UTV Bets Big On Digital Presence Of Celebrities

Acquires mobile and web rights for celebs across cinema and sports.

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | July 29, 2010

UTV's Interactive arm, UTV New Media Ltd has forayed into celebrity aggregation in the digital space. Offering millions of Indians interactivity and access to their favorite icons, be it top line celebrities from Bollywood, regional stars and even well known sportspeople UTV will conceptualize a digital persona of celebrities and build an innovative proposition across mobile and web.

Announcing this initiative with seventeen big celebrities on board, UTV sees itself emerging as a dominant player in this space almost instantly as there is no other player in the market that can boast of such a gamut of celebs. This venture will be launched with one of India's leading celebrity - John Abraham, bringing him across touch-points. Also, creating a buzz in the regional space as well, UTV has signed up with Andhra's glamorous star - Ileana D'cruz. UTV plans to monetize these digital rights through subscription based models on mobile, voice and SMS, ad based models for web, mobile internet and properties on voice. UTV intends to give these celebs and their fans an interactive platform which goes beyond just images and wallpapers and would also explore merchandising; web applications, celebrities based games and even properties.

Exploring new frontiers of innovation in the digital space, this new venture will allow fans to experience their favourite star across voice blogs on the mobile, interactive voice chats, web destinations. To satisfy the voyeuristic taste buds of millions of Indians around the globe, the platforms will reach out to three clusters of the consumers – Indians based globally, the urban Indian consumers consuming rich content on PC and mobile screens and small town India.

Speaking on the UTV's new interactive venture, Ronnie Screwvala, CEO, UTV Group said, “The power of the digital medium is unprecedented and we firmly believe both mobile and web will soon dominate the entertainment space. Through this initiative, we are launching another avenue of entertainment with engaging content, easy accessibility and simple usage. Our expertise in the digital space, astute understanding of the market and ability to bring innovative and exceptional content on the table will contribute in making this venture successful.”

Manish Agarwal, CEO, UTV New Media added, “India is a star struck nation and we are offering fans across the globe, an access to first person exclusive content from celebrities ranging from Bollywood, regional cinema and sports. Fans now get an opportunity to exclusively interact with their favourite icons through web and mobile, on the go. By creating consumer touch points through voice blogs, celebrity chats, websites and more, we aim to satisfy the appetite of all the celebrity hungry buffs and continue to build the digital personas of the celebs.”

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com