TelecomLive January-2019

[ News Bytes ] www.telecomlive.com 62 Telecom LIVE January 2019 market and explore deals and partnerships for official licensedmerchan- dise such as apparels, electronics, toys, travel & adventure gear, bags, s tat ionery and home décor. Talks are onwith one of t h e l a r g e s t f a s h i o n retailers to sell apparels online and with distribu- tors for other products. The premium products will range in price from Rs 1,200 to Rs 6,000 and will be positioned in categories where there is notmuch clutter. Tata Sky to launch OTT content aggregator app priced Rs 249 per month Tata Sky Binge Service plans to offer a vast library of content from var ious over the top (OTT) players through a single app that is seam- less and easy to use. The service priced at Rs 249 per month will o f f e r c o n t e n t f r om various partner apps like Hotstar, Hungama Play, and SunNxt as well as Tata Sky library of VOD c on t e n t a nd mi s s e d e p i s o d e s o f v a r i o u s television channels up to last sevendays. The service is being offered to subscribers who have active Tata Sky DTH subscription. The subscription charges will dominant presence in the Middle East owing to the largeMalayalamspeak Indiandiaspora. Suvarna News is the news channel in Karnataka. It has increased its market share to 14 pc in FY18. The company has a healthy net worth of Rs 88 cr as onMar 31, 2018 with continued backing of Jupiter Capital Pvt Ltd. JioMusic, Saavn integrate to build South Asia's largest platform for music, artists SaavnMedia, a unit of Reliance Industries, unveiled South Asia's largest streaming, entertainment and artist platform, JioSaavn, marking the official integra- tion of JioMusic and over-the-top platformSaavn. The new integrated JioSaavn app is available across all app stores including the Jio app store, on JioPhone, as well as, at www.jio.com/jiosaavn. It brings a suite of in-app products and music experiences, including an interactive lyrics feature, localised vernacular display, custom integrations with concerts and live events, and exclusive video content over the next fewmonths. "As announced in Mar 2018 at the time of acquisi- tion of Saavn by Reliance Industries, the implied valuation of the combined entity at over $1 bnmakes it the most valuable music streaming platform in South Asia...," the statement added. With a catalog of over 45 mn songs and original content, JioSaavn aims to combine the streaming media expertise of Saavn with Jio's digital services ecosystem. The integrated app is eyeing a "massive addressable market opportunity" both in India as well as the Indian diaspora, it added. The service will be offered on a 'freemium' model in India with all users having access to the ad-supported product. Discovery to bring consumer products to India Discovery Communications plans to sell merchan- dise in India to open up a new revenue stream. It has roped in specialist brand licensing agency BlackWhite Orange Brands (BWO) as the exclusive partner to launch the merchandise starting 2019. BWO will work with Discovery to develop products for the local pc market share among DTH operators, in South I nd i a . The bu s i ne s s strategy remains focused on this region, which contributes around 90 pc of the total subscriber base . Ava i l ab i l i t y o f additional transponder space during fiscal 2018 h e l p e d t o i n c r e a s e channels being offered, and led to healthy growth in the subscriber base. Asianet News Net- work crosses Rs 100 cr rev mark in FY18 R a j e e v C h a n d r a s e k h a r - promoted Asianet News Network has posted a net profit of Rs 12.91 cr for the fiscal ended Mar 2018 compared to Rs 2.65 cr in the previous fiscal. T h e c o m p a n y ' s EBITDA jumped to Rs 22.97 cr as against Rs 9 . 9 4 c r a y e a r a g o . Revenue crossed Rs 100 crmarkwith the company generating Rs 113 cr in revenue compared to Rs 94.16 cr in the previous fiscal. As i anet News Net- work's two news channels A s i a n e t N e w s a n d Suvarna News have seen a n i mp r o v eme n t i n performance. Asianet News, a news channel in Kerala, has increased i t s market share to 40 pc in FY18. The channel also has a B P O & B R O A D C A S T I N G - B Y T E S