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Tag: SonyLiv

  • AXN launches a brand new Original series ‘Twinning’

    AXN launches a brand new Original series ‘Twinning’

    MUMBAI: Lights, Camera, Fashion! AXN announces its brand-new reality home production, Twinning – a one-stop-destination for all things fashion – fashion that is relatable, easy to follow and cool to twin with. From the latest hits and misses to DIY styles, Twinning is a double doze on fashion that decodes each style element and spins it in the most wearable way.  

    The weekly show will premiere on October 14 @ 9 pm on AXN and will also stream on SonyLIV.

    An AXN Original, the series is hosted by two of India’s most sought-after, young fashion trend setters, Gabriella Demetriades and Erika Packard. While Gabriella has her own fashion label that is glamorous and edgy, Erika, on the other hand, is a fashion model with a more casual style and demeanour. Together, they will take India by storm giving viewers different looks and fashion tips stemming from their unique sensibilities and individual style.

    Produced by Condenast, each episode of the 10-part series will have a distinct fashion theme and a tete-a-tete with the most influential men and women achievers who have redefined fashion. Personalities like Neeta Lulla, Pooja Dhingra, Elton Fernandes, Alisha Abdullah and others give a peek into their personal style.

    Mia by Tanishq has come onboard as the presenting sponsor and will play an important part by helping the hosts accessorise their looks. 

  • SPN India launches its second cookery show ‘AXN Ultimate Cook-Off – The Marriott Challenge’

    SPN India launches its second cookery show ‘AXN Ultimate Cook-Off – The Marriott Challenge’

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Network India’s English entertainment channel AXN has partnered with Marriott International, one of the largest hospitality chains in the world, for a unique culinary show ‘AXN Ultimate Cook-Off – The Marriott Challenge’. This show is one-of-its kind as the channel will exclusively premiere it on 12 October with a single 45-minute long episode. The show is produced by Foodlooking’s Ashraf Abbas and directed by Bibartan Ghosh. The production house specializes in food-based shows.
    The channel will have its second cookery-based show Top Chef, which is currently in its 14th season. Marriott International will also be the presenting sponsor for Top Chef Season 14, scheduled to air this month on AXN – Monday-Friday 9 pm.

    SPN India business head English cluster Tushar Shah said: “English entertainment and movie genres are growing as the entire measurement base is increasing. We have seen 8 per cent growth from FY16-17 to FY17-18. In both the genres, there is no specific prime-time because the viewership by nature of the channel doesn’t happen with appointments, unless there is a big premiere that is coming.”
    Marriott International area VP South Asia Neeraj Govil said, “At Marriott International Inc., we aspire to be leaders in every aspect. Culinary experiences always have and will continue to drive focus for us. This association gives us yet another platform to showcase our cooking styles, abilities and innovations in the F&B domain, while offering diverse, culinary experiences of the highest standards and celebrating the progressive culinary talent of our chefs across Marriott.”

    Marriott International and AXN’s partnership will bring to life innovative content as well as memorable guest experiences. Viewers will also get to know five celebrated Marriott chefs through vignettes aired on AXN showcasing their expertise and passion for food.
    “The time spent and the reach on both the genres has been extremely good. With 32 channels in our network and with digital footprints of 5.5 to 6 million we will utilize all these platforms. Not only the show is going to air on AXN but it will be streamed on SonyLiv around the same time,” Shah added.

    Marriott International senior culinary director Asia Pacific chef Toine Hoeksel who leads more than 30 brands under the Marriott family, visited India to judge the cook- off. Other judges included chef Himanshu Taneja, Culinary Director, India, Marriott International and famed actor-cum-producer, Chitrangda Singh.
    The show will be a head-to-head face off between four celebrated chefs from various brands within the Marriott portfolio. The contestants will display their skills through different culinary challenges and will be scored on their versatility, proficiency and creativity. The winning dish will make it to the menu of more than 100 Marriott International hotels across India.

  • Local OTT players not distressed by YouTube’s Originals plan

    Local OTT players not distressed by YouTube’s Originals plan

     MUMBAI: YouTube is battling OTT giants neck-to-neck with its introduction of Originals. YouTube’s  wide reach in India is well-known to everyone. For a decade almost, it has been go-to place for any type of video. According to the KPMG 2018 report, the typical time spent by an average user on YouTube is around 8-12 minutes per session, time spent by subscribers on various OTT platforms ranges from 30-50 minutes per session. This statistics also indicates YouTube’s need to turn things around.

