Beyond Hotstar, Netflix, and Prime Video: 8 regional OTT platforms to watch out for in 2021
/It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that 2020 was OTT’s breakthrough year in India. After being in the shadow of mainstream entertainment mediums like film and television for years, OTT finally had its time in the sun. The pandemic-induced lockdown opened up growth avenues in video-streaming like never before.
While generalist OTT platforms made merry with a spate of original shows, marquee film premiers, awards, and more, regional on-demand video platforms also made their presence felt. In fact, 2020 was a turning point for this segment.
Until 2018, there were two to three pureplay regional OTT services. Now, there are over 15, with many more slated to launch in 2021.
As the online streaming audience expanded beyond millennials and metros, and homemakers and senior citizens became OTT viewers, it led to a mushrooming of regional streaming apps that cater to non-Hindi and non-English markets.
The rise of regional OTT also coincides with the changing demographic of the Indian internet. There are more rural than urban internet users today, and a whopping 90 percent of these people seek or access content in regional languages.
YourStory drew up a list of the top regional OTT apps — many of these launched in 2020 — that could define India’s digital entertainment landscape in 2021 and beyond.
Hoichoi (Bengali)
Launched in 2017, Hoichoi is one of the first-movers in the regional OTT landscape. It caters to 260 million native Bengali speakers in the world. With 600-odd titles, 3,000 hours of programming, and 13 million cumulative users until 2020, Hoichoi is one of the larger vernacular video streaming platforms today.
The subscription-only service owned by SVF, one of eastern India’s largest film studios, can be accessed in India, Bangladesh, the UAE, and 100 other countries in the world. Hoichoi witnessed a 3X-4X increase in viewership since the pandemic-induced lockdown in March 2020.
Sun NXT (South Indian languages)
Like Hoichoi, Sun NXT is also among the early entrants in the regional OTT space. Launched in 2017, the video-on-demand platform is a part of the Sun TV Network (one of India’s largest regional broadcasters). Its library includes 4,000 movies, 40+ live TV channels, and catch-up content in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada.
Sun NXT has over 25 million users, and is also accessible in the US, Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. Viewers can even stream Sun NXT content on JioTV, Airtel Xstream, and V! movies & tv.
Aha (Telugu)
Aha is a Telugu-only OTT service floated by Arha Media & Broadcasting Private Ltd, and promoted by renowned Telugu actor Allu Arjun. The platform went live in March 2020, coinciding with the Telugu New Year, and has already clocked 5 million downloads and 1.8 crore users.
Aha offers Telugu film exclusives, world digital premieres, web originals, talk shows, and selected free movies. Its content can be viewed through quarterly or yearly subscriptions, and is also available offline. Aha plans to stream over 50 original shows in 2021.
Planet Marathi (Marathi)
Planet Marathi, which launched in December 2020, is the brainchild of Marathi film producer Akshay Bardapurkar. The first-ever video-streaming platform dedicated to Marathi content, it offers 50,000 hours of programming, including films, theatre, television shows, infotainment, educational content, karaoke songs, recipes, yoga and live-fitness videos, and more.
Planet Marathi is targeting a global addressable audience of 100 million, and will double its content in 2021. It has also secured a $5 million equity investment from Vistas Media Capital, a Singapore-based VC fund.
Koode (Malayalam)
Koode, which launched in December 2020, is dedicated to Malayalam content. Its library includes both original shows as well as popular programmes from social media platforms like YouTube. Unlike most of its peers, Koode intends to introduce a pay-per-video model for movies and premium content shortly.
That platform targets not just native Malayalees in India, but also the tens and thousands of Malayalam speakers in the diaspora and Gulf nations. The Koode app has over 1,000 installs, and is rated 4.9 out of 5 on the Google Play Store.
Addatimes (Bengali)
Launched in 2016, Addatimes is one of India’s earliest vernacular OTT platforms. It focuses on Bengali content, including original web series, short films, music videos, detective thrillers, cookery shows, live sports, and other events. Viewers can also access popular movie titles on the app.
