GECs
May-end launch target for Forbes online lottery
MUMBAI / NEW DELHI: An online lottery on Star India or Sony Entertainment, or maybe even national broadcaster Doordarshan (a long shot this). Coming soon on the tube is an online lottery venture to rival Subhash Chandra’s Playwin through Tata Group company Forbes.
Forbes Dhan Dhanna Dhan Infotainment Pvt. Ltd is scheduled to kick off its Arunachal Pradesh state online lottery venture (titled Dhan Dhanna Dhan) on 30 May/1 June in 3,000 retail centres across the country.
While discussions are reportedly on with various parties, it currently seems to be a toss-up between between Star and Sony for what is one of four major new online lottery initiatives that are being put together at the moment. The other players being the Modi Group, white goods major Videocon and Essar.
While discussions are reportedly on with various parties, it currently seems to be a toss-up between between Star and Sony for what is one of four major new online lottery initiatives that are being put together at the moment. The other players being the Modi Group, white goods major Videocon and Essar.
At the moment though, all that DD allows is advertisements for online lotteries. It was only last year that the Prasar Bharati board gave DD the go-ahead to carry ads for the online lotteries that different state governments are promoting.
Coming back to Dhan Dhanna Dhan Infotainment, it is targeting 10,000 outlets at the end of Year One of operations. An initial investment of Rs 1,000 million is what has reportedly gone into the venture that is being headed by Rajan Kaaicker with a 90-strong team under him. Kaaicker, who was earlier Modi Entertainment Network CEO, distribution, was directing Videocon’s online lottery plans before taking the reins at Dhan Dhanna Dhan.
The question that is being asked is whether there will not be too much of a good thing what with all these big players entering the business. Well, projections are that once all these “big guns” become fully operational, annual revenues to the tune of Rs 70 billion will accrue. And three years down the line, that could go up to Rs 500 billion is what is estimated.
Wishful thinking? Not really if the figures that are being thrown around as to the kind of betting that went on during the cricket World Cup are true? Rs 150 billion is what is estimated to have been spent via illegal betting during the cricket carnival. The debate that is currently on whether cricket betting should be legalised is providing hope to the online lottery players as well. They say that the lottery vends could also be used to place bets. And it would all be transparent and above board, which would provide huge additional revenues to the government, the proponents.
GECs
EPIC Company unifies all brands under single EPIC identity
IN10 Media rebrand aligns TV, digital and films into one ecosystem
MUMBAI: The EPIC Company, formerly known as IN10 Media Network, has announced a sweeping brand consolidation, bringing its television channels, digital platforms and content IPs under a single identity, EPIC.
The move is aimed at simplifying the company’s structure while creating a more connected content ecosystem spanning television, digital and films. By aligning multiple verticals under one umbrella, the company is looking to present a sharper, more cohesive face to both audiences and partners.
As part of the transition, several channels have been rebranded to align with the EPIC identity. EPIC will now operate as EPIC TV, while Nazara becomes EPIC Bharat, Filamchi is now EPIC Bhojpuri, Gubbare transitions to EPIC Kids, and ShowBox is reintroduced as EPIC Music. Ishara will continue under the identity EPIC Parivaar, maintaining its core positioning.
The company has also refreshed EPICON, its streaming platform, to reflect a more unified and modern brand experience. The overhaul is designed to improve content discovery and create a seamless experience across platforms.
This consolidation follows the recent launch of EPIC Studio, a unified production arm that brings together Juggernaut Productions and MovieVerse Studio, as the company expands its footprint across films, OTT and television.
The EPIC Company managing director Aditya Pittie said, “As our scale has grown, it has become important to simplify how we operate and how we present ourselves to the ecosystem. This consolidation gives us a clearer, more future-ready structure to partner, invest, and build at scale, while ensuring that for viewers, the experience is more seamless and intuitive.”
With the rebrand, The EPIC Company is positioning itself as a platform-agnostic content network, focused on scale, simplicity and integrated storytelling. By bringing everything under one banner, it is aiming to make its content universe easier to navigate and harder to ignore.
