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Tag: Vishnu Mohta

  • LoglineAI Showcases the Future of AI-Powered Storytelling at MIPCOM 2025

    LoglineAI Showcases the Future of AI-Powered Storytelling at MIPCOM 2025

    Cannes, France: LoglineAI, founded by Vishnu Mohta, is set to make waves at MIPCOM 2025, unveiling how the studio is transforming global content development with its intelligent, human-guided AI workflows.

    At the intersection of creativity and technology, LoglineAI helps studios, streamers, and brands turn ideas, scripts, or audio concepts into cinematic-quality videos—faster, more efficiently, and without compromising emotional depth.

    The studio’s adaptive pipeline addresses real-world production challenges such as character and visual consistency, multi-lingual dubbing with accurate lip-sync, emotion-aware scene design, and rapid previsualization. Its integrated approach reduces cost and turnaround time while maintaining storytelling fidelity and creative control.

    Recent collaborations with SVF Entertainment and Sooper highlight these capabilities—producing AI-generated teasers, visual episodes, and concept-testing promos that have redefined content readiness for streaming and theatrical platforms alike.

    “At LoglineAI, we’re not replacing creativity—we’re amplifying it,” says Vishnu Mohta, Founder of LoglineAI. “Our goal is to help creators and studios move from concept to screen with greater speed, consistency, and imagination—powered by responsible AI.”

    Meet the LoglineAI team at MIP Innovation Lab – Pod P-1.C66, where they’ll be showcasing new AI-assisted production workflows, creative case studies, and global collaboration opportunities.

    ? Learn more at logline.ai 
     

  • Josh and SVF Entertainment enter strategic alliance

    Josh and SVF Entertainment enter strategic alliance

    Mumbai: Short video app Josh has inked a strategic partnership with East Indian media and entertainment company SVF. The collaboration paves the way for the creation of short video content from Bengali influencers and celebrities on the Josh app, said the statement.

    SVF will enable the production of more regional content by Bengali talent on the short video app Josh with the aim to empower regional creators. SVF will additionally extend its vast Bengali music library of SVF Music ranging from Bengali films, web series, and hit singles from popular artists from India and Bangladesh. This wide range of songs can be accessed by Josh’s 115+ million-strong user base.

    The partnership was announced on the eve of 25 October and was graced by hoichoi co-founder and executive director of SVF Vishnu Mohta; Josh head – creator and content ecosystem Sunder Venketraman, and VerSe Innovation chief marketing officer Samir Vora.

    “Josh and SVF, with the similar intention to create a wider content building ambiance in Bengal, is certain that this partnership will enable a lot of talents to create short format content in their regional language with advanced and easy to use video making features,” said Vishnu Mohta.

    “We at SVF, are delighted to have this avant-garde partnership that will not only enhance the scope of content innovation but also recognise the local talents, thereby supporting the overall growth of the industry,” said hoichoi co-founder and director of SVF Mahendra Soni. “The SVF-Josh tie-up is all poised to make Bengali music library available to all creators across the country, opening up the paradigm beyond mainstream content visibility.”

    “SVF Entertainment is a leader in the Eastern Indian content space and we, at Josh are very excited to have brought this partnership to life that will revolutionise the space of content creation in Bengali language,” said Sunder Venketraman and Samir Vora.

    “We believe that our app will prove to be the perfect destination for budding Bengali creators to share their talent across audiences– bringing visibility to themselves and the plethora of invigorating content that Eastern India has to offer,” they added.

  • hoichoi to double spending on content, announces 20 new shows

    hoichoi to double spending on content, announces 20 new shows

    Mumbai: The Bengali OTT platform hoichoi has bolstered its content library with as many as 20 new shows as it marked its fifth year in the streaming space. The streaming service brand recorded 2x growth in active monthly subscribers and now planning to double its investment in content to power the next phase of growth, it shared during the virtual event #HoichoiSeason5 held on Friday.

