NEW DELHI: Tata Sky is painting the town red, quite literally. The DTH operator has launched a unique mural campaign in Gujarat to bring alive the local flavour by associating with popular regional film stars.
The campaign also embodies the concept of khidki that was introduced in the new brand purpose TVC Iss khidki ko khol dala toh life Jingalala; khidki being the embodiment of entertainment through which Tata Sky aims to provide moments of emotional gratification in everyday lives of people.
The campaign is conceptualised by Ogilvy and executed by Dentsu India, along with Bollywood Art Project (BAP). The ad features Ketki Dave, Rasik Dave, Malhar Thakkar, Deeksha Joshi, Siddharth Randheria and Mamta Soni, and the company believes that the inclusion of popular actors could help to build a deeper connection with the people of the state.
The wall murals pay homage to the Gujarati cinema actors who have been intrinsic in bringing the art and culture of the state to the forefront.
"People’s lives are made better when they connect to quality entertainment. This thought inspired our recent national campaign – Iss khidki ko khol dala toh life Jingalala. We have now taken this thought closer to our customers in Gujarat by celebrating popular faces from Gujarati entertainment through the unique format of wall murals. These murals reinforce Tata Sky’s commitment to be an inherent part of people’s everyday lives, making quality entertainment affordable and accessible to all," said Tata Sky chief communications officer Anurag Kumar.
The wall murals are installed in the Lunawada, Vijapur, and Rajula towns of Gujarat. The company is now planning to expand the art installations in the form of digital wall paintings in Ahmedabad, Panch Mahals, Jamnagar, Kheda, Mahasena; gradually covering 375 walls across 133 towns.
KOLKATA: Tata Sky has launched its new social media campaign Har Ghar Ki Khidki, in tandem with the unveil of its new brand purpose statement — ‘Tata Sky exists to make tomorrow better than today for family and home.’
The social media campaign designed and executed by its digital marketing agency Chimp&z Inc highlights the candid and unfiltered emotions of the viewers from the perspective of Tata Sky being the khidki, or window, of entertainment in every house. The campaign is aimed at creating awareness about the new TVC as well as to engage with the brand's young audience on social media.
The campaign has been carried out leveraging the Reels feature on Instagram. Featuring popular internet sensations including Awez Darbar, Anushka Sen, Siddharth Nigam, Just Neel, Sameeksha Sud, Arsh, Tanzeel Khan and Funcho among others, saw participation pouring in from several followers. The average views on the influencers’ Reels has been over 7.83 million, resulting in engagement of 9.02 million on influencer videos and Tata Sky handles across social media. The essence of the campaign was brought alive with the help of the very melodious tune of the TVC and snippets of daily life that unfolds in a household captured by the influencers. Tata Sky will also collate the best entries to put together a Khidki Anthem.
Tata Sky chief communications officer Anurag Kumar said, “The idea behind the Har Ghar Ki Khidki campaign was to capture the diverse unfiltered emotions of our audience while they are watching Tata Sky. This is a figurative portrayal of how an individual or family experiences varied emotions while they get informed, entertained or educated through the khidki that is Tata Sky.”
Chimp&z Inc co-founder & CEO Angad Singh Manchanda said, “Instagram Reels is where the internet audience is these days and we wanted to leverage this medium for Tata Sky’s Har Ghar Ki Khidki campaign. In order to build an emotional connect between the brand and the consumer, we thought of utilising the hummable tune of the film and make the entire activity interactive by capturing the daily life moments that people experience while watching TV. We are very happy with the engagement we’ve seen so far on this campaign.”
KOLKATA: Over the past year all the direct-to-home (DTH) operators in India have embraced the change in the ecosystem. The industry has started reinventing its offerings in a big way to combat the threat posed by OTT players. Throughout 2020, leading DTH operators struck partnerships with OTTs big and small, expanded value-added service portfolio, rolled out several offers to keep consumers hooked.
The sector currently has 70.58 million subscribers as of 30 June 2020, according to the latest data shared by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). While the industry lost two million subscribers in 2019, it has added around six lakh subscribers in the first half of the year. In addition to that, a Crisil report has projected four-six per cent revenue growth for FY21 reaching Rs 22,000 crore.
