New Delhi: In a bid to bolster its OTT game, Tata Sky on Monday announced that it has extended its integrated content offering on the Tata Sky Binge Mobile app by bringing onboard the streaming giant, Amazon Prime Video.
The partnership will enable Tata Sky Binge subscribers to subscribe to Prime Video via Binge and explore its vast content library including the Amazon Originals as well as its vast portfolio of international and regional movies and web series. Subscribers will be able to opt for a Prime Video subscription directly through their Tata Sky account at the cost of Rs 129 per month. Access to the Prime Video app can commence either by clicking on the Prime Video banner on the home page or by clicking any Prime Video asset on the content rail, it said on Monday.
Further, Tata Sky has also integrated the Amazon Prime Video metadata within its Android enabled smart set-top box, Tata Sky Binge+.
Tata Sky’s OTT aggregator service, Tata Sky Binge currently offers interface to 11 of the OTT apps including Disney+ Hotstar Premium, ZEE5, SonyLIV, SunNxt, Hungama Play, Eros Now, ShemarooMe, Voot Select, Voot Kids, CuriosityStream and now Amazon Prime Video. Viewers can access Tata Sky Binge service on their screens of choice via two plans to choose from – Rs 149 & Rs 299, said the company on Monday.
Tata Sky, chief commercial and content officer, Pallavi Puri said, “We are glad to further fortify our collaboration with Amazon Prime Video to bring to our subscribers its premium content both on our hybrid set-top box Binge+ as well as the Binge mobile app. We believe our continuous effort to scale up our offerings on Tata Sky Binge will make Binge an even more desirable proposition for our subscribers.”
Tata Sky Binge users can now enjoy exclusive Amazon Originals as well as popular movies and TV shows. Some of the new movies include Sherni, Cold Case, The Tomorrow War, Asuran, Wonder Woman 1984, and The Great Indian Kitchen. Among Amazon Original TV shows, subscribers can watch new seasons of The Family Man, Mirzapur, Comicstaan and new Originals including DOM among others.
Mumbai: Voot Select is all set to host its first ever direct-to-OTT film festival starting 24 July. The Voot Select Film Fest will stream as many as 15 critically acclaimed movies across genres in a span of eight days, the platform announced on Friday.
The specially curated line-up includes a wide range of movies, including those that focus on socially relevant topics coupled with inspiring stories that challenge conventions and showcase #IndiaUnfiltered. The movies that will be part of the film festival include Natkhat, Shuruaat Ka Twist (anthology), Ek Duaa, Love in the Times of Corona (anthology), Jaan Jigar, Lines, The Shaila(s) and Lihaaf.
While the globally renowned and Oscar entrant Natkhat challenges patriarchy that has been embedded in our society and highlights gender equality, Ek Duaa, throws light on gender discrimination in a family set-up while Shuruaat Ka Twist, is an omnibus of six short films mentored by Rajkumar Hirani, Vikramaditya Motwane, Raj Kumar Gupta and Amit V. Masurkar, offering varied interpretations of the theme of ‘Twist’ through short stories. A gripping satirical narrative The Shailas will showcase a tumultuous relationship, wrought by class and caste boundaries, while Jaan Jigar will deal with the issue of moral policing around ‘love’ in a small town of North India.
Lihaaf, based on one of the most celebrated masterpieces of author Ismat Chughtai by the same name, will throw light on the same-sex love and freedom of speech for women, in a male-dominated society. The anthology Love, In The Times Of Corona explores the current turbulent time when the whole world is reassessing what’s most important in their lives with a deeper understanding. Lines, set in 1999, chronicles the life of a young girl who is divided by borders with her husband and how she returns to him.
“Highlighting the theme ‘Twist’, my movie Tap Tap in the Shuruaat Ka Twist anthology showcases the struggle of a singer at the twilight of his career to regain his magic. I related a lot while playing this character and thoroughly enjoyed playing it and I am certain that the audience will love it too,” said actor Chunkey Panday talking about his performance in Shuruaat Ka Twist.
Speaking about Ek Duaa, actor Esha Deol said, “I’m extremely proud of ‘Ek Duaa’ which is my home production, and it was an enriching experience to portray the character of Abida who is fighting against gender discrimination in the thresholds of her own house. Ek Duaa is my humble contribution towards such a big issue and I have never been so emotionally invested in any character before. It has truly been a product of sheer hard work that will strike a chord with the audience.”
