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Tag: Star India

  • Ooyala offers Indian broadcasters a quick OTT build service

    Ooyala offers Indian broadcasters a quick OTT build service

    MUMBAI: Come September and Indian broadcasters will have easy access to a quick OTT build solution. Australian telco Telstra subsidiary Ooyala is all set to roll out its AppStudio at the IBC convention in Amsttersam from 8-13 September 2016.

    Ooyala AppStudio, a press release from the company claims, mitigates the expensive custom development and integration costs typically associated with OTT market entry. An out-of-the-box solution, it ensures customers can deploy premium OTT experiences on time and on budget, with a simple, easy-to-use interface. As such, it does not require highly technical staff to build or manage services. Content providers can automate the build of OTT apps directly within the Ooyala AppStudio console for any device, supporting apps for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Chromecast as well as on iOS, Android and the web. No engineering is required, drastically reducing time-to-market as well as development and personnel-associated costs.

    Developed in partnership with Massive Interactive, Ooyala AppStudio is a comprehensive solution for companies to deploy, manage, track, analyze and monetize all components of a cloud-based OTT service. It supports revenue models including subscription vide-oon-demand (SVOD), advertising-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) or hybrid strategies. It also comes pre-integrated with a comprehensive set of best-in-breed technologies to ensure the experience is simple to use and seamless for the viewer, including:

    ● User registration, offer management, content scheduling as well as advanced user-interfaces (UIs) for device-tailored user experiences, powered by Massive Interactive’s technology, Massive HALO

    ● Video management and delivery, powered by Ooyala

    ● Content recommendation and personalization, powered by Ooyala Discovery

    ● Detailed analytics for video performance and audience engagement to help boost ad revenue or reduce subscriber churn, powered by Ooyala IQ

    ● Payment management, security and subscription billing, powered by Stripe

    ● Quality-of-experience (QoE) analytics, powered by Youbora from Nice People At Work

    ● Page-level behavior analytics in-app or on the web, powered by Google Analytics

    ● Support for any IAB VAST-compatible ad server including Ooyala Pulse

    Ooyala AppStudio, the company says, has an elegant interface for making changes to content layout, promoting high-performing video, adjusting seasonal promotions and content schedules, and optimizing the user experience for higher engagement. Customers can quickly apply offers and calls to action within the app experience, easily linking in¬-app images to promotional content either within the app or on an external website. These changes and updates are applied automatically with no need to rebuild or recertify the apps.

    “Media companies want to tap into the fast-growing opportunity OTT represents, but have been held back by slow pace and high cost of developing apps for the broad array of connected devices in the consumer market. Ooyala AppStudio changes that,” said Ooyala co-founder and senior vice president of roducts and olutions Belsasar Lepe. “There is tremendous growth in OTT demand particularly outside of the U.S., where broadband and 4G connectivity is improving, making offerings accessible to huge new audiences. For local content providers who want to hedge against larger OTT incumbents entering their market, Ooyala AppStudio is a perfect fit.”

    Ooyala has provided OTT solutions to companies such as Star India and Viacom18 in the past in India. And last month Ooyala CEO Ramesh Srinivasan announced that it was setting up an R&D facility in Chennai. “Our new office here will be instrumental in expanding the company’s global presence, providing another local team to support our growing Asia-Pacific customer base, and helping accelerate the rapid pace of innovation within the company,” he had told local media.

  • Star India to initiate creative freedom discussions with TV producers

    Star India to initiate creative freedom discussions with TV producers

    MUMBAI: Remember the terms perestroika? Glasnost? The first stands for reformation, the second for openness. Both were popular terms used in reference to the USSR as it crumbled to herald the freedom that hit it in the late eighties and nineties.

    Some of that is about to hit Indian television. Remember last week’s admission by Star India deputy chief creative officer Gaurav Banerjee that the network may have erred by starting the mad race of pursuing seven days of soap and drama every week from the five days formula earlier. Speaking at the Indian ScreenWriters’ Conference in Mumbai he candidly stated: “I confess that it was a mistake because we reduced the ideation time of writers and of actors as well. We thought that we could manage the workload and it won’t affect the product but unfortunately we were thinking of a TV industry as a pizza delivery service which was big mistake.”

