ITV

Tag: Shotformats

  • Is Star’s VoD ‘hot’ enough?

    Is Star’s VoD ‘hot’ enough?

    MUMBAI: “At Star, we have always focused on dramatically enhancing the overall consumer experience. Smart technology, combined with powerful content, can be disruptive…,” had said Star India CEO Uday Shankar when the network launched its online sports platform starsports.com.

     

    Two years have passed since then and keeping up with the changing times, the giant network is back with a new platform. Christened hotStar, the video on demand (VoD) portal, currently running in beta version, will change the way people view content on television or digitally.

     

    With everything found under one roof, the platform has all the genres the network dabbles in. From popular dailies to live sporting events, a click will please many.

     

    The network labels the platforms as the “most compelling catalogue ever offered over-the-top on mobile and the web, making it the most the most complete video destination for consumers.”

     

    With around 20,000 hours content spread across seven languages, which includes 120+ full length TV shows, 500+ movies and live screening of popular sports like cricket, football, tennis and kabbadi, hotStar caters to a very large and diverse audience.

     

    Available across devices, the VoD is not the first such platform launched by a television network in the country; Ditto TV was launched by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) in 2012. There are many other such platforms like Biscoot and Zenga also available today.

     

    Believes Shotformats Digital Productions CEO and managing director Niyati Shah that though the platform looks nice but the concept of launching the same isn’t clear. “On television there is appointment viewing and in the digital world it is all about snacking. And with only Star content available on the platform, I don’t know what will be the scalability.”

     

    The free to view platform has a simple and easy user interface. However, what stands out is the logo which though is a star but is quite different from that of the networks logo. The tilted star has bright neon green and yellow colours. Its name is another feature that stands out.

     

    “It does sound like a talent show,” says FCB Ulka Digital creative head Sudarshan Sudevan but quickly adds, “But for a site of this sort, it’s not the name that’s critical, it’s the content. And the users will get a hang of it in due course of time.”

     

    Sudevan is excited that Star India is finally into video on demand. “With a good mix of TV shows, movies and sports … I am sure the video friendly population of today is going to have a treat. The network’s idea to enter the space that has been dominated by international players like Netflix and Amazon will be of a pleasure for fans here,” he adds.

     

    Agrees L&K Saatchi & Saatchi India CEO and managing partner Anil Nair that today people want to view content on the move.

     

    However, Shah isn’t convinced. “If I’m a Star TV viewer and miss something, maybe then I would come on the portal. Otherwise I have doubts who would log on,” she states while emphasisng on the fact that through the networks’ strength, the platform might get marketed well but the future will tell the true story.

     

    Nair too points out that today when there are aggregators like Youtube and Apple TV, the lack of genres available on Star’s new platform might become a hurdle. “Hopefully, in the future, the app will add more genres to its bouquet otherwise this can become a reservation for a viewer.”

     

    Highlighting that digitisation will change the mediums in the country, the experts are optimist that with many leaps to take, service providers have a lot to offer.

     

    The network has already started the ground work and a click on any of its current websites (apart from StarSports.com) directly takes the viewer to the new platform. The soft launch has successfully been able to create the buzz and now one just has to wait for the big band launch.

  • Shotformats launches Tiny TV for music video lovers on mobile

    Shotformats launches Tiny TV for music video lovers on mobile

    MUMBAI: Tiny TV is another media product from the house of Shotformats and as the name suggests is a data product which offers music video streaming and downloads.

     

    The product is amplified with the huge library of 10,000 videos across 13 languages and covering genres like Bollywood/pop/devotional and regional. Tiny TV will support most of the media player irrespective of consumer handsets.

     

    In the user-friendly platform, the layout is designed in a style that provides an optimal viewing experience, easy reading & navigation with minimal resizing, panning and scrolling, across a wide range of devices. A user can enjoy music of all genres, as per their interests and can share the same on social media platforms too. There is a subscription to this video streaming service. With one time purchase model available for listed price points, user can also subscribe to pre-set packs for streaming videos on Tiny TV and downloading the same on their mobile phones.

