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Tag: streaming

  • HBO Max to stop original content creation in the Nordics, Central Europe, the Netherlands & Turkey

    HBO Max to stop original content creation in the Nordics, Central Europe, the Netherlands & Turkey

    MUMBAI: Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is putting a stop to original productions by its streaming service HBO Max in the Nordics, Central Europe, the Netherlands and Turkey.

    In a statement, the company said, “As we continue to work on combining HBO Max and Discovery+ into one global streaming service showcasing the breadth of content across Warner Bros. Discovery, we are reviewing our current content proposition on the existing services.”

    “As part of this process, we have decided to remove a limited amount of original programming from HBO Max, as well as ceasing our original programming efforts for HBO Max in the Nordics and Central Europe. We have also ceased our nascent development activities in the newer territories of Netherlands and Turkey, which had commenced over the past year,” it stated.

    “Our commitment to these markets has not changed. We will continue to commission local content for Warner Bros. Discovery’s linear networks in these regions and we remain substantial acquirers of local third-party content for use on our streaming services,” the company statement added.

  • Muvi announces virtual recruitment drive for talent hiring in streaming industry

    Muvi announces virtual recruitment drive for talent hiring in streaming industry

    Mumbai: Global cloud-based audio and video streaming platform Muvi has announced a virtual recruitment drive, scheduled for 25 June 2022, from 10 am – 2:30 pm. Through its recruitment drive, the company plans to reach out to over 500 professionals focusing on hiring one skill each day and recruiting at least 50 to 60 people by the end of the drive.

    The virtual walk-in drive is focused on hiring across a variety of roles in technology, including automation engineers, software developers/PHP developers/JAVA developers/javascript developers/PHP fullstack developers and other roles. The company is looking for experienced professionals with relevant experience and a bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering or a similar field. Candidates with industry-leading courses/certifications in PHP, JAVA, javascript, IOS & android app development will have an advantage.

    The drive intends to showcase Muvi’s work culture and allow interested individuals to have a sneak preview of working with a global leader in its domain. Muvi director HR Prashasti Prititpada and her team will be leading this drive. Anticipating a good turnout, she envisions helping the company with onboarding some exceptional talent through the drive. 

    She said, “In the coming years, Muvi is poised to capture a sizable portion of the streaming solutions provider talent marketplace. Last year alone, we set ourselves on the path of talent expansion by onboarding an additional 150 professionals. This solidifies our position as a leader in the streaming and OTT platform development space.”
    “With this drive, we aim to sieve through the untapped talent pool and hire passionate individuals who believe in our vision and will play an instrumental role in pushing Muvi onto the path of hyper-growth”. 

    Hired candidates will work full-time with the Muvi team, and will be based out of the company’s engineering division in Bhubaneswar depending on the job they have applied for, while hirings may opt for remote working facilities if permitted. Muvi employees enjoy tremendous opportunities to learn, grow and succeed both professionally and personally. 

    Interested candidates can register themselves by visiting the company’s recruitment page at www.muvi.com/walk-in-drive.html or check out the company’s official social media handles. They can also send an email to careers@muvi.com.

  • Conviva data shows 10% streaming growth worldwide in Q1

    Conviva data shows 10% streaming growth worldwide in Q1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Aaj Tak to stream news on connected devices

    Aaj Tak to stream news on connected devices

    Mumbai: Aaj Tak has launched connected devices live streams. First of its kind in the news genre, it will allow viewers to stream Aaj Tak on connected devices such as Alexa, firestick smart TV etc.

    The viewers consume content on a variety of devices, and every step of their journey matters. Having accessibility to a variety of content across genres and a plethora of options has given rise to the “My Time Prime Time” concept.

    AajTak has always been a pioneer in understanding the customers and providing a top-notch news viewing experience at lightning fast speed at the preferred time of viewers. The connected devices Aaj Tak live news stream is the first of its kind launched in the news genre curated towards the always-connected news audience.

