ITV

Tag: OTT

  • Amazon buys Hollywood studio MGM for $8.45 billion

    Amazon buys Hollywood studio MGM for $8.45 billion

    KOLKATA: Content is the engine of the streaming economy. Recognising this, the streamers have been going through a dizzying series  of acquisitions and mergers. The latest to do so is tech giant Amazon which has finally signed on the dotted line to buy up Hollywood studio MGM for $8.45 billion. This is its  second largest acquisition after it bought Whole Foods for nearly $14 billion in 2017. For the last week or so, speculation was running rife that a deal between the two was on the cards.

    MGM has real gems under its brand that movie lovers have voraciously consumed across the world. The studio is behind classics such as Gone with the Wind and Rocky, the famous Bond franchise, Singin’ in the Rain, 12 Angry Men. Its library also includes popular reality TV shows like The Voice and Shark Tank.

    “The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team,” Amazon Studios and Prime Video SVP Mike Hopkins has been quoted as saying in media reports internationally.

    Amazon has 200 million prime members worldwide with access to its video service, chief executive jeff Bezos revealed recently. “As Prime Video turns 10, over 175 million Prime members have streamed shows and movies in the past year, and streaming hours are up more than 70 per cent year over year,” he later said in April.

    Prime members who watch video have higher free trial conversion rates, higher renewal rates, and  higher overall engagement. The company has been ramping up  its spend on content , to stay  competitive with the fare being churned out by  Netflix and  Disney and now with the merged Discovery+Warner Media juggernaut.

     “I am very proud that MGM’s Lion, which has long evoked the golden age of Hollywood, will continue its storied history, and the idea born from the creation of United Artists lives on in a way the founders originally intended, driven by the talent and their vision. The opportunity to align MGM’s storied history with Amazon is an inspiring combination,” MGM board chairman Kevin Ulrich said in a statement.

  • Eros Now has 39.9mn paying global subscribers

    Eros Now has 39.9mn paying global subscribers

    KOLKATA: Eros Now has reported a 39.9 million paid subscribers and a total 224 million registered users worldwide as on 31 March, 2021. This represents 10.6 million net new paid subscriber added since 31 March, 2020, accounting for an annual growth rate of 36.2 per cent. 

    Eros Now plans to concentrate its reporting and guidance on premium paid subscribers, going forward, as the platform believes it is a more meaningful indicator of the platform’s performance and economic vitality, it has said in a statement.

    As previously communicated, Eros Now has developed and grown through symbiotic partnerships with mobile telecom operators and other third-party distribution partners around the world. The Company believes these partnerships were fundamental to the business in its early stages of development because they allowed Eros Now to rapidly increase scale and cast a wide net to reach as many consumers as possible in a capital efficient manner.

    While these partnerships will continue to play an important role going forward, Eros Now expects to pivot its distribution model to focus primarily on direct-to-consumer relationships while continuing to strengthen and expand select key distribution partnerships.

    The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a challenging crisis globally with significant business impact. Eros Now has seen growth in subscribers and consumption amidst the pandemic lockdowns, although there was a correction in the final months of calendar 2020 following the early lockdown surge. Overall engagement statistics on the Eros Now platform have increased in 2021 to date. For some indices, such as watch hours, engagement levels are at approximately twice the level as compared to “pre-lockdown”.

    Subscribers: Going forward, Eros Now will concentrate on reporting the number of Premium Paid subscribers. A Premium Paid subscriber is defined as a consumer who subscribes to the Eros Now product for at least one month (30 days), either directly or indirectly through a bundled package with a distribution partner. As of 31 March, 2021, Eros Now had 19.0 million Premium Paid subscribers. The other 20.9 million paid subscribers, who purchase content a la carte or with sachet pricing (including single downloads or subscriptions lasting a day or a week), are defined as Base Paid subscribers.

