ITV

Tag: Smart TV

  • Conviva data shows 10% streaming growth worldwide in Q1

    Conviva data shows 10% streaming growth worldwide in Q1

    Mumbai: Global streaming grew 10 percent globally, including continued growth in mature markets like North America (5 percent) and Europe (9 percent), during the Q1 of 2022 as compared to 2021, according to the latest Conviva’s State of Streaming report, the continuous measurement analytics platform for streaming media.

    “Despite recent news of Netflix’s subscriber contraction, streaming continues to grow worldwide, encompassing an ever-growing stable of platforms offering unique and original content. In mature markets like the US and Europe, viewers are upscreening from small devices to Smart TVs, setting the foundation for streaming to overtake linear TV on the big screen” said Conviva president, CEO Keith Zubchevich.

    Conviva’s Q1 2022 report found big screens (which includes connected TVs, smart TVs and gaming consoles) continue to be the streaming device of choice, responsible for 77 percent of all streamed minutes globally in Q1 2022. Within the big screen category, smart TV viewing time grew by 34 percent while desktops and gaming consoles declined by 15 percent versus Q1 2021. Connected TV device viewing slightly declined again this quarter, down 1 percent YOY. Within the connected TV category, Roku maintained the largest share of viewing time (31 percent) with Amazon Fire coming in second at 16 percent.

    When it came to actual minutes streamed, Android TV was the big leader in growth across all the top big screens—up 78 percent. In yet another win for smart TVs, LG TV, Samsung TV, and Vizio TV all also had double-digit growth, up about 20 percent.

    Quality Improves with One Exception: Globally, bitrate/picture quality (up 17.3 percent), buffering (down nearly 1 percent) and video start failures (down 17.6 percent) all improved significantly. Video start times were the one negative mark in terms of quality, as the wait for videos to start increased in every region, up 30 percent globally. Viewers in Africa waited the longest (8 seconds) while Europe had the fastest start time, waiting just four seconds on average.

    In Q4 2021, the streaming industry saw advertising delays and increased buffering, but streaming advertising bounced back nicely in Q1 2022. Ad impressions were up 18 percent and ad attempts were up 14 percent, thanks in part to big, live sporting events like the Super Bowl, March Madness and the Winter Olympics.

    TikTok Reigns for Sports Leagues: Streaming on social platforms continues to be a key way for sports leagues to engage fans, and according to Conviva, TikTok was the only platform to grow its streaming audience share for every sports league measured. Bundesliga, Serie A, and the Premier League increased their audience share for streaming videos on TikTok the most at 6 percent each with the NFL coming right behind them with 4 percent growth on TikTok YOY. In fact, both Superbowl teams – the Rams and the Bengals – gained over 100k TikTok followers in a single day (Feb 13-14).

    Methodology: Conviva’s data is primarily collected using proprietary sensor technology with a global footprint of more than 500 million unique viewers watching 200 billion streams per year across nearly four billion applications streaming on devices. Embedded directly within streaming video applications, the sensor measures across content and ads to analyze nearly three trillion real-time transactions per day for its customers. In the State of Streaming report, the year-over-year data from Q1 2022 as compared to Q1 2021 was normalized based on Conviva’s customer base. The social media data consists of data from over 2800 accounts, over 1.8 million posts, and over 10 billion engagements across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube in Q1 2022. Social data for professional sports leagues was collected from individual leaderboard lists for each sports league that totaled 262 individual team accounts and tallied over five billion cross-platform engagements in Q1 2022.

  • The Q India launches its third channel ‘The Q Kahaniyan’

    The Q India launches its third channel ‘The Q Kahaniyan’

    Mumbai: Qyou Media has announced that it is launching a new animation channel called The Q Kahaniyan. The channel will initially be launched on smart TV and mobile app-based platforms including Samsung TV Plus, Xiaomi Mi TV, Jio TV and Jio TV Plus and TCL’s iFFalcon.

