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Tag: US

  • Zee5 rolls out in the US, announces Canada as another focus market

    KOLKATA: Zee5, owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) has forayed into the US market on Tuesday eyeing over five million South Asia diaspora audiences. The service has been priced at $6.99 per month, and at $84 per year. The streaming platform also announced a special discount for the student community, with the monthly pack priced at $4.99 instead of $6.99.

    Zee5 has clinched a few key partnerships as well. It has joined hands with the North American Association of Indian Students to strike a chord with the young audience. It will also be partnering with MassMutual in the US to reach the latter’s extensive South Asian customer database.

    The launch was announced by Zee5 Global chief business officer Archana Anand along with actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas as the latter attended the event as a special guest. Along with unveiling the platform’s upcoming content slate, the duo revealed the global brand campaign – ‘Welcome to South Asia: Stories from our world.”

    Zee Entertainment Digital Businesses & Platforms president Amit Goenka said: “We’ve had a long association of over two decades with this market, bringing our viewers here the best of Indian entertainment through our channels. With Zee5, we now look to offer both these audiences and the younger demographic access to a much wider choice of premium content with our Originals, digital premieres, and more, on any screen of their choice and with a completely personalized viewing experience.”

    In the coming months, Zee5 will release a number of movies, new shows, returning seasons of popular shows. RRR from filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli, Sunil Grover starrer Sunflower, Rangbaaz 3, Oka Chinna Family, returning seasons of recently acquired TVF Originals Pitchers, Tripling. Moreover, the platform has lined up Pakistani shows like Churails, Ek Jhooti Love Story, and Dhoop ki Deewar.

    Zee5 Global’s Archana Anand said: “Bringing Zee5 into the U.S. is so much more than just providing the South Asian diaspora here with a mega entertainment platform through which they can access a vast library of stories. It is a powerful bridge between them, their culture, and their languages.”

    This content is available in Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Punjabi, as well as Malay, Thai, Bahasa, Arabic, Urdu, and Bangla (Bangladeshi) with key titles dubbed and/or subtitled in English.

    Terming Canada as another focus market, Zee5 also emphasised that it is available for Canadian audiences and that it will also be launching its campaign in Canada, thereby kicking off its marketing in the country. Zee5 sees much potential in the country, given that it has a tremendous amount of content across languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu, perfect for key diaspora audiences within the Canadian landscape.

  • Zee5 set to launch in US on 22 June

    Kolkata: In what could be its biggest launch till date, Indian streaming platform Zee5 is all set to enter the United States market on 22 June.

    With this, the platform has set the stage for its rapid growth in a market that has over 5.4 million diaspora audiences with a deep cultural and language connection to its content. Zee5 is currently under beta testing in the US. This direct-to-consumer service launch is especially significant at a time when Indians settled in the US, many of whom remain deeply connected to their roots, are unable to travel home.

    The official announcement will be made at a virtual event where its platform and content will be unveiled. The company will also share key details about its plans for the market and its local partnerships, launch the brand campaign, and more.

    “The United States represents our most significant market and the last bastion in our global journey as we launch an ad-free subscription service. As a Global Media conglomerate, we have had a very deep connection with our diaspora audiences here, so it is a rather happy moment for me to now be bringing this audience the largest aggregation of South Asian content on a single platform through Zee5,” Zee Entertainment Digital Businesses & Platforms president Amit Goenka said.

    With this launch, the streaming platform will also open up access to the largest catalogue of content from South Asia including India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to diaspora and even mainstream content consumers in the US who have been eagerly waiting to access Zee5’s massive content library. With 1,30,000 hours of content across 18 languages, Zee5 said it plans to offer a premium, highly accessible, and affordable option for viewers to engage with the best of South Asian stories.

    “The United States is home to millions of people whose families have a strong connect with South Asia, and we are glad to bring them the largest and most diverse catalogue of culturally relevant entertainment across Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi stories. These stories have the power to engage deeply and go well beyond the South Asian audience to entertain and delight even mainstream audiences with their authenticity and allure. I am confident that ZEE5 will become the go-to platform for all Americans who love great storytelling,” Zee5 Global chief business officer Archana Anand said.

    With ‘language of your comfort’ being a key promise across Content, Navigation, and even Voice Search, Zee5’s content library promises to be tailor-made for the diverse cultures and languages of Indian and South Asian communities in the US. The languages include Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Punjabi, as well as Malay, Thai, Bahasa, Arabic, Urdu, and Bangla (Bangladeshi). Key titles are also subtitled or dubbed in English.

    Zee5’s Annual pack, priced at $84 will be available across all major devices at a limited launch offer price of $49.99. Zee5 subscribers in the U.S. will also be the first to stream Salman Khan’s Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai.