    “Originals are the next big bait for all players and the entry of YouTube in this category is going to fire up the competition further. With our original content slate lined-up for the coming months, we are certain that it will stand out. We are confident of our understanding of the audience preference and believe that YouTube’s entry will be a healthy competition,” SPNI digital business head Uday Sodhi says.

    The platform’s norm in other countries is to put original content behind a paywall but for now, it will focus on the ad-supported model in India. “There is no doubt that YouTube has a good internet / digital reach but it is not necessary that it will translate into great paid subscriber reach as well. The business of YouTube was built on the discovery of videos via search catering to predominantly shorter form viewership on the platform. Running a paid subscription service is a starkly different ball game,” Eros Now COO Ali Hussein comments.

    Netflix and Amazon, two international rivals of YouTube, have been also upping their investment in local originals to woo the audience, with different business models though.  These two platforms are known for loosening their purse strings when it comes to production cost. YouTube is also likely to invest heavily.

    Viu content head India Bimal Unnikrishnan cites the example of the FMCG market where the existence of multinational companies could not desist the growth of local players. He thinks international OTT players coming in and commissioning original content would be good for the overall industry. Moreover, for local players, producing local content is easier while international players’ ability to create such content is limited.

    “I think it will have an overall positive impact on OTT industry because YouTube is the biggest content aggregator in the market. Its entry in the space of creative originals will, of course, boost the overall dynamic of the market,” he adds.

    Indian OTT players aren’t worried about YouTube’s entry into originals because their focus is on regional content library and multilingual originals and movies. “However, when we talk about YouTube’s foray into original content space, they are still in an initial stage and it is too early to say anything at this point in time,” says Hussein.

    Sodhi mentions another important point. The expert says broadcaster-backed OTT platforms will always have a differentiated content strategy than independent players or production house-backed platforms. Notably, the KPMG report highlights that consumers spend more than half of their time watching TV content on OTT platforms.

    In the Indian market, AVOD and freemium models dominate the business while SVOD is at a nascent stage. While YouTube, the undeniable king of digital ad has started with celebrity-led content, it is obvious more advertisers will show interest in their content if it increases the quantity.

    Unnikrishnan thinks YouTube’s entry will boost the overall digital ad spend from advertisers. As all OTTs have a different target audience to reach, advertisers will not stick to one big player only.  Sodhi on a similar note says that the rise in the number of players will enhance content quality, thus giving a thrust to revenues in digital advertising. Hussein also says that brands would tend to associate with the platforms wherein their OTT brand and content resonate with their objectives to deliver the brand story.

    Marketing will be a big game for players to follow. “When it comes to marketing outlay, I don’t think marketing cost will be that critical. Each one will spend as much money as needed to reach out to the target audience. In digital, we are extremely focused in terms of target. I think the strategy will play a bigger role than cost itself,” says Unnikrishnan.

    Though the tech giant’s Indian originals are going to be a game changer, at least for now they will not affect local OTT players. YouTube India entertainment head Satya Raghavan himself insisted that the move is about growing the video pie not just for their own creators but for the entire online video industry.

  • SonyLIV partners Amagi to grow OTT ad revenue

    SonyLIV partners Amagi to grow OTT ad revenue

    MUMBAI: Amagi, a media processing service that targets advertising for TV and OTT, today announced that SonyLIV is using its Thunderstorm cloud-based platform for targeted OTT dynamic ad insertion. As part of the deal, Amagi will monetise premium GEC and movie channels on SonyLIV OTT platform, generating additional ad revenues.

    Using Amagi Thunderstorm, SonyLIV will be able to insert targeted mid-roll ads without the need to change its existing broadcast workflows. The service leverages new-age machine learning techniques to detect ads in channel feeds and replace them with new, targeted ads on the server-side.

    Sony Pictures Network India business head-digital Uday Sodhi said, “SonyLIV is growing its subscriber-base at an impressive rate, making it an ideal digital platform for advertisers to target clearly defined audience segments. We are continuously looking to enhance value for our advertisers. Amagi is a pioneer in the targeted advertising space and this technology partnership provides additional options for advertisers to work with us.” 

