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Tag: ShemarooMe

  • Devotional category is important growth driver for Shemaroo Entertainment: Hiren Gada

    Devotional category is important growth driver for Shemaroo Entertainment: Hiren Gada

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment has been betting big on devotional category with its recent show launch of Shemaroo Bhakti Studio. From launching devotional devices to various shows and apps in the last one year, this segment has definitely emerged as an important part of its overall business strategy. The content powerhouse has seen impressive growth in this category too.

    Shemaroo Entertainment CEO Hiren Gada spoke to Indiantelevision.com on Shemaroo's growth, focus on devotional category and show availability on various platforms.

    Will the new show be exclusive to your OTT platform?

    I would not really call it a show. It is much larger than just a show. It is a platform for new talent, music and devotional content to get created and discovered. So, it will be available on all distribution platforms – DTH, digital and on Shemaroo Me, Shemaroo Bhakti. It will be available on YouTube too. Even the audio part will be available on all the major audio streaming platforms. The whole idea is that it is the platform which is important. Essentially, we want to put together, create this platform where talent and content can be created, promoted, discovered and the audience also can have easy access to this talent.

    Which is the key demographic you are targeting through this show?

    Devotion actually cuts across age. The idea will be that the younger audience is better served with this kind of content.

    How has been the initial response to your recent devotional device?

    The initial response has been very good. We just launched a third device into devotional space which is a smaller device Bhajanbani which has 221 songs and aartis of Ganesh because Ganpati festival is coming up. We just launched that a few days ago. It comes in Hindi and Marathi languages and is priced at Rs 2000 a month. Earlier products were priced at Rs 4500 and had more content and powerful speakers. Right now we are placing it in retail and different parts of the country, opening new distribution channels and tying up with more distribution outlets.

    How important is devotional segment in your overall digital strategy?

    It's a very important focus for us. In terms of scale, even today Bollywood has a large scale. This is one more important initiative for us. This, I hope, will expand the market in terms of connecting different kinds of consumers to the devotional category.

    How do you expect devotional segment to contribute to your overall revenue?

    We are in the process of putting our business plan together. Definitely, devotional will form an important part of our overall business mix. I would still say at this point that Bollywood definitely is a large contributor and the market won’t change in a hurry.

    How has the category grown in the last one year?

    I think we have experienced good growth particularly because we have been investing in content in a big way. We have been investing in production value. Shemaroo Bhakti Studio is an example of the kind of investment we are making in terms of creating a platform for talent, investing in the production values and marketing etc. As a result of all of that, we have seen very good growth on our platforms.

  • ShemarooMe partners with Dainik Bhaskar app: best of OTT Entertainment now on premium Hindi News App

    ShemarooMe partners with Dainik Bhaskar app: best of OTT Entertainment now on premium Hindi News App

    MUMBAI: ShemarooMe, the one-stop destination for popular Bollywood movies, Classic cinema, Regional, devotional and kids’ content, today announced its partnership with Dainik Bhaskar App – India’s largest print media company’s Hindi news app.

    The association with Dainik Bhaskar Hindi news app will enhance user engagement by offering ShemarooMe’s varied content bouquet alongside authentic and informative news updates – ‘Entertainment aur News ek saath, ek hi app me’. ShemarooMe has been a pioneer in entertaining different set of audiences through their varied bouquet of offerings. ShemarooMe has also understood the demand and need for regional content and has been constantly involved in creating new associations and content to fulfil this need.

    Loaded with futuristic features like Big Data AI, Analytical engine and AR, Dainik Bhaskar App is first in Hindi markets to offer an integrated content platform to its users. The app has many unique and interesting features such as crisp Audio News Bulletin twice a day, interesting Video wrap-up in the night, precise Brief News in just 50 words and exclusive, in-depth DB Originals stories.

    Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Zubin Dubash, COO Digital, Shemaroo Entertainment, said, “ShemarooMe has been constantly entertaining audiences through our varied associations. Our recent partnership with Dainik Bhaskar, Hindi news app is another endeavour to enhance the high-quality content experience by bringing entertainment and news under one roof. I am confident that this combination will definitely excite the consumers keeping them hooked on to the app.”

    Mr. Rajneesh Singh, Head Mobile Apps, Dainik Bhaskar Group added, “Dainik Bhaskar app has always been news, consumer and innovation centric as it is designed keeping into account user preferences and lifestyle. The partnership with ShemarooMe will further strengthen the varied offerings in the app and take the entertainment space to the next level. Authentic News coupled with entertainment is going to be the perfect blend which will enhance the engagement with existing users and help capture the attention of potential users.”