    He also announced that Star India would cut back the seven-days-a week to five days once again.

    Now Star India and Gaurav are going a step further. He has told producers that he would be more than happy to extend creative freedom to them, something they have been pleading for, demanding and crying for. Each show, said Banerjee, would have a single show runner giving it the much needed vision. He has invited producers for a meeting in Star India’s office on 20 August to further spell out what he means by creative freedom.

    The producers’ fraternity is very excited about the new initiative by Star and are welcoming it. Says Frames Production founder Ranjeet Thakur: “It’s a very great move for the industry on the whiole because the minute the producer comes with a certain plot thought or idea I think it works better. The producer has some vision behind the show and if that creative freedom is given to them to execute in the same manner, it’s a wonderful thing to be happening in the industry. It’s a very positive note. It’s a great move by Gaurav and Star and slowly it will become the norm of the industry.”

    Colosceum Media CEO Lalit Sharma adds, “Firstly, it’s a very good take towards producing good content. Now the show runner will have the responsibility. It’s the happiest moment for the Indian producers but along with that there comes a responsibility. It looks like a win- win situation but one has to be extremely responsible for what they are producing.”

    Fortune Production founder Farhann Salaruddin opined, “It’s totally yes to the intention of giving creative freedom to producers and a lot of people must been waiting for this day to have the ball in their court. Whatever you make good or bad the credit will be yours. It’s a good move but how successful it will be only time will tell us.”

    Shakuntalam Telefilms founder Shyamasis Bhattacharya adds: “ It’s a welcome move. I think we all (producers community) have been wanting this to happen. Last year we met all the CEOs of different channels asked for the same and Star taking the lead is appreciated. Now there will be one vision that can be of the broadcaster’s show runner or the producers. That’s exactly what happens across the world and also in India but not to that extent. If you see Balaji’s shows’ success rate its high because their shows run after Ekta’s vision. I believe the shows’ success rate will go up after this move.”

    And that is exactly what Gaurav is hoping will happen.

  • Star India to initiate creative freedom discussions with TV producers

    Star India to initiate creative freedom discussions with TV producers

    MUMBAI: Remember the terms perestroika? Glasnost? The first stands for reformation, the second for openness. Both were popular terms used in reference to the USSR as it crumbled to herald the freedom that hit it in the late eighties and nineties.

    Some of that is about to hit Indian television. Remember last week’s admission by Star India deputy chief creative officer Gaurav Banerjee that the network may have erred by starting the mad race of pursuing seven days of soap and drama every week from the five days formula earlier. Speaking at the Indian ScreenWriters’ Conference in Mumbai he candidly stated: “I confess that it was a mistake because we reduced the ideation time of writers and of actors as well. We thought that we could manage the workload and it won’t affect the product but unfortunately we were thinking of a TV industry as a pizza delivery service which was big mistake.”

    He also announced that Star India would cut back the seven-days-a week to five days once again.

    Now Star India and Gaurav are going a step further. He has told producers that he would be more than happy to extend creative freedom to them, something they have been pleading for, demanding and crying for. Each show, said Banerjee, would have a single show runner giving it the much needed vision. He has invited producers for a meeting in Star India’s office on 20 August to further spell out what he means by creative freedom.

    The producers’ fraternity is very excited about the new initiative by Star and are welcoming it. Says Frames Production founder Ranjeet Thakur: “It’s a very great move for the industry on the whiole because the minute the producer comes with a certain plot thought or idea I think it works better. The producer has some vision behind the show and if that creative freedom is given to them to execute in the same manner, it’s a wonderful thing to be happening in the industry. It’s a very positive note. It’s a great move by Gaurav and Star and slowly it will become the norm of the industry.”

    Colosceum Media CEO Lalit Sharma adds, “Firstly, it’s a very good take towards producing good content. Now the show runner will have the responsibility. It’s the happiest moment for the Indian producers but along with that there comes a responsibility. It looks like a win- win situation but one has to be extremely responsible for what they are producing.”

