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<ul><li>Sudhanshu Vats will be serving at Viacom18 till 15th April 2020.</li><li>Vats verticals will now fall under the leadership of Rahul Joshi, Managing Director of the <keyword id="187715" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Network18">Network18</keyword> Group.</li></ul>Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO and MD of Viacom18, a subsidiary of Network18, has decided to move on from Viacom18 after 8 years at the helm. During his years at the company, Vats expanded the media network’s footprint into new business lines of Digital, Experiential Entertainment and Consumer Products. He also strengthened Viacom18’s position in Hindi mass entertainment, regional, kids, music &amp; English entertainment and turned around the filmed entertainment business with content led cinema. Viacom18 has grown from a six to a 54-channel network with its video-on-demand platform, Voot, helping it establish a strong digital presence. Network18, RIL’s flagship in Media and Entertainment, has driven value-addition and synergies across the multi-platform group comprising broadcast, digital, filmed and experiential entertainment and media businesses. As a part of the Network18 group, Viacom18 has grown as a prominent entertainment broadcaster (ex-sports), with an 11.1% viewership share and is poised for accelerated growth in broadcasting, film studio and OTT offerings. Vats leaves behind a strong leadership team which has grown the different verticals of the company into large businesses and they will continue to manage their respective verticals under the leadership of Rahul Joshi, Managing Director of the Network18 Group. Speaking on the development, Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman of the Board, Network18 said, “Sudhanshu is a dynamic and admired leader in corporate India today. Not only has he led from the front in shaping up Viacom18’s growth story, he has also championed the cause of the sector at the various industry bodies that he has captained. While we are sad to lose him, it is equally reassuring to know that we have a strong second line that’s raring to go. I’d like to wish Sudhanshu all the very best for his future endeavours.” Speaking about his journey at Viacom18, Sudhanshu Vats said, “It has been an extremely challenging and satisfying 8 years at the helm of Viacom18. I have had the privilege of working with some of the best minds in M&amp;E industry to chart the growth story of Viacom18. We have together built one of the most admired media company of brilliant storytellers with diversified presence across screens and platforms. As I look forward to taking up newer challenges, I shall always cherish the learnings in leading India’s youngest and fastest-growing media and entertainment company.” Sudhanshu Vats will be serving at Viacom18 till 15th April 2020.

Sudhanshu Vats resigns as MD of Viacom18

<ul><li>Apart from running a pure SVOD model right now, <keyword id="8612979" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="voot-select">Voot Select</keyword> is also looking at partnering with telcos to provide combined offers for their consumers. </li><li>After seeing 335 million interactions on Voot in 2019, <keyword id="260775" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gourav-Rakshit">Gourav Rakshit</keyword>, COO, <keyword id="2947361" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Viacom18-Digital-Ventures">Viacom18 Digital Ventures</keyword> is eyeing to triple it to 1 billion by the end of this fiscal and he believes that this approach will keep Voot ahead of its competition. </li><li>Rakshit further shares the content lineup for Voot Select, what encouraged them to launch SVOD-led model, its target audience and a few things that will drive its future. </li></ul><div type="Video" msid="74488859" hostid="261" title="Voot Select's Gourav Rakshit shares its content plan and vision to become the top India premium OTT player" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=74488859"></div>

