ITV

Tag: OTT

  • Changing consumer behaviour as viewership spikes on ZEE5

    Changing consumer behaviour as viewership spikes on ZEE5

    MUMBAI: The current Covid2019 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown has not just stalled industries and economic activity but has also contributed to the ongoing change in behavioural patterns in people, including that of digital consumption. The restrictions on social interaction imposed by the government in response to the pandemic had already led to an increase in video viewership on OTT platforms. The lockdown led to more people inadvertently realising the convenience of OTT, which has shifted the way content is consumed on a day-to-day basis.

    With Unlock 2.0, production studios are coming back to a new way of shooting; thus ensuring consumers get their daily dose of entertainment. With regional language channels launching new shows which are being shot in smaller towns to new episodes of old shows, viewership is growing week on week. ZEE5, India’s No.1 Contech platform, has observed a phenomenal spike in viewership as consumers consume more content on the platform, with the new Unlock!

    Viewers bounce back:

    As TV shows gear up to launch new episodes from 13 July, ZEE5 has observed a +52 per cent Week on-Week growth in video views across majority of languages. Shows such as, Rahichi Rahibi Tori Pain, Pavitra Rishta, Vedh Bhavishyaacha, Ninne Palladhata and many shows across Hindi, Oriya, Marathi, Kannada etc have observed a massive jump in video views. 

    With the increase in demand for digital content, more and more households have invested in Connected TV (CTV) devices like Apple TV, Amazon Firestick and Smart TVs. These devices provide regular televisions with internet access to stream video content on OTT platforms. 

    The Rise of Cord Cutting and Cord Shaving

    Cord cutters are viewers who have cancelled paid multichannel subscription services like cable or satellite television. Cord shavers are viewers who have downgraded their TV packages, replacing those reduced services with on-demand video streaming services.

    In a survey carried out by Eros Now and KPMG in September 2019, involved 1458 OTT users from 10 cities in India, revealed that 10 per cent of respondents prefer watching original content online. The report also revealed that OTT video could usher in cord cutting sooner than expected. While 38 percent of the respondents could consider cord cutting in the future, 14 percent of the respondents considered subscribing to OTT platforms as an alternative to TV subscriptions. 

    As more and more consumers decide to reduce or cancel their TV subscriptions to consume content on OTT, this has led to a rise in cord cutting and cord shaving. 

    The lockdown has driven this behavioural change into permanency and now manifests itself in viewers consuming old and new TV content again across all apps.

    With three out of ten respondents viewing online video on telco platforms, also proved the importance of Telco platforms for the distribution of online video content. A recent study by YouGov (Feb 2020) suggested, that 42 per cent people spend time watching catchup content on OTT platforms while only 18 per cent prefer watching TV. The same report also mentioned that 72 per cent urban Indians prefer video on demand as compared to cable TV.

    A large part of the TV viewing audience has migrated towards consuming content on digital-only platforms like OTT. The above table shows 10 shows which are produced for TV and are also available on ZEE5. Majority people have watched the episode on ZEE5 as compared to TV. This rise in viewing content online has opened new doors for advertisers. As more and more people move towards ZEE5, advertisers can use this opportunity to reach more people by leveraging ZEE5 content to increase their market presence. 

    Opportunity for Advertisers

    As consumers adapt to the new way of living, they will likely continue to stream OTT content for the majority of their at-home entertainment. Hence OTT is becoming mainstream for most advertisers as the platforms are brand safe, have higher ad completion rates and cost per effective reach for the brand. As viewership increases, ZEE5 is the destination for brands to advertise which provides incremental and targeted reach through transparency in measurability.  

    ZEE5, Contech leader in this space, provides unique targeting through one on one targeting, lifestyle-based cohort segmentation and a powerful suite of Ads format to engage audience depending on business objective across an entire device ecosystem.

    Learn more about OTT advertising and how this strategy could be implemented for your business by getting in touch with ZEE5 Ads.

