Tag: YouTube

  • Vir Sanghvi takes to YouTube to speak on Indrani Mukerjea & Sheena Bora murder

    Vir Sanghvi takes to YouTube to speak on Indrani Mukerjea & Sheena Bora murder

    MUMBAI: As the Sheena Bora murder mystery involving former INX Media CEO and co-founder Indrani Mukherjea continues to shock the nation with its developments, people are keeping their eyes glued to the news for any update that explains the possible motive behind this chilling murder. After all, the question of the hour remains, “What could lead a mother to killer her own child?” Those who can answer are also closely associated with the case, and hence are either keeping silent, or being kept away from the media by the police.

    Thus, conspiracy theories can hardly be kept at bay and those who knew the now infamous couple are coming up with their own version of why and how things might have chanced.

    One such person is popular journalist and current advisor in Hindustan Times Vir Sanghvi. Sanghvi served as INX Media news business CEO, which was floated by Peter Mukerjea and the accused Indrani Mukerjea.

    Through a short video titled ‘Curious Case of Indrani Mukerjea’ on his YouTube channel – Go Viral with Vir Sanghvi – the veteran journalist has shed light upon the psyche of Indrani Mukerjea with whom he has closely worked.

    In the video, Sanghvi draws parallels between ‘honour killings’ in villages under Khap Panchayat orders, the Arushi murder case which, according to him, still remains a mystery, and the Sheena Bora murder case, which he feels ‘is straight out of Chinatown.’

    Addressing people who have been asking him if Indrani seemed like a murderer to him, he says ‘No’ as there is hardly a way to tell a cold blooded murderer from their face. “But she did seem deranged,” he continues, “Indrani was a fantasist and the line between reality and what was in her head was blurred. I think that kind of person eventually becomes amoral,” adding with a hint that Indrani was money-minded to the core.

    He concludes the video by sharing how this incident has shaken him and how he won’t be able to look at other high profile personalities in the same way.

    Here’s a link to the video:

     

  • Sooperfly launches ‘Mission Everest’ web series

    Sooperfly launches ‘Mission Everest’ web series

    MUMBAI: Sooperfly has launched a new web series on YouTube that captures the adventure and tribulations of the two young mountaineers, Samir Patham and Sauraj Jhingan through Mission Everest 2015.

     

    Sooperfly, which is a joint venture between India’s The 120 Media Collective and UK based Diagonal View, has created the web series from concept to finish and will manage Mission Everest, which documents real-life experiences.

     

    Sooperfly business head and senior vice president Vishal Nongbet said, “At Sooperfly, we support fresh narratives and share compelling content through custom distribution. Mission Everest follows Samir and Sauraj – two youngsters who chose to help rather than flee in the wake of a crisis. It is a narrative that appeals to fellow youth on a medium that is most accessed by them.”

     

    About a month into their 29,030-feet climb, on 25 April, a massive avalanche triggered by a 7.8 earthquake tore through Everest Base Camp, Nepal, leaving in its wake, 19 dead and over 60 casualties.

     

    “We emerged from the avalanche to witness a trail of destruction. The quake had claimed our camp as well. We were confronted with the choice of retreating from the valley to safety or staying back and helping,” Sauraj adds.

     

    “We decided to do the unconventional, leaving our day jobs and following our dream to climb Mount Everest. After two years of preparation and giving it our all, the biggest tragedy in the history of mountaineering hit us. Sooperfly helped us tell our story as it happened,” recounts Samir, one of the two qualified mountaineers, with wide trekking and climbing experience, featured on Mission Everest.

     

  • YouTube collaborates with Subhash Ghai’s WWI to create YouTube Space in Mumbai

    YouTube collaborates with Subhash Ghai’s WWI to create YouTube Space in Mumbai

    MUMBAI: India is seeing an emergence of a new generation of YouTube creators who are capturing the color, music, humour, and drama of India more creatively than ever before. In fact, Indian creators are now amongst the top contributors in Asia when it comes to driving time spent on YouTube watching videos. 

