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<ul><li>As it celebrated it 4th anniversary recently, <keyword id="6245082" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zee5" source="Orion">Zee5</keyword> revealed that its monthly active users (MAU) rose to 101.9 million and global daily active users (DAUs) touched 9.6 million in December 2021.</li><li>Moving forward, the OTT platform is working on ensuring it goes deeper into the country, into Tier II &amp; III markets, and is also working on strengthening the platform on the technology front, to make sure even people with low-end phone or patchy networks can access it without any difficulty.</li></ul><keyword id="6372205" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zee" source="Orion">Zee</keyword>5, the over-the-top (OTT) platform from the house of Zee, has plans of doubling down on its investments on original content production this year. The platform is also working towards building one of the best regional content library in the country, <keyword id="1164639" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manish-kalra" source="Orion">Manish Kalra</keyword>, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India told us. As it celebrated it 4th anniversary recently, the platform revealed that its monthly active users (MAU) rose to 101.9 million and global daily active users (DAUs) touched 9.6 million in December 2021. It also said that its users watched an average of 201 minutes of content per month during the last quarter, and it released 51 shows and movies, including 11 originals during the period. “We are fundamentally a highly customer-obsessed business and our success lies in more and more users using our platform. In December, globally, Zee5 crossed the 100 million MAU benchmark which was very exciting for us and we want to keep going from strength to strength. In 2020, we had almost seen a 2X increase on our user base on subscription side and even in 2021, we have seen high double digit growth in subscriber base. We’ve almost doubled our subscriber base YoY which has been very rewarding for us. We are also seeing a lot of people moving to connected devices, there’s been an increase in users coming in from regional languages. So it's been a rewarding journey for us so far,” shared Kalra. Currently, close to 80% of Zee5’s users are Tier I and metro-focused, but this year, the platform wants to go deeper into Tier II and Tier III cities. “Our strategy would be to go local with the right content offerings. We have some big investments planned in regional languages including Tamil, Telugu, Bangla and Punjabi, along with Hindi. We will come up with real, relatable stories that will connect with the masses. We want to ensure we go deeper into the country and acquire and take care of this audience in a much more significant way,’ he added. To celebrate its anniversary, the platform had granted access to a select few of its premium web series and movies to everyone for free. It also announced ZEE5 Spark, an initiate aimed at bolstering the platform’s AVOD content library further by introducing some popular web series like Holiday, Ready 2 Mingle, Dude, The Great Indian Wedding, Happily Ever After, featuring actors like Aahana Kumra, Amol Parashar, Adah Sharma, Priyank Sharma and Naveen Kasturia. Zee5 will also add short films like Baarish Aur Chowmein, Half Full, Khujli, Kheer and many more, starring actors like Taapsee Pannu, <keyword id="6354338" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="naseeruddin-shah" source="Orion">Naseeruddin Shah</keyword>, Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta and Jackie Shroff amongst others that will be available for AVOD users under Spark. On some of their key areas of focus for the year, Kalra said, “We want to ensure we become the best-in-class on technology from the platform perspective. We want to become more intuitive and drive a more personalized and customized interface for every user. Secondly, we want to invest on having the best-in-class regional content library because that's our strength and forte. We don’t want to compete in the English genre. So staying focused on our rules, our strengths and investing on a class content library for Indians and the languages that they connect with would be super important for us. We also want to ensure that we stay rooted and connected with India. So, we want to ensure we are available even for consumers who are on low-end devices and do not have great network. So you will soon see some innovations from us on offline viewing and on closed network,” concluded Kalra.

This year, we will focus on ensuring the best-in-class regional content library and technology on the platform and aim at going deeper into Tier II & III markets: Manish Kalra, Zee5

