Tag: TVF

  • YouTube fanfest returns to India for 3rd edition

    YouTube fanfest returns to India for 3rd edition

    MUMBAI: Youtube Fanfest is back in India for a third time and how! On its third edition now, the mega celebration boasts of a 30 artists line up of digital artists and content creators, who will take centre stage on 18 March 2016 in Mumbai. The show will be co-produced by Only Much Louder and Branded, and has Pepsi, Pantene, Amazon.in and Clean and Clear as sponsors, with Pepsi coming onbaord for the second time. Star acts include SuperWoman aka Lilly Singh, Kanan Gill, Connor Franta, SANAM, TVF and AIB

    Sharing his excitement over the fest, YouTube India head of entertainment and content Satya Raghavan said, “India has undergone a content creator revolution. Over the last few years, Indian YouTube creators have gained millions of new subscribers and have taken over the imagination of the youth in India. In our view, 2015 was a breakout year for the young industry and the ecosystem has really evolved in India, with mobile driving massive growth for online video consumption. Now, we’re seeing online creators break open the gates for a whole new kind of entertainment for Indians online, with advertisers looking to tap into this space in a meaningful way.”

    While the idea is to reach out to maximum number of people and inspire them to not only celebrate the existing content creators, but join the community as well. YouTube is banking on organic promotion of the show through artists and their subscribers. “It is largely organic. Several thousands of content creators put out videos on their channels, and they have their millions of subscribers, who themselves have their own social media platforms to put the word across. We don’t think we need any more marketing,” said Raghavan.

    About the booming digital content industry and the mushrooming of OTT players across the board Ragahavan said, “I think it’s great that more people are doing things around video. It will only expand the pie. Especially with bandwidth opening up in the country hopefully thanks to the several 4G services. It is an exciting time for content creators and video content consumers to be in India.”

    Making the most of the platform, Culture Machine, OML, Qyuki, and The Viral Fever (TVF) also announced four new original properties on YouTube. Firstly #LaughterGames, where nine comedy creators will launch their own comedy web series, featuring YouTube comedians such as East India Comedy, Put Chutney and Kenny Sebastian. Qyuki will launch Jamminin’, a show featuring Bollywood composers and YouTube music creators. In the coming months, Culture Machine will be launching Beauty Hunt, a beauty/style-centric program, while OML will launch season 2 of its successful Comedy Hunt, the search for India’s next comedy act, while veteran web show creators TVF will be launching a search for the next generation of web series creators. A Tamil Comedy Hunt with Vision Time, a Telugu Comedy Hunt with ETV, and Katha, a Tamil/Telugu web series property are some of the launches that can be expected from south India later in the year.

    To reflect on YouTube’s growth in India Raghavan shared some data: “While overall watchtime in India has grown by 80 per cent YoY (with 55 per cent of that watchtime on mobile) and the hours of video uploaded from India has increased at 90 per cent YoY, content uploaded by India’s independent creators has risen especially quickly. For instance, watchtime of independent musicians grew over 92 per cent YoY; comedy and entertainment grew 100 per cent YoY; beauty and fashion videos have grown over 138 per cent YoY. Another notable area of watchtime growth came from the south, with Tamil and Telugu content seeing a 75 per cent spike in YoY growth.

  • TVF partners Tinder for ‘Qtiyapa’ show Eat, Pray… Swipe, Tinder Qtiyapa!,

    TVF partners Tinder for ‘Qtiyapa’ show Eat, Pray… Swipe, Tinder Qtiyapa!,

    MUMBAI: Web series pioneer TVF (The Viral Fever) has collaborated with dating and social discovery application Tinder to launch the first Qtiyapa show of 2016 titled Eat, Pray… Swipe, Tinder Qtiyapa!

    The show takes a humorous view of the experience of meeting someone new by bringing the app experience alive. Quite literally!

    Talking about the Qtiyapa show, director Raghav Subbu said, “The idea of Eat, Pray…Swipe | Tinder Qtiyapa came from a simple thought of bringing the app to real life. The purpose of this sketch was to bend our rigid cultural taboo against dating apps and make women aware that there are sound and decent men out there at the swipe of a finger.”

