ITV

Tag: value-added service

  • Digital channel Zindagi to launch on DTH platforms as a value-added service

    Digital channel Zindagi to launch on DTH platforms as a value-added service

    Mumbai: Digital channel Zindagi which features popular Pakistani soap operas will now be available on DTH platform Dish TV, D2H and Tata Play as a value-added service. The service will be available starting on 23 May.

    The channel launched in 2014, had gone off the air in July 2017 and its content was only available on the OTT service Zee5. Now, the shows Kitni Girhain Baaki Hain with Kirron Kher as the narrator, “Aunn Zara, Sadqay Tumhare” amongst others will be available to DTH subscribers. The channel’s launch is backed by an innovative content strategy of airing two episodes back-to-back.

    Apart from fiction shows, the service will also showcase acclaimed movies like “Baarish aur Chowmein” featuring Taapsee Pannu and Amit Sadh, directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia; “Toba Tek Singh”, based on a short story by Saadat Hasan Manto, featuring noted actor Pankaj Kapoor and directed by Ketan Mehta; “Silvat” written by Faraz Arif Ansari and directed by Tanuja Chandra with Kartik Aaryan in a leading role; “Saari Raat” a film by National Award winner Aparna Sen starring Konkona Sen Sharma among others.

    “It’s a proud moment for us as we reach yet another milestone and launch Zindagi across key DTH platforms,” said Zee Special Projects chief creative officer Shailja Kejriwal. “What started as a salient idea between a few people deeply invested in the belief of cross border cultural collaborations grew to become one of the most loved television channels in the country. Zindagi took its journey ahead on OTT fueling the digital consumption needs in the country, and the community of believers continued to grow. Today, we add new partners, new believers in Tata Play, Dish TV and D2H, as we take Zindagi to every corner of the country.”

    “There’s a huge fan following for nuanced and author-backed storylines in our country,” said Tata Play chief content and commercial officer Pallavi Puri. “Tata Play Zindagi’s content library is very slice-of-life… they are humari zindagi se milti julti kahaniyan, which we believe will be a treat for the viewers who like relatable narratives.”

    “We firmly believe that providing relatable, wholesome, unique, and relevant content is the most effective way to engage with our subscribers,” said Dish TV India Limited head – VAS Shruti Kumar.

    “We are delighted to announce Zindagi Active as the latest addition to our comprehensive value-added service portfolio. With this, we offer our subscribers the stories that are emotional and enthralling, series & movies that resonate with them, their families, and relationships. We hope to bring together people/communities beyond our country’s border who share similar values, cultures, and traditions. Our Active Services brings the most appealing and relevant content to our subscribers, and the latest addition of the Zindagi Active service reaffirms our commitment towards them,” she added.

  • Tata Sky makes Tata Sky Fitness free for all subscribers

    Tata Sky makes Tata Sky Fitness free for all subscribers

    MUMBAI: While everyone stays indoors for 21 days, health is bound to take a step back. But, to boost people's workout regime, leading DTH operator Tata Sky will provide free access to Tata Sky Fitness – one of the most popular and longest-running services on the platform, to all its subscribers. Minister of state for youth affairs & sports Kiren Rijiju has recognised this initiative that comes at a time when it is imperative for people to join the drive to stay at home during the current countrywide lockdown.

    This initiative will benefit Tata Sky’s entire subscriber base, reaching more than 50 million people, allowing them to keep up their fitness regimen from the safety and comfort of their own homes.

    Tata Sky Fitness, available in English, Hindi & Telugu allows subscribers to get fit with celebrity fitness experts including Yasmin Karachiwala, Kaizzad Capadia, Abbas Ali, Shivoham, Luke Coutinho, Deepika Mehta, etc. at their own leisure. The service offers a daily slot dedicated to women’s fitness, fitness for senior citizens, nutrition advice and celeb fitness secrets along with interactive sessions.

    Tata Sky Fitness is available on #110. It is also available on Live TV and VOD on the Tata Sky Mobile App. 

  • Hathway launches ad-free value-added service

    MUMBAI: Hathway Cable and Datacom have announced the launch of a new segment– Hathway Special under its cable business. The service is currently available to only DTH subscribers. For all the Hathway subscribers, the ad-free service will be offered for a free preview starting from 9 February for 30 days.