<ul><li>The pandemic has accelerated the pace of digital adoption in the country and the <keyword id="1245953" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott" source="Orion">OTT</keyword> segment has seen a resulting boom.</li><li>The proliferation of connected devices is also helping in making the experience more convenient and seamless.</li><li><keyword id="1164639" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manish-kalra" source="Orion">Manish Kalra</keyword>, Chief Business Officer, <keyword id="6245082" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zee5" source="Orion">ZEE5</keyword> India writes how the the connected devices ecosystem, driven by technology presents a huge headroom for growth in the future of media and entertainment.</li></ul>Technology is a big enabler in our quest to make life comfortable, secure and convenient every day. Indians across demographics are increasingly embracing and easily accessing the advantages of widespread connectivity in their homes. As per 'The Connected Indian Consumer' report 2020 by techARC, we are quickly moving beyond smartphones and are now willing to own other categories of smart devices and gadgets to derive advantages on a wider spectrum serving a lot of use cases. We are leveraging the benefits, connectivity, smartness, and intelligence of other smart devices and gadgets to elevate the overall experience of living and content viewing. The marriage of content viewing and connected devices OTT video was born out of convenience in watching programs at any given time on your preferred device – right from your mobile phone to laptop to your smart TV. As the pandemic spread, the need for getting entertained from the comfort of your homes became significant for all of us. With a sizeable range of streaming devices being available at affordable prices to consumers, they are spending more and more time at home and enjoying with family. Smart TVs are quickly catching up in India with very affordable prices, and low cost broadband being the enabler to same. Thanks to the affordable pricing of smart TVs and gain on purchasing power, consumers in India are migrating to a bigger screen with an eye to enhance their content viewing experience. In recent years, both OTT and <keyword id="1728606" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="connected-tv" source="Orion">connected TV</keyword> ecosystems have grown exponentially, more recently accelerated by the impact of COVID-19. With the pandemic hitting us resulting in swathes of the population being cooped up inside their homes, we have undeniably been reminded of the demand for connected TV and why providing users with TV applications via the ‘10-foot experience’ is an integral part of any OTT strategy. If telecom providers built an appetite for the voracious consumption of online content, connected television further augmented this appetite to bring the much-missed theatre experience to the living room. India's video OTT market is expected to grow from USD 1.5 billion in 2021 to USD 4 billion in 2025 and further to USD 12.5 billion by 2030 on the back of access to better networks, digital connectivity, and smartphones, according to a report by RBSA Advisors. At the same time, EY estimates connected television sets to grow to 14 million by 2023 and 40 million by 2025, led by the increase in wireless and wired broadband connections alongside proliferation of low-cost smart television sets. Going by these numbers, it is evident that the future of entertainment lies with OTT and connected TV. Experience is king Consumers consume content on a variety of devices, and every step of their journey matters. With the proliferation of content on the OTT platforms, the challenge for OTT players is to ensure an easy and seamless experience. Platform experience is critical as it’s the first point of contact – even before content. The speed and ease with which users are able to stream the content they like, the more likely they are to stay on and come back. OTT players need to keep in mind key parameters, bucketed under hygiene and value, to retain and gain customers. Video quality, start times, low buffering, search, and app start time falls under hygiene parameters and are the most imperative attributes on connected devices. Improving them from time to time is critical for all OTT players. Further, to create stickiness and ensure repeated visits of the consumers, quality of content, frequency of new content launches, the user interface, inside app navigation, recommendations, watchlist are important parameters, which will then enhance overall OTT user experience. As per PwC’s recent survey, on asking the audience what they liked about their favourite services, ‘ease of use’ was the most influential factor, and ‘I know I’ll always be able to find something to watch’ outweighed the quality of content. This is a testament of the significance of a clean, intuitive user interface (UI) which understands consumers even better than they know themselves. Video streaming services are already gaining ground when it comes to UI; as users shuffle through many options, it will take on increasing importance. The ability to enthral customers and deliver beyond their expectations can certainly be the trump card to winning the battle for eyeballs Throwing Connected TV advertising in your marketing mix In today’s hyper-connected, data-rich world, consumers are increasingly demanding brands to deliver more focused, relevant messaging. As a result, advertisers are realizing that in a bid to make a measurable impact, they must shift away from simply competing for attention to creating meaningful, engaging experiences which not only acquire new users but also retain existing ones successfully. While the pandemic germinated the concept of co-viewing, the explosive growth of connected TV viewership has opened up a power-packed growth success channel for advertisers who want to discover and capture highly engaged, and affluent audiences. It’s a prudent idea for them, therefore, to lean more towards Connected TV advertising as the target audience usually comes with a higher disposable income when compared to other users. Ad spends on connected TV and OTT services are projected to grow from $8 billion in 2020 to $11 billion in 2021 as per the recent PwC report. In a country like India, where smart TV subscription has grown exponentially, advertising on Connected TV is the next big frontier. Summing up! The last one year gave a boost and set a new growth trajectory for the already growing online media and entertainment industry. Consuming OTT content on larger, connected screens is a trend that will only continue to grow across the country. As the market expands, there will be more competition to earn consumer trust in OTT and Connected TV space, enticed by great results and low entry barriers. Needless to say, the overall connected devices ecosystem; driven by technology presents a huge headroom for growth in the future of media and entertainment and it’s time that all the stakeholders put in motion strategies to cater to this exponential consumer growth trend.

