ITV

Tag: Star India

  • “Creating sporting events more important than acquiring expensive rights”: Sanjay Gupta

    “Creating sporting events more important than acquiring expensive rights”: Sanjay Gupta

    MUMBAI: Star India is in major over drive mode. The network has picked up a 74 per cent stake in Mashal Sports, which is the owner of Pro Kabaddi League.

     

    While delivering a keynote at the 2015 edition of Asia Pacific Video Operators Summit (APOS) Star India chief operating officer (COO) Sanjay Gupta spoke about the company’s aim to spawn a multi-sport culture in the country by promoting local content with events like Indian Super League (ISL) and Pro-Kabaddi League.

     

    “People are queuing up to buy an English Premier League (EPL), a LaLiga or a Bundesliga, but the question here is how much engagement do these games actually offer as compared to relevant local content. We tried this with ISL and Kabaddi and the initial response has been very encouraging,” Gupta informed.

     

    “Sports is a long haul business and it takes sustained investment to build something ground up. We need to have a long term commitment to build a sport… a 10 to 20 years approach to build it ground up. Take the example of EPL, which has been around for decades and has built an extremely strong consumer franchise, which advertisers are eager to associate with. The three year view of buying sporting rights has to change, which disallows most of the partners to make money and disincentives anyone trying to build a sport,” he further added.

     

    Talking about lack of innovation in stifling sports business economics, Gupta said, “When there’s a big sporting event, people congregate to watch in huge numbers. The only question is if there are enough of these happening and how much innovation has been happening.”

     

    Speaking about mushrooming ventures like ISL and Pro Kabaddi League, Gupta added, “Better engagement in sports will drive greater consumption. People don’t look happy when they win a sports bid. Practices in the sports business have become quite toxic. Instead of a content creation business this has been run as a rent a cab business. If I am league owner, chances are I’ll squeeze more money from you than you can ever hope to earn. One of the challenges that we are seeing is that almost all of the investment in sports is going into rights cost. We are trying to change that by investing in basic sports infrastructure apart from rights, whether it was grooming the players for an on screen experience in Kabaddi or partnering to get the stadiums ready for ISL.”

     

    Speaking about the stake acquisition in Mashal Sports, Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “Star has acquired a majority stake in Mashal Sports with a vision to create an even more favourable ecosystem for the great Indian sport of Kabaddi and build on its successful launch. The investment, completely in sync with Star’s aim to spawn a multi-sport culture in the country, will further help in nurturing India’s sporting talent. We are totally committed to abiding with the vision of Mashal management and all stakeholders of Pro-Kabaddi and will further develop the league in the upcoming season 2.”

  • James Murdoch bets big on Star India; expects $1 billion EBIDTA by 2020

    James Murdoch bets big on Star India; expects $1 billion EBIDTA by 2020

    MUMBAI: The country’s leading broadcaster – Star India is betting big on the future. Star India, which has made a mark in the general entertainment as well as the sports broadcasting space, is looking at turning the company into a billion dollar entity by the turn of the decade, said 21st Century Fox co-chief operating officer James Rupert Murdoch.

     

     “We love the India business. It has now evolved enormously from Hindi entertainment to regional language broadcasting and now we are a national platform. The sports business for us is a new pillar and we are looking at the business in a long-term time frame. And if we keep innovating and investing in putting more creative and innovative content on screen, Star India will become a billion dollar EBIDTA by the turn of the decade,” said Murdoch at the just concluded Asia Pacific Pay-TV Operators Summit 2015 held in Bali.

     

    Addressing the gathering at APOS, Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “Media content has a huge role in shaping the sensibilities of the society and this role should not be underestimated.”

     

    Stressing on the role of sports, Shankar added, “I am prejudiced towards aspirational content and cynical about cynical content. This is something we have always kept in mind while creating all of our content and it is the same philosophy that we are bringing to sports as well. Sports has a huge role to play in empowerment, especially in a country like India, where we need to make the society believe that even an uneducated person can aspire to something greater if he is talented in a sport. This is what has worked with Kabaddi in a big way.”

