ITV

Tag: VOD

  • IndiaCast/Viacom18 all set for MIPCOM 2013

    IndiaCast/Viacom18 all set for MIPCOM 2013

    IIf you thought shows such as Comedy Nights with Kapil, Uttaran or even Jhalak Dikhhla Ja have takers only in India, you couldn’t be more wrong. Indeed, there is a huge demand for these programmes even in faraway markets like Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe to name a few.
    Which is exactly what draws aggregators and distributors such as IndiaCast to MIPCOM, the world’s biggest market for content.

    So what does IndiaCast have on offer this year at MIPCOM? “While we already have a strong syndication portfolio with our dramas. movies  and reality shows from Colors, we will also focus on content from our regional channels, news channels as well as the MTV content, “replies IndiaCast group COO Gaurav Gandhi, who will represent the company along with four others at MIPCOM.

    More specifically, IndiaCast/Viacom18’s entire catalogue will be on offer. “We have more than 25 channels in our network and so, our booth will feature content from all of these channels. This will include Ballika Vadhu, Uttaran, Madhubala, Jhalak Dikhhla Ja, Bigg Boss, MTV Roadies and also content from ETV and the news channels,” informs Gandhi.

    We will be looking at a strong syndication portfolio in our dramas and reality, we will also focus on content from regional channels, news channels as well as the MTV portfolio says Gaurav Gandhi

    And what is IndiaCast hoping to achieve at MIPCOM? Says Gandhi: “Indian dramas are finally breaking into mainstream in many markets. We hope to find more buyers who are willing to experiment and try Indian dramas for the mainstream local audiences in the respective markets and we want to target buyers who want to remake our shows  (with script and format rights) in their respective countries .  Latin America and Turkey have been the predominant forces in exporting their drama series sales worldwide. There is an opportunity for us to break into that market in a big way. Having already licensed our content to Africa and Europe (to the mainstream market), I am hoping to tap markets like Latin America this year.”

    Gandhi believes that demand for the programming that IndiaCast is hawking will also be strong in areas where Indian and south Asian diaspora are present in large numbers. This apart, there is another chunk of viewers in several countries which enjoy watching Indian programming dubbed and sub-titled in local languages. “Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa are some of these nations,” he says.”We are looking at new distribution outlets and buyers from there for both our channels and programmes at MipCom this year.”

    Citing a couple of examples of how the event is a platform to help export content and reach out to a larger base, Gandhi says: “It was here that we sold the script of our show Uttaran, for a remake in Africa. While normally Indian channels buy formats/ scripts, we were the first ones to have sold the script to an international player. We recently sold the MTV Roadies format internationally. The discussions for this had started in MIPCOM only.”  

    MIPCOM makes it easier for exhibitors to meet people from different markets and sell content. “If it wasn’t for a market like these where would one find buyers from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Tanzania?” he questions.

    And considering there is a sizeable regional population around the world, the aggregator is concentrating on regional content as well. “We have sold Gujarati content to a local channel in the US and also to west African countries this year. So for our regional content, this year, we will focus on building on that and tapping new markets” says Gandhi.

    The frenzied buying and selling of content apart, several affiliate meetings will keep IndiaCast executives busy at MIPCOM. “This is where we will talk about distribution of our channels; like Colors, MTV India, Rishtey which is our second GEC in the UK, ETV,  and News18 among a host of other channels,” informs Gandhi.   

    IndiaCast will concentrate on all platforms like Cable, DTH, IPTV, terrestrial and all forms, both linear and non-linear (VOD, SVOD, NVOD and PPV). “We are amongst the largest suppliers from India to VOD platforms. Our content is on Netflix, Itunes, YouTube etc. We have a lot of meetings lined up for such platforms as well,” he adds.

    It looks likely to be whistlestop and tiring MipCom for Gandhi and his team. And in all likelihood profitable too. 

  • Reliance Entertainment Digital has its eye on English entertainment content

    Reliance Entertainment Digital has its eye on English entertainment content

    Reliance Entertainment Digital CEO Manish Agarwal is pretty excited about his company’s date with MipCom this year.  Says he:  “We want to understand the market and its offering and how relevant it is for the digital business. We are always in search of some interesting and innovative content.” 

    For Agarwal, who is into content publishing, participation in Mipcom is likely to become an integral part of doing business, though his company is participating in it for the first time.
    “It gives us an opportunity to explore the large variety of content which we need for the various platforms like BigFlix, Zapak etc. We will obviously focus on networking with more content providers and aggregators across the globe,” says he.

     Reliance Entertainment Digital which launched its over the top (OTT) service BigFlix last year is sorted in terms of Indian programming and now wants add on international content in more genres and languages.