How connected devices are shaping the future of entertainment

<ul><li><keyword id="959269" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott-platform">OTT platform</keyword> <keyword id="6245082" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ZEE5">ZEE5</keyword> recently celebrated its third anniversary.</li><li><keyword id="1164639" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manish-Kalra">Manish Kalra</keyword>, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India looked back at some of the milestones that the platform has achieved in the last 3 years, and spoke about how they will try to bring in the next phase of growth for the platform.</li></ul>The pandemic-induced lockdown, while bringing the world to a stop, acted as a shot in the arm for most over-the-top platforms and ZEE5’s story is not very different. Having grown by 200% during the months of the lockdown, the platform’s subscription base has been increasing by roughly 100% in the following months. And for FY22, the platform has the target of growing their subscription base by around 3X. Their strategy is simple, to go deeper into the country, get more and more people to sample their offering, and ensuring there is something for everyone, to help them stay onto the platform. “Our vision is to become India’s most preferred OTT platform and we want to do that by giving consumers the best-in-class content and experience on the devices they consume their content on. There’s a huge opportunity for us to cater to the content needs of India’s <keyword id="6157640" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="regional-content">regional content</keyword> consumer which is our strength. We want to make sure we do a good job there and are able to connect with our consumers,” shared Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India. In terms of where the platform stands currently, it has around 65.9 million global MAUs, 5.4 million global DAUs as of Dec’20 and a recorded 133 minutes average watch time per viewer per month. ZEE5’s average subscriptions grew 3X in 2020 YoY, and its active subscriptions grew 2.6X in November 2020 versus November 2019. This growth and retention rate resulted in a 1.3X growth in overall engagement in November 2020 as compared to November 2019. Witnessing a rise of 45% in its paid viewers, its subscriptions went up by 80%. It has also been witnessing around 3X growth in viewership on connected devices. What has helped the platform ring in these healthy numbers is its focus on delivering content that people connect with. Being a part of ZEEL has ensured a steady flow of <keyword id="1612654" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Original-Content">original content</keyword>. “Being a part of Zee has given us the capability to produce content faster and also to offer really good quality content to our users. Zee has been catering to the real India, to Bharat for years now and they understand the kind of stories that will connect with Indians, the insights that will work and that's helped us create some very good shows and stories. We have worked on keeping the consumer at the front and center of everything we do. We also tell stories that are relatable. Ensuring that our technology is strong is also an important point of focus for us. I always tell my team that we should be able to cater to both our consumer using an entry level device in Tier III cities and an iPhone user in a metro. Our focus on these things has helped us,” explained Kalra. While a lot of consumers come to the platform to watch catch-up content, they have also been trying to woo this audience by offering them features like before-TV where they can watch shows 24 hours before they are aired on TV. They are also working on their recommendation engines that feed people the kind of content they like to watch. Regional content will be a big play for ZEE5 too this year. “Our target is to get between 2X-3X growth this year and we want to do that by telling consumers the right stories. We are focused on bringing in a lot of regional content. While we have produced most of our originals in Hindi, we are seeing Telugu, Tamil and Bangla emerging as strong languages. So our key priority for FY22 is to build a multilingual strategy. For us, this will mean a deeper regionalization. This will be the year of Bharat because we want to be the key storyteller for all the millions of Indians,” he added. On what their marketing strategy will be to reach out to this audience, Kalra shared that they are looking at a 360 degree approach. “If you're a consumer consuming news online, watching something on YouTube in the afternoon or watching something on TV in the evening, we would want to be there to nudge you to try out content. So our strategy would entail thinking consumer-first and catering to their needs, going vernacular and deeper in the country.” The platform recently launched a 360-degree campaign, ZEE5 ATM – ‘Any Time Manoranjan’. “We aim to expand our viewer base into newer geographies to bridge the gap of TV viewing audience by adding 1,500 movie titles across 12 local languages to our AVOD library of content, further encouraging them to download the ZEE5 app. From an overall business performance perspective, we will continue to offer a powerful combination of platform convenience for seamless viewing and compelling content to further cement our place as the Multilingual Storyteller for a Billion Indians.” The platform also wants to cater to the Indian diaspora living outside India and is about to enter a new market soon, shared Kalra.

ZEE5 is aiming for 3X growth in subscription in FY22 by increasing its focus on Bharat

<ul><li>A few days back, independent Internet Security Researcher, <keyword id="10420755" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajshekhar-Rajaharia">Rajshekhar Rajaharia</keyword> had alleged that the data of 9 million <keyword id="6245082" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ZEE5">Zee5</keyword> users had been leaked.</li><li>While denying the claim, <keyword id="1164639" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manish-Kalra">Manish Kalra</keyword>, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India said they had taken the matter seriously and are revamping their security systems.</li></ul>Days after an independent Internet Security Researcher, Rajshekhar Rajaharia tweeted about an alleged <keyword id="608402" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-breach">data breach</keyword> at over-the-top (OTT) platform Zee5’s, a top executive has denied the claim. “The security of our consumer’s personal data and information is top priority for us. After we came across this information, we have done a full audit again. Our systems are not showing any such breach,” said Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India. He also added that they have taken the issue seriously and working on strengthening their security systems. “We are getting some external auditors and working on revamping our security systems to make sure nothing like this happens in the future and so that there’s not even an iota of doubt in our consumer’s minds,” he added. About a week ago, Rajaharia had tweeted that there had been a security breach at Zee5 which had resulted in the data leak of around 9 million users. <div type="twitter" handle="rajaharia" handlename="Rajshekhar Rajaharia" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1321786916505710592/mL9ugzP0_normal.jpg" favoritecount="113" retweetcount="54" status="9 Million users data alleged leaked from #Zee5 again!! It seems latest data leak on 23rd Feb 2021. I sure no one is… https://t.co/dUWNWvNunc" createdat="1614442231000" id="1365695821606391808"></div> In July last year, a hacker group had claimed to have gained access to Zee5’s database. The organization had then denied the claim too. Zee5 is the OTT platform of the <keyword id="61966" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zee-group">Zee Group</keyword>. The platform currently has 65.9 million global MAUs and 5.4 million global DAUs, as of Dec’20.

ZEE5 denies recent data breach claims

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=tripadvisor&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">TripAdvisor</a>, the travel planning and booking site recently announced its Travellers’ Choice™ awards for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/The-10-best-fine-dining-restaurants-in-the-world-according-to-TripAdvisor/articleshow/54915178.cms">top restaurants around the world</a>, which also included a separate list for the 10 best fine-dine <keyword id="34615" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="restaurants">restaurants</keyword> in India. 
 
Overall, this year’s awards recognizes 528 restaurants. Award winners were determined using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews for restaurants around the world, gathered over a 12-month period. 
 Chef <keyword id="210922" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Manish-Mehrotra">Manish Mehrotra</keyword>’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Foodies-unite-Here-are-the-20-best-restaurants-in-India/articleshow/52093823.cms">Indian Accent</a> continues to reign on the no 1 spot in the Indian ‘Fine Dining’ List, while <keyword id="348483" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Zorawar-Kalra">Zorawar Kalra</keyword>’s Farzi Café, the latest entrant to the capital makes a surprise appearance as well. The other awardees include <keyword id="165020" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bukhara">Bukhara</keyword>, New Delhi, Peshawri in Mumbai, to name a few. 
 Moreover, three Indian restaurants have also been awarded at the Asia level. These are, <keyword id="307169" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-Accent">Indian Accent</keyword>, New Delhi(#13); Villa Maya, Trivandrum (#15) and Peshawari, Mumbai (#25). 
 