  • Video brands’ India ad spends to rise 19% by 2022: Zenith Report

    Video brands’ India ad spends to rise 19% by 2022: Zenith Report

    KOLKATA: There is no denying that the advertising market has been in the doldrums for most of the year, owing to the Covid2019 pandemic. However, video entertainment ad spends are projected to shrink just 0.2 per cent in 2020 across ten key markets, according to the recent Zenith Business Intelligence – Video Entertainment report.

    Video entertainment advertising will far outperform the ad market as a whole, which will drop by 8.7 per cent across these same markets. Moreover, India and Spain will be top of the table when it comes to ad-ex growth through 2022.

    The report concluded that the resilience of video entertainment ad spend in the face of a global pandemic and subsequent recession is the result of increased demand from consumers, increased supply of content, and intense competition among video brands for viewers.

    Faced with spending much more time at home, consumers have turned to video content to keep themselves informed and entertained. In France, for example, TV viewing time was 30 per cent higher year-on-year in April and was still 11 per cent higher in August.

    Investment in advertising by online video brands has far outpaced traditional television recently. In the US, online video brands increased their ad budgets by 142 per cent in 2019, while television brands increased their spending by 15 per cent.

    In the UK, ad spend by online video platforms increased by 79 per cent, while ad spend by traditional television grew 34 per cent. In both markets, television broadcasters and pay-TV platforms pushed up spending temporarily in response to their new competition, but this will prove unsustainable in the face of ongoing decline in their revenues, both Covid2019-related and structural.

    In contrast, online video platforms have continued to raise their budgets to exploit the current window of opportunity to build a loyal customer base. Each platform is spending heavily to ensure that they are top of mind while consumers consider which ones to commit to for the long term.

    “Consumers are now faced with a vast and confusing array of programmes and films vying for their attention,” Zenith global managing director Christian Lee said . “Video brands need to cut through this complexity and give consumers entertainment that matches their personal preferences with minimum fuss. Brands that provide compelling experiences and act as more than just repositories of content will be best positioned for growth in the long term.”

    Here are a few highlights from the report:

    Lockdown has made digital even more vital to video brands

    Video entertainment brands spend more on digital advertising, out-of-home and cinema than the average brand. Their reliance on out-of-home and cinema has posed a particular challenge this year, as they have been forced to compensate for lost audiences from empty cities and closed cinemas. This means even more digital spending, which is forecast to rise from 53 per cent of total video entertainment spend in 2019 to 57 per cent in 2020.

    Video entertainment ad spend to exceed 2019 peak by 1.2 per cent in 2022

    While video entertainment is expected to substantially outperform the market in 2020, Zenith forecasts it to underperform over the next two years, with no growth in 2021 and 1.3 per cent growth in 2022. Online video platforms will have less capacity to raise budgets after spending heavily in 2020, and traditional TV broadcasters will be weighed down by shrinking revenues from TV advertising and pay-TV subscriptions. Nevertheless, Zenith expects video entertainment ad spend to be 1.2 per cent higher in 2022 than it was in 2019, while overall advertising will still be 0.6 per cent below its 2019 peak.

    Spain and India to lead growth in video entertainment ad spend

    The stable headline figures for growth hide considerable variation between the 10 markets. In 2022, video entertainment brands are forecast to spend 27 per cent more than in 2019 in Spain, and 19 per cent more in India. Meanwhile, spending is expected to decline by 5 per cent in the US and 7 per cent in Australia over the same period.

    Spain and India both have fast-growing appetites for video-on-demand, especially on smartphones in India. India’s television ad market also enjoys rapid long-term growth – unlike in most Western countries – and should bounce back quickly in 2021.

    The US is the only market where video entertainment ad spend is expected to continue to decline after 2020, as rising online revenues fail to compensate for the ongoing declines in TV advertising and pay-TV subscriptions, reducing available ad budgets. The video industry is healthier in Australia, but here the ad market as a whole is retrenching after the sudden halt to Australia’s 29 years of unbroken economic growth, so video brands can maintain a share of voice without raising budgets.

  • Netflix hikes subscription prices in the US

    Netflix hikes subscription prices in the US

    KOLKATA: Netflix has hiked the prices of its subscription plans in its home market, the US. This marks the video-streaming service’s first price changes in the US since an increase rolled out early last year.

    In the latest round of price hike, which has been anticipated for a while, the company has raised the standard plan by $1 to $13.99 per month. The premium plan that allows more people to watch the service on different screens simultaneously will now cost $2 more at $17.99 per month. The basic US plan remains the same at $9 per month.

    "We understand people have more entertainment choices than ever and we’re committed to delivering an even better experience for our members,” Netflix said in a statement. “We’re updating our prices so that we can continue to offer more variety of TV shows and films.”