    Tinder has changed the way people meet and date around the world by bringing the experience of meeting someone new to mobile and pioneering features such as the ‘right swipe’ to express interest and the double opt-in, which requires that both users must express mutual interest to form a connection and chat.

    Tinder, country head – India Taru Kapoor added, “Tinder was built to enable users to make new and meaningful connections. The app experience is designed in such a way that puts users solely in control of their interactions while also reducing the fear of rejection. Each day, millions of connections form based on mutual interest on Tinder. We are thrilled to partner with TVF for this sketch that brings alive Tinder’s core promise through the humorous adventures of the lead character.”

    The sketch takes viewers through the travails of TVF’s popular actor Jitu aka Harishchandra and the female protagonist Swarnlata. The video also brings to life popular features of Tinder like the ‘Super Like.’

    A teaser of the video will be released on the Tinder app as well. The subtle humour will tickle the funny bone as well as bring to life Tinder’s core proposition of making it easier to make new connections.

  • TVF partners Tinder for ‘Qtiyapa’ show Eat, Pray… Swipe, Tinder Qtiyapa!,

    TVF partners Tinder for ‘Qtiyapa’ show Eat, Pray… Swipe, Tinder Qtiyapa!,

    MUMBAI: Web series pioneer TVF (The Viral Fever) has collaborated with dating and social discovery application Tinder to launch the first Qtiyapa show of 2016 titled Eat, Pray… Swipe, Tinder Qtiyapa!

    The show takes a humorous view of the experience of meeting someone new by bringing the app experience alive. Quite literally!

    Talking about the Qtiyapa show, director Raghav Subbu said, “The idea of Eat, Pray…Swipe | Tinder Qtiyapa came from a simple thought of bringing the app to real life. The purpose of this sketch was to bend our rigid cultural taboo against dating apps and make women aware that there are sound and decent men out there at the swipe of a finger.”

    Tinder has changed the way people meet and date around the world by bringing the experience of meeting someone new to mobile and pioneering features such as the ‘right swipe’ to express interest and the double opt-in, which requires that both users must express mutual interest to form a connection and chat.

    Tinder, country head – India Taru Kapoor added, “Tinder was built to enable users to make new and meaningful connections. The app experience is designed in such a way that puts users solely in control of their interactions while also reducing the fear of rejection. Each day, millions of connections form based on mutual interest on Tinder. We are thrilled to partner with TVF for this sketch that brings alive Tinder’s core promise through the humorous adventures of the lead character.”

    The sketch takes viewers through the travails of TVF’s popular actor Jitu aka Harishchandra and the female protagonist Swarnlata. The video also brings to life popular features of Tinder like the ‘Super Like.’

    A teaser of the video will be released on the Tinder app as well. The subtle humour will tickle the funny bone as well as bring to life Tinder’s core proposition of making it easier to make new connections.

  • TVF, Ola Cabs & the Permanent Roommates association

    TVF, Ola Cabs & the Permanent Roommates association

    MUMBAI: One of India’s popular YouTube channels and digital producers, The Viral Fever (TVF), is back with the second season of its flagship web series Permanent Roommates . And how!

     

    Touting it as the best web series that TVF has put together so far, TFV CEO and founder Arunabh Kumar has high hopes from this ambitious project. The company is making this production in association with call taxi service Ola Cabs as of Permanent Roommates season 2.

     

    While Kumar refused to divulge any details, a source close to the development guesstimated that Ola has shelled out  an eye-popping Rs 2.5-3 crore for backing the production.

     

    Slated to go online on TVF Play and TVF’s YouTube channel on Valentine’s Day, the new season will consist of eight 30 – 40 minute long power packed episodes.

     

    It will take off from where season one left off — the drama in the lives of Internet’s most-loved fictional characters Tanya (Nidhi Singh) and Mikesh (Sumeet Vyas). The episodes are scheduled to air fortnightly. And the theme is “The Third Kind of Love.”

     

    Kumar expects viewership to touch four – five million per episode, which hardly comes as a surprise given last season’s success.

     

    Launched in October 2014, the web series grossed over 12 million views for five episodes that aired on YouTube, with every episode having more than a million views making it the (claimed) second most watched online long form content in the world.