    Fortune Production founder Farhann Salaruddin opined, “It’s totally yes to the intention of giving creative freedom to producers and a lot of people must been waiting for this day to have the ball in their court. Whatever you make good or bad the credit will be yours. It’s a good move but how successful it will be only time will tell us.”

    Shakuntalam Telefilms founder Shyamasis Bhattacharya adds: “ It’s a welcome move. I think we all (producers community) have been wanting this to happen. Last year we met all the CEOs of different channels asked for the same and Star taking the lead is appreciated. Now there will be one vision that can be of the broadcaster’s show runner or the producers. That’s exactly what happens across the world and also in India but not to that extent. If you see Balaji’s shows’ success rate its high because their shows run after Ekta’s vision. I believe the shows’ success rate will go up after this move.”

    And that is exactly what Gaurav is hoping will happen.

  • BARC week 31: Sun TV continues dominance across genres

    BARC week 31: Sun TV continues dominance across genres

    BENGALURU: The list of top 10 channels by ratings across channels by Broadcast Audience Research of India (BARC) had three channels from Star India – Star Plus, Star Utsav and Life OK, two each from the Essel group (Zee TV and Zee Anmol), the Sun Network (Sun TV and Gemini), Network 18’s (Colors and ETV Telugu). Sony Max marked its presence as the lone entrant from the Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited (SPNIL) stable.

    Sun TV continued to dominate the ratings across all genres as per data for week 31 –Saturday 30 July to Friday 5 August 2016. Two other channels from the southern regional space, actually the Telugu space –Gemini TV and ETV Telugu joined the Tamil channel among the top 10 channels by ratings across genres during the period. The other channels within the list of top channels across channels were from the Hindi general entertainment channels (Hindi GEC) space

    Sun TV topped the list with 1030933 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum during week 31, far ahead of the next contender – Star Plus with 695115 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum which stood at second place. Zee TV with 640749 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum at third place was followed by Colors with 572518 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum at fourth place.

    Star Utsav followed at fifth place with 529638 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum with Sony MAX at the sixth spot with 515269 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum. Another Essel group channel – the free to air Zee Anmol came in at number 7 with 506715 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum.

    Gemini TV with 458000 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum was eighth followed by another Star India channel – Life OK with 433411 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum at ninth place. ETV Telugu followed Life OK at tenth place with 433019 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum.

  • BARC week 31: Sun TV continues dominance across genres

    BARC week 31: Sun TV continues dominance across genres

    BENGALURU: The list of top 10 channels by ratings across channels by Broadcast Audience Research of India (BARC) had three channels from Star India – Star Plus, Star Utsav and Life OK, two each from the Essel group (Zee TV and Zee Anmol), the Sun Network (Sun TV and Gemini), Network 18’s (Colors and ETV Telugu). Sony Max marked its presence as the lone entrant from the Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited (SPNIL) stable.

    Sun TV continued to dominate the ratings across all genres as per data for week 31 –Saturday 30 July to Friday 5 August 2016. Two other channels from the southern regional space, actually the Telugu space –Gemini TV and ETV Telugu joined the Tamil channel among the top 10 channels by ratings across genres during the period. The other channels within the list of top channels across channels were from the Hindi general entertainment channels (Hindi GEC) space

    Sun TV topped the list with 1030933 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum during week 31, far ahead of the next contender – Star Plus with 695115 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum which stood at second place. Zee TV with 640749 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum at third place was followed by Colors with 572518 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum at fourth place.

    Star Utsav followed at fifth place with 529638 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum with Sony MAX at the sixth spot with 515269 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum. Another Essel group channel – the free to air Zee Anmol came in at number 7 with 506715 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum.

    Gemini TV with 458000 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum was eighth followed by another Star India channel – Life OK with 433411 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum at ninth place. ETV Telugu followed Life OK at tenth place with 433019 Weekly Impressions (000s) sum.

  • News reports claim SPNI is close to acquiring TEN brand from Zeel

    News reports claim SPNI is close to acquiring TEN brand from Zeel

    MUMBAI: A new whisper campaign, which if true, could change the lay of the land in India sports broadcasting has been going on over the past few days. It began with the Mirror tabloid from the Times of India group announcing that Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) was close to acquiring the TEN sports brand from the Subhash Chandra owned-Zee Network.