    The 24/7 channel is targeting 15 to 35-year-old young Indians and offers a new kind of alternative animated content that is suited for an older audience. The company’s Hindi GEC channel The Q India has seen a significant amount of popularity from its alternative animated series such as “Daravni Kahaniya,” “Dilchasp Kahaniya” and “Anokhi Kahaniya.”

    Smart TV shipments in India have increased by 65 per cent year-on-year for the quarter ending in June 2021 and this pace of growth is expected to continue as more e-commerce and app-based channels become part of the smart TV ecosystem. The global growth of smart TV’s is expected to be from 20 per cent to 30 per cent in the next five years with India as one of the fastest growing markets. In addition, the introduction of most smart TV content platforms to the mobile handsets of manufacturers who deliver both types of hardware (i.e., Samsung, Xiaomi, LG, etc) provides a strong entry point for a large audience of additional mobile based viewers.

    “We have experienced tremendous success with our unique alternative animation content both on broadcast and digital platforms,” said Qyou Media co-founder and CEO Curt Marvis. “We have expressed our commitment to be a leader in India in the smart TV and emerging content business now known as FAST (free ad supported TV). With the addition of ‘The Q Kahaniyan’ as a one of a kind third channel, we can now begin to form a block of Q channels across smart TV’s with the goal of adding more in the future. We foresee the smart TV and FAST channel ecosystem becoming a leading distribution vehicle in India with an impact that is equal or is even greater than what is occurring in North America. Our position in the market is now stronger than ever with the addition of The Q Kahaniyan.”

  • Pitaara TV launches multi-regional streaming platform Chaupal

    Pitaara TV launches multi-regional streaming platform Chaupal

    Mumbai: Punjabi TV channel Pitaara TV on Saturday announced the global launch of its streaming service platform Chaupal. It will provide access to quality content for entertainment in three regional languages- Punjabi, Haryanvi, and Bhojpuri. The streaming service has been launched globally, across markets and devices.

    Some of Chaupal’s key markets include the United States of America (USA), Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Mauritius, and the European Union (EU).

    The streaming service will provide original and exclusive movies, web series, podcasts, music, documentaries, and entertainment-based content from India and around the world to its viewers.

    Commenting on the development, Pitaara TV’s director Sandeep Bansal said, “This is a proud moment for all of us who have worked so hard for the last three years to bring ‘Chaupal’ to life. Chaupal, as the name suggests, is a gathering of like-minded people who come together for a good time, so we wanted to create a platform that reminded people of their roots, where content could be watched in all the regional languages with family or friends.”

    “Chaupal will keep surprising its consumers with incredible storytelling and talent turning imagination into reality,” Bansal added.  

    “The word ‘Chaupal’ signifies a community space where people gather for a specific purpose. Pitaara TV’s OTT is also one such platform where people speaking different languages and residing in different states and countries will come together to experience endless entertainment in the most affordable way possible. ‘Chaupal: Entertainment Beyond Boundaries’ is an endeavor to make online entertainment truly seamless for audiences anywhere, anytime”, the channel said in a statement.

    The launch was accompanied by the release of 12 originals (films and web series), alongside 50 exclusives and over 300 film offerings. Included in the originals list are “Panchhi” (thriller), “Vardaat” (murder mystery), “Range” (action/crime series), “Kala Shehar (film), Teri Meri Nahi Nibhni (rom-com film), Khich Jatta Khich (episodic), Main vs Tu (film/family drama), Please Kill Me” (suspense film), “Malaal” (Hariyanvi crime film), “London in Haryana” (Haryanvi web series), “Lakhimchand Haryanvi” (Haryanvi film), and “Chapper Phadke” (Haryanvi film). More releases such as “Murabba”, “Chandigarh Waale”, “Tunka Tunka”, “Zila Sngroor”, “Dustbin”, “Shikari”, “Shahi Majra”, “Umran Ch Ki Rakheya”, “Seep”, “Miss Tanya”, and “Shagan” are lined up.