    Be it Alexa, FireStick or your Smart TV, you can stream Aaj Tak and enjoy the news experience on all the connected devices to keep yourself updated with the Sabse Tez news. Also for the advertisers, this provides a unique platform to target the premium audience, the connected audience and the ever elusive cord cutters.

    India’s video OTT market is expected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2021 to $4 billion in 2025 and further to $12.5 billion by 2030 on the back of access to better networks, digital connectivity, and smartphones, according to a report by RBSA Advisors. The gap for news on these platforms will be aptly filled by India’s No. 1 news brand with this new curated live stream.

    At the same time, EY estimates connected television sets to grow to 14 million by 2023 and 40 million by 2025, led by the increase in wireless and wired broadband connections alongside proliferation of low-cost smart television sets. Going by these numbers, it is evident that Aaj Tak would lead the consumption basket on connected TVs with this new curated stream.

     

  • Zee5 unveils its content line-up for 2022

    Zee5 unveils its content line-up for 2022

    Mumbai: The video streaming platform, Zee5 has unveiled their blockbuster content slate for 2022 with 80+ titles spanning across Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, and Bengali.

    The slate encompasses 40+ original shows and 40+ movies featuring an expansive gamut of genres, including cutting-edge thrillers, high-voltage action, gripping dramas, light-hearted comedies, and soul-stirring romances.

    In line with its content strategy, ZEE5’s vision is to narrate stories that mirror the viewer’s soul and cater to every consumer cohort across the country. As part of this approach, ZEE5 has also announced collaborations with leading creative minds like BBC Studios, Applause Entertainment, The Viral Fever (TVF), along with powerhouse cinematic talent like Vetrimaaran, Prakash Raj, Amitabh Bachchan and Nagraj Manjule amongst others.

    The slate of Hindi originals includes the riveting, TAJ – an epic tale of succession, the much-anticipated Forensic, Duranga – a romantic thriller, latest seasons of audience favourites like Abhay 3, Pitchers 2, Sunflower 2, Tripling 3, Never Kiss Your Best Friend 2 and Rangbaaz 3 amongst many more.

    Amping up the ante, the platform will also feature the digital release of some of the biggest theatrical blockbusters like The Kashmir Files, Amitabh Bachchan’s Jhund and John Abraham’s Attack to name a few.

    The content slate also comprises a strong line-up of regionals, with the recently launched Anantham and Gaalivaana along with some of the most awaited shows and movies in Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, and Bengali like Nilamellam Ratham, Fingertip S2, Paper Rocket Recce Kinnerasaani, Yaar Anmulle Returns, Fuffad Ji, and Main Viyah Nahi Karona Tere Naal, Shikarpur, Raktakarabi and Swetkali.

    https://f.io/I3EUz9By

    Commenting on the announcement, Zee5’s chief business officer Manish Kalra said, “We are enthused by the response that Indian OTT viewers have given to Zee5, it has further encouraged us to curate a slate that caters and connects to the audiences across India. As a consumer-first brand, we have invested in expanding our creative pool bringing India’s diverse talents, creativity, culture, and stories closer to the people across the nation and to the global audience.”

    “The growth has been remarkable with a significant share coming in from the regional markets, as we bolstered our presence in South and Punjab. We have increased our investments with a concerted focus on regional content as we stand open to partnerships with global studios, independent creators, and premium content production houses across regions and languages. At Zee5, the vision has been to be the platform of choice and I am certain the 2022 slate will address the varied interests of today’s audience,” he added.

    Speaking about ZEE5’s content strategy and the new content slate, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, president-content and international markets, Punit Misra, said, “Over the last couple of years, the OTT ecosystem has undergone a significant transition due to constantly evolving consumer preferences and consumption patterns. At ZEE5, our #SoulToScreen approach continues to be a critical pillar in conceptualizing the content slate for various markets and designing our content strategy. We are proud to unveil our content slate for 2022 across languages and reaffirm our commitment of engaging viewers with premium quality content. Keeping in mind the dynamism of this ecosystem and our sharp insights into India’s diverse cultural preferences, we are confident that ZEE5’s extensive mix of new originals and movies will be successful in entertaining audiences in India and globally.”

