Discovery mulls OTT launch in India


Details

Rebecca Hawkes

| 14 December 2015




Discovery Networks may launch an over-the-top (OTT) video platform when 4G mobile services are rolled out in India, according to local reports.



Discovery already offers two OTT products in Europe: Dplay and Eurosport Player.

“I am sure as the bandwidth constraints get eliminated and once 4G is really in place in the country, that is the time we will start evaluating the Discovery offering in India,” Rahul Johri, EVP and GM, South Asia for Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, told the Press Trust of India (PTI).

India is forecast to have 90 million 4G subscribers, using 180 million 4G smartphones, by 2018, according to a report by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Discovery, which is upping its locally skewed content for India, boasts a viewer base of 270 million in the South Asian country. It provides ten channels in India in English and Hindi, namely, Discovery Channel, Discovery HD World, TLC, TLC HD World, Animal Planet, Animal Planet HD World, Discovery Science, Discovery Kids, Discovery Turbo, and Investigation Discovery (ID).

The broadcaster has recently launched Discovery GO, its TV everywhere app, in the US.