 After becoming the first successful AVOD platform in India, Viacom18 is expanding its digital portfolio by launching Voot Select. Its latest SVOD platform envisions to be the leader of Indian premium OTT space by FY21. Talking about Voot Select’s vision, Gourav Rakshit, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures said, "Just like Voot is the leader in the Indian OTT space and Voot Kids is definite a leader, I would like Voot Select to be the leader in the Indian premium OTT content space. I don’t know if we would be able to make a huge dent among the global majors that have set shops in India, but if we can achieve that, then I think it will be a well-spent year.” Content Plan for Voot Select Launched on March 3, Voot Select promises to deliver 30 originals in 12 months, offer over 1500 blockbuster movies, and have over 35 24-hours live TV channels. With the advent of Over-the-Top platforms, Indians have developed an insatiable need for watching content. Leveraging this opportunity, Viacom18 aims to transform into a digital-first network. As its first step in this direction, Voot Select will bring all fictional content from Viacom18’s portfolio on its platform, 24 hours before the episodes premiere on TV. All the non-fiction content can be accessed on the platform 15-30 minutes before its airing time. Voot Select will also provide a wide array of global content experiences through a few exclusive and unique content partnerships with CBS, CBS All Access, Showtime, Sony Pictures, Fremantle, BBC, Endemol Shine and more. 24/7 LGBTQ channel, Revry TV will make its debut in India on Voot Select. Apart from running a pure SVOD model right now, Voot Select is also looking at partnering with telcos to provide combined offers. Explaining its subscription and revenue model, Rakshit said, “There will be a very compelling direct-to-consumer business that will result in them paying the fees, but we will also partner with other providers in the market like the telcos or people who own the consumers, who have either reach-relationship or billing-relationship with the consumers. They would want to offer our service as a benefit to their consumers, so those partnerships will also emerge. But for now, SVOD will be the large part of the proposition.” A smooth 2019 that led to the launch of Voot Select Voot reached 100 million MAUs with 100 billion minutes of watch time in 2019. The platform witnessed 4X growth in the number of views from Tier II, Tier III and regional markets. It saw 335 million interactions in 2019, making it India's most engaged OTT platform. It took another leap last year by launching Voot Kids. Within the first two months of the launch, it saw 2.5 million downloads and 55 plus minutes were spent by per viewer. Speaking about Voot’s growth trajectory, Rakshit said, “Voot’s AVOD became unit-economics-positive in 2019 and that was a significant achievement because it also gave us the ability to try and invest in newer business and Voot Kids and Voot Select are a product of that success. A 100 million MAUs is also a testimony that a large number of people already exist on Voot and we will now primarily aim to bring that to Voot Select.” When asked what factors led to this success, Rakshit credited it to Voot’s investment on engagement and user loyalty. He said, “I think one of the big turning points that we had for Voot was that we really over-invested on interactivity. Rather than being a broadcasting or curating platform, we started engaging a lot more with our consumers. Our consumers started sharing their voices with us and that created a habit that made us number one in terms of engagement in the Indian OTT space. The frequency of people that come to our platform is also higher than everyone else and that helps to make your unit economy stronger because you are not spending as much money to bring in newer people onto the platform.” What lies in the future After seeing 335 million interactions on Voot in 2019, Rakshit eyes to triple it to 1 billion by the end of this fiscal and he believes that this approach will keep Voot ahead of its competition.

Voot Select envisions to be the leader of the Indian premium OTT space by FY21

<ul><li>Voot currently has 100 million monthly active users. With a new feather in its cap, Viacom18 is all set to expand its reach further. </li><li><keyword id="8612979" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="voot-select">Voot Select</keyword> is the second subscription based streaming service from Viacom18 and will soon launch in India.</li></ul>Viacom18 will soon launch its second subscription-based streaming offering called ‘Voot Select’. Set to soon go live on Voot, the all new premium service, Voot Select will give users access to diverse multi genre marquee content experiences. The new business vertical under Viacom18 Digital Ventures will be helmed by Ferzad Palia, Head – Youth, Music &amp; English. Voot Select will be in addition to his existing responsibilities. Voot Select is the dawn of a new era in the story of Voot. The logo intends to reflect its commitment to providing exclusive content and quality entertainment for subscribers. Minimal, premium, and contemporary -- this wordmark distinguishes itself from the mother brand through its form, while being intimately connected with the core brand ethos through subtle gradients and rounded edges. It is a visual translation of the brand proposition to provide the best digital content for a discerning audience. Speaking about adding further scale to the digital business, <keyword id="1118047" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sudhanshu-Vats">Sudhanshu Vats</keyword>, Group CEO &amp; MD, Viacom18 said “The video on demand market is the fastest growing segment in the media and entertainment sector today. Subscription-led business models are going to be the next big growth drivers in the years to come. Having established Voot as India’s second largest premium AVoD platform, we think the time is apt for us to unveil our premium subscription offering, Voot Select. The new premium offering will bring more bespoke content to our always-on viewers.” Speaking on the same Gourav Rakshit, COO at Viacom18 Digital Ventures said, “With Voot, the successful launch of Voot Kids and now Voot Select, our aim is to build a versatile and immersive digital ecosystem that will add value to our users. The new offering will provide them with differentiated content experiences across genres and segments. Currently in its final leg of testing, the all new Voot Select, once live, will see many untapped genres being made available for our users to experience and enjoy.” Voot Select is the second subscription based streaming service from Viacom18 and will soon launch in India.