  • Aim to get hundreds of millions of subscribers for Disney+ Hotstar: Uday Shankar

    Aim to get hundreds of millions of subscribers for Disney+ Hotstar: Uday Shankar

    KOLKATA: Disney+ Hotstar is not going to limit itself to sports and classic Disney+ library in India. While last year Hotstar went into original content, after its rebranding to Disney+ Hotstar, it is chasing a large audience also with direct-to-digital premiers of bollywood movies. The streaming service which crossed eight million subscribers within one week of its launch is currently looking at ramping up subscriber numbers in India.

    “What we are looking at is to get tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of people to subscribe to Disney+ Hotstar. Once we do that, it becomes an attractive business with many possibilities,” The Walt Disney Company APAC chairman and Star and Disney India president Uday Shankar said in an interview with ET Now.

    While Shankar was asked if TVoD can be a scalable model in OTT business, he did not agree. “I am not a big fan of the pay-per-view model. Those are very transactional with customers and I don’t think a platform which has a long-term vision and wants to be the substitute for TV in this country should do something like pay-per-view. Tomorrow, we might change our strategy but that’s not what we are looking at right now,” he added. 

    Disney+ Hotstar could reach 93 million paying subscribers by 2025 at monthly ARPUs under $1, as per a report from MPA. It also added that the service’s major differentiation has been its vast aggregation of premium local and international entertainment and sports, driving its present-day addressable market to 100 million + subscribers.

  • ZEE5 records over 50% increase in WoW viewership

    ZEE5 records over 50% increase in WoW viewership

    KOLKATA: During the lockdown, ZEE5, as India’s Entertainment Super-App has continued to entertain and engage diverse audiences by serving bespoke content across languages and a spectrum of devices. The platform’s popularity surged further as the week-on-week viewership soared by 52 per cent for all the shows, reinforcing itself as India’s most preferred destination for digital video entertainment.

    With the extended lockdown, citizens have been confined to their homes looking for a source of entertainment. And amidst this lockdown, leading the digital video entertainment space, ZEE5 has been catering to their diverse audiences through various initiatives and shows across genres and languages. This exceptional surge in viewership has been recorded for shows such as Pavitra Rishta, Trinayani, Rahichi Rahibi Tori Pain, Neeyum Njanum, Ninne Palladhata, Agga Bai Sasubai, Ratris Khel Chale 2 and numerous other shows that recorded a significant surge in views.

    Amongst all, Telugu content recorded the maximum rise in viewership with 157 per cent WoW, followed by Hindi with 106 per cent. Other languages like Bengali, Malayalam and Oriya also witnessed a significant surge.

    With Unlock 2.0, production studios are coming back to a new way of shooting; thus, ensuring consumers get their daily dose of entertainment. ZEE5 is gearing up to continue serving fans with their favourite shows by adding new episodes from 13 July 2020.  And as more people turn to OTT platforms in the current scenario, due to increasing preference for digital platforms, the platform is ready to address this massive traffic for these shows.

  • New-gen kids prefer OTT platforms to kids’ TV channels

    New-gen kids prefer OTT platforms to kids’ TV channels

    KOLKATA: Back in the ’90s or early 2000s, kids had control over TV remotes during their vacation. Many kids would not have finished their meals without Mickey Mouse or Tom and Jerry on the screen which later became Pokemon and The Mask as well. With getting older, the names changed to Hannah Montana, That’s So Raven or High School Musical. Television occupied the childhood years of Gen Y and early Gen Z with some remembering their parents disconnecting cable just before board exams. The unfortunate Covid2019 pandemic has given an extended holiday to kids of today.   

    We all say major childhood habits grow into a lifelong trait. In that way, the future of linear television seems bleak as today’s kids are glued to video-on-demand services through smartphones, tablets and connected devices. Disney, the network which has amused several generations of kids has decided to shut three of its channels in the UK this fall. 

