ADAG gets into online video fray

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's entertainment division today launched BigFlicks.com, a video-on-demand portal.

Targeting nearly 35 million non-resident Indians, the portal will allow users to stream movies for free or download at prices ranging between $2 and $16.

The portal currently offers 1,000 titles in Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and Punjabi to begin with. It plans to own over 2,000 titles in a year.

For its online entertainment venture, ADAG has acquired film titles from various production houses apart from leveraging its own sister concerns such as Adalbs Films.

For instance, UTV's 'Fear', directed by Vikram Bhatt, will not have a theatrical release. The film will be released only on the online platform through BigFlicks.com. Apart from movies, BigFlicks will also provide music and television content.

"In mature economies, the demand for home entertainment is increasing with the rising income level. A typical Hollywood movie generates more revenues through home entertainment than through theatrical distribution, while in India home entertainment contributes in low single digits to a movie's revenue. That is because we lack effective home entertainment platforms," said Rajesh Sawhney, president, Reliance Entertainment.

The video-on-demand service through portals allows a movie buff to watch a film by simply downloading movies to his PC or television set from the Internet.

According to industry estimates, the US, the UK and Canada constitute over 70-75 per cent of the total international online movie revenues at the moment.

The US alone makes up 50 per cent of the market. Going forward, the group plans to set up DVD and VCD retail outlets across 10 cities, beginning with Pune, Hyderabad and Chandigarh. The roll-out will begin in September.

Customers can place orders through SMS, website, call centre or can opt to walk in the stores. The group isn't the only one in the space.

Movie production houses such as Rajshri Media and global distributor and producer Eros International are among the first few media houses to provide the service.

Harish Thawani's Nimbus group plans to invest $34 million for its home entertainment foray. Bangalore-based Seventymm.com offers a choice of 15,000 titles at Rs 599 a month for unlimited video rentals over the net.

In February this year, Rajshri Media launched a website, www.rajshri.com, for downloading movies, music, favourite dialogues, scenes from a movie and so on. The company's first movie Vivah premiered both on the net as well as in the movie halls on the same day.

Eros International, which holds rights to 1,300 movie titles, offers video-on-demand through their website www.bondemand.tv. For the online Bollywood service, the company has a strategic technology and marketing alliance with Intel Corporation.

In February this year, Rajshri Media launched a website, www.rajshri.com from which you can download movies, music, favourite dialogues, scenes from the movie and so on. The company's first movie Vivah premiered both on the net as well as the movie halls on the same day.

Eros International, which holds rights to 1,300 movie titles, offers video-on-demand through their website www.bondemand.tv.

For the online Bollywood service, the company has a strategic technology and marketing alliance with Intel Corporation.