    Zee5’s chief content officer Nimisha Pandey added, “At ZEE5, our endeavor has been to narrate real, authentic, compelling stories, and expand the canvas of entertainment; a strategy aimed to cater to our multiple consumer cohorts. We have already begun 2022 on a great note, with encouraging audience response for Mithya, Love Hostel, Abhay 3, and Bloody Brothers to name a few. At ZEE5, we are obsessive about new ideas, narratives and working with exceptional creators who are passionate about their craft. Our slate for 2022 encompasses all of this and much more, and we are confident of raising the entertainment quotient further as we move forward. We are certain 2022 will be a power-packed year for our viewers with intriguing, inspiring, and innovative storytelling.”

    Zee5 also has a robust slate planned for their Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi and Bengali-speaking audiences as well. The recently announced Tamil slate includes names like Valimai, Nilamellam Ratham, Anantham, Paper Rocket, Five-Six-Seven-Eight, Alma Mater, Ayali, Thalamai Seyalagam, Fingertip 2, Kolaigara Kairegaigal and Aindham Vedham. The Telugu slate includes titles like Gaalivaana, Kinnerasaani, Recce 2, ATM Prema Vinam ,Maa Neella Tank and Aha Naa Pellanta. The Punjabi content titles on the platform include Yaar Anmulle Returns, Fuffad Ji, and Main Viyah Nahi Karona Tere Naal, along with Bengali titles like Shikarpur, which marks the OTT debut of Ankush Hazra, Raktakarabi featuring Raima Sen and Vikram Chatterjee, and Swetkali. These titles will join marquee names like Radhe, Uri: The Surgical Strike, Break Point, Rashmi Rocket, Sunflower on ZEE5.

  • Amagi facilitates the launch of Tennis Channel T2

    Amagi facilitates the launch of Tennis Channel T2

    MUMBAI: Amagi, which works in the area of cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV, has enabled the launch of T2, a new channel from US broadcaster Tennis Channel, exclusively available on Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST) platforms.

    Tennis Channel, the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle, launched T2 on Samsung TV Plus in the US in March.

    Tennis Channel is using Amagi Cloudport, a cloud-based channel playout platform that offers broadcast-grade quality with true cloud deployment. In addition, they are leveraging Amagi’s content scheduling services, Master Control Room (MCR) services, and Amagi LIVE, a UHD-ready, cloud-based live orchestration platform for orchestrating broadcast-grade live content on the go.

    ALSO READ: Amagi will explore M&As to accelerate revenues, expand marketplace: Baskar Subramanian

    “The experience of launching our first FAST channel for tennis in the United States with Amagi has been enriching. The Live-to-VOD functionality from Amagi is extremely valuable to us as it allows effortless switching between live and recorded content. Further, Amagi LIVE supports industry-standard advanced graphics templates, native graphics, HTML, and singular.live. The user experience this delivers is wonderful for tennis fans and we’re excited to bring the sport to a whole new audience” said Tennis Channel International senior VP Andy Reif.

    “Having been closely associated with Tennis Channel for over two years now and have worked with them to launch channels in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and India, we are very happy to partner in the launch of Tennis Channel’s 24-hour FAST channel in the United States. Running a live channel can be challenging, especially for a sport such as Tennis where the overall length of the game is often unpredictable. The Amagi LIVE platform is ideal since it offers the flexibility to extend live playout, switch between input sources, and more” said Amagi’s co-founder Srinivasan KA.

  • AVGC fastest-growing sector in South Indian M&E industry; TV leads by share: CII

    AVGC fastest-growing sector in South Indian M&E industry; TV leads by share: CII

    Mumbai: The South Indian media and entertainment (M&E) sector, with a market value of around Rs 70,000 crore and a share of 40 per cent, will play a critical role in assisting India to follow a sustainable path to becoming the world’s largest credible marketplace, with M&E contributing two to three per cent to the country’s GDP. The findings were revealed in the CII Southern Region’s report titled ‘Regional is the New National – Way Forward for the South Indian Media & Entertainment Industry.’