    Its new streaming service Disney+ will be home to content from Disney Channel, DisneyXD and Disney Junior from 1 October. Not only Europe, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, and Go Disney have been removed from Singapore’s Starhub and Singtel network. Although Disney+ is not available in Singapore yet, experts have speculated that it might soon enter the market.

    Why is Disney pulling off its kids’ channels from linear TV while its other channels still remain on? A network which has achieved over 50 million subscribers for its new streaming service in six months, is definitely looking at the long term game. A PWC data from 2019 showed that children between the ages of two and 11 watch 35 per cent fewer hours of live and time-shifted TV than they did in 2014; teenage viewing fell faster and was down almost 50 per cent over the same period. The statistics speak for Disney’s move to ditch traditional TV. It might be pulling off the oxygen supply via TV but it is injecting streaming in their blood.

    The change might be slower in India and as experts say linear TV and OTT will co-exist at least in the near future. If we look at BARC-Nielsen week 20 data, the kids genre has grown to nine per cent compared to pre-Covid2019 period. Compared to other genres, the growth is slower despite the surge in viewership in lockdown. Moreover, the growth is not even expected to translate into ad revenue. Hence, all the major networks in the country will try to monetise the same on their OTT platforms. 

    ZEE5 launched its kids’ section during the lockdown where all content from the network will be promoted. Viacom18 has already charted its future in Voot Select. SonyYAY has also been promoting its content on SonyLIV. Netflix revealed its ambitious plan for the segment earlier after churning out Mighty Little Bheem. Amazon Prime Video made its kids and family content free when lockdown started. Broadcasters are left with no option but to use digital platforms to get money out of a slowly dying genre on TV, even in India.

    Even during the countrywide shelter-at-home phase, co-viewing got a boost but for OTTs via connected devices or smart TVs. Kids are not only getting OTTs as their babysitters but also an activity to do with parents. As they grow, when they will look back at these days, a generation will remember Disney+, Netflix, Amazon as Gen Y did Cartoon Network, Nick and Disney Channel. 

    However, Indian kids are still enjoying traditional TV as BARC data shows that the kid's genre viewership has grown by 53 per in lockdown compared to the pre-Covid2019 period . 

  • Asian Paints’ collaborates with Disney+ Hotstar’s ‘Home Dancer’ show

    Asian Paints’ collaborates with Disney+ Hotstar’s ‘Home Dancer’ show

    KOLKATA: Paint category leader Asian Paints has joined hands with premium online streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar’s dance reality show Home Dancer for a consumer engagement innovation. Through Home Dancer, an online dance competition, Disney+ Hotstar offered dance lovers a unique chance to showcase their moves from the comfort of their homes where each week, participants chose a track on the app and uploaded a video on the microsite. This way, they continued to pursue their passion for dance notwithstanding the lockdown in India.

    Asian Paints recently introduced its ‘Safe Painting’ services that aims to provide consumers with a safe painting environment and hassle-free, faster and professional experience. Consumers can now make their cherished space – home – an even more wonderful space as they stay indoors, maintaining social distancing during the current pandemic.

    Home Dancer is a unique show, where participants shot their dance videos in their favourite, most important corners of their homes. The show and the ‘Safe Painting’ solutions are never-seen-before innovations born as a necessity of the onset of social distancing. Asian Paints thus saw this as an opportunity to partner with the series via an impactful in-show integration.

    Speaking about the campaign, Madison Media chief digital officer  Vishal Chinchankar said, “Our strategy was to build awareness about the safety measures of Asian Paints’ new Safe Painting service. Impact properties played a vital in this launch and helped build strong association and create consideration amongst consumers Most of the networks are unable to air any fresh content due to the pandemic, with Disney+ Hotstar’s Home Dancer being one exception. The show and Safe Painting focus strongly on indoors, making the torrid times of social distancing bearable for consumers with uninterrupted service. We believe the synergies matched perfectly for an effective in-show integration that communicates to millions.”

