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Tag: VOOT

  • OTT players claim voluntary compliance as TRAI petitioned on anti-tobacco norms breach

    OTT players claim voluntary compliance as TRAI petitioned on anti-tobacco norms breach

    MUMBAI / NEW DELHI: Even though the Indian government has asked the broadcast carriage and telecoms regulator TRAI to rein in OTT platforms for alleged flouting of norms relating to tobacco and alcohol advisories in programmes, a majority of digital players claim to be voluntarily adhering to government directives meant primarily for TV shows despite absence of regulations for the sector.

    “As we belong to the traditional medium of television, it comes from within to carry Indian government-advised disclaimer (relating to scenes in TV shows and films involving tobacco and alcohol consumption),” Alt Balaji CMO Manav Sethi told Indiantelevision.com, adding, it is “not mandatory” for OTT platforms to do so, though.

    According to Arre co-founder and CEO Ajay Chacko, “OTT platforms are regulated under the Information Technology Act, but carrying a disclaimer relating to tobacco and alcohol consumption in shows depends upon the online content creators. We certainly carry a disclaimer highlighting the negative effects of alcohol and tobacco on health in our shows as done in films.”

    In a controversial and much-debated move, which some critics dubbed as killing creative freedom, the ministry of health and family welfare, some years ago, had come out with a directive stating that all films and TV shows had to carry a disclaimer regarding the negative effects of tobacco and alcohol consumption during scenes where artistes were shown doing the same.

    But why a hue and cry now relating to shows on OTT platforms?

    The ministry of health, according to a report in Millennium Post yesterday, has written to TRAI to ensure that OTT players such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hotstar, Reliance Jio and Voot adhere to the ministry’s directive relating to anti-tobacco and alcohol norms. The ministry felt that OTT and digital platforms were not running health-related disclaimers as done by movies and traditional TV shows. 

    But, why lobby with TRAI, which doesn’t regulate or govern content-related issues? In the opinion of the ministry of health, as enunciated by the newspaper report, internet-based services fell within the purview of the Telecoms Ministry and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the issue was flagged with TRAI since anti-alcohol and anti-tobacco agencies were finding it difficult to enforce the rule on errant OTT players.

    Though a source in Voot said it voluntarily runs during shows a health warning ticker — like “Smoking is injurious to health” — as part of “best practices”, the health ministry’s letter to TRAI highlights the conundrum of content regulation relating to OTT platforms.

    Indian films and TV programmes started carrying disclaimers on the negative effects of alcohol and tobacco consumption to adhere to the health ministry directive, indirectly enforced by the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB), but at present there are no regulations relating to OTT platforms in India.

    TRAI has been debating the issue of OTT regulations, as part of net neutrality, with the stakeholders for over a year now but is still in the process of finalising its recommendations, which are expected to be unveiled some time soon.

    However, it is pertinent to point out that TRAI’s jurisdiction doesn’t extend to content regulation and is limited to content distribution and distribution platforms. As there’s no official content regulator like the Ofcom or the FCC, Indian TV channels broadly follow industry-formulated self-regulation norms, guided by pointers enumerated in the Cable TV Networks Regulation Act that’s enforced by MIB.

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  • Niche regional OTT player Hoichoi offers Bengali content on iOS, Android and Chromecast

    Niche regional OTT player Hoichoi offers Bengali content on iOS, Android and Chromecast

    MUMBAI: As predicted by most observers, regionalisation as well as niche services are coming to the VOD or OTT ecosystem in India. It’s happening at a trickle now, but could gain momentum over the next few months. For with its large population of more than a billion mobile users, there is room for more — for sure. Kolkata-based Bengali entertainment major Shree Venkatesh Films (SVF), is the latest to take the plunge with its OTT play called Hoichoi.

    Vishnu Mohta – one of the promoters – who has worked with KPMG Risk Advisory and Lloyds TSB corporate strategy in their London offices, is the driving force behind the new platform which is targeting 220 million Bengalis globally. With original web-series, short films, and documentaries exclusively for Hoichoi in the pipeline, the service will also offer over 500 Bengali Movies and 1000 songs for subscribers. Recently, in the run-up to the Hoichoi launch, SVF had rolled out an innovative social media campaign to promote its upcoming original web series, an adult-comedy, Dupur Thakurpo.

    Among the big players in the game figure global players such as Amazon Prime and Netflix, and homegrown startups such as Hotstar, dittoTV, Voot, ALT Balaji and SonyLiv, as well as independent platforms such as TVF Play and Spuul. The congested Indian OTT market has around 32 plus players – some with an overwhelming or exclusive content, some with niche content or pricing plans and others who want to be counted.

