ITV

Tag: OTT

  • Eros Now partners with CashKaro

    Eros Now partners with CashKaro

    KOLKATA: Eros Now announced a strategic partnership with one of India’s largest Cashback and Coupon sites, CashKaro.com on Wednesday. The association allows CashKaro users to benefit from a special discount offer on Eros Now’s annual subscription and provide access to Eros Now’s massive content catalogue to a wider audience across the country.

    Eros Now’s continuing commitment to offer convenient payment gateways for consumers has led to the partnership with CashKaro, which will provide additional value to its massive customer base along with the special discount. Importantly, the inclusion of Eros Now also builds CashKaro’s entertainment catalogue which currently offers services across categories including fashion, beauty, personal care and electronic devices among others.

    As the online video consumption market continues to grow rapidly, offering Eros Now’s massive content catalogue including 12,000 plus movie titles, original shows, music, short format content Quickie and more with a discount offer, enhances CashKaro’s offerings. Subscribing to Eros Now via CashKaro enables users to avail special discount offers on the annual subscription.

    Commenting on the association, Eros Now CEO Ali Hussein said, “Today’s consumers are increasingly adopting digital mediums to meet their demands and we at Eros Now have been catering to their choices with clutter-breaking initiatives. The strategic deal with CashKaro further builds excitement amongst movie buffs, original show followers and music lovers to access the best of online entertainment by subscribing to Eros Now.”

    CashKaro co-founder Swati Bhargava added, “Eros Now’s massive content library, paired with the convenience of digital payment and discount offers, will certainly fulfill the growing demand of users for OTT content. This partnership enables us to further widen our service catalogue and offer greater volume and variety to our users, in the OTT entertainment category. CashKaro always stands true to its mission statement #YouGetMore Hamesha and this collaboration with Eros Now helps us do just that.”

  • Jio unveils Jio TV+, the OTT content aggregator for STB users

    Jio unveils Jio TV+, the OTT content aggregator for STB users

    KOLKATA: Over the last few years, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL)’s annual general meetings have always bombarded shareholders, investors, users. While Google’s investment in Jio Platform and 5G solution, Jio has also unveiled a new feature for its set-top box users, JioTV+.

    JioTV+  is a content aggregator that brings over the top (OTT) platforms, TV channels, various apps, and services together to its Jio set-top-box users. While Jio Fiber and Jio Set Top Box was introduced last year, the company has enhanced the Jio set-top box basis on learning from the beta programme.

    “The Jio set-top box was launched with best OTT content across the world. We learnt one of the challenges that users faced was to discover their favourite content from the various applications that we had provided. This has given birth to Jio TV+ where we have aggregated all the content from 12 leading global OTT players,” Akash Ambani stated at RIL's 43rd AGM. It will offer easy access to content from major streaming services like including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Voot, SonyLIV, ZEE5. 

    Jio TV Plus includes integrated voice search which works on genres, favourite actors, directors, producers and mood. 

    "We realised all of these 12 apps needed different login ids. To make it simple, we have introduced a single click to play any content without a separate login. Moreover, it requires a user to login a single time instead of logging in on different apps separately," he said 

    It also offers a majority of Live TV channels along with a host interactive features for users to engage in. The features are also available on various genres like GEC, news channels and music contests. “We believe that interactivity on the TV or two-way communication is the future of consumption," Akash Ambani added.

  • Flipkart Video strengthens focus on nonfiction interactive content

    Flipkart Video strengthens focus on nonfiction interactive content

    KOLKATA: Flipkart Video, the in-app video platform on Flipkart is continuing to carve a niche in the nonfiction genre, offering differentiated, interactive content, which is mobile-first.  With a deep understanding of the consumer ecosystem and a focus on interactive, short-form original content tied with tangible rewards, it has now introduced two new quiz based shows, Super Fan and Fake or Not?.

    Both these shows will cater to diverse audiences. While Super Fan is a celebrity focused quiz show, Fake or Not? addresses the need to curb misinformation and identify real from fake in a fun and engaging manner. Hosted by renowned film critic Anupama Chopra, Super Fan will be the ultimate test for ardent Bollywood fans. It will bring forth the never-seen-before side of popular Bollywood celebrities and reveal details of their lives that only their inner circle has been privy to so far! The show has a star studded lineup of guests including Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sara Ali Khan, Ananya Pandey, Taapsee Pannu and Jacqueline Fernandez, to name a few.