    Speaking about the integration, Star and Disney India Ad Sales head Nitin Bawankule said, “With Home Dancer, Disney+ Hotstar has democratised content for viewers in this unprecedented time of social distancing. Asian Paints has empowered consumers by letting them optimize time and get their homes repainted, aligning   all social distancing and safety norms. The collaboration of these two brands for this innovation seemed absolutely natural and points to the evolution of marketing hereon.”

    The integration played out in Home Dancer’s episode 8, themed around ‘weddings, shows the conversation between the host Karan Wahi and his mother wherein she suggests Karan to give Asian Paints’ ‘Safe Painting’ service a try. The latter part of the episode highlights the quick service from Asian Paints as Karan receives a call from an Asian Paints executive, explaining all the strict safety, hygiene and social distancing measures employed by painters within the ‘Safe Painting’ service. Getting excited about the new initiative, Karan asks the audience to try out the service and signs off informing them about the missed call number.

  • VOOT SELECT gets into sports content, brings Arsenal TV on the platform

    VOOT SELECT gets into sports content, brings Arsenal TV on the platform

    KOLKATA:  In India, Arsenal fans, famously called as ‘Gooners’ have a reason to celebrate now as Viacom18’s premium English entertainment destinations VOOT SELECT and COLORS INFINITY are exclusively showcasing Arsenal TV on the platform and channel respectively. Gooners will now have access to full matches, press conferences, player interviews, training videos, match highlights, post-match analysis and BTS footage of their favorite team, through Arsenal TV programming – Arsenal World and Arsenal 360.

    Football is the most watched and followed sport in the world and the fanfare in India has been rising exponentially, with legendary clubs like Arsenal FC being amongst the most popular clubs in the country. Fans will get an even more immersive experience and insight to the matches through special programming and exclusive access to club related content they never had before.

    Along with complete matches of Arsenal FC in the Premier League, European and FA Cup, viewers can watch the exclusive programming of Arsenal World and Arsenal 360, as well as unforgettable moments from previous seasons including the season of ‘The Invincibles’. Furthermore, Arsenal TV will be a window to the training videos, interviews of manager Mikel Arteta, star players Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Granit Xhaka, David Luiz and the rest of the squad.

    Follow Tellychakkar for the consumer facing news & entertainment

  • Priyanka Chopra Jonas signs multi-million dollar two-year deal with Amazon

    Priyanka Chopra Jonas signs multi-million dollar two-year deal with Amazon

    KOLKATA: No celebrity now can miss the opportunity opened up by the streaming platforms. Now, Priyanka Chopra Jonas joins the league signing a two-year multimillion-dollar first-look television deal with Amazon.

    According to a Variety report, a general meeting with Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke led to the first-look deal. Earlier, she was already collaborating with Amazon on two television projects. Amazon hopes the deal will help grow the studio’s footprint in the country.

    “My quest really is to be able to tell female stories, work with creators from around the world and create a cross-pollination of storytelling. Amazon is such a great partner to do that because their reach and outlook is so global. My Amazon television deal is a global deal, so I can do Hindi language, I can do English language, I can do whatever language I want,” she said as quoted by Variety.

    “As both an actor and producer, I have always dreamt of an open canvas of creative talent coming together from all over the world to create great content irrespective of language and geography. This has always been the DNA of my production house Purple Pebble Pictures, and is the foundation of this exciting new endeavor with Amazon,” she wrote in a post on Instagram.

  • BookMyShow launches global online streaming platform for live entertainment with ‘BookMyShow Online’

    BookMyShow launches global online streaming platform for live entertainment with ‘BookMyShow Online’

    KOLKATA: Continuing with its efforts to keep consumers entertained within the safety of their homes, BookMyShow, India’s leading entertainment destination today announced the launch of its online video streaming platform for live entertainment – BookMyShow Online. Having entertained millions of customers with multiple in-home virtual entertainment offerings on its platform, in the shadow of the COVID health crisis, BookMyShow’s latest feature is a response to audiences’ growing need for entertainment within their homes, for the present times.