    The go-to-market strategy will now rest on the pillars of content, tech and distribution, and expansion. “Since we only have a yearly subscription, it is very important for us to have high engagement on the platform. At (minimum) Rs 600 and Rs 900, it’s no way cheap to be on hoichoi, and hence we must continue to offer a great catalogue of films and shows on a regular basis for our premium users in order to drive subscription and engagement,” said hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta.

    hoichoi currently has over 80 originals and is eyeing to reach the target of 100 shows by the end of 2022. Going forward, the main focus will be to drive subscriptions by bolstering its content offering and expand in both Bengali and non-Bengali markets in India and globally, said the platform.

    Content – Bengali/Dubbed Regional and Branded

    Of the 12 world premiere films planned for next year, five titles will be led by noted directors such as Srijit Mukherji and Anjan Dutt, which will add to the existing catalogue of 600+ films.

    Some of the originals revealed at Friday’s event include “Srikanto,” “Byomkesh 7,” “Mahabharat Murders,” “Eken Babu 5,” “Troilokkyo,” “Mandaar,” “Rudrabinar Obhishaap,” “Montu Pilot 2,” “Khyapar Shohor,” “Gora,” “Tiktiki,” “Swapan Kumar Obolomboney Bottolar Goyenda,” “Uttaran,” “Indu,” “Boli” (Bangladesh), “Karagar” (Bangladesh), “Sabrina” (Bangladesh), “Kaiser” (Bangladesh), and “Bodh” (Bangladesh).

    The platform also announced that it has witnessed a 2X growth in its overall watch-time and monthly active streaming users as well as a 4X growth in viewership, not only in India but in Bangladesh as well. It has recorded 60 minutes of average daily watch-time among subscribers, with each user visiting the platform thrice every day on an average.

    “We are overwhelmed with the response we have received for hoichoi in both the regional and as well as national OTT space in the span of past four years,” said co-founder Mahendra Soni. “hoichoi’s relevant and dynamic content has made it possible for us to build a diverse audience base, and as we step into the fifth year, the goal is to curate more remarkable content in collaboration with the best creators and talents of the industry.”

    The platform’s monthly subscription numbers in Bangladesh have also doubled every month since last year. Buoyed by the success in the neighbouring country, it intends to produce at least seven to nine originals for the Bangladesh market in association with local talent.

    While the pandemic-induced lockdown catapulted OTT platforms into accelerated growth, co-founder Vishnu Mohta believes the OTT culture began setting in among people for a few years now, and the pandemic only amplified it. “Since the pandemic surfaced, generally, people started getting accustomed to direct-to-digital releases along with the wide array of web series presented by the platforms. Post the lockdowns, OTT platforms have hardened their space in society. Therefore, this trend is here to stay. It will continue even in the post-pandemic world,” he said while talking to Indiantelevision.com ahead of the event.

    For hoichoi, the growth was also led by its Hindi dubbed content, which has been very well-received on partner platforms, said Mohta. “In order to replicate this success across regional markets and establish a connect with Indian and global non-Bengali audience, the platform is now planning to dub its content in other languages like Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam,” he added.

    Running into its fifth year, hoichoi has also stepped up its branded content and launched a ‘Freemium’ service that allows users to watch ad-free shows without having to pay. So far, two shows have been released in collaboration with jewellery brands – Turu Love with Senco Gold & Diamonds and Subharambha with PC Chandra Jewellers. “While we stick to our strategy of offering ad-free content, we believe that branded content does not interrupt the viewing experience. Freemium section is primarily intended to cater to different brand needs while ensuring the content remains engaging and high-quality,” he added.

    Expansion, distribution, and partnership

    Running into its fifth year, one of the main focuses for hoichoi now is to drive more subscriptions on its platform through both direct subscription and subscription bundling partners. In India, besides its existing partnership with Jio Fibre for broadband subscription bundling, it has now partnered with Airtel as its preferred partner for mobility, broadband, and DTH bundling. There are other collaborations with ISP players like Alliance, Wishnet, Meghbela in India, and Link3 and Grameenphone and Sohoj in Malaysia.

    In 2022, the brand aims to have more such subscription bundling partners across telecom, ISPs, e-commerce, and DTH services.