    Flipkart Video in support of the United Nations’ ‘Verified’ campaign also recently launched Fake or Not? with actress, comedian and writer Mallika Dua who plays the role of news anchor ‘Mythika Dutt’, set out to quash fake news and beliefs. The show thoughtfully combines entertainment with a subtle touch of humor while still educating the audience to share and trust only verified information. Many questions that are part of the show address common misconceptions surrounding the Covid2019 pandemic.

    Flipkart growth and monetisation vice president  Prakash Sikaria said, “A large percentage of the content consumed on the Flipkart Video platform today is interactive content, where there is something new for the viewers every day. As the mobile screen continues to be the primary access point for personalized commerce, content, games and entertainment experience for most of the Indian population today, our focus is to introduce short-form and interactive content, that not only entertains audiences from across the country but also enables these users to participate and build a sense of community, no matter where they are located.  We have seen tremendous acceptance amongst users for the last few concepts and are ready to expand this portfolio, with two new interactive shows that further strengthen our offering, giving consumers a compelling reason to visit us everyday and spend more time on the app.”

  • Dish TV India partners with HoichoI, introduces Bengali viewing content on both its platforms

    Dish TV India partners with HoichoI, introduces Bengali viewing content on both its platforms

    KOLKATA: Expanding its content library to enthrall its customers, Dish TV India Limited, India’s leading DTH Company has announced its partnership with Hoichoi, a leading Bengali on-demand video and music-streaming platform that streams content worldwide. With this strategic association with Hoichoi, Dish TV India has further strengthened its portfolio by adding one more app in the app zone on its Android-based connected devices, namely Dish SMRT Hub and D2H stream for its DishTV and D2H users respectively. Users will now be able to stream an exciting slate of popular and exclusive Bengali language content, Hoichoi Originals, TV shows, Music Videos and Movies. DishTV and D2H already offer the most popular apps including its streaming app ‘Watcho’.
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    The new addition on Dish SMRT Hub and D2H stream, hoichoi, boasts deep diverse catalogue with over 2000+ hours of viewing content, which includes popular Original Series like Hello Seasons 1 & 2, Byomkesh all five seasons, Shobdo Jobdo, Montu Pilot, Rahasya Romancha Series 2, Bonyo Premer Golpo, the recently streamed Tansener Tanpura among others; Classics of Satyajit Ray, Uttam Kumar-Suchitra Sen, Ritwik Ghatak; Blockbuster Films like Gumnaami, Dwitiyo Purush, Konttho, National Award-winning films like Kedara, Nagarkirtan and many more. Delivering best in class content across genres, the application will cater to the different content expectations of the customers and will keep them enthralled.

    Speaking about the association, Dish TV India Limited executive director and group CEO Anil Dua said, “At a time when everyone is spending more time with their television sets, we want to ensure that people get to enjoy a whole range of entertainment shows and movies together with their families. Catering to the growing audience appetite for entertainment in their native language, we are delighted to collaborate with Hoichoi to offer premium viewing content for our Bengali customers on both our DishTV and D2H platforms. We will continue to enhance the content offering on our hybrid set up box through more such partnerships.”

    On this partnership, Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta commented, “In such unprecedented times, we should do our bit to encourage our audiences to stay at home. With the increased demand of watching content, be it movies or series, this promising partnership with Dish TV India will help us cater and reach out to a larger audience base. Our consumers will now be able to view their content of choice from the vast library of Hoichoi, on both the popular DishTV and D2H platforms.”

    In addition to Hoichoi, the Android box offers a host of features including built-in Google Assistant, Chromecast, Google Play and access to all popular featured OTT platforms like YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Zee5, Watcho, Voot, ALTBalaji and many more. Coupled with the ease of using voice commands via Google Assistant, the Android-based set-top box is compatible with any television set. ‘Dish SMRT Hub’ and ‘D2H stream’ are internet-enabled Android-based HD Set Top Box, available at Rs 3,999 for new subscribers and Rs 2,499 for existing subscribers.

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  • Tata Sky Binge+ customers to get access to premium ZEE5 content

    Tata Sky Binge+ customers to get access to premium ZEE5 content

    KOLKATA: The bouquet of content offerings on Tata Sky Binge+ got a major thrust as Tata Sky extended its partnership withZEE5, for its Android enabled smart Set-top box that provides content from linear Live Television and a host of OTT apps onto a TV. Designed to provide smart and endless choice of entertainment for the entire family, Tata Sky Binge+ is now ready to enthral its subscribers with ZEE5’s expansive Bollywood and multilanguage films and original content spanning over 125,000+ hours across 12 languages – English, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati and Punjabi. This is an addition to what is already available on the platform – an enviable selection of multi-lingual films, original dramas, international blockbuster movies and reality shows from India’s premium OTT platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar Premuim, SunNxt, Hungama Play, Eros Now and ShemarooMe.