    SonyLIV has integrated Amagi Thunderstorm with its in-house ad-decision system and partner ad networks. This allows SonyLIV to maximise ad revenue opportunities in real-time by serving ad spots to the highest bidder. Amagi CEO Deepakjit Singh said, “We are delighted to partner with SonyLIV, and deploy our next-generation ad tech solutions that create new revenue opportunities. The Thunderstorm platform is designed for high concurrency, and to deliver frame-accurate ad insertions at scale. These capabilities become vital for SonyLIV, especially since many of its premium channels have high number of concurrent users.”

  • SonyLIV’s amplified focus on English content portfolio

    SonyLIV’s amplified focus on English content portfolio

    MUMBAI: Sony Network India’s (SPNI) OTT platform Sony Liv recently extended its English content portfolio in the premium offering. It also has plans to add originals in regional languages.

    On the back of SPNI’s FIFA World Cup 2018 broadcasting right in India, SonyLIV attracted thousands of football fans across the country. The month-long sports event gave a major boost to the platform. Soon after it ended, it expanded the English content library to retain viewers. Three critically acclaimed and admired shows from Hollywood- Damages, Unforgettable and Timeless have also been added.

    “Understanding the need for quality international content, we have consistently focused on bringing shows that promise intrigue and entertainment. Post a successful tournament like FIFA 2018 that set new benchmarks in consumer engagement with over 70 million views, we wanted to add onto this momentum further. We expanded our English content portfolio to offer world’s most fascinating stories to our audience and keep them glued onto out platform,” SPNI digital business head Uday Sodhi said in an interaction with Indiantelevision.com.

    Sodhi, happy with the initial response, says other shows from the genre such as Underground, Outsiders and Line of Duty continue to garner good traction. However, the new shows which have been added recently span across genres to ensure they appeal to a wide section of the audience. Continuing the development, the platform is about to announce a string of 8-10 new launches.

    Meanwhile, the English entertainment channels AXN, Sony PIX, and Sony LePLEX HD from the network have recently made their digital debut. For traditional TV broadcasters, promoting catch-up TV through existing content catalogue is a common formula though.

    “Live TV continues to be a potential driver for us as its viewership is significantly large. There has been a natural on-boarding of viewers who like the content offered by these three channels,” Sodhi commented.

    Primarily, viewers aged between 18 to 24 is the target audience of the platform, while the 25-34 age group is targeted next. To create awareness of new content, SonyLIV is making the most use of social media and digital platforms. It is also optimising TV ads and outdoor marketing given the great reach of these two mediums among the audience.

    While sci-fi and crime thriller shows are trending in Hollywood right now, SonyLIV’s newly added English content bouquet includes both the genres being a definite option for making an engaging watch. “We have ensured that our current and upcoming shows have gripping content. Indians have a huge appetite for content that keeps them at the edge of their seat and I do not see a reason for these genres to not work in the Indian market. We are positive about the response these shows are going to get,” said Sodhi.

    The media veteran gave a witty answer to the question of competitors in this category. He said that as they operate across all three business models and various segregating buckets, every player in the market is a healthy competitor. The digital right of Game of Thrones gave a major boost to the subscriber base of Star India’s digital arm Hotstar. International players like Amazon Prime and Netflix already offer a huge chunk of popular international shows. Thus to woo the young urban audience, SonyLIV definitely has to add several other titles to make the library more lucrative.

  • Sudhanshu Vats unveils Voot’s audacious plans in Viacom18 show of strength

    Sudhanshu Vats unveils Voot’s audacious plans in Viacom18 show of strength

    Viacom18 put on quite a show as it offered a peak into what’s in store for its OTT platform Voot at a five-star hotel in Mumbai on Thursday. Leading the charge was managing director Sudhanshu Vats with key colleagues Monika Shergill, Ajit Andhare, Ravish Kumar and Akash Banerji in tow. The company made a series of box-office announcements, throwing down the gauntlet to competition. Voot showcased the first bundle of its upcoming Voot Originals – 18 multi-lingual premium web series cutting across genres. Viacom18 Motion Pictures, the network’s movie studio, will now be producing web series for VOOT under the banner of Tipping Point Films. 

