New avatar for Zee's mobile TV platform

Ditto, begun in 2012, relaunched at an aggressive Rs 20 a month, joining hands with Idea Cellular

The revamped mobile TV app/platform has been positioned as ‘DeshKaTV’, with the aim to make live television available to every Indian via any device – phones, tablet or personal computer, at an aggressive price of Rs 20 a month.

Punit Goenka, managing director at Zeel, said: “The digital entertainment space in India is at the cusp of a strong phase of growth. With the new avatar of dittoTV, we aim to change the media landscape to suit the evolving media consumption preferences of consumers. It will allow consumers to control where they watch television in a way that has not been possible before. We are proud to present a platform that will help scale up this transformation, by making it affordable for people across a wide economic spectrum.”

On the price point of Rs 20 a month: “Vendors sell content on pendrives or (pirated) download content on to mobile for 10-25 bucks. So, we felt Rs 20 is the sweet spot that people will be ready to spend for content on their mobile.”

Piracy via mobiles has been on the rise in India, with mobile recharge vendors and shopkeepers selling pirated copies at Rs 10 to 30 for a copy title. In fact, platform owners have used this insight for sachet-style packaging of their services earlier as well, charging users per video download, for instance.

ZDCL has another digital platform to access content, Ozee. However, the two are distinct in their service proposition. While ditto is a platform to access live TV, much like the Tata Sky Everywhere app which allows viewers to access Tata Sky from their mobile phones, Ozee is an over-the-top platform, with a vast library of new and old content from the Zeel stable. The new version of the ditto app allows one to access 100-plus Hindi, English and regional language channels, across the genres of general entertainment, sports, movies, news and lifestyle.

Another distinction between the two digital properties is that ditto features content from almost all broadcasters – Sony Pictures Network, Times Network, Indiacast (distribution arm of Viacom18 Broadcast) and channels from the Zee bouquet. The platform provides live TV telecast on mobiles, with the option of up to seven days catch-up TV (users can view up to seven day-old content, not older). Ozee is an on-demand platform, much like hotstar and Netflix, where the content is available for perpetuity.

dittoTV is available on the Android, Windows and iOS platforms, making cumbersome annual contracts, satellite dishes and set-top boxes obsolete. The subscription charges for three months, six months and a year are Rs 50, Rs 90 and Rs 170, respectively. Ozee is a completely advertising-driven platform, with no subscription fees at all.

To ensure distribution of ditto among mobile phone users (feature and smartphone), the app has joined forces with Idea Cellular, to offer its users of 3G and 4G internet packs a free monthly subscription with every recharge.

Under a promotional offer, all Idea customers in its 3G and 4G provider circles will be able to subscribe to dittoTV free of cost, along with select monthly data packs, until end-July.

Sashi Shankar, chief marketing officer, Idea Cellular, said: “With the rapid rollout of our 4G services and increased penetration of smartphones in the country, we are providing our customers an array of rich digital services to meet their demand for engaging apps and content. TV being synonymous with entertainment for the Indian masses, we are excited to partner with dittoTV to enable consumers to carry their entertainment wherever they go.”

In keeping with its brand promise of being the nation’s television, dittoTV has partnered with Siti Cable and ITZ Cash to supply easy-to-use recharge cards at retail channels. The app’s adaptive technology will adjust to a range of internet speeds to deliver a seamless viewing experience, making it the first TV entertainment app that is customised for both the urban and rural markets.