Without further ado, here’s presenting the 10 best<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=fine+dining+restaurants&amp;sortorder=effectivedate"> fine-dining restaurants </a>in India. How many of them have you been to?

Here are the 10 best fine-dining restaurants in India

New Delhi, Comedy-drama series "<keyword id="19554451" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aam-Aadmi-Family" source="Orion">Aam Aadmi Family</keyword>" will return for its fourth season on ZEE5, the streaming platform said on Monday. Directed by Himali Shah, the new chapter is set to premiere on ZEE5 on November 24. It stars Brijendra Kala (Satendra Sharma/Papa), Lubna Salim (Madhu Sharma/Mummy), Gunjan Malhotra (Sonu), and Chandan Anand (Bobby). "Aam Aadmi Family" will continue to bring to life the everyday adventures and misadventures of the endearing Sharma family, the makers said in a press release. Shah said the fourth season talks about how a family copes up with the loss of a loved one. "It's a familiar situation, but less talked about. It's second innings for Mummy and Papa, while Bobby is trying to find his calling, career wise. Sonu is dealing with long distance marriage. "It's the coming together of the entire family, despite their own problems. A big thank you to Arunabh Kumar, Shreyansh Pandey, Apoorv Singh Karki and ZEE5 for their guidance and partnership," the director said. Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India said the streamer is happy to introduce the next installment of "Aam Aadmi Family". "With its inspiring humour and interesting family dynamics, this series certainly develops a relatable intuition for our viewers," Kalra said. "We are delighted to present season 4 of 'Aam Aadmi Family', a show that takes inspiration from the everyday lives of middle-class Indian families. This show is very special as it finds magic in the ordinary," added Nimisha Pandey, Chief Content Officer - Hindi Originals, ZEE5.

Aam Aadmi Family Season 4 from November 24 on ZEE5

Director Chandoo Mondeti's mystery action-adventure film, '<keyword id="1729397" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="karthikeya" source="Orion">Karthikeya</keyword> 2', which emerged as a blockbuster in theatres, seems to be continuing its success streak on <keyword id="1245953" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="OTT" source="Orion">OTT</keyword> as well, witnessing a whopping 100 crore viewing minutes in a matter of just 48 hours! <keyword id="6245082" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ZEE5" source="Orion">ZEE5</keyword>, the video streaming platform which premiered the film on <keyword id="6494550" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dussehra" source="Orion">Dussehra</keyword>, has now announced that the film had emerged as a huge success. The platform claimed that the film had garnered 100 crore viewing minutes across languages and states within 48 hours of streaming on the platform. Produced by Abhishek Agarwal Arts and <keyword id="6780267" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="people-media-factory" source="Orion">People Media Factory</keyword>, 'Karthikeya - 2' navigates through protagonist Karthikeya's pursuit of the truth. It leads him to find out the power of the ancient Indian belief system and the Tatva of Lord Sri Krishna. ZEE5 <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> Chief Business Officer Manish Kalra said, "We are overwhelmed with the response that 'Karthikeya 2' has received in 48 hours on the platform. It's a great milestone to have crossed." Director Chandoo Mondeti added, "'Karthikeya 2' is really close to my heart. We wanted this film to reach a global audience as it highlights Hindu mythology which reflects India's splendid diversity. "It was possible only with ZEE5's reach. The whole team has put in a lot of effort to make it a success and I am glad that it's paid off not only in theatres but also with its digital premiere. The film has achieved another milestone of crossing 100 crore viewing minutes in 48 hours which is a cherishable moment for all of us." Actor <keyword id="1590418" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="nikhil-siddhartha" source="Orion">Nikhil Siddhartha</keyword> said, "I am extremely delighted with the love that the audience has showered on 'Karthikeya 2'. It is a surreal moment for me. "When we started this project, we had never imagined it would receive such an overpouring of love and support. But I am genuinely overwhelmed with the response that the film has received during its theatrical release as well as with its World Digital Premiere on ZEE5. "Since its release on the platform, I have been receiving so many messages and comments from the fans appreciating my character and the film. I am forever grateful to them and happy that the film has struck a chord with them." SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/opening-new-innings-shikhar-dhawan-will-be-seen-in-double-xl/articleshow/94781583.cms">Opening new innings: Shikhar Dhawan will be seen in 'Double XL' </a><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/amitabh80-still-a-delight-keeps-getting-better-say-directors-old-and-new/articleshow/94776251.cms">Amitabh@80: Still a delight, keeps getting better, say directors old and new</a>