    Hathway Special will cater to customers looking for additional services over and above broadcaster channels and will be priced between Rs. 15 to Rs. 60 per service on a monthly basis.

    “At Hathway, we take pride in being the first MSO in the country to launch exclusive and diverse Value Added Services for all our subscribers.With the addition of the new service – Hathway Special, it is our endeavour to provide services best in the industry, be it in the form of experience, quality or pricing. We are empowering our LCOs to further enhance their business in terms of earnings and efficiency with this new Value Added Service. We are sure that Hathway Special will add significant earnings to the LCO just as the Hathway Connect Portal helped in ease of business and improved efficiency for all,” said Hathway Cable and Datacom chief executive officer video business T. S. Panesar.

    The subscribers will now have a choice of viewing value added services across nine different genres including the best of blockbusters, and music videos. Additionally, devotional content and animated content for children is also available on Hathway Special. The company aims to provide at least 30 offerings under Hathway Special catering to more varied genres while expanding its reach and viewership in the months ahead.

    The MSO is also focused on making available non-linear content of the likes of Video-on-Demand (VOD) and other localised content respective to its market.

    The new services under the Hathway Special range include:

    o MiniPlex: Blockbuster Bollywood movie premiers

    o Comedy Wala: Classic comedy show to New series; Original clips to comedy tweaked Bollywood clips

    o Lamhe Movie: Timeless classics and heart-warming stories from the bygone era

    o Yippee: Fun Learning and engagement for kids including animated nursery rhymes, moral stories, etc.

    o Garv Shree Swaminarayan: A devotional service for Swaminarayan – Bhakti, Aarti montage in Gujarati

    o Om Shakti: A devotional service for Aarti, BhajanJaaps, with live coverage of special events

    o Ibaadat: A devotional service for Tilawat E Quran, Naat Shareef, Hadees Shareef

    o InSync: A Classical Music service with Ustaads and Maestros of the field

  • Tata Sky looks to up VAS, VOD revenue; partners Suniel Shetty for fitness service

    Tata Sky looks to up VAS, VOD revenue; partners Suniel Shetty for fitness service

    MUMBAI: Eyeing a larger share of revenue from the Value Added Service (VAS) and VOD (Video on Demand) pie, direct-to-home (DTH) operator Tata Sky has partnered with Suniel Shetty and Adarsh Gupta’s lifestyle and health initiative Brilliant Living TV to launch a fitness-based interactive service – ‘Actve Fitness.’

     

    The new service will allow subscribers to get access to fitness trainers and wellness experts 24×7 at the cost of Rs 59 per month.

     

    The DTH operator recently added ‘Actve Fitness’ to their bouquet of VAS. While on-air fitness programs have been tried many times on TV, this is the first time a DTH player in India has introduced an on demand fitness solution for its customers.

     

    The new service was unveiled by Salman Khan, who also explained the advantages of Actve Fitness from a fitness enthusiast’s perspective.

     

    Tata Sky chief commercial officer Pallavi Puri says, “In line with our attempt to keep innovating the VAS section, we are constantly researching. Our research showed that our users are very health conscious. They want to look fit and live a healthy lifestyle. But not everyone has the access to gyms, fitness equipments or proper trainers. Even if they have access to such facilities, availability of convenient time becomes an issue for many who lead a busy life. I would say this service is a smarter and personalised way to take control of one’s health from the comfort of your homes.”

     

    Effective 5 October, Tata Sky subscribers will be given a ‘missed call number’ that will lead them to activate this new service. Interested users can also send SMS requests, or  log in to the DTH player’s website, or subscribe to the service through their television sets. Puri expects the service to appeal to their customer base from all demographies.

     

    Apart from creating a buzz by inviting Khan for the launch, Tata Sky has also put in place a marketing strategy for the new service. “We are targeting communication towards our customers through our landing channel No 100, which will showcase advertisements informing viewers about the new service. We are also looking digital promos, and tele-calling as ways to promote the service among our customers,” explains Puri.

     

    Puri further adds that having Brilliant Living TV as a partner broadened their scope and quality of the content they can offer through the service. “Brilliant Living TV is delighted to be associated with Tata Sky to bring Actve Fitness to Indian homes. Our focus has been on creating passion and excitement for fitness amongst all Indians by guiding them through fitness exercises such as work-out videos, yoga and meditation. Now for the first time these services will be available to viewers at home through a DTH platform,” said Brilliant Living TV founder Adarsh Gupta.