     Hopeful about Chaupal’s potential, popular brands such as Xiaomi and Paul Merchants have partnered with it.

    MI India’s category lead –smart TV, Eshwar Nilakantan remarked, “With Mi TV’s, our vision is to provide a unique interface for each user, and this comes to life with our dedicated focus on building PatchWall for TVs in India. Mi TVs have become India’s favourite smart TVs in no time and keeping our users in mind, we have made it our resolution to enhance the entertainment experience by providing varied content. We are proud to announce our partnership with OTT platform Chaupal which widens our rich content library for all our Punjabi, Haryanvi, and Bhojpuri users. This is the first time a global TV brand has taken the initiative to understand the power of Indian vernacular entertainment and partner with a platform to provide exclusive early access to Mi TV users.”

  • Smart TV ownership to surpass 50% of homes globally by 2026, says report

    Smart TV ownership to surpass 50% of homes globally by 2026, says report

    New Delhi: Over 665 million global households owned a Smart TV by the end of 2020 accounting for 34 per cent of the total households, said the US- based firm Strategy Analytics in its latest report.

    According to the report, ‘Global Smart TV Forecast for 88 Countries 2011-2026′, the penetration of Smart TV is set to rise to 51 per cent by 2026 when Smart TV ownership will reach 1.1 billion homes. While the demand for smart TVs was growing anyways, the pandemic-induced lockdown accelerated the sale further. As per the data collected by the firm, annual shipments reached 186 million units during 2020 representing 79 per cent of all TVs shipped worldwide. The shipments are expected to break through 200 million units per year in 2022 it stated further.

    The strongest growth was witnessed in North America. According to the report, this could also be due to the government stimulus cheques which helped to drive an increase in spending on home entertainment products as consumers found themselves spending more time at home due to Covid-19 related restrictions.

    Samsung, TCL and LG emerged as the world’s leading smart TV brands and represent over 40 per cent of the market between them, up from 33 per cent in 2015. Samsung led in terms of annual sales units for the ninth straight year in 2020 while TCL climbed above LG and into second place for the first time. Meanwhile, the Smart TV market continues to coalesce around a handful of TV streaming platforms or operating systems.

    The report found that Samsung’s Tizen leads the way but major third-party software platforms such as Android TV and Roku TV OS have made strong gains in recent years.

    “Smart TV is a standard fit feature of most flat panel TVs sold today and so smart TV household penetration will inevitably continue to grow as consumers replace old sets with new modern smart-enabled versions,” said Connected Home Devices senior analyst, Edouard Bouffenie. “As smart functionality is no longer a point of differentiation but has become a checkbox necessity, smart TV manufacturers have had to make a choice between maintaining their own software and application ecosystems or licensing a software platform from a third-party partner.”

    While many have decided to partner with the likes of Google’s Android TV and Roku in order to avoid the ongoing costs of maintaining their own platform, others like Samsung, Vizio and LG are going alone to capitalise on the fast growing Connected TV advertising business.

    “However, the current Connected TV landscape in the home is incredibly complex and consumers may have multiple devices in multiple configurations to choose from”, said Media and Intelligent Home Practice, vice president, David Watkins. “Factor in different viewing habits amongst different members of the household and it’s clear that TV streaming platform providers face a significant challenge in driving engagement and ensuring that TV viewers remain on their platform and do not switch to another source. Smart TV OS providers must look to influence the TV viewer’s journey through improved content discovery capabilities, advanced analytics and advertising platforms and the development of an intuitive and user-friendly UI.”

    The report forecasts global smart TV shipments, installed base, households and household penetration by six major regions and 88 countries from 2011 to 2026.

  • Samsung’s free video service TV Plus launches in India

    Samsung’s free video service TV Plus launches in India

    KOLKATA: India’s online video ecosystem has seen exponential growth in the last couple of years, especially after the pandemic. All the tech, media, and electronic giants are eying to capitalise on the booming OTT space. 