    The price bump will be immediately effective for new subscribers, but will be rolled out for existing customers in phases over the next few months. The move comes amid global surge in streaming during Covid2019-fueled lockdowns in several countries.

    Netflix has added 2.2 million net subscribers in the third quarter of 2020. For Q4, it has forecast 6.0 million paid net adds.

  • TikTok selects Oracle in the US after rejecting Microsoft offer

    TikTok selects Oracle in the US after rejecting Microsoft offer

    KOLKATA: TikTok has chosen Oracle for a business partnership after abandoning talks with Microsoft. The Bytedance owned short-video app has chosen Oracle as a technology partner.

    According to reports, the terms of the deal are still evolving. It is not clear yet if Oracle would take an ownership stake in TikTok’s US operations. The decision comes at a time when the social media app is running out of time to close a deal in the US within the tight schedule given by the Trump administration. It has to block a deal within 20 September.

    Earlier on Sunday, tech giant Microsoft, another bidder for TikTok’s US operation announced that the latter has rejected its offer. “ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s U.S. operations to Microsoft,” Microsoft said. “We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests,” it added.

    However, the future of the deal is subject to approval from Washington and Beijing. TikTok’s US stake sell has turned to be more difficult since Beijing issued new restrictions or bans in late August on tech exports, requiring companies to seek government approval.

    TikTok has more than 175 million downloads in the US. While the administration alleged TikTok could misuse user information, the company has continuously refuted any claim of providing any US user data to the Chinese government. 

  • ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ host Regis Philbin passes on at the age of 88

    ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ host Regis Philbin passes on at the age of 88

    MUMBAI: Life is strange and ironical. Even as Amitabh Bachchan, the Indian superstar and host of Kaun Banega Crorepati (the Indian adaptation of Who Wants to be a Millionaire), is fighting the SARS Cov2 virus in a Mumbai hospital, Regis Philbin, the host for many years of the American original, passed away on late Friday night in the US. He was all of 88.

    For those who don’t know, Philbin was associated with television for nearly six decades. His was a struggle to rise to the pinnacles that he finally did. In the beginning, he was a stagehand or spot boy as they are called in India. He then moved on to become a news writer-cum-sportscaster for some years in the sixties, hosted his own show on local television, moved onto acting,  then became part of comic Joey Bishop’s entourage before getting the full limelight later in his life.

    It was in 1988 that he burst out on the national scene on ABC with the talk show Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee that followed The Morning Show which he hosted alone between 19833 and 1988. His partnership with Kathie Lee Gifford ran for 12 years until 2000 when he once again got his own routine Live with Regis between 2000 and 2001. After that followed a decade of a jointly presenting with Kelly Ripa until 2011.

    In 1999, he was called to additionally host Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which became a major hit in the US, drawing an audience of 30 million – a record for a game show. He hosted it until 2002, when it started seeing a drop in viewership and ratings, coming back for specials later over the next 10 years. Bachchan had met the host of the UK original Chris Tarrant on taking up the assignment and had watched Regis in 2000 when Star India acquired the rights to remake it in India. In fact, Bachchan was also a guest on the Regis Philbin Morning Show when he was on a concert tour in the US.

    In between his television assignments, Philbin acted in more than 25 films.

    Philbin was known to ad-lib, write his own material throughout his career. He had a particular sense of humour which worked well with baby boomers in America.

    Industry showered him with awards galore: he was the recipient of daytime Emmys for Live! With Regis and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2001. A lifetime achievement award followed in 2008 and then he got another Emmy for Live! With Regis and Kelly in 2011. For his contribution to television, he got inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2006.

  • DocuBay now available on Roku streaming devices in the US, Europe

    DocuBay now available on Roku streaming devices in the US, Europe

    MUMBAI: DocuBay, the global premium membership streaming service by IN10 Media Network, is now available on Roku streaming devices in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and France. The DocuBay channel is now available from the Roku Channel store on Roku devices, expanding DocuBay’s availability to millions of consumers. Roku users now have access to DocuBay’s premium documentary film library that includes HD and 4K titles across a variety of genres or “Bays” such as PoliticsBay, TravelBay, SportsBay, ScienceBay, and CrimeBay, as well as the latest TechBay, in partnership with US-based Big Media as previously announced.

    DocuBay vice president, strategy, Girish Dwibhashyam stated: “With DocuBay’s launch on Roku streaming devices, we’re continuing our efforts to expand across the world. We look forward to new viewers discovering the DocuBay app and premium content library that features truly unique stories and global perspectives. Being accessible to documentary film fans no matter which platform or device they happen to be using remains a top priority for us.”

    DocuBay is available in 180+ countries across devices and platforms such as the App Store, Google Play, Roku streaming players, Roku TV models, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV, among others.