    In a bid to tap into the country’s regional markets, the regional broadcast entertainment cluster of company will produce multi-lingual Voot Originals. The streaming service will add news (16 live channels across 13 languages) to its diverse portfolio in partnership with Network18. Sprucing up its content and product play, Voot is set to go international, beginning with the United Kingdom in November this year.

    Driving synergies within the network, Vats’ vision is to build a future-ready Viacom18 that is screen, platform and pipe agnostic. In a bid take rapid strides, Viacom18 is bound to throw the might of all its media and entertainment properties behind Voot. Case in point, utilising Reliance Jio as a platform to showcase content and a carrier of the app’s services.

    To ramp up its engagement and user interactivity experience, Voot will be adding to the user search experience and facilitating easy discoverability will be the adoption of Google Watch Action, an industry first in APAC for premium OTT players. The introduction of dolby surround sound for all Voot Originals is a first amongst Indian OTT brands.

    Viacom18’s show of strength not only signals intent but also suggests that the company is building up ammunition in order to go the distance in the OTT warfare. Vats’ ambitious roadmap for Voot is likely to get the early entrants and leaders Hotstar, SonyLIV and Zee5 to sit up and take note.

    Vats, who was promoted last month, has seen the company transition from a joint venture with Viacom to one that is now majority-owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries. After he and his team made the big-ticket Voot announcements, the big boss of Viacom18 sat down to express his views on a range of subjects.

    International distribution

    If you look at the model, particularly the behind paywall model, there are two very important components, which we have to be careful about. One is the acquisition cost, and the other is the marketing. So, at this juncture in our journey as we try and test the waters in the international market, our thinking is that going with a telco partner will be a good thing to do. And the choice of the market is because we wanted to go to a diaspora market, which has got a reasonably good representation of India. It has also got a good mix of traditional Indian families and now the younger audience. It is also a market where we could also test out some of the appeal of the Indian content with youth, population outside of our own diaspora. So from all of those, it was a good mix. UK has got two million south Asian diaspora. Our brand has been there for some time. UK is a market where we have Colors, Rishtey, Colors HD, MTV Beats, and we have a movie channel as well now.

    Partnership with Jio

    We are going to build a deeper relationship with Jio as we go forward. Some of the stuff is already happening. We want to build a lot of interactivity as well. Jio is our both parent and partner. So it makes perfect sense for us to be together. Instead of worrying about other telcos, we focus on what VOOT can do for Jio, and vice-versa. We are strengthening and deepening this partnership. We have a very dedicated partner. Jio has revolutionised the market, they are a leader in any case in data. 

    Revenue model

    You saw few of them (originals). Especially the last one Feet Up With The Stars coming on the AVOD platform. So I think it will be a mix, some of them will be ahead the paywall, some of them may come behind the paywall. It will depend on the timing of our launch, on our strategy. What our product offering will be, it’s premature to talk about this. We are doubling down on original content. As we will go along we will decide what comes where. But as far as AVOD is concerned these originals will also come on AVOD after windowing even these go behind the paywall.

    Marketing mix

    It will be a classic marketing mix. They (Voot) will get right network support that is always there. In case of certain originals, you’ll see 360 degree marketing. Otherwise, network and digital support will be there for all of our shows and that works very well for us. We’ll bring 360 for some others depending on which one and when it is being released. It depends on program to program.

    TRAI’s tariff order

    Let me answer it in three ways. We are working on our response on the tariff order. It is premature for me to comment so I won’t comment on anything specifically. In terms of the order, it’s still sub-judice in some ways because there is a further hearing in Supreme Court on 5 September, and there’s also a Delhi high court case which is on the merits of the order, so those two things are happening in parallel. You will see our response as well and I think like the other players in the industry we’ll respond early September depending on how the Supreme Court case is closed. And I have always said about this tariff order, that at the conceptual level I think it’s a good thing to do but we have to find the right ways to operationalise it. Because in principal, giving more choice to the consumer, it’s the right thing to do especially when digital is also coming in. Having said that TV has had a different phenomenon of bundling and there is some merit in bundling and giving in a bundle. So, we need to find a right balance.