    Samsung is the latest addition to the list, with the launch of Samsung TV Plus, a service which offers its smart TV users free TV content, as well as ad-supported select live channels and on-demand videos, with no additional device such as a set top box. To access the service, all that the consumers will need is a Samsung Smart TV (2017 model onwards) and an internet connection.

    With the introduction of TV Plus, consumers will get instant access to exciting content across genres such as news, lifestyle, technology, gaming and science, sports and outdoors, music, movies and bingeable shows, without any subscription.

    TV Plus will also be available on most Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablet devices with O OS or higher software version. Services for Galaxy smartphones are expected in April 2021. The TV Plus app can be downloaded from both the Samsung Galaxy Store and Google Play Store.

    The innovative service is being introduced keeping in mind the change in consumer behaviour during the pandemic led lockdown period, when consumers, especially millennials and Gen Z, began to explore their televisions more and more for new and exciting content. In India, Samsung TV Plus will immediately be live across all Smart TV models from 2017 to 2021 and users will be able to access 27 global and local channels. More partners will be on-boarded soon to make the service more robust.

    “Over the last one year, consumers have been spending more time at home. Their television sets and smartphones have become the centers of their lives, for both entertainment as well as information. We also noticed that consumers now immensely value great media content, the reason why we chose to introduce Samsung TV Plus in India. Over the next few months, we expect to scale TV Plus to add more channels and content,” Samsung India services director Reshma Prasad Virmani said.

    Samsung is India’s top brand of televisions for over a decade and offers a range of smart TVs, ranging from Rs 18,900 to Rs 15,79,900.

    With the launch in India, Samsung TV Plus is now available in 14 countries including the US, Canada, Korea, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, UK, Italy, France, Spain, Australia, Brazil and Mexico.

  • Connected TV viewership growth: OTT users going beyond six-inch smartphones

    Connected TV viewership growth: OTT users going beyond six-inch smartphones

    KOLKATA: Indian viewers consume content only on smartphones – the market has matured enough to move on from this notion. With more and more premium content offered by leading streaming services, consumers don’t want to limit their viewing experience to six-inche screens anymore.

    It is undeniable that a large chunk of Indian consumers still watch content on mobile devices but their preference for the larger screen has increased by leaps and bounds, especially while they were homebound during lockdown. Moreover, the appetite for quality viewing experience also pushed them to larger screens.

    With smart TVs becoming more affordable, a number of TV households are replacing their old linear sets. Smart TV market has been on the rise over the last couple of years due to the entry of brands like Xiaomi, Vu, Real Me, One Plus, etc. In addition to that, traditional TV brands like Samsung, Panasonic, and LG also went aggressive in the segment. Reports have suggested the popularity of OTT content is driving smart TV growth in India.

    "India is one of the most exciting countries in the world with more than 200 million potential TV households and still underpenetrated. Smart TVs have become more affordable over the last three years, and represent the vast majority of all new TVs sold. People love having the ability to connect to the Internet and stream their favourite films and series on demand. We see an ever growing need among audiences to watch Netflix on a smart TV, at home, with their family,” Netflix India business development director Abhishek Nag said.

    Connected TV also includes streaming devices such as Roku, Chromecast and Fire TV. Users who don’t intend to invest in a brand new TV set are opting for these devices instead. Recently, Amazon said in a report that Fire TV users in India doubled consumption of entertainment content during their stay at home in 2020, with movies, cricket, online gaming and music gaining traction.

    “In 2025, we expect connected TV will reach over 40 million homes from around seven million homes today. This will further grow OTT viewership as people  prefer to watch content on a large screen if possible. Both Airtel and Jio have announced growth plans for home broadband. Hence, that’s growing to drive connected TV homes and viewership,” stated EY India partner and media & entertainment leader Ashish Pherwani.