    SVF, on its part, had selected ViewLift, a global content distribution and monetisation platform, as its technology partner. The VOD service claims to provide the largest collection of the best in Bengali entertainment content on Web, iOS, Android, and Chromecast. ViewLift CTO Manik Bambha states, “Hoichoi is well positioned to capture significant opportunities in the space with a niche offering meant for Bengali consumers. Hoichoi will benefit from our extensive marketing, data and analytics tools that will help them enhance interaction with their audience.”

    “ViewLift is an expert in the OTT space,” says Vishn, who has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Bond University Australia and MSc in International Business from Aston University Birmingham, UK. With enhanced service architecture, extensive data and analytics insights, and global client support, ViewLift delivers high quality video consumption experiences worldwide.

    SVF is helmed by Shrikant Mohta, Mahendra Soni and Vishnu. Shrikant is SVF’s creative muscle who produced the internationally acclaimed ‘Chokher Bali’ and five other national award-winning films — ‘Raincoat’, ‘Memories in March’, ‘Apur Panchali’, ‘Chotoder Chobi’, and ‘Chander Pahar’. President of Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA), and an active member of Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), he initiated the shooting of Bengali films abroad.

    Under Soni’s leadership, SVF distributed almost 900 films including blockbusters like ‘Dangal’, ‘Sultan’, ‘Dabangg’, ‘Ghajini’, ‘’Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’, ‘Kahaani 2’, ‘The Jungle Book’, ‘Kapoor & Sons’, ‘Neerja’, ‘Airlift’ and Drishyam.’ He also drives satellite and music syndication deals, along with film acquisitions.

    Mohta and Soni are pretty gung-ho about Hoichoi. The Indian consumer who has access to OTT entertainment — with internet penetration around 32-34 per cent today, and one-third owning smartphones — may well be spoilt for choice, now.

  • Voot brings BBC’s famed non-scripted original about social media madness today

    Voot brings BBC’s famed non-scripted original about social media madness today

    MUMBAI: Scaling a treacherous mountain pass, battling wildlife and river rapids in the forests and beating the gruelling desert sun – Can you survive and stay alive in these harsh, uninhabited terrains with the help of just a Smartphone and a data strong network?

    Viacom 18’s video-on-demand streaming service Voot is all set to answer this question with the launch of India’s first-ever ‘Digital Survival Series’ and its newest original – Vodafone presents “Stupid Man Smart Phone” powered by Motorola.

    Produced by BBC Worldwide Productions and hosted by the acclaimed actor and digital star Sumeet Vyas, the show will introduce the audience to a never seen before format in the history of Indian entertainment where a smart phone and a super network is the only means of survival.

    This unique and engaging show is all set to premiere exclusively on 20 September on Voot .

    Viacom18 Digital Ventures’ COO Gaurav Gandhi said: “Voot continues to take the leadership mantle on innovation with many pioneering initiatives across both content and technology. The latest Voot original, a category first, is one such initiative, that will offer a completely differentiated and engaging experience to our audience.”

    Voot head of content Monika Shergill said “For the first time, an internationally recognised non-scripted format of this scale is being produced as a streaming original series. The show is unique with today’s social media madness at the heart of it. It’s the only show where followers of Sumeet and his partners participate and aid in their survival choices. This unique concept with its social engagement potential, grandeur and edgy humour is sure to provide an immersive entertainment experience to all.”

    A winner of the ‘Best Multi-Platform Format’ at the 2017 International Format Awards in Cannes earlier, this Indian adaptation of the BBC Worldwide format features Vyas and a celebrity guest travelling across three unforgiving terrains, trying to complete the mission at hand while being aided by their smartphones and their legions of social media followers.

    BBC Worldwide SVP and GM – south-east Asia and south Asia Myleeta Aga said: “India is the first country in Asia that will air the Indian version of this BBC format and we will be producing it for our long-standing partners at Viacom.”

    Vodafone EVP – marketing Siddharth Banerjee said,“Vodafone is happy to partner with content that is new-age and digital. It’s is a show with connectivity at the heart of the storytelling. The format enables the protagonists to #MakeMostOfNow with the Vodafone Data Strong Network™ and navigate challenges as they traverse diverse geographies across India in the Voot show.”

    Motorola India head of marketing Rachna Lather said, “The viewers will see how much fun Sumeet and his friends have using the Moto Z2 play with Moto mods while performing the tough challenges”.

    Along with their inimitable personality, each celebrity guest also brings to the show their extensive social media fan base which coupled with Vyas’s massive internet following makes for relevant and often crucial interactions through all the episodes.

