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Tag: OTT

  • Will OOH industry see a revival during Durga Puja?

    Will OOH industry see a revival during Durga Puja?

    KOLKATA: Even with Dashami a week away, the city of Kolkata lacks lustre. The usual crowd of revellers who throng the streets, flitting from one pujo marquee to another, is significantly smaller. There are fewer lights, fewer billboards, and fewer hoardings. Although, the number of pandals has not reduced but the anticipated footfall is expected to go down especially with the latest Calcutta high court order. All of them are strictly adhering to the West Bengal government’s guidelines to check community transmission of Covid2019.

    During Puja, these pandals turn into a hub of outdoor and on-ground activities. Brands try to leverage every corner of the pandals to create a visual impact and making their presence felt starting from the overhead gates to pillars, stage, stalls, and other parts of the pandals. Several brands release new campaigns, initiatives and products during this time and leverage the massive footfall at the pandals for sampling of its products.

    Clearly, business isn’t booming for out-of-home (OOH) industry in the market as it traditionally does during the festive season.

    Vibgyor managing director Ankur Kalra says brands are spending very cautiously for out-of-home activities, even during Durga Puja. Although they have started spending some amount on TV and digital but on-ground reality is different this year. According to him, all of the brands have deferred their marketing spends to 2021. He has noticed a 75 per cent reduction from all the reputed brands in on-ground activities especially.

    Ad spends on on-ground activities are moving to virtual modes. Since there are fears of crowd gatherings despite restrictions, one bad incident could lead to a PR disaster, adds Kalra. In overall OOH, if the brands were spending Rs 100, the spending has gone down to less than Rs 40 this year.

    Read more news on Durga Puja

    R W Promotions owner Venkatesh Srinivasan echoes Kalra’s bent of mind, saying as brands want to maintain safety standards, they have several questions in mind such as: which are the containment zones, which parts of the city are safe for activations. However, he is more sanguine of a revival. His view is that spends on outdoor are slowly coming back and should go up more during Durga Puja since the government is also supporting celebrations with safety standards.

    He goes on to add that outdoor activations are key, despite digital campaigns. In his view, many people are still not comfortable seeing a product in digital ads and buying it later.

    Moreover, coming off the downturn of the last seven months, the market is considerably more enthusiastic right now with the onset of festive season. FMCGs and automobiles are currently the top spenders in outdoor campaigns, followed by consumer durables and mobile manufacturers. Other than that, beauty brands are spending but very less. Overall, marketing spends could take a 50-60 per cent dip in terms of outdoor and 70-80 per cent in on-ground activation.

    Another executive who is extremely gung-ho about the revival of the outdoors is Laqshya media group CEO Atul Shrivastava. Says he: "The spirit of Calcuttans during Durga Puja is indomitable. The festive spirit started late, but with the government’s go-ahead for puja pandals, everyone has become quite enthused. Keeping in mind the precautionary measures, people are out on the roads and market areas are seeing a healthy flow of customers. As per data generated through Sharp, Laqshya’s in-house measurement tool, traffic in Kolkata is currently 89-92 per cent of normal times. So, we see that situations are coming back to normal, aided by the festive season."

    According to him, most brands have come up with communications catering to the sentiments of Notun Pujo. He adds that no brand wants to miss the opportunity to advertise during Durga Pujo in Kolkata. Even in the current situation, many brands in the jewellery, textiles, retail, garments, footwear, automobile sectors are spending their pent-up OOH budgets. FMCG brands are also advertising, especially for sanitising products.  In addition to that, OTT platforms and entertainment channels have stepped into OOH media to promote new shows and programs. Although clients are not spending 100 per cent as compared to last year, current spends stand at 60-65 per cent.

    While Shrivastava speaks about entertainment brands, the biggest Bengali OTT platform Hoichoi has undertaken an outdoor campaign this year too. The brand’s campaign for Durga Puja speaks of situations which everyone is facing daily due to the ongoing pandemic and how Hoichoi can make them feel better with its vast offering of personalized entertainment, Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta shares.

