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Tag: Viacom18 Digital Ventures

  • VOOT Kids boasts of the largest content library of over 20,000 content pieces across segments

    Viacom18 offers first SVOD OTT platform with Voot Kids

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 launched of its first subscription-based service VOOT Kids on Tuesday. Certified by Early Childhood Association (ECA), Voot Kids is built as a multi-format app for children offering some 20,000 videos, e-books, stories and quizzes amongst other things. Priced at Rs 799 for a year and Rs 99 per month with a seven-day free trial in both packages, the app is available to download on iOS and Google Playstore.

     

    Said Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO & MD, Viacom18: “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 five years. Our digital play VOOT is the second largest video-on-demand platform in the country today. 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 & Learning. No other kids app offers Watch, Read, Listen & Learn all at one place”

     

    Added Gourav Rakshit, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures: “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.”

     

    Said Saugato Bhowmik, Business Head, VOOT Kids: “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”

     

     

  • 175 popular junior fiction and non-fiction titles from Oxford University Press have been licensed to Voot Kids

    Voot Kids to launch as independent OTT app. To source content from OUP

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 Digital Ventures has gone live with its entertainment and fun learning OTT application, Voot Kids. Catering to the digitally native kids ecosystem, Voot Kids will offer entertainment through a diverse content offering “across Watch, Read, Listen and Learn segments”.

     

    On Monday, Voot Kids announced its engagement with Oxford University Press for licensing 175 junior fiction and non-fiction titles. The 500+ e-books now available on Voot Kids, including the titles from Oxford University Press, are all set to provide an immersive reading experience to children, notes a communique.

     

    Said Saugato Bhowmik – Business Head, Voot Kids: “Kids today are screenagers and have emerged as prolific users of content on digital.  As digital natives, they are the first to adopt trends on digital. It was hence imperative to create a platform that offers holistic entertainment and learning experience that would improve quality and relevance of content consumption by kids on digital. Voot Kids is just that  An inclusive app aimed at enriching Kids entertainment and learning experience on digital through immersive segments that encourage reading, storytelling, quizzes, etc.”

     

    Commenting on the recently signed content licensing agreement with Viacom18 Media, Giuseppe Trapani, Senior Business Development Manager, Oxford University Press, added: “We are delighted to partner with Voot Kids, and support its users learning through reading for pleasure. We commend Voot Kids in its mission to bridge the gap between learning, knowledge and entertainment, and this collaboration with Voot Kids will allow Oxford University Press to introduce even more readers to many of its most-loved books for children.”

     

     

  • Voot was the only online video service that was shortlisted for the awards

    Voot wins IBC2017 Innovation Award for content distribution

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18’s video-on demand streaming service Voot has bagged the ‘International Broadcasting Convention 2017 (IBC2017) Innovation Award for Content Distribution’ for its Progressive Web App (PWA) product- VOOT Lite. VOOT was the only online video service that was shortlisted for the awards, along with other leading organisations, amongst 190-plus entries from around the world.

     

    Voot launched a Progressive Web App (PWA) product and that includes offline page caching functionality, fast loading, responsive interface and push notifications. Voot, notes a communique, was an early adopter of this technology which led to a huge jump in users and video watch time on its mobile web.

     

    Gaurav Gandhi

    Speaking about the awards, Gaurav Gandhi, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures said: “To win the IBC2017 Innovation Award for Content Distribution is a huge honour for us at Voot. In the Video steaming business, both Content & Technology play an equally important role. While Viacom18 is well known for pioneering efforts & leadership in the content business, it is indeed great to have our company feature on the global technology leaderboard as well. In this business particularly, partnerships & alliances are key to achieving big milestones and we would like to thank the team at Google for providing us support in our PWA”

     

     

  • This upgrade will allow for a high quality user experience

    Voot partners Google to launch VoD progressive web app

    By A Correspondent

     

    Voot, Viacom18’s ad-supported video-on-demand OTT service, has turned its mobile website into a Progressive Web App (PWA) using features such as ‘add to home-screen’and a service worker. PWA allows reliable, fast, and engaging experience for users on mobile web, notes a communique.

     

    Commented Gaurav Gandhi, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures: “In this business both content and technology have equal equity in realizing the potential of our Consumer Proposition. While content is our domain expertise, to push the envelope in terms of technology, we continuously work with partners from around the world. We are delighted to work closely with Google to launch VOOT on the PWA platform. This launch significantly enhances the experience for all VOOT users on mobile browsers and we believe this is a big step where users can have an equally rich experience of our service without downloading the app.”

     

    “We have moved the needle very significantly when it comes to user experience on the Mobile Web by adopting PWA,” said Rajneel Kumar, Head, Product and Technology, Viacom18 Digital Ventures, adding: “All the time and effort we’ve spent on technology and UI changes as well as optimisations seem to be showing very positive results. We are going to continue to refine this further and we are confident that we will continue to see significant consumer lift.”