     

    Star has applied the same entertainment business philosophy into sports. “We are creating content with deep local affinity using the audience aggregation power that cricket gave you. Sports broadcasting has been plagued by laziness and lack of innovation, treated merely as a distribution agent of acquired rights, which is what we have tried to change with multiple local leagues. If it is your team that’s playing, even if it is not the best team, you would be deeply passionate about it. Creating a hierarchy of leagues across the country can be huge empowering phenomenon,” opined Shankar.

     

    Speaking about content creation and regionalization, he said, “India is a giant country with varied cultures and tastes. We used Asianet as a beach head for the south and elevated the quality of content dramatically with sharper storytelling, involving the best of the creative fraternity and breaking the caste divide between film and TV. For logistic reasons outsourcing production might make sense, but unless you internalize the core creative skill, you will not be able to sustain success, which is why we have build a robust internal creative team to ensure this.”

     

    Star India’s recently launched video on demand (VOD) platform Hotstar has become a talking point of sorts. “Our objective behind Hotstar was quite simple actually – a lot of audiences were consuming our content on other screens, but we were unhappy with the inability to control their viewing experience. We realised we own all of this IP and so came Hotstar. I do not think that this is a ‘free model.’ We need to keep the consumer at the center while thinking about this and in a market like India, where data costs are still pretty high, the consumer is still paying a lot for the data – so it’s not particularly consumer friendly to have them pay twice, especially at such a nascent stage.”

     

    Shankar is also buoyed by the over-the-top (OTT) services space as it allows for democratisation of creativity. “However this is not the same as saying that anyone can create content,” he said.

     

    He also stressed on the use of big data and analytics by the network. “At Star, we use a lot of data and we value it deeply. However, let’s not become data monkeys. Data helps understands patterns but to understand these patterns and take a leap to what should be created next, will still require creativity. No matter how much data we have, I don’t believe we will be able to automate the definition of the next blockbuster,” concluded Shankar.

  • Star India to launch new Tamil GEC – Vijay Plus

    Star India to launch new Tamil GEC – Vijay Plus

    MUMBAI: Expanding its bouquet of Tamil general entertainment channels (GEC), Star India is all set to launch a second Tamil GEC called Vijay Plus, which will complement Star Vijay.

     

    While Star Vijay is already an established channel in the two southern states of Kerala and Karnataka, with Vjay Plus, Star is looking at further expanding its presence in the Tamil market.

     

    While speculation was rife last year that Star India was set to launch its second Tamil GEC, which would be christened Vijay Plus or Vijay TV 2. 

     

    However, the network is yet to procure the license from the government for the new channel. “We are still waiting to get our license for Vijay Plus from the government,” informs Star Vijay general manager K Sriram.

     

    As per industry sources, the channel was supposed to go live in December last year. However, the launch was delayed due to license issues from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

     

    A source close to the development informs that the new channel will focus on a new line-up of fiction content and will also air old programs of Vijay TV. 

     

    Moreover, Star will make available the Vijay Plus on all major DTH platforms and cable operators across South India from the test launch phase itself.

     

    Star India seems to have set its eyes on strengthening its foothold in the regional space. It may be recalled that recently the company acquired the broadcast business of Maa Television Network, which comprises four Telugu language channels. The acquisition gave Star access to the Telugu TV market, which is the second largest regional market in India in terms of revenue potential.

     

    Star India broadcasts more than 40 channels in seven languages, reaching more than 720 million viewers every week, across India and 100 countries. The network’s entertainment channel portfolio includes Star Gold, Channel V, Star World, Star Movies, Star Utsav, Life OK, Movies OK and Star Plus.