     

    Shotformats MD & CEO Niyati Shah exclaims, “Shotformats has always been trendsetters in launching rich media products with high quality content for our consumers. Tiny TV is our initiative for the music video lovers; it offers 10,000 music videos across seven languages with Bollywood dominating the mix. It’s a unique service which offers both downloads and streaming, Shotformats has developed in-house compressing technology which allows us to compress videos keeping the quality intact and allowing the users quick downloads.  “

     

    Sony Music India director digital Hari Nair says, “This is a great digital product that allow users to download and stream the videos of their favorite songs. With this generation being on the move, we believe this is a great initiative.”

     

    Aditya Music business head Aditya Gupta adds, “It is a brilliant platform provided for Indian music industry, especially having a full length music video in 2G and 3G format. This enables music aficionados to enjoy the audio and video on the go, in a seamless manner, hassle-free and in various languages. “

  • Shotformats launches digital prepaid wallet Biscoot

    Shotformats launches digital prepaid wallet Biscoot

    MUMBAI: Shotformats, a digital entertainment and VAS companies, has launched the world’s first offline application store and India’s first online digital currency – ‘Biscoot Digital Prepaid Wallet’.

     

    Combined together, the two offerings promise to change the way the digital entertainment industry markets its offerings across the rapidly growing smartphone users’ universe acrossth e country.

     

    On the initiatives, Shortformats MD and CEO Niyati Shah said, “As per our research, 95 per cent of mobile users in  India are prepaid users of which around 30-40 per cent visit mobile recharge shops at least twice a  day for getting recharges. Our distribution chain will comprise of such mobile recharge shops across India for testers. We aim to expand this network to 30,000 retail outlets in one year and sell one million such apps in the next six months. The current ARPUs of a mobile user voice + VAS would be approximately Rs 95 and we are bullish about taking that to Rs 150 in the first year of its launch on Biscoot Offline Store.”

     

    While low cost, big screen and feature-loaded smartphones are now a craze in tier II and tier III cities, the fact remains that majority of the users do not know how to operate such phones beyond basic calls and messages. The shocking surveys reveal that only 15 per cent of the total smartphone users have ever downloaded one or more apps on their mobiles. This situation is tailor-made for offline app stores where a consumer can fully utilise other features of his/her phone without the complexity of data usage and app downloads.

     

     

    For consumers who prefer consuming data online, the apps are available on the Biscoot website and will be offered with the ‘Biscoot Digital Wallet’.

     

    The offline app store will distribute digital content – movies, music, games and apps across more than 10,000 mobile recharge and telephone accessory stores in the next six months. This will prove to be a legal, good quality and reliable source of content for consumers in comparison to pirated and low quality content available from unreliable sources in the country currently.

     

    The company is focusing on creating utility applications across languages especially for Indian users. The range covers devotional, regional calculators, cookery, dress design apps for women and many more.

     

    Explaining the details further, Shah added, “Shotformats will bring high quality content based offline apps to the nearest shop of the consumer. You can load a movie for Rs 30 or a song for a price as low as Rs two. Games and apps can be purchased for Rs 10. The content applications can be transferred on the consumer’s mobile at the outlet and the consumer can use this content as long as he/she requires, without the internet/data connection on their mobiles. This application or the content cannot be copied to or shared with any other device, thus helping create a stream for content owners to monetize their content better, curb piracy and give the entertainment industry its due share of revenues. ‘The Biscoot Digital Wallet’ on the other hand, facilitates online transactions. The ‘Biscoot Digital Wallet’ will allow the consumers to create a digital wallet called ‘Biscoot Batua’ with their personal login account. These consumers can simply get Biscoot credits in exchange of rupees from retailers and use it for online transactions.”

     

    Disclosing the distribution plans, Shah said that Shotformats will focus on the Indian market and market Indian content for the next few years. “In India, we love our movies and we adore our music. The appetite for Indian content is so huge that we do not need to look elsewhere.”

     

    Offline application stores are being launched in a staggered manner and the initial phase will cover Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Rajkot, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Surat, Chandigarh, Bhopal, Indore, Rewa, Jabalpur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Guwahati and Siliguri. The content will be available in eight languages – Hindi (Bollywood), Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Marathi and Assamese.

     

    This digital wallet is the ultimate solution for those who shy away from using their credit/debit cards for online transactions. This currency will be available at retail mobile recharge and telephone accessory shops at the currency unit of Re 1. The Biscoot currency will be available as scratch cards at denominations of Rs 1000, Rs 500, Rs 100 and Rs 50.