    Commenting on the partnership, a Tata Sky spokesperson said, “OTT apps are gaining ground as a popular medium of content consumption.  Considering the stupendous response we have received from the viewers for the fully integrated Tata Sky Binge+ set-top box, we are now strengthening this offering further by bringing onboard ZEE5’s unmatched content library that will further elevate the content viewing experience for our subscribers. We are confident that the Tata Sky Binge+ Smart set top box will offer a seamless experience of live TV channels and apps such as ZEE5, making it a winning proposition for our customers.”

    Talking about the collaboration a ZEE5 Spokesperson stated, “ZEE5 is continuously working towards offering bespoke content for diverse consumer taste clusters across India. As part of this journey, partnering with Tata Sky reinforces our commitment to democratise content by truly providing a Super-app experience for consumers anytime, anywhere. We are happy to extend our partnership with Tata Sky on their new initiative Tata Sky Binge+ Smart set top box. We are certain that with Tata Sky’s reach and ZEE5’s extensive library of content across languages, we will be able to provide consumers with an enriching and engaging content viewing experience.”

    Tata Sky Binge+ hosts many advanced features. It enables viewers to play any show, movie, music, game on their laptop, tablet or mobile phone and watch-it-directly on their TV with its in-built Chromecast. It also includes Google Assistant that makes discovering content easy with voice search. Customers can access 5000+ on the Google Play store. It is compatible with all types of TVs including 4K, HD LED, LCD, or plasma technology as it supports HDMI output and can also be connected to older TV sets over audio and video cable.

    Tata Sky Binge+  provides the benefit of six months subscription to Tata Sky Binge where a user can watch content from premium partner apps on their STBs including 7 days of missed shows (based on linear entitlement) and access to 3 months Amazon Prime subscription all included at an offer of Rs.3999/-.

  • Discovery Plus to add 5 exclusive titles in the month of July

    Discovery Plus to add 5 exclusive titles in the month of July

    KOLKATA: Discovery Plus, India’s first aggregated real-life entertainment streaming app, which offers of thousands of hours of exclusive content across 40+ genres including Science, Adventure, Military, Survival, Food and Lifestyle, is further augmenting its content portfolio with five new titles this July.

    New additions in the month of July include:

    Tales of Valour:

    Military is one of the strongest content verticals of Discovery Plus. The addition of Tales of Valour gives more options to military enthusiasts to explore on this diffrentiated app. Curated and narrated by Maroof Raza, one of India’s foremost military experts, Tales of Valour brings forward factual documentaries, which showcase 12 stories of valour, many of which are unknown to most Indians.  3 episodes of Tales of Valour drop on Discovery Plus on July 20.

    Covid-19: India’s War Against The Virus:

    This Discovery Plus special follows both, the global and the Indian timeline, of how the virus spread and shines light on key developments that have taken place ever since India’s first Coronavirus victim was detected in Kerala.  The documentary premieres on July 16 in 7 languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali, Notably, the Hindi voiceover for this documentary has been provided by Bollywood star Manoj Bajpayee and the Tamil voiceover by celebrated writer, director, actor Gautham Vasudev Menon. This will be the 4th Covid-19 documentary to be dropped on Discovery Plus.

    Project Runway S18:

    Emmy-winning competition series “Project Runway” returns for another season of high stakes and fierce fashions. Fashion aficionados can binge-watch the entire season in one go as sixteen new hopefuls fight it out to take the runway by storm and make fashion history. Host Karlie Kloss is back, along with Christian Siriano as the mentor and returning judges Nina Garcia, Brandon Maxwell, and Elaine Welteroth, to decide who has what it takes to make it in the world of cut-throat fashion.

    Expedition Unknown – Season 6:

    Intrigued by legendary mysteries and driven by curiosity, Josh Gates is on a mission for answers. `Exhibition Unknown' chronicles his global adventures as he investigates iconic unsolved events, lost cities, buried treasures and other puzzling stories in this brand-new season.  Starting July 27, 3 episodes from Expedition Unknown – Season 6, will be available on Discovery Plus.

    Richard Hammond’s BIG:

    Richard Hammond is going behind-the-scenes of the largest structures and machines in the world to understand the science of ‘big’ – how engineers go about building, maintaining and using these superstructures. Starting July 06, each episode of Richard Hammond’s BIG! takes him to a new location and mega structure, where he meets the unsung heroes at the front line making them work and explores the science behind them with a series of experiments.