    Voot Kids and the freemium model

    As we go forward we’ll build a portfolio play which is basically what you see currently is an AVOD play. We are going to look at Voot international, which we have announced today already, we are going to look at Voot premium, which we are working on. We’ll also look at a dedicated Voot Kids service and you will hear very shortly about that. That’s a very interesting service, so that’s something we are working on in a very different space. 

    No sports offering

    We’ll continue to evaluate as I have said always about sports, we’ll continue to evaluate the opportunities which will come our way. Some of the big-ticket events are gone for sometime. So, they are locked out for another four-five years. Most of the cricketing properties  like IPL are out. Even the different series of Boards are also out, but we’ll continue to evaluate and we’ll continue to build this.

    Future of OTT industry

    Two or three things that will happen I can say. One is that there is a small section that will get into smartphones, that will be consuming content more digitally even on a television, for example how Netflix is consumed in the US. I think there is a lot of work happening on infrastructure and transportation if you look at it so I see a lot of commute consumption and that will be interesting. The good news is all of it will be incremental consumption. India will  have national scale OTTs, segmented OTTs and in both you may have some national players and some international players. India is a pretty large country for it to have eight to ten very robust OTT models. Among these, four may come from content players like ourselves, there could be one or two very dedicated international players like Netflix and Amazon, there could be also two to three telco players and also some of the telco models. I think India will go the China way, it’ll be a hybrid market, there will be a large AVOD play but there will be also substantial SVOD or premium model.

  • SonyLIV Goes Regional with ‘Full Tight’- Launches its second Marathi Web-Series

    SonyLIV Goes Regional with ‘Full Tight’- Launches its second Marathi Web-Series

    MUMBAI: With 180.3 million* active online video viewers and almost 4 million* registered subscribers, the OTT companies today are making huge investments in language content to spur growth from regional markets. According to a KPMG and Google report in 2017, Indian language users adapt to digital entertainment at a much quicker pace and the rate is deemed to rise in future.

    Catering to this discerning viewer, SonyLIV aces up its regional content offering with the launch of Marathi web-series ‘Full Tight’ today. A 7-episode series, Full Tight is a heartfelt yet realistic take on the youth directed by Shriprasad Pawar and produced by Vijay Barse. The web-series stars popular faces like Yatin Karyekar and Sneha Raikar along with Akshay Kelkar, Sayli Salunkhe, Vanashree Joshi and Sumukhi Pendse.

    Full Tight touches upon the concepts of friendship, romance and parenthood with a comical undertone. The story revolves around Adi (Akshay Kelkar) and his weird encounters with his parents (Yatin Karyekar and Sneha Raikar) in what looks like a perfect family setting. All goes well until one evening the father and the son bond over alcohol and all hell breaks loose. Twists, turns and ironies of life weave together in this well-crafted script.

    Full Tight is the second Marathi offering by SonyLIV after the massive success of ‘YOLO- You Only Live Once’. Starting July 18, it premieres every Wednesday and will also be available with English subtitles on the platform. Media Partner – Lokmat.com, India’s No.1 Marathi News & Infotainment Portal.

  • Next 250 M digital video users will be non-English speaking: Uday Sodhi

    Next 250 M digital video users will be non-English speaking: Uday Sodhi

    MUMBAI: These are exciting times at Sony Pictures Network (SPN) India. When it comes to scale in sports broadcasting, the FIFA World Cup ranks second only to the Olympics. It’s safe to assume that bringing world football’s showpiece event to audiences is hugely challenging yet satisfying. In a sense, the chatter and bustle on the fourth floor of SPN’s Malad headquarters highlights this. There is a distinct flavour and energy to the environment that points to one thing – it isn’t business as usual.

    However, Uday Sodhi, the big boss of SPN’s digital arm, appears relaxed. The veteran of many battles has a lot at stake at the moment. Having played an instrumental role in building SPN’s OTT SonyLIV, the onus is on Sodhi to guide his team through what many are describing as India’s first OTT video World Cup. Never before have as many Indians consumed digital video content at such high speeds and low costs.

    As the driving force behind SonyLIV, Sodhi is at the forefront of the changing face of India’s digital landscape. Indiantelevision.com caught up with the man of the moment to talk about week one of the World Cup, India’s OTT industry and the future of digital video consumption.

