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Tag: SonyLiv

  • Sony Pictures Networks appoints Himanshu Bhagat as AVP marketing for digital business

    Sony Pictures Networks appoints Himanshu Bhagat as AVP marketing for digital business

    KOLKATA: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has appointed Himanshu Bhagat as digital business associate vice president marketing. Bhagat will manage the digital marketing function for revamped SonyLIV 2.0. 

    Bhagat was earlier associated with ICICI Lombard. He managed the digital marketing portfolio with strong alignment to P&L as associate vice president, digital business. He has worked across auto, insurance, finance, parenting, consumer and real estate verticals managing activities across owned, paid & earned channels in digital. 

  • SonyLIV 2.0 seeks to refresh through new-age, youthful vibe

    SonyLIV 2.0 seeks to refresh through new-age, youthful vibe

    KOLKATA: While the lockdown demotivated many, it did not stop OTT platform SonyLIV from taking a bold stop. With new content in-store, SonyLIV is reviving itself as SonyLIV 2.0. A new team which took up the role to lead the platform last year has reimagined the transformation. As the streaming war in India continues with Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, ZEE5 and MX Player being leading names, the rebranding is likely to give leverage.

    “We wanted to become more new-age, youthful, user-friendly. That was one thing which we wanted to say through the new logo design. Secondly, the V of LIV also resembles the tick mark. So, the entire design came from the fact that this is the right choice of entertainment,” said SPN digital business marketing head Aman Srivastava. The new logo emphasises the ‘liv’ part in a bright yellow colour in contrast to a colourful background with streaks of purple, blue and orange.

    Srivastava said they are informing existing customers about new content through notifications and emailers. Moreover, there is a way to interact with these consumers on the app itself. Apart from that, he adds that SonyLIV has been present on all digital and audiovisual platforms which provides it with the right kind of target audience including its network channels, major platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. He added that SonyLIV was always well-played from a distribution point of view as its available across devices, platforms and telecom players. 

    He is also confident about customer retention even after the lockdown easing as it will have new content every week. Moreover, he added that live sports has also started and the sports fans are coming in and there might even be some more new sports content. As television shootings have resumed, catch-up content will also come back. Together, original, live sports, catch-up content will keep subscribers engaged. 

    Just after the launch, SPN digital business and SET content head Ashish Golwalkar said that it would start the journey with Hindi and English content. Although the English library has always been heavy of the streaming platform, it has now collaborated with the best creative minds of the country for good local content. 

    “Currently, we are starting with Hindi and English content. In English content, we have content from Sony Pictures Television, our own studio. We have acquired some content from ITV and NBC. We have an existing Lionsgate library. We have a rich rapporteur of English content. Now, we are launching with Your Honour. We will launch five shows in the next two months.  We have content planned for Hindi, Marathi and English. We have very enriching content from TVF as well,” he said.

    Golwalkar admitted that the space is highly competitive but even then he feels there is a lot of space for content in certain genres like comedy or content that is Indian in approach. According to him, there is not much content in the genre. The online content that is coming from India is revolving around crime, thriller and dark subjects. There are a lot of other stories that can be told and that will allow SonyLIV to create a niche for itself. He added that they would be launching around 15-20 originals in the next 12 months. Some of the content can be dubbed in major regional languages in the coming days.

    The first original with which the rebranded platform started the journey was Your Honor, Created by Applause Entertainment. Deepak Segal, the content head of Applause Entertainment said that it is one of format among six which were acquired from Israel. The show was first adapted and produced by it and then SonyLIV was approached. It has three shows coming up on SonyLIV.

  • OTT players ease payment worries with UPI tie-ups

    OTT players ease payment worries with UPI tie-ups

    KOLKATA: The unified payments interface (UPI) service crossed a billion transactions a month last year and is on a constant upward trend. As more Indians make UPI their go-to option for online payment, over-the-top (OTT) platforms are also strengthening their ties with them to be more user friendly.

    Leading OTT player ZEE5, which has seen high uptake of the service on connected devices,  became the first-ever OTT platform to launch an UPI based payment facility on connected devices. Users of Samsung smart TVs now have an option of ‘scan and pay’ by selecting the ‘UPI payment’ mode, ‘scanning the QR’ and ‘paying on their UPI app’. With this easy convenient option, the app is set to empower users by democratising the payment process and allowing customers to make payments through their smartphones. 