'Karthikeya 2' hits 100 crore viewing minutes in 48 hours on OTT

"<keyword id="2328886" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="antim" source="Orion">Antim</keyword>: The Final Truth'' is set to premiere on <keyword id="6245082" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zee5" source="Orion">ZEE5</keyword> on December 24 a month after its theatrical release, the streamer announced Wednesday. The action thriller, an adaptation of the Marathi movie ''Mulshi Pattern'', features <keyword id="6354583" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="salman-khan" source="Orion">Salman Khan</keyword> and Aayush Sharma. Directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, the movie released in cinema houses on November 26. Produced by Salman Khan Films and distributed by Zee Studios, ''Antim'' reportedly earned over Rs 58 crore. In a statement, a spokesperson for Salman Khan Films said the team is looking forward to the digital release of the film on ZEE5. ''The audience gave an overwhelming response to the theatrical release of Antim: The Final Truth. We are happy that they can now watch the film at their convenience and post the success of Radhe, what better platform than ZEE5 to premiere it,'' the spokesperson said. ''Antim'' narrates the story of two individuals with differing ideologies who belong to two divergent worlds, leading to a nail-biting finale. Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India said, they are thrilled to once again team up with Khan post their previous two movies — ''Radhe'' and ''Kaagaz'', which the actor produced. ''We at ZEE5 are focused on curating and creating good quality content to entertain the audience and bringing their favourite stars to their screens. It gives us great pleasure to associate with Salman Khan and Salman Khan Films once again after the tremendous success of Kaagaz and Radhe on ZEE5. ''We are proud to not only present ‘Antim: The Final Truth’ to fans, just before their most loved actor’s birthday. We are eagerly looking forward to the premiere and hope that all Salman Khan fans cherish this birthday gift,'' Kalra said. ''It was heart-warming to see the response the film received in theatres after a long time, now as the film hits ZEE5, we are glad that it would reach a wider audience,'' added Sharma's spokesperson. ''Antim'' also stars Mahima Makwana. SEE ALSO:

Salman Khan's "Antim: The Final Truth" to premiere on Zee5 on December 24

<ul><li><keyword id="3810461" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pi-ventures" source="Orion">pi Ventures</keyword> has announced the first closing of its second fund at $40 million.</li><li>The fund size is $75 million, including a green shoe target of $100 million.</li><li>This fund has already been deployed to back biotech startup ImmunitoAI.</li></ul>Early-stage venture fund pi Ventures has announced the first closing of its second fund at ₹300 crore ($40 million) to invest in 20-25 startups in the next three years. The company has launched the fund II in March 2021 with a base target corpus of ₹565 crore ($75 million), including a green shoe target of ₹750 crore ($100 million). The investment firm aims to announce the second close by mid 2022, Manish Singhal, founding partner at pi Ventures, told Business Insider. Several high net worth individuals (HNIs) and family offices — including Mamaearth’s Varun Alagh, Flipkart’s Binny Bansal, MakeMyTrip’s Deep Kalra, and senior leaders from IBM, Facebook and Google — have participated in the venture fund. Founded in 2016, pi Ventures had closed its Fund I in ₹225 crore ($30 million) in 2018. The fund has been used to invest in 15 startups, including breast cancer screening solution Niramai, Google-backed mental health platform Wysa, spacetech company Agnikul and logistics company Locus. Like the fund I, pi Ventures’ Fund II will be sector agnostic too. This fund has already been deployed to back biotech startup ImmunitoAI that is developing an AI-powered antibody discovery and screening platform. “The interest in our fund demonstrates the confidence of our investors in our team and our investment strategy. We will continue supporting early-stage entrepreneurs in the deep tech space and we take the learnings from our first fund portfolio to scale on this now proven strategy,” Singhal added. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/union-defence-budget-2022-submarines-drones-warships-and-aircraft-carriers/articleshow/88989045.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">This year’s defence budget may focus on building submarines, drones, warships and aircraft carriers</a> <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/bajaj-finance-bajaj-auto-hero-motocorp-and-other-hot-stocks-on-january-19/slidelist/88985936.cms"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/indias-daily-covid-19-cases-surge-by-7-8-in-a-day-active-cases-stand-at-1831000/articleshow/88987362.cms">India’s daily COVID-19 cases surge by 7.8% in a day, active cases stand at 18,31,000</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/ags-transact-technologies-ipo-cash-management-firm-looking-to-halve-its-debt-with-ipo-money/articleshow/88987025.cms">AGS Transact is a cash management firm looking to halve its debt with IPO money</a>

pi Ventures plans to invest in 25 young startups with its latest $75 million fund