After the first quarter, the progress of the industry has been murkier. Although traditional TV consumption surged due to Covid2019, with some benefit for distribution platforms, lack of fresh content, migration post-lockdown, closure of commercial establishments led to churn later. Many consumers also degraded their subscription packages due to the absence of new episodes of daily soaps and live sports.
“DTH subscribers surged initially in lockdown but over time consumers started optimising channel subscriptions due to limited fresh content. Subscribers expected to increase by six to seven per cent as fresh content has returned to TV and cable TV subscribers move to DTH,” a CII-BCG report said. According to industry estimates, the operators’ consumer acquisition started coming back to normal since late July.
Expanding content portfolio to retain, acquire subscribers:
As a response to the unprecedented crisis, the DTH companies not only took steps like incentive bundles, new free platform services, but kept innovating. Hybrid set top boxes turned out to the buzzword for DTH sector this year as all the players have upped their efforts in this segment. Then the pandemic gave a pronounced nudge to the demand for hybrid boxes. Market leader Tata Sky aggressively promoted its new box Tata Sky Binge+ throughout the year. The company has even brought down the price to Rs 2,999 from Rs 5,999 – at a time when fixed broadband and smart TV segment are seeing rapid growth in India.
Its rival Airtel has also been pushing cross-platform content strategy since the launch of Airtel Xstream in late 2019. The surge in video consumption has boosted its uptake massively, leading to 50 per cent viewership increase in the early part of lockdown. On the other hand, Dish TV is going big not only on Android box connected devices Dish SMRT Hub and d2h Stream, but also its OTT platform Watcho for Dish TV and d2h users. Watcho crossed five million subscribers during the lockdown. However, the player causing major disruption is Reliance’s Jio TV+ for JioFiber set-top box users. Along with aggregating content from 12 leading OTT players, it offers a single sign-in support.
Hybrid set-top boxes were introduced a few years ago but did not get much traction. With consumption going up both on linear TV and OTT, the demand for these devices has been on the upswing. But the demand is till now limited to the top 15 cities, the top tier of the market.
In 2020, DTH operators focused on further bolstering their value added services. One of the major areas has been educational content, perhaps in reaction to classes being conducted online in India. Apart from that, fitness services and cinematic experiences were also expanded by these players, especially Dish TV and Tata Sky.
Manufacturing moves to India:
To streamline set top box manufacturing and delivery, DTH players have decided to shift a significant portion to the country. Tata Sky partnered with Technicolor to develop STBs for the Indian market that will be manufactured and distributed locally. Dish TV, too, intends to shift its production to India by the first quarter of 2021. Additionally, it plans to start manufacturing major components of the STB as well as its accessories in India. Both players claimed that it would push the government’s Make in India vision. For long, local STB manufacturers have complained that Chinese companies have taken away their business. The move has shone a ray of optimism for them.
Regulations impacting the sector:
As the industry woke up to the amended new tariff order (NTO 2.0) at the beginning of 2020, the DTH players had to adjust network capacity fee, multi-TV connection charges. During the Covid2019 crisis, TRAI recommended that all DTH and cable STBs provided to customers must support interoperability and urged the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) to make it mandatory by introducing the requisite provisions. In response to TRAI’s consultation paper, industry leaders such as TataSky, Dish and Reliance Jio opposed it. The viability of the move was questioned and stakeholders warned that it would be a very high-cost operation.
The cloud over license fee lifts:
But the year has ended on a positive note, with the MIB issuing a much-awaited clarification on the matter of licence fee. DTH license will be issued for 20 years and license fee will be collected quarterly. Further, the period of license may be renewed by 10 years at a time. The annual fee has been revised from 10 per cent of GR to eight per cent of AGR. Sharing of infrastructure between DTH operators and 100 per cent FDI have also been approved by the cabinet, among other amendments.
The industry believes clarity over license fee will bring certainty in terms of planning and investment. In a very recent communication, the MIB has stated that the existing licensees are required to clear pending dues before applying afresh for a license to provide DTH services,.