    The entire campaign has been replicated on the out-of-home format also. The streaming platform has erected temporary banners all over the city during pujo days. A mix of 600 banners and 100 big facades have been used for this promotional activity.

    However, just three days ahead of the festival, the Calcutta High Court passed a verdict declaring Durga Puja pandals to be no-entry zones for visitors. Only organisers will be allowed inside the pandals, limiting the number to 25 for big pandals and 15 for the smaller ones. The order can negatively impact the brands that were supposed to finalise outdoor spends this week.

    For larger pujo committees which rely largely on corporate sponsorships, this slump in ad spend is a worrisome turn of events. Ekdalia Evergreen, which is among the top draws every year, has seen nearly a 50 per cent drop in sponsors, club secretary Gautam Mukherjee says. Usually, 60 per cent of the expenditure is covered by sponsorships every year but the number has gone down to 10 per cent this year.

    Another mid-budget puja committee, Telengabagan, has witnessed the same trend. Amrit Shaw, a puja committee member, says that the usual sponsors have also backed out leading to more than 50 per cent decline in sponsorships. Among the few brands which have come on-bard, he names Coca Cola, ITC, Kwality Walls.

    While there is derring-do spirit amongst some players, others seem worried. Hopefully, goddess Durga, will come to their and West Bengal's rescue and smile benevolently on her worshipping followers. And there will be no looking back thereafter. 

  • Getting the “big” into Reliance Big Synergy

    Getting the “big” into Reliance Big Synergy

    MUMBAI: Leading Indian production house Reliance Big Synegry CEO Rajiv Bakshi has seen a lot over the score and more years he has spent in the corporate world.  His exposure has been quite expansive with stints in  TV, internet, media, telecom and consumer durable industries, which allowed him the luxury of  witnessing India’s media and entertainment industry's evolution from close quarters. Bakshi’s mandate, when he was given charge of  the TV producer in 2018, was to enhance its multi-platform reach, drive strategic partnerships and develop its original content portfolio. He had other challenges as well: Reliance Big Synergy was known to be a non-fiction powerhouse  thanks to its founder Siddharth Basu, but it did not have much of a  track record on the fiction front and in regional language show. Bakshi's remit was to aggresively scale it in these two areas.

    And he's quite pleased with what he has achieved. Says he:  “It’s been a remarkable 12 months where we have broad-based our offerings and become a formidable powerhouse for all forms of content – from fiction, non-fiction, web series, direct to digital films, biographies, mythology and more."

    Read more about Rajiv Bakshi

    Reliance Big Synergy currently has TV series running on Star Maa, Zee Punjabi, Dangal, ZEE5 and many more.  And Bakshi is aiming even higher: he'd like his charge to have  aiming for a 4:1 (fiction to non-fiction) split , that is 80 per cent of its portfolio will be  fiction, 20 percent non-fiction. It language repertoire has also swollen to cover Bangla, Telugu, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, from just Hindi earlier.

    “Due to the pandemic the appetite for fiction shows has gone up today. Also, it has been a tough journey to transform, we worked day and night to double up our offerings. In the past, we have never done a mythological series but now we are producing them,” he reveals.

    India is a very large and diverse market, and the lockdown has demonstrated that consumers will lap up all types of content that is dished out to them – no matter which country it originates from – as long as it is produced well and tells a engaging story. Bakshi believes the media and entertainment industry – domestically and internationally –  is undergoing a dramatic transformation on all counts   – platforms, scale, talent and, above all, storytelling. Hence, the company is looking to make shows for audiences worldwide. The more varied the market, greater the opportunity, he opines with a smile. 

    “Now it’s up to us to scale up the creative teams to build both a robust portfolio of content and the production ability to produce shows of scale for the global audience, not just Indian viewers,” says Bakshi.  Chances are high that there will be more collaborations between entities – and even competitors – if the opportunity is unique and scalable, given his stated ambition.

