Saturday, December 21

Tag: netflix

Disney+ Hits 50 Million Paid Users
News

Disney+ Hits 50 Million Paid Users

The Walt Disney Company said its television streaming service has already won 50 million paid subscribers just five months after its launch in the US. Disney+ rolled out in India and eight Western European countries in recent weeks. About eight million of its paid subscriptions are in India, where Disney+ is offered in conjunction with existing Hotstar service. "We’re truly humbled that Disney+ is resonating with millions around the globe, and believe this bodes well for our continued expansion throughout Western Europe and into Japan and all of Latin America later this year," direct-to-consumer and international chairman Kevin Mayer said in a release. The Walt Disney Company last month rolled out Disney+ streaming service in seven European countries, but had reduced bandwidth ...
Disney Live Streaming Service Disney+ Signed up 10 mn Subscribers at Launch
Tech

Disney Live Streaming Service Disney+ Signed up 10 mn Subscribers at Launch

Walt Disney Co. said it signed up 10 million subscribers for Disney+ within a day of launching its new streaming television service. The company said in a statement it has seen "extraordinary consumer demand" and "has already reached a major milestone, achieving a remarkable 10 million sign-ups since launching." The news comes despite a launch marred by glitches which prevented many customers from accessing titles from Mickey Mouse cartoons to Star Wars. Disney+ marks a huge bet by the media-entertainment giant, pitching it into direct conflict with on-demand services such as Hotstar, Netflix, Zee5 and Amazon Prime which have disrupted the Hollywood & Bollywood media landscape. It went live Tuesday across the US, Canada and later move to Asia, featuring thousands of movies and...
Netflix to roll out $3 to $7 per month plan for mobile users in India
INDIA

Netflix to roll out $3 to $7 per month plan for mobile users in India

Video streaming company Netflix will roll out a cheaper mobile-only plan in India as it looks to woo viewers amid growing competition from other players. The premium content platform also believes that growth in the Indian market is a marathon; and that it is witnessing steady progress here. After several months of testing, the company has decided to roll out a lower-priced mobile-screen plan in India to complement existing plans, Netflix said in a statement."We believe this plan, which will launch in Q3, will be an effective way to introduce a larger number of people in India to Netflix and to further expand our business in a market where Pay TV average revenue per user (ARPU) is low (below USD 5)," it added. Netflix had been testing a $3.5 monthly subscription for mobile devices...
Netflix forecast disappoints ahead of Disney+ launch
News

Netflix forecast disappoints ahead of Disney+ launch

Netflix gave a weak forecast that unnerved investors just as Walt Disney and others prepare to escalate Hollywood’s streaming video wars, although the company’s quarterly results beat Wall Street targets. Shares of Netflix traded down about 1 percent at $355.02 in after-the-bell trading. Netflix predicted it would pick up 5 million new streaming subscribers from April through June. That was below the 5.48 million consensus of industry analysts surveyed by FactSet. “What’s making investors nervous is that there are signs of a slowdown in the second-quarter subscriber growth,” said Haris Anwar, senior analyst at Investing.com. “This is made all the more prominent by the looming threat of competition from Disney and Apple.” Netflix added a record number of paid streaming customers...
Apple looking to launch Netflix style streaming service
Tech

Apple looking to launch Netflix style streaming service

San Francisco: Apple is expected to launch a slew of new products at its Cupertino headquarters in California on Monday, including a Netflix competitor, a revamped news service and a subscription-based gaming offering. The event, to be hosted at the Steve Jobs theatre on campus, will herald a new era for the iPhone maker as it enters the fast-growing global content streaming market. "Apple has been looping a video from the theatre, teasing its focus on television," reports The Verge. The livestreaming video is stylised to look like a television set, and has been switching between a handful of different angles of the Steve Jobs theatre. Apple has invested over $1 billion into making new content and the streaming service is set to compete with the giants including Amazon, Ne...
US based Netflix to Open India HQ on Lease in Mumbai
BUSINESS

US based Netflix to Open India HQ on Lease in Mumbai

US based video streaming service provider Netflix has reportedly picked up 1.5 lakh sq ft office space in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), Mumbai's new business district, on long-term lease to set up its India head office. The video streaming giant leased the office space spread over two floors in commercial tower Godrej BKC from promoters of D'decor Home Fabrics. Netflix will be paying a rent of 265 per sq ft a month for this office space taking the total annual pay-out to 47.70 crore. The total tenure of the lease is nine years and the contract includes a clause to cover 15% rental escalation at the end of every three years. India is one of the most lucrative markets for Netflix and it is looking to expand here and focus on original content for the local market. ...
Netflix India Content Executive Swati Shetty Quits
News