    Of course when the Mirror breaks a piece of news related to business, you kind of keep it to yourself and on the shelf until a confirmation comes.

    Then this morning even The Economoc Times from the same group came out with a similar report. Again no confirmation from both the parties was forthcoming. SPNI sources told the ET that they do not comment on speculation. But the price mentioned in the news item for the transaction is Rs 2,000 crore.

    And when The ET does report something, you at least mention that it has reported it. The newspaper says that post the transaction, sports television in India will become a two horse race between the Twenty First Century Fox owned Star India and the Sony Japan owned SPNI.

    Observers, however, maintain that the enterprise value, if it the deal is indeed happening, of Rs 2,000 crore is too low. Reason: back in 2010, Zeel coughed up close to $44.155 million (Rs 270 crore) to acquire a 45 per cent stake in Taj Television Mauritius and Taj Television India. Prior to that, it had handed out $57 million (close to about Rs 360 crore) to snare a 50 per cent stake from the Bukhatir group. That means Zeel paid about Rs 630 crore to buy Ten Sports. Post that it has spent lots of money acquiring cricket rights and other sports rights, over the years.

    “Selling Ten Sports at 2x what it paid over nine years ago is not a great deal for Zeel,” says an investment banker close to Zeel. “I think the Essel group could be looking for at least 3x to 3.5x of the value. It’s not as if it is a troubled group that it has to resort to a fire sale like that. Zeel’s profitability, operating paramters, top line, debt, all are doing well. Hence, a 3x to 3.5x price is a better asking price.”

    Be that as it may, Indiantelevision.com will be reaching out to the two networks for a confirmation or denial later today. Until then, watch this space.

  • News reports claim SPNI is close to acquiring TEN brand from Zeel

    News reports claim SPNI is close to acquiring TEN brand from Zeel

    MUMBAI: A new whisper campaign, which if true, could change the lay of the land in India sports broadcasting has been going on over the past few days. It began with the Mirror tabloid from the Times of India group announcing that Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) was close to acquiring the TEN sports brand from the Subhash Chandra owned-Zee Network.

    Of course when the Mirror breaks a piece of news related to business, you kind of keep it to yourself and on the shelf until a confirmation comes.

    Then this morning even The Economoc Times from the same group came out with a similar report. Again no confirmation from both the parties was forthcoming. SPNI sources told the ET that they do not comment on speculation. But the price mentioned in the news item for the transaction is Rs 2,000 crore.

    And when The ET does report something, you at least mention that it has reported it. The newspaper says that post the transaction, sports television in India will become a two horse race between the Twenty First Century Fox owned Star India and the Sony Japan owned SPNI.

    Observers, however, maintain that the enterprise value, if it the deal is indeed happening, of Rs 2,000 crore is too low. Reason: back in 2010, Zeel coughed up close to $44.155 million (Rs 270 crore) to acquire a 45 per cent stake in Taj Television Mauritius and Taj Television India. Prior to that, it had handed out $57 million (close to about Rs 360 crore) to snare a 50 per cent stake from the Bukhatir group. That means Zeel paid about Rs 630 crore to buy Ten Sports. Post that it has spent lots of money acquiring cricket rights and other sports rights, over the years.

    “Selling Ten Sports at 2x what it paid over nine years ago is not a great deal for Zeel,” says an investment banker close to Zeel. “I think the Essel group could be looking for at least 3x to 3.5x of the value. It’s not as if it is a troubled group that it has to resort to a fire sale like that. Zeel’s profitability, operating paramters, top line, debt, all are doing well. Hence, a 3x to 3.5x price is a better asking price.”

    Be that as it may, Indiantelevision.com will be reaching out to the two networks for a confirmation or denial later today. Until then, watch this space.

  • Nikhil Mirchandani hops on board Shashi Sumeet Group as CEO

    Nikhil Mirchandani hops on board Shashi Sumeet Group as CEO

    MUMBAI: From broadcast to production. That’s the journey Nikhil Mirchandani is taking. Mirchandani has signed on as CEO of the TV, digital and ad film making production house – the Shashi Sumeet Group.