    In order to reach out to tier 2 and 3 towns, hoichoi has also recently entered the retail vertical to enable subscription through offline payment mode where users can simply visit a local partner store and purchase a subscription by paying in cash. Sohoj and Paynearby are some of the current retail partners. Tie-ups with over 500 retail stores in both India and Bangladesh are planned for the next six months.

    At present, at least 40 per cent of hoichoi’s direct subscription revenue is contributed by the international market. With an aim to deepen its presence among the large Bengali population in South-Asian countries like Malaysia and Singapore and the middle-east, hoichoi is looking to partner with key telecom operators in the region. The launch of sachet pricing for both these markets is also on the anvil.

    Additionally, it will be launching digital gift cards offering special pricing plans for this Durga Puja across many countries like the US, UK, Australia, Singapore, and the Middle East. Mohta shares that as part of the recurring payment ecosystem that exists in most international markets, hoichoi subscription charges hover at nine dollars per month.

    Technology

    On the tech front, hoichoi will soon be available with a new interface displaying added features such as content description, trailer auto-play feature on the content details page, new and improved search layout functionality, Hamburger Menu Navigation, and new signup, streaming player, and login page.

  • As regional content explodes, Hoichoi eyes 60-80% revenue growth in FY22

    As regional content explodes, Hoichoi eyes 60-80% revenue growth in FY22

    KOLKATA: In the last couple of years, Hoichoi has been in the limelight for its bold moves in the regional over-the-top (OTT) segment. The Bengali streaming service revealed its cumulative subscriber base had breezed past the 13 million-mark on the third anniversary of its launch. To boost its user base further, the platform has recently announced a stellar content line-up for 2021, with 18 fresh stories.

    This year’s line-up is a leap from what the platform did last year, especially from a story point of view, Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta said. The streamer had the opportunity to work with a number of renowned directors, filmmakers and a lot of other marquee talents, he highlighted. Hence, the platform has doubled down on content investment as compared to before.

    Talking heads are enthused about the regional space, as reports have indicated that the share of language content will increase to around 50 per cent of overall OTT consumption, up from 30 per cent in 2019. Hence, a wider library will drive more subscribers to Hoichoi as the Bengali OTT market is still largely unpenetrated by major OTT platforms in terms of original content.

    The Bengali streaming service has set its sights on aggressive direct subscriber acquisition this year. “This year we have changed our strategy a little bit. We are not trying to syndicate our content. We were on the biggest telco players; our content was available as syndicated content. Now we have decided that our content will not be available on syndication from this year, it will only be bundled with aggregators like Jio Fiber or other big ISPs. The acquisition has to be direct,” Mohta explained.

    The rationale behind the move is that ARPU is much higher through direct subscribers who pay around Rs 500 every year. According to Mohta, the platform has put together a good line-up to excite customers to pay for original content. Currently, revenue from direct subscriptions stands around 50 per cent for Hoichoi. With greater emphasis on direct acquisition, Mohta is hopeful Hoichoi’s revenue will go up at least 60-80 per cent in FY 22.

    Acclaimed actors like Rahul Bose, Anirban Bhattacharya, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Swastika Mukherjee, Sohini Sarkar, and award-winning filmmakers such as Srijit Mukherji, Kamaleswar Mukherjee, Anjan Dutt are some of the popular faces behind this new line-up. In addition to episodic series like Byomkesh and Eken Babu, films like Tangra Blues, Golondaj, Prem Tame will premiere on Hoichoi.

    Along with building up a diverse content portfolio, the OTT player has initiated a multi-dimensional promotional strategy as well. With a follower base of five-six million, the platform is leveraging its social media communities highly to promote new shows. To get more personal feedback, it has recently started calling every single customer to get their opinion on which show or film on the platform was to their liking, Mohta detailed.

    Additionally, Hoichoi has recently introduced a refer and earn scheme for subscribers, he shared. The person who refers will get one month extension on existing subscription and the other person who joins based on the referral gets a 20 per cent discount.

    Although digital payments growth has skyrocketed in India, there are still barriers to adoption of such services among certain sections. To overcome this obstacle, Hoichoi has started reaching out to different shops which sell mobile phones, accessories, telecom recharges to enable them to sell the platform’s subscriptions. This strategy, implemented in tier-3, tier-4 towns, allows people to subscribe to the platform through cash also.

