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Tag: QYOU Media

  • QYOU Media joins hands with Airtel Digital TV

    QYOU Media joins hands with Airtel Digital TV

    MUMBAI: QYOU Media has announced that it has partnered with Airtel Digital TV, the DTH arm of Bharti Airtel (Airtel), to bring The Q India’s 24/7 linear stream of digital first content to Indian homes. Airtel Digital TV customers can now consume The Q India’s content that has been curated from top creators in the region, as part of their monthly DTH pack.

    With the average Indian consumer increasingly watching short-form video content on social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook each month, there is growing opportunity to engage customers with short form content on a regular basis. Airtel Digital TV, which reaches over 14 million homes across India, is bringing The Q India to its platform to leverage this trend. The Q India will be available on channel number#125 on Airtel digital TV and will be broadcast in Hindi.

    Bharti Airtel director – DTH and CEO Sunil Taldar said, “We are constantly innovating to add greater value for customers and enhance their TV experience on our platform. We are always working towards bringing new content and relevant programming for our customers. With this partnership with QYOU Media, we aim to bring the growing trend of short form video consumption to homes on their TV.”

    With this partnership, The Q India will continue to expand the viewership reach for its premium content coming from India’s leading digital content creators. The Q India is a 24/7 linear service stream of premium curated content that launched in December 2017 and is aimed at Young Indians (20-30 years). The service has established content partnerships that include some of the most watched and influential digital content creators in India. Content featuring The Q India include the popular web-series; Official Chukyagiri, What The Folks and Being Indian as well as curated episodes from leading digital programs in India, including: 101 India, Pocket Aces, Comic Wallah and BLUSH.

    The Q India GM and co-founder Sunder Aaron said, “Young Indians have been lacking a general entertainment brand or service that speaks directly to them. Our mission at The Q India is to address this need with a powerfully relevant service proposition that is entirely unique in proposition, programming the best Indian video content from digital creators who are streaming across platforms. We are delighted to join Airtel, and happy that both platform and advertising partners are beginning to recognise the potential The Q India offers them to reach millions of millennial and gen Z digital savvy viewers in their sub base who are now able to enjoy India’s best digital content through The Q India service.”

  • QYOU Media and Airtel partner to launch The Q India’s exciting digital-first content to Airtel Digital TV customers

    QYOU Media and Airtel partner to launch The Q India’s exciting digital-first content to Airtel Digital TV customers

    MUMBAI: QYOU Media (TSXV:QYOU; OTCQB: QYOUF) today announced that it has partnered Airtel Digital TV, the DTH arm of Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), to bring The Q India’s 24/7 linear stream of digital first content to Indian homes. Airtel Digital TV customers can now enjoy The Q India’s exciting content that has been curated from top creators in the region, as part of their monthly DTH pack.

    With the average Indian consumer increasingly watching short-form video content on social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook each month, there is growing opportunity to engage customers with short form content on a regular basis. Airtel Digital TV, which reaches over 14 million homes across India, is bringing The Q India to its platform to leverage this trend. The Q India will be available on channel number#125 on Airtel digital TV and will be broadcast in Hindi.

    With this partnership, The Q India will continue to expand the viewership reach for its premium content coming from India’s leading digital content creators. The Q India is a 24/7 linear service stream of premium curated content that launched in December 2017 and is aimed at Young Indians (20-30 years). The service has established content partnerships that include some of the most watched and influential digital content creators in India. Content featured The Q India include the popular web-series; Official Chuckyagiri, What The Folks and Being Indian as well as curated episodes from leading digital programs  in India, including: 101 India, Pocket Aces, Comic Wallah  and BLUSH.

    Sunil Taldar, CEO & Director – DTH, Bharti Airtel said: “We are constantly innovating to add greater value for customers and enhance their TV experience on our platform. We are always working towards bringing new content and relevant programming for our customers. With this partnership with QYOU Media, we aim to bring the growing trend of short form video consumption to homes on their TV.”

    Sunder Aaron, General Manager and Co-Founder, The Q India comments: “Young Indians have been lacking a general entertainment brand or service that speaks directly to them. Our mission at The Q India is to address this need with a powerfully relevant service proposition that is entirely unique in proposition, programming the best Indian video content from digital creators who are streaming across platforms. We are delighted to join Airtel, and happy that both platform and advertising partners are beginning to recognize the potential The Q India offers them to reach millions of Millennial and Gen Z digital savvy viewers in their sub base who are now able to enjoy India’s best digital content through The Q India service.”

  • Krishna Menon appointed chief revenue officer at The Q India

    Krishna Menon appointed chief revenue officer at The Q India

    MUMBAI: QYOU Media has announced that it has appointed Krishna Menon as chief revenue officer of The Q India.

    Menon comes experienced in sales and marketing in the Indian media and entertainment industry. Before joining The Q India, he served as chief marketing officer at Sakal Media Group and general manager at Network 18 Media. He will be responsible for increasing advertising sales and boosting digital, channel and mobile platform revenues by creating new opportunities for monetization. With that he will also oversee The Q’s expansion into influencer marketing initiatives.

    Sunder Aaron, general manager at The Q said, “The Q India business is growing quickly, and we’re excited to build on this momentum by bringing Krishna onto our executive management team. Krishna has a proven track record of growing media and mobile businesses in the region. He’s also someone who knows how to fashion and cultivate a brand and will serve as a key player as we further grow The Q into the leading channel and programming brand for young Indians aged 20-30 years old.”

    Krishna Menon on his new journey said, “I am thrilled to be joining The Q India team. I look forward to helping build The Q into a premier entertainment brand for young Indians and capitalizing on new opportunities to maximize revenue potential through ad sales, channel distribution and influencer campaigns with partners.”

  • 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.