    This is the latest in BookMyShow’s growing range of offerings, as the preferred discovery platform for all things entertainment. BookMyShow Online caters to the fast-evolving, ever-changing needs of entertainment lovers in India as also globally for customers using the platform across USA & North America, UK, Germany, UAE, South East Asia, and West Indies. BookMyShow’s new streaming feature as a virtual platform for viewing live entertainment has successfully hosted over 30 events at scale, including the first-ever global virtual tours of Latin musician Willie Gomez, Australian pop band The Buckleys as also American music artist Taylor Castro’s performances amongst others.

    BookMyShow Online is all set to host the first ever Virtual Music Festival in the country with the Sunburn Home Festival, – the virtual edition of Asia’s biggest electronic dance music festival. The festival will feature top DJs from across the globe in a never-seen-before avatar with 3D animations and special effects showcasing the virtual live experience of a music concert with end-to-end production of stage, lights, LED, lasers, special effects and more streamed live only on BookMyShow Online.

    With this, BookMyShow brings together all forms of entertainment, whether out-of-home or delivered at-home under its roof in keeping with its brand mantra – ‘It All Starts Here!’

    A global platform for virtual live entertainment, BookMyShow Online will be home to both paid and free performances across music, comedy, and other performing arts and will be an extension of the unparalleled live entertainment experiences produced and brought to the country by the entertainment company. BookMyShow Online aims to give consumers a seamless option to view live on-ground experiences from the comfort of their living room, or any location of their preference. 

    BookMyShow Online breaks all geographical barriers when it comes to live entertainment experiences, offering artists all over the world, an opportunity to stream their live performances directly on the platform, helping them reach and engage with millions of their fans in India and globally. The streaming feature will run across BookMyShow’s app and web platforms matching global capacity standards to host a smooth experience for scores of concurrent viewers at any given point.

    BookMyShow co-founder and director Parikshit Dar said, “Innovation has always been at the core of BookMyShow, riding on the strength of our product platform, technological expertise and data analytics to enhance the experience of millions of consumers. Sensing the shift in our users’ appetite for entertainment during this lockdown, we were agile enough to change tack by introducing virtual in-home entertainment offerings in India and other global markets. The resultant consumer engagement for such initiatives was phenomenal indicating a latent demand and an opportunity to serve seamless virtual live entertainment. Our latest video streaming platform BookMyShow Online was born out of this need to make virtual live entertainment, a friction-less and hassle-free viewing experience. The streaming platform was integrated into our native product within a few weeks and offers customisation, massive scale for concurrent viewing and complete security of content. We have, since, been successful in hosting multiple performances from across the globe on BookMyShow Online and are now thrilled to officially launch the service for our valued customers.”

    BookMyShow has partnered with Brightcove, the world’s leading video technology platform, as the underlying video streaming technology that powers the use case for the video platform BookMyShow Online. Brightcove’s underlying technology enables BookMyShow Online to deliver a reliable, high-quality streaming experience that is easily scalable as the platform’s audience size continues to increase.

  • “The goal is to create a $100 million IP company”: GoQuest’s Vivek Lath

    “The goal is to create a $100 million IP company”: GoQuest’s Vivek Lath

    Goquest Media is an independent distributor of global entertainment content offering a broad portfolio of international television series, scripted formats, factual content and films. Supplementing its portfolio of Indian content with key acquisitions from Europe, GoQuest Media is looking to serve the scripted needs of buyers across the globe.

    The Indian OTT space is booming, with platforms clamouring to raise the bar in local scripted content. According to GoQuest Media, this new age of premium Indian drama is creating a wealth of opportunities. In the long run the company is looking at becoming a global content agency. The firm’s primary vision is to promote India on a global stage and also expand their footprint in the global market. The company recently landed the distribution rights to two original series from OTT platform MX Player, Ek Thi Begum (The Mafia Queen) and Queen.

    In a special interaction with indiantelevision.com GoQuest founder and MD Vivek Lath spoke at length about Indian and international content market, his plan going forward and much more.

