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Tag: Ping Network

  • Ping & One Network Entertainment partner to power digital video creators

    Ping & One Network Entertainment partner to power digital video creators

    MUMBAI: PING Digital Network has inked a strategic alliance with multi platform network of online video content One Network Entertainment, with a focus on the comic genre.

    As part of this alliance, the two companies will be launching a first of its kind ‘Creators Collective’ to provide creators everything to become successful publishers.

    The Creators Collective is an initiative designed for creators to produce content, collaborate with other creators and learn the art to becoming a publisher. With regular workshops by experts, sessions by and for brands, advertisers and creators, this will become a vibrant content creation hub.

    One and Ping now boast of about 10,000 sq ft of studio cum office space in Mumbai comprising creative teams, equipment with live broadcast and production facilities, and edit suites along with all the resources that creators require to showcase their talent. Inspired by the YouTube Spaces, The Creators Collective will enable talent to hone their skils & collaborate with other talent to create break through content.

    PING Network co-founder and director Rajeshree Naik said, “We are delighted to partner with One Network Entertainment to  further strengthen our proposition of being a one-stop shop for the best digital video creators in India. This alliance is also a testimony of our own DNA as creators making us the preferred platform for the creator community. Through this partnership we also add the much sought after genre of comedy to our exisiting content making it more attractive for brands & advertisers. We now become a network of over 550 channels with close to 85 million views a month bringing huge scale to the both creators & advertisers.”

    One Network co-founder Abe Thomas added, “One Network with over 70 million views and a distribution network across 20+ global video platforms, is very enthused with the synergies that we can jointly exploit with an MCN like Ping Network. We believe that through this partnership we will be able to collaborate with brands and advertisers and provide them with opportunities to interact, collaborate with a wider range of creators.”

    Ping Network co-founder & vice president  talent and acquisitions Anagha Rajadhyaksha added, “We have already had some great brainstorming sessions and look forward to the possibility of jointly creating some exciting and engaging formats. We are also looking at getting at least 100 new premium talent on line over the next six months.”

  • YouTube to launch ad free subscription based model in India

    YouTube to launch ad free subscription based model in India

    MUMBAI: Google’s popular video hosting platform YouTube has been a boon to independent content makers as it enables them to exhibit their talent to a worldwide audience. Now, in order to enhance user experience, YouTube is all set to launch a subscription based ad free model in India. According to sources close to the development, YouTube is planning to launch the innovation around mid June for Indian consumers.

     

    While viewers are offered a wide range of content on the platform, almost all content on YouTube starts with an advertisement wherein the option of skipping it is sometime available and sometimes not. Ads often pop up in the middle of the content too, which interrupts the flow of the viewers.

     

    The new subscription based ad free platform will ignite the long sustaining debate of the whether a video on demand (VOD) platform should follow the advertising or subscription based revenue model. Advertising revenue mode is directly proportional to rating and when it comes to YouTube, its views. It is often very difficult to satisfy both consumer and advertiser at the same time and hence the content and root idea behind it gets compromised.

     

    Subscription based model also has its own drawback, poor online payment infrastructure, lower number of credit or debit card holders are a few of them.

     

    Times Network CEO and MD MK Anand is of the opinion that though subscription model has a lot of positives, India is not yet ready for it. “Consumer behaviour is the biggest challenge besides payment gateway and card penetration. A huge part of digital savvy young population refrains from using card transactions for various reasons and hence at this moment advertisement revenue model is the only option. Going forward, if the number of card holders increase and the consumers behaviour towards e- transactions becomes friendlier then we may see a new revenue model emerging.”

     

    YouTube’s new offering will enable a consumer to either choose the ad free platform or stick to the available one. From content creators’ perspective, Ping Network co-founder Rajeshree Naik asserts, “The new innovation from YouTube will cater to the growing need of sophistication of a consumer. We can take example from the newly launched HD channels, the same content is available on the SD platform too but consumers are paying to get quality content. The innovation will help us satisfy more people with the content we are offering.”