    CEO Rajiv Bakshi unveils transformational roadmap for Big Synergy

    There has been a huge spike in OTT engagement ever since the start of the Covid2019 pandemic that is holding steady for now.  A recent survey conducted by Flyx, a social network platform for OTT content, revealed that there has been a sizeable uptick in both purchase of OTT subscriptions and viewing hours amongst Indian users. More than 50 per cent respondents shared that they have purchased new subscriptions during the pandemic. Users also revealed that there has been a 5x increase in those spending 16+ hours weekly and a 4x increase in those spending 12-16 hours weekly on OTT platforms.

    Acknowledging that watch time, particularly for streaming services, increased during lockdown, Bakshi, however, maintains that the data from the Covid2019 period cannot be the base for decision making. One will have to look at trend lines and not use it as is. He explains: “Because of the OTT platforms you cannot serve the same content to everyone, you need to divide it, whether you are a broadcaster or a digital player. As a content creator, it’s music to my ears because more the variety, more is the opportunity to create. I can say this with confidence that the OTT industry will surpass everyone’s expectations. There will be some losers, but in contrast there will be big winners. I think three key growth triggers for the OTT industry will be – affordable subscriptions, regional content and low data cost.”

    Read more news on Reliance Big Synergy

    With theatres remaining closed for months on end, moviemakers began to divert their releases onto OTT platforms instead, bypassing the idiot box. Bakshi considers this an interesting shift that’s off-shot new directions for creators to explore outside the small screen. Does that mean it is a theatre vs OTT explosion waiting to happen?

    For Bakshi, there is no competition between sectors in the media and entertainment business; everything is complimentary. He opines that no platform can match the theatre experience. So far as demand is concerned, especially when OTT platforms have subscription models, movies do help attract viewers. Therefore, streaming giants continue to invest in movies. In the current environment where moviemakers are suffering losses, the most viable solution is to release movies on OTT platforms, he states.

    When it comes to differentiating between TV and OTT content, Bakshi seeks the help of consumer insight. The studio undertakes extensive research before entering into a new market.

    Apart from this, Bakshi didn't shy away from pointing out  the challeges that he is facing due to the rampaging virus.   He notes that there are several challenges ahead in terms of creating better content – pace of production has slowed, people run a  higher risk, casualties happen, and there is added costs on top due to the SOP measures. Bakshi quips: “My biggest challenge continues to be prioritisation since so much is happening, we have to take a measured decision and exercise smart choices.”

    For the most part, the company is still in work from home mode. However, filming has begun at various locations across India. Bakshi has hired a Covid2019 compliance firm to ensure safety and security of cast and crew members on the set. He highlights that the entire process of shooting is quite intense and puts a heavy toll in terms of cost, weather, technology etc.

    But he is not letting them weigh him down. He has his own solution for these tough times. In September, Bakshi had tweeted:  "What to do when ya meet a tough cookie?" His own response was: "You dip it in milk."

    That should hold him in good stead as he goes about sculpting his big vision for Reliance Big Synergy.

  • ALTBalaji acquires 17.5 per cent stake in Tring

    ALTBalaji acquires 17.5 per cent stake in Tring

    KOLKATA: ALTBalaji has acquired 17.5 per cent stake in the online celebrity digital engagement platform, Tring. With this investment, Tring’s valuation rose to about Rs 100 crore in the short period since its inception earlier this year.

    The celebrity shout-out and engagement platform was started in February 2020 by Akshay Saini, Rahul Saini and Pranav Chabhadia. Tring has over 2000+ celebrities and offers a wide range of digital services like personalized video shoutouts/messages, live video calls, DMs on Instagram, etc. for two-way engagement between celebs and their fans.

    As part of this transaction, ALTBalaji will be entitled to appoint one board member to represent them on the board of B. D. Inno Ventures Pvt. Ltd. (the parent company of Tring). The investment reinforces ALTBalaji’s presence in the lucrative celebrity commerce business in India.

