iWorld
ShortsTV OTT app to launch in Q2 FY 2020
MUMBAI: In November 2018, ShortsTV entered the Indian market with the concept of showcasing the world's largest catalogue of high quality short films and series. In partnership with various distribution platforms like Tata Sky, Airtel Digital, DIsh TV and D2H, the channel reached over 60 million households in India. The next big move coming from the company is to launch a video streaming app in the second quarter of 2020. Another focus of ShortsTV in 2020 will be on creation and acquisition of regional contents.
"We’re thrilled by the response we’ve received so far by audiences in India. People here love short films," comments ShortsTV chief executive Carter Pilcher.
In an interaction with Indiantelevision.com, Pilcher informs, “We are very excited about the coming year as we have a lot of plans for the Indian market. We will be focusing a lot on content creation and acquisition including adding to our growing portfolio of regional language content. Another key initiative is the launch of our video streaming app which is expected by the second quarter of 2020 in India.”
The app will mainly have short films and series in all formats and genres including live action, animation, dramas and documentaries.The company is currently testing the app in beta mode in the US. He says, “There are huge opportunities in India around mobile, as more and more people are streaming content on their mobile devices. Short films are perfect for this, as they can be enjoyed anywhere and anytime. We are looking forward to providing the best short film content to mobile viewers in India.”
He said that the big focus in 2020 will be the launch of ShortsTV’s app, which uses a machine-learning algorithm like Spotify. Viewers will be able to choose from categories based on director, language, mood and genre.
In 2020 ShortsTV will also be seen investing heavily in producing regional content in Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam apart from Hindi and English languages.
Pilcher comments, “We see regional content as hugely important as there are many emerging filmmakers producing exciting short films in different parts of the country. Our existing catalogue offers shorts in Hindi, Marathi and Tamil and our acquisitions team is always on the look-out for more regional films to add to our service. Next year we plan to add more content in local languages like Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam and beef up our existing regional portfolio.”
ShortsTV launched in India with 150-175 hours of Indian titles with another 500 hours of international content. Over the next year it aims to add another 200 hours of Indian origin shorts and have 50 per cent of the library of Indian short films.
It has a growing catalogue of more than 13,000+ Indian and international short movies. Top of the list are award-winners from all the biggest international award franchises: Oscars, BAFTAs and Cannes with the biggest Hollywood and Bollywood stars: Benedict Cumberbatch to Jackie Shroff and Judi Dench to Radhika Apte. “In India, currently about 30 per cent of our content is Indian produced and we’re working to increase that amount by acquiring content from leading producers around the country,” opines Pilcher.
Pilcher believes, in India, the most popular genres are horror, thriller and crime. He says, “Millennials are inclined to watch all kinds of content. They are more open to edgy and provocative films than earlier generations, which short films are great at delivering and which we have a lot of on ShortsTV.”
ShortsTV has partnered with some of India’s short film producers, including Large Short Films, Terribly Tiny Tales and Humara Movie. Some of the popular titles in its catalogue include Chutney, Ahalya, Kheer, Int. Café Night, Half Full, etc. featuring some of the leading Bollywood actors like Radhika Apte, Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff, amongst others.
It has also partnered with Bollywood directors like Anurag Kashyap and Subhash Ghai’s film school Whistling Woods to bring alive more creative shorts content.
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