    “ZEE5 has been leading the way in innovation through technology with constant upgrades to our interface and navigation to make things smoother for users. In an industry leading initiative, ZEE5 is now offering users the option to make their payments easily online while watching their favorite content through smart TV Apps. The latest update of the ZEE5 app on Samsung Smart TVs has already made UPI QR payments available to users. Customers can now choose their plan, make the payment through UPI within seconds by scanning the QR code, and then continue streaming. This is an exciting juncture for ZEE5 as very few sectors offer this option and we are the first platform in this industry to explore this. ZEE5 has been a pioneer in integrating new technology and options and this is another step that will drive forward our growth,” ZEE5 India expansion projects business head and global product head Rajneel Kumar said.

    SonyLIV 2.0, which has unveiled recently its new brand identity, reinforces its alliances with a series of wallet partners to maximise consumer delight.  In an exciting initiative, LIV premium subscribers now stand to win an array of offers and benefits across six leading payment options like Paytm, MobiKwik, AmazonPay, Payzapp, Freecharge and OlaMoney Postpaid. User can avail a cash back varying from 10 per cent upto 100 per cent subject to the platform. These newly announced cashback offers are available to all LIV premium subscribers in India across operating systems and devices.

    “At SonyLIV, customer delight is of primal importance to us. We are happy to leap ahead in existing partnerships with wallets and add newer ones to the franchise. This is a major step up in our efforts towards strengthening old bonds and building new partnerships keeping in mind consumer behavior & preferences,” SPN digital business growth and monetisation head Manish Aggarwal said. 

    ALTBalaji recently extended its association with payment gateways Paytm and Amazon Pay. As a part of the offering, Paytm will be offering cashback up to Rs 75 on ALTBalaji subscription whereas Amazon Pay customers will get a cashback of a minimum amount of Rs 10 and a maximum amount of Rs 250 on a minimum purchase of Rs 100. The offer will be valid in India for Android and web-only.

    “Keeping the customer at the very core of everything that we stand for, we have always strived towards providing them a seamless experience through our services. Our long-standing association with Paytm and Amazon Pay is yet another step in the right direction that further fosters this bond with our consumers. It will further give us the opportunity to reach out to the masses and make them aware of the engrossing and original content that we have on offer,” Balaji Telefilms group COO and ALTBalaji CEO Nachiket Pantvaidya said.

  • SonyLIV 2.0 announces its content line-up for the first month

    SonyLIV 2.0 announces its content line-up for the first month

    Mumbai: With a refreshed brand identity, SonyLIV is all set to bring forth an array of original content ranging from thrilling fictional narratives to real-life incidents and many more. Challenging the predominant beliefs of morality and ethics, SonyLIV’s very first original content titled Your Honor, a dark and morally complex thriller, is all set to go live on 18 June.

    Your Honor is adapted from the Israeli series Kvodo, distributed by Yes Studios, has been produced for Applause Entertainment by Sphereorigins and is directed by the National-award winning director, E.Niwas. Life was good for an upright, honest and reputed judge Bishan Khosla until he found himself facing a life altering situation. His only son gets involved in a hit-and-run case. While Bishan is about to turn in his son to the police, he learns about the victim's identity. 

    Oscillating between the complexities of morality and ethics, Jimmy Sheirgill brings to life the agony of Bishan Khosla in this thriller. Joining Jimmy Sheirgill in this enticing new offering are renowned actors like Mita Vashisht, Varun Badola, Yashpal Sharma, Parul Gulati, Suhasini Mulay, Richa Pallod, Kunj Anand, Pulkit Makol, and Mahabir Bhullar.

    Offering a power-packed monsoon binge, SonyLIV also releases Manoj Bajpayee’s critically acclaimed film Bhonsle alongwith a dark comedy Kadakh starring Ranvir Shorey. The english shows For Life and Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector also make their Indian debut on the platform. While the former is inspired from a true story, the latter is a thriller adapted from the book “The Bone Collector” by Jeffery Deaver.

    Sony Pictures Networks India digital business and SET content head Ashish Golwalkar commented, “SonyLIV Originals are Indian stories created for a global market. The storytelling therefore will have a signature Indian ethos and authenticity. Your honor is the first such show and will be followed by an interesting line up of Indian stories coming soon. We are delighted to partner with Applause Entertainment, Sameer Nair, Director E Niwas and a stellar cast spearheaded by Jimmy Sheirgill to bring Your Honor for our subscribers.”

    Talking about the partnership, Applause Entertainment CEO Sameer Nair said, “We are glad to partner with SonyLIV as they embark on their journey of originals. Your Honor is the first of our four originals scheduled to go live on the all new SonyLIV and we are sure the audience will enjoy this show. We look forward to a longer association ahead with SonyLIV.”