Netflix India Content Executive Swati Shetty Quits

Netflix's director for international originals and acquisitions Swati Shetty has reportedly resigned from her position. She had been one of Netflix's earliest hires in India and had joined the company in August 2016. She was based in Los Angeles and during her tenure, Netflix expanded its slate of original films including titles like Love Per Square Foot, LustStories and more recently Rajma Chawal. It was last month that the video streaming platform announced a slate of eight new original films, including a film on the Indian startup ecosystem called Upstarts and three films produced by Bollywood actors. These were as follows: Firebrand (a Marathi film produced by Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra)Bulbul (a Hindi period film produced by actor Anushka Sharma and KarneshSharma’s Clean...
Disney to Launch on-demand Streaming Service called Disney+
BUSINESS

Disney to Launch on-demand Streaming Service called Disney+

Disney has come up with an all new and its very own on-demand streaming service known as Disney+. The company is gearing up to give a tough fight to the predominant player in this segment that is Netflix. The new service Disney+ will launch in late 2019. The company had earlier announced its plans of launching its streaming service in August 2017 and now it has become a reality. Disney also purchased Fox for $71.3 billion in cash and stock, further bolstering its library. Also, the service will also feature new, original shows and movies, including original Marvel and Star Wars series. Other original shows and movies include a rebooted version of The High School Musical franchise. Along with this, it will be a hub for animated content, including the next season of “Star Wars: The ...
Netflix Hooks 7 million New Streaming Subscribers
News

Netflix Hooks 7 million New Streaming Subscribers

Video streaming service Netflix has hooked 7 million new c from July to September. The record number of additions in the third quarter brought Netflix's customer base to 137 million worldwide, confirming its rank as by far the world's biggest online subscription video service. The company's net income rose to $402.8 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up from $129.6 million a year earlier. Total revenue rose to $4 billion from $2.98 billion a year earlier. The increase in subscribers marked a sharp turnaround from three months ago when investors sent Netflix shares tumbling 14% after it missed Wall Street's subscriber growth targets. "The question at the end of Q2 was whether that miss was an aberration or signs of a longer-term slowdown in the business," said Forrester Res...
ZEE5 Video Streaming Platform Expands to 190 Countries
BUSINESS

ZEE5 Video Streaming Platform Expands to 190 Countries

India’s popular online video streaming platform ZEE5 that is owned by Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) has expanded its services to 190 countries all across the globe. With this, the company has become the first Indian entertainment company to take its over-the-top (OTT) video service. As of now, only Netflix and Amazon Prime Video were the only platforms that were global but now Indian platforms are also gearing up for global presence. The launch coincided with ZEE completing 26 years of operations on October 2. “Since the time we launched ZEE5 in India earlier this year, our global viewers, as well as platform partners, have been asking us when we are going to launch globally. As our channels already reach across 72 countries outside India, we knew that a ...
YouTube Originals is Coming to India with AR Rehman’s Show
Tech

YouTube Originals is Coming to India with AR Rehman’s Show

The most popular video streaming platform YouTube which is owned by Google is introducing its YouTube Originals to India in partnership with music maestro A.R. Rahman for its first such show in the country. After Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, YouTube is also bringing in 'Originals' for the Indian audience. Meanwhile, the India originals will be on the company’s ad-supported platform. But it will, gradually, launch an ad-free subscription service called YouTube Premium. "Affordable data costs are driving video consumption in India, data usage is about 8 GB a month per subscriber. This has pushed online video consumption as well, which is now about 75% of all mobile traffic as per industry reports," said YouTube India Head of Entertainment Satya Raghavan.  Satya Raghavan also stated t...
Netflix Expands its Partnership With Airtel in India
Tech

Netflix Expands its Partnership With Airtel in India

The popular video streaming platform Netflix has reportedly expanded its partnership with Airtel in India to offer three month free subscriptions to new and existing subscribers of select Airtel Postpaid and V-Fiber Home Broadband plans. As a part of this partnership, the Airtel postpaid users will now enjoy free service for three months along with the ability to pay for subsequent subscriptions through their bills. This is for those who are not eligible for this service and will be able to sign up for Netflix through Airtel’s apps and pay for their subscription using their Airtel bill. "Partnerships are at the core of Airtel’s DNA and we are delighted to expand our strategic relationship with Netflix. We look forward to working closely with Netflix to leverage this huge potential and ...