Addatimes operates on a freemium model in India, and launched as a subscription-only service in Bangladesh in 2020. It plans to reach over 25 million Bengali speakers by 2021-end, and has rolled out a bunch of marquee original titles, including one based on Satyajit Ray’s iconic Feluda stories.
CityShor.TV (Gujarati)
CityShor.TV, which launched in October 2020, is an initiative of CityShor.com, an Ahmedabad-based lifestyle media company. It houses several Gujarati movies, short films, and original web series, and also curates popular Gujarati content that is available on the internet for free.
Movies and short films are hosted ad-free on CityShor.TV, while CityShor.TV Originals are financed by the platform itself. The platform claims that one of its original shows had a reach of 1.25 crore viewers.
Talkies (Tulu, Konkani, Kannada)
Talkies, launched in late-2020, showcases content in the languages of Karnataka: Tulu, Konkani, Kannada, and the lesser-known dialect Beary (Byari). It streams movies, dramas, TV shows, original web series, and Yakshagana (a traditional Indian theatre form developed in Dakshina Kannada), and adds two new titles every week.
The platform operates on a three-tier subscription model; users can avail quarterly plans starting Rs 199 or even rent titles in SD / HD. Popular titles on Talkies include Malgudi Days (Kannada) and Appe Teacher (Tulu), among others.
Netflix confirms move into video games as its growth slows
Netflix reported its worst slowdown in subscriber growth in eight years as people emerge from their pandemic cocoons. So it's adding a new attraction to its marquee: Video games.
The confirmation of the long-anticipated expansion came in conjunction with the release of Netflix's latest earnings report. That financial breakdown showed the video service added 1.5 million subscribers during the April-June period.
That's slightly better than the modest increase that management forecast after the service stumbled to a sluggish start during the winter months, but still far below its growth rate in recent years.
Netflix's net gain of 5.5 million subscribers through the first six months of this year represents its weakest first-half performance since 2013 -- a time when the company was still rolling out more original programming as it branched out from licensing existing TV series and movies.
Now Netflix is taking another leap by offering video games that intends to produce itself as part of what it described as a multi-year expansion. The Los Gatos, California, company telegraphed the move last week when it disclosed the hiring of a veteran video game executive, Mike Verdu, to explore potential opportunities in another field of entertainment.
Greg Peters, Netflix's chief product officer, said, the company will initially focus on mobile games before eventually expanding to consoles and TV sets as well. The games initially will be tied to Netflix's most popular programming, Peters said, but standalone titles may be added to the, mix too. He even speculated that Netflix eventually may create a TV series or film inspired by one of its video games.
There's a a big, big prize here, and our job is to be really focused," Peters said.
Despite this year's growth slowdown, Netflix remains by far the world's biggest streaming service in an increasingly competitive field that includes Walt Disney Co., HBO, Amazon, and Apple. Netflix finished June with 209 million worldwide subscribers.
Netflix's heft also has produced steady profits. The company earned $1.35 billion, or $ 2.97 per share, nearly doubling from the same time last year. Revenue rose by 19 percent from last year to 47.3 billion.
But the lackluster first-half numbers are a dramatic reversal from last year, when government-imposed lockdowns across the world thrust people into binge-watching frenzies while corralled at home. Already the world's largest video streaming service when the pandemic began in March 2020, Netflix picked up 26 million subscribers during the first half of last year.
While no one expected Netflix to sustain that breakneck pace, the drop off in subscriber growth this year has been more severe than anticipated. Netflix shares have fallen by about 10 percent from their peak of $593.29 six months ago. The shares edged up slightly in extended trading after Tuesday's news came out.
The Los Gatos, California, is expecting that problem to fade during the second half of this year with new-season releases of popular series such as Sex Education and The Witcher, as well as movies starring big-name stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep.