    How huge is the Indian market for GoQuest in terms of storytelling and content?

    Indian market is a pretty big market for GoQuest overall. We have been in touch with all the local OTT platforms for selling content which is dubbed in Hindi or in local languages. Most of the content that we are talking about comes from outside India. There is a large amount of transaction that has been going around remake rights or adaptation rights of international shows and films into India. Indian market is growing every year and slowly as more consumers demand more content, there will also be more demand for ready content coming outside India which would be plugged into the system here.

    So, GoQuest is looking at building a major distribution/production company out of India. What's your vision.

    The vision is to ultimately build up a very strong content monetisation company across various platforms and mediums. We are currently sitting between production, consumer facing platforms. Our services are essentially limited to the montisation part. Right now, we want to vertically move towards the production side of the business. In the coming two to three  years we will also enter the consumer side of the business and become a consumer entertainment brand. The goal is to create a 100 million-dollar IP company out of India, which is not only producing content but a holding company of very large and good IPs. The vision is creating a gamut of entertainment services including production, consumer driven business and distribution. We are also planning to create financial products around entertainment. The focus is to become an end to end entertainment media conglomerate.

    GoQuest has appointed people overseas and it is trying to become India’s global agency. Can you elaborate more on this.

    We will continue to hire people outside India. Most of the people that we are hiring overseas are from the business development and partnership side. Paula, who is a Keshet alum, is based in Tel Aviv and manages businesses in Europe and US. Harshad,who is in Vietnam manages South East Asia and East Asia. From a sales reach point of view, it is important for us to put these offices in place, if we have to expand our business. GoQuest will continue to hire leaders in those regions. We have also onboarded consultants who help us with partnerships and outreach. All in all a mix of full time and part time employees. We have a team of 5 outside India and 48 within India

    Are you looking at becoming a specialist in this field?

    We are specialists in this field. We are the only company out of India, which does the kind of licensing business . GoQuest doesn’t have a direct competition in India as of now. We will continue to build in this niche, that is where we stand out. We are picking up more and more fiction stories from across the world. Our immediate goal is to build a strong fiction distribution pipeline . Pushing India to the global stage is something we are keen on. One of our goals is to push Indian content, especially the one made for the OTT players on par with the other global content that is there in the market

    How are you planning to utilise Queen and Ek Thi Begum considering Queen has recently come on Zee as well.

    Well our arrangement with MX Player is largely for distributing the show internationally. We don’t hold the rights for India. But internationally we do, and we have already started many conversations there. OTT players with in India are already licensing shows to each other and to tv broadcast. Our battleground will be to mount the shows outside India

    What is the cost of licensing?

    We act as pure play service providers distributing content in the international market. As far as Licensing is concerned, the spectrum goes anywhere between $500 per episode in a small market to $5000 in a large market. There is no fixed benchmark, it completely depends on the market and different territories. It also depends upon the quality and story of the show.

    Do you also have TV distribution rights for Queen? Also, OTT contents are now going to TV. Do you think it is viable?

    We have all the distribution rights for Queen on both OTT and TV, for the international market. According to me OTT content going to TV is a viable position. At the end it is all about who is the audience what is the audience overlap between TV and OTT. I think it is good for different companies, mediums and platforms to share the cost of content in a way. Because production costs are shooting up and to make sense of the economics of each content that is being produced, I think it is a good way of monetising it.

    Any new Indian content in the pipeline that you are planning to acquire?

    We are in advance conversation with almost all the OTT producers in India at this point for the intellectual properties they own. We are making sure that whatever show we handpick is of extremely good quality rather than taking it as a commodity approach and cross-selling product at super cheap price.

    In the current situation, where production is on hold, what is your strategy going forward?

    With production on hold, it hasn’t changed much for us. Of course, we need more and more content to drive our business. However, it’s just been three months now, there is enough content for us to sell even if the production is on hold. If the hold continues for a longer period, then it will be challenging to get new products. But our challenges will be minuscule as compared to the challenges faced by the overall industry. I am not worried as such as far as our business is concerned.

