Shemaroo eyes cable, satellite networks to increase Miniplex presence


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Rebecca Hawkes

| 07 December 2015




Shemaroo Entertainment is seeking to tie-up with more Indian satellite TV and multi-system operators (MSOs) to carry its new Bollywood subscription service, Miniplex.


The service, which launched on Indian direct-to-home (DTH) platforms Airtel Digital and Tata Sky in November, seeks to premiere a new film each week, as well as curated Hindi movies.

“DTH has now emerged as a large subscription platform. So we started initially with Airtel and then with Tata Sky, and over a period we will make this service available to many platforms as possible, where the paid subscriber base has some scale,” Shemaroo entertainment director Hiren Gada told PTI.

It will take the company up to a year to make the service available to a far wider base, he added.

“By next December we should be present on many more platforms. There are four other (DTH) players. There are cable operators, particularly in the phase I, phase II markets where the digitisation has already taken place or the cities where the process is taking place, so that is another set of people that we are looking to work with,” said Gada.

Although Hindi content is currently the main stay of the service, regional films may be added to the pay-TV service if they have wide appeal. Gada said regional cinema with “international acclaim or national award winners or India’s entry to Oscars” could fit the Miniplex proposition.

The service will have access to Shemaroo’s catalogue of 3,000 films across various languages.

Gada says that although the top 40 movies of the year are “well discovered” and often watched in cinemas, there are up to 200 Hindi films released each year. This leaves rich pickings in terms of providing audiences with new films to view on Miniplex.