After Youtube launched BoxOffice, Yahoo has launched MoviePlex, a premium video destination allowing users to enjoy licensed, full-length movies for free through the Internet on demand. Yahoo! India will collaborate with leading movie production houses to bring thousands of local “Bollywood” movies online to users for a piracy-free, quality entertainment experience.
The movies are being monetized via ads (pre-rolls and banner ads on the player) and currently running movies include Rock On, Rann, Dil to Bachha Hai Ji, Aakrosh, Lamhaa, Crook etc.
The Best Way To Kill Piracy?
Is to offer the product for free and that’s what Bollywood has realized (lately). Having said that, these aren’t new releases and I am not sure how much of viewership lies in watching old Bollywood movies (these are not even classics).
DVD/Movie Rental Business In India
This is what we wrote when Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy: (An Indication for Indian Movie Rental Industry?)
Blockbuster, world’s one of the largest movie-rental company, filed for bankruptcy in US after failing to adapt its storefront model to online technology pioneered by rivals such as Netflix. The DVD and games rental company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as part of a pre-arranged recapitalization that it has negotiated with its bondholders. With the filing, Blockbuster has wiped out nearly $1 billion in debt and given most of its bond-holders equity in the company instead.Though acquisition channels are definitely being pushed online with companies like Seventymm offering better pricing & discounts to people joining through their online sales channel. With increasing real estate cost, decreasing selling price, availability of pirated movie content either free or at a throw away prices and new releases being offered through other services like DTH, wondering what’s going to be the route which movie rental companies in India would take?
—
And it’s all coming back to online now. Very recently, Airtel Launched On-demand Movies, Powered by BigFlix and the latter (i.e. BigFlix) is going slow with DVD rental model and is now promoting on-demand experience.
Is this the future of Bollywood? Most importantly, do we have enough broadband pipes to enable a digital Bollywood economy?
What’s your opinion?
Fact: State of Online Video Industry in India [Video Ad Inventory Is Sold As Display Ad Inventory]
Qn: Where is Indian Media Headed in the Next Five Years? [Your Views]
