iWorld
Viacom 18 adds ThinkAnalytics personalized multi-language recommendations to VOOT
Pay-TV and OTT content discovery and viewer analytics vendor ThinkAnalytics™ today announced that Viacom18 in India has gone live with ThinkAnalytics on the ad-funded OTT service VOOT. VOOT’s 37 million monthly active users now have personalized recommendations in seven languages on the home screen, making it quicker and easier to find content they want to watch.
Viacom18 has also deployed the ThinkComposer UX engine and ThinkEditorial, integrated with the ThinkAnalytics Recommendations Engine, enabling its editorial team to automate and streamline content curation and promotions to better meet KPIs and business goals.
The ad-funded VOOT service offers over 50,000 hours of original, domestic and international content for free. Content includes: COLORS TV, MTV India, Nickelodeon India, a wide range of Bollywood movies, and VOOT Original shows.
The ThinkAnalytics Recommendation Engine uses machine learning and predictive analytics to understand individual viewer preferences and broader viewing trends in real-time and suggests new content, personalized to each viewer. As a result, operators see a substantial uplift in viewer engagement and loyalty.
Mohit Srivastava, Head – Product and Engineering, Viacom18 Digital Ventures, said, “When we saw the data showing how much ThinkAnalytics boosts viewer engagement, we knew it was the right service for VOOT and for our viewers. Having ThinkAnalytics intelligent search and personalized recommendations on the main UI makes it easy for viewers to discover more exciting programs from the wealth of content available on VOOT.”
Peter Docherty, Founder and CTO, ThinkAnalytics added, “ By adding ThinkAnalytics personalized recommendations to the VOOT home screen, Viacom18 is once again staying ahead of the innovation curve and offering its large and loyal customer base the ability to find suitable content fast. This represents the very best in personalized entertainment on a significant scale.”
For over 15 years ThinkAnalytics has grown to become the leader in content discovery and viewer lifecycle management. By applying advanced machine learning technology and analytics to content discovery, editorial curation, ThinkAnalytics increases viewer satisfaction, boosts engagement across all TV and video content platforms and increases operator ARPU. Viewers’ interests and previous viewing behaviour are analyzed using advanced AI and machine learning techniques to help them find new content they want to watch quickly and easily.
About Viacom18
Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd. is one of India’s fastest growing entertainment networks and a house of iconic brands that offers multi-platform, multi-generational and multicultural brand experiences. A joint venture of TV18, which owns 51%, and Viacom Inc., with a 49% stake, Viacom18 defines entertainment in India by touching the lives of people through its properties on air, online, on ground, in shop and through cinema.
About ThinkAnalytics
ThinkAnalytics’ flagship solution is the ThinkAnalytics Emmy® award-winning Content Discovery Platform, the most widely deployed real-time, personalized content and recommendations engine worldwide. More recently, the company has broadened its reach with ThinkInsight, the industry’s first Viewer and Video Insight Platform built specifically to meet the needs of TV operators. ThinkInsight incorporates the ThinkAnalytics Content Discovery Engine, ThinkBigData, ThinkCpmposer UX engine, ThinkEditorial and ThinkVoice marketing suite of products. It gives TV players a holistic view of their business, with full viewer lifecycle management enabling them to better address key industry KPIs that will help to boost loyalty, ARPU, customer experience and develop new revenue streams.
The company’s customer base of over 80 video service providers serves more than 250 million subscribers worldwide. Customers include: Liberty Global, BBC, Proximus, Cox, Rogers, Sky, Swisscom, Astro, Singtel, TataSky, Viacom18 and Vodafone. The ThinkAnalytics Content Discovery Engine now serves over 3 billion recommendations per day and is available as a cloud service or on premise.
ThinkAnalytics is a private, employee-owned company with offices in UK, USA, Singapore and India.
iWorld
Prime Video to stream Tamil thriller Exam from May 15
Seven-episode series from National Award-winner A. Sarkunam streams in India and 240-plus countries
MUMBAI: Prime Video announced on April 27th that Exam, a taut seven-episode suspense drama set against the crucible of high-stakes competitive testing, will premiere on May 15th in India and across more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Written and directed by A. Sarkunam, a National Award-winner, the series is produced under the Wallwatcher Films banner by the creative duo Pushkar and Gayatri, who have previously delivered Suzhal: The Vortex (both seasons) and Vadhandhi: The Fable of Velonie for the platform. Dushara Vijayan and Aditi Balan lead the cast, with Abbas in a pivotal role.
The show will stream in Tamil with dubbed versions in Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada, and subtitles in 15 languages, including English, a distribution sweep that underscores Prime Video’s push to globalise Indian regional content.
Nikhil Madhok, director and head of originals at Prime Video India, framed the series as both timely and commercially astute. “Exam is a very timely and relevant story that captures the emotional intensity of competitive exams and masterfully transforms it into a thrilling high-stakes drama,” he said. “We believe it is a story that will resonate deeply with millions.” Madhok noted that it was a privilege to once again collaborate with Pushkar and Gayatri following the success of Suzhal and Vadhandhi.
For Pushkar and Gayatri, the series is as much a moral reckoning as a thriller. “With Exam, we wanted to dig into ambition, injustice, and those moral crossroads that people face when pushed to the edge,” the creative producers said. “At the heart of this story is a young woman who refuses to remain powerless. Her journey is not about glamorising defiance, but about exploring the emotional and ethical cost of standing up to a system stacked against her.” They described Prime Video as “an incredible collaborator” and “the perfect home” to bring the series to global audiences.
Wallwatcher Films, which Pushkar and Gayatri founded and run, has been on a productive streak with the platform. Beyond Exam, the company is also readying Vadhandhi Season 2 for Prime Video, making the duo one of the platform’s most active regional creative partners.
The real exam, it seems, is for Prime Video itself: can a Tamil drama about systemic injustice and a young woman’s defiance crack audiences from Chennai to Chicago? If Pushkar and Gayatri’s track record is anything to go by, the answer is likely yes, and the results will be out on May 15th.