    In the lush rainforests of South India, Vyas teams up with the vibrant Evelyn Sharma while the harsh Rajasthan desert sun beats down upon YouTube funny man Sahil Khattar and TV hearthrob Karan Kundra keeps Sumeet company in the untouched mountains of Arunachal Pradesh.

  • Gaurav Gandhi says PWA enhanced content consumption experience as Voot triumphs at IBC

    Gaurav Gandhi says PWA enhanced content consumption experience as Voot triumphs at IBC

    MUMBAI: Content is the king, but technology is the supreme general.

    Voot has won the coveted International Broadcasting Convention 2017 (IBC2017) Innovation Award for Content Distribution for its Progressive Web App (PWA) product – Voot Lite, in Amsterdam on 17 September.

    Viacom18’s ad-supported VoD service, Voot, was the only online video service that was shortlisted for the awards amongst 190 plus global entries.

    Voot COO Gaurav Gandhi said, “In the video streaming business, both content and technology play an equally important role. While Viacom18 is well-known for pioneering efforts and leadership in the content business, it is indeed great to have our company featured on the global technology leaderboard as well. In this business particularly, partnerships and alliances are key to achieving big milestones and we would like to thank the team at Google for providing us support in our PWA.”

    IBC has recognised Voot’s initiative in giving mobile web users an app like experience in consuming digital video. Voot was an early adopter of this technology which led to a huge jump in users and video watch time on its mobile web.

    Voot is the first video platform to have launched a PWA product and that includes offline page caching functionality, fast loading, responsive interface and push notifications. The ‘Add to Home Screen’ feature of PWA allows the user to launch the page from their home screen like a native app and a service worker decreases load times.

    Launched in 2016, Voot at present hosts over 40,000 hours of content on its streaming service and has over 25 million monthly active users.

  • Voot originals’ strategy of disruptive shows unfolds with ‘Yo Ke Hua Bro’ from 18 Aug

    MUMBAI: Voot’s “Yo Ke Hua Bro,” the 5-part comedy web-series starring Aparshakti Khuranna, Gaurav Pande, and Shamita Shetty is set to go live on 18 August 2017.

    Viacom 18’s video-on-demand streaming service Voot is all set to launch its next Voot Original – “Yo Ke Hua Bro”. Set in the heartland of Haryana, Yo Ke Hua Bro is an edgy comedy that brings to life the comic capers of the desi dumb and dumber! The show is set to add a new shade of rustic humour to the diverse palette of Voot Originals. The show with the bros — Aparshakti Khuranna & Gaurav Pandey along with the divas Shamita Shetty and Ridhima Pandit is set to go live on August 18th, 2017 only on Voot.

    Set in Haryana where hormones are raging and the sex ratio is skewed we meet 2 ‘BROS’ who don’t yield results! Be it clearing their graduation, their entrance exams, landing a girl or even a date… this original series is full of moments that will make most bro’s go “Yo Ke Hua Bro”. But the biggest Yo Ke Hua Bro moment is when these desi bro’s land themselves in a Kaand! Yes you heard that right! Boys in a kaand that will exemplify the male species! What is this scandal? Watch the show to find out more!

    The show will see actors Aparshakti Khuranna (Famously known for his character in Dangal), Gaurav Pandey (critically acclaimed for his role in Badrinath Ki Dulhania) essay the roles of the 2 Bro’s. The stunning divas Shamita Shetty and Ridhima Pandit will essay the roles of the sassy women who challenge the boys. In a special appearance will be the digital phenomena Sumeet Vyas, in a never see before role of a maverick cop.

    Speaking about Voot Orignals, Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gaurav Gandhi said: “We have a very aggressive original’s strategy that will see a slew of innovative & disruptive shows being brought alive. Our endeavour with Voot Originals like Yo Ke Hua Bro is to ensure that we create content that engages & entertains the discerning digital viewer. We will see many more such differentiated originals from Voot in the coming months.”

    Viacom18 Digital Ventures head of content Monika Shergill said: “We are looking at launching many more series this year each with a differentiated pitch. Kick starting this plan with our latest offering – Yo Kay Hua Bro is set in heartland India. It is a comic caper with a unique twist! Men beware… we are about to spark the imagination of many women!!”

    Yo Ke Hua Bro is Voot’s eight original since its launch in May 2016. With shows like It’s not that Simple, Shaadi Boys, Badman, Untag amongst other, Voot has created a wide palette of content catering to the entertainment needs of the discerning viewers. Voot “Yo Ke Hua Bro” with its high decibel humour, spirit and desi chutzpah is all set to go live.

