ITV’s Granada To Seek IPTV And Mobile TV Opps In India

anada International has appointed Ting Wai Ho as Sr. Sales Executive for Granada International’s new Hong Kong office. Wong will be working with Granada International’s Regional Director-Asia James Ross on seeking opportunities in VOD and IPTV in India. Also among Wong’s priorities, are Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, Indiantelevision.com reports.
Granada International is a part of ITV Worldwide, and according to its website, it “distributes programmes to over 3,000 broadcasters and home entertainment partners in more than 200 countries worldwide”.
Of course, in case of IPTV in India, we will first have to wait for it to be launched; “Hopefully by October” says Peeyush Agrawal, GM (Broadband Services), MTNL. In case of Mobile TV, there will probably be a year long wait. Wong is likely to first look at Vietnam, where Nokia and VTC are set to launch Mobile TV by the end of the year.

DVD Rental Market Can Be As Much As $2.4 Billion By 2010″

atrix Partners India recently invested $7 million in Seventymm, an online DVD rental company based in Bangalore. Seventymm started its DVD rental service in Bangalore early this year while it has just kicked off its operations in Delhi. The company has so far received $10 million in venture capital with Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) putting in $2 million in the first round. Seventymm is founded by serial entrepreneur Raghav Kher and it has Eric Meyer, co-founder & former CIO of Netflix, as an advisor on the board. Rishi Navani, Founding Managing Director, Matrix Partners India, is joining the board of Seventymm as part of the investment.
I asked Navani why he invested in Seventymm. Navani thinks there is a huge market opportunity lying ahead. First the installed base of DVDs is expected to reach 50 million by 2010 from the current 13 million or so. An indication is that India already has 40 million VCD player base. So as the price of DVD players crash to Rs 1,200-1,500 level (from Rs 3,000 now), the penetration is expected to increase. Once the DVD installed base reaches this level, Navani thinks, it has to be supported by DVD rental service. Taking an average rental of $5 a month for 40 -50 million users, this gives a market opportunity of $200 million a month or $2.4 billion a year. Considering a market leader is the one who has 15-20 per cent market share, that’s a definitely a large market. Seventymm is the first mover in this space – at least the most visible first mover.
Online DVD rental has several advantages. For one, it’s scalable and you can cater to not 1,000 users or 10,000 users but a million users. You capture a metro market with a centralised warehousing and a few delivery boys, he says. But this can be a difficult thing to do in large cities like Delhi and Mumbai.
As for consumer choise, Navani says there are many other advantages – for instance, the DVD library can be as huge as 10,000 or 20,000 titles. Then you get to watch the original DVD not the pirated DVDs. You can keep the DVDs as along as you want (that’s what Seventymm does) – two DVDs at a time. Then you get to see the DVD you want without waiting for long like one does in a neighbourhood shop.
He, however, admits there are challenges too. For one, how easy is to get consumers sign up for the service? Since it’s online DVD rental, the internet penetration also has to grow at the same rate. Navani thinks that the DVD installed base and internet penetration would grow in tandem. Then there are going to be competing offers like DTH, IPTV and digital downloads which will be the real obstacle. So how many people would dish out $5 a month is something that remains to be seen. “It’s a consumer marketing business. Seventymm team is very experienced in consumer marketing,” says Navani. Now Raghav Kher and his team has a huge execution challenge ahead.

LINUS Capital Invests In Indian Social Networking Site

An Indian social networking site for cricket fans – Sixer – has received an undisclosed amount of investment from LINUS Capital, a boutique investment and advisory firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Hyderabad-based website, currently in beta, is expected to be launched before the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 games.
In a statement issued by LINUS Capital, Sunny Burra, Managing Director, said, “I am excited to invest in India’s first social networking start-up.” (Ed: I am not sure if it’s the first social networking site. Fropper is one, although focused on NRIs).
Sudheer Kumar, General Manager of ‘Sixer’, a Hyderabad based firm, says, “Our site will be an online hub for cricket fans with user-generated content, where a user can create content, share his profile and connect with others who love the game.”

US Indian Portal WahIndia Gets Angel Funding; To Set Up Office In Mumbai

WahIndia, a US-based online media and social networking company targeted at Indian community, has received an undisclosed amount of investment from some angel investors, the company informed in a press release. By the end of August 2006, WahIndia will be launching a social network focused on Bollywood and Indian entertainment. The US based company further plans to establish an office in Mumbai during next quarter to accelerate user growth in India, the release said.
Sunil Thakur, Founder and CEO of WahIndia, noted, “With the integration of a Bollywood-focused social network, we will further deepen relationship with our user community.” WahIndia plans to earn revenue from downloads of films, music, mobile ringtones, wallpapers, and other premium digital content.

Internet Portals Spent Rs 28.4 Crore On Offline Advertising In H12006

Here are some numbers on the advertising by internet portals in the first six months of this year. According to AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research, online portals have spent Rs 13.7 crore ($3 million) on television advertising in just the first six months of 2006. This is almost equal to what they spent in the whole of 2005.
In print media, the total advertising spend by online portals reached Rs 14.7 crore in the first six months of 2006. Among the top ten advertisers in the first six months of the year is People Interactive, the owners of Shaadi.com and social networking and dating site Fropper.com. Devyani Nagpal, CMO, Travelguru.com, offers an explanation why portals are spending, “You can’t build a large consumer brand only on the internet. Big internet companies like Amazon have built their brands on TV. India is following the same trend. How do you get more people online? By addressing them through offline media.” [Ed: We don’t think MySpace and Google were brands built offline.]
Sachin Bhatia of MakeMyTrip, told The Brand Reporter, “The way Makemytrip looks at it, we use the internet to get immediate transactions, TV to build the brand, print to detail out our travel deals and outdoor as a reminder medium.”