  • Hoichoi gives a glimpse of its 2021 content slate

    Hoichoi gives a glimpse of its 2021 content slate

    KOLKATA: Bengali streaming giant Hoichoi today unveiled its content line-up for, 2021, which includes  18 powerful and irresistible stories. Apart from its impressive March line-up, the OTT also plans to add more shows and movies this year than it did in the past years.  

    Hoichoi has roped in top talents of the industry, such as Rahul Bose, Dev, Anirban Bhattacharya, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Srabanti, Soham, Swastika Mukherjee, Sohini Sarkar, Monami Ghosh, Saswata Chatterjee, Anirban Chakrabarti, Arjun Chakraborty, Anindita Bose, Tridha Choudhury debutants Soumya Mukherjee, Sweta Mishra, Susmita Chatterjee, Debasish Mondal. Along with Bangladesh sensations like Mosharraf Karim, Badhon, Shamol Mawla and more; creators Srijit Mukherji, Kamaleswar Mukherjee, Anindya Chattopadhyay, Anjan Dutt, Sahana Dutta, Mainak Bhaumik, Anirban Bhattacharya’s directorial debut will also join its vast library.

    In a statement, Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta said, “At Hoichoi, we aim to bring distinct stories for our diverse audiences with variant taste. Our upcoming line-up is a reflection of that idea; each one of which is a gripping story of human emotions, filled with suspense, comedy, love, drama, thrill and longing. Every season we try to reinvent ourselves, with content from the brightest and newest creators of the region. So, #NotunGolpoHoyejak?”

    The exciting line-up is as follows:

    1.     Maradonar Juto – Directed by Mainak Bhaumik, this romantic comedy with a fresh casting, filled with the spice of family drama talks about neighbouring families, residing in North Kolkata (Dutta family & Chowdhury family), who have a generational feud about a pair of shoes, which belongs to the great football legend, Maradona.  

    2.     Dujone – A thriller, not a love story, Dujone marks the digital debut of much-loved on-screen pair, Soham and Srabanti, which talks about a wife’s dilemma to decipher her husband’s true personality.

    3.     Mohomaya – Helmed by Sahana Dutta, Mohomaya is a unique tale of a boy, jilted by his traumatic past, involving his mother, essayed by National Award-Winning actress Ananya Chatterjee, at a tender age, finds affection he longed for all his life in his friend's mother, played by powerhouse actress Swastika Mukherjee. National Award-Winning director Kamaleswar Mukherjee marks his digital directorial debut with the series.

    4.     Mohanagar – The story revolves around three characters and a pair of police officers whose lives get connected due to an incident that changes them and their belief in the system. Mohanagar marks the hoichoi debut of Bangladesh superstar Mosharraf Karim.

    5.     Srikanto – A modern day take of the cult novel in & within the matrix of childhood simplicity, adolescent innocence to complex neo-liberal social & interpersonal predicament of human existence. Will star a young talent Rishav Basu, in the lead.

    6.     Mandaar – Created and directed by Anirban Bhattacharya, Mandaar will be the first among ‘hoichoi World Classics’ segment that will bring Shakespeare's literary classic, Macbeth, to screen, featuring Debashish Mondal, Sohini Sarkar and Anirban Bhattacharya himself in the lead.

    7.     Mouchaak – A dark comedy, which will mark the digital debut of television personality, Monami Ghosh, Mouchaak chronicles a series of funny unfortunate events surrounding a housewife under house arrest, a series of guests and a lottery ticket.  

    8.     Robindronath Ekhane Kawkhono Khete Aashenni – An adaptation from the popular Bangladesh novel of the same name by Mohammad Nazim Uddin, which will mark Srijit Mukherji’s first series on hoichoi starring the dynamic Rahul Bose as the detective who reaches a famed restaurant to uncover the truth behind its mysterious owner, Muskaan Zuberi, essayed by Bangladesh sensation, Azmari Haque Badhon.