Viacom18 to launch a new subscription streaming service — Voot Select

<keyword id="187712" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Viacom18">Viacom18</keyword> has expanded its digital ecosystem with the launch of its first subscription play – <keyword id="3701222" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Voot-Kids">VOOT Kids</keyword>. The plaftorm that has been certified by Early Childhood Association (ECA) will offer a collection of over 20,000 videos, e-books, stories and quizzes, aims to usher in the next evolution in the kid’s digital ecosystem. “Viacom18 has grown over the years by focussing on white spaces that are challenging and yet have tremendous potential. As a network, we have been the undisputed leader in kids’ entertainment content since the past 5 years. Our digital play VOOT is the second largest video-on-demand platform in the country today.” said <keyword id="1118047" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sudhanshu-Vats">Sudhanshu Vats</keyword>, Group CEO &amp; MD, Viacom18, adding, “VOOT Kids is a synergy of these two growth stories from the house of Viacom18. Marking our sharper segmented foray into the world of subscription based VoD, VOOT Kids is India’s first and only multi-format Kids app offering Fun &amp; Learning. No other kids app offers Watch, Read, Listen &amp; Learn all at one place” With a mission to make screen time meaningful for Kids, the app strikes a balance between fun learning and entertainment for kids between the age of 02 to 08 years. The app will achieve this by delivering a holistic experience focussed on viewing, reading, listening and playing all in one place. The app encompasses Kids’ favourite toons, best of pre-school and learning shows, beautifully crafted picture e-books, audio stories and fun quizzes and will empower parents with relevant and superior quality engagement options for their children. Behind this impressive content line-up are partnerships with best in class brand owners and leaders like Nickelodeon, Oxford University Press, Warner Media, Green Gold, Ceebeebies, TV Asahi, Sony Music, Hasbro, Mattel, Lego and many more. Speaking about VOOT’s venture into the premium subscription space, <keyword id="260775" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gourav-Rakshit">Gourav Rakshit</keyword>, COO, <keyword id="3304677" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Viacom18-digital">Viacom18 Digital</keyword> Ventures said, “The foray into the subscription space with VOOT Kids is the first step in our journey towards building an entire digital ecosystem under brand VOOT. VOOT Kids has been built on the 3 pillars of Product Experience, Content and Safety. In VOOT Kids, we are bringing an offering that is child-friendly, yet parent focussed and gives them an opportunity to bond with an immersive co-consumption experience. Our brand philosophy of ‘Masti Mein Acchai’ reflects our mission to make screen time meaningful.” VOOT Kids is a key enabler that enhances the bond between parents and children through immersive co-consumption experiences. The curated ad-free content library has parental control features that allow parents to evaluate progress, limit screen time and track content consumed which makes VOOT Kids India’s safest one-stop online destination that entertains, engages and enriches kids, all under one roof. Elaborating, <keyword id="2622409" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Saugato-Bhowmik">Saugato Bhowmik</keyword>, Business Head, VOOT Kids said, “VOOT Kids is a category creating product in the space of digital fun learning that caters to needs of discerning Indian parents who seek meaningful screen-time that aids in holistic development of the child’s mental, emotional and social faculties. The app has the largest and most versatile offerings in the space of toon videos, e-books, audio stories and fun quizzes that provides children with a parent-controlled, safe and entertaining content destination.” He further added, “We believe masti should never be served up without acchai and the same holds true the other way around. And this is our guiding philosophy at VOOT Kids" VOOT Kids will be Viacom18’s first ever digital subscription service providing immersive content delivered through an elevated product experience and seamless gameplay. With this launch, VOOT Kids will bring alive the ‘Masti Main Acchai’ brand idea through a high decibel integrated marketing plan that will reach over 50 million households driven by a mix of print, on-air, on-ground activations and digital outreach.