  • OTT’s first digital talent hunt for kids launched on Voot

    MUMBAI: HDFC Life, a private life insurance company, has announced the return of HDFC Life Young Stars Season 2 in partnership with Voot, a Video-on-Demand platform from Viacom18.

    Conceptualised by Maxus for HDFC Life, this unique digital talent show for kids includes performances by children, between the ages of 6 and 14, in the popular categories of Dancing, Singing, Acting and Musical Instruments. The engaging show HDFC Life YoungStars Season 2, showcasing kids and their inspiring talent, is now streaming exclusively on Voot .

    Along with mesmerizing audiences with their stellar performances, the young prodigies will also be mentored and judged by celebrity experts from the respective fields. The celebrity judges this season include:

    – Salman Yusuff Khan, a popular dancer turned actor of ABCD fame, will be making his judging debut and mentoring the young dancers

    – Jay Bhanushali, an award winning television actor and renowned host, will be mentoring the child actors

    – Harshdeep Kaur, the Bollywood singing sensation, will be mentoring young singers, while

    – Leslie Lewis of Colonial Cousins fame will be mentoring the budding musicians.

    YoungStars Season 2 aligns to HDFC Life’s digital first focus and Voot’s vision of curating innovative content experiences. Parents uploaded their child’s video clips on the Young Stars microsite, which were then shortlisted. The selected children will get mentored by the celebrity judges, who will nurture their talent in the field of their choice. The finale will include a faceoff between the finalists and the winners, who will be adjudged ‘HDFC Life Young Stars’ and will get the opportunity to perform with the celebrity mentors.

    Commenting on YoungStars Season 2, Pankaj Gupta, EVP-Strategic Alliances, Bancassurance & Marketing, HDFC Life said, “Every child has a special talent that blooms through recognition and constant encouragement. Keeping this in mind, we launched HDFC Life YoungStars, an innovative digital platform that gives parents the opportunity to nurture their child’s talent, through expert guidance. The platform allows us, as a brand, to give parents the ability to secure more than just their child’s financial future.”

    Pooja Verma, Head – Content, Sports and Entertainment Partnerships at Maxus, said, “Maxus is incredibly proud to have established HDFC Life YoungStars as a valuable asset for HDFC Life to bring alive the brand’s proposition of ‘Sar utha ke jiyo!’. The show extensively engaged with parents and kids, in line with the deeply rooted brand philosophy.”

    She further added, “We are excited to reprise the success of HDFC Life YoungStars at an even bigger scale this year, together with the perfect partner that we found in Voot. The encouraging response so far has once again, affirmed our expertise and belief in the power of using content for brands to tell their stories in newer and compelling ways.”

    Monika Shergill, Head of Content, Viacom 18 Digital Ventures said “We at Voot are always looking at bringing content innovation to our viewers. With HDFC Life YoungStars 2, we have brought alive an immersive platform for kids to showcase their talent. With this show, we are confident of providing entertainment & engagement for all our viewers – both parents and kids.”

    She further added “We are happy to partner with HDFC Life and Maxus to promote new and unique talent amongst kids. Both HDFC Life and Voot have a shared vision of empowering kids and with this initiative we intend to tap into their early potential and give them a platform to show case the same to the world.”

  • Indian online video to grow to US 1.6 bn at 35 percent CAGR by 2022

    MUMBAI: Media Partners Asia (MPA) estimates that the Indian online video industry generated approximately US$ 230 million in total sales in 2016, and is on course to reach approximately US$340 million in 2017. MPA projects a 35 percent CAGR to 2022 as total industry sales top US$1.6 billion.

    Further, the MPA report entitled Asia Pacific Online Video & Broadband Distribution, says that the Asia Pacific online video market will scale to US$ 46 billion by 2022, with China contributing more than 75 percent. MPA indicates that online video revenues, including net advertising and subscription fees, will grow at a 21 percent CAGR across the region between 2017 and 2022, climbing from US$17.6 billion in 2017 to US$46 billion by 2022.

    Said Mumbai-based MPA Vice President Mihir Shah: “In 2016, Jio’s 4G launch intensified competition slashing mobile data prices. The currency demonetization initiative by the government, implemented towards the end of 2016, also helped spur a significant improvement in the digital payments infrastructure in the country. Both these events have served as catalysts for online video consumption and monetization. By 2022, SVOD will account for 17 percent of the online video market in terms of revenues. Online video consumption will remain dominated by YouTube with domestic challengers Hotstar and Voot performing robustly but in a distant second and third place, respectively.”