    The ShemarooMe OTT app can be downloaded through Google Play, the iOS App store or online at http://shemaroome.com/, and is available on Amazon Fire TV Stick and Apple TV.

    Dainik Bhaskar app is available on both Android and iOS platforms.

  • ShemarooMe partners With ixigo, bringing rich video entertainment to travellers

    ShemarooMe partners With ixigo, bringing rich video entertainment to travellers

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, India’s premier content powerhouse today announced its association with leading travel platform ixigo. This marks Shemaroo’s first in-app travel partnership. This association will bring the varied content bouquet of ShemarooMe under one roof and provide rich, curated content for a superb in-app experience to ixigo users.

    ShemarooMe is a video streaming app by Shemaroo, to entertain the newer set of audience by offering authentic video content across different genres and eras. ShemarooMe is a unique platform that gives the freedom of choice to the viewers by giving them the power to pick and choose from a large bouquet of content.

    Catering to its 130 million plus user base, ixigo facilitates over 200 million monthly travel searches and 2.2 billion monthly screen views.  The travel platform, which forayed into the content space recently, curates and aggregates hand-picked multilingual content from genres like news, videos, music, sports to games. With this partnership, travellers can now access ShemarooMe’s clutter breaking and entertaining content on ixigo train app.

    Commenting on the association, Zubin Dubash, COO, Digital, Shemaroo Entertainment said, “We are delighted to partner with ixigo on this thought leadership initiative. Video is the key catalyst to drive engagement on transaction-based apps. ShemarooMe's rich content spread has seen ardent loyalists in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets and perfectly matches with ixigo's target group. And that's what makes this partnership even more relevant and special."

    Adding to this, Rajnish Kumar, Co-founder & CTO ixigo, said,” ixigo trains app is now a one-stop travel booking, information and entertainment app for Indian travellers. We have over 3.5 million users visiting our app daily. Our aim is to keep our users engaged during the entire course of their journey. Strategic partnerships with players like Shemaroo will help us offer them a wide choice and depth of content.”

  • ShemarooMe partners with Swych Gift Cards India to redefine the experience of gifting and entertainment

    ShemarooMe partners with Swych Gift Cards India to redefine the experience of gifting and entertainment

    MUMBAI: ShemarooMe, the latest over-the-top (OTT) video streaming service by India’s leading content powerhouse Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, has cemented a unique position in the entertainment industry through its clutter breaking, wide range of Bollywood, classics, regional, devotional and kids’ content.

    ShemarooMe today announced its partnership with Swych GiftCardsIndia, offering ShemarooMe subscription packs to Swych GiftCardsIndia audiences through this partnership. Swych GiftCardsIndia is a direct selling channel of GCI Network, a leading gift card aggregator & distributor in India providing gift card solutions to many businesses across industry.

    People longing for Bollywood, regional cinema and more can now shop and gift ShemarooMe gift cards available at Swych GiftCardsIndia, the one-stop-shop for all gift card and voucher deals. ShemarooMe’s gift cards will be available to a large set of audiences across corporates, marketplaces, gifting portals and wallet partners like Amazon, Paytm, Mobikwik, Snapdeal etc. through Swych. In addition, the ShemarooMe gift cards can be availed at GiftCardsIndia.in as well.

    The partnership will also come at an optimum time when the gifting season is round the corner. Corporates can now gift their partners, employees and customers with the ShemarooMe gift card and hence give them access to the high-quality content available on ShemarooMe platform.

    Speaking on the announcement, Zubin Dubash, COO Digital, Shemaroo Entertainment, said, “We have always taken pride in presenting our viewers with the best of entertainment content and ShemarooMe gift cards is our special endeavor to further spread this happiness. Our partnership with Swych GiftCardsIndia comes at an ideal time with the upcoming gifting season. The deal helps both the brands offer an unprecedented gifting solution to consumers and pep up the gifting space with some Bollywood masala.”

    Firoz Khan – CEO of Swych Gift Cards India said, “We at Swych GiftCardsIndia are always on the lookout to offer the best gifting options and ShemarooMe will be a cherished gifting option. Entertainment is a preferred gifting category, and this is a perfect choice and our association with ShemarooMe will be a delight for consumers in India.”