     

    It has a leading presence in regional language as well, through a bouquet of affiliate channels, which include Star Jalsha, Jalsha Movies, Star Pravah, Asianet, Asianet Plus, Suvarna, Suvarna Plus and Vijay.

     

    Star’s sports business has grown rapidly to eight channel properties and its digital presence is defined by starsports.com and hotstar.com, which brings TV shows, movies and sports on one destination.

     

  • TDSAT rejects Star India’s applications against Indusind, Goldstar

    TDSAT rejects Star India’s applications against Indusind, Goldstar

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has rejected four miscellaneous applications relating to five cases against it to the effect that an endorsement made by the petitioners at the end of agreements left ‘the door open to the petitioners to walk out of any clause.’

     

    Four petitions had been filed by Indusind Media and one by Goldstar Noida Network Pvt. Ltd., U.P.

     

    Star India Pvt. Ltd. Counsel Salman Khurshid said that while executing the interconnect agreement in pursuance of the order passed by the Tribunal, the petitioners made the endorsement that the execution on its behalf was “without prejudice.” He said the whole agreement was put in a state of uncertainty because of the endorsement at the bottom of the agreement.

     

    However, counsel Vandana Jaisingh for the petitioners stated that the endorsement “without prejudice” relates only to the 15 per cent increase in the subscription fee and to no other clause in the agreement, including the clauses relating to the additional areas.

     

    It was made clear in the order by which the two sides were directed to execute the agreement that the 15 per cent increase in subscription fee will be subject to the result of a petition pending before the Tribunal. In any view, therefore, the endorsement “without prejudice” is redundant, she said.

     

    TDSAT chairman Aftab Alam and member Kuldip Singh said in the order that no further directions need be passed in these applications in view of the clarification made by Jaisingh.

  • TAM TV Ratings: Sab moves to fourth position as Life OK topples

    TAM TV Ratings: Sab moves to fourth position as Life OK topples

    MUMBAI: Amidst speculations of a ratings dark period, the weekly TAM TV ratings have been rolled out. While Star Plus continues to rule the ratings ladder in week 15 of TAM TV ratings, the channel has seen a significant drop in its ratings along with the others.

     

    Star Plus in week 15 of TAM TV ratings scored 601567 GVTs down from the 633437 GVTs it recorded in week 14.

     

    Colors continues its strong hold at number two, even though it fell by 6719 GVTs in week 15 recording 409767 GVTs. The channel had received 416486 GVTs in the previous week.

     

    Positioned third, Zee TV registered 388914 GVTS, down from 405532 GVTs in week 14.

     

    Multi Screen Media’s comedy channel Sab has seen an improvement, as it jumped to the fourth position in the rankings chart. The channel bagged 295542 GVTs, down from 325559 GVTs that it scored in week 14.

                            

    Life OK, on the fifth position, recorded 287837 GVTs in week 15, down from 301685 GVTs in week 14.

     

    Sony Entertainment Television (SET), even with the new show launches has not been able to regain its position. The channel fell by 13918 GVTs managing 221219 GVTs in week 15 as compared to the 235137 GVTs in week 14.   

     

    Last, but not the least, the new entrant in the Hindi general entertainment space &TV saw a marginal dip in its ratings. The channel bagged 88321 GVTs in week 15 compared to the 92563 GVTs in the previous week.

  • Post Star’s exit, Star CJ Alive re-brands as Shop CJ

    Post Star’s exit, Star CJ Alive re-brands as Shop CJ

    MUMBAI: A year after Star India opted out from the 24/7 home shopping channel Star CJ Alive, which was a joint venture between Star India and South Korean home shopping major CJ O Shopping, the channel’s name and logo has been changed to Shop CJ. 

     

    This marks the culmination of a year long exercise where in Star phased itself out of the alliance to focus on its core expertise of general entertainment channels (GEC) and sports offerings. As per the deal, despite Star’s phasing out, it was mandatory to keep Star’s branding in the logo for a year. Providence Equity Partners has replaced Star in the venture. On 16 April, 2015 besides renaming the channel to Shop CJ, the venture also launched a new tagline, ‘Shop a new trend.’