    9.     Murder in the Hills – The suspicions death of a Bengali film star of the 90s unravels to expose the seedy underbelly of Darjeeling’s pasts. Written, directed and acted by Anjan Dutt, the series is well balanced with a slew of casts, such as Arjun Chakraborty, Anindita Bose, Rajdeep Gupta, Sandipta Sen, Sourav Chakraborty, Suprobhat Das amongst others.

    10.  Shei Je Holud Pakhi 2 – The much-awaited series returns with its second season which will culminate the popular musical-drama about Vaidehi’s death. Saswata Chatterjee and Tridha Choudhury are reprising their roles in this season.

    11.  Paap 2 – with Puja Banerjee & Rahul Banerjee as the lead, the mysteries of season 1 will unravel in season 2 with another set of deaths and unexpected deaths.

    12.  Eken Babu S5 – Anirban Chakrabarti will reprise the role of Eken Babu as the much-loved crime-thriller returns for its fifth season with a new mystery that unfolds itself.

    13.  Byomkesh S7 – Starring the very versatile Anirban Bhattacharya as Byomkesh, along with Suprobhat Das as Ajit, and Ridhima Ghosh as Satyabati, our popular detective will return with a new mystery based on Byomkesh Bakshi created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay.  

    14.  Tangra Blues World Premiere – A story of a failed musician and a band on a verge of oblivion with Tangra – the most notorious slums in Kolkata as a backdrop, the film will see the fresh pairing of Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Madhumita for the first time.

    15.  Prem Tame World Premiere – It's a story of a revolution, within a young heart, inside a home, and in society. The film brings together the fresh casting of Soumya Mukherjee, Sweta Mishra and Susmita Chatterjee.

    16.  Kakababur Protyaborton World Premiere – Audience's beloved Kakababu, aka Raja Roychowdhury, essayed by Bengal’s industry himself – Prosenjit Chatterjee, returns for the third instalment of this popular franchise with his nephew, Shantu, this time traversing the dangerous terrains of Africa. This time, the film is based on Jongoler Moddhe Ek Hotel by Sunil Gangopadhyay.

    17.  Psycho World Premiere – Anirban Bhattacharya and Birsa Dasgupta return to team up for a thriller that is about a psychiatrist-turned-resident criminologist who teams up with the top-rank officials of law enforcement to hunt down a psychopath.

    18.  Golondaaj  World Premiere – A biographical sports drama directed by Dhrubo Banerjee, starring superstar Dev in the lead, is the story of a pioneer in Indian football, named Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari.

  • Hoichoi aims to double its size and revneue

    Hoichoi aims to double its size and revneue

    KOLKATA: From the beginning of its journey, the Bengali OTT platform Hoichoi has relied on a subscription-based model to run its business. While naysayers used to say Indian audience would not pay for content, the faith on people’s will to pay for good content has paid off the streaming service. With an impressive subscriber base of 13 million, it aims to double its size and revenue for the next few years as every year the addressable market will increase.

    The platform has always talked about leveraging the diaspora audience. It appears to be a perfect strategy for it as 40 per cent of its revenue coming from international markets. Bangladesh has obviously a very big market for it but what is more interesting is it has seen many subscribers coming from Japan, Sweden, as Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta shared.

    Read more news on Hoichoi

    It is now experimenting with other business models like sachet pricing. The ‘Carrier Billing’ will make it easier to buy a weekly or monthly subscription by paying with mobile balance. While it will be launched soon in the Middle East and Bangladesh, Mohta said it would open up access to blue-collar workers. He also added that the platform is making some free content available soon.

    According to Mohta, Hoichoi’s subscribers come from both urban and rural areas. However, he mentioned that the latter holds the next big opportunity for Hoichoi. A number of new users have come to the internet for the first time during this lockdown who are now consuming free content on platforms like YouTube. He is of the belief that they will convert to premium content at some point of time and the lockdown has made that process faster.

    Read more news on OTT business in India

    Hoichoi entered the market in 2017 with very witty campaign #Hoyejak. As it has unveiled a stellar content line up on its third anniversary, it will again launch a campaign during Durga Puja. From October to March, the platform plans to launch at least three originals every month including one marquee content.