    China will continue to contribute the lion’s share of customers and revenues to the online video industry in Asia Pacific, garnering 85 percent of SVOD customers and 78 percent of online video sector revenues by 2022. Such growth and scale reflects: (1) Wide-scale investment in original and acquired OTT content, including early and exclusive windows; (2) A weak market for traditional pay-TV, creating an opportunity for premium content distribution and monetization through online video; (3) Steady improvements in broadband reach and infrastructure, as well as increased adoption of smart TVs and set-top boxes; (4) Consumer adoption of seamless payment systems, developed by the owners of some of the most popular online video services, who are also leveraging data analytics and bundling to create new cohesive new ecosystems for content, commerce and communication. China’s online video market is largely ad-supported but with subscription’s share of revenue hitting 33 percent in 2017 (compared to 18 percent in 2015 and 26 percent in 2016), prospects for a demand-driven subscription model remain bright.

    Japan, Australia, India, Korea and Taiwan will emerge as the markets ex-China with the most scale in online video revenues and distribution. This reflects robust payment infrastructure, including in India, along with the growth of advertising-funded platforms and the steady rise of premium, subscription-based platforms. Piracy and under-developed payment infrastructure will continue to limit growth across much of Southeast Asia although increased broadband penetration (led by mobile connectivity) positions telcos as key partners to drive online video revenues. Online video advertising, in particular, remains a scalable and vital opportunity in Southeast Asia while SVOD revenues will grow rapidly from a very low base.

    Said MPA executive director Vivek Couto: “Advances in telecoms and payment infrastructure continue to point the way forward for the online video sector in Asia Pacific, although business models and regulations continue to evolve in a sector that’s still nascent in most territories. Key trends are emerging: (1) Services anchored to nimble, robust and sustainable business models – built around strong execution and scalable content consumption – are rising to the top; (2) Access to local and Asian content is increasingly essential in almost all markets, while demand for recent windows for franchise-based Hollywood product is also robust. Demand for original content along with movies, kids content and sports is also becoming more important; (3) Content curation, packaging and pricing remain critical, along with brand equity. Telecom operators, which have been focused on either paid conversion or mass reach to drive value, are increasingly moving to tighter payment per consumption models in pursuit of ROI across key video partnerships; (4) The value of branded destinations will increase rapidly within the online video ecosystem as platforms and operators forge partnerships with broadcasters and content players; (5) Leading local and regional players ex-China will start to capitalize on a massive online video advertising opportunity, hitherto dominated in the main by YouTube.”

    According to MPA, the online video advertising pie in Asia Pacific will grow from under US$12 billion in 2017 to more than US$25 billion by 2022. Ex-China, this opportunity equates to US$7 billion by 2022 versus US$3 billion in 2017. YouTube and to some extent Facebook will remain dominant, with an average 75 percent market share of online video advertising between them ex-China by 2022, versus 85 percent in 2017. Japan, India and Australia, followed by Korea, will be the biggest online video ad markets after China over this period. In SVOD, consumer spend ex-China will accelerate from a low base as revenues reach ~US$3.1 billion in 2022 versus US$1.5 billion in 2017. Japan and Australia will account for a combined 55 percent of value by 2022 versus 68 percent in 2017. Southeast Asia’s contribution will climb rapidly from a mere 9 percent in 2017 to 15 percent by 2022. Indirect SVOD revenues, which reflect wholesale fees paid by telcos to online video platforms as part of bundling and integration agreements, will remain important in the medium term but become less significant longer-term. Even in the short-to-medium term, telecom operators are recalibrating their approach to ROI with a greater focus on payment per consumption models. Ex-China, SVOD indirect fees will grow from only US$110 million in 2017 to US$213 million by 2022. Average SVOD subscriber penetration of the population will only reach 9.8 percent in 2017. This should increase to ~19 percent by 2022 as total SVOD subs, including direct and indirect connections, scale from 341 million in 2017 to 676 million by 2022 (from 58 million to 102 million ex-China).

    Exponential growth of mobile internet connectivity, combined with a slow but steady transition to next-generation fixed broadband, will provide a significant boost to online video consumption, reach and monetization. According to MPA, data revenues across fixed and mobile networks in Asia Pacific are sizable at US$236 billion in 2017. These will reach US$318 billion by 2022, with the ex-China market size at ~US$175 billion by 2022 versus US$126 billion in 2017. Average mobile broadband penetration will reach 73 percent per capita by 2022 versus 59 percent in 2017, with some of the biggest growth coming from India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Average fixed broadband penetration will grow steadily from 44 percent to 52 percent of households over 2017-22, with the focus increasingly on upgrading high-speed networks using fibre and next-generation cable technologies.