<ul><li>ZEE5 ropes in <keyword id="823990" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sara-Ali-Khan">Sara Ali Khan</keyword> and <keyword id="1137993" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amol-Parashar">Amol Parashar</keyword> as the face of brand campaign.</li><li>The OTT platform recently announced a partnership with TVF (The Viral Fever) adding some the finest TVF shows and announcing new seasons of some of the iconic shows like Pitchers/Tripling/Permanent Roommates/Humorously Yours etc.</li></ul>ZEE5 has announced a new brand campaign to promote its annual subscription offer @ ₹499/*- (previously at ₹999/year). For a long, Indian consumers have evolved to the international concept of Binge-Watching and with this campaign, ZEE5 aims to enable them further to continue watching and unearthing content from 150+ originals and 2800+ movies resting on the platform. ZEE5 brings aboard popular cine-darling Sara Ali Khan and OTT's favorite boy Amol Parashar as brand ambassadors for the campaign and aims to unite Indians through their shared love for real, relevant, and resonant stories. <div type="Youtube" id="qbgrSvR11yQ" title="Dekhtey Reh Jaogey | Watch 2800+ Movies 150 + Original Shows &amp; more | Only on ZEE5" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qbgrSvR11yQ/mqdefault.jpg"></div> The ‘Dekhtey Reh Jaogey’ campaign is targeted towards younger audiences aged between 18-34 to increase share of mind. Following a 360-degree approach to target Indian entertainment lovers, ZEE5 has planned a high-frequency campaign across TV, social media, and digital, which is slated to go live today. With this new subscription package, viewers will have an influx of unlimited entertainment that is both captivating and binge-worthy, including a rich library spanning 12+ Indian languages featuring Web series, movies (Original and theatricals), TVF shows, Live TV, Alt Balaji shows, Ad-free Catch-up TV, Zindagi TV shows, kids’ content, and much more. The 499/-* subscription will also include 50+ new theatricals and 40+ Originals across diverse languages slated to be launched on ZEE5 through the course of the year. An elated, Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India said, “We’re a customer obsessed brand and we keep pushing the boundaries of what's possible in a bid to keep delivering an unmatched experience to our users. With the OTT upswing, today, millions of viewers are Binge Watching content across smaller towns and cities, many of which are underserved in terms of content options and infrastructural set-up. With the ‘Dekhtey Reh Jaogey’ campaign, we want to make quality entertainment accessible to consumers, in the language of their choice, at the tap of a button, without price being a deterrent. Think of it as 'Entertainment Inclusion', our single biggest goal going forward.” On onboarding Sara and Amol as the face of the campaign, Manish added, “Both Sara and Amol are immensely talented and connect with audiences across age-groups, especially the youth. They are exuberant, enthusiastic and love experimenting, which we at ZEE5 believe in as well. We are glad to associate with both of them and hope this campaign achieves maximum reach with their support.” “ZEE5 is our very own homegrown OTT platform. With ‘Dekhtey Reh Jaogey’, the aim is to entertain everyone, especially during these difficult times. Additionally, for me, Kedarnath and Simmba are my firsts and therefore extra special both of are on ZEE5! I’m excited with my association with ZEE5", shares Sara Ali Khan. “I chose this campaign because of the messaging we are giving out to people to stay home and be entertained without any interruption during this pandemic. ZEE5, our homegrown OTT platform has consistently presented intriguing and amazing content across genres. I started my journey with TVF and recently, the two content creators have joined hands, which shows the trust everyone has in this platform”, shares Amol Parashar.