DD Free Dish’s revival:
Prasar Barati-run free-to-air DTH platform DD Free Dish also had its moments this past year. All the four major broadcasters that had pulled out of DD Free Dish in 2019 after the new tariff order was implemented returned to the platform in 2020. Star Utsav, Sony Pal, Zee Anmol, Colors Rishtey and Zee Anmol Cinema had successfully bid on the 45th e-auction for placement. Many new channels have come on board, including three movie channels in the recent auction.
KOLKATA: Tata Sky, India’s leading content distribution and payTV platform has added a new platform service, Tata Sky Astro Duniya, to its vast bouquet of interactive services. Joining hands with Dominiche Productions Pvt. Ltd., Tata Sky Astro Duniya offers curated content created by celebrity astrologers making the service a one-stop destination into the world of astrology, numerology, vastu and many more.
Tata Sky Astro Duniya will bring non-stop and ad-free access to astrology content for subscribers, featuring a wide range of services from numerology to horoscope, tarot reading to reiki, vastu to fengshui, vedic astrology to palmistry and face reading on a single platform. The service boasts of a line-up of celebrity experts like Munisha Khatwani, Sundeep Kochar, Biindu Khuraana, Rasesh Shah, Jai Madaan, Jyoti Jhangiani, Greenstone Lobo, Dimple Luniya and many more. Additionally, the service allows subscribers to get personalised predictions wherein they can ask a question to an expert anytime between Monday to Friday by emailing their queries. Around five to 10 questions will be answered by renowned celebrity astrologer, Narendra Bunde.
Subscribers can get access at no additional cost to kundali making, daily horoscope and features like ask a genie by accessing the service through the Tata Sky Mobile App. Additionally, all subscribers of the service can press the red button on their remote and get daily predictions and fortune cookies. Famous astrologers on the platform can be contacted easily via call/chat. All this and more makes Tata Sky Astro Duniya an ideal window into the world of astrology.
Tata Sky chief commercial and content officer Pallavi Puri said, “At Tata Sky we have a diverse portfolio of platform services and believe in constantly strengthening them. With Tata Sky Astro Duniya we aim to provide our subscribers with information on various aspects of life and home using astrology, numerology, vastu from credible astrology experts, including personalized consultations. We thank Dominiche Productions for helping us develop this property and are confident that our promotional campaign featuring actor Vinay Pathak will create great buzz for the service.”
Dominiche Productions director Utpal Vaishnav said, "When me and my co-founding partner Adarsh Gupta started our journey with Dominiche, we had set out a very clear objective for our company, to dominate scalable genres of the future. Astrology, given its generic appeal in India came up as a great opportunity to go after as a pioneering initiative. We are honoured to join hands with Tata Sky to bring to the audiences a credible Astrology offering that would make for a compelling watch.”
The service is now available to all subscribers on #512 at an optimised cost of Rs.2 per day after the first 10 days at no additional cost. As part of their platform service offerings, Tata Sky has a robust and vast range of offerings – including Tata Sky Fitness, Tata Sky Cooking, Tata Sky Theatre, Tata Sky Beauty to name a few.
MUMBAI: Consumers’ viewing habits are changing, and it’s landed a clear impact on the overall broadcast sector. Despite the challenges posed by the Covid2019 pandemic and other setbacks, broadcasters are seeing virtue in launching new channels. Even during the lockdown, people turned to television to keep themselves engaged and entertained, with BARC reporting a 43 per cent increase in India's TV viewership during this period, compared to the pre-Covid2019 figures.
The rise in TV consumption signifies viewers’ appetite for content – and clearly, the time is ripe to green-flag new channels catering to different tastes and smaller sub-segments across geographies. Let’s have a look at all the new channels that arrived on the idiot box in 2020.
ZeeL
ZeeL’s first lifestyle channel Zee Zest started airing 1 October 2020. The channel presents content that is a perfect encapsulation of food, travel, lifestyle, home improvement, wellness, culture, and DIY. Zee Zest brings some original shows like 100% South Indian, India’s 50 Best Dishes, Ghar Sa Yummy – Swaad Familywala, Food Veda, and Meetha toh Banta Hai. Also in the pipeline are popular global shows making their debut in India, such as Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown Season 5, Jaime: Keep Cooking & Carry On, Far Flung with Gary Mehigan, MasterChef Australia – Season 9, MasterChef USA Junior Season 5, and more programmes across various genres.
