MUMBAI: Television and film production company Balaji Telefilms has forayed into the original digital content business segment with the launch of ALT Digital Media Entertainment.
This is move is reflective of the company’s strategic intent to extend its entertainment expertise to creating enjoyable, engaging content for digital audiences globally and monetise the incredible potential of original, premium, on-demand entertainment.
ALT Digital Media will be looking at offering next generation of content which is original, edgy and contemporary. The company will create content for the entire connected ecosystem spanning mobiles, computers, tablets, smart TVs and game stations.
Through this endeavour Balaji Telefilms will go beyond the current themes of television entertainment to set a new benchmark with younger, edgier and smarter contemporary content that merits a different medium. The move comes at a time when 75 per cent of Indian audiences accessing the internet are aged between 19 to 30 years and increasingly seek new entertainment.
The company is assembling a team of professionals and is gearing up to launch in early 2016, presenting all-new original drama series across genres that will be co-created by some prominent names from the Indian entertainment industry. ALT Digital Media will initially develop content in Hindi and English and later in other regional languages, all of which will be available on subscription-based and premium ad-supported models to domestic and global Indian audiences.
In addition to developing its own platform, ALT Digital Media is also in advanced discussions to seek synergistic associations and partnerships with leading technology and video distribution platforms.
Original and exclusive content is the primary lever to attract digital subscribers, and this will be the key operating differentiator for ALT Digital Media, which is being supported by Big Data Analytics and will be led by ‘predictive data’ that draws on analytics driven insights for accurate content development, viewer monitoring and better customer segmentation.
Balaji Telefilms joint managing director Ekta Kapoor said, “As one of India’s most pioneering media houses Balaji Telefilms has always focussed on content innovation. Our passion for entertainment continues to drive us to create exciting entertainment formats – spanning films, television and now for young digital audiences. Our foray into the digital space is aligned to our strategic intent to tap into the growing digital video phenomenon, where we bring our unique story telling strengths to create compelling content and deliver it directly to audiences who are always connected and seek quality, original entertainment in new formats.”
Balaji Telefilms group CEO Sameer Nair added, “With greater use of handheld electronic devices, and growing, 3G, 4G & WI-fi penetration, a spectacular mobile video and e-commerce revolution is underway, dramatically changing consumers and consumption behaviour. For Balaji Telefilms, with its distinct strengths as an innovative entertainment powerhouse, it is the logical next step - to create the next generation of original, exciting fiction content. This foray enables Balaji to not only create and own content IP but to also build its own consumer base of audiences who seek original content and in the process, build a strong and valuable B2C brand. We are confident that ALT Digital Media will soon carve its own identity as a leading digital entertainment content creator and distributor in India for worldwide audiences.”