     

    “We are delighted with the Voot implementation of a Progressive Web App. PWAs are well suited for India, where the mobile web allows publishers to reach a large audience across a highly diverse set of devices and bandwidth.  The early numbers on performance are very encouraging, and demonstrate the potential of mobile web media distribution” said John Pallett, Product Manager at Google.

     

  • Launch of special anthem for Voot Kids "Bachche Hum Goody Goody Banenge, Voot Kids Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karenge!"

    Voot draws up campaign for kids

    By A Correspondent

     

    Voot, Viacom18’s OTT platform, is set to roll out a high decibel marketing campaign for its Voot Kids service. With 1750 hours of content, 7000+ videos and 100+ characters, Voot Kids has curated a larg digital repository of premium kids content, since the OTT platform’s launch four months ago.

     

    Commenting on the importance of kids content and the need to market specifically to them, Gaurav Gandhi, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures, said, “Right at launch, we built the largest repository of premium kids content in the digital space in India.. At 15% share of the overall traffic, Voot Kids is a significant contributor to VOOT’s growth.  We feel that this segment is only set to grow, both in size and influence, and we want to be the default digital platform of choice for kids entertainment. Our endeavour is to build a parent-approved kids-favourite brand, and we will continue to develop exciting campaigns and dial up engagement with this community even further.”

     

    The campaign captures how kids from across India have taken to the new way of life and turned ‘goody goody’ in their ultimate quest to earn Voot time. Today’s kids know what they want and they’re smart enough to get it effortlessly. Parents are aware of this and are willing to reward a good behaviour. The campaign captures this dynamic between parents and kids very effectively, and delivers this insightful message through lucid storytelling and a catchy musical anthem that will really grab the attention of kid and parents alike.

     

  • Alok Nath, Gulshan Grover, Baba Sehgal and a host of celebs will frontline originals in advertising-led Voot platform

    Viacom18 unveils Voot with originals and huge kiddie content

    By A Correspondent

     

    Viacom18 has launched Voot, a digital video-on-demand platform that will will be advertising-led and available for free on iOS, Android and web-led devices.

     

    Other than 17,000 of Viacom18 content from across channels and languages, the Voot drivers will be a massive kids foray plus a diverse set of originals. Voot will house popular characters from across networks – from Nick characters like Dora, Spongebob, Motu Patlu to blockbuster characters like Chhota Bheem and Pokemon. Meanwhile, Voot Originals will roll out shows in both long and short formats across genres like comedy and drama. Bollywood actors Gulshan Grover, Baba Sehgal, Alok Nath and a host of celebrity scriptwriters and directors will be frontlining these shows. Furthermore, Viacom18 will move its entire content library, including Colors, MTV and Nick, to be digitally available only on VOOT.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, said, “India is at the cusp of a digital boom with over 400 million internet users and 200 million+ smartphone users spending significant amount of time online with entertainment and allied content being the prime driver. As more people move towards consuming content online, it is time for Viacom18 to move into the world of connected screens. Hence Voot.”

     

    Echoing his CEO’s enthusiasm, Gaurav Gandhi, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures explained further, “As a network we are a content powerhouse, be it through our television channels or through our film studio. Our content strategy for Voot is true to Viacom18’s philosophy of inclusive entertainment. Between Voot Originals, Voot Kids, our network content and Content-around-content created exclusively for the platform, the idea is to peddle happiness to the ‘always wanting’ India, racing to go digital. Our marketing campaign, set to kick off in the next few days, also highlights this brand philosophy that is at the core of Voot. ”

     

     

  • The effort of the new venture will be to develop a convergent digital media platform for evolved consumers and marketers

    Viacom18 sets up Viacom18 Digital Ventures with Gaurav Gandhi as COO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Gaurav Gandhi

    Viacom18 has announced Viacom18 Digital Ventures to help converge traditional broadcasting with digital innovation. Gaurav Gandhi who is currently Group Chief Operating Officer at IndiaCast Media Distribution (a TV18 & Viacom18 venture) will be Chief Operating Officer of this venture. His new role is effective August 1, 2015.

     

    On the announcement of Viacom18 Digital Ventures and the key appointment, Group CEO, Sudhanshu Vats commented, “The broadcast industry is growing rapidly, and digital content, delivery and access are the new green shoots. We are looking to leverage the interception between a highly digital audience and the current content offerings. Gaurav’s rich experience in media, keen understanding of digital,strong base in distribution and his entrepreneurial instinct have made him our obvious choice”.

     

    Says Gaurav Gandhi on the new role, “I am very excited about this opportunity of building out a consumer facing digital business for Viacom 18. With the everchanging media landscape, fast growing high-speed internet access andexplosive growth in video consumption across screens, there could not be a better time to move forward in this space. We at Viacom 18 want to be the forefront of this digital convergence with our products & content offerings”

     

    Gandhi joined Viacom18 as Chief Commercial Officer & Head of International Business in March 2010. His previous stints in leadership roles have been at NDTV Imagine (Executive Vice President – Business Operations & Content Sales), Star India (Vice President, Commercial & Business Planning), Turner International India and Madison Communications.