Even so, Netflix let down investors with a forecast calling for only an additional 3.5 million subscribers during the July-September period. That was well below analyst estimates for a third-quarter gain of 5.6 million subscribers, according to FactSet Research. The quite underwhelming guidance raised more worries about intensifying competition in video streaming, as well as the fallout from pandemic lockdowns ending, said CFRA analyst Tuna Amobi.
The conservative outlook suggests Netflix isn't expecting an immediate boost from its foray into a highly competitive video game field already contested by far more experienced companies such as Epic Games, Microsoft and Electronic Arts.
But if the move into video gaming pays off, it could eventually give Netflix more leverage to boost its prices. The company has already been gradually raising subscription costs in recent years, helping to boost its average monthly revenue per subscriber to $14.54 in its biggest market comprised of the US and Canada. That's a 16 percent increase from $ 12.52 per month two years ago.
Amazon India launches free video streaming miniTV on its shopping app
Amazon has launched new free video streaming service 'miniTV' in India - a global first - that will allow users to watch curated content across web series, tech news, food, beauty, and fashion, among others.
With this launch, Amazon has two video entertainment offerings in the country miniTV and Prime Video. The new service will be available on Amazon's shopping app and will be ad-supported. miniTV is free and does not require a separate app, while Prime Video requires a Prime subscription and offers content like Amazon Originals, movies, and TV shows in English and 9 Indian languages.
Content consumption has grown manifold in the last few years, especially amid the pandemic. OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+Hotstar, and Zee5 have seen significant growth in user numbers.
By adding content to ecommerce platforms, companies are hopeful of driving greater engagement and increasing the amount of time spent on these platforms.
Amazon rival Flipkart had launched a similar service in 2019. The video streaming service 'Flipkart Videos' is also ad-supported and is available for free for users on Flipkart's app. The content available is a mix of short films and episodic series. However, data around user numbers or time spent was not available.
Shreyas Talpade launches world’s first OTT platform exclusively for theatre and performing arts
Bollywood actor Shreyas Talpade has confirmed his plans to launch an OTT platform – Nine Rasa – dedicated to theatre and performing arts. The app will be available both on Android and iOS devices and will be available to download from April 9, 2021, onwards.
Talpade took to photo and video sharing app, Instagram, to upload a video announcing the release details. In the video, he starts by expressing his love for the world of theatre.
Talpade believes he has now got a chance to give back to the world of theatre. “So today on World Theatre Day, I promise to make theatre and art shine in its full glory always!”
With the Nine Rasa, Talpade wants to bring the world of theatre to the palms of consumers via an OTT platform. In a world dominated by the like of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar (Disney+ globally), Nine Rasa aims to differentiate itself with its content.
The app will be solely focusing on theatre and performing arts. It will not have any web series, sports, documentaries, or live broadcasts. It will showcase song plays, one-act plays, long and short skits, solos, poetry, story reading, dance, musicals, etc.
Talpade, 45, is known for his performance in movies like Iqbal and Dor. With the world of theatre, much like every other sector, brought to a complete halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Talpade believes that Nine Rasa can be a platform to help the theatre fraternity. He aims to bring artists dependent on live shows and theatre to the mainstream.
The app will follow a subscriber-based video on demand, and advertising-based video on-demand model. At present, Nine Rasa’s website has hundreds of hours of original content in Hindi, English, Hinglish, Marathi, and Gujarati.
Toonz launches OTT animation platform for kids
Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram-based Toonz Media Group, an entertainment company specialising in animation content production, has launched an over-the-top (OTT) platform for children and family entertainment called MyToonz.
The platform is considered to be a first-of-its-kind exclusive kids' OTT platform launched by an Indian entertainment company.
The MyToonz app is available on iOS, Android, and Android TV play stores, as well as the Roku video-on-demand (VoD) platform, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV.
Toonz has also inked a deal with telecommunication giant Airtelin India to integrate MyToonz on the telecom company's app store, said the statement.