     

    “Our target is to cater to and retain the three million viewers who already follow Permanent Roommates and maybe expand our viewership by a couple of more million. We have weaved the content so that it is not only a youth-based love story but also has elements of interest for the entire family. We have some surprises for all of them,” adds Kumar.

     

    What’s more, with a big chunk of sponsorship money in, the pressure is on the creative geniuses to up the ante now. Season One had CommonFloor as the brand partner; hence, the home was one of the main protagonists.

     

    Will season 2, see them going around in taxis or make mentions of them using the service like the duo does in the promo that released today?

     

    “We do work really hard in trying to integrate the brand’s value through the storytelling and send across the brand statement through the narrative rather than a product placement in a 10-second shot,” says Kumar.

     

     

    If the guesstimated sponsorship amount of Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 3 crore is right, then TVF has a budget of Rs 30-35 lakh per episode at its disposal, which is far higher than the commissioning fees for fictional TV shows on GECS which are in the range of Rs 7 to Rs 15 lakh per episode.

     

    “We generally take six to nine months to complete a production. We pay attention to detail and operate on a crew of almost a hundred people,” explains Kumar, adding that one can’t compare it to television as television mathematics work completely differently.

     

    The latest teaser released by TVF has already created a buzz amongst netizens with over a lakh views in just a few hours. Fans can expect a longer promo from 4 February onwards leading up to the show’s launch on 14 February.

     

    Surprisingly, with a scale this high, TVF continues to confidently depend on word of mouth and social buzz to increase its audience.

     

    “We don’t have any solid marketing strategy in place. We will do what we usually do, post messages on our respective social media accounts and our ever attentive fans will spread the word,” Kumar says confidently.

     

    Having said that, TVF is also looking at dabbling in conversational marketing by collaborating with several partners and maybe go beyond digital and make the shows presence felt offline.

     

    In the new content ecosystem, everything goes, doesn’t it?

     
  • TVF, Ola Cabs & the Permanent Roommates association

    TVF, Ola Cabs & the Permanent Roommates association

    MUMBAI: One of India’s popular YouTube channels and digital producers, The Viral Fever (TVF), is back with the second season of its flagship web series Permanent Roommates . And how!

     

    Touting it as the best web series that TVF has put together so far, TFV CEO and founder Arunabh Kumar has high hopes from this ambitious project. The company is making this production in association with call taxi service Ola Cabs as of Permanent Roommates season 2.

     

    While Kumar refused to divulge any details, a source close to the development guesstimated that Ola has shelled out  an eye-popping Rs 2.5-3 crore for backing the production.

     

    Slated to go online on TVF Play and TVF’s YouTube channel on Valentine’s Day, the new season will consist of eight 30 – 40 minute long power packed episodes.

     

    It will take off from where season one left off — the drama in the lives of Internet’s most-loved fictional characters Tanya (Nidhi Singh) and Mikesh (Sumeet Vyas). The episodes are scheduled to air fortnightly. And the theme is “The Third Kind of Love.”

     

    Kumar expects viewership to touch four – five million per episode, which hardly comes as a surprise given last season’s success.

     

    Launched in October 2014, the web series grossed over 12 million views for five episodes that aired on YouTube, with every episode having more than a million views making it the (claimed) second most watched online long form content in the world.

     

    “Our target is to cater to and retain the three million viewers who already follow Permanent Roommates and maybe expand our viewership by a couple of more million. We have weaved the content so that it is not only a youth-based love story but also has elements of interest for the entire family. We have some surprises for all of them,” adds Kumar.

     

    What’s more, with a big chunk of sponsorship money in, the pressure is on the creative geniuses to up the ante now. Season One had CommonFloor as the brand partner; hence, the home was one of the main protagonists.

     

    Will season 2, see them going around in taxis or make mentions of them using the service like the duo does in the promo that released today?

     

    “We do work really hard in trying to integrate the brand’s value through the storytelling and send across the brand statement through the narrative rather than a product placement in a 10-second shot,” says Kumar.

