arré and its founders represents the next wave of digital innovation and disruption in Asia and with all our expertise of the past decade we are happy to join in on this vision and work together to create a true blue digital content and platform company, a strong consumer base and at scale.”

  • TO THE NEW Digital appoints Dave Maan as EVP

    TO THE NEW Digital appoints Dave Maan as EVP

    MUMBAI: TO THE NEW Digital has appointed Dave Maan as executive vice oresident for its video solutions.

     

    With an experience of 20 years in software engineering, Maan has worked with companies like Altran, Ericsson, Hewlett Packard, Alcatel, Schlumberger and Sapient.

     

    Maan is an established industry expert in digital video, OTT and multi-screen convergence space supplemented by his digital experience in mobile ad platforms, digital marketing technologies, CDN-Cloud and predictive mobile data analytics.

     

    At TO THE NEW Digital, Maan will be responsible for contributing to the overall strategy and managing the delivery quality of products and services to the clients. He would primarily work towards increasing service offerings for Video Streaming Solutions and VideoReady (an end-to-end OTT Video solution).

     

    “We are excited to have Dave in our leadership team. His global experience will be an asset as we continue to grow our services breadth. I welcome him aboard,” said TO THE NEW Digital CEO Deepak Mittal.

     

    Maan added, “I am excited to join TO THE NEW Digital and work with the exceptional team. I look forward to utilise my experience for creating exciting new experiences for clients and contributing to the growth of the company.”

  • ‘Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon’ culminates on Hotstar after 8 episodes

    ‘Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon’ culminates on Hotstar after 8 episodes

    MUMBAI: Star Plus’ popular show Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon, which was renamed as Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon Ek Jashn on the network’s OTT platform Hotstar, is now reaching its climax after eight episodes. 

     

    The Hotstar original series, which was launched on 24 November,  ended on 15 December.

     

    It may be recalled that on Star Plus, the show went off air almost three years ago.

     

    As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, the show took the lead characters’ Arnav (Barun Sobti) and Khushi’s (Sanaya Irani) story forward, picking up from where the serial ended on the channel.

     

    Also read: After IPKKND, five other television shows OTT can bring back!

     

    Produced by Entertainment Mafia, the show was brought back on Hotstar with eight 10-minute episodes, showing a day in the life of the protagonists, set three years into their marriage.

     

    A source close to the channel informed this website, “The show has done phenomenally well for Hotstar. It became one of the biggest hit in terms of original content. It had also done well for the channel on social media. On Twitter, the show trended at least four to five times.”

     

    The source added, “The first season of Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon Ek Jashn is over but going forward, the network may come up with more such seasons. While nothing has been decided as yet, but looking at the response, there might be a second season in the offing soon.”

     

    Speaking about the per episode expenditure on digital, another sources says, “The per episode expenditure is almost similar to television for this show. On Hotstar, there were only eight episodes but on television, big shows see 200-300 episodes being made. However, on digital the cost remains more or less the same.”

     

    Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon was among the top rated show on Star Plus in 2011-12 before it went off air in November 2012. The show was also immensely popular among international viewers.

     

    According to the source, the show on also garnered an exceptional response from advertisers.

     

    It now remains to be seen if Star brings a second season of the show on its OTT platform.

  • Turner launches Oh!K in Hong Kong with PCCW

    Turner launches Oh!K in Hong Kong with PCCW

    MUMBAI: Turner has joined hands with PCCW to launch a new 24 hour linear channel, Oh!K in Hong Kong on now TV.

     

    The channel will be available from 12 January, 2016 and will air a slew of Korean entertainment, premium drama series as well as variety and music programming across a number of platforms.

     

    Additionally, MBC shows will also be available through now TV’s SVOD service, Oh!K On Demand, as well as via PCCW’s newly-launched OTT service Viu. Another part of the Turner-PCCW agreement is the delivery of MBC shows on now TV’s upcoming free-to-air channel, launching in April 2016.

     

    Oh!K will be part of now TV’s Asia Entertainment Package, and available with English and Traditional Chinese subtitles and Korean audio.

     

    Turner Southeast Asia managing director and senior vice president Phil Nelson said, “This is an outstanding multi-platform partnership. In its short history, Oh!K has grown significantly with the addition of Hong Kong to our distribution roadmap. Likewise, our content partnership with MBC has allowed new audiences – across all platforms – exposure to a truly impressive and exclusive line-up of Korean content.”