    The prolonged shutdown of cinema halls and fresh content availability on OTTs also contributed to the uptake of connected TV. Over 50 per cent of Mirzapur 2 viewers completed the show within 48 hours of its release on Amazon Prime Video. Direct-to-digital releases Shakuntala Devi, Gulabo Sitabo, Coolie No.1,  Soorarai Pottru, Ponmagal Vandhal were the most watched movies from Prime Video on Fire TV devices. Users enjoyed sports content too as Disney+ Hotstar viewership increased 50 per cent during IPL 2020.

    Zee5 witnessed accelerated adoption of connected devices wherein, three out of five SVoD users watched content via connected devices, recording over 80 per cent growth during Covid2019. Overall engagement of the platform grew and the audience spent more time watching content on connected TV versus smartphone.

    “With the audience becoming acclimatised to the idea of work-from-home and social distancing owing to the pandemic, their content consumptions patterns have seen a drastic change and there has been a significant growth in terms of watch-time. The surge in content consumption is also partly driven by a big uplift in the use of connected devices,” shared Zee5 India chief business officer Manish Kalra.

    Earlier in a conference, head honchos from Disney+Hotstar, Voot, Amazom Prime Video also spoke of the shift towards the living room as opposed to mobile device viewing.  As a result of rapid growth lately, the current ratio of mobile-connected TV consumption for Zee5 stands at 50-50, Kalra revealed. This signifies higher engagement levels on CTV compared to content consumption on smartphones.

    “In terms of the genres, we have observed that the audience consumes more of family entertainment content. Some of the most watched content includes Jeet Ki Zid, Black Widows, Pareeksha as compared to crime and edgy content,” he added.

    On the back of surging demand for CTV, OTT services are increasingly forging partnerships with OEM manufacturers. Netflix’s Nag said the platform has tied up with global TV OEMs like Samsung, LG, Sony, Xiaomi, and OnePlus, and local TV OEMs like VU and MarQ, to ensure that all the members get the same consistent, high quality app experience, no matter which smart TV they choose. Zee5’s Kalra mentioned that the platform is available across all leading Smart TVs and smart sticks available in the market – Samsung, LG, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Sony; Amazon FireTV Stick and Mi 2k stick. Moreover, the streamer has a presence as Hot keys for Samsung, LG, TCL, Onida, Nokia and Marq TVs across all 2020 models.

    Although smart TV penetration is phenomenally low in India, going forwards it is projected to grow more swiftly than smartphones which have reached the 400 million threshold, Elara Capital VP research analyst (media) Karan Taurani noted. Moreover, affordability coming in with new players will boost growth. Hence, the mobile consumption of OTT platforms standing at 80-90 per cent can come down to 70 per cent in the next few years, albeit mobile devices will largely dominate the viewership for some time to come. However, the growth of connected TV viewership in India will be led by boxes offered by aggregators like Jio, Tata Sky, Taurani remarked.

    According to Deloitte India partner Jehil Thakkar, India is a mobile-first video consumption country and that will not change soon. Even, the launch of 5G can result in a better viewing experience for handheld devices. But viewership on connected TVs will parallelly go up, he asserted. During the Covid crisis, many users invested in new smart TVs or connected devices. These users will continue to consume content on those devices while they are homes, he opined. Along with that, the replacement of current TV sets in coming years will be mostly led by smart TVs only.

  • ShemarooMe collaborates with Sony India

    ShemarooMe collaborates with Sony India

    KOLKATA: ShemarooMe has today announced its association with Sony India to expand the Smart TVs content library, further enhancing the accessibility and convenience for consumers. With this association, the ShemarooMe app will now be available for streaming exclusively on select BRAVIA Smart TVs. The all-in-one platform offers a wide range of multi-genre, multi-regional content, including Bollywood Premieres, Bollywood Classics, Shemaroo Kids, and the best of Devotional, Comedy and Regional content.