  • Chiliz aims US, European sports markets through strategic partnership with Lagardère Sports

    Chiliz aims US, European sports markets through strategic partnership with Lagardère Sports

    MUMBAI: Chiliz, the blockchain fintech provider for sports and entertainment, has partnered with Lagardère Sports, a sports and entertainment marketing agency, to further propel cryptocurrency into mainstream sport. The partnership will see Lagardère Sports working hand-in-hand with the Chiliz team to develop new partnerships for Socios.com, from their worldwide network of leading athletes, clubs, federations and sports leagues.

    Lagardère’s network includes six French soccer clubs and 16 German soccer teams, including exclusive agreements with Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV, Olympique Lyonnais, AS Saint Etienne and OGC Nice. They also represent a roster of MLB & NFL players such as Eric Fisher, Terrell Suggs & Kendall Fuller from Superbowl Champions the Kansas City Chiefs.

    The agreement allows Lagardère Sports to offer sports rights holders across the world the opportunity to secure additional revenue streams and deepen fan engagement using innovative blockchain technology.

    Lagardère Sports’ wants to become the leading agency on blockchain, and through this partnership, is the first sports marketing agency to position itself at the forefront of technological innovations and its desire to change the sports industry.

    Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of Chiliz & Socios.com, said: “We have been very clear in communicating our goal to onboard 50 IPs to the Socios.com app in 2020 and I look forward to working hand-in-hand with Lagardère Sports to help us achieve that target, targeting Lagardère’s extensive network of athletes, clubs, federations and sports leagues to build the future of fan engagement for rights holders across Europe and the US.”

    Laurent Moretti, Lagardère Sports Chief Executive France, said: “We are proud to announce this strategic partnership with Socios.com. This agreement rewards our ability to project ourselves into the future and believe in the development of new technologies such as blockchain and crypto-currency. As a leading sports marketing agency, it is our duty to offer the best solutions to our clients and partners, and this partnership will contribute significantly to our vision.”

  • Netflix raises US prices for the first time since 2017

    Netflix raises US prices for the first time since 2017

    MUMBAI: Is Netflix feeling the heat of well-funded competitors? The king of OTT platforms is increasing its US prices for the first time since 2017. The hike in subscription rate will be applied also to subscribers in Latin American and the Caribbean, where Netflix bills in US dollars. The move comes at a time when Disney is gearing up for its streaming service launch and NBC has just entered the market.

    The move is aimed at easing a large, debt-fueled investment in new films, series and documentaries this year. According to media reports, company executives are looking for more money to pay escalating content bills.

    The most popular subscription plan will see largest hike costing $13 a month, up from $11. Despite the hike, it costs lesser than HBO, whose streaming service charges $15 per month. The cheapest subscription will run $8.99, up from $7.99. The change in subscription will be effective for new customers immediately and for existing customers it will be rolled out during the next three months.

    “We change pricing from time to time as we continue investing in great entertainment and improving the overall Netflix experience,” the company said in a statement.

    Wall Street put its faith on the move as the company’s stock surged $21.70 to finish at $354.64 on Tuesday, its highest closing price in nearly three months. It shows that investors believe the price increase won’t significantly slowdown Netflix’s subscriber growth.

  • Amazon Prime Video rates cheapest in India

    Amazon Prime Video rates cheapest in India

    MUMBAI: A recent study has found online streaming platform Amazon Prime Video is the cheapest in India. On the contrary, the service is most expensive in its home country United States. In a study by technology research firm Comparitech Ltd, India has been found as the cheapest place to watch Amazon Prime Video among 28 countries.

    “If we compare the overall cost per month of Amazon Prime Video around the world, India is by far the cheapest place to get it. At a cost of just $1.76 (£1.37) per month, it’s $11.23 or £4.62 cheaper than the US or UK, respectively,” the study said. Amazon Prime Video is 115 per cent cheaper in India than the average with a library of 2,351 titles, including movies, shows and documentaries.

    Japan, Brazil, Australia and Mexico follow India successively in the cheapest list. Indians can enjoy the service at Rs 129 while in US it costs $12.99.The annual membership plan comes at a discounted price of Rs 999 besides a free one-month trial. Moreover, telco players like Vodafone, Airtel also offer free Prime subscription under certain deals.

    Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the UK follow the US in the list of most expensive countries to get Amazon Prime Video. However, the report says Americans, along with paying the highest amount, also get to watch the most number of movies and TV shows on the over-the-top platform. In India, the platform’s library consists of close to 2,000 movies and about 400 shows.

    The study also found that Indian subscribers to Amazon Prime Video also pay one of the lowest rates per title, 137 per cent less than the worldwide average on a per title basis.