    Television continues to occupy a major 45 per cent of the South India M&E market share. By the end of 2022, it is expected to be worth Rs 33,100 crore, with a 10 per cent compound annual growth rate. The south Indian TV sector had a market size of Rs 36,000 crore in 2019, which dropped to Rs 29,000 crore in 2020 because of the Covid-19 epidemic, but recovered to Rs 30,100 crore in 2021. It is expected to grow even more in the coming years, reaching Ra 33,100 crore in 2022 and surpassing 2019 by 2024.

    Subscriptions continue to be the most lucrative source of revenue for television, followed by advertising and programming. According to industry estimates, TV stations in South India earned Rs 25,200 crore in subscriptions, Rs 9,360 crore in advertising, and Rs 1,440 crore in programming in 2019. Due to the pandemic’s impact, these figures fell in 2020 to Rs 20,300 crore for subscriptions, Rs 7,540 crore for advertising, and Rs 1,160 crore for content-based revenue.

    AVGC is the fastest growing sector in the South Indian M&E industry, with a CAGR of 30 per cent. It is expected to account for up to 10 per cent of the overall M&E sector by 2030. The budget allocation for VFX in high-budget films is expected to rise to 30-35 per cent by 2023, up from 25-30 per cent currently.

    Establishment of a state-of-the-art 30,000 Sq ft Centre of Excellence in Whitefield, Bengaluru, and the construction of Image Towers in Hyderabad, which is a 600,000 square feet dedicated space for the AVGC-XR sector, has contributed to this growth.

    More than half of the films released in the last year were in one of the four south Indian languages. The South Indian film industry has also produced some of the most successful box office hits in recent years. It is expected to be worth Rs 6050 crore by the end of 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 13 per cent.

    Southern films have performed exceptionally well on OTT platforms, and they are among the most watched films in Indian cinema. With a compound annual growth rate of 25 per cent, the South Indian streaming and digital media market is expected to be worth Rs 16,200 crore by the end of 2022, nearly two-and-a-half times the film revenues. Disney Hotstar, Amazon Prime, Zee5, Netflix, and SonyLiv are aggressively establishing themselves in the southern states.

    The South Indian print industry market is expected to be worth Rs 9,900 crore by the end of 2022, with radio, digital, OTT, and music following close behind. Further, South India’s five states account for 286 of India’s total 1369 radio channels, accounting for a 21 per cent share of the total radio pie in India.

    “South India has continued to play an important role in the evolution of the M&E industry, owing to the popularity of vernacular content, rapid digitisation and connectivity, an evolving ecosystem, global viewership, and personalisation,” the report stated. “Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka, the five southern states, have been at the forefront of leading the transformation of India’s M&E sector.”

    “The growth story of the South Indian M&E sector, like that of the rest of India, continues to be unique and multimodal, with digital and traditional media co-existing and growing with very different underlying trends,” it added.

  • T-Series forays into streaming with A-list directors

    T-Series forays into streaming with A-list directors

    Mumbai: Indian music label and film studio T-Series has announced its foray into the world of streaming with A-list directors in India.

    The company’s OTT platform will create content across genres in partnership with renowned filmmakers including Aanand L. Rai (“Atrangi Re”), Anubhav Sinha (“Article 15”), Nikkhil Advani (“Mumbai Diaries 26/11”), Hansal Mehta  (“Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story”), Sanjay Gupta (“Mumbai Saga”), Bejoy Nambiar (“Solo”), Suparn S. Varma (“The Family Man”), Mikhil Musale (“Made In China”) and Soumendra Padhi (“Jamtara: Sabka Number Ayega”).

    “With this expansion, we aim at offering original and exclusive binge-worthy content tailored for our viewers across the globe. It will also help us in tapping new markets. We are thrilled to be diversifying and becoming a creative hub for producing music, films, and web shows,” said T-Series chairman and MD Bhushan Kumar. “With the recent budget announcement by our finance minister, there is great progress in the pipeline with the introduction of 5G. It has been projected that rural India will be connected via optic fibres by the year 2025. The easy and cost-effective availability of the internet will provide a great boost to the world of OTT [streaming] and content creators all over, expanding their audience exponentially.”