    A media specialist with more than two decades of holistic business experience, Nikhil has extensively worked across the entertainment sector catering to local and global brands. Prior to this, Nikhil has been associated with his entrepreneurial venture HOOP Entertainment, a company founded by him in 2012.

    As per the current mandate, Nikhil will be responsible for leading and overseeing the Group’s business operations and expansion plans. Currently, Shashi Sumeet Productions has the long running show Diya aur Baati Hum, and Humdard on Maan TV on air. But it has been behind successful shows such as Zee TV’s Punar Vivah, and Life Ok’s Tumhaari Paakhi.

    Nikhil Mirchandani began his career with GE Capital before making a career in the media and entertainment sector, where he has over 20 years of work experience across major networks including Sony Entertainment Television, Turner International, National Geographic Channel and Star India.

    He was managing director, south Asia, NGC Network and FOX International Channels for over five years and later joined Star as Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Star One. He then started Hoop Entertainment, an entrepreneurial venture engaged in the business of branded and digital content solutions.

    Commenting on the appointment, Shashi Sumeet group founder, director Sumeet Hukamchand Mittal , said, “I am pleased to welcome Nikhil Mirchandani to Shashi Sumeet Group family and am certain that he will come up with outstanding solutions to suit our business model. Keeping up with our brand mantra ‘Imagine, Innovate, Inspire’; I want to give my 100 per cent to my creative interest enabling a win-win situation for both myself and the organization that can benefit from increased creative bandwidth and super-amplified story-telling abilities.”

    Mirchandani agreed adding: “Shashi Sumeet Group is a brilliant brand and has done fantastic work; both business and creative. It is a matter of great pride and honour for me that I will be able to leverage my strategic skills and years of learning for a brand of this stature. I am excited to be able to lead the organization in the next stage of evolution”

  • Nikhil Mirchandani hops on board Shashi Sumeet Group as CEO

    Nikhil Mirchandani hops on board Shashi Sumeet Group as CEO

    MUMBAI: From broadcast to production. That’s the journey Nikhil Mirchandani is taking. Mirchandani has signed on as CEO of the TV, digital and ad film making production house – the Shashi Sumeet Group.

    A media specialist with more than two decades of holistic business experience, Nikhil has extensively worked across the entertainment sector catering to local and global brands. Prior to this, Nikhil has been associated with his entrepreneurial venture HOOP Entertainment, a company founded by him in 2012.

    As per the current mandate, Nikhil will be responsible for leading and overseeing the Group’s business operations and expansion plans. Currently, Shashi Sumeet Productions has the long running show Diya aur Baati Hum, and Humdard on Maan TV on air. But it has been behind successful shows such as Zee TV’s Punar Vivah, and Life Ok’s Tumhaari Paakhi.

    Nikhil Mirchandani began his career with GE Capital before making a career in the media and entertainment sector, where he has over 20 years of work experience across major networks including Sony Entertainment Television, Turner International, National Geographic Channel and Star India.

    He was managing director, south Asia, NGC Network and FOX International Channels for over five years and later joined Star as Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Star One. He then started Hoop Entertainment, an entrepreneurial venture engaged in the business of branded and digital content solutions.

    Commenting on the appointment, Shashi Sumeet group founder, director Sumeet Hukamchand Mittal , said, “I am pleased to welcome Nikhil Mirchandani to Shashi Sumeet Group family and am certain that he will come up with outstanding solutions to suit our business model. Keeping up with our brand mantra ‘Imagine, Innovate, Inspire’; I want to give my 100 per cent to my creative interest enabling a win-win situation for both myself and the organization that can benefit from increased creative bandwidth and super-amplified story-telling abilities.”