    Recently, the country also celebrated milestones for two Indian creators All India Bakchod (AIB) and The Viral Fever (TVF), who reached over one million fans within two years on the platform. To support this increasing community of YouTube creators and foster the next generation of talent, YouTube has partnered with Subhash Ghai’s film school, Whistling Woods International (WWI), to set up a new YouTube Space in Mumbai.

    “Through this collaboration, India’s popular up-and-coming YouTube creators, as well as their students, will have free access to Whistling Woods’ studios, high-end audio, visual and editing equipment, in addition to training programs, workshops and community events. We’re already in advanced stages of setting up the place and we’ll be opening the gates for all creators soon,” said YouTube Spaces Asia Pacific head David Macdonald.

     As of now YouTube Spaces has a presence in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, New York City, Sao Paulo, and more recently in Berlin. Since the first Space was launched in 2012, creators have visited YouTube Spaces over 100,000 times. “We have had over 800 events and workshops and our partners have created over 11,000 videos. Like all of our production facilities, YouTube Space Mumbai will be a place where creators can collaborate, innovate and experiment with new content for audiences around the world to watch and love,” added Macdonald.

    The YouTube Space Mumbai is a move forward from YouTube to help foster creativity, entrepreneurship and partnership with top video creators in the country and around the world.

    The collaboration between YouTube and WWI will offer opportunities to:

    Learn: From training programs and workshops to master classes, there are opportunities to get hands-on experience from industry leaders, and learn to use high end production equipment, production techniques, and YouTube best practices. 

    Connect: Attend events, meet fellow creators, spark new ideas and share experiences on how to succeed on YouTube.

    Create: This is a space for creators to bring stories to life. They’ll have access, for free, to studios and all the latest audio, visual and editing equipment that will enable them to experiment and create great videos that fans will love. 

  • ABS Seven Star launches hybrid STBs; targets 2 lakh consumers in Mumbai by Dec 2015

    ABS Seven Star launches hybrid STBs; targets 2 lakh consumers in Mumbai by Dec 2015

    MUMBAI: Innovation is the key to a successful business and realizing this is Mumbai based multi system operator (MSO) ABS Seven Star. 

     

    As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, ABS Seven Star, which so far had been operating MPEG 2 headend, has now launched its MPEG 4 headend with as many as 500 national and international channels. Additionally, the MSO has started rolling out MPEG 4 set top boxes (STBs) as well. 

     

    In keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, these indigenous STBs manufactured by ABS Productions are hybrid boxes with both Ethernet and cable. The STBs have been loaded with facilities like YouTube, web TV, video on demand (VOD), internet browsing, TV Everywhere and cloud computing among others.

     

    “Our offering will convert your television set to a smart TV. The box will have 75 HD and 3D channels. We are also creating content, apart from the ones we have taken the rights for. The box will have 75 of our own channels, which includes education channel among others,” informs ABS Seven Star CMD Atul Saraf.

     

    Priced at Rs 3500, the hybrid box also comes with 5GB online space. “This allows consumers to use their TV set as a computer and save data as well,” he adds. The company has also come up with a HD only box loaded with VOD and internet, which is priced at Rs 2500. 

     

    While 10,000 hybrid boxes have so far been manufactured, ABS Productions has rolled out 30,000 HD boxes and is looking at manufacturing 30,000 boxes every month. 

     

    In order to give a fillip to VAS, ABS Seven Star will provide the services to consumers at a fixed fee of Rs 30 per month. “Consumers will then have to pay for the content they choose to watch,” he says. 

     

    ABS Seven Star has also tied up with content distribution network (CDN) to have a multi screen presence. 

       

    The MSO through these services is looking at an average revenue per user (ARPU) of Rs 1200. “Today, consumers are anyways paying separately for cable and internet. With our new offering, we will be giving them both the services with just one equipment,” informs Saraf. 

     

    ABS Seven Star is connecting through national long distance (NLD) players to have a presence in Rajasthan, UP, Haryana, Bihar and Orissa. “We are looking at acquiring 200,000 consumers in Mumbai by December 2015,” points out Saraf.