  • VIDNET 2017: MINING THE BURGEONING OTT/VOD SECTOR

    MUMBAI: Leaders of India’s OTT, live streaming and video on demand ecosystem will be congregating at the Hotel Westin in Mumbai’s Goregaon suburb to participate in the second edition of indiantelevision.com’s industry confab VIDNET 2017- Content on the Go.

    Heads of Hotstar, DittoTV, Voot, SonyLiv, YuppTV and Viu, BARC’s planned digital measurement offering and the entertainment and media partnership heads of YouTube India and Facebook India will be highlighting the progress that their platforms have made and the way forward for video on demand and streaming services which are in their relative infancy but have seen tremendous traction over the past year or so..

    “2016-17 has been a year of an explosion in video consumption for the plethora of VOD and streaming service providers who have popped up in India,” says Indiantelevision.com group founder, CEO & editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari. “This is thanks to dropping bandwidth prices, the Reliance Jio effect of free data. Humungous investments are being poured into original content by Netflix, and Amazon, even as others are either investing in movies, sports, or kids content. This at a time when they are grappling with the business model: go pay or free or a mix of both. Our estimate is that around Rs 1,500-1,700 crore has already been invested by the various players. Thus, VIDNET 2017 is happening at an apt time. It will help foster discussions, relationships, deals between the various players and possibly allow for new ideas to flow in. A stellar lineup of speakers makes VIDNET, the industry’s leading VOD thought gathering.”

    VIDNET 2017 is slated to feature panel discussions on whether OTT/VOD/digital video is a sound investment proposition, its attractiveness to advertisers, the need for deeper distribution for the platforms, and who should be commissioned to produce the content, Bollywood biggies or smaller independents.

    Among the speakers who will be sharing their views at VIDNET include:

    Arre co-founder & CEO Ajay Chacko,

    Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan,

    Still and Still Media collective founder

    Amritpal Singh Bindra,

    Indiantelevision.com group founder, CEO & editor in chief Anil Wanvari,

    Pocket Aces founder Anirudh Pandita,

    Z5 Business EVP & head of digital India Archana Anand,

    Republic TV founder Arnab Goswami,

    VideoTap founder & CEO Dilip Venkatraman,

    Viacom18 digital ventures Voot COO Gaurav Gandhi,

    VideoconD2h COO Himanshu Patil,

    Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd director Jai Maroo,

    BARC India digital business head Jamie Kenney,

    Aisa TV Forum and Market Reed Exhibitions executive producer & editorial director Lunita S V Mendoza,

    Asia TV Forum & Market – Reed Exhibitions business development manager Meen Yi Phua,

    Media Partners Asia vice president Mihir Shah,

    Viacom18 Digital Ventures content head Monika Shergill,

    Cheetah Mobile India director of brand solutions Neel Sapre,

    Principal Provocateur Advisory Paritosh Joshi,

    Monozygotic co-founder & chief creative officer Raghu Ram,

    WATConsult founder & CEO Rajiv Dingra,

    Prime Focus technologies founder & CEO Ramki Sankaranarayanan,

    Balaji Telefilms group CEO Sameer Nair,

    Akamai Technologies country sales manager, media Sandeep Reddy,

    Youtube entertainment partnership head Satya Raghavan,

    Facebook India media partnership head Saurabh Doshi,

    Swastik Productions, One Life studios founder & creative director Siddharth Kumar Tewary,

    Viu India marketing head Shantanu Gangane,

    Producer Siddharth Jain,

    Den Networks Ltd CEO S N Sharma,

    Amagi Media labs co – founder Srinivasan KA,

    Sourabh Pant,

    Perform group director content sales India Subhayu Roy,

    RBNL CEO TaruN Katial,

    Yupp TV founder & CEO Uday Reddy,

    SonyLIV EVP & digital head Uday Sodhi,

    Viu country head India Vishal Kumar Maheshwari,

    Emerald Media executive director & investment head Vivek Raicha

    Castle Media Pvt Ltd executive director Vynsley Fernandes.

    An initiative by Indiantelevision.com, Vident 2017 is powered by Viu. The summit partners for the event are Hotstar and Voot. Prime Focus Technologies, Sony Liv and Perform group is associate partners. Akamai is OTT partner. Animationxpress.com, Tellychakkar.com and Radioandmusic.com are online partners. The event is executed by ITV 2.0 productions.

    VIDNET 2017 will also be honoring key pioneers and movers and shakers of the industry with a plaque for their contribution to rapidly emerging digital video ecosystem.