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  • SonyLIV strengthens its live sports portfolio

    SonyLIV strengthens its live sports portfolio

    KOLKATA: Mexican waves, boisterous applause and an edge of the seat adrenaline; the joy of witnessing live sports is unmatchable. This monsoon, SonyLIV augments its offerings with back to back sporting spectacles starting 8 July 2020. From international cricket to the best of football to the biggest basketball sensation and more, SonyLIV’s live sports portfolio is brimming with the best of tournaments for all sports aficionados in India.

    The cricket season begins today. First up is a clash between England and West Indies, marking the return of International cricket with 3 consecutive Test series. Interim captain Ben Stokes will lead England against the visitors boasting off a bunch of power hitters captained by Jason Holder for the 33rd Time in Test Cricket. Quite interestingly, Jason Holder is also the World's no 1 Test all-rounder who will look to retain his position against Stokes who comes a close second. All three Test series will be streamed live at 3:30 PM on SonyLIV in India.  This will be followed by England vs Ireland starting July 30. 

    Next up is the on-going battle of the heavyweights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship on and from 12 July in Abu Dhabi. The tournament will have a fresh set of fights with strong contenders like Kamaru Usman, Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, Jose Aldo, Jessica Andrade, Paige Vanzant and others locking horns in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Also going live is WWE Extreme Rules 2020, the no holds barred sporting tournament. Touted as ‘The Horror Show’, this one will witness some power packed clashes and epic rivalries on and from 20 July. All matches will be live streamed on SonyLIV.

    And then there’s the biggest highlighter of the month. The 2019-20 NBA Season begins on July 30 with 22 teams participating in the big battle. While there would be no live audience, SonyLIV users in India will be able to watch all the matches on the platform. This coveted league will continue till the finale in October 2020.

    But that’s not all. Bringing the best of International football to screens, The 2019/20 UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals will also resume as a straight knockout tournament on and from 7 August. Round of 16 2nd Leg matches will also be held preceding the main tournament leading up to the finale on August 24. Adding to this is The FA cup semi-finals on 19 July and the on-going Serie A.

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  • Discovery Plus subscription well ahead of estimation: Issac John

    Discovery Plus subscription well ahead of estimation: Issac John

    KOLKATA: Just as the pandemic starting snarling in India, Discovery Plus had only just taken off its OTT journey. However, the lockdown and the boost it gave to digital viewing seems to have aided the new entrant.  

    “We launched on the eve of lockdown. So a lot of OTTs have data that how subscribers were moving before and how they are behaving after it. We didn't have that visibility. We were in the lockdown when we launched and consumption happened during the lockdown and we continue to live through this. But, our subscription estimates are actually well ahead of what we had estimated. There has definitely been a lot of consumer love that's come our way in terms of consumers going for Discovery Plus subscriptions,” says Discovery Digital (south Asia) business head Issac John.

    Some other indicators, John said, were the 4.5 ratings for the app on App Store and Play Store as well as qualitative comments such as being able to watch with their families. He added that Discovery Plus is the only OTT player which works with two kinds of vectors. While one is essentially the lifelong learner’s vector, it is also catering to certain passion verticals. 

    After getting consumer requests, Discovery Plus has also launched its service on Fire TV, even though its main priority was iOS, Android and mobile web. Android TV app is also on the way.

    “We have seen time spent on Fire TV is 2.4x than the mobile format. I think what ends up happening is that when you consume content as premium as we have at Discovery Plus, your attachment to the content really goes up significantly That is also essentially like a clear sign on of how consumers love us on the big screen,” John added.

    Discovery Plus, emphasising the big-screen delight experience, launched a new marketing campaign that runs across all 14 Discovery network channels as well as on all key digital platforms. 

    “A part of our retention strategy is to ensure that the consumers have enough choice pertaining to the specific interests they came for. Moreover, at any point in time, in any given month, we will launch anywhere between 20 to 30 shows from our bank which is a mix of specials, exclusive acquisitions, etc,” John stated.  

    John said that it would be launching some premium BBC titles to strengthen the learning vector as well as female-friendly content, which haven’t been exposed so far. 

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  • Airtel further strengthens its partnership ZEE5

    Airtel further strengthens its partnership ZEE5

    KOLKATA: As part of its strategic alliance with ZEE5, Bharti Airtel (Airtel) today launched new propositions for its mobile customers in India. These prepaid propositions are designed to deliver an exciting digital entertainment experience to Airtel smartphone customers by unlocking the full ZEE5 premium content catalogue to go with generous high speed data allowance and unlimited calling benefit.  