Hopping towards a wonderland of delicious experiences, the junior chefs have signed up for an adventurous and a fun filled ride!
Are you ready to join?
The broadcaster forayed into the regional music space with the launch of its Marathi music channel – Zee Vajwa. It will offer 3,000+ playlists, and also have a non-fiction show in the comedy genre, a category first. The network has already captured 57 per cent viewership share in Maharashtra with Zee Marathi, Zee Yuva and Zee Talkies.
ZeeL chief consumer officer Prathyusha Agarwal said, “With Zee Vajwa, we identified a need gap in the lifestyle genre to serve a holistic entertainment experience to the focused Sec A target audience. These viewers seek experiences from around the world but from the comfort of their own homes. That’s where Zee Zest seamlessly comes in, with diverse lifestyle content themes such as wellness, travel, lifestyle, food, home improvement, and culture.”
Another offering, Zee Thirai was launched on 19 January 2020. The channel offers the latest blockbuster Kollywood movies and premieres.
Agarwal stated that all of Zeel’s new launches not only established themselves strongly in their respective markets but also aided market growth. Zee Punjabi captured a third of the viewership pie in the first four weeks of its debut, and consumption of Punjabi language content grew by 23 per cent compared to the one per cent growth in total TV viewership in Punjab/Chandigarh. Even during the lockdown, Zee Punjabi capitalised on the surge in demand for content as viewership grew by nearly 60 per cent (BARC data: weeks 12-15). The network’s new movie channels – Zee Biskope, Zee Picchar and Zee Thirai – captured a significant share in the movie genre, which rose by 28-29 per cent in a growing TV pie. (BARC data: weeks 12-15).
Enterr10 Television Network
The network expanded its footprint in south India with Dangal Kannada, close on the heels of its Bhojpuri offering, Enterr10 Rangeela.
Dangal Kannada underlines the network’s aggressive expansion into the growing regional broadcast entertainment space. Armed with dubbed versions of shows such as Ramayan, Mere Sai, Phir Laut Aayi Naagin,Tenali Rama, etc, the channel started airing from 30 September. Kannada film and TV actress Hariprriya is the brand ambassador for the channel and plays an integral part in its marketing campaigns.
After Bhojpuri Cinema, Enterr10 Rangeela is the network’s second offering for Bhojpuri audiences. The channel has launched a strong mix of fiction and non-fiction content ranging across series and reality shows, awards, and blockbuster films and world television premieres. Ramayan (Bhojpuri) is the channel’s launch pad serial.
Star Vijay, owned by Disney-Star, came out with Tamil music channel Vijay Music. Priced at Re 1 per month, Vijay Music hopes to compete with other channels in the segment such as Raj Television Network’s Raj Musix, Sun Network’s Sun Music, Jaya TV Network’s Jaya MAX.
Star India has also postponed the launch of three new channels, Star Movies Select, Star Sports 3 HD, and Disney Channel HD. It is also rebranding Movies OK as Star Gold 2. It has not provided a new date of release.
The broadcaster has decided to add Star Movies Select to cater the audiences in standard definition (SD) category as a premiere movies channel, in addition to Star Movies Select HD (high definition).
To give larger-than-life experience to customers, the broadcaster will offer Star Sports 3 HD at a price of Rs 5 per month, in addition to existing Star Sports 3 in the SD category. Meanwhile, it plans to launch a second HD kids’ channel, Disney Channel HD, that will cost around Rs 10 per month.
With the revamping of Movies OK to Star Gold 2, the broadcaster will end the ‘OK’ branding. Previously, it had renamed the Life OK channel to Star Bharat. Star Gold 2’s SD version will cost Rs 2 per month, while for its HD variant customers will need to shell out Rs 5 per month.
DD Free Dish
The state broadcaster run free-to-air DTH platform DD Free Dish added three new channels – ANB News, Aryan TV National, and News India 24×7 hese channels won the bid during the forty seventh e-auctions held on 26 August. They are allotted slots for the period between 1 September 2020 to 31 March 2021.