  • DD Urdu relies on consultants in absence of programme executives posts

    DD Urdu relies on consultants in absence of programme executives posts

    NEW DELHI: A sum of Rs 10.16 crore including Rs 9.38 crore for commissioned and the balance Rs 78.05 lakh on in-house programmes was spent for Doordarshan’s Urdu channel during 2014-15, the Rajya Sabha was told on 4 August.

    Even as there is no sanctioned post of Urdu programme executive in Doordarshan Kendra Delhi, three consultants (retired programmers) and one external consultant conversant with Urdu have been taken in to help the production work of DD Urdu channel.

    Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister of State Rajyavardhan Rathore said in replies to different questions that there are other programme executives in DDK Delhi but Prasar Bharati had informed that no post of programme executive had been sanctioned for DD Urdu and DD News Urdu.

    Programme executives are also called on tour as and when required to meet additional requirements, Jaitley said.

    The work of DD News Urdu is being looked after by assistant director (news) who is fully conversant with Urdu language. Urdu programmes of DDK, Delhi, are produced by existing programme executives. The channel is run by the in-house staff of Doordarshan as well as contractual staff hired as required.

    Rathore said DD Urdu had been refurbished with new content through commissioning of programmes under different genres apart from increasing in-house productions.

    Ten news bulletins in Urdu are also being telecast daily on DD Urdu channel. Programmes of specific interest to the Urdu speaking audiences like minority issues, Government schemes for minorities, events in the neighbouring countries, etc. have also been launched to give a new look to DD Urdu channel.

    DD Urdu has an updated website as a part of Doordarshan. Promos about DD Urdu are also loaded on YouTube and Facebook, he added.

                           Amount spent on DD-Urdu programmes in the last 3 years

  • YouTube redesigns mobile app; adds new tabs

    YouTube redesigns mobile app; adds new tabs

    MUMBAI: If you watched a YouTube video recently, chances are you did it on your phone or tablet and also saw the new look and design of the app.

     

    With more than half the views on YouTube coming from mobile devices, YouTube has now updated the official YouTube apps to bring an even better mobile experience to consumers thus making it easier than ever to find and create videos.

     

    The update – available now on Android, mobile web, and soon on iOS – introduces three new tabs:

     

    • Home: Easily explore and discover videos with recommendations based on watch history as well as personalized playlists.

    • Subscriptions: Find the latest videos from your favorite channels and creators on the new Subscriptions tab. And to help make sure one never misses an upload, consumers can now tap the bell icon on channels to get a notification as soon as a new video is posted.

    • Account: One can check out playlists, watch history, and the videos they have uploaded all in one spot.

     

    Additionally, in the new updated app, one can also now watch full-screen vertical videos with just a single tap for the very first time.

     

    “But YouTube isn’t just about enjoying videos; it’s a place to express yourself and show the world what you love. With the redesigned app you can take your creativity to new levels using a new set of video creation tools. You’ve got an amazing camera in your phone or tablet, and now you can trim your footage, tint the image with filters, add music, and upload – all inside the app,” said YouTube product managers Matt Darby and Omri Amarilio.

     

    “These are just a few of the features we’ve been working on, and you’ll see many more later this year,” the duo added.

  • Blogmint launches #BloggersDreamTeam campaign

    Blogmint launches #BloggersDreamTeam campaign

    MUMBAI: India is witnessing the rise of social stars, the new age influencers who create and share interesting and valuable social content with the niche audiences that follow them. They might be bloggers with sizable readerships, or socially savvy users with loyal followers on Twitter, YouTube, Vine or Instagram.

     

    With this thought, Blogmint has launched the #BloggerDreamTeam campaign with one of the leading food connoisseur and an eminent media personality, Vir Sanghvi. The campaign aims at discovering and recognising emerging social influencers in India. 

     

    Blogmint’s objective behind the campaign is to discover and recognize these emerging social stars in the form of bloggers, vloggers and micro-bloggers.