    It is not only taking its content game one step ahead but investing in technology as well. The platform has also revealed today its new UI/UX design. Mohta said they have incorporated user feedback as well as an internal assessment as technology has updated rapidly in the last three years. They are also planning to launch a windows 10 application soon.

    “We are still at a very nascent stage. We have not been able to scratch the surface of how many people we may get to pay. That market will grow organically. I think we will be able to encash that growth,” Mohta stated.

  • Hoichoi launches early OOH campaign for higher recall

    Hoichoi launches early OOH campaign for higher recall

    KOLKATA: OTT players heavily rely on OOH media to promote their shows and the pandemic brought that to a screeching halt. West Bengal is one of the first states to get back on track after the lockdown was lifted and Bengali OTT platform Hoichoi recently launched an outdoor campaign for its new original.

    The OOH campaign is to drive up the anticipation level for its recently-launched show Tansener Tanpura. Even though not everyone is venturing out, Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta says that it is not early to resume OOH campaigns. Despite having faced a cyclone during lockdown, the city’s residents have bucked up and are stepping out more than other cities.

    The timing is efficient since there aren’t other ongoing campaigns to clutter. It also works as a break for commuters.

    “We always think of outdoor as an awareness medium. We have come out with one of our biggest shows and have communicated the show and its great cast. I think even this much information is a good distraction for them. Now, what we can do is entertain people while they are at home by showing new content,” Mohta shares.

    Hoichoi’s in-house team ideated the campaign. It has taken up 15 billboard spots across the city in prominent locations where people travel a lot through like Maa Flyover, UltadangaXing and Acropolis Mall. The team also partnered with outdoor companies with whom it has previously worked.  The goal is to start the work of putting out messages.

    “There are people stepping out. Malls have opened up in West Bengal and now there is a fair amount of traffic on roads. Even when you step out, it is not only about the number of people and the number of times, it is about the impact that your campaign has on people. Since we don't have too many campaigns around, so the recall value is great,” he shares.

    With Hoichoi taking the first step, others are likely to follow suit in the coming time.

  • Is it all gloomy for independent OTT players?

    Is it all gloomy for independent OTT players?

    MUMBAI: Though everyone is ravenous to take a bite out of India's rich streaming phenomenon, it's not all hunky dory for independent players. Consumer acquisition, retention and chalking out a sustainable monetisation plan are tougher than they seem. While deep-pocketed giants may survive, the road is rocky for independent platforms. 

    The downfall of two ambitious players

    Towards the end of 2019, Hong Kong-based over-the-top (OTT) platform Viu shut down its India business. The company cited highly competitive nature and the requirement of heavy investment without a path to sustained monetisation. Viu’s downfall was followed by Singapore-based telecom company, Singtel-backed, Singapore-based HOOQ. The service, available across Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and India, which was also backed by Warner and Sony, filed for liquidation last month in Singapore. HOOQ said in a statement that it had been unable to grow fast enough to keep up with global and regional rivals and also noted “significant structural changes” in the OTT video market in the five years since its launch.

    The statements of both Viu and HOOQ show the inability to grow a viable business model amid stiff competition. While the wave of online content started with small independent creators in the country, it's time for them to either join hands with bigger players or exit. Especially, when players like Netflix and Disney+Hotstar are earmarking billions for this market. Homegrown players are also investing highly. The sheer amount of content library, production quality along with smart UIs speak in their favour. 

    What lies ahead for independent players?

    “There is a global recession right now and these OTTs are vouching on a lot of these global fundings, private equity fundings. COVID-19 has a big impact and there will be a recession in many countries and lot of the funding activities will slow down. Because of the current crisis, if their mtrics like success rate, viewership, time spent etc., are not good, many OTTs will also shut down in near to medium term despite being well-funded. India is an extremely fragmented market. We have 35 plus OTTs causing all the more chances of many more shutting down,” Elara Capital VP – research analyst (Media) Karan Taurani says.

    SBICap Securities institutional equity research head Rajiv Sharma brings up three aspects. He talks about customer acquisition which is becoming an expensive exercise for independent OTT platforms with more serious players coming into the picture. He also adds that Netflix can amortise content produced in India in 130 markets. Broadcasters have catch-up TV content, the movies which they had acquired for the broadcasting business as a source of basic traffic for engagement.