All three channels have a presence on other DTH platforms and fall under the news category – ANB News is a Punjab-based Hindi news channel, Aryan TV National caters primarily to Bihar, and News India 24×7 is a Hindi news channel focused on Rajasthan.
Tata Sky
In a move to further strengthen its regional slate, the DTH operator launched Tata Sky Malayalam Cinema, for which it joined forces with leading Malayali GEC Asianet.
Tata Sky Malayalam Cinema offers an uninterrupted movie-viewing experience to film enthusiasts, across the content spectrum – action, romance, drama, and comedy on television. The service will showcase the biggest blockbusters of Mollywood with exclusive movie premieres before television. The channel is now available to all subscribers on #1805 (SD) at a minimal cost of Rs 1.5 per day. With this, Tata Sky has regional cinema offerings in all four major south Indian languages – Tata Sky Telugu Cinema, Tata Sky Tamil Cinema, Tata Sky Kannada Cinema, and now Tata Sky Malayalam Cinema.
In10 Media Network
The network recently ventured into the kids’ entertainment space on Children’s Day with a new premium Hindi channel, Gubbare — Masti Ke Phuwarre. The current programming includes a mix of Indian animation such as Appu – The Yogic Elephant, Love U Ganesha, Chhota Hatim and Seven Monsters, and has introduced Billa Jasoos, Marcus Khiladi, My Bhoot Friends, Leo and Tig, The Dabangg Girls, Atchoo to Indian audiences on the channel. Apart from cartoon shows, animated movies are telecast on weekends. Gubbare, a pay channel, is available on all major DTH and cable operators across India.
In10 Media Network MD Aditya Pittie shared that the network is focused on building scalable businesses and strategically expanding its footprint in the industry. He added, “In our country, television continues to be a primary viewing platform for kids’ entertainment among most households.”
Prior to this, the IN10 Media Network launched its first regional movie channel – Filamchi – Filman Ka Laalchi, a 24×7 linear broadcast channel for Bhojpuri cinema fans across the country. With an extensive collection of over 250 Bhojpuri blockbusters, the channel is available on DD FreeDish and will soon be accessible across all major cable operators and platforms.
Shemaroo Entertainment Media Network
On 1 May 2020, Shemaroo Entertainment Media Network launched Hindi GEC Shemaroo TV. CEO Hiren Gada mentioned that the network is always keen to experiment and set milestones in the media and entertainment space. With this industry-first initiative allowing viewers to tune into Shemaroo TV live on Facebook, Gada hopes to reach out to a new and wider set of audience and offer content that they would like to watch and enjoy in their free time.
Other channels that debuted in 2020 include Fun TV, Blue (Naaptol), Satya Movies, Surya Cinema, BDM Bhojpuri, Surya Bhojpuri, 9X Jalwa, Maha Punjabi, C7 and Lord Budhha TV.
KOLKATA: The government has finally clarified the uncertainties in DTH licensing norms. According to new guidelines, DTH licenses will now be issued for a period of 20 years. Although the latest move may not be game changing for the operators, it has definitely brought a sense of positivity to the sector.
“We are grateful to Shri Javadekar for resolving the long standing impasse on the DTH License policy which will provide certainty to the sector. We look forward to a level playing field via parity of Licence Fee with Cable TV which too is Licensed by MIB and follows the same prices and margins as regulated by TRAI’s NTO,” Tata Sky MD& CEO Harit Nagpal said.
I&B minister Prakash Javadekar stated on Wednesday that changes have been approved for 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the DTH sector which was limited to 49 per cent. He also added that the decision was taken earlier by the ministry of commerce and industry but the sector could not avail the benefits due to existing MIB guidelines.
Moreover, DTH license will be issued for 20 years and license fee will be collected quarterly. Further, the period of license may be renewed by 10 years at a time. The cabinet has also approved the sharing of infrastructure between DTH operators. Distributors of TV channels will be permitted to share the common hardware for their subscriber management system (SMS) and conditional access system (CAS) applications. Javadekar said that the decision has been taken to create level playing field.