Mumbai: The 15th season of Viacom18’s high prized entertainment property Bigg Boss is all set to launch on VOOT on 8 August, announced Bollywood actor and Bigg Boss host Salman Khan in the show’s latest promo released on Wednesday. The makers have pitched the promo of the special edition titled ‘Bigg Boss OTT’ as Khan’s special gift for his fans on Eid.
In an industry-first move, Viacom18 had announced early this month, that it will launch the reality show Bigg Boss, first on VOOT for six weeks, before it’s telecast on Colors TV.
Arey bhai bhai bhai, ye kya ho raha hai?
Nahi samjhe? Machane loot, aa raha hai BB OTT on #Voot
Hoga itna over the top, entertainment chalega non – stop
The promo shows Khan bursting with joy as he declares and warns the audience to gear up for the “craziest, most sensational season ever”. The ‘janta’ factor this time will be Over the Top by giving the common man uncommon powers. It will give the audience a chance to enjoy direct and deeper engagement, connection, and indulgence in the comings and goings of the house. “Overall, the show promises a unique experience with a lot of drama, entertainment, and emotions,” Khan promises. “So, BIGG BOSS OTT Ke Mazze Loot, pehli baar starting only on VOOT.”
Commenting on this all-new Bigg Boss OTT, Salman Khan said, “It’s great that this season of Bigg Boss will have a digital-first with Bigg Boss OTT, six weeks ahead of television. The platform will see unparalleled interactivity where the audience will not only get entertained but also participate, engage, give tasks and more – It’s truly for the people and by the people. My advice to all contestants is to be active, entertaining and conduct themselves well in the BB house.”
New Delhi: After a meteoric rise in 2020, the US-based streaming giant Netflix’s subscriber growth in early 2021 has slowed down. According to the company’s latest financial results, the OTT platform has added just 1.5 million subscribers, compared to 10.1 million new sign-ins it reported during the same period last year.
Netflix, thus ended the quarter with 209 million paid memberships.
The APAC region represented about two-thirds of the global paid net adds in the quarter. However, its Q2 paid memberships in the US and Canada region were slightly down sequentially, as it lost 0.4 million paid memberships in the region. “We believe our large membership base in UCAN coupled with a seasonally smaller quarter for acquisition is the main reason for this dynamic”, said Netflix.
In Q2, revenue increased 19 per cent year over year to $7.3 billion, while operating income rose 36 per cent year over year to $1.8 billion. Revenue growth was driven by an 11 per cent increase in average paid streaming memberships and 8 per cent growth in average revenue per membership (ARM).
According to the company, Covid has created some lumpiness in the membership growth.
“We finished the quarter with over 209m paid memberships, slightly ahead of our forecast. The pandemic has created unusual choppiness in our growth and distorts year-over-year comparisons as acquisition and engagement per member household spiked in the early months of Covid. In Q2’21, our engagement per member household was, as expected, down vs. those unprecedented levels but was still up 17 per cent compared with a more comparable Q2’19,” said Netflix on Wednesday.
Netflix chief financial officer, Spencer Neumann said, “We had the kind of big pull forward in 2020 of subscriber adds. We also had to push in production of some of our kind of key returning titles and big tent-pole new releases until the latter part of the year. But overall, the business is performing well. Our churn is actually down relative to the more comparable two-year-ago period in 2019, Q2 of ’19 before Covid.”
For Q3 ’21, the company forecast paid net additions of 3.5m vs. 2.2m in the prior-year period. “If we achieve our forecast, we will have added more than 54m paid net adds over the past 24 months or 27m on an annualised basis over that period, which is consistent with our pre-Covid annual rate of net additions. We forecast that ARM will grow roughly 5 per cent year over year on a FX neutral basis in Q3’21,” said Netflix.
As the streaming war heats up, Netflix said it continues to target a 20 per cent operating margin for the full year 2021 vs. 18 per cent in 2020. “After our big global launch in January 2016, we committed to steadily growing our operating margin thereafter at an average rate of three percentage points per year over any few-year period. Some years we’ll be a little over (like in 2020), some years a little under (like in 2021). Assuming we achieve our margin target this year, we will have quintupled our operating margin in the last five years and are tracking ahead of this average annual three percentage point pace,” it stated on Wednesday.
