iWorld
Eros Now gets 4-5 million subs from telcos & OEMs
MUMBAI: Folks at Eros are popping bottles of champagne! Eros International’s OTT platform Eros Now has achieved two million paid subscribers worldwide through significant deals in place with all major telecom players in India such as Reliance Jio, Airtel, IDEA Cellular Network and Vodafone.
Between the four platforms, there is a potential reach of 686 million subscribers which is almost 60 per cent of India’s total mobile user base of more than a billion. Jio has announced a user base of 52 million users in just a few months following their launch.
“Our strategy remains to distribute Eros Now, a world class OTT platform, to consumers across telecoms and OEMs with compelling content and product features. We view the recent demonetization move in India as a great opportunity for the OTT business as more consumers are signing up for online and mobile pay systems. I am really excited about the exponential growth in front of Eros Now and am confident we will continue to consolidate our leadership position and first mover advantage,” said Eros Digital CEO Rishika Lulla Singh.
These deals across 20 different telecom operators and OEMs alone provide visibility to a minimum of 4-5 million subscribers annually to Eros Now at an average annual ARPU of $4-5 in India and average annual ARPU of $35 internationally. Since these deals were agreed at various points in time in FY 2017, Eros Now will see the full year benefit of these deals flowing through in fiscal 2018. Most of these contracts are long term deals averaging five years.
With a movie library of over 5,000 films and a further library of 5,000 films being added to this list, Eros Now plans to offer the widest repertoire of Indian movie content across any OTT platform in the world.
In another development, Eros International’s Sanam Teri Kasam was one of the eight chosen films that were screened across 21 cities at the Bollywood Film Festival in Russia. The week-long event flagged off on 30 November.
The film debuts Harshvardhan Rane and Mawra Hocane and is directed by Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru. Rane was also invited for the film’s screening and was overwhelmed with the love and appreciation the movie received.
Gaming
Roblox appoints Sunil Rao as India managing director to drive growth
Former AWS leader to lead creator ecosystem, partnerships and local strategy
MUMBAI: Roblox has appointed Sunil Rao as managing director for India, as the company looks to deepen its footprint in one of its fastest-growing markets.
Rao, who will join in May, will serve as the senior-most representative for Roblox in India, leading local strategy, partnerships and day-to-day operations. His mandate includes strengthening the platform’s presence, supporting the creator ecosystem and aligning India’s market needs with global priorities.
A key focus area will be nurturing India’s growing community of developers and creators, enabling local studios to leverage Roblox’s tools for scaling and monetisation. Globally, the platform’s creator community earned over $1.5 billion in 2025, underlining the economic potential of user-generated content ecosystems.
“Roblox is at the forefront of enabling a new generation of creators and games. India’s scale, creativity, and entrepreneurial energy present a massive opportunity,” said Rao. “I’m excited to build a vibrant and inclusive ecosystem that empowers developers and creators across the country. Ensuring child safety and aligning closely with India’s regulatory framework will be among my top priorities.”
Welcoming the appointment, Roblox vice president international Zhen Fang said India represents a high-potential market for the company. “Sunil brings deep expertise in building operations across diverse markets, and his passion for community-centric platforms makes him the ideal leader to drive our next chapter of growth in the country.”
Rao brings over two decades of experience across technology platforms, venture capital and developer ecosystems. He was previously part of the leadership team at Amazon Web Services, where he led strategy and corporate business development across Asia-Pacific and Japan. He also served as a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, working closely with startups and founders.
Earlier in his career, Rao played a key role in building developer ecosystems at Symbian, Nokia and Google, contributing to the growth of major mobile and internet platforms.
With India’s large youth population and rapidly evolving digital landscape, Roblox’s latest leadership move signals a sharper focus on long-term growth, local relevance and creator-led innovation in the market.