     “We want to expand our offerings to the consumer. Participating in Mipcom will help us explore more opportunities,” he says.

    We want to expand our offerings to the consume and participating in Mipcom will help us explore more opportunities believes Manish Agarwal

     Agarwal says that an increasing group of young Indian consumers is gorging on digitised content on hand held devices and on their PCs. “It is essential for Indian service providers to experiment with new type of content across genres and content-types. And it is just not that Indians will consume only trailers or paparazzi content, they will also look at different content and so we want to explore with a variety of content,” he highlights.

     The focus this year at Mipcom he emphasises will be on acquiring entertainment content – especially that which originates from English speaking nations or with English subtitles.
    “This will be entertainment for English speaking audiences, entertainment for masses and for kids. This is the reason we are going not only for Mipcom, but also for Mip Junior,” he informs.

    For those visiting Mipcom to sell gaming content, expect the Reliance Entertainment 

    representative at your stall. “We will also look at gaming content or gaming IPs on which games can be created. So we are aiming at kids entertainment both in gaming and VOD content which caters to everyone or in niche segments in the country,” says he. “In terms of gaming IPs, since we are present across the globe, we will go for any IP which is popular. So we will be hunting for any IP across different markets in order to get a license to create mobile games

     The OTT service which delivers its content online to connected devices – a la NetFlix in the US – is looking at stacking up its video-on-demand (VOD) menu. “This can subsume movies-on-demand, TV-serials-on-demand and animations-on-demand. And for gaming again we are looking at the mobile platforms.”

    And the company is shopping cheque book in hand. So sellers will indeed be kept busy by this emerging digital giant from India.

  • Viewster adds Red Bull Media House content

    Viewster adds Red Bull Media House content

    MUMBAI: The VOD service Viewster has added to its catalogue a slew of sports and culture content from Red Bull Media House, which will be available on demand for viewers in the UK, Benelux, Germany and the Nordics.

    The content package includes Red Bull Art of Motion, which showcases the disciplines of free running, parkour and martial arts; Red Bull Beat Battle, featuring epic dance battles in a range of styles; Red Bull Tops seasons one and two, highlighting the best of the best in a range of extreme athletics; and Red Bell Cliptomaniacs, a compilation of sports and action footage. Also part of the deal is Ryan Doyle Travel Story, a travel doc that features Ryan Doyle, a world champion in freestyle running.

    “Five years ago, when consumers wanted to be entertained, they switched on the TV. Today, they are turning to the web and on-demand video services,” said Viewster CEO Kai Henniges. “Smart brands like Red Bull with its media company Red Bull Media House have recognised this and are now looking at new distribution channels that will introduce their content to new audiences. By making content available on-demand, sports and music fans worldwide can watch this unique content whenever and however they choose. And with our ever-increasing library of film and TV content also available, it’s not surprising that we’re continuing to see month-on-month growth worldwide, as audiences discover new and interesting content.”

    “As the models for providing content continue to evolve, Red Bull Media House is committed to engaging audiences with high-quality programming on the platforms that are relevant to them,” added Red Bull Media House chief commercial officer Alexander Koppel. “Digital options are an integrated part of our delivery system, and we look forward to sharing compelling content with Viewster’s expansive audience.”

  • Viewster adds Red Bull Media House content

    MUMBAI: The VOD service Viewster has added to its catalogue a slew of sports and culture content from Red Bull Media House, which will be available on demand for viewers in the UK, Benelux, Germany and the Nordics.

     

    The content package includes Red Bull Art of Motion, which showcases the disciplines of free running, parkour and martial arts; Red Bull Beat Battle, featuring epic dance battles in a range of styles; Red Bull Tops seasons one and two, highlighting the best of the best in a range of extreme athletics; and Red Bell Cliptomaniacs, a compilation of sports and action footage. Also part of the deal is Ryan Doyle Travel Story, a travel doc that features Ryan Doyle, a world champion in freestyle running.

    “Five years ago, when consumers wanted to be entertained, they switched on the TV. Today, they are turning to the web and on-demand video services,” said Viewster CEO Kai Henniges. “Smart brands like Red Bull with its media company Red Bull Media House have recognised this and are now looking at new distribution channels that will introduce their content to new audiences. By making content available on-demand, sports and music fans worldwide can watch this unique content whenever and however they choose. And with our ever-increasing library of film and TV content also available, it‘s not surprising that we‘re continuing to see month-on-month growth worldwide, as audiences discover new and interesting content.”

     

    “As the models for providing content continue to evolve, Red Bull Media House is committed to engaging audiences with high-quality programming on the platforms that are relevant to them,” added Red Bull Media House chief commercial officer Alexander Koppel. “Digital options are an integrated part of our delivery system, and we look forward to sharing compelling content with Viewster‘s expansive audience.”