    Average Revenue per User (ARPU):  Eros Now uses a “geo-sensitive” pricing model for its product in each market. Pricing is guided by the expectation that Eros Now is meant to be a high-quality and affordable mass-market entertainment service that allows people to consume content how and when they choose. Many users start their journey on Eros Now with short-form content or a la carte transactions for specific content, and then move on to more traditional subscription plans. The depth and availability of mass-market content is a tool to introduce consumers to the Eros Now product. As consumer engagement and consumption increases, Eros Now expects to focus on migrating these subscribers onto higher ARPU plans of longer duration. Consistent with Eros Now’s strategy to concentrate on direct-to-consumer relationships, the ARPU metric for Premium Paid subscribers will be an important indicator of the company’s progress. In fiscal 2021, the annual ARPU (net to Eros Now after deducting commissions, partnership fees, etc.) of Premium Paid subscribers was as follows:

    All Premium Paid Subscribers – Global:  $0.52

    ·       Premium Paid Subscribers – India: $0.30

    ·       Premium Paid Subscribers – International:  $10.01

    Watch Hours:  A primary metric for video streaming businesses is watch hours, which represents the total viewing time spent by all consumers on an aggregate basis. Total watch hours for Eros Now in fiscal 2021 was 28.1 million hours. Watch hours relating to the top 25 titles on Eros Now was 10.3 million hours.  This means that 63 per cent of total watch hours was generated by catalogue or non-tentpole films, including regional language movie titles, which is a testament to the salience and affinity of catalogue content with Eros Now subscribers.

    Original content and series remain a very important driver and differentiator for subscriber growth. The Eros Now original series Flesh, which premiered on Eros Now in August 2020, was the biggest Eros Now original series as measured by paid subscriber increases, unique streams and watch hours. The total watch hours related to original Eros Now series during fiscal 2021 was 2.6 million hours, which represents nine per cent of the total Eros Now watch hours. 

    Consumer Profiles:  Eros Now believes that analyzing consumption patterns from its subscribers and viewers around the world is an important factor in understanding the growth trends of the business. Below are selected datapoints of the global Eros Now consumer profile in fiscal 2021. Note that the datapoints are representative averages and there may be variances based on content launches, addition of new geographies and new subscriber additions to the platform.

    ·       Gender:  75 per cent male / 25 per cent female

    ·       Geography:  Two third of Eros Now viewers are from India and the rest are from outside of India (United States is the second largest market with 10 per cent contribution)

    ·       Age: 18-34 constitutes 80 per cent of the viewer base. The 25-34 age group demonstrated the largest growth during fiscal 2021.

    ·       Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India (medium-to-small sized cities) now represent 50 per cent of overall Indian viewers.

    The Indian OTT viewer has evolved throughout the pandemic period. Most of the OTT viewership growth in India is coming from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. In line with this, the majority of Eros Now viewers are in the younger demographic, less fluent in English and prefer to consume entertainment in Hindi or their native languages. Eros Now original series consumption is meaningful in India. The country accounted for 80% of watch hours for original series, of which 50% came from consumers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

    Screen Engagement:  A significant amount of Eros Now consumption is through smart TVs.  For example, 50 per cent of watch hours for Metro Park season 2, which debuted in January 2021, were on smart TVs versus a single digit percentage of watch hours at the close of fiscal 2020.

    Eros Now is focused on delivering premium digital entertainment to consumers across the world. Eros Now expects to see a modest reduction in Premium Paid subscribers in the short term due to the pivot in strategy towards direct-to-consumer. To maximize reach, Eros Now currently has global collaborations and partnerships with market-leading telecommunications operators, OEMs and digital distribution entities such as Amazon, Apple, Virgin Media and Roku, which allow Eros Now to be available to global audiences.

     Eros Now currently has over 120 distribution partners and growing, with a meaningful number of partners signed up during the past twelve months alone. In addition, Eros Now has a unique and strategic relationship with Microsoft to further develop and create backend video technology on Azure. This collaboration will help Eros Now develop a new intuitive online video platform to ensure seamless delivery of content across varied consumer cohorts.

    By 31 December 2021, Eros Now is targeting an annual Premium Paid subscriber ARPU globally in the range of $1.20 to $1.30. The company expects the ARPU growth will be driven by the pivot in strategy to focus more on direct-to-consumer relationships and by leveraging the bundling opportunities with distribution partners. Eros Now believes these factors will help grow ARPU and reduce churn.