    Commenting on the new development, Balaji Telefilms Ltd joint managing director Ekta Kapoor said, “Having been in the business of entertainment for more than two decades now, we value the bond between celebrities and their fans. Both ALTBalaji and Tring work with talent and try to bring them a step closer to their fans and vice-versa. We believe this synergy will work in favour of both the brands and help each other widen our reach.”  

    Balaji Telefilms Ltd managing director Shobha Kapoor said, “This investment in Tring allows us to better connect with audiences across India. The team at Tring has done a tremendous job in such a short period, and we are confident that with our investment and support, they will scale much faster, bringing audiences closer to the celebrities they adore.”

    Speaking on this investment round, Tring co-founder Akshay Saini said Balaji’s  investment in Tring will help the platform continue its market penetration and better reach the masses. “We have just begun, it is day one,” he added.

    Tring’s existing investors include ace-photographer and movie producer Atul Kasbekar, along-with industry-leaders and super angel investors viz. Kalyan Krishnamurthy CEO Flipkart, Sujeet Kumar CEO Udaan, Gaurav Munjal CEO Unacademy, Roman Saini, Hemesh Singh, Sumit Jain, Dinesh Godara (Founding team Unacademy), Keshav Sanghi (Ventureworks India), Dalbir Saini (Chairman BDI Group) amongst others.

  • Odisha’s OTT TarangPlus ready for bigger, better things

    Odisha’s OTT TarangPlus ready for bigger, better things

    KOLKATA: In the state of Odisha, a little known regional OTT called TarangPlus is slowly but surely making its presence felt. Not many mainline players have heard of it and those who have, don’t put much store by it. But in the world of digital, dismissing anyone can prove fatal. Today’s minnow can become tomorrow’s whale shark.

    Coming from the news-based Odisha Television network stable, which was founded by feisty entrepreneur and cable TV professional Jagi Mangat, TarangPlus is being steered by her sharp daughter Litisha Mangat.

    An alumnus of IIM Calcutta, the young lady, who serves as the group’s digital operating officer, says she has set her sights on the big picture.

    “What I am doing today may not have an impact in the short-term but it will definitely work in the long run,” assures the 20-something Litisha, who came on board TarangPlus only last year. “Lack of technology was one major issue when I joined. I am getting into more technologies which can integrate between TV and OTT because TV is not going anywhere,” she adds.

    Launched in November 2019 as a platform to make progressive content, TarangPlus is Odisha TV’s biggest investment and bet. “We knew that society is moving forward and we need to move forward along with it. I am not aware of anybody in Odisha making as much as progressive content as we are,” Litisha claims.

    The users on the platform are a “young, energetic and liberal crowd,” she adds, “aged between 18-34 from both the major cities in Odisha and from the hinterlands. The user demography is almost similar for both catch-up content and premium shows on AVoD and SVoD respectively.”

    Currently, the ratio of network content and original content on the platform is 20:80. The idea was to launch a new piece of content every month; but Covid2019 put paid to those ambitions. Litisha continues to have her eye on that target, and will get things moving once large-scale shoots get the go-ahead from the authorities.

    The silver lining, according to her, is that the last four-five months were a great opportunity for the team to study how consumers were navigating the app as there was not much fresh content being served on TV because of the lockdown. They got to measure and understand how many people actually made the switch to digital along with what they were consuming.

    “We learnt what audiences want and that is what we are heading towards,” she states. “Our marketing strategy is simple. We pride ourselves as Odias. Odisha is a beautiful state replete with culture, lovely traditions and progressive festivals like Raja Parba (a festival that celebrates menstruation and womanhood.) We just want to tell stories that focus on showcasing the pride of Odisha.”

    She is quite sanguine that TarangPlus has many advantages to its credit: being the first and only regional OTT platform in Odia, it will appeal to Odia diaspora who will love to watch, endorse the organic content that the platform has in store.

    She is hoping to sign on at least two million active users in the coming year. Will she get there?

    Well, she has the pedigree. Her father Jay Panda is a senior BJP leader.

