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Broadcast India Symposium: Digitising content is the future
MUMBAI: Telcom companies have gone in for broadband on the wi-fi line as revenues from voice calls have fallen, said Shah Technologies’ Sujata Dev.
Explaining this trend, Dev said this was because the market was maturing. She was speaking about the merits of digitising content at today’s Broadcast India Technical Symposium.
The broadband roadmap, she noted, starts with infrastructure which VSNL, Tatas, Reliance provide and use. Then there are triple play ports which use ADSL 2+ technology. Then a content delivery network is needed. This consists of servers, routers, set top boxes. Service come in two forms – multi cast and unicast.
In this convergence environment, the PC gets television functionality like films and interactive games. The television can get PC functions like email, internet and video on demand (VOD). The code to be used in VOD is still being debated upon. Right now MPEG 2 is used. Rich media is a must for IP service providers and it is important that compression technology matches it. For the content owner, protection of his offerings is important. There is a revenue sharing arrangement that exists between the content owner and the service provider.
The challenges here are to increase the transmission rate while decreasing bandwidth requirement. There has always been a question: last minute bandwidth availability. ADSL 2+ transmits at the rate of 24mbps. It requires 2.2 mhz bandwidth One the mobile front, revenues in India are expected to reach $3 billion by 2009. One way in which mobile providers can differentiate themselves is through the kind of content that they have. So a creative repurposing of content is needed. The value chain is content aggregation, content repurposing and the customer.
Speaking also about digital cinema, Dev said In India we are yet to see satellite-delivered movies. “This will help curb piracy and shorten the gap between a film’s release and its distribution,” she said.
In digital cinema a film gets uplinked through a teleport. It is received at different locations. Each location has a Digital Light Processor which is a computer based system. Frame by frame processing happens and then binary bit streams go onto the screen. A system like this can also be used for an ATM operation and cyber gaming, Dev noted.
iWorld
Amazon MX Player launches free micro-drama destination Fatafat
New platform offers serialized short-form stories with Munawar Faruqui campaign.
MUMBAI: Amazon MX Player just made micro-dramas free because the only thing shorter than the episodes is now the price tag (zero). Amazon MX Player has launched Fatafat, India’s first completely free premium micro-drama destination, giving mobile-first audiences access to fast-paced, serialized short-form stories without any paywall. Designed for quick viewing bursts, Fatafat features a growing catalogue of romance, drama, thriller and youth-led narratives in bite-sized episodes that are instantly bingeable. Unlike most micro-drama platforms that charge for access, Fatafat removes the barrier entirely, expanding the format’s reach across India.
The launch is supported by a humorous digital campaign fronted by comedian-actor Munawar Faruqui. The spots playfully highlight how small spends on paid micro-drama apps could be better used elsewhere, positioning Fatafat as the smarter, no-cost choice for engaging entertainment.
Amazon MX Player head Karan Bedi said, “Our vision has always been to make premium entertainment accessible to everyone, free of cost. With Fatafat, we are extending that promise to the rapidly growing micro-drama category quick, engaging and mobile-first while remaining completely free for viewers across India.”
Amazon MX Player head of content Amogh Dusad added, “Micro-dramas open up exciting creative possibilities for storytelling. With Fatafat, we are building a diverse slate of serialized stories across genres while keeping the experience fast, engaging and accessible to viewers everywhere.”
Munawar Faruqui said, “Today’s entertainment landscape is defined by content that is fast, engaging, and instantly accessible. Shooting for the campaign was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, especially as the scenarios felt incredibly authentic and relatable.”
Fatafat will continue to expand its library with several new titles in the coming months. The destination is available to stream for free on the Amazon MX Player mobile app.
In a country where attention spans are shrinking faster than episode lengths, Amazon MX Player isn’t just joining the micro-drama party,it’s throwing the doors wide open and telling everyone the snacks (and stories) are on the house.