     

    The home shopping venture, which already has presence on television and Internet, has further expanded itself and entered the fast growing mobile market with Shop CJ mobile app. Currently the channel is available on various DTH platforms like Tata Sky, Dish TV, Airtel, and Videocon and major cable operators.

     

    “The re-branding initiative is to better align the company’s new philosophy with the future strategy. It plans to further improve the backend service in order to serve customers quickly and effectively. Plans are also there to get new innovative categories on board and change entire home shopping perspective and experience. The CJ group is globally known for its product quality and innovation. Our experience of various countries will prove to be useful to serve Indian consumers with world class product experience,” says Shop CJ Network CEO Kenny Shin.

     

    On Star’s phase out and its impact on the brand, Shin tells Indiantelevision.com, “We are happy to have Providence Equity as our partners as they have experience of home shopping business. They run similar business in Germany and understand the philosophy of the adventure. When it comes to Star’s phase out, we’ve known it since a year and hence we have drawn out our strategic plans accordingly. Going forward our prime focus is to expand ourselves, reach more houses and satisfy more customers.” 

     

    Shop CJ CFO N. Ramakrishnan adds, “We will be expanding our presence in east and north-east through physical warehouses. The company is also investing to improve warehouse management system, which will enhance logistics and back end services.”

     

    The company has launched its mobile application Shop CJ, which will be available to Android users.

     

    Speaking about the same, Shop CJ marketing head Donald Kwag says, “Tremendous growth in mobile e-commerce industry has encouraged us to offer this service. The rate, at which Indian consumers are adopting shopping on the app, is faster than other countries. We want our consumers to shop exactly as per their convenience.”

     

    The Indian home shopping market is pegged at $525 million and has an annual growth rate of 40 per cent, which makes it a lucrative business space. Recently entrepreneur Raj Kundra joined hands with actor Akshay Kumar to launch the home shopping channel Best Deal TV. 

     

    Speaking about the growing competition Kwag says, “Indian consumers are very smart. They understand that celebrities will come, sell the product and go away, but the product will stay with them. So getting celebrities on board won’t work if the product is not good. Hence, our main focus is on getting quality product on board and satisfying customers so that they stay loyal to us for a long period of time.”

     

    The re-branding will be backed by aggressive marketing, which is being handled by Percept. Ramakrishnan says, “Percept will execute our marketing plans. We will be launching a 360 degree campaign with prime focus on Mumbai and Delhi. The first round of TVCs will be out in May and we will follow it strategically.”

     

    “We will keep following the franchisee revenue model, wherein 94 per cent of our revenue comes from television and Internet contributes the remaining six per cent. With the launch of new app, we expect to grow bigger. We have already reached five million customers and we will soon be launching special packages for loyal customers,” Shin concludes.

  • Colors clinches IIFA Awards from Star

    Colors clinches IIFA Awards from Star

    MUMBAI: The six-year old baby, Colors is on a winning spree. The channel, which snatched Stardust Awards from Sony Entertainment Television (SET) in 2014, has now acquired the television rights to International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards from Star Plus, after 15 years.

     

    With this acquisition, Colors now has both, an Indian and international award show, in its kitty.

     

    The channel has partnered with Wizcraft International Entertainment to acquire complete broadcast rights of the show, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 5-7 June, 2015. 

     

    Colors will collaborate with IIFA to combine programming and marketing efforts to mount this year’s IIFA on a wider canvas reaching out to more viewers around 135 countries across all screens – TV, mobile and PC.

     

    Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, “Over the years, the IIFA Awards has become a global cultural phenomenon that has put Indian cinema on the global radar and we are proud to be associated with it. With the inclusion of IIFA Awards to our bouquet of offerings, Colors will now curate exceptional entertainment offerings capturing best of Indian film industry. IIFA Weekend will be beamed not only on Colors India but also on our international feeds including Rishtey bringing quality entertainment to our viewers’ fingertips.”