  • SonyLIV’s first ever exclusive digital selection process of KBC breaks all previous participation records

    SonyLIV’s first ever exclusive digital selection process of KBC breaks all previous participation records

    MUMBAI: SonyLIV has emerged as the most preferred way of participation for the fans and aspirants of Kaun Banega Crorepati. This year saw more than 3.1 crore initial audition entries, with SonyLIV seeing a 42 per cent jump in participation. In a landmark change, the auditions that have traditionally been happening on-ground across eight cities and ten days till last year, were conducted digitally on a single day via the SonyLIV app this season. These auditions saw more than 12K participants, a 4x increase compared to last season. 

    With the evolution of digital media, in changing times SonyLIV brought the audience closer to their favourite reality show in the comfort of their homes. The online auditions of KBC 12 have created history and broken all records by providing an ease of access to participants and saving their travel time to audition cities. The digital auditions also allow a robust verification process, giving users direct access to the entire selection procedure. This safeguards their interests against fraudulent activities. 

    The auditions commenced with a General Knowledge test followed by a video uploaded by the participants. The assessment for the final round will be centred on the cumulative score and participants with the highest scores will qualify for personal interview. In alignment to this process, the selection for the Fastest Finger First contestants will be based on the scores of the above selection process. To ensure inclusivity, makers have facilitated calls for visually challenged auditionees.

    “The exclusive digital selection process for KBC has recorded an all-time high number of auditionees. A 3X increase in the participants with the online selection process signifies the yardstick of our user engagement on the SonyLIV app and the evolving preference of digital mediums amongst users. The process enabled us to reach out to a wider cross-section of audience while innovating with the 2nd screen initiative,”SPN digital business programming and new Initiatives head Amogh Dusad commented.

  • Applause Entertainment signs multi-show deal with SonyLIV

    Applause Entertainment signs multi-show deal with SonyLIV

    MUMBAI: Applause Entertainment has announced a content licensing deal of four premium drama series with SonyLIV, the popular on-demand video streaming service from Sony Pictures Networks India.

    SonyLIV has started its gradual rollout of its refreshed SonyLIV 2.0. app with a new visual identity and a distinct user interface that promises a world-class viewing experience. Its premium subscription will start on 20 June, and these new shows of Applause Entertainment are a part of its launch line up and will stream on the platform in the coming months.

    In a short span of 12 months, Applause Entertainment successfully released 12 series spanning different genres across multiple platforms. 

    Applause Entertainment CEO Sameer Nair said, "We are glad to partner with SonyLIV and to be able to contribute to their original content strategy. It aligns well with our philosophy of creating premium content and working with our platform partners to entertain and delight their customers. We hope this slate of four shows is only the start of a long and successful relationship with SonyLIV in our pursuit of creative excellence." 

    Sony Entertainment Television, Digital Business and Studio Next business head Danish Khan said, “Sony LIV plans to acquire and retain its premium subscribers through a robust line up of Original Content – content that is cerebral and relevant and brings a sense of authenticity, drama and storytelling. We are collaborating with the best storytellers in the industry. Applause Entertainment is one of the most prolific creators of premium series and we are extremely happy to partner with them. We are confident that these shows will entertain & engage the varied audience segments of SonyLIV.”  

    The four drama series that will have their home at Sony LIV are – Your Honor, Avrodh Undekhi & Scam 1992.

    Adapted from the Israeli series Kvodo, Your Honor, is a dark and morally complex thriller, starring the terrific Jimmy Sheirgill along with an ensemble cast of Mita Vashisht, Varun Badola, Yashpal Sharma, Parul Gulati, Suhasini Mulay, Richa Pallod, Kunj Anand, Pulkit Makol, Mahabir Bhullar. The series is directed by E Niwas and is produced for Applause by Sphere Origins.

    Avrodh is inspired from the September 2016 Uri attacks and is based on a chapter from Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh’s book India’s Most Fearless. The series features an incredible star cast of Amit Sadh, Neeraj Kabi, Darshan Kumar, Vikram Gokhale, Anant Mahadevan and Madhurima Tuli. The series is directed by Raj Acharya and is produced for Applause by Irada Entertainment.

    A startling urban crime thriller set in the heartland, Undekhi brings together a strong cast of Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Surya Sharma, Harsh Chaya, Abhishek Chauhan, Ayn Zoya, Ankur Rathi, Apeksha Porwal and Aanchal Singh. The series is directed by Ashish R. Shukla and is produced for Applause Entertainment by Edgestorm Productions.

    Helmed by Hansal Mehta and lead by Pratik Gandhi and Shreya Dhanwanthry, Scam 1992, is a financial crime thriller, adapted from Debashis Basu and Sucheta Dalal’s bestselling book The Scam, based on the true-life story of the Big Bull, Harshad Mehta. The show also stars Satish Kaushik, Anant Mahadevan, Rajat Kapoor, Nikhil Dwivedi, KK Raina and Lalit Parimoo amongst others. The series is produced for Applause by Studio Next. 