ZEE5 launches a new campaign with Sara Ali Khan and Amol Parashar

<ul><li>As we enter a new year, we wanted to understand what to expect from the Over-the-top (<keyword id="1245953" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott" source="Orion">OTT</keyword>) industry in 2022.</li><li>In today's feature, we speak to industry experts who share their thoughts on what this year has in store for us.</li></ul>After 2020 we had hoped that 2021 would bring us some respite from the pandemic. However, things were challenging for a large part of the year. With many of us stuck within the four walls of our house for the most part of the year, OTT platforms sometimes became the only source of entertainment in our lives. Not only did 2021 see the launch of a lot of big-budget originals on various OTT platforms, a lot of movies like Sardar Udham Singh, Mimi and Shershaah launched on these platforms. Content producing companies put their best foot forward and created award-winning shows that won both commercial and critical acclaim. There has been a visible increase in investments in content production, a trend that is here to stay in 2022 as well. A recent joint report by industry body CII and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) stated that the Indian OTT sector is currently in the scaling stage with strong subscription growth and high investment in premium as well as original content. The Indian OTT sector is one of the most competitive amongst emerging markets with over 40 players. While there have been debates about more and more people moving away from TV, Mandeep Kohli, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group India states that we are still some time away from that happening at a large scale in India. “The share of traditional media is slowly declining with increased digital adoption but there is still high headroom for penetration with only 54% of Indian households having a pay TV connection compared to more than 70% in China. For many households, TV continues to be the center of the home and a significant part of family time,” said Kohli, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group India. The report further stated that the industry is at a scaling stage currently and has the potential to become a $13-15 billion industry by 2030. To understand what the new year has in store for us, we spoke to a few of the most important voices from India’s OTT industry, along with some of the biggest content production houses. Here is what they had to say about what lies ahead: Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, <keyword id="6245082" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zee5" source="Orion">ZEE5</keyword> India The already-growing online media and entertainment business received a major boost with the black swan event that the Covid-19 pandemic was, setting a new growth trajectory in the last year. The audience adopted a more digitally advanced way of entertainment, something that went beyond the conventional mediums, leading to mass adoption of OTT platforms which resulted in a surge in both viewership and watch-time. This pandemic-induced growth in demand for quality content led to an increased focus on storytelling across languages leading to the creation of extensive and expansive content libraries. People also became more open to sampling diverse content from different languages and were keener to opt for the living room experience thanks to the increased adoption of connected devices. This growth of the connected devices ecosystem has made OTT a preferred choice not only for personal but also for family consumption. At ZEE5, we have seen a 3X growth in the viewership on connected devices. The rise in power-packed dynamic storytelling and the rise of connected devices has led to the advent of the ‘Home Box Office’ which is a trend that is here to stay. While we grew 200% this year at the back of an aggressive slate of content line-up and hyper-personalization, we aim to make deeper inroads into Indian homes going into 2022. Sameer Nair, CEO, <keyword id="1322450" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="applause-entertainment" source="Orion">Applause Entertainment</keyword> <div type="image" title="IMG_8153 (1)" msid="88694220" hostid="261"></div> I believe the biggest emerging trend for the streaming industry in 2022 and beyond is the increasing flattening of the Earth, with both geographical borders and language barriers breaking down as internet connectivity reaches the remotest audiences. Our audiences, both local and global, have become smarter, more perceptive and way more critical; this requires us as Content Creators and Distributors to significantly improve the quality of our storytelling, of our productions and of the consumer experience we offer. Authentic, rooted stories that have a universal appeal can and will breakout to reach audiences globally. The more we collaborate with talent from diverse cultures and geographies, the richer we will become as storytellers. The ‘One Planet One Species Shared Cultures’ is an idea whose time is truly upon us. Divya Dixit, SVP, Marketing &amp; Revenue, <keyword id="4241922" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="altbalaji" source="Orion">ALTBalaji</keyword> With the traditional marketing budgets on a decline and digital and influencer marketing taking center stage, there are many trends, however interrelated, that we will see emerging in 2022. The digital audiovisual industry will explode; according to Bain and Company, India's online video user base has increased to more than 350 million people, growing 24% in the last three years. Influencer marketing will rapidly move to include micro-influencers and not just be dependent on Celebrity influencers, thereby also promoting UGC. Video marketing, live streaming will give rise to Social commerce and tier 2 and 3 cities will claim the growth chart curve. With all these interrelated events/trends triggering off, Users will expect personalized experiences which will be offset by deeper integration of ML, which will give rise to AI usage; however, the world of marketers will also see a more focused emerging curve towards Organic retention – CRM, surveys, retention tools, recommendation cycles, SEO, UI/UX as Google continues the stance of stopping 3rd party cookies by end of 2023. Manjit Sachdev- Head – Originals, Voot and Voot Select, Viacom18 Digital Ventures <div type="image" title="Manjit Sachdev _Head Content at VOOT AND VOOT Select" msid="88694240" hostid="261"></div> After an unprecedented 2020, with an acceleration in the growth of OTT platforms, 2021 was a year for creating milestones in curating unique and enthralling stories for the audience. Now as we step into 2022 with hope and resilience, the OTT sector will witness an increase in the demand for personalized and purpose-driven content. Given the increasing competition in the OTT space, staying relevant and purposeful is most critical. Considering the changing realities in today's times, having a purpose-driven story telling approach is the way to go. Content with purpose has the power to travel beyond boundaries, spread values, knowledge and positivity and build deeper engagement with subscribers. This trend will act as a key differentiator in changing behaviours. Megha Tata, Managing Director, South Asia, Discovery, Inc As SVOD continues to grow aggressively, we are seeing an increasing number of audiences now willing to pay for good content. I believe a right combination of compelling content and pricing would be the key in attracting a bigger share of consumers into the SVOD world next year. Also, differentiated programming will add to a player’s competitive advantage in the midst of most mainstream players offering similar content. This is a trend familiar to what we saw even broadcast channels go through. I believe some players will be able to carve out a niche for themselves, while most streaming catalogs will end up resembling each other. Rishi Negi, COO, Banijay Asia 2020 was a game changer for the whole world, we strategized a smooth transition to the streaming era and the year 2021 was about sustaining the positive change and envisioning the prospects of growth. With changing narratives and experimental content taking a lead, along with the fact that the data &amp; streaming charges have dropped, has resulted in the content reaching a much bigger audience. I anticipate the year 2022 to be vibrant with original productions, compelling storytelling and some path-breaking performances. Fighting the content inflation with a wide variety of exceptional chronicles intertwined with existing catalog shows in this post-pandemic world, viewers are streaming more than ever. With nominal data plan and streaming charges, content is reaching even the darkest corner of the world. Considering the pace of content transmission, at Banijay Asia, we have become more aggressive towards producing content that delights the heartland of India. We see a hike in demand for stories which are untold, female centric and with CTV on the rise, we anticipate growing interest in regional unscripted content in 2022. While we have seen this trend kickstart already with our Tamil unscripted show The Survivors as it received unparalleled response from the audience and our hinterland drama Matsya Kaand recently crossed a 100M views on <keyword id="2214311" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mx-player" source="Orion">MX Player</keyword> within a month. These numbers affirm that the trendsmap that we're following leads to a sustainable future. Given these past two years have been a real tester, we have pushed through every possible challenge posed by the virus this year and successfully produced shows for the streaming giants and kept the show running. While we have covered grounds with our scripted, non-scripted, international format adaptation, book adaptations, in the upcoming year, we aim to keep up with our pace and keep reinventing our ways. To sum it up, we are thoroughly looking forward to 2022 to be a year full of exciting and enthralling projects to keep our audiences engaged and invested. Rohit Jain, Managing Director, <keyword id="193261" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lionsgate" source="Orion">Lionsgate</keyword> South Asia and Networks, Emerging Markets Asia 2022 is going to be an exciting year for OTT players as the content pipeline will be stronger than ever. While the pandemic has leapfrogged growth in terms of viewers and subscription we expect 2022 to further amplify the reach and will witness growth not only in the metros but also in tier II &amp; tier III cities. Today’s viewers are constantly looking for edgy and unique stories. We have always said premium content is the ultimate winner. The OTT industry will have to concentrate on quality content over quantity of content. Siddhartha Roy, COO, Hungama Digital Media The media and entertainment industry has been making rapid strides in the interior of India. Regional markets are becoming the industry’s point of convergence as the digital infrastructure expands across the length and breadth of the country. Content houses and creators are going vocal through local, thereby, making homegrown, high-quality content available at the click of a button. Going further, consumption of entertainment, in addition to audio and video, will be extended to varied mediums, such as gaming. As the Indian online gaming sector is witnessing tremendous growth in 2020 it sets a tone that gaming will be the next big thing. The industry will witness a rapid rise in the use of AI and ML to create a customised and personalised experience for audiences. This makes industry consumer friendly; not just that, it helps in massive consumption and double consumer engagement. Hiren Gada, CEO-Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd <div type="image" title="Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd." msid="88726664" hostid="261"></div> With regional internet penetration growing at a rapid pace, localization of content and OTT apps are going to be one of the emerging trends to look out for. Content that was earlier restricted to just Bollywood and Hollywood is getting extended to other native languages and it is going to play a key role in attracting new consumers and in supporting other industries such as dubbing and subtitling that will further boost the content bank. Other than localization, we will also see content being offered across other segments that include devotional, and kids’ categories. As we see new OTT apps being launched almost every month with multiple paying models, the consumers will have more flexibility and power to make their own choices. With increased smartphone adoption along with affordable data, mobile penetration of the OTT will see more focus. Mobile-centric plans have been introduced by most OTTs today to cater to the Millennials and GenZs who have the hunger to consume content but not the deep pockets to pay. This space will continue to grow with the increased bundling of OTT by telecos. Additionally, the arrival of 5G which is most likely to take off this year will be a game-changer not just for the OTTs but also for the consumers. It will enable faster connectivity, accessibility to content and further enhance the viewing experience with reduced buffering issues, and an uninterrupted real-time streaming experience. Shailesh Kapoor, The Founder &amp; CEO, Ormax Media The last two years have been exceptional for the OTT market in India, aided in no small measure by the lockdowns. As things begin to get back to normal, the question that we will hear a lot more in 2022 is: Where is the next level of OTT growth in India going to come from? The category has grown at an estimated 30-35% in its user base and more than 50% in paid subscriptions over the last two years. But these growth rates are not sustainable in the long run. Platforms will have to look for offerings that are both compelling and distinctive, to get new subscribers in a category that will continue to grow, but at more modest levels of 15-20% per annum. Crossover content, be it Indian (such as Jai Bhim) or foreign (such as Squid Game or Money Heist), will play an important role in this regard. The language barrier has been broken considerably by the OTT medium, and with dubbing and subtitles available in many languages for all major shows and films now, platforms cannot stick to single-language, homogenous offerings anymore. We can expect more language-led experimentation, both in content acquisition and presentation."