Airtel subscribers in India can now access the MyToonz digital library using the Airtel Xstream app.
The animation firm said it has also tied up with mobile tech services company U2opia Mobile to integrate MyToonz on various telecom platforms in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
MyToonz originates from the need to create a safe and engaging entertainment destination for children and families in the digital landscape, said the company.
All MyToonz programming is compliant with international safety standards for child viewing, he said.
"Kids are emerging as the fastest growing audiences in the OTT ecosystem; it only becomes imperative that we have content that is highly engaging, juxtaposed with safety and education on Airtel Xstream," said Sudipta Banerjee, Chief Product and Technology Officer of Wynk.
Wynk is Airtel's streaming app.
"We are excited to partner with Toonz Media Group to take their unique genre of universal animation content, My Toonz, to our global telecom partners," said Sumesh Menon, Co-founder and Managing Director of U2opia Mobile. "At U2opia Mobile, we aim to drive great value to our customers through bundling and other creative distribution opportunities."
Toonz Media Network, the digital division of the Toonz Media Group, has a formidable digital presence with a bouquet of 18 YouTube channels, more than 15 million subscribers, and over 350 million viewership a month on YouTube, the company's statement said.
The division is also live on multiple VoD sites, as well as the platforms of various smart TVs and telecom companies.
The MyToonz library has more than 1,500 half hours of content, with new content being added every week.
The library includes movies and episodic content in different genres.
Besides English, there are dedicated playlists in Hindi, Spanish, and Russian.
The content on the platform has been categorised to cater to preschoolers, upper preschoolers, and early teens.
The programming is also carefully curated to provide quality entertainment to children and families through fun, educational, safe, non-violent content, said the company's release.
Netflix, Amazon Prime, AltBalaji among 17 signatories announce self-regulation code toolkit along with IAMAI
The debate between the OTT platforms and the regulatory bodies is ongoing, after the Universal Self-Regulation Code (“Code”) for Online Curated Content Providers (“OCCP”) was put in motion in September 2020. In line with this, The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) today announced the adoption of a comprehensive Implementation Toolkit (“Tool Kit”).
The core purpose of this “Tool Kit” is to list down procedures to effectuate the various provisions of the Code; assist the signatories in fulfilling their commitments and responsibilities as set out in the Code; and to achieve effective self-regulation goals as envisioned by the signatories of the Code.
Importantly, the Tool Kit provides for the signatories making efforts to address the feedback received from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting inter-alia, on the issues of conflict of interest and prohibited content.
Effective from February 10, 2021, the code has been adopted by 17 of the leading platforms — Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+Hotstar, AltBalaji, Jio Cinema, Voot, Hungama, Shemaroo, Discovery Plus, Aha, and Lionsgate Play.
IAMAI aims to develop a process to seek periodic updates from the signatories regarding their progress with respect to compliance with the provisions of the Code.
The core factors the tool kit will focus on:
Relevant laws of the land which will be adhered to by the signatories.
Fair and transparent functioning of the grievance redressal mechanism.
Escalation to an advisory panel with independent members.
Training programmes for creative and legal teams of OCCPs to enhance the knowledge.
Nuances of laws that govern content.
Awareness programmes for consumers to help increase understanding and use of age rating,
Content descriptor and parental controls
Implementation of a detailed audit and compliance mechanism.
A lot has been brewing over the last couple of weeks in terms of OTT platforms and the regulations. There have been several petitions seeking the regulation of the OTT platforms. Earlier today, the Central Government has filed a transfer petition in the Supreme Court, seeking transfer of cases pending in different High Courts for the regulation of these platforms.
According to Livelaw, the focus of this petition is to bring in guidelines to regulate the content streamed on these platforms. This content currently falls outside the regulatory framework Central Board of Film Certification under the Cinematograph Act.
This article and cited credit goes to:
https://yourstory.com/2021/01/hotstar-netflix-amazon-prime-video-regional-ott-platforms-2021/amp