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The Facebook-owned chat platform WhatsApp is working on a new feature to be launched shortly. Which are expected to be interesting, and a few of the best and most exciting features among them are as follows: Done and Undo buttons while editing media: A media feature that doesn’t have a roll-out date yet. WhatsApp is all set to test its undo and Done buttons while editing a particular media content on the platform. This feature will apply to the video as well as the image-based content. While editing an image or video on WhatsApp, an option to undo the work will be given if you don’t like the editing. This simple feature will speed up your process. Control bar for video in Picture: This feature will allow you to watch a video on the floating window inside the chat to carry open chatting on WhatsApp while watching the video. With redesigning this feature,WhatsApp also adds a control bar to let pause, play or close the video. Reaction Notification: WhatsApp has already been in the news for working on reactions seen on Facebook and Twitter in the messages. This feature will let you react to a message using emoji, stickers and GIFs. WhatsApp is also working on a feature that let you know when a person reacts to your statement and what kind of reaction it will be

While raising the concern against the unregulated content on the OTT platforms and the uncontrolled Bitcoin currency that can destabilize the economy of almost all the countries, and the consumption of narcotics drugs by every class of the society, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat urged the government to address these issues on a serious note. He mentioned that the kind of content shown on the OTT content during the lockdown period was uncontrolled and without any boundaries. Meanwhile, kids have access to mobile phones and the internet, exposed to unregulated content. As education went online, OTT has approached a variety of unregulated content accessible to all without any boundaries. We do not know what severe impacts it can create on viewers’ minds in the coming time. Source: www.economicstimes.com

Now that the theatres have received a green signal to be functional and open after the COVID-19 pandemic. There are still a lot of challenges being faced by the multiplexes. As OTT platforms have opened new entertainment customs for the audience, it has become quite a task to attract people again towards multiplexes. Keeping these challenges in mind, theatres have decided to demand a doubling of the gap between the theatrical release of movies and its release on the Over-the-Top platform for four to eight weeks from April 2022. This move can bring multiplexes on a loggerhead with the OTT players who have been shrinking the gap between the release of a movie in theatres and on OTT platforms within two to four weeks right after taking off the restrictions of COVID-19 in cinema halls. Source: business-standard.com

In the coming time, we will be all set to witness advertising taking the hybrid approach, which will comprise mass marketing and utilize traditional channels and hyper-localized and targeted marketing through digital mediums like OTT. While lockdown approached, there was a sudden shutdown of productions of TV shows keeping the social distancing norms in mind and cinemas were shut down too. On the one hand, where there was a steep decline seen for the Indian media and entertainment sector, on the other hand, digital media and online gaming saw tremendous growth. The spending on digital media went more than print, and online gaming overtook cinemas in terms of total spending; this directed the advertisers towards OTT platforms. However, television remained the largest segment, advertising on television went down fast during the lockdown. Whereas the digital advertising market remained stable, traditional advertisers are more inclined towards online or digital channels. Few trends have led advertisers to go towards OTT platforms more and more: • Content: The OTT players brought a plethora of creative and realistic content on their platter that allured the audience more than ever. As a cherry on top, many traditional Media and Entertainment channels came up with a simultaneous OTT channel to deliver their content online. As users and viewers got the ocean of choices, the viewership line between rational, national, and international became blurred with the increased inclination towards a wide variety and quality content. No doubt, the advertisers saw more potential in the online or OTT market, and they have believed so far that OTT and online platforms are the best platforms to reach out to audiences, and they will provide the maximum reach. • Digital technology has it all: The speed with which new technologies are approaching the OTT media and entertainments platform. The advertisers have a plethora of choices through geography, demography, behavioral and another first and third party for selective market approach. This opportunity gives advertisers the freedom to customize and personalize the advertisement as per the niche customer market. By using technology and customer profiling, an advertiser can get the perfect blend of customized data to deliver ads that can reach directly to the niche audience. Source: thefinacialexpress.com

The news of theaters and cinemas being open is around the corner. Although with that too, there is no backlash in the OTT entertainment, as these OTT platforms might not give the same viewing screen as theaters, they do give you the comfort of your own choice, which makes it a perfect blend of entertainment and comfort. Many movies that had been keeping their release dates on hold have now announced their release dates, but there are still a lot of movies sticking to the idea of releasing on OTT platforms only. There are around seven new Bollywood movies all set to grove its viewers on several OTT platforms like Disney+Hotstar and Netflix. To be specific with the list, Sardar Udham- releasing on Amazon Prime Video on 16 October, Brahmam- releasing on Amazon Prime Video on 07 October, Shiddat- Releasing on Disney+Hotstar on 01 October, Sanak-releasing on Disney+Hotstar on 15 October, Little things S4- releasing on Netflix on date 15 October, Lift- Releasing on Disney+Hotstar on 01 October, Rashmi rocket to be released on Zee5 on 15 October. These are some of the movies and series that will glue the audience to the OTT platform in October so far with their whole package of entertainment. Source: gqindia.com