  • ShemarooMe Recognised as the “Best Newcomer” at OTTv Mumbai 2019

    ShemarooMe Recognised as the “Best Newcomer” at OTTv Mumbai 2019

    MUMBAI: ShemarooMe, the one-stop destination for blockbuster Bollywood, Regional, Devotional, Classic and Kids’ content, added another feather to its cap as it received recognition of being the ‘Best Newcomer OTT’ at the 2nd edition of OTTv MUMBAI 2019’.

    The recognition was bestowed in the presence of key players and prominent personalities from media and entertainment industry. OTTv Mumbai 2019 felicitated brands that proffer a connect with the Indian audience.

    ShemarooMe, which was launched earlier this year was conferred the endorsement on its remarkable entrance in the Indian market. It redefined the rules of the OTT game, by specifically targeting markets beyond metros with its devotional and other region-specific content. The brand also emboldened its presence by entering the US market in April 2019 to cater to the Indian American audience in the country.

    The ShemarooMe OTT app can be downloaded through Google Play, the iOS App store or online at http://shemaroome.com/,and is available on Amazon Fire TV Stick and Apple TV.

  • ShemarooMe Forays into the marathi category with exclusive content offerings

    ShemarooMe Forays into the marathi category with exclusive content offerings

    MUMBAI: After receiving a great response across India for its OTT platform ShemarooMe, which was launched recently, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, India’s leading content powerhouse, has announced the launch of its Marathi category. The Marathi category will host content ranging from plays, movies to original web-series. ShemarooMe app currently hosts video content across Bollywood, Gujarati, Devotion, Punjabi and Kids category for the Indian audience across all age groups. This will be the 6th content offering by ShemarooMe for its consumers. To the consumers delight, the Marathi category will be exclusively available on Vodafone PLAY and Idea Movies & TV App for a period of 30 days.

    The OTT app ShemarooMe has a wide array of content for diverse set of audience and the newest Marathi category will be a feather to its cap. The Marathi category will see a wide selection of Marathi films, theatre plays, original web-series and many more. Marathi movies like Lagna Mubarak, Bhay along with some award-winning movies like Shubham Karoti Kalyanam, Baboo and Baaja will be a part of the newly launched Marathi category. For kids’ entertainment, ShemarooMe has some famous Marathi Animated movies like Bal Ganesh, Hanuman Returns, Ghatotkacha and many more.

    Commenting on the latest addition of Marathi category to ShemarooMe app, Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, said, “The Marathi audience base is huge in India and we have selected the right content which can keep the audience of all age groups entertained. The Marathi category will only give a boost to our current content offerings which we offer for the audience pan India. Along with the Marathi category we are also launching our first Marathi original web-series which has a stellar star cast.” 

    Talking about the partnership, Avneesh Khosla, Operations Director – Marketing, Vodafone Idea Limited said, “We are excited to partner with Shemaroo Entertainment to provide our customers access to the best quality Marathi content on the Vodafone Play and Idea Movies. We strongly believe that regional content is key towards driving a stronger connect with our consumers. We have been working towards strengthening our content offering and this partnership is a step further towards enriching our content portfolio.”

    As a differentiated content offering, ShemarooMe is launching a new original Marathi web-series titled ‘Manaatlya Manaat’ under the Marathi category, featuring famous Marathi celebrities Sonalee Kulkarni & Siddharth Chandekar.

  • Vodafone Idea and ShemarooME announce an exclusive content partnership

    Vodafone Idea and ShemarooME announce an exclusive content partnership

    MUMBAI: Vodafone Idea, India’s leading telecom operator, today announced a strategic partnership with Shemaroo Entertainment’s newly launched video streaming service – ShemarooMe. As a part of this exclusive partnership, subscribers of Vodafone Play and Idea Movies & TV apps will have full access to Shermaroo’s content library across Bollywood, Devotion, Kids and other such genres and languages.

    ShemarooMe has a wide array of content offerings spanning various genres like Movies, shows, music, plays, devotional, kids and similar in Gujarati and many more languages.  This partnership will give all the fans of Gujarati content access to over 400+ latest Gujarati nataks, blockbuster movies and much more through ShemarooMe. The ShemarooMe Gujarati content offering includes movies like Chhello Divas, Gujjubhai the Great, Sharto lagu, Natsamrat, Thai Jashe, and plays like Gujjubhai Banya Dabang, Mari wife Mary Kom, Gujjubhai ni Golmaal and many more. All these titles are likely to reach new viewers through this association.