    Lionel Messi’s Argentina crashing out at the group stage is bad for business?

    Not really. I think teams like Spain and Portugal are very popular. Portugal because of Ronaldo and Spain due to the presence of a lot of La Liga club stars. Brazil is an evergreen team too. Germany remains a hot favourite.

    Tell us a bit about the viewership patterns on the SonyLIV app?

    I classify football viewers into three groups – fanatics, fans and flirts. The first week numbers point to a 85per cent contribution of male viewers as opposed to the 15per cent female fans. On digital, people tend to move back and fourth during live matches. The average viewing time in the first week comes to 16-18 minutes. If that’s the average, then a lot of people are watching 30-40 minutes. Like everything else in life, there is a pyramid. There are a lot of people who watch the full 30-40 minutes. However, we look at viewing times at a stretch. So they probably take a break during the interval and come back. So my guess is there are a lot of people who come, watch the score and go back. A lot of people do the under five minutes viewing. A lot of matches are during working hours, some people are traveling. The watch times increase when people get home. People tend to hit the scorecard and go back a lot.

    Can you give us a break up of the numbers you’ve done so far?

    There are about a five million users a day on the app and website. The Match Centre and Second Screen engagements are about 25 million in the first week. That’s been the key takeaway. We expect 40-45 millions users on SonyLIV through the course of this World Cup.  The Spain vs Portugal had 3x traffic as compared to any other game.

    The first match didn’t go as per plan?

    Instead of a five minute delay on the ad-supported feed, there was a slightly longer delay of 10-15 minutes. We had some blip, there was a heartbeat missing somewhere.

    How many advertisers have you signed up for the World Cup ?

    We have 15 (and counting) advertisers on the app. We have all the big brands like Patanjali, Red Bull, Nivea, Carlsberg, VIP, Swiggy to name a few.

    How crucial is sports content for an OTT platform? Can Indian broadcasters build a world-class product without sports?

    Absolutely, you can build a solid platform without sports. Does it become easier and faster with sports? Yes! Does it give you more traction? Yes! You have to spend less on marketing and you gain more organically with sports content. You have to work harder without sports. But your technology has to be far stronger in sports. Sport tests you far more, as consumers are more touchy. Two or three minutes here and there and the whole world comes to an end. With fiction you tend to get more chances to get things right.

    What has been your biggest learning in the last five years?

    The importance of technology is one key thing we have learnt. We realised that just the video is not enough. There needs to be data too – what’s happening in the match, what’s happening around the match. People want to come back and see the clips, highlights. A lot of surround stuff has to happen. The quality of the product, its availability across platforms, across devices. There has to be a seamless experience. That’s the challenge. Its very easy to put up an android app with video playing capabilities. That’s vanilla these days. That’s not a tough one to do.

    So, what’s a tough one to do?

    The real tough one is to do it across platforms, do it seamlessly, do it live, publish it live. We did 3000 live events last year. To be able to do that on a weekend is tough. At times we had 20 concurrent matches happening – Serie A football, tennis, MotoGP together. You need that kind of infrastructure to publish 20 live games. That takes real effort. That’s the real story. That’s the blood and sweat behind the business. Technology is the key. Content is easy vanilla. Everyone has it. Real challenge is to make sure the platform works day in and day out. Spikes in sport are phenomenal. Those are learning that don’t come in a text book. That’s something the team learns from experience.

    How much has the company invested in building SonyLIV?

    We don’t talk numbers. But there’s a technology layer at one end and is huge invest. Sports rights is another very, very expensive piece. We are making sure our digital investments and our digital business grows along with the sports investments we are making. So, this year we have FIFA, India vs England, then there is India vs Australia. So, there is tremendous investment that is happening back to back on sports. All of it is hard cash going out. Over and above that you are putting layers of content that you are acquiring, stuff that we are doing with various partners. We are building a huge repository of content. We service all the needs of the customer from high-end sports to travel and food.

    How big is the SonyLIV team?

    Internally and externally there are about 200-250 people working on the platform.

    Is there room for more OTT players in the market?