Viacom18 launches its first subscription play, VOOT Kids

Mumbai, Mar 25 () With people staying at home during the 21-day lockdown called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the streaming services in India have decided to temporarily suspend HD and ultra-HD services to ensure smooth running of internet services.The lockdown, a measure taken to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the country, will lead to more traffic on the cellular network infrastructure, a release from the digital industry said post the meeting of key players."It was unanimously agreed that as an exceptional measure, all companies will immediately adopt measures, including temporarily defaulting HD and ultra-HD streaming to SD content or offering only SD content, at bitrates no higher than 480p on cellular networks. These voluntary measures will be in effect until April 14. All participants are immediately taking measures," the release said.The virtual meeting on Tuesday was called by Uday Shankar, Chairman, Star &amp; Disney India and attended by NP Singh (Sony), Sanjay Gupta (Google), Ajit Mohan (Facebook), Sudhanshu Vats (Viacom18), Gaurav Gandhi (Amazon Prime Video), Punit Goenka (Zee), Nikhil Gandhi (Tiktok), Ambika Khurana (Netflix), Karan Bedi (MX Player) and Varun Narang (Hotstar). BK BKBK

Lockdown: Streaming platforms suspend HD, ultra-HD services until April 14

<ul><li>On January 1, 2020, TRAI issued a few amendments to the New Tariff Order and Interconnection Regulations for the Broadcast industry. </li><li>After broadcasters spent over Rs 1000 crore to implement the NTO passed in Feb’ 19 and lost more than 13 to 15 million subscribers, the key stakeholders of the industry gathered in Mumbai today to challenge the latest TRAI amends. </li><li>Television experts think the New Tariff Order pan out to be counterproductive as it would affect the content quality, take away the choices consumers have now, hit revenues, employment and take away the fundamental right to monetise their content in the manner they choose. </li></ul>Key broadcasters united on January 10 in Mumbai, under the aegis of Indian Broadcasting Federation, to discuss the consequences of new Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) order that restricts pay-TV charges and could impact employment, economic growth, profitability of broadcasters and the quality of content that the industry produces. Senior executives such as The Walt Disney’s Uday Shankar, ZEEL’s Punit Goenka, Discovery’s Megha Tata, Viacom18’s Sudhanshu Vats, TV Today’s Aroon Purie, and Star and Disney’s K. Madhavan came together to highlight how the regulator’s intervention at the fundamental level could prove detrimental for the entire economy. To implement the NTO passed in February 2019, the collective cost that broadcasters bore was more than Rs 1000 crore. They also lost more than 12 to 15 million subscribers in the process. While the consumers and the industry were still grappling with the shift, NTO 2.0 could worsen the situation, leading to smaller channels shutting down. <div type="Video" msid="73196599" hostid="261" title="NP Singh explains how capping the prices under TRAI's latest amendments will impact broadcasters and consumers in the long-run" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=73196599"></div>

 “As broadcasters, we expect a stable regulatory regime, which is necessary to enable long-term business planning and a strategic approach towards investments. This is absolutely critical to enable us to provide the best of content to our consumers, more so in these times of rapid technological change,” said NP Singh, MD &amp; CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India and President - IBF. Lack of Insights He thinks that a 40% reduction from Rs 19 to Rs 12 for creating bouquets, has no backing of consumer insights and serves no ‘logical rationale.’ This could directly affect the quality and cost of content that is offered to the consumers. In a competitive market like broadcast, channel pricing should be determined through open market forces “IBF believes the latest amendments will severely impair broadcasters’ ability to compete with other unregulated platforms and adversely affect the viability of the pay TV industry,” added Singh. TRAI’s decision will come in force from March 1. Hampers Freedom TV Today’s Purie said, “A regulator’s job is to facilitate, enable and encourage growth, not strangulate. They are killing the golden goose which lays the egg.” He further said that content is not an essential commodity. Therefore, the market forces should be free to run it according to their will. Drawing an analogy, he added, “These regulations are like tying our feet and asking us to swim.” Too Soon to Meddle; Proves NTO 1.0 Missed Depth Uday Shankar said that the implications are so disruptive, that it has forced all of the broadcasters to come together. He thus questioned the very need of implementing another NTO in such a short span of time. He also questioned if there was a need for another regulation, which implies that the previous tariff lacked depth and planning. The broadcasters also pointed out the dichotomy of NTO; while on one side it aims to bring the prices down for consumers, on the other, it restricts discounting completely. On top of that, 60% of the cut goes to distributors, as they charge Rs 106 as Network Capacity Fee (NCF). What is the Agenda? Viacom18’s Sudhanshu Vats, highlighting the success of previous NTO, said that 70% of the consumers bought a bouquet from DPOs, a crore and a half of the audience opted for NTO, month-on-month churn showed how consumers are making choices, 94% of the audience were aware about the shift, and transparency was achieved. Vats, therefore, questioned the fundamental need for another NTO. “Micro-managing in a diverse country like India is impossible. Why is there a desire to serve a standard thalli to our sector? In every other sector, there are wide options; there is a shirt from Rs 100 rupee to Rs 10,000 and above. India is a very heterogeneous country and that plays out even more in media with the complexities, genres, languages and events. Therefore, there will be different choices made by different people, so this entire thing of keeping it consistent is not in the interest of the industry,” said Vats. No Feedback from the Stakeholders Questioning the fact that TRAI had taken enough feedback from the industry stakeholders and also the need to further reduce the prices in our country, Megha Tata said, "India is already the cheapest market in the world. There are 100s of channels and there is no evidence of market failure or high channels price compared to other developed economies that warrants TRAI fixing a cap on prices, discounting and the number of bouquets one can form.” The new amendment also begs the question -- has TRAI taken considerable feedback from all the broadcasters before coming up with this amendment order? A progressive policy framework must be impartial to all stakeholders in the ecosystem. The new change will impact the equilibrium of stakeholders," concludes Tata.