  • ZEEL to globally strengthen its ‘largest Indian entertainment’ brand identity, says Amit Goenka

    Internet is significantly changing the way we consume entertainment — AR and VR are becoming commonplace. Over 60% of the world’s population is ‘digitally connected’ today. Content companies and advertisers are swiftly adapting to the new reality and redefining their strategies to stay on the top of the game. ZEEL’s international presence makes it one of the largest Indian entertainment brands and it wants to make the brand stronger, going forward. ZEEL CEO – international business Amit Goenka discusses the group’s plans and strategies in the company’s annual report:    

    How do you think the digital market will evolve and at what stage is India in that evolution process?

    Internet is dramatically changing the world as we know it. Over half the world now uses Internet, and technologies like AR and VR are fast becoming commonplace. Internet has already become an integral part of everyday life for most of the world’s population. Over 60% of the world’s population now owns a mobile phone and is ‘digitally connected’ and we will see a proliferation of this trend going forward. With increasing online content consumption, media businesses, content companies and advertisers are also rapidly adapting to the new reality and redefining their strategies accordingly to stay ahead and stay relevant.

    Given that Internet penetration in India is still under 40%, there is a significant growth potential

    for digital content consumption. We see the growth momentum across digital increasingly

    coming from smaller towns and rural areas, as urban areas get saturated. Businesses, across

    the board, will have to look at innovative ways to reach and capture the rural market given its

    propensity to consume content in vernacular languages and lack of comfort with English.

    What is ZEEL’s strategy for digital business?

    As an entertainment content company, it remains extremely important for us to be present where

    our consumers are, and so having a digital presence remains integral to our strategy for

    future growth.

    We launched the first Over-The-Top (OTT) platform in India in 2012 – dittoTV, our aggregator

    SVOD offering for live TV. We re-launched it last year at a strategic and disruptive price of ` 20 per month. We also partnered with leading telecom operators for both distribution and payment, which has been a successful move for us. OZEE, our free-to-consumer AVOD platform, has been showing excellent traction and is a leader in engagement metrics. With the launch of our global OTT platform Z5, we will consolidate our SVOD and AVOD offerings. It will be the single destination for all our content.

    How do you see competition from local players like Hotstar, Voot and international players like Amazon Prime and Netflix?

    The industry is still at a nascent stage. Though the digital consumption has grown significantly

    over the last couple of years, most of the players are still experimenting with different monetisation models. At this point, the entry of new players, especially the international ones, to my mind, is expanding the market size and popularising the category. Players have raised significant funds and are investing in content creation. These are also exciting times for users who are being wooed across the board with a plethora of choices and are getting to experiment with different genres of content. We do see this trend settling down in the future and expect a

    degree of consolidation in the industry. This will also lead to players finding their own content

    niche in which they would want to operate. We have our own strategy in place and are geared to create a distinct positioning for ourselves despite the cluttered market.

    What would make your digital product stand out from the others?

    Content is the key to attract a sustainable viewer base across any platform. Our experience and understanding of content and consumer certainly gives us a natural edge. The content viewing pattern on digital platforms is different from television and we are tweaking our content strategy accordingly to suit these needs. In addition, a rich viewing experience aided by a highly intuitive UI (user interface) across multiple languages is one of our key focus areas. Also, given our spread of channels across languages and geographies, a strong recommendation engine would help users to seamlessly navigate content suiting their needs.

    Do you think digital will take away share of advertising from television?

    I think both would complement each other. In a market like India where television penetration

    will continue to grow for years, it will remain the primary medium of entertainment for majority of the population. Digital allows content consumption on the move and is adding to the overall video consumption. Even in evolved markets like the US, television advertising is still growing despite the increasing share of digital. While we see growth in both the mediums, digital will grow at a higher rate over the next few years in India.

    Could you give a brief overview of ZEEL’s international business?

    There are two parts of our international business – the first part caters to the Indian and South Asian diaspora and the second part, caters to the foreign audience in their native languages. As far as the diaspora is concerned, I think we have reached most of the countries with sizeable Indian population. The endeavour here is to offer more channels and expand our distribution reach.

    We started targeting foreign audience having affinity for Indian content in 2008, and have significantly expanded our presence in the last eighteen months. I think this journey has just begun. Currently, we are offering content made for Indian market, dubbed, subtitled or repurposed as per the requirements of a country. We have 13 channels in this category and as we learn more about the needs of the audience, we will gradually make content for some of those markets.

    How would you describe your international journey so far?

    ZEEL forayed into the international business in 1994 with the launch of Zee TV in the Middle East & Pakistan. Following that, we commenced operations in Europe (UK) in 1995, Africa in 1996, US in 1998 and lastly APAC in 2004. Having reached Indian diaspora in all significant markets, we started targeting markets with a liking for Indian content. This journey commenced with the launch of Zee Aflam in MENA region. Our international presence makes us one of the largest Indian entertainment brands and we want to make this brand stronger, going forward.