    Talking about the partnership, Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing officer, Vodafone Idea Limited said, “We are excited to partner with Shemaroo Entertainment to provide rich curated content across genres to our customers. Through this partnership our customers will get access to the best quality Gujarati content on the Vodafone Play and Idea Movies and TV apps exclusively. Our endeavor is to provide our customers with authentic entertainment keeping in mind their consumption pattern, culture and language preferences. We believe that video and regional content will be the key differentiator and its consumption will grow rapidly in the coming years, more so in the Gujarat market because of its affinity for watching Gujarati plays. We have been working towards strengthening our content offering and this partnership is a step further towards enriching our content portfolio.”

    Commenting on the partnership, Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited., said, “We are delighted to partner with Vodafone Idea. ShemarooMe has a huge plethora of content across genres and an unmatched offering of Gujarati content catering to the Asli fan of Indian content. Through partnerships like these, we wish to bring our content to the end-customers, and we are sure that the subscribers of Vodafone Play and Idea Movies & TV apps will thoroughly enjoy our offerings.”

    Vodafone Idea customers will get exclusive access on Vodafone Play and Idea Movies and TV apps for a period of one month.

  • Shemaroo projects 25-30% digital business growth in FY 2020

    Shemaroo projects 25-30% digital business growth in FY 2020

    MUMBAI: Content powerhouse Shemaroo started its initiatives for digital business comparatively earlier than many other traditional media companies in India. The company has now stepped up its new media segment which is almost 30 per cent of the overall business with the launch of ShemarooMe. Shemaroo is taking a slow but steady approach and does not intend to go head-to-head with giants like Amazon and Netflix.

    Talking to investors in a conference call after posting Q3 results, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd CEO Hiren Gada said that the new OTT business has been built at a significantly low capex model making it sustainable. According to him, India being a highly heterogeneous market leaves the opportunity for even late entrants. Despite some segments being covered by existing players, a significant chunk of potential segments are still open.

    “We looked into our own content pie and saw that there are few segments where we have a significant offering and strong market position in terms of either being number one, two or three in terms of content or share of viewership etc., and we looked at actually how we can leverage those opportunities to create the connect. ShemarooMe is the short consumer connect bit that we are looking to do,” Gada said. The core strategy is to establish the new OTT platform as the best option for consumers in its core categories.

    However, it won’t get into web series since Shemaroo holds a steady ground in nonfiction content like classic films, devotional etc., which it believes is a better value add to its core.

    Moreover, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd COO Kranti Gada expects TV-friendly content catalogue to see good consumption since initial tests on YouTube proved favourable. ShemarooMe has a large number of popular Bollywood movies on the platform and Hiren Gada thinks digital will have movies as a significant consuming category.

    Although Shemaroo is witnessing significant growth in YouTube channels viewership, the revenue from the segment has been flattish due to several reasons. But the management is optimistic as digital ad spend is headed up and expected to keep growing at a certain rate. Shemaroo CEO thinks YouTube being the largest video platform will capture a good share of that growth.

    “What is heartening more than anything else is the fact that there are core consumption and viewer habit formation of coming to the platform, consuming, interacting, seeking out content and engaging with it,” he added.

    Hiren Gada projects that the overall digital pie of the company will see a 25 to 30 per cent growth in FY 2020 as the industry level growth is between 20-25 per cent. Shemaroo has always aspired 5 per cent higher than the sector. Hence if the industry grows at a higher pace, he seems confident that Shemaroo’s digital business will grow faster.

    On being asked about the company’s debt reduction plan, Hiren Gada said, “We are hoping that now with ShemarooMe and hopefully with a better YouTube growth, those trends should continue in the direction that we all are expecting and overall on the debt front even this quarter there has been a slight marginal reduction. So the debt is at a broad level the content requirement for on a so content acquisition versus monetisation so all the acquisition is being funded by internal accruals from monetisation at this point in time.”

  • Shemaroo Entertainment starts OTT journey banking on its popular titles

    Shemaroo Entertainment starts OTT journey banking on its popular titles

    MUMBAI: Content powerhouse Shemaroo Entertainment has taken the OTT dive. The new platform ShemarooMe will have seven distinct categories on offer – Bollywood Classic, Bollywood Plus, Gujarati, Kids, Bhakti, Ibaadat and Punjabi. Rather than focusing on the rat race, Shemaroo perceives the new journey as a “marathon”. The company does not want to overspend or lay a hand on every genre.