     

    Elaborating on this year’s IIFA Awards, Wizcraft International Entertainment director Sabbas Joseph said, “Since its inception, the concept of IIFA has evolved from becoming an awards evening to a weekend of festivities where the entire film fraternity comes together to celebrate the excellence of Indian cinema. This year, Videocon d2h IIFA Weekend includes events, which recognise the talent that is responsible for the grandeur and technical expertise making Indian films more relatable globally. Our association with the channel or the IIFA Weekend and Awards furthers our promise of providing the best entertainment avenues to viewers across the globe.”

     

    Recently, the awards announced the list of nominations with 2 States leading the list with a total of nine nominations. National award winning film Haider got eight nominations, while Rajkumar Hirani’s PK, which did wonders at the box office, garnered six nominations. Kangana Ranaut’s Queen has managed to garner five nominations in the popular categories.

     

    With events like IIFA Rocks, Magic of the Movies, IIFA World Premiere and the IIFA Awards, the weekend celebrates various elements such as fashion, music and world-class acting that make watching Indian films a truly magical experience.

  • ‘Use your own apocalypse to find a solution:’ Alan Mosely

    ‘Use your own apocalypse to find a solution:’ Alan Mosely

    GOA: Star India’s knowledge seminar on the third day of 10th edition of Goafest saw 180 Amsterdam chief creative officer and president Alan Mosely delivering a key note.

     

    He started the keynote by stating an innocuous example at his work place. For the breakfast meeting in his office, a bowl of croissant was always kept on the table. Though the meeting would be fruitful, no one would touch the croissants. The phenomenon went on for weeks after which the top level executives ordered for modification, the croissants were garnished, reflavoured, elegant plates were used but nothing changed. One morning an intern entered the conference room with a knife and cut all the croissant into half and the scenario changed ever since. 

     

    “No one in a meeting wanted to eat like a pig, they didn’t have a problem with the taste but here the issue was size. The moment the size was reduced? the scenario changed. So if you tackle a problem in an obvious way you will never succeed,” he says.

     

    That experience lead to a perception, which is the contemporary formula of the company – “Whenever you get into trouble keep going. Do a 180 degree turn. Turn the situation halfway around. Don’t look for the secure solution. Don’t pull back from the passion. Turn it on full force and that’s how we become 180 Amsterdam,” he adds. 

     

    In today’s world, facing a problem is emerging as an endangered species. Everyone either wants to run away from the problem or gives up the moment it arrives. “Facing a problem with force is the way forward. By running away from it we won’t achieve anything. We have to immerse ourselves in the product and come out with a solution,” asserts Mosely.

     

    “We should know how to find better solutions and change human behavior whenever needed. If we take the example of Apple, the company was just days away from bankruptcy. It was a brand in apocalypse and it needed to change the perspective. The Think Differently campaign rejuvenated the brand and entire game changed thereafter. So we should use our apocalypse for a solution,” he adds.

     

    Speaking on his interest in the Indian market, Mosely says, “India is a fantastic nation. The entire world is looking towards India. The country has a new government, which is encouraging businesses. Whenever we get an opportunity to invade into India and be a part of the great nation we will. However though, there are no such plans in the near future.”

  • Boom time for HD channels in India

    Boom time for HD channels in India

    The High Definition (HD) TV channels landscape is rapidly expanding in India. Amongst the various genres available today, the English general entertainment and movie channels genre is still a fragmented space and networks in their quest to stand apart from the nearest ranking rival, rely excessively upon content, marketing and a host of options among others.

     

    While not much is achieved in the process, the game of throne continues as networks try to outdo one another. A potent yet common weapon that networks are now heavily relying on is by launching HD channels.

