Reliance BigFlix, a leading online movie-on-demand service, is stocking up on Malayalam catalogues as part of expansion plans in South India.
Manish Agarwal, chief executive officer, Reliance Entertainment Digital, told Business Line that BigFlix has been looking to increase its footprint after a January launch.
HD CATALOGUE
As service provider, BigFlix allows user to stream and download a HD catalogue of movies at a minimum subscription fee of Rs 249 across devices.
Having created sizeable Bollywood content, the company has been trying to home in on regional centres with large congregation of viewers.
Tollywood was the first port of call in the South India; Mollywood is but a logical extension, Agarwal said. “Viewers in this part of the country are not just movie-crazy but tech savvy, too,” he added.
This virtually opens up the market for streaming content to the household audience (television, PC and laptop) as well as to those on the go (mobile and tablet).
MOST CONNECTED
The fact that Kerala happens to be among the most connected State through telecom networks adds no mean edge to the marketing push.
But Agarwal admitted that low penetration of 3G and a 2 Mbps-home connection that flatters to deceive may not be ideal conditions for facilitating quality streaming.
“We are aware of these challenges, especially when we lack Wi-Fi hot spots in required numbers in the State,” he added.
He said he was still optimistic on household consumption, thanks to a mature audience.
DONGLES PENETRATION
Agarwal was quick to point to increasing trend in penetration of USB dongles in the State. This should take care of the speed and bandwidth requirements for streaming.
In any case, BigFlix is targeting to become the service of choice for the large Malayalam film aficionados, home and away.
In this context, Agarwal said he was looking to tap the large Keralite diaspora present in West Asia.
“Of course, yes,” he said. The idea is to partner with local carriers and make available movies on demand to the expatriate population.
vinson.kurian@thehindu.co.in