    The Eros Now content strategy will focus on new original Hindi language series, as well as augmenting the portfolio of regional language series to maintain and grow its leadership position in tier 2 and tier 3 regions of India. As previously announced in December 2020, Eros Now is planning to release a total of 46 original series and movies premieres across 8 Indian languages during fiscal 2021. To date Eros Now has released 25 titles with the rest to follow during fiscal 2021. In addition, Eros Now plans to introduce more genres of content.

  • Amazon all set to lock a $9bn deal with MGM Studios, report says

    Amazon all set to lock a $9bn deal with MGM Studios, report says

    KOLKATA: E-commerce giant Amazon is all set to close the MGM Studios acquisition deal for $9 billion according to a Wall Street Journal report, which says the deal could be announced as early as this week, provided there isn’t any last-minute glitch.

    The studio of Gone with the Wind and Rocky could turn out to be a great asset for the tech giant as it is substantially focusing on building up its entertainment footprint globally. Notably, MGM offers the famous Bond franchise but without owning it. It is also known for classics like Singin’ in the Rain, The Pink Panther.

    According to the report, the talks between the two parties started at the beginning of the year and have been on-off since then. But it gathered pace over the last few weeks. The board of the Hollywood studio was also informed on the matter on Sunday, the report added.

    If the deal finally comes to fruition, it would be Amazon’s second-biggest acquisition ever, after the $13.7B deal for Whole Foods Market.

    The e-commerce giant is putting in billions of dollars to boost its content library for prime video. It has also committed a huge budget for the production of a TV series based on Lord of the Rings. Then, it is also expanding its live sports portfolio across its key markets. Ultimately, the competition is with the likes of Netflix and Disney of the world.

    MGM has been looking for prospective buyers for a long time now. While it wanted to cut a deal at $9 billion, prospective buyers in the past did find it over expensive. The market valued the studio around $5 billion. Even Apple, Comcast reportedly spoke to MGM but could not reach any agreement. This time it is amazon that never minds paying some extra to dodge off the competition.

  • ALTBalaji sees 100% growth in viewership by tapping the hinterlands

    ALTBalaji sees 100% growth in viewership by tapping the hinterlands

    KOLKATA: OTT platform ALTBalaji has recorded exponential growth in its viewership with a growing popularity in the hinterland markets, said the company on Saturday.

    While cities like Lucknow, Ludhiana, and Guwahati saw a huge increase of 189.84 per cent, 106.50 per cent, and 108.41 per cent, respectively, Srinagar, Shimla, and Ranchi weren’t behind either, with an uptick of 103.81 per cent, 103.05 per cent, and 192.01 per cent, as compared to ALTBalaji’s viewership from these cities in 2020, the company shared.

    The platform also gained popularity among the Metropolitan crowd. Atleast 12.13 per cent of its viewers in 2021 came from Delhi alone. ALTBalaji’s content bouquet has 81+ Hindi originals, spread out over different genres and appeals to different segments of viewers. The affordability of a subscription also adds to its value driving more viewers towards the platform.

    According to ALTBalaji, a steady surge in viewership is likely, especially among the youth [18-40 years] who are constantly on the lookout for relatable content for which there is absolutely no shortage on the platform.

    “A constant stream of new launches makes ALTBalaji one of the most attractive platforms for entertainment. The OTT platform has mastered the art of creating content on a smaller budget enabling viewers to access a wide variety of content at a much lower subscription rate. As per Q3FY21 results, ALTBalaji added almost 22K subscribers per day, taking active subscribers at the end of December 2020 at 2.1m v/s 1.2m at the start of the quarter,” the company said.

    The platform has many new shows in the pipeline such as Apharan 2, Broken But Beautiful 3, The Test Case 2, PuncchBeat Season 2, Cartel. 

  • ZeeL to scale down investment in SugarBox significantly

    ZeeL to scale down investment in SugarBox significantly

    KOLKATA: When things aren’t working out, it’s better you step back until they start looking better.  Exactly how Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) is doing with its investment in internet connectivity start-up Margo Networks. It was barely a year ago that it had announced that it would invest Rs 522 crore in the latter which offers bandwidth to consumers under the brand name SugarBox.