     

    Bloggers get an opportunity to showcase their blogging talent and their passion for writing around food and travel themes. In order to channelize their inclination, Blogmint has created a platform wherein bloggers are encouraged to come forward and make their own food and travel blogging recipe.

     

    Bloggers can showcase their opinions or views on a variety of subjects pertaining to food and travel domain. Best blogging talent will be acknowledged by Sanghvi, who will select the top 11 winners from the entire pool available to him in order to make food and travel #BloggersDreamTeam. “There is so much talent out there in the blogging community and we are delighted to have found a way to harness and nurture it,” said Sanghvi.

     

    “Blogmint is committed to building an ecosystem that fosters collaboration between online influencers and marketers,” said Blogmint CEO Irfan Khan. “#BloggerDreamTeam is an initiative to strengthen the emerging online influencers’ talent in India. The food and travel genres are growing rapidly in this space and we are excited to join forces with Sanghvi. Having him as part of discovering and recognizing this talent is a win-win for everyone,” Khan concluded.

     

    A research report published in the Adweek stated that almost 59 per cent brand marketers plan to increase their Influencer marketing budget signaling a positive landscape in the Influencer Marketing domain.

  • YouTube targets gamers with new website, app

    YouTube targets gamers with new website, app

    MUMBAI: Looking at tapping the rapidly changing gaming world, YouTube is all set to launch a separate site, app for gaming videos.

     

    On YouTube, gaming has spawned entirely new genres of videos, from let’s plays, walkthroughs, and speedruns to cooking and music videos. Now YouTube has built something just for gamers. Called YouTube Gaming, the site and app will keep gamers connected with games and players with videos, live streams, and the biggest community of gamers on the web—all in one place.

     

    Slated to launch this summer, YouTube Gaming is built to be all about people’s favorite games and gamers, with more videos than anywhere else. From Asteroidsto Zelda, more than 25,000 games will each have their own page, a single place for all the best videos and live streams about that title. The site will also have channels from a wide array of game publishers and YouTube creators.

     

    YouTube Gaming has made it easy for gamers to keep with the games and channels. Gamers can add a game to their collection for quick access whenever they want to check up on the latest videos. They can also subscribe to a channel, and get a notification as soon as they start a live stream. Features such as favorites, recommendations based on favourite games and channels and specific search have also been introduced.

     

    Since live streams bring the gaming community closer together, YouTube has put them front-and-center on the Gaming homepage.

     

    In the coming weeks, YouTube Gaming will also launch an improved live experience that makes it simpler to broadcast gameplay to YouTube. On top of existing features like high frame rate streaming at 60fps, DVR, and automatically converting your stream into a YouTube video, the company is also redesigning its system so that one no longer needs to schedule a live event ahead of time. YouTube Gaming will also create a single link one can share for all their streams.

     

    YouTube Gaming will be available this summer, starting in the US and UK. 

  • Cannes Lions announces Lions Live winners; to live stream sessions

    Cannes Lions announces Lions Live winners; to live stream sessions

    MUMBAI: After a record breaking number of votes, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has confirmed the winners of Lions Live. The online initiative, in partnership with Mindshare and YouTube, brings a selection of sessions from the Festival stage live to people, wherever they are in the world.

     

    As 19,135 people, nine per cent more than in 2014, cast their vote on the sessions they most want to see.

     

    Google, Europe head of B2B brand marketing Donal Mac Manus said, “Cannes Lions is a key moment in the year where creators and innovators from all around the world come together to celebrate creativity and innovation. YouTube are happy to be part of that moment and believe Lions Live is a great opportunity to live stream some of the best elements of the Festival to those who are unable to make it.”

     

    Lions Festivals CEO Philip Thomas added, “The results of Lions Live are always interesting, it shows what’s top of the industry’s agenda. This is a solid mix of current issues – from the buzz around ‘disruption’ to climate change with former Vice President Al Gore, as well as data insights and lessons in creativity from top-performing, global clients – we’re delighted that we can bring this content to those missing out on Cannes Lions this year.”