     

    When asked if Ping Network will create fresh content exclusively for the paid platform, Naik adds, “Not at the moment. For now the platform will only provide better and uninterrupted viewing experience to the consumers. But going forward if the platform makes a sustainable impact creating exclusive content can be an option.”

     

    According to the 2014 KPMG report, 12 per cent of the digital ad spend mix is acquired by videos and the spend on digital video has increased by five per cent compared to 2013. When questioned whether the ad free platform from YouTube will impact advertising, Maxus South Asia head of digital Unny Radhakrishnan says, “There will not be any significant impact on advertising immediately. As per the news reports, YouTube has said that advertising will still be their core revenue. The share of consumers who will go for paid subscription will be very small initially. In the long run, this would perhaps lead to more investments and therefore increase in the quality of content and in turn paid subscription. An India roll-out of this is not expected in the near future.”

     

    It remains to be seen if the new initiative from YouTube breaks the mould and creates a new sustainable revenue model, which will satisfy both producers and consumers.

     

  • YouTube is the platform to be on, says AIB’s Tanmay Bhat

    YouTube is the platform to be on, says AIB’s Tanmay Bhat

    MUMBAI: The 6th edition of MixRadio Music Connects provided a pivotal platform for the discussion of Indian multi channel networks (MCNs) and how YouTube has helped artists in building a strong viewership, new content and audiences.  When it comes to MCNs, India has a large digital video market and the younger audiences today are more likely to watch digital videos than television.

    Moderated by Music Matters president and Branded co founder and CEO Jasper Donat, the panelists included All India Bakchod (AIB) co founder Tanmay Bhat,  Qyuki Digital Media co founder and managing director Samir Bangara, Ping Network co-founder and director Rajeshree Naik,  Digital Quotient (HT Media) business head entertainment Parmeet Lamba and YouTube India head of content operations Satya Raghavan. The session discussed the advent of MCNs and the rising players who are creating content online.

    As the co-founder of one of India’s leading YouTube channels, Bhat spoke about how it all began for him. He said, “Well, we began as a comedy podcast and then sometime last year, we started doing sketch comedy on YouTube. Our YouTube channel became the fastest growing channels in India. We now also make content for brands”.   

    Raghavan expressed that he was delighted with the fresh content emerging on YouTube. He commented, “Earlier, I used to only watch YouTube for movie trailers but all of a sudden I am finding myself watching unique content on channels like AIB. It’s truly been a fascinating year for YouTube”.  

    Speaking of the business model of YouTube, Raghavan further elaborated, “YouTube is platform where you see online videos. Advertising is our primary source of revenue and we share more than half of that with the creators”.

     
    Bangara added on the role of MCN in today’s market, “We are like the new-age label. We do what record labels did for musicians in the traditional market. Today, you do not have to be in a bar to discover new music talent. YouTube does that for you”.

    Talking about the rise of MCNs, Donat pointed out, “This is an area where there is some serious money. Companies are being bought for hundreds of millions of dollars. One of the biggest MCN deals had Disney acquiring Maker Studios for $500 million plus $400 million earn out”.

    Bangara responded, “We are in the broadcast network creation space and monetization on that is two-fold. Ad monetisation on YouTube is not sufficient. As a MCN, we bring a lot of branded content to the table. We take talent, package them and promote them to brands. Our business model is a mix of brand monetization as well as CPM ad monetisation”.

    Naik agreed with Bangara and further added, “This business is eventually going to be based on relationships. The technology platform is YouTube but the MCN is purely a service business. It’s all about understanding the ecosystem and helping the artists benefit”.

    Parmeet Lamba commented, “It is also important that we help individual artistes in monetizing and distributing their content.  In the regional space, a lot of Punjabi music has been coming up. We build talent and they become popular. There are a lot of deals and collaborations happening in the market. A lot of brands are approaching us to feature their products for the artists’ next videos. The brands offer to sponsor these artists. And with the gained popularity, these performing artists get more live gigs”.

    Elaborating on how YouTube helped him in his popularity meter, Bhat said, “When we attended the YouTube fanfest this year, it was a very overwhelming experience. People were watching us on their phones. It was a different level of engagement altogether. YouTube is the platform to be on!”