    The broadcaster aimed to create a tech-content synergy through the investment in order to help subscribers get over connectivity constraints that plague India’s mobile networks. However, Zeel has decided to scale down its investment in SugarBox owing to the changing situation.

    “Given the current pandemic and uncertainties, we will not be investing very aggressively behind SugarBox. From our original plan itself, it will be scaled down significantly for the foreseeable future,” ZeeL MD & CEO Punit Goenka said during an investors’ call.

    Of all the reasons behind the decision, one is that the project has been delayed significantly. ZeeL was expecting it to roll out in February but the pandemic has hindered its execution. As no one knows how long Covid2019 will last, there are fair chances of a further delay.

    “More importantly, even after everything stabilises, we don’t know how the traffic will build. Traffic consumption was very different when we planned the project. For FY22, we do not see that kind of investment that we were planning earlier,” ZeeL investor relations, corporate strategy head Bijal Shah said.

    Reduction in non-core investments in Sugarbox due to the COVID-19 pandemic is a welcome step, brokerage firm Motilal Oswal said in a recent note.

    “The unique technology will enable us to serve content to consumers across the nation, without being restricted by connectivity constraints. We are confident that this synergy will create a strong foundation for us, as we progress towards offering relevant content to consumers across platforms,” Goenka said at the time of the investment.

    However, analysts were sceptical of the timeliness of the investment from the beginning. Brokerage firms found it ill-timed due to a weak ad environment.

    In the year 2017, ZeeL had acquired an 80 per cent equity stake in SugarBox. The latter creates a hyperlocal data distribution ecosystem by installing CDN Edge servers at key places of interest (POIs), which users can connect to over a local Wi-Fi network.

  • DC Comic superheroes to launch on Amazon Prime Video

    DC Comic superheroes to launch on Amazon Prime Video

    KOLKATA:  For fans of DC comic book superheroes this is super good news. Amazon Prime Video today announced the addition of five new DC Comic titles to its line-up of shows and movies.  Famous and iconic ones like Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow and Gotham will now be available to Prime members in India. Flash and Super Girl will be launched on 24 and 31 May respectively with DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow and Gotham following soon thereafter.     

    DC, which is also referred to as home to the “World’s Greatest Super Heroes” has a huge following worldwide and in India.  The addition of these titles promises something for everyone. Whether it’s the journey to battle evil with Flash and Supergirl, or about exploring the streets of the city we know as Gotham, or fighting corruption with Arrow and plunging into the future with a quest to save the earth in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, this summer, there will be no shortage of action, adventure, and thrill!

    Flash: A central police forensic scientist, Barry Allen meets with a massive particle accelerator explosion accident. Nine months later, he wakes up from the coma discovering that the blast has given him the power of super speed. However, he learns that many more have also been affected by the event but chose to use their powers for evil. Taking on the role of a hero, Barry dedicates himself to fighting against such threats as the superhero The Flash.

    Supergirl: Escaping a fateful Kryptonian blast, Kara along with her cousin is sent to earth. In a turn of events, she is diverted to a timeless phantom zone before finally reaching earth and finding out her cousin is the infamous Superman. Stuck at a dead-end job, a critical crisis stirs Kara’s veiled Kryptonian powers and she is inspired to use them for the better. Introduced to a secret world of the Department of Extra-Normal Operations, Supergirl sets on her way to save planet earth.

    DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Having seen the future, desperately trying to prevent it from becoming a reality, time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter ( Arthur Darvil) is tasked with assembling a disparate group of both heroes and villains to confront an unstoppable threat – one in which not only is the planet at stake, but all of time itself. He assembles a ragtag team that strives to defeat an immortal threat unlike anything they have ever known. DC’S Legends Of Tomorrow, promises the fans an enthralling experience as they immerse themselves into the action and adventure of the DC universe.

    Arrow: Things take a turn for the worse when spoiled brat, Oliver Queen and his billionaire father are lost at sea. Their luxury yacht sinks and his father does not make it. Stranded on an forgien island, Oliver learns the reality of his father’s dealings by its inhabitants and embarks on a journey of change. Hardened and resolute to set things straight, he returns to his home city eliminating the ones who have plagued it with corruption.

