Under the collaboartion, Akash Digital TV will get to use Tata Play Binge’s Cloud technology that seeks to simplify accessing content by bringing together shows and movies from various OTT channels onto one screen, through a single app and subscription. This unified interface helps OTT aggregators worldwide to focus on forming content partnerships and gaining subscribers.
Harit Nagpal, managing director and CEO of Tata Play, said the collaboration with Akash Digital TV is a pivotal moment in their journey where international content delivery companies would benefit from Tata Play’s tried technology to create localised offerings for consumers at a low cost and within a short time frame.
Nagpal told ET Online that Tata Play sees it as an opportunity to expand its platform internationally and generate revenue. By exposing the Tata Play Binge tech platform to a larger audience, it aims to improve and develop the platform further, as more users help identify and fix bugs, ultimately enhancing its quality and performance.
The product is being introduced as a companion app called Akash Go. This app will enable subscribers in Bangladesh to watch content on their mobile devices, offering access to live TV channels and Video on Demand. It will also provide personalised recommendations based on their viewing habits. Akash Go will bring together a mix of local and global premium content and will be accessible to DTH subscribers of Akash Digital TV on both IOS and Android mobile phones.
Tata Play, India’s leading content distribution platform, had in September last year launched the Tata Play Binge PaaS for OTT aggregators across the globe, enabling Tata Play to provide end-to-end development and deployment opportunities. Back then, in an industry-first move, Tata Play had collaborated with Philippines’ leading Pay-Tv provider Cignal TV.The company had told ET Online it was actively engaged in talks with many other players across the world who are keen to take Tata Play’s tech solution to evolve into OTT aggregators.While Tata Play had signed the deal with Cignal last year, the offering will be launched soon. Bangladesh has gone to market on 8th July, and Cignal will go to market in a month or so, Nagpal said.
“We are in conversations with many others as of now. There is almost couple of them in every continent in the world that we’re talking to. The discussions are various stages of closure, and we should be housing more partnerships in the coming months,” Nagpal said.
Coming from the house of conglomerate Tata group, Tata Play Binge is an OTT aggregation service that brings content from more than 30 apps in one app.
Tata’s global expansion of the PaaS solution comes at a strategic moment as the OTT market is rapidly attracting more users and this may potentially boost the company’s revenue.
Moreover, if aggregation becomes widely adopted globally, and more users recognise the benefits of a unified subscription model on a single platform, Tata Play could then capitalise on this trend and expand its market presence.
Nagpal said the offering helps companies tying up with Tata Play on this solution to save 75% of their time and 75% of cost in creating it.
On being asked if Tata Play has any cost to recover, Nagpal said the company had built the platform for Indian market and and is already earning revenues. Offering the services to foreign markets now does not come at any additional cost and Tata Play is thus able to deliver to clients at a reasonable rate, he added.