     

    What is augmenting well for these networks is the demand by consumers for content that is best experienced in high definition. Since almost all the content in the English category is produced internationally, it makes sense in delivering it to consumers in HD only so that production values receive their due credit and viewers experience it at its best. This hunger for HD has very well transcended into networks now launching or sensing business opportunities by launching new HD channels. In some cases, an HD feed has been introduced to complement the existing Standard Definition (SD) feed. Digitisation will only ensure that the consumption of high definition shoots up further.

     

    Networks and their HD channels

     

    Star India will soon be launching two new HD English general entertainment channels (GECs). Its soon to be launched channel, Star Movies HD Select for a span of one year (365 days) has a content library of 365 movies – one for each day. About 50 per cent of the content comprises award winning Oscars and Golden Globes titles. To name a few, the channel has The Fault In Our Stars, Birdman and The Theory of Everything in its kitty.

     

    Star will also launch another new channel Star FX HD to compliment the SD feed of FX. The content of FX currently comprises Madmen, Seinfeld and the animated series Family Guy. Other HD channels from the network include Star World Premiere HD, Star World HD and Star Movies HD in addition to eight other HD channels in various genres like sports and Hindi movie and GEC.

     

    Multi Screen Media (MSM) is not far behind. With channels such as Pix, Pix HD and AXN, it is a strong player in the English movie and GEC space. On 6 April this year, the network sensed an opportunity by launching AXN HD to go along with the SD feed. For the man behind the launch, Pix and AXN EVP and business head Saurabh Yagnik the onset of digitisation and a strong audience base spending more time on special interest channels, made sense for the launch of the new feed. “While the shows will be same on the two channels, we will be tweaking some of the content for the HD feed. We could also have certain exclusive content for the HD feed in the future,” Yagnik had earlier told Indiantelevision.com. MSM also has two HD channels in the Hindi GEC and sports category.

     

    On the other hand, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (Zeel) is also looking at strengthening its HD portfolio. The network will soon launch a new HD channel in the English GEC space called Zee Cafe HD to compliment its SD feed. Besides this, Zeel has five other HD channels in its channel portfolio. The content on Zee Café currently comprises shows such as Two and a Half Men, Desperate Housewives and Secrets and Lies amongst others.

     

    Times Network, which operates channels like Movies Now and Romedy Now is another mighty contender. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com earlier, Times Network senior vice president and English entertainment cluster head Vivek Srivastava had said that its new channel, Movies Now+ was the HD version of the SD feed but it did have some differentiating content from the SD feed. It simulcast movies on both feeds such as The Wolf Of Wall Street, which is going to be showcased on 26 April 2015.

     

    The increasing growth of premium ad free channels such as HBO Hits and HBO Defined too have resulted in aiding subscription revenues for the English entertainment genre. Strong and popular content such as Game of Thrones today is synonymous with the HBO network.

     

    Growth of HD Channels in India

     

    From the meagre three HD pay TV channels in 2010, the number has shot up to 34 in 2014, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) 2013-2014 annual report. The number jumped to 22, 31 and 33 for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively. With impending launches of English movie and GEC channels this year, this number is only going to be on the rise going forward.

     

    The DTH factor

     

    Value Added Services (VAS) and HD channel penetration are strong revenue generators for Direct to Home (DTH) operators. Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera was quoted in the FICCI-KPMG report for 2015 as saying, “The boom in the panel TV industry has been a key growth in HD channel viewership. The viewers are ready to pay a premium price for HD channels. With the right pricing and packaging for these channels, HD channels can achieve faster penetration.” 

     

    As per the report, there are four million HD subscribers, which account for 10 per cent of all DTH subscribers, whereas 15 to 20 per cent of incremental subscribers in 2014 were HD subscribers. “HD adoption continues to drive ARPU growth for DTH players with the average ARPU of HD subscriber at 1.5 to 2X the ARPU of a non HD subscriber,” states the report.