  • SonyLIV 2.0 embarks on a journey with brand new identity, original premium content

    SonyLIV 2.0 embarks on a journey with brand new identity, original premium content

    MUMBAI: One of the early movers in the Indian over-the-top (OTT) ecosystem set out on its quest to reimagine the business in the latter part of 2019. Starting with a rejig in leadership last year, SonyLIV has now brought one of the most noticeable changes to its look: content strategy.

    Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) on Tuesday revealed a brand new look of its digital arm.

    A video on its social media gives glimpses of the redesigned logo which will replace its yellow background logo with a vibrant colourful one. The new logo emphasises the ‘liv’ part in a bright yellow colour in contrast to a colourful background with streaks of purple, blue, orange. Compared to the earlier one, it looks thinner and more refined reflecting warmth.

    Although being one of the oldest contenders, the platform has not been able to create much buzz lately. The ecosystem has not only grown but also the competition from both homegrown and international players. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have started upping their investment in local content aggressively. Another giant player Disney+ also made its much-awaited entry into the market in March. Other broadcast-led players like ZEE5 and VOOT have also brought premium content to woo users, the former going deeper into the vernacular market.  Amidst all these ambitious players, a reimagining was required to make a mark and stand out.

    Better late than never. Along with re-designing, its content strategy is also set for an overhaul. Earlier, the new faces of SonyLIV spoke about the plan of focusing on originals. As the video reveals, the platform is going to bring original stories from the well-known storytellers in the country including Ashwini Iyer Tiwari, Ajay Monga, E Niwas, Hansal Mehta, Samar Khan, Nikkhil Advani, Nitesh Tiwari, Saumya Joshi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Sachin Pathak, and Vir Das. It will also premiere international series including For Life, The Tudors. However, it promises to stay committed to the core strength, and sports content, too.

    The platform has struck a deal with Applause Entertainment announcing a content licensing deal of four premium drama series: Your Honor, Avrodh,  Undekhi and Scam 1992.  It has started its gradual rollout of its refreshed SonyLIV 2.0. app with the new visual identity and a distinct user interface.

    SPNI rejigged its digital team last year, with old-time SPNI executive Danish Khan leading it, with added responsibilities as business head of its leading GEC Sony Entertainment Television. Khan roped in his A Team who worked with him at SET, Ashish Golwalkar and Aman Srivastava, to also help him out to revitalise SonyLIV. The new faces revealed the wish for a rekindled focus on subscription-based service which just took off last year.

    Before this overhaul in brand identity, SonyLIV went through a change in 2016, after three years of its launch. The latest change comes at a time when all the OTT platforms have seen a huge surge in the viewership due to ongoing lockdown.

    At the time of publication of this story, the platform was reached for more details, but denied response.

  • ITV virtual roundtable on seamless video experience today

    ITV virtual roundtable on seamless video experience today

    MUMBAI: The latest roundtable in the Vidnet tech series being organised by Indiantelevision.com will be held today, 12 May, at 5 pm. Powered by Bitmovin, the webinar will discuss the “challenges of ensuing seamless video experience during the Covid2019 pandemic & beyond.”

    The pandemic meant many more people were at home, consuming content, delivered on streaming platforms and television. Data consumption rose to levels not seen before. In India, most of the streamers started delivering videos in the standard definition format as against HD because of the stress on bandwidth. What other lessons has the current crisis and pandemic taught streamers? What else did they do to deliver a better seamless experience to consumers? And going forward what else can be done? The webinar seeks to find answers to these questions, and many more. 

    The virtual roundtable will feature Dan Balis, senior product manager at Bitmovin, and will be moderated by Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO & editor in chief Anil Wanvari. 

    Bitmovin is built for technical professionals in the OTT video market with software solutions to help optimize customer operations and reduce time-to-market. Dan's work at Bitmovin focuses on the Bitmovin Player. He has over 15 years experience launching streaming video products and platforms at scale for media and technology companies that include Viacom, Bright cove, and AOL. His specialties include video platforms, cloud, analytics, SAAS, and ad tech.

    The roundtable will have technology heads of some of the prominent OTTs as delegates. They include: Hoichoi technology head Alok Majumdar, Eros Now CTO Lokesh Chauhan, Zee5 technology head Tushar Vohra, SonyLIV head of technology Manish Verma, LOCO – Pocket Aces VP engineering Viral Mehta, Lionsgate India director of product Mohit Khatwani, and ScoopWhoop Media CTO Vinay Gupta,  

    The event will be simulcast on zoom and Facebook. 