    And her mother, Jagi Mangat, is a trailblazer. She was the founder of the Ortel – Orissa’s MSO, which promised a lot initially but then failed. However, Jagi did not let that debacle deter her: she poured all her energy into OTV, expanded the channels under its portfolio by launching Tarang TV, Tarang Music, and Prarthana. Today, the Odisha TV network has burst into the top 15 Indian network league, just below ABP News. And the Youtube channel of OTV, boasts of a healthy four million subs.

    Thinking back to when Odisha TV set out to prop its digital business, Litisha proudly says it was the first broadcaster in the state to do so. Realising the necessity to have a digital footprint, the network had launched its website nearly eight years ago. Later, the company also decided to launch two apps – one dedicated to news and the other serving general entertainment content. Moreover, it also has a user-generated news platform called Odisha Reporter which lets common people report on day-to-day issues and developments.

    With that kind of a heritage, Litisha can only forge ahead.

  • OTT platforms gear up to resume production

    OTT platforms gear up to resume production

    KOLKATA: The Covid2019 crisis struck India in March and the entertainment industry came to a standstill. While TV production resumed in July, shooting for film and original content remained on pause for a lot longer. The industry, which lost six months of valuable production time, is slowly limping back to sets and studios.

    More people may have switched to over-the-top (OTT) platforms during the pandemic, but on the flip side, it has inflated the audience’s appetite for content. These streaming services have maintained a steady click of new releases so far but the constrain of shooting large scale projects is a major concern.

    Experts predicted that the pandemic would affect the pipeline of long-format premium originals till the first half of FY22. Although most major players have resumed filming, no one is certain how soon full-fledged production will be back on track.

    Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos said during the recent ET Global Business Summit Unwired 3.0 that getting back to production safely tops the organisation’s list of priorities. This, however, has been particularly challenging in India, he said.

    Read more news on OTT

    Not surprising, considering the country is leading the highest number of daily positive cases; this problem is further compounded by the strict rules and guidelines imposed by the Maharashtra government on film production. But Netflix fans, fear not; more than ten Netflix India productions are scheduled to start in November.

    Desi OTTs 

    The homegrown players are also stepping up their efforts to keep the content flow alive. MX Player already has one show on the floor and will be pushing a few more projects into production by end of October, chief content officer Gautam Talwar said.

    “Given the pandemic, audiences are spending more time online and OTT platforms including ours have seen a sharp increase in engagement, emerging as the preferred choice for content consumption. To cater to this rising demand, we’ve launched over 27 shows from March until now. We still have a couple of shows in the pipeline that we have shot which are currently in post-production; you should see those releasing over the next quarter,” Talwar added.

    ALTBalaji has also resumed filming some of its shows with minimum staff and in restricted places with appropriate permissions. ALTBalaji CEO and Balaji Telefilms group COO Nachiket Pantvaidya assured that they are diligently following all the requisite standard operating procedures.

    “We recently launched ten episodes of Bebaakee on ALTBalaji. Shooting is ongoing for the show and we will release more episodes soon. October onwards, audience will see a host of shows, including Mumbhai, Bicchoo Ka Khel, Dark 7 White, LSD, Who’s Your Daddy Season 2, Kahin to Milega to name a few,” Pantvaidya stated.

    Amid regional players, Bengali OTT Hoichoi started production back in August since West Bengal initiated Unlock prior to most other states. Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta revealed that the platform has already completed shooting for seven projects. Two of the post-pandemic shows are already streaming on Hoichoi while others will be gradually made available to users.

    Despite production challenges, hope remains

    Even as India’s Covid2019 tally is flirting with the 70 lakh-mark, stakeholders in every segment of the industry remain hopeful while adjusting to the new normal. Hoichoi’s Mohta said they are trying to restrict the shoots as much as possible to indoor locations, and make sure to sanitize the entire set very carefully before starting work. Despite all the constraints, things are looking up; it has become easier to get schedules and dates of famous actors and directors, he divulged.