    Gotham: Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered right before young Bruce Wayne’s eyes. The two detectives- James Gordon and his cynical partner, Harvey Bullock solve the case with ease. However, things are not as simple as they seem. Driven by the young Bruce’s desire for justice Gordon pledges to eradicate the corruption that caused the chain of events. Fighting against his colleagues and super villains, Gordon is on a mission to clean up Gotham as Bruce Wayne observes the hero.

  • Filamchi inks a strategic partnership with Chingari app

    Filamchi inks a strategic partnership with Chingari app

    MUMBAI: Filamchi, a Bhojpuri movie channel from the house of IN10 Media Network has signed a strategic partnership with Chingari, a homegrown short video app for live streaming of its world TV Premieres.

    The association will commence with the premiere of the movie Loha Pahalwan, which will be live-streamed on the Chingari app. The tie-up marks a first in the genre as a TV channel and short video platform will integrate to enhance a multi-viewing experience for the audience.

    Speaking on the plan of action, Chingari’s co-founder and CEO, Sumit Ghosh said, “This is one of its kind collaboration where a film will be premiered and made available to the audience through not just TV channel, but also through a short-video platform which will not only expand the audience base but provide a new way of live streaming films in the current digital world. Evolution is the key and Chingari aims to continue collaborating and evolving the space of digital media to the best of its capabilities so that the audience and creators both benefit from it.”

    Commenting on the association, IN10 Media Network, AVP-Marketing, Vinita Shrivastav, said, “The Bhojpuri market has the potential to grow as the audience seeks more localized and relatable content. In today’s multiscreen world, we need to be omnipresent to reach out to our viewers and let them experience content across platforms. The association will aid the platforms in increasing their audience base and engaging them across Bhojpuri movie fans.”

    Talking about the collaboration, app’s co-founder, and COO, Deepak Salvi said, “The contest on Chingari is to provide an overall benefit to both the film creators and the Chingari creators. Pawan Singh is one of the most renowned actors of Bhojpuri Cinema and hence it is authentic entertainment being made available for our audience along with a chance to win a huge cash prize.”

    The live streaming is supported by a dialogue challenge #mainbhifilamchi where Chingari users can create interesting videos on Pawan Singh’s dialogues from the movie and participate in the contest to win 20 lakh Chingari coins.

    The movie will air on 22 May at 1:00 pm on Filamchi channel and Chingari App.

  • We have taken a relook at our entire strategy at Zee5: Punit Goenka

    We have taken a relook at our entire strategy at Zee5: Punit Goenka

    KOLKATA: The over-the-top (OTT) market is ripe for growth in India, the segment which has emerged as one of the most obvious winners in the pandemic time. Most OTT platforms in India have multiplied their user base over the last year. Zee5 was no exception as it also drew more viewers to its platform, but it may take some time before the paid subscription base is reflected in its overall revenue.

    Zee5’s global monthly active users (MAU) and daily active users (DAU) have gone up to 72.6 million, 6.1 million respectively in q4 from 65.9 million, 5.4 million in the q3. Despite the growth, its revenue has declined to Rs 107.5 crore in the quarter from Rs 117.8 crore. However, EBITDA loss has come down to Rs 162.5 core from Rs 175.7 crore in q3.

    The fall in revenue is on account of advertising, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZeeL) MD & CEO Punit Goenka said in a conference call post the earnings. But that is cyclical in nature, Goenka noted. Along with that, pending telco deal renewal is another reason for the drop in revenue. Moreover, the platform saw a bump up in revenue in the previous quarter because of the festive season, ZeeL investor relations, corporate strategy head Bijal Shah added.

    However, Zee5 may see a better result in Q1 of FY22 as the blockbuster Radhe has premiered on the platform and management seems confident about the movie’s performance. “Radhe has done what we expected it to do for us,” Goenka highlighted saying the film has been quite successful for the platform. However, he did not delve into deeper numbers as it has been only a week since the release of the movie. The company hopes Zee5 revenues to move up in Q1 on the back of the film along with other reasons.