     

    The current MBC shows available include Glamorous Temptation and Sweet Mob Family, and Korean variety show Infinite Challenge, which will be aired in the same week as its original telecast. In January, Hong Kong viewers will be treated to She Was Pretty.

     

    MBC director of global business Hyuk Jae Choi added, “This announcement is great news for fans of our content in Hong Kong. We know that they crave MBC dramas and variety shows in both Chinese and English, as soon as possible after their original Korean broadcast, and on platforms beyond just the TV screen. Through Turner, PCCW and MBC, this has become a reality.”

  • TyC Sports hops on to YuppTV’s OTT platform

    TyC Sports hops on to YuppTV’s OTT platform

    NEW DELHI: Argentina based TyC Sports has signed with YuppTV for the new over the top (OTT) TV service targeting Argentines living outside the country.

     

    Whether it is World Cup, UEFA Champions, EPL, La Liga or even MLS the long “o” vowel sound of “Goal” is the signature of soccer, football or fútbol no matter all over the world. “We knew we had to have TyC Sports on our platform to make this a truly nostalgic offering that would bring the entire family around the TV to watch their favourite teams from Argentina, whether it is Boca, River, Colón or Godoy Cruz,” said YuppTV SVP and general manager for the Americas Damon Johnson.

     

    “We are thrilled to be a part of YuppTV platform. We are hoping to reach more Argentines wherever they are located in the Americas and offer the best sports programming ‘live’ and ‘Catch-up’ through the YuppTV app,” said TyC Sports affiliate sales and new business manager Hernán Chiofalo.

     

    YuppTV Argentina continues their development of a platform that allows users to watch content from their home country via their smart TV, streaming media player, game console, Blu-ray player, laptop, smart phone or tablet.

     

    “We are focused on choice and convenience for our customers. We want our customers to be able to watch live and ‘catch-up’ TV on their TV and not only via a PC. We don’t want our customers to sign contracts and we don’t want our customers waiting for the cable guy or figuring out where to hang a satellite dish. We won’t subject our customers to credit checks and since we are legitimate providers we don’t subject our customers to the viruses that come from those pirated websites. Instead, we want our customers to watch their channels from Argentina from the screen they prefer and watch it live or via our 10 days of recorded ‘catch-up’ TV,” said Johnson.

     

    When asked about other channels, Johnson said, “We will announce the other channels soon. TyC Sports is an anchor channel and we wanted to announce them first and give them the exposure they deserve. Our goal is to bring authentic and native Argentine channels to the platform.”

     

    Speaking on when the service would be available to customers Johnson added, “We are really eager to roll this out as soon as possible. We are about to complete our beta test, which has allowed us to perfect some of the details that makes this a high quality network offering. We hope to announce that date in the very near future.”

  • Sony LIV launches movie subscription service at Rs 149 per month

    Sony LIV launches movie subscription service at Rs 149 per month

    MUMBAI: Along with having original digital content, catch-up content, sports and music, Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) over the top (OTT) platform Sony LIV has now expanded its offerings portfolio with the launch of a movie subscription service.

     

    The monthly subscription service pack has been priced at Rs 149, whereas the daily subscription package has been priced at Rs 9. 

     

    Taking advantage of the fact that India is among the countries with the fastest smartphone growth in Asia, Sony LIV is seeking to bolster its foothold in the online video space. 

     

    While globally, SVOD (subscription based video on demand) is poised to become the largest revenue source in 2020, overtaking OTT advertising, in India the market is at a nascent stage with a huge growth potential in the future. With mobile video traffic in India expected to be on a growth trajectory over the next three years, Sony LIV’s new initiative will let consumers stream movies at a nominal price.

     

    Sony LIV’s movie subscription service will be accessible to consumers through its website www.sonyliv.com or via the Sony LIV app available on Google Playstore (for Android users) and App Store for (iOS users).

     

    MSM executive vice president head – digital business Uday Sodhi said, “The movie subscription service is a convenient and affordable way for film lovers to enjoy their favorite blockbuster hits on their preferred digital devices. We have a wide assortment of cinematic treats on offer that users can access in a single click. The different subscription models ensure that they pay as per their consumption levels. The move is targeted towards making the digital platform the only destination that consumers need to turn to in order to fulfil the entire spectrum of their entertainment needs.” 