    ALTBalaji’s Pantvaidya admitted that since production has to abide by a number of precautionary measures, the work is going slower than before. Nevertheless, with shooting gradually resuming, he is optimistic that viewers will have a handful of shows to look forward to in the coming months. 

    A leading producer who wished to remain unnamed commented that safety measures and longer timelines are stretching already-limited production budgets.

    Pantvaidya expressed the view that shooting at a full-fledged scale is still going to take some time due to the current situation. He said that the platform’s focus is making sure everything works out smoothly, with the safety of cast and crew being top priority. 

    “We’ve all started by putting our best foot forward – keeping in mind precautionary measures and complying with social distancing norms etc. To my mind, full-fledged production as of right now looks like it will only start by January 2021, when multiple shows can be put on the floor, hopefully without too much worry,” MX Player’s Talwar said.

  • Tata Sky Binge+ partners with India Film Project

    Tata Sky Binge+ partners with India Film Project

    KOLKATA: Tata Sky’s OTT + TV aggregator service Binge+ and India Film Project, Asia’s largest content fest, have entered into a strategic partnership with an objective to engage meaningfully and curate a series of content-driven virtual sessions celebrating the contribution of content creators in the digital space. 

    India Film Project, since its inception in 2011, has put in efforts to build a community of content creators across the varying forms of art. Tata Sky, India’s leading content distribution and pay TV platform entered actively into the OTT platform aggregation space through its pioneering service, Tata Sky Binge last year and with Tata Sky Binge+ this year, it has brought both OTT and live TV together under one service. 

    This partnership is a continuation of the effort towards making content platform agnostic and democratising its reach. Through this collaboration, Tata Sky Binge+ and India Film Project aims to spark meaningful conversations around the digital ecosystem and felicitate the journey of creators who have helped in the growth of Indian content.    

    Commenting on the association, Tata Sky chief communications officer Anurag Kumar said, “Tata Sky as a brand has always believed that content is king regardless of the platform it is been showcased on and understands the increasing demand of digital content. Tata Sky Binge+ service is our step towards making the best of content across mediums available for our customers on a single platform. We are glad to be associated with India Film Project who have been at the forefront of discovering new content creators, valuing and showcasing their creation for the world to see. Through this partnership, we are furthering our individual brand promise to drive synergies towards appreciating the contribution of content creators in digital space.”     

    Commenting on the association, India Film Project festival director Ritam Bhatnagar said, “At IFP, we witness the celebration of some of the best content created across the world. Within IFP’s creator community, we noticed a need for creators to watch content that transcends not just geographical boundaries but also the limitations of switching between app subscriptions. The partnership will enable our community to explore a world not limited by subscriptions but sheer love for content.”

  • Amazon Prime Video unveils trailer for Mirzapur season two

    Amazon Prime Video unveils trailer for Mirzapur season two

    KOLKATA: Guddu Bhaiya, Munna Bhaiya and Kaleen Bhaiya, the much-loved characters of Amazon Prime Video's Mirzapur are back.   

    The streaming platform has unveiled the trailer for its much-awaited second season of Amazon Original Series Mirzapur. It will start streaming from 23 October 2020. The show produced and created by Excel Media and Entertainment has gained popularity not only in India, but outside the country as well.

    According to a SEMrush study published in July, Mirzapur was the second most-searched show in January-December 2019. Among other Indian content churned out by Amazon Prime Video, this show is undoubtedly the most discussed one also.

    The 10-part new season of the hinterland crime drama, where power and revenge are the means to maintain order, will reveal what happened  to the infamous residents of Mirzapur, following the aftermath of a shocking season one finale. The new storyline dives deeper into the murky and rustic world of guns, drugs and lawlessness and traverses through myriad layers of vengeance, conspiracies, romance, drama and the formidable women power in the terrains of Mirzapur.

    “At Amazon, we do everything keeping our customers in mind. Their incessant demand for Season 2 of Mirzapur is a testament to the fact that we have spearheaded our efforts in the right direction,” Amazon Prime Video India originals head Aparna Purohit said.