    Are you looking at content that can be remade in India?

    Absolutely, in fact we are putting together packages for about four different shows for which have acquired remake rights for India. We have put the right people behind them to i.e. writers, showrunners anddirectors and then go out to pitch the script to OTT platforms. Some of the shows we have are being commissioned by the networks in France, US and in Europe. All the shows that we have, are tried and tested so there is very limited risk about the story line. I believe there is a lot of scope of remaking content in India.

    How has the pandemic impacted your business?

    We all forced ourselves to efficiently work from home. A lot of our interactions are documented for better clarity. Use of collaborative tools to make sure things don’t go out of hand. The business momentum was significantly big at the start of this year, and that momentum has been slowed down for us now. But I believe things won’t be that bad for us going forward. Because content companies are now springing back up, consumer spending is slowly increasing. Yes, we have been affected but it is not going to be long term as far as the pandemic is concerned.

    Apart from Indian content, will you be bringing more international content in India.

    Indian content that we are distributing is for outside India. But we are bringing a lot of international content in India. We are looking at our Ruby Ring, which has done really well all across the world. We are approaching all the leading OTT players now to buy the rights. We are also looking at making that show for regular GEC broadcast. There are a lot of international shows that we are bringing in India, details will be out soon.

  • Eros Now Partners with Dish TV India

    Eros Now Partners with Dish TV India

    KOLKATA:Eros Now today announced its partnership with Dish TV, the leading direct-to-home (DTH) offering the best of online entertainment. As part of the association, Dish TV & D2H users can access Eros Now's massive content library including 12,000 plus movie titles, original shows, short-format content Quickie, music through their android set-top boxes – Dish SMRT Hub & D2H Stream, respectively.

    Online content consumption is increasing rapidly as consumers access streaming services from their home. This partnership further deepens Eros Now's reach by providing seamless access to Dish TV India's vast number of consumers in the country. DishTVAND D2H users can avail free access to Eros Now on the first month's subscription after which users can pay as per their subscription plans. The inclusion of Eros Now in DishTV and D2H set-top box, SMRT Stick and SMRT Kit with Alexa services enhances consumers' streaming experience.

    Dish SMRT Hub’ and ‘d2h stream’ are internet-based Android-based HD Set Top Boxes and offer a host of features including built-in Google Assistant, Chromecast, Google Play and access to all popular apps. Coupled with the ease of using voice commands via Google Assistant, these Android-based set-top boxes are compatible with any television set and available for Rs 3,999 for new subscribers and Rs 2,499 for existing subscribers.

    Commenting on the partnership, Eros Now  CEO Ali Hussein said, "Eros Now has a vast movie catalogue that features cult classics to modern, new-age films. The massive content library offers high-quality experience to the consumers who can consume the content from their homes on smart TVs, at their convenience. This transformation of OTT consumption moving from personal, private devices to television sets in the living room, is a growing trend with movies and other long-format content being consumed on large screens. Eros Now's endeavour has always been to present the best of online streaming content and provide seamless access to consumers across markets as well as different mediums. The association with Dish TV's innovative services keeps its vast consumer base glued to the television sets with the inclusion of Eros Now's content that offers premium OTT experience."

    Commenting on the association, Executive Director and Group CEO, Dish TV India Ltd executive director and group CEO Anil Dua said, “In our endeavour to provide the best of both the linear and online entertainment options, we have recently introduced a whole range of connected devices including Android STB’s and streaming sticks. We are happy to partner with Eros Now and this partnership will enable our customers to have access to their vast online content library across both our Dish and D2H platforms. Dish TV India is committed to delivering the best TV viewing experience while offering unique content options to its customers and this partnership is another step in the same direction.”

    In addition to Android STBs, Eros Now is also available on Dish SMRT Stick & SMRT Kit and will be soon available on D2H magic & D2h Magic Voice-Enabled.