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Tag: Q India

  • The Q India promotes Krishna Menon as COO

    The Q India promotes Krishna Menon as COO

    KERALA: The QYOU Media Inc has appointed Krishna Menon as the COO of its Hindi language youth-oriented channel The Q India, available in over 100 million TV households and to over 612 million OTT and mobile users.

    Menon has been working as the chief revenue officer in Q India since 2018, and the company decided to promote him as the COO for his efforts in growing its business from a small independent channel into one of India’s fastest-growing media brands. 

    “Krishna has been a true leader and for more than two years has worked to grow our business, raising it to new levels of viewership, revenue growth, and brand recognition. Working with Simran Hoon, our recently announced CEO, Krishna will be instrumental in driving forward The Q’s many planned strategic growth opportunities,” said QYOU Media co-founder & CEO Curt Marvis. 

    Going forward, Menon will be directly responsible for distribution, branding, influencer marketing, digital sales, and operations and will report to Hoon, while other departments including ad sales and programming will be directly under Hoon’s management. 

    Menon said, “We have been nurturing and building the foundation for The Q for over two years, and now is our time to drive forward the creation of a truly new and dynamic media brand in India. Our team is strong and our product continues to deliver results. I am thrilled that our hard work to date is paying off and I look forward to contributing to our new levels of achievement and growth in the coming months and years ahead.” 

    Before joining Q India, Menon had served as the chief revenue and marketing officer for Sakal Media Group. He formerly held senior sales, operational, and business development roles for Dainik Bhaskar Group, OnMobile Global, Network 18 (Viacom), and Radio Mirchi (Times of India Group). His experience extends across television, digital, radio, and print media.

     

  • Q India hits goal of 100 Million TV homes

    Q India hits goal of 100 Million TV homes

    MUMBAI: QYOU Media Inc., (TSXV: QYOU; OTCQB: QYOUF) has announced that The Q India, the company’s Hindi language youth oriented channel available in and on over 700 million homes and devices in India, has reached its 2021 goal of distribution to 100 Million TV Households as a result of launching on both DD Free Dish & Dish TV in April. The Q India has now gone live to 50 million additional TV homes in the month of April placing it in a position to challenge leading youth oriented channels and brands in the country that previously had significantly higher numbers of homes reached. The company issued a press release on 1 March 2021 in connection with the new DD Free Dish (Channel 34) agreement. The new distribution relationship with DISH TV (Channel 128) has not been previously disclosed.

    QYOU Media India co-founder & general manager Sunder Aaron said, “2021 continues to be a year where The Q India is accelerating the depth and breadth of our foundation for becoming a mainstream brand and media company in India.  We have stated our goal of being a leading youth brand in India and distribution agreements like these are a key to making that happen. In addition, these are critically important building blocks as we pursue growing ratings and the ensuing revenue that will occur”.

    The Q India is an advertiser and influencer marketing supported Hindi language content brand, channel and VOD provider delivering hit digital programming from social media stars and leading digital video creators targeting Young Indian audiences.  The channel has recently become one of India’s fastest growing youth entertainment brands reaching 4.4 Gross Rating Points (GRP) on BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) in February 2021. With a growing library of over 850 programs, and beginning in April with the addition of DD Free Dish, the channel will reach an audience of over 712 million via 100 million television homes with partners including DD Free Dish, TATA Sky, DISH TV and SitiNetworks; 380 million OTT users via platforms including ShemarooMe, MX Player, ZEE5, and Dish Watcho; and 232 million users on mobile and digital platforms including Snap, JioTV, Airtel Xstream, Amazon Fire TV, Chingari and Samsung TV Plus.

  • Q India launches on MX Player

    Q India launches on MX Player

    MUMBAI: QYOU Media on Friday announced the launch of Q India on MX Player, one of the fastest growing OTT platforms in India and the world.  MX Player currently has over 175M monthly average users in India alone and features a vast array of content targeting the millennial India demographic. This marks another significant milestone for Q India as it continues to grow its base of ad supported distribution partnerships. 

    MX Player launched its OTT service formally in February of 2019 and has quickly become the second largest streaming platform in India.  Digital TV Research has cited that India will be the fastest growing OTT territory in the world from 2019 – 2024.  In addition, ad revenue in India is expected to realize similar rapid growth according to recent reports from WPP/GroupM that project India ad spend growing at a rate of 14.3% annually as compared to a global average of 3.6%.

    Q India has established itself as a leading Hindi language channel for Young India featuring India’s top digital creators and influencers.  Q India's content partners include Arre, Pocket Aces, Ms. Malini, SpotboyE, Culture Machine, Power Drift, UngliBaaz, AajTak, Nirvana Digital, StarTruck, CurlyTales and hundreds of other popular digital creators.

    “Q India is perfectly matched for the users of MX Player," MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said. "Our mission is to create India’s leading entertainment platform for millennials and young audiences that demand an anytime/anywhere viewing platform.  We are excited to have Q India join our offering of the best free entertainment on one platform,” he added.

    “The Q India is thrilled by the partnership we have now forged with MX Player, which is emblematic of our strategy: to engage with Young India on leading platforms, across OTT, mobile and television. We expect that The Q India relationship with MX Player will be long and fruitful, and that The Q itself will be a terrific value addition for all the MX Player subscribers,”  Q India  co-founder and general manager  Sunder Aaron added.