  • NBCUniversal’s PictureBox gets UK relaunch

    NBCUniversal’s PictureBox gets UK relaunch

    MUMBAI: NBCUniversal has started offering its movie video on demand (VOD) service PictureBox Films direct to consumers in the UK and Ireland following a redesign and rebrand of the platform.

    With the relaunch, customers can directly access 60 films on their PC, Samsung Smart TVs and iOS and Android mobile devices for ?4.99 a month. Titles will be refreshed every week. The lineup includes The Eagle, The American, Bridget Jones‘ Diary, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Jarhead and The Bourne Identity.

    PictureBox first rolled out in the UK in 2006 in conjunction with various pay TV partners and is still accessible via Virgin Media, TalkTalk, BT Vision and Top Up TV. The service is also accessible in Poland, Russia, Latin America, Brazil and Singapore via local platform providers.

  • Time Warner Cable to offer content directly to Samsung Smart TVs without STB

    Time Warner Cable to offer content directly to Samsung Smart TVs without STB

    NEW DELHI: Time Warner Cable (TWC) has made available its TWC TV application on compatible Samsung Smart TVs to enable customers to see television without a set-top box.

    TWC video subscribers will have instant access to 5,000 Video on Demand (VOD) titles from nearly 100 networks.

    Samsung Electronics America content & product solutions VP Eric Anderson said: “The application will provide existing Time Warner Cable subscribers with more control and choice for how they access their Time Warner Cable content over their Samsung Smart TVs without having to be tethered to their cable box.”

    “SmartTV is an important product for Samsung in the TV market. In April 2012, global market research agency IHS said shipments of televisions in 2012 amounted to 238.5 million units, down 6.3 per cent from 254.6 million in 2011. Shipments aren‘t expected to rise back to the 2011 level until 2015, when they will amount to 253.1 million units,” he adds.

    “Time Warner Cable is giving customers more flexibility in how they watch the content they love through our TWC TV application for Samsung Smart TVs,” said Video for Time Warner Cable senior VP & GM Mike Angus.

    The TWC TV application will be available for download initially on 2012 Samsung Smart TVs and the 2013 Samsung Smart TVs soon afterwards. Channel line-ups vary by market and depend on the video subscription package to which a customer subscribes.

  • Cablemas strengthens VOD expansion and strategic partnership with ConaxXtend Multiscreen

    Cablemas strengthens VOD expansion and strategic partnership with ConaxXtend Multiscreen

    NEW DELHI: Conax, a leading global provider of solutions for securing multi-device and digital video content distribution, has tied up with Mexican cable operator Cablemas to further expand their video on demand (VOD) platform with ConaxXtend Multiscreen

    In a contract with security partner Conax, Cablemas which is Mexico‘s second largest operator, is continuing its aggressive market approach by rolling out additional VOD content to the residential and hospitality segment to a multiscreen savvy consumer looking for advanced broadband services. The platform‘s Hybrid STBs are being provided by Evolution Digital.

    Rohit Mehra, VP Americas, Conax, said: “Over the last few years, working hand-in- hand with the team at Cablemas and our strategic partners Evolution Digital and Cubiware for middleware, we continue to evolve and foster innovative and future-driven solutions for guiding Cablemas through digitisation and beyond for realising new revenue channels and churn protection. Conax and partners are privileged to work with the forward-thinking and skilled team at Cablemas.”

    ConaxXtend Multiscreen solution offers not only VOD solutions, but also advanced services such as Catch up, Live TV, nPVR and multiscreen. Conax will be demonstrating the benefits offered by the Xtend Multiscreen ecosystem this week at Canitec 2013, in Mexico City.

    Owned by power-house Televisa, Latin America‘s second largest media company, Cablemas currently serves over 1.6 million pay-TV subscribers, 315,000 VoIP customers, and 600,000 broadband customers, in more than 50 cities across Mexico.

    Integrating the VOD part of the ConaxXtend Multiscreen solution will provide Cablemas with flexibility to add more local content to their platform and add a rich library to their Hospitality and Residential markets.

    The partnership is enabling Cablem??s to revolutionise its growth and penetration of the digital TV market by providing advanced services to consumers throughout Mexico. Cablemas continues to develop for a quality product offering and customisation, both in packaging and user interface. The operator is providing a consumer experience and a vision for the future. higher security and a simple, yet elegant VOD offering and market differentiator, enabled reduce churn and illegal distribution, and increase revenue through premium VOD content – while continuing to add new features and solutions, such as a bouquet of value-added triple play services.

  • Johannes Larcher departs Hulu

    Johannes Larcher departs Hulu

    MUMBAI: US Video on Demand (Vod) service Hulu‘s senior VP of international, Johannes Larcher, has stepped down.