  • No option but to protect digital IPs today: SonyLIV’s Manish Verma

    No option but to protect digital IPs today: SonyLIV’s Manish Verma

    MUMBAI: The increasing popularity of streaming platforms brings with it the threat of piracy. To tackle this menace, SonyLIV recently chose Intertrust’s cloud-based multi-DRM (digital rights management) service, ExpressPlay DRM, to protect content streaming and downloads, including both online and offline playbacks on all devices.

    “We all want to protect content. If the content is available freely, the value of the content goes down. Piracy is one of the key concerns for all of us and we want to make sure that we minimise the piracy. It is one of the key considerations when we talk about content protection,” SonyLIV technology head Manish Verma said.

    Verma said that they had been discussing the deal for six-eight months.

    “When you are using a DRM, there is a lot of backend processing, packaging, content integration, etc., and we need to make the change across all these. When you get into such a strategic partnership, you need to keep in mind what is available now, what is going to be available in the future, what is the potential of the company and the evolution of the product,” he added.

    Intertrust Technologies India strategy and business DVP Manas Mati said that it isn't just about security. As SonyLIV is available across many countries with live sports channels, it is also to ensure that it can give lower latency along with encryption services. As to what makes it different from competitors, Mati said they have better knowledge of content security standards and guidelines, having worked with a lot of large studios in the US with a larger geographical footprint.

    “We always work in the future. For example, today we are streaming SD, HD content; we have customers who are streaming 4k content. That means if somebody wants to stream 4k content, we can bring the technology soon to them,” Mati added.

    “This (DRM) is not an option anymore. Over a period of time, all the OTT players have started investing in content protection. We have no other option to protect the IP that we are producing and if you don’t do it, you will be at a loss. So it is a necessity to protect premium content and offers seamless buffering across devices,” Verma added. 

  • SonyLIV selects Intertrust’s cloud-based multi-DRM service

    SonyLIV selects Intertrust’s cloud-based multi-DRM service

    MUMBAI: Intertrust’s cloud-based multi-DRM service, ExpressPlay DRM, has been selected by SonyLIV in India to protect content streaming and downloads including both online and offline playback on all devices.

    The partnership covers all channels and entertainment programming on the SonyLIV platform, including over-the-top (OTT) live and on-demand streaming of TV, premium shows, movies, and sports events.

    Owned by Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd., SonyLIV is one of the top five OTT services in India. It houses more than 40,000 hours of VOD programming across five languages—Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu—coupled with more than 24 years of content from channels of Sony Pictures Networks India. Last year, the service launched in the Middle East and has plans to expand its complete bouquet of services in several Southeast Asian countries.

    “Riding on its compelling stories and diverse content catalogue, SonyLIV has garnered a record growth in MAUs, engagement, and subscriptions over the last year,” said Manish Verma, head of technology, SonyLIV. “The content protection service enabled by the ExpressPlay DRM is key to our ability to gear up for even more traction in the year ahead. ExpressPlay DRM will be key to augmenting our phenomenal success with live sports which has triggered a doubling of overall consumption growth over the last year alone.”

    Intertrust’s technology will protect both live and on-demand OTT sports streaming on SonyLIV, which achieved a landmark viewership of 70 million for the FIFA World Cup 2018, the highest-ever for football in India. Last year, the broadcasting of the Indian cricket team’s overseas tour of Australia and England commanded a viewership of 50 million and 30 million respectively, accounting for a five-fold jump in time spent on the platform.

    “The forces of technology and competition continue to erode media silos. Protecting both content creators and service operators is essential to remaining agile as streaming services look to offer up the best viewing experience,” said Talal G. Shamoon, CEO at Intertrust. “The ExpressPlay DRM service lets OTT providers protect and control media consumption across any mobile or smart device, allowing viewers to enjoy a personalized selection of channels, live entertainment, and sports enabled by a world-class streaming app like SonyLIV.”

    The market-leading Intertrust ExpressPlay multi-DRM service, which supports all streaming platforms, DRM, and media formats, now protects OTT content for one-quarter of the world’s population. It is the only multi-DRM cloud service that supports Apple FairPlay Streaming, Google Widevine, Adobe Access, Microsoft PlayReady, and the open-standard Marlin DRM. It is a complementary solution to ExpressPlay XCA, which provides seamless interoperability for hybrid TV operators on mobile, web, smart TVs, and set-top boxes. The ExpressPlay content security suite offers forensic watermarking and anti-piracy services (powered by Friend MTS) to protect live and premium 4K/UHD content.