  • MX TakaTak partners with chef Ranveer Brar for its latest offering ‘#BawarchiBrar’

    MX TakaTak partners with chef Ranveer Brar for its latest offering ‘#BawarchiBrar’

    Mumbai: Short video app MX TakaTak has announced the launch of a new property titled ‘#BawarchiBrar’ with chef Ranveer Brar.

    Starting 5 February with #DesiJugaad – viewers can stream interactive food content pieces that are quick & easy to make like Maggie Golgappa and an egg made on an iron, followed by #BachpanKaPyaar that will take you down memory lane of your favorite dishes as a child and #MainPakaunga where the chef himself will validate and bust some myths around certain dishes and ingredients, said the platform in a statement.

    Every Saturday at 7 pm, viewers can tune in to chef Ranveer Brar’s profile on MX TakaTak and watch the videos.

    MX TakaTak VP and head of content Parul Menghani said, “Categorised into three segments, #BawarchiBrar is an attempt to further expand our content buckets by bringing in food, which is an emotion to most people. We are certain that this IP will keep all food enthusiasts entertained and also appeal to viewers who are looking for unique and engaging food content on the platform.”  

     

     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     

     
     
     

     
     

    A post shared by MX TakaTak (@mxtakatak)

     

    With almost two decades of rich experience in the food industry, Lucknow-born celebrity chef Ranveer Brar enjoys a huge fan base owing to his authenticity, relatable cooking tips and fun banter with his fans. “This is the first time that I am part of such an interesting short format video concept which makes this collaboration with MX TakaTak all the more special for me. At some point or other in our lives, we’ve all had to be jugaadu when it comes to food and I know, sometimes – I still am. While cooking may seem tedious and intimidating for some, I plan to make it fun through this platform by sharing some of my personal tips and tricks, revisiting our school/hostel days through the dishes I make and even cooking in a kitchen with limited resources,” said Brar.

  • ALTBalaji ropes in Pitchfork Partners to strengthen viewer base

    ALTBalaji ropes in Pitchfork Partners to strengthen viewer base

    Mumbai: Homegrown digital platform ALTBalaji has appointed Pitchfork Partners Strategic Consulting as its communication partner to increase awareness about the OTT platform, its shows and widen the viewer base through multi-channel outreach.

    The OTT platform currently has a library of 89+ Hindi originals across genres, which are also dubbed in regional languages like Tamil, Telugu & Malayalam, and in international languages like Arabic and Bhasa, which has helped the OTT player engage with a wide variety of consumers.  

    ALTBalaji senior VP and head marketing Divya Dixit said, “Alternative content being the core ethos of the group, ALTBalaji is focused on building a content bouquet that serves inclusive and individualistic viewing. We are delighted to have Pitchfork on board to support us in our journey and take the platform to the next level.” 

    Pitchfork Partners co-founder Jaideep Shergill said, “We’re thrilled to partner with ALTBalaji. Our diverse experience with entertainment clients will facilitate us in achieving milestones together. OTT is an ever-evolving, dynamic space and increasingly so due to the pandemic, ALTBalaji is disrupting the space by introducing content which caters to mass viewers.”  

    The OTT platform has witnessed a 15-20 per cent growth in its viewership numbers; however, the lockdown increased subscribers from the Hindi heartlands. At least 59 per cent of the total viewership is now coming from non-metros. “While cities like Lucknow, Ludhiana, and Guwahati saw an increase of 189.84 per cent, 106.50 per cent, and 108.41 per cent, respectively, Srinagar, Shimla, and Ranchi weren’t behind either, with an uprise of 103.81 per cent, 103.05 per cent, and 192.01 per cent, as compared to ALTBalaji’s viewership from these cities in 2020,” the platform said in a statement.