     

    Conclusion

     

    Premium HD channels recorded a ten-fold top line growth with DTH accounting for over 95 per cent of the premium channel subscriber base according to the 2015 FICCI KPMG report. The success of HD viewing thus, is not just a mighty boon in for broadcasters alone, (where the Ad Ex share for the space in 2014 was at 4.6 per cent) but also for DTH operators. 

     

    As panel TV sales figures were expected to touch approximately eight million units in 2014, of which 55 per cent was expected to have been HD panel TVs, the rise is only going to be vertical in the coming years. With the share of HD and 4K TV sales expected to contribute to over 80 per cent by 2019, broadcasters’ key agenda will definitely be upping their HD channels offering. Moreover, the fact that DTH operators are more than happy to increase their HD bouquet, the growth story for HD viewing and consumption in India has only just begun.

  • OTT video service HOOQ to launch in India soon

    OTT video service HOOQ to launch in India soon

    MUMBAI: Digital platforms are making giant strides across the globe and its ripples are being felt across India too. Even as Star India’s recently launched all-encompassing over-the-top (OTT) video service Hotstar takes a steady lead in India, a new player is soon slated to enter the market.

     

    HOOQ – the new over-the-top (OTT) service in Asia from Singtel, Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros. Television will soon launch in India.

     

    HOOQ, now launched in the Philippines, delivers Hollywood blockbusters and television series, as well as popular local movies and programmes, to customers anytime, anywhere by enabling viewers to stream and download their favourite shows on their device of choice.

     

    Apart from India, HOOQ will start off by rolling out progressively in the Singtel Group’s Asian footprint, including the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

     

    Additionally, HOOQ has joined hands with Quickplay’s managed video platform to power its services. Quickplay is providing HOOQ with a comprehensive multi-partner turn-key solution that enables service and content providers to deliver a superior unified viewing experience in the home and on the go.

     

    HOOQ has selected Quickplay’s managed services to operate the largest subscription based OTT service in Asia, leveraging Quickplay’s advanced virtual head-end, cloud economics and decade of experience in providing complex, multiscreen services for leading providers such as AT&T, Bell, and Verizon.

     

    HOOQ viewers across Asia will enjoy personalized experiences across all devices, platforms, mobile and WI-FI networks. 

     

    Quickplay will deliver the fully hosted premium OTT video solution, providing the largest library of multi-language content in Asia. The solution initially includes the secure streaming of over 10,000 movies and TV series of encoded and optimized Video-on-Demand (VOD) content and adaptive streaming.

     

    In addition, Quickplay’s managed services include DRM solutions by Microsoft PlayReady and Verimatrix, managed user entitlements by Evergent Technologies, and enriched content from premium content providers from North America (Hollywood) and Asia. QuickPlay, in partnership with Evergent, is providing a distinct feature that enables HOOQ to leverage Singtel Group’s extensive telco billing relationships across Asia, enabling consumers to employ a range of payments including mobile post-pay contracts and pre-paid credits. In emerging markets where credit card ownership is limited, this feature is a critical enabler to overall adoption and accessibility.

     

    “We are proud to enable this ground-breaking premium OTT video service for HOOQ. This is the largest OTT deployment of its kind in Asia – this level of scale and complexity is unmatched and is a service that Quickplay is uniquely positioned to deliver on. The HOOQ vision of securely bringing premium global and local content to Asian viewers – in the home or on the go – is truly disruptive and well aligned to Quickplay’s goal of enabling superior viewing experiences and providing the greatest choice of premium content to the most viewers, anytime, anywhere,” said Quickplay CEO and founder Wayne Purboo.

     

    “Quickplay was a clear choice for HOOQ when you are building a business that needs to scale up to a footprint covering over a billion people. Their proven market leadership and experience in powering premium video allows us to provide quality viewing experiences and seamless integration especially when working across emerging markets and multiple partners,” added HOOQ CEO Peter G. Bithos.