Netflix is also shifting focus to growing its live action and animated original film offering, with several impactful titles in Q2. Its non-English content investments are also growing both in scope and impact. “Our P&L content expense for this content category has more than doubled in the past two years,” it added.
The company is also in the early stages of further expanding into games, building on its earlier efforts around interactivity (eg, Black Mirror Bandersnatch) and Stranger Things games.
“We view gaming as another new content category for us, similar to our expansion into original films, animation and unscripted TV. Games will be included in members’ Netflix subscription at no additional cost similar to films and series. Initially, we’ll be primarily focused on games for mobile devices. We’re excited as ever about our movies and TV series offering and we expect a long runway of increasing investment and growth across all of our existing content categories, but since we are nearly a decade into our push into original programming, we think the time is right to learn more about how our members value games,” it added.
New Delhi: As news media companies look for ways to survive and thrive in a fiercely aggressive digital market, the latest TV network to enter the crowded market of streaming news is AT&T’s CNN. The US-based Cable News Service (CNN) has announced its new venture CNN Plus – a streaming platform which will exist alongside its existing linear TV networks.
According to the announcement, the subscription-based streaming service will feature eight to twelve hours of live programming daily. The network has already begun developing dozens of programs and hiring the requisite employees as part of an urgent bid to keep up with changing consumer demands amid cord-cutting trends across the US.
CNN+ is the start of a new era of the company, said WarnerMedia News and Sports chairman and CNN Worldwide president, Jeff Zucker on Monday. “CNN invented cable news in 1980, defined online news in 1995 and now is taking an important step in expanding what news can be by launching a direct-to-consumer streaming subscription service in 2022,” he said in a statement.
Terming it as “the most important launch for CNN” since the launch of the network in June, 1980, chief digital officer Andrew Morse said CNN+ will be launched in the US in the first quarter of 2022 and roll out in other countries later.
Apart from at least eight hours of live programming which the company says, will be different from “what CNN produces on TV”, the new service will have original series, and interactive programming, that will allow subscribers to engage directly with talent and experts about the issues that matter most to them.
The company is yet to disclose how much it will cost consumers.
With around 4,000 employees, CNN has one of the largest news operations in the world. It is hiring about 450 people for CNN+, from producers to engineers to marketers, said Morse on Monday. “The sizable number of job openings is a reflection of CNN parent WarnerMedia’s investment in the product on the heels of the HBO Max streaming service launch in 2020,” he added.
New Delhi: Over a year after ZEE5 streamed its web series based on the 26/11 terrorist attack, the OTT platform has come up with the second edition of its State of Siege series. This time, the platform has narrated the heroic tale of the NSG Commandos, who led the counter-insurgency operation at Akshardham Temple in Gujarat in September 2002. The State of Siege- Temple Attack is streaming on ZEE5.
The film’s producer Abhimanyu Singh and director Ken Ghosh, and ZEE5, head, Hindi Originals Nimisha Pandey got into a freewheeling conversation with Indiantelevision.com Group, founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari to talk about the making of the film. They were joined by film’s cast Gautam Rode and Vivek Dahiya along with Lt Col Sundeep Sen who worked as a consultant (military veteran) on the film. The virtual roundtable – ‘The making of the State of Siege: Temple Attack’ was presented by Contiloe Pictures.
The film comes a year after the OTT platform launched State of Siege: 26/11, which was based on Sandip Unnithan’s book Black Tornado: The Three Sieges of Mumbai 26/11. Unlike the first edition which was released in eight episodes, this time ZEE5 has launched the State of Siege as a digital film.
“We launched the first web series in March 2020, just when the lockdown began and it remains one of the most-watched series on the platform,” said ZEE5, head, Hindi Originals Nimisha Pandey, “OTT has given us huge freedom, as we are no longer tied up with formats. In today’s time, stories decide which format they should be going into. In the case of Temple Attack, we decided to make a feature film because the story couldn’t have been stretched up to six-seven episodes.”
Elaborating on the audience response, Pandey said the interest for the film has spiked since its launch on 9 July and performed reasonably well over the last weekend. “We had launched it in Hindi and dubbed it in Tamil and Telugu, and it is good to know that the film is doing well pan-India across all three languages,” said Pandey.
