MUMBAI: Indian OTT apps are figuring out ways to increase viewer engagement. New features such as voice search, regional language user interfaces and easy payment options are just some of them. Top national, international and regional OTT players are sharpening their knives for better user experience on the app.

Technology for better user experience

Eros International group chief marketing officer Manav Sethi’s focus for the OTT app Eros Now is to create a different consumer experience through an updated version of the app by using past data. Another player ALTBalaji is also looking at adding an Indic language interface and a voice-enabled search option in the future.

MUMBAI: Television viewership measurement body Broadcasters Audience Research Council (BARC) has intimated stakeholders that it has reverted to the earlier process of treatment of landing page, in response to a recent Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) ruling. BARC India has also started filtering out outliers from the landing page.

“Please note that as per representations received from various stakeholders and as per our board mandate, we are in the interim reverting to our earlier process for treatment of landing page. The same will be reflective from week 23 onwards till further notice. The process is also under review by the board,” BARC said while releasing the week 23 data.

Mumbai: Anil D. Ambani owned Reliance Entertainment partners with India’s most iconic war film makers, JP Films to develop content and produce three new projects. The projects include two feature films and one web-series. J.P.Dutta’s daughter, Nidhi Dutta, will be spearheading these projects.

A Historical Persian Epic will be directed by J.P. Dutta himself, while the other film, is a biopic set in Kashmir on an Indian Army Officer. The third project is a web series on 21 of India’s bravest War Heroes from the Army, Navy and Air force. This will also mark the debut of JP Films in the web space. The casting of the projects is currently underway.

Delighted to partner with JP Films, Shibasish Sarkar, Group CEO, Reliance Entertainment, said, “The partnership came about as Reliance Entertainment shares a common vision with JP Films in terms of delivering great content to the audiences. All three projects will be most suitably mounted to their respective genres.”

On May 31, it was made official that television channels could buy landing pages and it will not be considered illegal. The landmark judgment of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), which sets aside the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) direction dated December 3, 2018, certainly came as a breath of fresh air for broadcasters and distributors of television channels. 

However, with the judgement, came a new set of problems. Soon after the order was passed, BARC India notified that it would include the ratings of channels placed on landing pages in the weekly ratings data. Many broadcasters detested the move that nullified TRAI’s restraint on all broadcasters and distributors of TV channels from placing any registered TV channel on the landing page. Some broadcasters wrote a letter to BARC, requesting it to “reconsider and reinstate the appropriate moderation policies.”

MUMBAI: The net loss of Tata Sky Broadband Private Limited (TSBPL) has swelled 88.46% to Rs 98 crore in FY19 up from Rs 52 in the previous fiscal. The company’s operating income remains meagre at Rs 6 crore which is an increase from Rs 1 crore in FY18.

Founded in 2016, TSBPL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sky Ltd. Headquartered in Mumbai, their services are currently available in 21 cities and towns. It plans to build Fibre to the Home (FTTH) broadband infrastructure in India.

India’s top advertisers aren’t wary of advertising on channels that are getting their reach through using landing page placement. The advertisers said that most campaigns have the objective to reach the consumers and they have no problem in going even with channels using landing page placement, if they could provide a decent reach with time spent.

Hoping the same, several broadcasters have already started investing in landing page to garner high viewership. Though it comes at a massive cost but it helps them reach a larger audience base.

“It’s like they’re sampling their content to audiences. If they are somehow able to hold the viewers’ attention with their content or forced viewing by fixing the set-top box with the help of distributors, their job is almost done,” said an industry expert.

With the Board of Directors of Music Broadcast Limited all set to acquire Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL), a Reliance ADA Group company, Apurva Purohit, President, Jagran Prakashan Ltd., talks to exchange4media about what it means for the brand to take over RBNL that operates one of the largest FM radio networks in the country - BIG FM.
Purohit spoke about the combined network bringing increased traction from advertisers, the target groups for the radio stations, the marketing plans and more.

MUMBAI: Set top box (STB) manufacturer My Box Technologies’ FY19 net loss has zoomed almost 11 times while the revenue has declined 76% owing to the company’s focus on debtor collection and development of new products such as Alexa kit, Android and hybrid set-top box (STB).

The net loss stood at 12.1 crore in FY19 as against Rs 1.1 crore in the previous fiscal. EBITDA loss more than doubled to Rs 12.8 crore from Rs 6.1 crore. Revenue declined to Rs 20.6 crore from Rs 85.8 crore.

Today, expanding beyond the core set of loyalists has become imperative for any product, brand, platform or televised property. In the media business, it's called growth. In India, cricket became a religion, thanks to millions of viewers who snatched the TV remote and bullied their family members each time a match was broadcast. But it's 2019; the name of the game has changed. TV is not the only home for sports content, and nothing - not even cricket - can survive without going beyond its core pool of loyal audiences. Getting viewership only from traditional cricket fans is simply not enough to justify the sky high ad rates that broadcasters demand from advertisers for airtime between the overs. For Indian cricket content, it's the era of expansion, alright.

Birla Cellulose represents the Pulp and Fiber business of the Aditya Birla Group. Birla Cellulose’Liva is one of the biggest players when it comes to sustainable fabrics in India. Being primarily B2B, the brand has taken it upon themselves to build a connect with the end consumer through multiple marketing activities. Birla Cellulose commands a major world market share in the Manmade Cellulose fiber domain.

 

MediaNews4U interacted with ShardahUniyal, Global Head of Birla Cellulose’ branding & communication, to understand the need and course of connecting with the end user for a B2B brand.