Another expert from a DTH company who preferred to be anonymous added that the latest decision would streamline license agreements. He added that anybody who would like to invest in the DTH companies would get a sense of certainty with the longer license period which was getting affected with the 10-year license term. A senior industry expert added that the FDI has been allowed because the sector is dying as the companies are turning into loss-making entities, with streaming of video taking off exponentially in India. Says he: "Internationally companies which invested in DTH platforms are today saddled with diminishing returns on their investments. They are looking at buyers – whether Sky in the UK or Direct TV in the US. Here, theIndian government hopes to eject some equity in the DTH sector so as to stimulate investment and hence growth, in the sector "
“Overall it's better for the DTH sector, which plays a big role in digitising India. Giving them a certainty for licensc that it would be there for 20 years, will help them to invest more and grow the market. Also, the saving of two per cent AGR, will help them to improve their profitability,” EY India partner and media & entertainment leader Ashish Pherwani said.
Moreover, license fee has been revised from 10 per cent of GR to 8 per cent of AGR. Elara Capital VP research analyst (media) Karan Taurani added that it is mild positive due to reduction in license revenue. He also added that Dish TV may find its potential buyer post-announcement.
India’s DTH subscriber base grew by 3.2 lakh during the April-June quarter, as per the Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators April-June 2020 by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The sector saw better, albeit marginal growth compared to the January-March quarter. Currently, pay DTH subscriber stands at 70.58 million, compared to 70.26 million in the previous quarter. At the end of 2019, pay DTH subscriber base was 69.98 million.
KOLKATA: Covid2019 has brought about a significant disruption when it comes to classroom learning and education, thereby necessitating the need for virtual learning to be a part of the new normal. In order to adequately equip students across India, Tata Sky is now providing free unrestricted access to educational content on TV through the Tata Sky Classroom service. Powered by Tata ClassEdge, a pioneer in digital education, the service will help students across India gain access to learning through just the click of a button on their TV remote.
Tata Sky chief commercial and content officer Pallavi Puri said, “Online education in India is currently beset by several challenges, prime amongst them being the lack of adequate infrastructure. With Tata Sky’s vast reach, millions of children will get access to quality education for free via their television sets. The service is mapped with children's CBSE school syllabus and offers concept learning videos, delivered in an interesting story led format.”
Characterised and enabled by an engaging, interactive learning process, the service is targeted towards improving the digital learning scenario in tier-2, 3 and 4 cities. Tata Sky Classroom enables immense flexibility to students in far off and remote areas to access quality education via the TV without any hassle thereby saving money, time and energy.
Focusing on concept learning, Tata Sky Classroom enables students to strengthen their core understanding of the fundamentals of science and maths via fun and engaging animated concept learning videos. The service is available in both Hindi and English offers curriculum-based content for students from class fifth to eighth in maths and science. Apart from video lessons, students can also avail of fun curriculum-based games, full length practice tests and sample papers with answers to help reinforce their learning from the videos.
KOLKATA: In a move to further strengthen its regional slate, Tata Sky has launched Tata Sky Malayalam Cinema. To this end, the DTH operator has joined forces with Asianet, the leading Malayalam GEC in Kerala.
With this, Tata Sky has regional cinema offerings in all four major south Indian languages – Tata Sky Telugu Cinema, Tata Sky Tamil Cinema, Tata Sky Kannada Cinema, and now Tata Sky Malayalam Cinema.
Tata Sky Malayalam Cinema will offer an uninterrupted movie-viewing experience to film enthusiasts, capturing the spectrum of genres – action, romance, drama, and comedy on television. The service will showcase the biggest blockbusters of Mollywood with exclusive movie premieres before television. The channel is now available to all subscribers on #1805 (SD) at a minimal cost of Rs 1.5 per day.
Pallavi Puri, chief commercial and content officer said, “Movies contribute more than 20 per cent to the overall TV viewership in Kerala and that itself indicates the tremendous affinity Malayalam speaking audiences have for their cinema. With regional content becoming the key driver of viewership, the launch of Malayalam Cinema is an extension of this trend. Our new service will deliver an uninterrupted flow of the best movies to ensure an enjoyable TV viewing experience for the subscribers. We are delighted to collaborate with Asianet to make this service come alive for our subscribers.”
