iWorld
YuppTV-ETV partner exclusively for Telugu channels for US market
MUMBAI: Clearly this is going to be something that’s going to work in its favour. The Emerald Media funded-UdayReddy run (over the top/video on demand) OTT/VOD service YuppTV has signed an exclusive partnership with the Ramoji Rao-promoted K. Bapineedu-run ETV Network to stream ETV Telugu’s entertainment content in the US market. Viewers in Uncle Sam will get to see ETV Telugu shows like Padutha Teeyaga, Jabardasth, Extra Jabadasth and Manasu Mamatha exclusively on YuppTV.
YuppTV’s target audience is the south Asian diaspora globally and a substantial portion of the hardware and software engineers working in the US are from either Andhra Pradesh or Telangana. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella for example was born to Telugu speaking parents. An estimate is that around 250,000 Indians working the US speak Telugu. And more than 2 million Telugu speaking Indians are dispersed the world over.
ETV is also introducing introducing ETV Life, ETV Plus, ETV Cinema and ETV Abhiruchi for the first time in the US. As part of the association, fans of ETV shall be able to access their Telugu shows on the YuppTV app available on six screens including smart TVs/blu-ray players, smart media players, PC, smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles.
“ETV Telugu’s entertainment content has been successful in striking the right chord with the users and we are happy to make the same available in the US markets, henceforth exclusively,” says YuppTV founder & CEO Uday Reddy. “We further look forward to a long term association with channels and would always strive to surprise our users with further such engaging and entertaining associations.”
ETV Network CEO K Bapineedu adds: “We have enjoyed our association with YuppTV for a while now. The decision to go exclusive on our partnership with the platform was taken due to the positive response, especially in the US market. Our entertainment shows have become popular over the time in the Indian expat community settled in the US. We further look forward to enhancing the reach of our entertainment content via the incredible penetration and popularity of YuppTV.”
YuppTV has 25,000 hours of entertainment content catalogued in its library, while nearly 2500 hours of new on-demand content is added to the YuppTV platform every day It offers live TV and catch-Up TV technology. It recently launched YuppFlix, a movie on-demand streaming service for the expat market, and YuppTV Bazaar, an online marketplace for the premium content curator.
YuppTV is currently ranked #1 Internet Pay TV platform for Indians living abroad and also the largest internet TV platform from premium content availability in India. YuppTV is the most downloaded Indian SmartTV app and it also boasts of eight million mobile downloads with 4.0 user rating.
Subscribers in India pay Rs 5 for a day pass or Rs 99 for a month’s pass to watch all of YuppTV’s content. US-based subscribers pay $15.99 monthly for a Telugu Gold Value Pack, $99.99 for a half yearly pack and $169.99 for an annual pack. It charges $29.99 per month for a Telugu Platinum Value Pack.
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iWorld
Applause, Story TV team up to push microdrama content
Partnership to create premium short form shows for mobile first viewers
MUMBAI: Applause Entertainment and Story TV are betting on short attention spans with a long-term vision, joining forces to create a slate of premium microdramas for mobile-first audiences.
The partnership brings together Applause’s storytelling pedigree and Story TV’s fast-growing digital reach, with plans to co-produce and distribute bite-sized dramas across genres. As part of the deal, Story TV will also adapt the romantic thriller Hello Mini into a vertical microdrama format, signalling a shift in how stories are being reshaped for smaller screens.
Backed by the Aditya Birla Group, Applause Entertainment has built a reputation for high-quality content with titles like Scam 1992 and Criminal Justice. Story TV, launched in 2025, has quickly scaled up with a library of over 1,000 titles across languages and genres, riding the wave of mobile consumption.
Story TV founder and CEO Saurabh Pandey said, “Phones are now the primary screens for content consumption, and microdramas are evolving into a mainstream format. At Story TV, we are blending storytelling with technology to push this format further.”
He added that the collaboration with Applause Entertainment will help expand the reach of microdramas while introducing a layer of premium storytelling to the space.
Applause Entertainment chief business officer Prasoon Garg said, “At Applause, we have always focused on strong storytelling across formats. As microdramas gain momentum, this partnership allows us to explore the space with a platform that understands both the format and its audience.”
With mobile screens shrinking and content getting sharper, the collaboration hints at a future where storytelling is not just shorter, but smarter, designed to fit neatly into the scroll of everyday life.