    1. The new Rs 289 prepaid bundle offers Unlimited Calling, 1.5 GB/day, 100 SMS/day plus full access to the entire ZEE5 catalogue, which includes hits such as Ghoomketu, Chintu Ka Birthday, Rangbaaz Phirse, Lalbazaar to name a few. The bundle comes with a validity of 28 days. In addition, as part of Airtel Thanks benefits the customer also gets access to Airtel

    Xstream content and Wynk Music subscription .  

    2. The Rs 79 top-up offers subscription to the entire ZEE5 catalogue for 30 days. The convenient top up will be available to all Airtel customers through the Digital Store Section on Airtel Thanks App.  Customers can purchase the new prepaid pack on Airtel Thanks app, www.airtel.in and at all Airtel retail stores across India.

    Bharti Airtel chief marketing officer Shashwat Sharma said: “With the massive surge in consumption of digital content on smartphones, Airtel’s new prepaid packs make it simpler for millions of customers to access rich content from ZEE5 without having to worry about managing separate

    subscription charges. Our users can enjoy this exclusive content offering on Airtel 4G, which has been consistently rated as India’s top mobile network for video by global experts.”

    ZEE5 India business development and commercial head Manpreet Bumrah said, “During such unprecedented times, we urge all the citizens to stay home and stay calm, while we continue to serve the best of entertainment content across languages, genres, and a spectrum of devices. Our partnership with Airtel enables us to maximise reach by appealing to a large base of Airtel consumers present across the country. With this proposition, we are enhancing our existing relationship and reach through prepaid bundle & top-up plans further democratising access to world-class entertainment at consumer’s fingertip.”

  • Planet Marathi to launch Marathi OTT Platform

    Planet Marathi to launch Marathi OTT Platform

    KOLKATA: Passionate filmmaker and producer Akshay Bardapurkar of Planet Marathi, actor Pushkar Shrotri, and music composer Aditya Oak are all set to launch Planet Marathi OTT, India’s one and only platform that curates Marathi content, exclusively for Marathi audience.

    The world is experiencing a wave of digital transformation and every industry is adapting to it. The emergence of OTT has disrupted the experience of entertainment for the audience making it accessible, affordable, and uncomplicated. While many Indian OTT platforms have tried to be inclusive about regional content, Marathi craft is yet to see it’s high praise! Passionate filmmaker and producer Akshay Bardapurkar of Planet Marathi, actor Pushkar Shrotri, and music composer Aditya Oak are all set to launch Planet Marathi OTT, India’s one and only platform that curates Marathi content, exclusively for Marathi audience.

    Marathi craft was yet to receive its rightful place in the digital space. Planet Marathi OTT’s tagline, ‘Ma Mancha, M Marathicha’ evokes a sense of pride as we will finally see the launch of an OTT specifically for Marathi audience. Planet Marathi OTT hosts a plethora of binge-worthy Marathi content like films, theatre, television shows, infotainment, educational content for kids, fiction, non-fiction, reality shows, and a lot more! It is the future of digital entertainment in the Marathi language. IOS and Android users globally will witness entertainment experience that meets international benchmarks with this app. Making premium subscriptions affordable for every household and viewing experiences simplified for all age groups, Planet Marathi OTT streams more than just regular entertainment. The OTT streams recreational content like karaoke songs, recipes, yoga, health, and live-fitness videos too! The somewhat neglected yet noteworthy Marathi content finally finds a rightful place on Planet Marathi OTT.

    Talking about his dream project, Planet Marathi Seller Services Pvt. Ltd producer CMD Akshay Bardapurkar states, “Marathi films lack the edge in calculated box office releases. Planet Marathi aims to simplify this for talented filmmakers, who want to reach the global audience without worrying about consuming the budget on marketing the films rather than crafting it. Planet Marathi’s overarching vision is to create an ecosystem where Marathi films, filmmakers, artists, technical teams, and most importantly the language thrives”.

    Planet Marathi Seller Services Pvt. Ltd actor and CEO Pushkar Shrotri defines Planet Marathi OTT as a ‘new-age entertainment’ solution. He adds, “We see a paradigm shift in the way content is being consumed today, the changing times are setting new archetypes in Marathi entertainment, OTT being at forefront of this movement. Marathi entertainment industry needed a call for action where an exclusive Marathi OTT is launched to cater to the entertainment needs of Marathi audience, Planet Marathi OTT will do exactly that!”.

    “Planet Marathi honors the language, culture, and the spirit of Marathi! It gives us great honor to represent India’s one and only Marathi OTT. I am truly ecstatic to be a part of the team and we hope the audience will also love our offerings. It is a proud moment for me”, Music composer and  Planet Marathi Seller Services Pvt. Ltd COO Aditya Oak states .