     

    With a range of movies from across genres, users can pay for the subscription through multiple e-payment options such as credit card, debit card, Internet banking and direct billing services. Within the subscription period, members can watch unlimited movies.

     

    The OTT platform is currently building on its catalogue with an aim to have a diverse range of movies for consumers. The platform is working towards delivering a comprehensive movie catalogue. “We are starting with building our Hindi movie catalogue and will later expand to English and other language movies too. The idea is to offer a range of movies for the consumers to consume in that subscription period. We are aiming to offer at least 1000 movies to our consumers,” Sodhi tells Indiantelevision.com.
     

    Talking about the voyage of the OTT platform since its inception, Sodhi informs that the main idea behind Sony LIV is to make it a complete entertainment destination. The OTT platform recently added sports to its content portfolio and is currently offering the Pro Wrestling League to its subscribers.

  • Sky invests in US online TV company TV4 Entertainment

    Sky invests in US online TV company TV4 Entertainment

    MUMBAI: Sky has invested $0.3 million, via convertible debt security, in LA-based TV4 Entertainment, which owns a growing portfolio of special-interest television channels aimed at audiences which are typically underserved by traditional TV companies.

     

    The channels are distributed across multiple online platforms in the US including Hulu, Amazon, Sony, Vimeo, YouTube and Roku. 

     

    TV4’s portfolio includes a dozen channels, reaching millions of unique users every month. It has more than 30 new channels in development. The current portfolio includes: DocComTV aimed at documentary devotees; All Warrior Network for fans of the warrior genre; Motorland, a video network for automotive enthusiasts; the Ultimate Champion Network which has programming for combat sports fans; and The Clarity Project, a channel exploring child illness. 

     

    TV4’s strategy has been to acquire and aggregate high-quality video content into recognisable channel brands. Through more than 200 content partners, TV4 has licensed over 5,000 feature length and short form titles as well as many TV and web series. 

     

    The investment in TV4 builds on Sky’s ongoing programme of investing in innovative startups that help Sky bring new ideas, insight and services into its business. This follows recent investments in leading online sports network Whistle Sports, Pluto TV, the online video aggregator and the US ad tech firm Sharethrough. Sky has previously invested in a number of other pioneering US technology companies, including the IP streaming service provider Roku, the immersive 360 video specialists Jaunt and the OTT video delivery firm 1 Mainstream.

     

    Sky director – corporate business development Emma Lloyd said, “This exciting investment will help us develop our understanding of niche content genres and what audiences are most passionate about. We are committed to developing partnerships right across our business that support and extend our leadership position in content and innovation. We look forward to working with the team at TV4 Entertainment as they continue to grow.”

     

    TV4 Entertainment founder and CEO Jon Cody added, “Our goal in this round of investment was to bring on strategic global investors that could unlock business opportunities as we expand internationally over the next year. Bringing Europe’s top entertainment company in Sky into the TV4 Entertainment family is the perfect fit for this mandate. We look forward to growing the value of the Company for our shareholders while bringing tomorrow’s television to viewers across the globe today.” 

  • YuppTV launches on-demand movie streaming service

    YuppTV launches on-demand movie streaming service

    MUMBAI: Over-the-top (OTT) player YuppTV has launched its on-demand movie streaming service called YuppFlix.

     

    Backed by its library of more than 5000+ movies in 12 languages, YuppFlix will offer users on-the-go entertainment across genres like comedy, thriller, romance, action, drama and devotional.

     

    YuppFlix will offer instant movie updates through ad campaigns and push notifications, internet premiers of upcoming movies.

     

    Speaking on the launch, YuppTV founder and CEO Uday Reddy said, “The Indian expat communities living overseas have limited access to legal regional movie content. Having established YuppTV as the digital destination for over-the-top Indian content, we felt the time was right for us to launch YuppFlix as the premier on-demand digital movie solution for Indian expats. With our extensive database of movies in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi and Kannada, we are confident of delivering high-quality digital movie solutions for our users across the globe.”

     

    YuppFlix’s catalogue has over 25,000 hours of on-demand content accessible with a subscription.