    Adding on to that, Raghavan added, “There are a lot of cover singers who are becoming popular. We also get to see original content in the music space. Being on YouTube definitely gets you more gigs and it is an amazing platform for the common man to express himself. However, one needs to constantly put up content. Fans love to see the passion you have for your craft and the engagement level needs to be high. The creator needs to be disciplined and also focus on interacting with his or her fans. 2015 is going to be the year of music!”

     While speaking on the potential of YouTubers breaking into the mainstream music scene, Naik opined, “If you were a musician about 20 years ago, you would have sung for about 5 years and then made a video. Today if you want to be a musician, you need to begin with the video. Today, you have that platform that can help you get noticed. That pretty much sums up why digital videos are so important for musicians”.

     

  • Log on to the MJ Show on IMN to know your musicians better

    Log on to the MJ Show on IMN to know your musicians better

    MUMBAI: PING Network has launched MJ Show with radio jockey (RJ) Mihir Joshi, on its YouTube channel-India Music Network (IMN). The show which features trend setting musicians giving a sneak peek into their musical journey, also entertains audiences with candid chats focusing on life beyond work.

    The show features the RJ discussing work, dreams, inspirations and opinions with various artists from indie and Bollywood music industry. What is unique is that it allows viewers to check out an array of International and Indian songs that the artists talk about. The first few episodes featured well known artists like Ehsaan Noorani, Kavita Seth and Shamali Kholgade discussing favorites, life apart from music, first break and much more.

    PING Network founder and CEO Prashanto Das said, “The MJ Show combines the chattiness of radio with visual appeal, allowing the viewer to take a peek into to the star’s veiled life. It caters to global audiences. The beauty of the show being everybody gets to see it at the same time.”

    Commenting on the format of the show Joshi commented, “Prashanto and I felt that there was a need for a fun talk show with some of the best musicians in the country and with the entire digital revolution YouTube is a perfect platform for us to promote it. I think the fact that viewers get a chance to know their favourite musicians in a different light and their own independent original music is what sets the show apart.”

  • MCOF to hold seminar for LMOs

    MCOF to hold seminar for LMOs

    MUMBAI: With Last Mile Operators (LMOs) viewing digitisation as a threat and legal tussles between them and Multi System Operators (MSOs) on the rise, the Maharashtra Cable Operators Federation (MCOF) has organised an educational and business seminar on ‘challenges and opportunities post DAS’ to address their growing concerns.

    To be held on 23 November at the Prabhodhankar Thakarey Krida Sankool in Vile Parle, Mumbai, the seminar will see the who’s who of the industry educate LMOs about the kind of business opportunities lying in wait.

    Addressing operators from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Goa will be Castle Media director Vynsley Fernandes, who will speak on ‘global industry standards and trends’; HSBC Securities (Telecom and Media) lead analyst Rajiv Sharma, who will touch upon the financial aspects; former Sun group CEO Tony D’Silva, who will discuss HITS (Headends in the Sky) technology, UPASS managing director Ravindra Deshmukh and PING Network founder Prashanto Das, who will talk about global trends in broadcasting.

    Also among the invitees are small scale industries and the State Bank of India (SBI) regional head.

    Says MCOF president Arvind Prabhoo: “There is a lot of confusion about digitisation and LMOs feel the business is going out of their hands but if you understand what digitisation is and how to go about it as well as reorient yourself to the changing scenario, then you don’t look at it as a challenge but as an opportunity. I want LMOs to know that digitisation is not a threat and remove the fear factor from their mind.”

    A few women cable operators are also expected to attend the seminar that will be conducted in both Hindi and English. Nearly 500 to 600 LMOs are likely to participate with registration fees fixed at Rs 500 per head. Leading Marathi and Gujarati newspapers will be carrying advertorials tomorrow and day after to promote the event.

    Apart from challenges and opportunities post DAS, the seminar will also cover topics such as maximizing broadband penetration, optimised network architecture in DAS and future proof, Value Added Services (VAS), identifying right equipment and spares, supply tie ups and employee training.