     

     

    If the guesstimated sponsorship amount of Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 3 crore is right, then TVF has a budget of Rs 30-35 lakh per episode at its disposal, which is far higher than the commissioning fees for fictional TV shows on GECS which are in the range of Rs 7 to Rs 15 lakh per episode.

     

    “We generally take six to nine months to complete a production. We pay attention to detail and operate on a crew of almost a hundred people,” explains Kumar, adding that one can’t compare it to television as television mathematics work completely differently.

     

    The latest teaser released by TVF has already created a buzz amongst netizens with over a lakh views in just a few hours. Fans can expect a longer promo from 4 February onwards leading up to the show’s launch on 14 February.

     

    Surprisingly, with a scale this high, TVF continues to confidently depend on word of mouth and social buzz to increase its audience.

     

    “We don’t have any solid marketing strategy in place. We will do what we usually do, post messages on our respective social media accounts and our ever attentive fans will spread the word,” Kumar says confidently.

     

    Having said that, TVF is also looking at dabbling in conversational marketing by collaborating with several partners and maybe go beyond digital and make the shows presence felt offline.

     

    In the new content ecosystem, everything goes, doesn’t it?

     
  • TVF launches mockumentary titled ‘Not Fit’

    TVF launches mockumentary titled ‘Not Fit’

    MUMBAIThe Viral Fever (TVF) founded by Arunabh Kumar, has released an original mockumentary series titled Not Fit. The trailer and the first episode of the web series was aired on 16 December, 2015 on TVF Play. The series is created by Dice Media.

     

    The new series follows the path of the popular web series Pitchers, which was a success. The series is written and directed by Sudev Nair and is a tongue-in-cheek look at the world of aspiring actors and the weird and wonderful environment they inhabit.

     

    Talking about the new series, Kumar says, “The fabulous team of Dice Media led by Ashwin Suresh and Anirudh Pandita along with Sudev Nair have been able to create an original series that is akin to our TVF mantra and we are happy to have them as our partners.”

     

    “We are extremely proud to have created Not Fit, soon after the tremendous success of our previous videos,Ban Ban, and Neta Sabki Leta. We are working hard to bring more engaging and entertaining content to young Indian audiences and look forward to collaborating with Arunabh and his team,” added Dice Media co-founder Ashwin Suresh.

     

    Speaking about the new initiative Dice Media co-founder Anirudh Pandita said, “We’re happy to partner with TVF on this series. We believe the company has the right audience for this show and this partnership allows us to showcase our content to them. The two brands have a common mission, which makes us natural partners as we push the envelope when it comes to content formats in India.”

     

    The prequel of to the series is already out on YouTube.

  • TVF & AIB triumph at WebTV Asia awards

    TVF & AIB triumph at WebTV Asia awards

    MUMBAI: They are probably the most innovative of digital content creators in India. And they have a cult following nationally, which is to be seen. And both TheViralFever and All India Bakchod (AIB) received recognition for their content initiatives at the inaugural WebTVAsia Awards 2015, which took place on 23 October, 2015 night at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Center in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

     

    While TheViralFeverVideo channel took home India’s most popular online video channel, AIB’s take on ‘Alia Bhatt – Genius of the Year’ special pocketed the most popular India video award.

     

    The ceremony had a star-studded attendance from Asia’s best digital content creators. For the first time ever, the region’s online video stars were awarded several recognitions including top honours in The Most Popular Channel and Most Popular Video awards for each of the participating nation’s best, with top video contents in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

     

    Eight more awards completed the first ever recognition for digital creators in Brand of the Year, Digital Campaign of the Year, Freaking Awesome Video of the Year, Channel of the Year, Song of the Year, Breakout Artiste of the Year and the Spirit of Mankind award.