    Mirchandani agreed adding: “Shashi Sumeet Group is a brilliant brand and has done fantastic work; both business and creative. It is a matter of great pride and honour for me that I will be able to leverage my strategic skills and years of learning for a brand of this stature. I am excited to be able to lead the organization in the next stage of evolution”

  • Netflix steps up marketing drive in India, finally

    Netflix steps up marketing drive in India, finally

    MUMBAI:  There are finally some ripples in sight in the otherwise still surface of Netflix’s marketing efforts in India. From carefully curated short videos hashtagged #LifeWithoutNetflix that are doing the rounds on social media, to meme wars with market rival Hotstar on Twitter, we are seeing more of the American over-the-top video giant’s activity recently — a change from its initial presence in the market.

    https://www.facebook.com/NetflixIN/videos/1008915785888828/

    “The #LifeWithoutNetflix social campaign was created primarily to share with our users the things we love about Netflix and the great stories they can find on our service. We want to build communities within the Indian audience to help them discover content they will love, and also to understand what they want in an entertainment experience,” shared a spokesperson from Netflix team based in Singapore.

    On the recent Twitter spat with Hotstar over an internet meme and its omnipresent rivalry with the Star India owned OTT platform Hotstar, Netflix shared, “Because the entertainment market is so broad, there is an opportunity for multiple brands to be successful. Many people will subscribe to several services (including Netflix) since we have different, exclusive content.”

    For more details on this, please read

    Apart from its quick rise to be a market leader in the digital video space, what makes Netflix stand out is its effervescent marketing campaigns.  Believe it or not, its trademark ads are part of the reason it is a brand to be reckoned with, in several mature markets. And there are no rewards for guessing which media it’s best at. Netflix is known to be bullish with its social media campaigns, with each new market it enters. And yet, its touchdown on Indian soil earlier this year was marked with limited fanfare on the company’s part. No gala launch events, no press conferences with big names, no over the top PR drive. It was left to the overzealous media and enthusiastic netizens to spread the word organically.

    Therefore, industry couldn’t help ponder if this was a strategy of some sort, or Netflix simply wasn’t ready enough to take on the Indian market head on. Or maybe it is not on its priority list, given the fact that Indian audience still hasn’t fully accepted the SVOD way.

    Studying the market and spotting the real problems that is native to the audience was part of the reason for keeping a low profile before taking a plunge, a Netflix official pointed out. After all, a campaign gone wrong is probably worse than no campaign at all.

    “It’s early days in India and there’s still much to learn and discover so that we can keep making the Netflix experience better. We are pleased with how consumers in India are discovering Netflix. They like the fact that we are a flat-fee unlimited viewing commercial-free experience, can cancel anytime without commitments. They can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any Internet-connected screen,” Netflix shared. Therefore, to start with, building awareness is Netflix India’s primary task when it comes to marketing.

    Netflix has also somewhat caught the nerve of the Indian audience’s watching taste. “For now, we very quickly see that the shows Indians love are very much similar to what we see in other markets and the top ones are Netflix Originals like Master of None, Narcos, Marvel’s Daredevil and Marvel’s Jessica Jones,” the spokesperson pointed out.

    Analysts and brand consultants have time and again cited Netflix’s ads as the perfect blend of problem solving and brilliant storytelling. A good example is when Netflix coined a whole new term – ‘Netflix Cheating’ to address couples who watch shows together.

    Thus, building that niche in every market is an essential part of the brand’s communication strategy. Building a culture around  local content, of course, is the key to that.

    “On the local front, we are pursuing recent Bollywood titles, notable indie films, memorable classic Bollywood titles and the best of regional cinema (Tamil, Gujarati, Punjabi, Marathi). Our goal is to bring Indian cinema to not only all regions of India but to the world so you’ll find Indian film titles in all countries in which Netflix exists, accessible to all our over 81 million members. For example, Brahman Naman, a coming-of-age comedy by celebrated Indian director Q, is now available globally only on Netflix. Coming up, Raman Raghav 2.0 is also among the titles that we picked up at Cannes this year as an exclusive on Netflix. Sacred Games is Netflix first original series from India, which will be produced in partnership with Phantom Films,” the Netflix official added in parting.

    With so much on the way for Netflix audiences in India, one can anticipate the company to maintain a consistence interaction with streamers online through more engaging and snaky videos, and memes. Although the market has yet to see a high decibel campaign from digital media giant.