Discovery of content on OTT platforms is a challenge, says Gourav Rakshit of Viacom18

India’s OTT landscape is booming as the number of audiences and platforms is increasing at an exponential pace. However, a major challenge that the industry as a whole is facing is user discovery of content on the platform. 

Talking to BestMediaInfo.com, Gourav Rakshit, COO, Viacom 18 Digital Ventures, said that the discovering capacity of content within the platform is a challenge. 

"Having good content is only a part of the puzzle because you are leaving out a large part of the audience to discover the content that is more towards the edges." He said the real premise for players is to connect the right audience with the right kind of content. 

Viacom18 announced the expansion of its digital portfolio by launching Voot Select, the company’s newest foray into the subscription VoD services. Asked how differentiated would Voot Select's offering be from other such platforms, Rakshit said it has a wide range of curated shows to offer. He said by getting international content, it will tap on newer audiences that were non-Voot users. "We have international content that we have bought in to tap those audiences that were not on Voot." 

He said other OTT players have done a good job of developing the market for original OTT content. "Everyone has done a great job of developing the market so far, which is advantageous for us if we look at it. It only augurs well for us because we can tell more differentiated stories that are there in the business. I think it's a good thing from the timing perspective. The fact that we took our time is actually one of the best calls that we could potentially make.

Ferzad Palia

"When asked if Voot has tapped the original content market later than any of its competition platforms, Ferzad Palia,  Head, Voot Select, Youth, Music and English Entertainment, Viacom18, said, "The business is so new that we don’t feel we have come late, to be honest. It's just the beginning, It’s good to learn and observe and take learnings and in the meanwhile, since our forte is storytelling, we’ve got a whole slate of originals to drop and that’s what we are focusing on and we will continue to tell good stories."

Voot Select will bring the best of content from Viacom18’s extensive portfolio of channels on the digital platform 24 hours before the episodes debut on TV.  

The platform has announced 30 plus original shows and partnered with major international channels like Fashion One, Clubbing TV and Real Madrid TV. It will bring Revry TV, a 24\7 LGBTQ channel to India. 

“Voot Select has been carefully crafted and designed for today’s ‘on-demand’ generation. We’re proud to give to India a destination that has the country’s largest showcase of stories, ranging from Hindi and Regional Originals, live television channels from across the world, the widest variety of top-drawer international content to ‘24 hour-before-TV’ premieres of our TV network content. Ad-free, multi-screen access and a solid recommendation engine will add to a great entertainment experience for our subscribers," Palia said at the launch.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com