     

    The Lions Live schedule has been confirmed as:

    21 June: ‘How to Survive a Zombie Attack (and Harness Cultural Trends to Grow Brands)’, hosted by MediaCom

    The guys behind the hit show The Walking Dead talk zombie attacks and cultural phenomena.

     

    22 June: ‘Toolkit for Transformation’, hosted by Razorfish Global & Contagious

    With combined expertise in creative business transformation, consumer culture and technology, Razorfish Global and Contagious offer learning on the future of the industry.

     

    23 June: ‘Sentience: The Coming AI Revolution’, hosted by PHD

    Creator of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners Lee, joins PHD’s Mike Cooper to talk about the revolution that is Artificial Intelligence.

     

    24 June: ‘Marketing For People’, hosted by Unilever

    Keith Weed explores how our industry can transform to market for people in everything we do.

     

    25 June: ‘Social Networking Since 1864’, hosted by Heineken

    Learn about Heineken’s legendary creativity and its role in unlocking social networking around the globe to ultimately elevate their creative output.

     

    26 June: ‘The Cannes Debate: Sir Martin Sorrell in Conversation with Al Gore,’ hosted by WPP

    Sir Martin Sorrell talks Live Earth: Road To Paris, The Climate Reality Project and the role of communications in political and environmental campaigning, with former US Vice President Al Gore.

     

    27 June: ’25 Years of Disruption: Conversation with Today’s Most Disruptive Marketers’, hosted by TBWA

    Some of today’s most disruptive marketers join Jean-Marie Dru to discuss the role Disruption continues to play in creating and growing global brands.

     

    Mindshare global CEO added, “We believe that we work in the most exciting industry in the world and we are delighted to be able to share some of the reason why with the wider marketing world. We believe that marketing has to be fundamentally adaptive to achieve the best results and Lions Live is an experience that adapts by allowing the viewers to decide the content.”

     

    Voting for Lions Live was open to everyone. Across a period of two weeks people were invited to cast their votes through www.canneslions.com. The seven winning sessions for 2015 will be streamed live via the Cannes Lions YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/canneslions, which will also be updated with Festival highlights throughout the Festival week, running from 21 – 27 June.

  • #fame eyes 10 mn downloads in 6 months for first live video entertainment app

    #fame eyes 10 mn downloads in 6 months for first live video entertainment app

    MUMBAI: #fame is all set to bridge the gap between entertainment and audiences by launching India’s first live video entertainment app in beta on iOS and Google Play.

     

    Through the app, performers can live beam to fans from their smart phones. What’s more, the company is targeting 10 million downloads for the app in the first six month and is expected to bring on-board more than 50,000 skilled and amateur performers with this new video-on-demand (VoD) platform.

     

    #fame CEO Saket Saurabh said, “The #fame app is pioneering not only because it is India’s first live video entertainment app, but also because it will be home to original content from the country’s hottest young digital stars. The app is a manifestation of #fame’s vision of empowering millions of emerging talent in their journey as content creators and help them reach and engage with their audiences wherever they are and whenever they want.”

     

    Since launch, the network has seen strong traction for its suite of digital shows and properties. Apart from its mobile app, #fame’s digital video network spans several digital and social platforms including YouTube, Facebook, WeChat, Daily Motion and other content publishers. #fame strategically focuses on emerging and established talent to build digital video channels and communities around them.

     

    In a bid to expand its boundaries, #fame has also identified five additional markets in South-East Asia to build local digital video businesses. These include Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines apart from India.

     

    To The New (TTN) Ventures, the parent company of #fame, has a strong strategic presence in these markets where it has built businesses in the SMACK space (Social, Mobile, Analytics, Content & Knowledge). Astro Overseas, a cross-media operator in South-East Asia, is a key strategic investor in TTN Ventures.

     

    “#fame is creating an exciting new live category in the mobile video and entertainment space. Along with its proven record of breakthrough original digital content, we are confident of #fame achieving market leadership in mobile video in India and South-East Asia in the near future,” added To The New Ventures managing director Puneet Johar.