Where the Indian OTT industry is headed in 2022

<keyword id="990738" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="FremantleMedia">FremantleMedia</keyword>, one of the largest creators, producers and distributors of television brands in the world which is best known in India for producing international brands like Indian Idol and India’s Got Talent have now come up with a new reality show called India’s Digital Superstar. For the new show, FremantleMedia has partnered with ZengaTV, which is the largest mobile video streaming service; and OneDigital Entertainment, which happens to be the largest YouTube MCN of India. 
 
The show would be a first-of-its-kind digital talent hunt based on public voting where the audience would judge the next big digital star of the country. Presented by Amazon.in, the show would be powered by Gionee and RedFM would be the radio partner. 
 
The Digital Superstar would be chosen from Musicians, DJs, comedians, mimicry artists, dancers, contortionists, jugglers, singers, acrogymnasts and many such performers. Auditions began from January 19th and will the finale would be held in May. The winning contestant would be awarded with a contract worth Rs 20 Lakhs from FremantleMedia and One Digital. 
 
Participants would be uploading videos of their talents and these videos will be judged by the audience through the social media platforms. 
"After the super success of Indian Idol, India's got Talent, we at Fremantle are delighted to launch a platform that will be accessible to everyone with Internet access. Given that India is a priority market for FremantleMedia and a popular destination for many of our hit international brands, we want to continue driving our strategy of aggregating talent across media with India's Digital Superstars. We have been instrumental in sourcing, discovering and unleashing talent across television and this is the obvious next step for us to take the talent hunt to the internet which is a world unto itself,” stated Anupama Mandloi, managing director, FremantleMedia India. 
 
Manish Kalra, Director Integrated Marketing, Amazon.in says “The digital medium democratizes opportunities and choices and enables easy access to them for everyone like no other medium. We are very excited to be part of India’s Digital Superstar and support this effort to celebrate the immense talent that is waiting to be discovered.” 
 
Shabir Momin, MD &amp; CTO, ZengaTV &amp; OneDigital adds “The youth today is hungry for exciting and engaging content and 'India’s Digital Superstar' is an opportunity where every moment will count and adrenal will be on the high. This gives everyone a chance to showcase talent from anywhere in the world and be the next start in this world which has no boundaries.” 
 
Arvind.R.Vohra, India Head - Gionee Smartphones said "Digital as a platform is connected to the youth of this country. IDS as a digital platform is the first in the country, which creates the opportunity for the youth to showcase the talent and get recognized. We at Gionee are proud to be associated with IDS as this allows the youth to follow their passions and this has got a great synergy with our brand as we also want our consumers to follow the passions and we help them as an enabler for it." 
 Gurpreet Singh, COO &amp; co-founder One Digital Entertainment says “With the unique format of the show specially created for the digital platform, <keyword id="2692452" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indias-digital-superstar">India's Digital Superstar</keyword> will create opportunities for Indians globally to showcase their talent without having to stand in queues or reach specific locations at specific time. Moreover, the show is not about highlighting only a couple of contestants but we want to showcase as many talented Indian creators, and that is why the call for entries never stops during the show. As long as the show is on, people can participate and stand a chance to win."

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