    His departure comes ahead of reports that the company will be sold. There are seven companies chasing it including Yahoo!.

    Larcher joined Hulu in 2009 and two years later oversaw the site‘s move into the Japanese market. This is its only foreign launch so far.

    Larcher led the company‘s expansion to Japan two years back and was tasked with launching the service in other territories.

  • How to build and engage TV audiences through Twitter

    How to build and engage TV audiences through Twitter

    CANNES: How do broadcasters mine into the social treasure trove that is Twitter? Twitter’s head of broadcast partnerships UK Dan Biddle attempted to answer this during one of the MipCube’s sessions in MipTV in Cannes.

    He pointed out that Twitter has 200 million users the world over who post about a billion tweets every two and a half days. 60 per cent of these users access twitter using their mobile phones.

    He disclosed that TV works like glue for Twitter citing UK’s example where 40 per cent of tweets are made during prime time and are about TV. “Twitter is the room we watch TV in,” he said with a confident smile. “While hash tag is the campfire around which people tell stories.”

    He cited examples like Dogging Tales – a documentary which covered people who wanted to have anonymous sex. Thanks to the right push, it got some 120 million tweets. The twitter buzz drew viewers to the show like bees to a honey pot who switched on their TV sets almost immediately. Others who could not watch it tuned into it with catch up TV.

    He then narrated the case of Saturday Night Takeaway one of the teams used to post a frozen pose before the kick off. They decided to get viewers to interact with their team and send in what their pose of the week should be. Audiences and followers on Twitter deluged them with poses before the show started.

    He also gave the example of a show Fishfight wherein viewers were given two minutes during a commercial break to send in tweets relating to “what are your prawns eating?” with the hash tag #fishfight to supermarkets. The exercise was to raise awareness of unsustainably fed prawns. Around 16,000 tweets poured in the 120 second window.

    “The effort worked well in making the show engaging,” said Biddle.

    Broadcasters and producers can also take a cue from what ESPN Sports Centre does with instant replays, he said.

    “They clip out key moments of the game and send it out as instant replays. They know users could do it; they decided to beat them to it,” he revealed.

    “It is very engaging for followers. ESPN has also got Ford to put in some money behind it through pre-roll ads and further promote to its own community.”

    Biddle’s believes that broadcasters and producers would do well to programme Twitter as they would programme their channels. “Bear in mind Twitter is the ultimate teaser, not spoiler,” he emphasized.

    “Also take advantage of feedback and amplify it further even if it something you did not expect. There’s opportunity even there if you look at it different.”

    His step by step bible for doing it right is as follows:

    Before the show: Preview clipspredictions and start the talent talking on twitter.

    During the show: Amplify the tweet spot by encouraging polling/voting and playing of games around it. And continue to get the talent tweeting.

    After the show: Have recaps, sneak peeks, reviews and feedback. Reward loyalty and keep the conversation going. Finally, drive audiences to VOD or other pay platforms which can help you monetize your content.

  • Celestial Pictures strikes VoD deal with Taiwan Mobile

    Celestial Pictures strikes VoD deal with Taiwan Mobile

    MUMBAI: Celestial Pictures Limited (CPL) has signed a multi-year distribution deal with Taiwan Mobile to make transactional video-on-demand (TVoD) available to the mobile operator‘s vast customer base, allowing a new generation of movie lovers to enjoy Shaw Brothers films on their networked devices at their convenience.

    Under the agreement, CPL will be licensing the rights to Taiwan Mobile to distribute Shaw Brothers‘ titles, such as ‘Come Drink With Me, ‘The New One-Armed Swordsman‘ and ‘Have Sword Will Travel‘, via Taiwan Mobile‘s myVideo over-the-top video service. The selection will be refreshed and expanded regularly with titles from CPL‘s extensive Shaw Brothers Film Library.

    MyVideo subscribers will be able to stream each movie via TVOD. Standard features include unlimited viewings of a movie within a 48-hour window on subscribers‘ smartphone, iPad, tablet PC or desktop after their purchase.

    CPL head of business, legal affairs Kristen Tong said, “We are delighted to join forces with Taiwan Mobile, the leading mobile entertainment provider, and to introduce Celestial‘s Shaw Brothers Film Library to its subscribers. Taiwan is a mature market with a high penetration of smartphones, and a rapidly increasing number of 3G users. We are thrilled to enter a market with such tremendous growth potential for data intensive applications, and I am sure this move of making classic movies available on demand will be well received here,” said.

    This landmark deal marks the first ever CPL movie distribution over a mobile platform in Taiwan. Celestial Pictures has also signed similar mobile VoD deals in Malaysia and Indonesia earlier.