iWorld
Viacom18’s Voot ranked among 2016’s best apps on Google Play
MUMBAI: In its year of launch, Viacom18’s video-on demand platform, Voot has made it to the prestigious -Best Apps of the year 2016 India list on Google Play. Some of the other top apps which made it to the list are Google Allo, Google Duo, Prisma, Dubsmash, Ted, etc.
Every year Google releases a list of best performing applications, games, movies, TV shows, and books on Google Play across the globe. Voot has won under Top Trending Apps and Most Entertaining Apps in the country across categories. In fact, VOOT is the only video-on demand app to have made it to this coveted list and one of the only two apps to feature in two categories.
“To be selected in the list of top trending and most entertaining apps for 2016 by Google Play is a huge honor.It cements our belief that compelling content packaged into a great user experience makes for a winning product, one that is appreciated by consumers and acknowledged by the industry. Having made it to this prestigious list in our maiden year now sets a high benchmark for us,” said Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gaurav Gandhi.
Voot was launched earlier this year and currently has over 30,000 hours of content and plans to add between over 12000 hours of content each year. The ad-supported VOD service, besides being the singular destination for the Viacom 18 network content, also has a big focus ondigital Originals, exclusive unseen content around the network’srealityshows as well as the largest repository for premium kids’ content in India.
Within just six months from launch, Voot has already garnered more than 16 million downloads, over 15 million monthly active users with monthly watch time of over 1.3 billion minutes.
iWorld
Banijay Asia’s The 50 tops OTT charts with 8.1 million JioHotstar views
Reality competition becomes most watched show on JioHotstar in debut week.
MUMBAI: Fifty contestants walked into a palace, but millions of viewers showed up for the drama. Reality competition The 50, produced by Banijay Asia, has emerged as the most watched show on JioHotstar, clocking 8.1 million views in its debut week. The figure, reported by Ormax Media, places the show at the top of the OTT viewership charts and marks a strong opening for the digital reality format.
Adapted from a popular French format, The 50 brings together 50 personalities from television, digital platforms, music and reality shows inside a grand palace setting. Over the course of a 50 day competition, participants form alliances, compete in unpredictable tasks and navigate eliminations as the field steadily narrows.
Guiding the game is a mysterious figure known as The Lion, an unseen game master whose voice introduces twists, challenges and strategic turns throughout the show, adding an extra layer of suspense to the contest.
What distinguishes The 50 from typical reality competitions is its audience driven prize structure. Instead of the winner taking home the final reward, the prize is awarded to one of the winner’s registered followers through the show’s dedicated app. The mechanism effectively turns viewers into participants, allowing fans to have a direct stake in the outcome.
The contestant lineup features a mix of television actors, reality stars and digital creators, including Karan Patel, Urvashi Dholakia, Divya Agarwal, Mr Faisu and Dushyant Kukreja, each bringing their own fan following to the show.
With its blend of celebrity personalities, strategic gameplay and interactive viewer participation, The 50 has quickly carved out a strong foothold in India’s digital entertainment landscape. Its 8.1 million views in the opening week underline the growing appetite for large scale reality formats designed specifically for OTT audiences.