    “The fandom that has built for the world of Mirzapur over the last two years has been phenomenal; viewers have expressed their love and appreciation for the show and are highly engaged and immersed in the lives of the characters. It’s characters have become a part of the popular culture. We have had a wonderful collaboration with Excel Media and Entertainment over many years and we are thrilled to join forces again for yet another gripping season. We are delighted to bring the highly-anticipated new season of the captivating and gritty crime drama, Mirzapur,” Purohit added.

    The streaming service has constantly kept its fans engaged with various marketing initiatives around its tentpole show. Recently, it uploaded the entire first season of Mirzapur on its official YouTube channel to gear up the audience up ahead of the second season hitting the platform.

    “For the last two years, our phones have been constantly ringing with fans waiting eagerly to watch Mirzapur Season 2. We are happy to put an end to the wait and present an all-new season to them.” Excel Entertainment producer Ritesh Sadhwani said.

    “We created the first season with the intent to ‘get our hands dirty’ with a pure hinterland drama; what really surprised us was the worldwide love that’s grown for our local show,” creator Puneet Krishna commented.

     “The success of the first season has set a benchmark and encouraged us to take the new season several notches higher. Viewers will be in for an immersive experience through the plot twists, character developments and captivating storyline in Season 2,” he added further.

  • OTTs gear up for battle against content pirates

    OTTs gear up for battle against content pirates

    KOLKATA: With the tectonic shift in technology, piracy has found new ways to expand its reach and impact. And given the ongoing lean period in TV and movie releases, pirates are charting new waters for prey. Streaming platforms, which are investing heavily in premium content, offer easy pickings. While stringent regulation is the need of the hour, major over-the-top (OTT) platforms are devising comprehensive techniques to check this threat.

    One of the leading OTT services in India, SonyLIV, is now moving away from basic solutions to a 360 degree approach. SonyLIV technology head Manish Verma said in a webinar hosted by indiantelevision.com that the platform is now looking at advanced measures like watermarking, fingerprinting and code protection to safeguard its content. It is now in the process of evaluating how they can utilise some of these tools to reduce piracy.

    Read more news on SonyLIV

    Presently, DRM is the preferred mode of encryption for the platform. But Verma admits that DRM has certain loopholes as well, especially when it comes to screen mirroring. Hence, the platform is in talks with vendors and partners to find out other ways to counter piracy. As part of its enhanced security measures, SonyLIV recently started a two-way authentication with username and one time passwords, instead of the traditional login with password system.

    According to ZEE5 India technology head Tushar Vohra, creating a barrier is very important, as is instilling the fear of getting caught among pirates. To this end, tracing the source of a breach can be helpful. For example, ZEE5 will launch a forensic watermarking for its web player this month itself and later across all devices. This step will enable the platform to track the source of pirated content. Hence, Vohra is hopeful that there would be a decline in piracy rate within six months.

    Echoing Vohra’s bent of mind, Verma said: “We need to put deterrence in terms of making it difficult to pirate the content, degrading the experience for pirated content. When a consumer is not getting that experience of premium content on illegal sites, they will come back to our platform.”

    Both tech experts concurred that there is no particular trend of piracy in the Indian market. But Vohra mentioned an interesting fact: premium Indian content is being pirated more outside the country. Some contradictions do exist. While ZEE5 saw an increase in piracy during the lockdown, SonyLIV’s Verma said that the tendency to pay for premium content went up during the same period.

    Read more news on ZEE5

    “We have put in machine learning through which we can detect multiple users logging in or consumer consuming content for a longer duration of time. We can do a token revocation; we can go from the back end and revoke the token if we see some sort of abnormality in the behaviour. I think we are making it difficult to pirate the content,” Verma added.

    The panellists agreed that rationalising cost structure for security will lead to higher adoption of technology solutions. ZEE5, which is already investing five-seven per cent for data and application security, has now developed a full-fledged security team, due to join in December.