  • Q India Launches Mobile App Targeting 300M+ Smartphone Audience in India

    Q India Launches Mobile App Targeting 300M+ Smartphone Audience in India

    MUMBAI: QYOU Media (TSXV:QYOU; OTCQB: QYOUF), announced today its launch of the Q India mobile app on the Google Play store. Featuring content from top local creators and talent, the direct-to-consumer app significantly expands Q India’s footprint within India, and to the additional tens of millions of expatriate fans of Indian-created content globally.

    The mobile app market has exploded worldwide, with India surpassing the US in mobile app downloads, and now second only to China. The Q India app, available globally through the Google Play Store, will allow users access to the channel’s 24/7 linear stream of premium digital-first content from India’s top creators, along with individual video on-demand offerings of all episodes.

    Curt Marvis, CEO and Co-Founder of QYOU Media, commented: “India is one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world and provides the perfect opportunity for us to launch a new, youth-oriented mobile app that taps into this. We know from working with leading digital creators in India – like Culture Machine, Pocket Aces, The Comic Wallah and others – that there is a real appetite from young Indians for content that reflects local themes and culture. Q India is fast becoming recognized as having the best of this content all in one place, and now with the app we are also enabling audiences that have grown-up watching online video on a daily basis to access their favorite curated content on their favored devices.”

    The launch follows on from the appointment earlier this year of former president of Sony Pictures Worldwide Networks, Andy Kaplan, as Non-Executive Chairman of Board of Directors of QYOU India Pvt (QYOU India). It also adds to the 230 million+ consumers on mobile and TV that are already engaging with QYOU’s curated content through partnerships with leading TV and mobile providers in the region.

  • QYOU aims to create content that will bring TV closer to digital

    QYOU aims to create content that will bring TV closer to digital

    MUMBAI: The future of the Indian entertainment market may be digital but the death of television is over-exaggerated. A recent survey conducted by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India found total TV viewership in India gone up by 12 per cent from 2016. On the other hand, recent data from PwC revealed the OTT video market in India is growing at a CAGR of around 23 per cent. While the main difference lies between the consumption habit of the older generation and millennial audience, QYOU Media’s Indian arm is thriving on the convergence between TV and online. In an exclusive interaction with Indiantelevision.com, QYOU Media CEO and co-founder Curt Marvis spoke about the Indian market and the company’s expansion plan in India.

    Curt Marvis, a renowned media veteran in digital ventures of Hollywood, has had a vivid experience. Way back in 1999, he co-founded online movie retailer CinemaNow and then spent a considerable amount of time in Lionsgate as president of digital media. In 2013, he co-founded QYOU, a media and production business that provides curated internet video content for television, mobile, and video-on-demand viewing. A year back it actively started to run operations in providing and packaging content for Indian audiences.

    Though the company is still in its early days, it is putting high effort to grow its presence in India. As part of its expansion, it has secured content partnerships with Pocket Aces, Culture Machine, Desi Hip Hop Inc., TheVibe, Power Drift, Arre, The Comic Wallah, FabForm, etc.  Its rebranded channel Q India is available on Tata Sky and Jio TV. It even appointed Andy Kaplan, former president of Sony Pictures Worldwide Networks, as chairman of board of directors for QYOU India.

    “India has a thriving TV market and mobile is fast becoming the first screen for many TV audiences in the region. Andy has significant expertise in this area and deep knowledge of the Indian market, which will help QYOU develop the right programming to meet the needs for mobile-first digital content, which is becoming an ever-more important objective for TV providers,” Marvis commented on his appointment.

    Marvis thinks TV is still hugely popular in India which isn’t going to change overnight. However, he underlines the difference in media consumption habit between younger digital-native audiences and older generations. Younger audiences are fond of streaming videos on social media sites and mobile devices remain primary medium for them to access video content. He claims that by providing linear feed and custom shows, QYOU is bridging these two worlds – offering the type of content that helps TV providers tap into digital-first creativity and use it to drive their programming agenda for younger audiences.

    In India’s OTT market, outsiders like Netflix and Amazon have found it tough to break into the country given the popularity of Hotstar. “Hotstar is currently India’s most popular OTT platform, enjoying 70 per cent of video streaming app downloads. In contrast, Amazon and Netflix only account for 5 per cent and 1.4 per cent of app downloads. One of the reasons why Hotstar is so well-liked is because, it has an extensive library of regional programming available in a number of local languages including, Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu,” he said.

    Rather than fall back on importing subtitled US TV shows and films, the international players need to invest in locally relevant original programming. Amazon and Netflix have recognised this and are launching Indian original series but Marvis thinks they’re still playing catch-up to local OTT services like Hotstar. “For QYOU, these trends have meant onboarding Indian content creators and making programming that is tailored to the territory and culture. This way we know our shows are more culturally relevant and therefore have more stickiness,” he added.

    Though Hotstar’s AVOD model has worked well for its acceptability among the mass audience, Indian audiences are not simply going for the cheapest option. He reaffirms the common belief of OTT players that audience is going for the service that they believe is the best value with the best programming. “Ultimately, the model which will work best in India will depend on the value the audience places on the service and we believe that high-quality regional programming can dramatically increase that value,” he concludes.