Why India's top broadcasters believe the latest TRAI amendments will severely impair the industry

<ul><li>All video <keyword id="1245953" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="OTT">OTT</keyword> players in India have announced that they will suspend their HD services to reduce mobile network congestion.</li><li>These voluntary measures will be in effect until April 14. </li><li>The step is in response to COAI's request to the Department of Telecommunications and OTT players to ensure that load on the network is reduced.</li></ul>All video OTT players in India have announced that they will suspend their HD services till April 14. The decision comes in response to the Cellular Operators Association of India’s (COAI) request to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and prominent OTT players to only stream content in Standard Definition (SD). With a 21-day lockdown that was announced by PM Narendra Modi last night (Tuesday), people will be completely locked down at home. An obvious effect of this is, people will end up consuming more data. Data consumption has already seen a spike in the last few weeks and the COAI’s letter was a response to this, considering more usage could lead to internet speeds taking a hit across the country. The COAI had also written to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) urging the government to issue advisories to all the concerned platforms, including <keyword id="758541" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-Prime">Amazon Prime</keyword> Video, YouTube, Hotstar, Zee5, <keyword id="3367417" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ALT-Balaji">Alt Balaji</keyword>, Voot, Sony Liv, Viuclip, Hoichoi, Netflix and SunNXT to undertake technical measures to help ease the pressure. It had also asked the platforms, in a separate letter to remove ads and pop-ups that consume high bandwidth, while asking them to put up public announcements on awareness around the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">Coronavirus</keyword>. To reach a decision on this, a meeting was organised on March 24, 2020 by Uday Shankar, Chairman, Star &amp; Disney India, with key stakeholders of the digital industry. The meeting, held virtually, was attended by NP Singh (Sony), Sanjay Gupta (Google), Ajit Mohan (Facebook), Sudhanshu Vats (Viacom18), Gaurav Gandhi (Amazon Prime Video), Punit Goenka (Zee), Nikhil Gandhi (Tiktok), Ambika Khurana (Netflix), Karan Bedi (MX Player) and Varun Narang (Hotstar). The players unanimously agreed to immediately adopt measures, including temporarily defaulting HD and ultra-HD streaming to SD content or offering only SD content, at bit rates no higher than 480p on cellular networks. These voluntary measures will be in effect until April 14. All participants are immediately taking measures.

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Sudhanshu Vats resigns as MD of Viacom18

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Voot Select envisions to be the leader of the Indian premium OTT space by FY21

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Viacom18 to launch a new subscription streaming service — Voot Select

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Viacom18 launches its first subscription play, VOOT Kids

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Lockdown: Streaming platforms suspend HD, ultra-HD services until April 14

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Why India's top broadcasters believe the latest TRAI amendments will severely impair the industry

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Video OTT players in India to suspend HD services on mobile till April 14

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