     

    Below is the full list of 2015 WebTVAsia Awards winners:

     

    Malaysia’s Most Popular Channel: JINNYBOYTV

     

    Malaysia’s Most Popular Video: Namewee – High Pitched

     

    Korea’s Most Popular Channel: YD Gaming Channel

     

    Korea’s Most Popular Video: Awesome Haeun – Shake It

     

    Japan’s Most Popular Channel: Hikakin

     

    Indonesia’s Most Popular Channel: Lastday Production

     

    Indonesia’s Most Popular Video: LINE – Ada Apa Dengan Cinta

     

    India’s Most Popular Channel: THEVIRALFEVERVIDEOS

     

    India’s Most Popular Video: All Indian Bakchod – Alia Bhatt – Genius of the Year

     

    Vietnam’s Most Popular Channel: BB&BG Entertainment

     

    Vietnam’s Most Popular Video: DAMtv – Chau Hoan Cua Chong (Hoan Chau Cong Chua Parody) – Official

     

    Singapore’s Most Popular Channel: WAHBANANA

     

    Singapore’s Most Popular Video: Jian Hao – Past vs Present: Teenagers

     

    Hong Kong’s Most Popular Channel: GEMBLOG

     

    Hong Kong’s Most Popular Video: FHPRODUCTIONK – One Day

     

    Thailand’s Most Popular Channel: BIE THE SKA

     

    Thailand’s Most Popular Video: FEDFECLIP – Wanna Poop So Much

     

    Taiwan’s Most Popular Channel: HIM Music

     

    Taiwan’s Most Popular Video: TGOP – Classic Family Feud

     

    China’s Most Popular Channel: The Unexpected

     

    China’s Most Popular Video: Chopstick Brothers – Little Apple

     

    Philippines’s Most Popular Channel: Mikey Bustos

     

    Philippines’s Most Popular Video: Mikey Bustos – I Go to Palengke

     

    Brand of the Year: OPPO

     

    Freaking Awesome Video of the Year: Leona Chin & MaxmanTV – Fast & Furious Nerd Chocks Instructors

     

    Spirit of Mankind: ALS Viral Video

     

    Song of the Year: Chopstick Brothers – Little Apple

     

    Breakout Artiste of the Year: SNH48 / LADYBABY / REDPEOPLE

     

    Channel of the Year: CHINA HUNAN TV Official Channel

     

    Digital Campaign of the Year: YOUKU – Little Apple Campaign

  • YouTube collaborates with Subhash Ghai’s WWI to create YouTube Space in Mumbai

    YouTube collaborates with Subhash Ghai’s WWI to create YouTube Space in Mumbai

    MUMBAI: India is seeing an emergence of a new generation of YouTube creators who are capturing the color, music, humour, and drama of India more creatively than ever before. In fact, Indian creators are now amongst the top contributors in Asia when it comes to driving time spent on YouTube watching videos. 

    Recently, the country also celebrated milestones for two Indian creators All India Bakchod (AIB) and The Viral Fever (TVF), who reached over one million fans within two years on the platform. To support this increasing community of YouTube creators and foster the next generation of talent, YouTube has partnered with Subhash Ghai’s film school, Whistling Woods International (WWI), to set up a new YouTube Space in Mumbai.

    “Through this collaboration, India’s popular up-and-coming YouTube creators, as well as their students, will have free access to Whistling Woods’ studios, high-end audio, visual and editing equipment, in addition to training programs, workshops and community events. We’re already in advanced stages of setting up the place and we’ll be opening the gates for all creators soon,” said YouTube Spaces Asia Pacific head David Macdonald.

     As of now YouTube Spaces has a presence in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, New York City, Sao Paulo, and more recently in Berlin. Since the first Space was launched in 2012, creators have visited YouTube Spaces over 100,000 times. “We have had over 800 events and workshops and our partners have created over 11,000 videos. Like all of our production facilities, YouTube Space Mumbai will be a place where creators can collaborate, innovate and experiment with new content for audiences around the world to watch and love,” added Macdonald.

    The YouTube Space Mumbai is a move forward from YouTube to help foster creativity, entrepreneurship and partnership with top video creators in the country and around the world.

    The collaboration between YouTube and WWI will offer opportunities to:

    Learn: From training programs and workshops to master classes, there are opportunities to get hands-on experience from industry leaders, and learn to use high end production equipment, production techniques, and YouTube best practices. 

    Connect: Attend events, meet fellow creators, spark new ideas and share experiences on how to succeed on YouTube.

    Create: This is a space for creators to bring stories to life. They’ll have access, for free, to studios and all the latest audio, visual and editing equipment that will enable them to experiment and create great videos that fans will love.