“It was a story worth telling,” said producer Abhimanyu Singh, who initially conceptualised the film. “After reading into the subject and doing our research, we thought that nothing has been told from the commandos’ point of view. The more we delved into it, the more we realised how fantastic this story was.”
The film was shot across different states including Himachal Pradesh, amid the challenges thrown by the pandemic. However, the most daunting part of the job was the post-production process, which had to be done remotely, said director Ken Ghosh. “It was challenging to do the post-production during the pandemic, and we had to coordinate on virtual calls. But we managed to pull it off. We have done a lot of research and brought in symbolism in certain scenes. We also tried to ensure that the action looks very real,” said Ghosh.
Son of a Naval officer, Ghosh said he drew experiences from his childhood and was elated to take up the project. “I have always wanted to do a war-based movie,” he added.
The film marks Bollywood actor Akshaye Khanna’s debut on the OTT. It also stars Abhimanyu Singh, Gautam Rode, Vivek Dahiya, Akshay Oberoi, Parvin Dabas, Samir Soni, Mir Sarwar, and Manjari Fadnis.
“It was challenging initially, but we went with the director’s vision and Col Sen’s guidance throughout helped in getting the action scenes right,” said actor Gautam Rode, who plays Major Samar in the movie. “We have managed to keep it real, and tried to avoid any over-dramatization.”
Vivek Dahiya who was also part of the SOS: 26/11, said, people were eager to know more about the Akshardham attack, which generated interest for the film. Dahiya plays an NSG commando who is new to the team but is sent to rescue hostages who are being held by terrorists at the temple. “I am glad I got the opportunity to be part of this role. The whole experience has wholly transformed me,” he said.
Lt Colonel Sundeep Sen said he tried to ensure that nothing that’s shown in the movie comes across as derogatory to the Armed forces. “Very few people dare to tell such stories. There has to be sincerity in the effort, and I found that in the team,” he said.
New Delhi: Netflix is finally making the big move. Even as media conglomerates across the world slug it out to challenge its dominance in the streaming space, the US giant is gearing up for its next step. According to reports, Netflix is planning to expand beyond its traditional streaming business, and make its foray into video gaming.
On Wednesday, Netflix hired former Facebook, vice president, Mike Verdu, as VP of game development to lead its video games unit, reported Bloomberg. Verdu was previously Facebook’s vice president in charge of working with developers to bring games and other content to Oculus virtual-reality headsets.
He has previously served as senior vice president of EA mobile, president of studios and chief creative officer at Kabam, CEO of TapZen, and chief executive officer for Zynga from 2009 to 2012. At Netflix, he will report to chief operating officer Greg Peters.
The idea is to offer video games on Netflix’s streaming platform within the next year, Bloomberg quoted a person familiar with the situation. According to the report, the games will appear alongside current fare as a new programming genre — similar to what Netflix did with documentaries or stand-up specials.
The reports suggest Netflix will build its gaming team in the next few months, and it has “already started advertising for game-development related positions on its website”.
The company now has 208 million paid subscribers across the globe, up from 204 million last quarter, and the latest announcement could be its boldest move yet. The announcement comes at a time, when Netflix is looking at ways to catalyse its growth especially in saturated markets like the US. Analysts contend that the move could also enable the company to justify its price hike in the coming few months.
New Delhi: Starting 2022, Universal Pictures’ new live action films will first debut on Comcast’s OTT platform Peacock after their theatrical releases, and then land exclusively on Amazon Prime Video four months later.
The arrangement is part of a multiyear deal that Amazon has signed with Comcast’s Universal Pictures and Peacock, and applies to all live-action films including Jurassic World: Dominion that are scheduled to be released in theatres in 2022.
The deal is part of the company’s plan to change the traditional home entertainment release pattern. Generally, new movies go to a cable channel or streaming service about six months or more after they debut in cinemas. These films remain with the outlet for an 18-month window, which is referred to as the ‘Pay-One Window’.
Under the new arrangement, Universal will send its films to streaming quicker and will break up the 18-month period. So, new movies will go to Peacock four months after their theatrical debut, and four months later, these films will be available on Amazon Prime Video for ten months and then back to Peacock for four months, it said in a statement.
“We’re thrilled to team up with Amazon to deliver our titles to its customers. This agreement further delivers on our distribution strategy to monetize our unparalleled movie library across multiple services, while offering customers the most choice, control and flexibility in how, when and where they watch films,” said UEFG, vice chairman and chief distribution officer, Peter Levinsohn in a statement.