    Online content consumption has increased rapidly as consumers are confined to their homes due to the lockdown and are accessing streaming services from multiple screens such as tablets, laptops, mobile phones and smart TVs. During these unprecedented times, this partnership further deepens ShemarooMe’s reach by providing seamless access to BRAVIA’s vast number of consumers in the country as well as enables the latter to expand its Hindi and regional entertainment portfolio with the OTT platform’s exciting slate of popular shows and movies.

    Talking about this announcement, Shemaroo Entertainment digital COO Zubin Dubash said, “We are extremely delighted to have partnered with Sony India to help expand their entertainment portfolio with ShemarooMe’s diverse content catalogue. Over the years, Sony’s BRAVIA television has truly revolutionized the way Indians watch content. With this strategic association, we aim to expand our OTT distribution and transform the TV viewing experience for consumers, giving them access to our rich legacy with the added convenience of streaming blockbuster Bollywood as well as regional movies and live events, seamlessly on their television sets.”

    Sony India BRAVIA Business head Ranvijay Singh added "We are glad to partner with Shemaroo Entertainment and help amplify their diverse content portfolio across India. BRAVIA Televisions have a legacy of offering the most immersive viewing experience and with a rapid increase in the online content consumption, we are positive that this partnership will offer wholesome entertainment to our consumers.”

  • Programmatic TV is the future of advertising

    Programmatic TV is the future of advertising

    As we move towards a digitally-driven world at a high pace, it is essential for brands to stay ahead of the curve and discover/develop newer and effective ways to reach the consumers ensuring impact. Now in the ever-evolving digital world, advertising has bypassed the traditional approach. With affordable internet prices across the country, digital advertising has evolved into a global marketplace at large. This new and evolved sector requires many relationships that extend further than the typical publisher/advertiser bond that brands and agencies were familiar with. Although new platforms for advertising have emerged but the value for television advertising is still growing. Television is of paramount importance for brands as they know TV ads work in reaching a larger set of audience who either has limited access to the internet or no access at all. Over the last decade, television has undergone major technological development which has enabled marketers to direct commercial messages in a focused manner on an individual level.

    With the invention of Smart TV’s, traditional ways of TV ad buying are being challenged by the programmatic approach.  Programmatic TV largely refers to the TV inventory that could be bought via a programmatic platform.  As simple as it may sound but it is rather a complex mechanism which has many broad categories with several types to choose from. They consist of video on demand (VOD), digital linear TV, video and terrestrial linear. One can always purchase the programmatic inventory of the TV by either open exchange or via a private market place. Open exchange can be accessed by anyone by using real-time bidding to auction inventory to the highest bidder and private market place, on the other hand, is more direct and based on impressions rather than the traditional guarantees of time and place. This digitization has overall enabled marketers to apply data segment to leverage big screen and create high impact on the audience. Programmatic TV is a one-stop solution for brands as well as advertisers as it largely applies digital advertising’s efficiency model to traditional TV advertising with the automation of buying process with connected devices.

    While programmatic TV as an option has an exceptional potential but it’s still quite new. Hence, programmatic TV is not living up to its true potential given that we’re still in the very early stages. Going by the pace of the adoption, the industry is likely to adopt it in phases. The first phase will induce buyers and sellers to use programmatic tech to transact digital video buys. This phase is actually underway and making notable strides across platforms. As per a report by Google Data, a 4x growth in impressions for videos was visible in 2014 itself. The second phase will ensure the overall development of the programmatic infrastructure, making it easier for buyers and sellers to place ads in streaming and video-on-demand TV content across connected devices efficiently. Both these phases will create pathways for the third and most important phase i.e. Linear TV. Support for Linear TV in programmatic is the most complex phase as it will take some significant work to integrate digital platforms with traditional systems and data vendors across the TV ecosystem. If done right, programmatic TV will help the sector in overcoming several ideological and technical challenges. The sector needs to get programmers and broadcasters along with advertisers to help understand what programmatic TV can do instead of what people think it does. This will then result in brands focusing on the things that really matter such as universal measurement across all advertising platforms for better ROI, the ability to reach viewers across screens, access to inventory devoid of rights issues along with programmatic buying support for set-top boxes and so on.