     

    Available in both Hindi and English, the content for the service has been curated by Brilliant Living TV, with Suniel Shetty being an active part of it. “With the inception of Brilliant Living TV, we could gather industry experts under one roof and with the help of Tata Sky Actve Fitness we are able to reach out to the mass. Continuing my effort, I am looking forward to a healthy India in the near future,” says Shetty.

     

    Shetty has roped in celebrity fitness trainers like Yasmin Karachiwala, Kaizzad Capadia, Abbas Ali and Grand Master Shifuji amongst others for Actve Fitness. Each of them have shared workout and yoga sessions, self-defence and celebrity fitness tips that anyone can follow at home, without the need of any professional equipment. The interactive service also lets one set a Weight Tracker and check the Calorie Counter for the kind of food they consume. 

     

    Each day of the week will focus on a different body part for exercising, with Monday dedicated to full body workout. Apart from that, the service also offers half hour modules for the subscribers, who can choose from a category of wellness regimes to customise according to their needs.

     

    Specials include different schools of yoga such as Ashtang yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Hatha yoga; meditation, work outs like a kickboxing, fusion martial arts, and more. They also offer women’s special fitness trainings that cover self-defence, dance workout and event pre-natal yoga.

  • ABS Group ties up with BSNL for on-demand services

    ABS Group ties up with BSNL for on-demand services

    MUMBAI: In a bid to expand its services in a highly competitive environment, the Atul Saraf led ABS Group has lined up a spree of developments. The company, which is all set to launch its MPEG 4 headend, is now strengthening its value added services (VAS) offering.

     

    ABS has entered into an agreement with telecom giant BSNL. As part of this, BSNL’s 10 million broadband subscribers can access the VAS and movies-on-demand services of ABS through its portal www.absplay.in.

     

    “We are working on setting up the servers in the BSNL premise for our value added services,” ABS CMD Atul B Saraf tells Indiantelevision.com.

     

    The portal will go live in August, 2015 after which BSNL broadband subscribers can access the library that contains more than 1000 movies, 60,000 songs and videos and approximately 70-80 web channels. “It is a subscription based model. There will be a revenue share between BSNL and us,” informs Saraf.  

     

    The content will range from Bollywood, Hollywood, Tollywood, regional, sports, devotional, comedy, horror, action to music, short length videos and full length videos. While refraining to divulge the pricing of the content, Saraf says, “It will be in a very cost effective manner.”

     

    Close to 25 per cent of the catalogue has been purchased by ABS, while 75 per cent of the content will be on revenue sharing basis with content creators. “We have bought content from both national and international content providers. We will have a revenue share with them,” he informs.

     

    “We saw a gap in the VAS space and so tried to tap into it. This is part of our new revenue generating launches,” says Saraf.

  • Uber to leverage its platform for VAS

    Uber to leverage its platform for VAS

    KOLKATA: San Francisco-based taxi aggregator, Uber, is planning to leverage its platform and provide value-added services (VAS) such as courier facilities, food-delivery options or even doorstep delivery of groceries.

     

    In India, Kolkata has become the fastest growing market for taxi-hailing service Uber, after the US, a top official of the company said.

     

    “India has a huge potential for value-added services and that might help the company tap the possibility of such services,” said Uber head expansion – India and the subcontinent Neeraj Singhal.

     

    He, however, declined to confirm the time frame on bringing in such services in the country.

     

    “Kolkata is the fastest market for us globally after America. The volume of business growth is unprecedented for us. It is the most important market for us,” he said, adding that the business in terms of the number of trips has been growing at a phenomenal rate ever since the service was launched here in last September.

     

    “This means that the Kolkata market is growing faster than even London,” he said.

     

    When being asked to comment on the growth from the country, he said that the India market for Uber had been growing by over 40 per cent, and Kolkata market has been doing better than the national average.

     

    Reiterating that it is not merely a transport provider, Singhal further said that there is a need to get the “right kind” of regulatory framework under which it can operate as a technology-based company in India. 

     

    “The regulations to govern a taxi company should be very different to govern a technology company… If we can work together (with the government) to get the right sort of regulatory framework to operate as a technology company, then the scope is endless. Fundamentally, if the government restricts us to be a taxi company, then the scope is limited to provide technology,” he added.

     

    Founded in 2009, Uber operates in over 200 cities across the globe.