  • Amit Bhandari joins Planet Marathi

    Amit Bhandari joins Planet Marathi

    KOLKATA: Just a few months ago, Planet Marathi announced the first-ever Marathi OTT platform that will curate exclusive Marathi content across various genres for the global Marathi audience. This announcement caused quite a stir in the Marathi film world. Ever since the big news, quite a few names are getting associated with the brand. The most recent name to join the bandwagon of entertainment changemakers is Amit Bhandari.

    Bhandari, who was the assistant vice president at Sony Marathi and also being a popular media personality, who has several accolades in the entertainment industry. He will now start the second inning of his career with Planet Marathi. 

    Bhandari’s collaboration with Planet Marathi brings great synergy as both the names are renowned for their path-breaking work in the entertainment industry. Akshay Bardapurkar, head and founder, Planet Marathi, created this brand back in 2017 and eventually made his way into film production. Amit Bhandari’s association with Planet Marathi promises that the caliber entertainment will see a peak.

     Bhandari will be managing the front of Planet Marathi film production, Planet Marathi OTT, and Planet Marathi Talent. While talking about this new chapter in his career, he says, “Today the audience is sensitive when it comes to the content they consume. Planet Marathi OTT recognizes these nuances and is committed to transforming the way Marathi content gets distributed, broadcasted, and the way users experience it. “म मानाचा, म मराठीचा” is the tagline of Planet Marathi OTT. I would love to contribute to Akshay’s vision and give Marathi content the long-overdue recognition it deserves on a global level. My goal is to enable the creation of meaningful content that moves people and promises value in entertainment." Amit also expressed his inclination towards meeting the pace of the fast-evolving talent-management and film production industry with Planet Marathi’s skilled team.

    Bardapurkar expressed his exuberance saying, “We have always believed in the pursuit of excellence. It is only with the right talent and a strong vision, that achieving excellence is possible. Amit has demonstrated his innovation and forward-thinking with Yuva Sakal, Mumbai Times, Star Majha (ABP Majha), and Sony Marathi. The expertise he brings to Planet Marathi along with the decades of experience in Marathi and Hindi entertainment, Amit will only add value to Planet Marathi.”

  • Cinema halls to be back in business from 15 October

    Cinema halls to be back in business from 15 October

    KOLKATA: After coping with the initial shock of Covid2019, the economy has started reviving slowly. With the new guidelines issued by the ministry of home affairs, the revival will speed up, especially in the cinema exhibition sector. The ministry has finally allowed the opening up of cinemas, theatres, multiplexes from 15 October onwards as part of its Unlock 5.0 plan.

    According to the guidelines released today, theatres can open with upto 50 per cent of their seating capacity being thrown to movie goers  outside containment zones. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are to be released a little later by the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) which is the regualtor for the exhibition sector. 

    Along with that, exhibition halls, and entertainment parks have also been given the go-ahead to welcome customers.  States and union territories have been  given the flexibility to to permit gatherings of more than 100 people outside containment zones after 15 October and under social distancing rules.  This probably means B2B exhibitions, cultural, religious, political functions and other gatherings will be allowed from mid-October.  The department of commerce will issue SOPs for these. 

    Earlier this week, west Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had  announced that cinema halls can start screening films for the public come 1 October.  It was the first state government to give the green signal to the beleaguered cinema exhibition sector.

    Since late March 2020, cinema halls have been shuttered leading to huge losses for cinema owners. Film producers and distirbutors , as an alternative, opted for OTT platforms to release their movies. As the move comes just before the festival season, it could be a breather for the industry which has been bleeding for the past six months.

    The experential and events sector is also heaving a sigh of releif with exhibitions, cultural gatherings being permitted. Estimates are that the industry has lost close to Rs 10,000 crore ever since the lockdown was announced late March 2020. And hundreds of thousands of event executives and managers have lost their jobs. With the lockdown measures  being pried open, the hope is that many of them will get back their jobs, with companies working to kick start consumption, and in the process the economy even more.