    What are the factors you consider while launching a channel for non-Indian audience?

    The proposition to launch a new channel begins with identifying markets where a content gap

    exists and we can leverage the strength of our library to offer differentiated content. This involves extensive research to understand the market dynamics including learning about consumer preferences, competition and market size amongst others. This is a lengthy process and only a few of the markets meet our criteria for launch. We are happy that most of our launches targeted at the non-Indian audiences have been received well. Our channels in the Middle East – Zee Aflam and Zee Alwan – have been performing well for a long time. One of our recent launches, Zee World, consistently ranks amongst the top three channels in the South African market.

  • We aim at building a parent-approved, kids’ favourite brand, says Voot’s Akash Banerji

    MUMBAI: Viacom18’s VOOT is all set roll out a hi-decibel campaign for its kids content segment – Voot Kids. The campaign will have two TVCs in three languages — Hindi, Kannada and Marathi, depicting six situations.

    “To amplify the campaign, we are going heavy on the Viacom18 network including Nickelodeon. We are also going out of our network, and buying spots on Discovery and Turner Network. On the digital and social media platforms, we would be be releasing the campaign on Youtube and Facebook,” Viacom18 digital ventures head – marketing & partnerships Akash Banerji told Indiantelevision.com in a telephonic conversation.

    “We want to be perceived as the platform which aggregates the best and the most premium stack of kids content,” he added.

    Voot Kids has been a key differentiator and a big driving force behind the platforms viewership acceleration and engagement growth. With over 2000+ hours of content, 8000+ videos and 125+ characters, Voot Kids claims to have the largest digital repository of premium kid’s content, since the platform’s launch a year ago. The primary brands on board are — Kinder Joy, Colgate, Mattel Toys and Amazon Kindle.

    Banerji said, “Kids live in a universe of their own – their toys, favourite toons, games/activities with their friends, their possessions, etc. make up a large part of the world they relate to. The concept of #NoMoreAtakoing (I will no longer be stuck in uncomfortable situations) is fundamentally rooted in the compulsions of nuclear families and the resulting situations where kids find themselves in dull and unrelatable situations; Voot Kids swoops in to save the day and make them smile.

    “We’ve delivered this message through an ‘anthem’ and several relatable situations. Our endeavour is to ensure that entertainment and development continues unhindered for kids through engaging characters and immersive storytelling,” Banerji emphasised. “Parents should get on the guilt-ridden trip in a very endearing manner to bring a smile on the child’s face,” he added.

    On the peak hours and the growth in viewership, he said “Unlike linear TV, the peak viewership happens at 9pm on Voot Kids because children get their hands on the mobile phones as the family is busy in traditional entertainment. We have had a peak on 18 June because everyone was watching India versus Pakistan final, which might not be interest to a 4-9 years old child.,” Banerji said. “In the last 6-7 months since Voot Kids’ launch in November, we have witnessed a 15X growth in viewership,” Banerji informed.

    The engaging kid’s entertainment destination has now rolled out an immersive campaign “Bachche ab no more atko’ing” as a solution for parents who inadvertently place their children in the midst of boring situations — while they go about their daily chores. The campaign conceptualised by Mullen Lintas is poised to amplify engagement for Voot Kids.

    Voot Kids understands empowers both, kids and parents, by becoming the kids’ best friend, transporting them into an entertaining and imaginary world brimming with excitement and delight. This message has been delivered through a creative film that will captivate both parents and kids.

    Watch video here :

    The music video depicts the everyday stories of kids stuck in awkward situations in the adult world. A young boy yawning behind his father in a hair salon, another awesomely bored boy stuck in a saree shop with his mom, then there’s this girl who finds herself out of place in her sister’s pre-engagement function.

    The campaign will witness a marketing outreach that will include home as well as cross channel promotions, digital platforms and innovative social media outreach (for the parents) and amplification initiatives.

    Speaking about the creative process, Mullen Lintas EVP Ayyappan Raj, “Voot is one of the leading brands in the Digital Video space and we are very proud to be associated with it. The brief for this campaign was based on a simple but powerful insight of ‘kids being stuck in an adult world’. “No more Atakoing…” is all about, a jolly anthem of kids being stuck in different situations.” Mullen Lintas ECD Garima Khandelwal said, “Kids being lost in their own creative world is, any day, more fun than they being trapped in ours, was the starting point of this brand film. We used a simple mnemonic of a rotating chair to tie together all the normal and everyday places for adults, but boring places for kids to be in.”