Netflix is all set 90 more Indian original productions in its pipeline, with that there are already 70 productions running on Netflix, said by founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings. As 70 original Indian Netflix have been launched already, some of them have won Emmy awards. Among this, White Tiger got a tremendous public response. Reed mentioned, “Most of the commissions that we are doing is with local productions company. Several big productions companies are working well in India, but we have no plans to acquire them. A lot of content on Netflix from India has been on the appreciation list by viewers so far. Content Indian matchmaking, Delhi Crime that won Emmy Awards and Jamtara are a few of the favourites. Source: theeconomicstimes.com

Zee has surprised everyone in the media and entertainment landscape by striking a surprising merger deal with Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) India. Zee has successfully fended off a bid by its largest investor Invesco to oust Punit Goenka as the managing director of the company. If the deal goes through it will create India’s second-largest entertainment network by revenue and spawn an entity with 75 TV channels, two video streaming services (ZEE5 and Sony LIV), two film studios (Zee Studios and Sony Pictures Films India) and a digital content studio (Studio NXT). The deal will be the largest such transaction in the Indian media and entertainment space. Under the terms of the nonbinding agreement, SPN will infuse growth capital of $1.575 billion (Rs 11,615 crore) and end up with a 52.93% stake in the merged entity, while ZEE shareholders will own the remaining 47.07% The merger proposal proposes that Goenka stay as MD and CEO of the merged entity for at least five years after completion of the deal. The majority of the board will be nominated by Sony Group and NP Singh, MD and CEO of SPN, is likely to be on the board. “I am pleased to announce that Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) has entered into an exclusive, non-binding term sheet with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) to combine both companies’ linear networks, digital assets, productiion operations, and programme libraries,” Ravi Ahuja, chairman of Global Television Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment Corporate Development, wrote in an internal mail to employees that ET has seen. “The board of directors at ZEE has conducted a strategic review of the merger proposal between SPN and ZEE,” ZEE chairman R Gopalan said in a company release. “We have unanimously provided in-principle approval to the proposal and have advised the management to initiate the due diligence process.” Source: The article has been published by The Economic Times with minor edits by the ArdorComm News Network Team.

In recent years OTT platforms like Netflix and Hulu have widened up to replace the traditional television channels. This has become possible mainly due to the rapid growth of the internet. But along with all these reasons, there is one more significant reason that has made the OTT platform an inseparable part of people’s lives. It is the development of OTT technology. Over the top technology are the software and equipment that has made the unthinkable possible and has bypass the traditional streaming technology and famed video content over the internet. Earlier, video broadcasting was accessibleon television sets through satellite or cable. On the other hand, with OTT technology, viewers have become more prone to buying internet-enabled smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, laptops, or computers. Ott technology works in various ways. Accessing the video content via Over the top has become very convenient for the viewers. But behind the screen, the technicalities of OTT streaming has more complex as compared to traditional broadcasting. There is a bit more complicated process involved in OTT platform streaming. Broadcaster uploads video content on OTT video host. Then the video host transmits the data to the remote server via a Content Delivery Network (CDN). Then the viewers select the contentthey wish to stream on the user-facing video gallery. The video player on the device pulls off the video content from CDNs served through the internet. This is the overall process by which the video gets stream on an OTT platform. OTT video host is basic technology and the most required technology for streaming an online video on an OTT platform. Hence a professional-grade video hosting platform with OTT capabilities is needed. Few examples of this technology include Datacast, Vimeo OTT, and Brightcove. The video hosting platforms alsocome with a wide variety of tools at different prices.Some of the essential hosting features that hold a very high value and are highly important for creating an OTT platform include video monetization, gold-standard security, HTML5video players, white-label capabilities, and brand customization and API access. The following important factor in any OTT streaming platform is the Content Delivery Network (CDN); it is a network serverthat delivers the content to its end-user. Most online video platforms partner with professional CDNs; hence it is not the main concern for the broadcasters. But it becomes essential to ensure thatthe video hosting platform you choose uses a CDN with servers stationed around the globe. This will help in maintaining the quality of your stream for viewers everywhere in the world. It will help in avoiding buffering and lagging of the speed of the video. Several new technologies are coming along with the OTT platforms and making video streaming better everyday. It has almost erased the usage or viewership of traditional broadcasting channels from viewers’ life. We do not know what improvements video streaming OTT platforms are going to bring shortly. But it is for sure that it will keep improving and delivering better content. Source: dacast.com

One of the leading IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has entered into a strategic alliance with one of the premier OTT platforms of India, SonyLIV. The league has been done to help create an innovative business model enabled through digital technologies, for giving better customer experience and create a straight path for future growth. This parentship will explore TCS next-gen digital capabilities, global expertise, and innovation eco system to create a transformation roadmap for the SonyLIV platform in India and the Global Market. Alongwith that, TCS will help enhance its core OTT platform to enhance the use of AI and Machine Learning to provide personalized experiences for its subscribers across devices. It will also let SonyLIV use data and insight for monetization of content and create new revenue streams. With that, TCS will also be setting up an Experience Design Center Leveraging its innovation labs, where it will install its location Independent Agile Model to speed up innovation. Source: thebusinessstandard.com