As the streaming war rages on, media companies are trying new strategies to bolster their streaming services and challenge the domination of streaming giant Netflix, which currently boasts of 208 million subscribers.
Mumbai: Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that Mola TV, Indonesian entertainment network, is using Harmonic’s VOS®360 cloud streaming SaaS for the first-ever live UHD HDR streaming of UEFA Euro 2020 football matches in Indonesia.
Harmonic’s VOS360 platform ensures the highest level of service reliability and real-time scaling for Mola TV’s streaming service, simplifying the live streaming workflow from source to screen, the company said in a statement.
Supported by a DevOps team providing 24/7 monitoring and assistance, the Harmonic cloud-based platform provides high availability and reliability that is a must for live sports streaming, it added.
“We are enormously proud that, for the first time, our viewers can watch live, high-profile sports events in UHD HDR,” said Mola TV’s CEO CP Lee. “Mola TV has always relied on Harmonic cloud streaming solutions for its sports streaming services. As we bring more high-profile sports events such as the UEFA and EPL, Harmonic’s VOS360 SaaS will be instrumental in ensuring the best possible streaming experience for our subscribers.”
“UHD HDR is a game changer in the live sports streaming environment, where video quality can easily determine the success of a service,” said Tony Berthaud, vice president of sales and video services, APAC, at Harmonic. “Harmonic’s VOS360 platform ensures Mola TV can securely deliver crystal-clear UHD HDR video to a large variety of devices. This assurance is crucial for operators streaming high-demand events like the UEFA Euro Championship.”
New Delhi: SonyLIV continues to make the most of the football fever that has swept the country over the last few weeks. The home-grown OTT platform is streaming the football action LIVE from UEFA EURO 2020 since it began on 11 June and has already clocked a total of 14 million hours of streaming.
According to the platform, the engagement level of users has increased ever since the sporting extravaganza started on 11 June, and it is now gearing up for the finals to be held in Wembley, London on 11 July.
“Before the final kick-off, Euro has already outdone the FIFA world cup 2018 views and watch time,” it said on Wednesday, with a remarkable rise in viewership with matches like Portugal vs Germany, followed by Croatia vs Spain, France vs Switzerland, and England vs Germany from the playoff stage (Round of 16). The Portugal vs Germany match on 19 June (Saturday) was among the most watched in the tournament. The defending champion Portugal led by Cristiano Ronaldo was defeated by 4-2 in the match in the group stage despite the ace player’s goal and an assist.
SonyLIV had sold out 100 per cent of its inventory with seven sponsors onboard which included WazirX, Cred, Acko General Insurance, Dell Technologies, Mahindra, Betway and Black&White, said SonyLIV, Ad Sales and revenue head, Ranjana Mangla.
“Euro 2020 has been a great tournament for us. We successfully sold out 100 per cent of our inventory with seven sponsors and more than 35 brands from across categories like Auto, Electronics, Banking, Finance, Insurance, Technology & FMCG. During this period Spotlight Roadblocks on the platform have also been a huge hit amongst advertisers,” said Mangla.
According to the platform, Euro 2020 is being viewed across more than 400 cities in India and has recorded significantly higher viewership from football loving states like West Bengal, Northeast, Kerala and Goa. “Also, the streaming of the matches in six different languages has seen encouraging traction in smaller non-metro cities. The uptake of subscriptions in non-metros has doubled as that of metro cities,” it said in a statement.
Riding high on the success of Euro 2020, the platform is now gearing up to on-board more advertisers for Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 as well as the upcoming line-up of global sporting events.
Talking about the association with SonyLIV, WazirX founder and CEO Nischal Shetty said, the success of Euro 2020 drew a great number of viewers and that has helped us engage better with our target audience. “Associating with a platform that caters to a vast audience with their various entertainment offerings has been a great association,” he added.
Another sponsor, ACKO, EVP Marketing Ashish Mishra said, “Our association with SonyLIV has been a fruitful one as it helps ACKO reach niche audiences across top cities. They have some great live sports content lined up, starting with the Euro 2020 which has been a huge success, bringing in diverse viewers. Our goal was to introduce the brand to newer audiences and through this partnership we successfully managed to get the desired reach and have continued to stay top-of-mind.”
