Entertainment & Advertising landscape has drastically changed over a period of time and the major driving factors for this change are increasing smartphone penetration, reducing data rates and need for personalization. Though majority of the Indian households own televisions, watching TV has never been a personalized experience, one problem statement that is very well addressed by the Digital Medium.
Digital Media – The rising star offering personalized experience
Various Over-The-Top (OTT) players namely YuppTV, Hulu, ErosNow, Hungama Play, Netflix, etc. have launched subscription based services. They follow the freemium, advertising based or Pay Per View (PPV) revenue models. As per a Cyber Media Report, when it comes to OTT Reliance Jio that offers number of app based services like Jio Play, Jio VOD, Jio Beats,etc. has the potential to be the largest OTT player in India [Source]
However, when it comes to personalized content and entertainment on the Go, Youtube is still the most favorable destination. The lethal combination of VoLTE [particularly Reliance Jio] and Youtube Offline is a great boon for consumers looking for personalized content! When it comes to made-for-digital content, The Viral Fever (TVF) and All India Bakchod (AIB) lead the pack, but they also made a shift from Youtube only policy with the TVF Play and AIB’s show on Hotstar, Star Plus, Star World.
Digital Media – Exponential user growth and increased ad spends
As stated in the The Future Now Streaming report by KPMG
Competition in the digital video space in India continues to intensify with everyone from the traditional media companies (TV broadcasters, TV content producers, film producers, etc.) to telcos to international Video on Demand (VoD) players to independent digital players vying a share of the surging online viewership. Competition continues to rise with no single platform gaining critical mass yet.
With the growing popularity of the medium, the digital advertising has seen the maximum growth of 38.2% over 2014. This is mainly attributed to the growing internet user base and useage was supplemented by increased spend allocation by marketers [Source]. Given the growing interest of the digital medium, lines have blurred between traditional medium [TV] and the connected platform [mobile, laptop, etc.] and many traditional media houses are trying to going an extra mile to ensure that their viewers/customers are provided a seamless experience.
Most of these OTT players follow the Freemium Model where they charge for curated Premium Content with the differentiating factor being exclusive/original content from content producers. Talking about media houses (and TV broadcasters), there has been growing interest from them – Star TV (and HBO) launched Hotstar, Viacom 18 Digital Ventures launched Voot with more players like ALT Digital (from Balaji Telefilms) expected to join the Digital Wave.
Few months back, Viacom 18 launched Voot where they do not only have original content but you can also catch up with your favourite shows while you are on the go! Today, we do a detailed review of Voot w.r.t features, design, content syndication,etc.
Voot – On Demand TV, Originals, Movies and more
Voot, a mobile first VOD platform is a part of the Viacom 18 Digital Ventures. If you are an avid TV watcher and follow programs on Colors Hindi, Nickelodeon, MTV, Colors Regional,etc. and missed watching them on TV, than Voot could come in handy as you can still catch your favourite programs on-the-go!
For the audience that has changed over a period of time and love watching digital-only-content, Voot has something to offer in the form of Voot Originals. Voot currently follows the advertising led model and they might explore freemium & subscription led models [Source].
Some of the salient features of Voot are below:
The first mobile video platform with a social engagement and recommendation feature – where you can send out customized shouts for every video you watch.
A personalized recommendation engine which is customized as per individual users’ likes and viewing history.
They have a seperate section for kids-Voot Kids where they have all the favourite kids programs like Motu Patlu, Chhota Bheem, Pokemon, Kung Fu Panda, Dora, SpongeBob, etc. Users can also set a security pin to ensure that kids only see what you want them to.
Voot has over 17,000 hours of exciting content for audiences with varying choices and preferences, covering Colors (Hindi), MTV, Nickelodeon, Viacom18 Motion Pictures and MTV Indies, Voot by Viacom18 offers the biggest TV Shows, Blockbuster Movies, your favorite Toons & Voot Originals
Voot is currently available on Play Store, iOS and web.
Voot-Content, Design, UX
Voot Picks-The app has a section called Voot Picks that fetches the best on-air TV shows and Voot original for the user. The content shown in this section is not as per the user’s browsing history (in Voot) and hence it is not unique for every Voot user. It would have been much better if content in Voot Picks was more personalized(something like Recommendations on Youtube)!
Language Options-Users of the app can select their preferred language-Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi once they create a profile on Voot. Hindi & English are selected by default since majority of the content on Voot caters to that audience. There is also a section called Voot International where users would be treated with their favourite international shows. It would be great that once the Viacom 18 team has more regional content than users can de-select Hindi from the language setting.
Data Usage-Users have the option to choose the preferred streaming method : Data Saving, High Quality and Auto. Even when you are watching your favourite show on Voot, you can change the streaming playback quality by simply swiping left on the player.
Though this setting comes in handy, an option to add ‘Profile’ e.g. Home Profile, WiFi profile, Data Profile, etc. where depending on the selected Profile, the Video Quality of the streamed content would change or user can just opt for High Quality Video when on WiFi. Also, instead of swiping left for options, a Settings option on the player (something similar to YouTube) could be better so that the learning curve is avoided.
Design & UX- The Voot app is overall well designed where different program options (like Voot Originals, Voot Regionals, Top picks,etc.) are organized in different tabs. Since most of the Voot users would prefer to catch on to their favourite TV Shows, hence that section is given more prominence (be it Big Boss, Madhubala, etc.) as compared to Voot Originals.
The app also has Social Engagement Feature where where you can send out customized shouts for every video you watch, for everyone to see.
Voot-Originals
The Originals section in the app has shows with actors like Swara Bhaskar, Vivan Bhatena,etc. though the addicts of Originals on internet would still prefer TVF, AIB, EIC, etc. However the quality of original content on Voot seems to improve with each new episode!
Conclusion
If you are an avid follower of content on Colors, MTV and other channels from Viacom18 than you have a very good reason to download the Voot App (Play Store, iOS and Web). With many major content producers and media companies like Star TV, Yashraj Films, ALT Balaji, etc. looking to take a share of the digital media pie, only the one with better content would lead the race! As it is rightly said Content is the King…