“Over the years, Asianet has forged a special place in the hearts of Malayalam-speaking audiences. We always strive to identify new ways to take our rich and engaging content offering to newer viewers and are delighted to work with Tata Sky to launch this new service,” Star & Disney India infotainment, kids & regional entertainment channels CEO Kevin Vaz said.
To further spread the word on the launch of this platform service, Tata Sky collaborated with south India’s popular rock fusion band, Masala Coffee. Known for their folk fusion mixes and compositions for films like Uriyadi and Dulquer Salmaan-starrer Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal, Masala Coffee’s original composition for Tata Sky Malayalam Cinema is a peppy and upbeat number that brings out the essence of the offering.
Tata Sky Malayalam Cinema strengthens the bouquet of regional cinema services for Tata Sky that offer uninterrupted and high-quality entertainment, thereby catering to the growing demand for regional movie content. As a part of this endeavour, the regional bouquet already includes eight services.
NEW DELHI: Tata Sky has joined hands with factual streaming service CuriosityStream to bring thousands of hours of documentary films and series to viewers across India.
Tata Sky subscribers will now have access to CuriosityStream’s content via Tata Sky Binge, which is available on the Tata Sky Binge+ Smart set top box and on the Amazon Fire TV Stick – Tata Sky Edition. Tata Sky Binge aggregates the best of premium OTT and catch-up TV content under a single interface and subscription.
CuriosityStream will also be available as a linear service on television to Tata Sky DTH subscribers with an option to view live and catch-up content on-the-go via the Tata Sky Mobile app. Tata Sky subscribers can view the CuriosityStream platform service on #715 on the EPG, from November 17.
CuriosityStream MD and head of international distribution Bakori Davis said, “CuriosityStream shares Tata Sky’s commitment to bringing viewers the highest quality content wherever and whenever they want to experience new adventures and discover the world’s most fascinating events, people, and places. We look forward to partnering with Tata Sky to introduce CuriosityStream to new viewers throughout India and to grow our company’s reach in this dynamic media market.”
Tata Sky chief commercial and content officer Pallavi Puri said, “CuriosityStream has thousands of informative and thought-provoking documentaries covering the realms of science, history, space, technology and many such subjects that have an enviable fan following in India. This kind of a coveted library adds another dimension to our content catalogue and we are very proud of this association.”
The partnership will enable Tata Sky subscribers to enjoy exclusive originals, series and features including popular titles like Deep Ocean and Dragons & Damsels – both narrated by Sir David Attenborough – Stephen Hawking’s Favorite Places, Mumbai Railway, Amazing Dinoworld and Age of Big Cats, among others.
strategic alliance with leading Direct-To-Home (DTH) and leading cable service providers in the country. Under these new partnerships, the premium Bhojpuri channel on boards Tata Sky, Airtel Digital TV, GTPL and SITI – ICNCL & SITI Network, giving users of the respective platforms access to the channel’s exciting movie library.
Filamchi can now be watched on Tata Sky at channel number 1114, on Airtel Digital TV at channel number 665, on GTPL Hathway at channel number 277, on SITI (ICNCL) at channel number 219 and on SITI Network at channel number 453. The pay channel can be subscribed for a nominal charge of Rs. 0.25 (excluding taxes) across platforms. Filamchi is also available on Darsh Digital at channel number 187.
Targeted towards the Bhojpuri speaking audiences in the country, Filamchi brings a vast range of titles across genres to entertain and engage diverse movie buffs. The channel hosts an extensive collection of Bhojpuri films, including blockbusters featuring the industry’s biggest superstars Nirahua, Khesari Lal Yadav, Pawan Singh, Arvind Akela, Yash Mishra, Chintu Pandey, and legends like Ravi Kishan and Manoj Tiwari.
Commenting on the recent partnerships, Filamchi strategy VP Tarun Talreja said,“Filamchi was designed to be accessible to Bhojpuri fans across the country through a robust distribution plan. Partnering with two of the leading DTH service providers, Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV, and leading cable service providers GTPL and ICNCL, augments our reach strategy, enabling us to bring our latest offering to a wide base of audiences in the country.”
Apart from Tata Sky, Airtel Digital TV, GTPL and SITI – ICNCL and SITI Network, Filamchi is available on leading multi-system operators in Bihar and Jharkhand.