    Predominantly, the platform’s MAUs and DAUs are coming from its own organic growth as telco partnerships are only on the subscription side. On the AVoD side, 90 per cent of users are coming from India as there are few international markets of Zee5 with an advertising model. As the platform plans to launch Zee5 in the UK, US, Europe market, those markets will only have a subscription-led model.

    “We are seeing people moving to SVOD service (in India). It is slow but it is certainly heartening to see people who come to the funnel of catch up TV and then move to paid services,” Goenka added.

    Zee5 last year took several new innovations like adding education content, gamification of shows, and launching short video segments. Goenka was asked on the call why Zee5 didn’t continue its efforts in those segments. “We never got into e-learning, gamification itself. These initiatives were partner driven,” he responded.

    “Certainly, a lot of our content may not have succeeded or was not for the right audience base that we have seen but we have taken a relook at our entire strategy at Zee5. We planned to reduce the pricing to Rs 499 per year in line with what is happening in the market. That is one value proposition,” Goenka quipped.

    “Other value proposition is going to be a focus on good quality content in the form of films as well as originals across multiple languages that we are going to focus on going forward,” he stated further.  Goenka also remarked that Zee5 is going to focus on the tech platform significantly for it to be an app that can delight consumers.

  • ZeeL clocks strong quarter with Rs 275.8 crore profit

    ZeeL clocks strong quarter with Rs 275.8 crore profit

    KOLKATA: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZeeL) has posted operating revenue of Rs 1965.8 crore for the fourth quarter. The leading broadcaster has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 275.8 crore for the quarter ended March.

    Advertising revenue for the quarter stood at Rs 1123 crore and subscription revenue was at Rs 803.4 crore. The company said the growth in subscription revenue was driven by Zee5.

    Domestic advertising revenue for the quarter grew by 8.9 per cent year-on-year driven by the continued recovery in the macro advertising environment. Overall, domestic advertising revenue declined by 19.7 per cent in the financial year 2020-21 due to the continued impact of the pandemic in H1.

    Programming cost, excluding one-time inventory write-off of Rs. 259.8 crore, declined by 19.2 per cent during the quarter, primarily due to lower accelerated inventory amortisation this quarter; Adjusted programming cost for the year declined by 8.2 per cent due to lower original programming during first quarter.

    Zee5’s revenue and EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs 107.5 crore, Rs (162.5) crore. The platform’s global monthly active users (MAUs) 72.6 million monthly active users, daily active users (DAUs)6.1 million global DAUs at the end of March. Zee5 viewers spent 156 minutes on average per month.

  • Srishti Behl Arya to quit Netflix India

    Srishti Behl Arya to quit Netflix India

    KOLKATA: After a three years’ stint, Netflix India original films director Srishti Behl Arya has decided to move on. The veteran content creator joined the streaming service in May 2018 just when it began to expand its Indian content team. 21 May will be her last day at the company.

    Behl Arya has played a pivotal role in building Netflix India’s original film slate as starting from Hindi and then moving to regional markets as the competition around streaming intensified. In the last couple of years, the streaming giant has aggressively built its local library, enhanced its content investment in India. It began the year by unveiling a library with more than 40 originals consisting of as many as 13 movies.

    “Srishti has played a foundational role in building our original film slate in India, launching 35 titles over three years with critical acclaim and fandom including Guilty, AK vs AK, Bulbbul and Serious Men, and our first Tamil and Telugu films, with Paava Kadhaigal and Pitta Kathalu. We wish her every success and know she will bring her passion for storytelling to her future endeavours,” Netflix India VP content Monika Shergill said.

    Leading the Netflix originals film team in India over the last three years has been the adventure of a lifetime, Behl Arya stated. “I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity and have learned so much along the way. I couldn’t be more proud of the stories we’ve told, from first time directors, female filmmakers, established voices and so many fresh faces. I wish this wonderful team all the very best and can’t wait to see what’s ahead,” she added further.

    However, film remains a focus and priority investment for the streamer in the country. India is a key focus area for Netflix. It has not only commissioned local language content but has moderated subscription packs for mobile centric viewers, and launched its Hindi user interface.