    “Independent platforms have a small library, no access to other content or market and moreover, they are working on a small budget. Their mortality rate is high because users will watch something and delete it. So low stickiness means higher customer acquisition cost and whatever they are producing, they are not able to amortise it over a higher set of users. So per unit content cost or production cost is higher. These are the reasons we are seeing independent platforms struggling,” Sharma explains.

    Is it all gloomy for smaller and independent players?

    Platforms like ALTBalaji, Hoichoi are thriving without funding from any big network, broadcaster or tech giant. These two platforms have witnessed good uptake in users with an attractive content slate. Moreover, they have collaborated with existing rivals also to increase their reach and find an alternative source of revenue. While we tried to find what are the factors that help them to survive, both of the platforms cited the parent company’s long-term experience of producing content, hence understanding of consumer preference.

    “I think understanding of the customers is very important and having control over content is very important. Twenty five years of understanding consumers is very important because as we make a show or acquire a  movie, we exactly know what a consumer might want. We have been in the business long. It's not a question of money only. Another thing what works well for SVF is that we  have made 150 plus movies till now. We have relationships with all the producers of the business. So, when we wanted to license a movie, we could do it from every person in the industry. We had production experience, key understanding of content, relation with the industry and talents,” Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta says.

    “Being from the house of Balaji Telefilms, who have been catering to the audiences ever-changing preferences for over 25 years now, ALTBalaji has an advantage unlike no other of having a deep understanding and familiarity with the viewer’s consumption preferences. With content being our biggest differentiator, we have been catering to all kinds of audiences through our diverse content offerings spanning multiple languages. Moreover, Indian originals have picked up pace in the past few days as audiences are on the lookout for local relatable content and are spending more time online. With content being king, there is a growing acceptance amongst consumers to pay for unique narratives and good story telling which keeps them hooked to their screens,” Balaji Telefilms group COO and ALTBalaji CEO Nachiket Pantvaidya states.

    Yupp TV, another OTT platform which is tuning its business towards ed-tech direction in India, thinks that being an early mover, consolidation has helped it.YuppTV and YuppMaster founder and CEO Uday Reddy acknowledges, “ All the players who are in space are big broadcasters. They are already in the content space. They are just evolving from linear to digital. I don’t think many independent players are left now. If they don’t invest in capital, they won’t be able to sustain.”

    With the COVID-19 crisis, things are bound to change once the situation normalise.

  • Hoichoi’s Vishnu Mohta on lockdown subscriber metrics, pre-production plans and team collaboration

    Hoichoi’s Vishnu Mohta on lockdown subscriber metrics, pre-production plans and team collaboration

    MUMBAI: The OTT industry has been able to evade a large chunk of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with users thronging to streaming services for entertainment during lockdown.

    SVF-backed Bengali OTT service Hoichoi is also witnessing the sudden growth of paid subscribers, new users and engagement at a 4-5x rate. While there is a worry of churning new content as shootings have paused, Hoichoi is working to keep its story bank ready with more focus on pre-production right now to have a quick pick up after the crisis is over.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com, Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta speaks on how the situation has worked in the platform’s favour, how its content team is working and how the teams are coordinating effectively during work from home.

    Edited excerpts:

    How has the current situation unfolded for Hoichoi?

    Hoichoi is growing very fast. We have noticed a 4-5x growth in a lot of metrics overall, from the subscriber point of view, from an engagement point of view and from the number of new people coming on the platform. To be accurate, we have seen a 5X growth from paid-subscription point of view. 

    But the worry is that there's not going to be enough series that are going to be ready because West Bengal was first to stop all shootings and we went into lockdown even before the national lockdown. So there has not been much shooting during March and April. So, which new shows will be launched and how will you launch them?

    Have you noticed any particular demographic consuming more content during this lockdown?

    Everyone is watching equally, but the interesting thing is that there are so many people in the 50-plus age group who are also at home and watching it on devices like Amazon Firestick. That's a very interesting demographic. So, I think, now, Hoichoi is becoming a platform for everyone. Some people want to see old movies, some people want to see new movies while some people want to see original shows. 