    The new OTT platform also provides consumers with the freedom to pick and choose the categories of content and pay for them separately. Individual category plans cost Rs 49 per month and Rs 499 per year while the all-access plan costs Rs 99 per month and Rs 999 per year. However, the platform will work on the freemium model.

    While Shemaroo Entertainment has produced a number of popular Bollywood movies, the company won’t house every title on the new platform. Talking to Indiantelevision.com, Shemaroo Entertainment CEO Hiren Gada said that the titles which don’t fit with the segmentation or serve consumer needs will not be added to the platform.

    Gada said the platform now has access to overall about 2000 films and 1000+ hours of non-film content. Going forward, the content library will be refreshed every week. He also added that the first three months of refresh line up is already in place but the new entrant has no plan to jump on the web-series bandwagon like other OTT platforms.

    “We want to be true to these segments. We neither want to confuse the customers nor shift focus on our efforts and resources. I will rather strengthen the categories I am serving than doing something which is unlike me,” Gada added.

    A mass media campaign will be rolled out across print, television, radio, outdoor for promoting ShemarooMe. Apart from that, digital dominates the marketing plan heavily.

    “Today we have so many users on our digital platforms who are relevant target audience. Someone who is using Filmygane, or any other Shemaroo YouTube channel, is a natural audience for us. So focus will be on how to inform them, invite them and help them transit from there to here. We don’t know how many of them will transit and at what pace that will happen. That’s too new for us,” he commented.

    While there are over 35 OTT platforms in the country, differentiating the new product to attract more consumers is definitely a challenge. Gada said that there is a large fan base that will consume content if it is familiar territory. According to him, there are people looking for new content and an equal amount looking for familiar content. He added that the ability to provide consumers with familiar content is one of the most important propositions of ShemarooMe.

    Gada said that the whole business model of the OTT platform has been developed in way so that it does not put pressure on Shemaroo Entertainment’s overall expenditure. He also said consumer feedback will play a very important role in course correction leading to addition and removal of certain content.

    “Through ShemarooMe, we wish to pamper Indians with great content that can be watched over and over again. Great content needs greater technology. Our content is offered on a state-of-the-art, robust platform, with a roadmap of features to woo our audiences. From live to linear to VOD content, we have all forms of consumption options available. We will be expanding our OTT distribution through strategic partnerships to offer exciting content across multiple platforms catering to the target audience and we do hope this is cherished by our audiences who have supported us for over 55 years,” Shemaroo Entertainment Digital COO Zubin Dubash commented.

  • Shemaroo Entertainment Reveals the Identity of their Upcoming OTT App ‘ShemarooMe’

    Shemaroo Entertainment Reveals the Identity of their Upcoming OTT App ‘ShemarooMe’

    Mumbai: Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, one of India’s leading content power house, announced the name of its upcoming OTT brandShemarooMe. The company revealed the new logo of its upcoming OTT Video Service to give a sneak peek to the audiences on what is coming their way!
    Shemaroo with its expertise in content curation brings premium, engaging content to its consumers through user friendly, exclusive, multi-genre platforms that suits the needs of every Indian. With access to plethora of offerings such as Bollywood, regional& devotional content from Shemaroo, ShemarooMe wishes to give consumers an unbeatable taste of curated Indian content.
    While defining the philosophy of ShemarooMe, thefocus was to bring out the core essence of the Shemaroo brand which is -Being unabashedly Indian. ShemarooMerepresents one’s individuality, and expresses the power of Me, that won’t fade with the outburst of options available in the market. ShemarooMe caters to consumerswho unapologetically prefer entertaining masala, mass content over niche choices. 

    With the launch of its OTT platform, Shemaroo will be expanding the digital business through strategic partnerships to offer exciting content across multiple platforms catering to the target audience. 

    Commenting on ShemarooMe’sname announcement, Mr. Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited said,“The name ShemarooMe is essentially about expressing one’s individuality. Indian consumers today are assertive about their choices and a similar trend can be noticed in the entertainment space as well.ShemarooMecaters to these audiences who are proud to voicetheir preferences. Withthis insight, we intend to touch the hearts of our audiences spanning acrossmetros and Tier 2 & 3 cities.”

    Shemaroo revamped the brand for the current generation and revealed a unique and refreshing new brand identity earlier this year. The OTT announcement is a step towards further establishing Shemaroo’s connect with the new and existing audiences.

    Taking the journey ahead with its deep-rooted insights and consumer understanding,Shemaroois now building another milestone with ShemarooMe. The official launch of ShemarooMe is slated to take place in the first quarter of 2019.