    As per e-marketers research, programmatic TV would be a multi-billion dollar industry by 2022. Though it accounts for less than 1 per cent of all TV ad spends for now. As brand advertisers, programmers, distributors and ad tech providers work their way through the real-world challenges, programmatic TV will begin to live up to its true potential making it the future of advertising on TV.

    (The author is co-founder and managing director, Makani Creatives. The views expressed are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

  • ZEE5 announces strategic partnership with OnePlus for much-awaited OnePlus TV

    ZEE5 announces strategic partnership with OnePlus for much-awaited OnePlus TV

    MUMBAI: ZEE5, India’s fastest growing ConTech brand, has entered into a strategic partnership with OnePlus, the global technology company for its upcoming OnePlus TV. Through this partnership, ZEE5 will come pre-installed on all OnePlus TVs giving consumers access to a wide repertoire of content available in 12 languages ranging from, Originals, Indian and international/bollywood movies and TV shows, music, kids content, cineplays, live TV and health and lifestyle.

    This partnership between ZEE5 and OnePlus is similar in more ways than one, as both the brands believe in combining the power of data, content and technology to challenge the status quo. Innovation is at heart of everything with ZEE5 pioneering the regional content landscape and OnePlus growing into a much-beloved smartphone brand with its premium offerings that pride itself on.

    “We are extremely delighted to partner with a global brand like OnePlus when it comes to providing value for product for consumers across all segments. With this partnership, consumers are in for a treat as they will be served with ZEE5’s massive content library and OnePlus’ state-of-the-art innovations which will further elevate content viewing experience on Smart TVs,” ZEE5 India business development and commercial head Manpreet Bumrah said.

    OnePlus India general manager Vikas Agarwal said, “With the much-awaited upcoming launch of our first-ever OnePlus TV, we are very happy to be partnering with ZEE5 to offer our users extensive content across genres for a seamless, variated viewing experience.” 

  • Eros Now Leads All Major OTT Platforms in Market Share of Small and Regional Cities According to New Research

    Eros Now Leads All Major OTT Platforms in Market Share of Small and Regional Cities According to New Research

    Mumbai: Eros International Plc (NYSE:EROS) (“Eros” or the “Company”), a Global Indian Entertainment Company, announced today that Counterpoint Technology Market Research has recently released an in-depth study on OTT platforms and consumption patterns in India. According to the study, Eros Now has the largest share (59%) of users in the 25-39 age bracket in Tier II/III cities, the highest among all major OTT platforms. In terms of engagement, the study found that Eros Now users had the highest engagement levels compared to other OTT platforms, with 68% of Eros Now users indicating that they watch content on the platform daily. In addition, the survey points out that 9% of Eros Now users watch content on the platform for more than 21 hours per week.

    The Counterpoint Research study highlights several interesting trends and data points, including:

    ·         Content from comfort of home: 96% of Eros Now customers prefer watching content at home

    ·         Smart TV – the new choice: Eros Now has the highest percentage of its users watching content on Smart TV with a total of 27% – highest among all other leading OTT platforms

    ·         Demographic trends: Eros Now has the highest share of business owners as users – over 14%

    ·         Importance of Xiaomi: More than half (53%) of ErosNow users in Tier II/III cities own a Xiaomi smartphone.

    Rishika Lulla Singh, Chief Executive Officer of Eros Digital, commented on the key trends revealed in the survey, saying, “The Counterpoint survey is proof of the success of our endeavours not only to expand the consumer base but also to strengthen our foothold in the smaller cities of India. Our entry into the rural markets of India has played a significant role in the growth of the OTT industry in the country."

    Eros Now continues to thrive through its partnerships in India. Notably, Eros Now has partnered with Xiaomi for pre-installation on Smart TV's in India, a rapidly growing market. Eros Now is currently the only major Indian OTT platform to partner with Apple for its new Apple TV Plus service to be launched globally later this year.