    We have just started this journey. There are close to 500 news sites in India, probably 800 TV channels. So why not more OTT platforms? Digital video advertising, and I’m not talking about subscriptions, is about Rs 2000 crore in India. Digital advertising business as a whole is about Rs 8000 crore. In China it is a Rs 60,000 crore market, with digital video advertising contributing to Rs 30,000 crore. That’s as big as our television advertising business. So, we too will get there in the next five to seven years. China has 650 million digital video users, we have 250. In the next 1000 days, we’ll be double our size. When the consumer base doubles, the advertising revenue doesn’t go up 2x. It goes higher.

    Do you see any particular trends for the future?

    The next wave of digital content consumers will be big on video, not text. Attention spans of users will continue to increase due to cheaper Internet data. The next 250 million digital video users will be non-English speaking. They’ll consume content in their local languages.

  • Yoga in the palm of your hand by SonyLIV

    Yoga in the palm of your hand by SonyLIV

    MUMBAI: SonyLIV is all set to celebrate Yoga Day on 21st June with LIVFIT- India’s first-ever health and wellness segment on a digital platform. Together with associate sponsor HAVELL’S Water Purifier, LIVFIT will provide inspiration to yoga and wellness aficionados through a special selection of expert yoga sessions this week.

    LIVFIT’s yoga segment caters to the rising demand for high-quality advice and tips to maintain optimal levels of wellness amongst Indians. This Yoga Week viewers can tune in to LIVFIT on SonyLIV and choose from Ashtanga Yoga with Deepika Mehta, Full Body Yoga with Komal Sodhi, Ashtanga Vinyasa with Sunaina Rekhi amongst many other options.

    With carefully curated content that features some of the country’s most celebrated fitness enthusiasts and trainers, viewers can now renew their fitness vows and choose to live healthy with SonyLIV. The platform’s LIVFIT section offers a variety of enriching health and fitness content, which can be accessed by users as and when they prefer, in the most convenient formats on any device of their choice. Experts like Deepika Mehta, Lamya Arsiwala, Anshuka Parwani and Shraddha Vora encourage and help fitness enthusiasts meet their diet and exercise goals.

  • SonyLIV lines up an innovation filled FIFA World Cup 2018

    SonyLIV lines up an innovation filled FIFA World Cup 2018

    MUMBAI: The world’s most popular tournament – FIFA World Cup 2018 is just around the corner. SonyLIV, one of the premium OTT platforms in India, is the official mobile and internet broadcaster for FIFA and will be the go-to destination for all football lovers once the World Cup kicks off.

    This year SonyLIV brings to its viewers a host of innovations that will make watching the game more engaging on all screens. Features like key moments, highlights, match playbacks (VOD) and real time updates are available for a seamless viewer experience. The #ScreamLoud campaign by SonyLIV echoes the passion of fans and ardent followers of the game who are so involved that they end up screaming to cheer for their favourite star or country.

    To encourage exciting conversations with football fans through the season, SonyLIV has launched the first ever-social Facebook chatbot in the OTT entertainment space. The bot is intelligent and equipped to handle all queries and will update the user with match fixtures, points table and help set reminders for games.

    On Match Centre, viewers can see live scores, player positions, team information, match statistics and live commentary. To make their experience more engaging, users can set reminders or view the entire schedule, while the points table gives a quick update on the standings, scores, etc. Additionally, SonyLIV has also created a fan-zone on second screen, which users can access on their mobile phone or tablet and experience features like predictions, emotion meter, polls, contests, even as they watch the game in real-time.

    Some of the other features also include, viewing missed games with snippets and clips of key moments from every match along with highlights. To cater to the widest possible range of viewers, SonyLIV will be available in six simultaneous audio feeds – Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and English.

    The FIFA World Cup 2018 will stream via SonyLIV on partner platforms like Xiaomi’s MI Phones and MI TV, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, CTV and JIO feature phones.

    Subscribers get access to the live feed of all the matches without any delay while non-subscribers can still watch their favourite team play but with a delay of 5 minutes. SonyLIV has also introduced a ‘Super Sports’ pack at just Rs.199 for 6 months.

    SonyLIV is the biggest platform for all major football championships like UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and more. So, this FIFA World Cup 2018, enjoy the best players and teams in the planet battle it out for football glory only on SonyLIV.