    We have launched something called Live TV also so that people don't have to browse on other apps and say on Hoichoi all day. We have curated the best movies that we have on Live TV and we have created different TV channels out of it.

    How is the coordination taking place between your teams?

    We are working fairly well actually. Being a digital company, most of our content, documents have always been on Microsoft Teams which is meant for remote working. We already have teams in the US and Gurgaon, etc. So it's not been too much of a big effort.

    We get on a call every alternate day for one to two hours in the morning and everybody talks about what they're up to such as challenges, dependencies, etc. So, there is a little bit of interaction, also, in that virtual conference where all the team leaders are present. And different teams get on a call every day between themselves. So it's working out good.

    I think it also helps to be away from the office because you have fewer interruptions. People are more productive and they are working to the point and trying to get the job done.

    What are the key areas you are focusing on currently?

    We are working on customer happiness a lot, technical changes and innovations like Live TV. We have added some free-to-air channels. We are trying to create as much engagement channels as possible. In fact, we had seven or eight world digital premieres during this lockdown period. We have been lucky that we had that much content available that we could premiere on Hoichoi for the first time. 

    Are you planning to push some of your premium content to TV channels as those are running out of fresh content?

    We have discussed with a few people, but it's not something that we can announce at this stage. We have had discussions with Star, Zee and all these bands, but a deal has not been signed yet. But, on our platform, we have made a lot of content, including some new ones, free.

    Are you looking at easier payment gateways as more subscribers hop on board?

    We are going to start Google Pay very shortly. We never used to support Google Pay seamlessly. You could do UPI always, but now we have enabled an ability to pay via Google Pay in a much smoother manner because you don't even have to put in your UPI ID. We are launching referral programs where a subscriber can refer Hoichoi to a friend and both will get one month extra subscription. 

    How are you scripting shows now and ideating future projects?

    It's time for us to make sure that we finish scripting faster for all the content that we want to make so that pre-production can be better than ever. And we will try to gear up as much as possible so that when it opens our shoot can start immediately when it is safe enough to do it. We have also managed to create a story bank for the next six months already. So, instead of setting two or three shoots at a time, we will start four to six. After this gap period of probably two months, it will go back to normalcy maybe and then we will activate multiple teams to do multiple jobs at one go.

    Will you be looking at cutting down budgets given that a significant part of the year has been eaten up by the crisis? Will there be lay-offs for cost-cutting?

    We don't know yet about our budget.  It is very difficult to predict at this point. We are just taking one step at a time. Right now the business is up and we are in a growth phase. Another thing we have announced is that we're going to give a percentage of our subscription revenue earned during this period to various entities like the PM CARES, CM relief fund, Bangladesh relief fund, etc. However, there will be no lay-offs at Hoichoi. 
     

  • Hoichoi taking measures to reduce internet consumption overload

    Hoichoi taking measures to reduce internet consumption overload

    MUMBAI: In the wake of COVID-19 security measures, where the government is advising the population to stay home, work from home and follow social distancing, internet consumption has risen to such an extent that the COAI (Cellular Operators Association of India) has requested prominent streaming platforms to reduce their bitrates.

    In such a situation, it is essential for OTT platforms to cooperate and stream content strategically. Thus, Hoichoi is already taking significant steps to initiate the process of rolling back its bitrates. It will be complying with the COAI in limiting network congestion while its audience-base can enjoy their favourite content undisrupted with a seamless viewing experience.

    As per the requests laid out by the COAI, the measures being implemented are:

    -Hoichoi has disabled 1080p (HD – High Definition) downloads from its Offline Download feature.

    -There are no advertisements or pop-ups running on the platform, as Hoichoi is an SVOD streaming service.

    -Hoichoi is also working to limit streaming to 720p max, to be executed at the earliest.

    Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta commented, “Careful monitoring is being done in every step of the way so we can do our bit during these tough times. While we welcome the 4x spike in traffic we are gaining from users for our content, it is essential to also remember that requisite actions should be taken to not overburden our network providers and telecom partners.”