3 September 2014: Analysts might not be over the moon about the short/medium term profit prospects of OTT, but there's clearly no shortage of companies in Asia willing to give multi-screen options a go. Malena Amzah spoke to 19 online/OTT platforms in the region about what they have, what they would like to have, and the biggest things they think are standing in their way. Analysts might not be over the moon about the short/medium term profit prospects of OTT, but there’s no shortage of companies in Asia willing to give multi-screen options a good go. This includes established free- and pay-TV broadcasters, who are moving lock, stock and tech barrel into non traditional delivery, leveraging the rights they own in new spaces and creating – or hoping to – original content for online services. Channels and acquisitions execs are also pushing hard for as many rights as possible, hoping to drive online viewership, engagement and revenue. What are these and their stand-alone online platform rivals most concerned about? Interviews with 19 platforms* in Asia showed that piracy is the top concern along with access to and cost of rights, and censorship, which drives users away. Priorities include presenting a simple and easy-to-use entertainment service, available everywhere with broad content choices at the right price models and designs that serve multiple user groups’ needs. Here’s what else they said...SpuulSpuul is an online ad-supported subscription service that legally provides film and television content globally. The service currently offers both free and paid Indian content delivered via internet-connected devices – smart TVs, web, tablets and mobile (iOS, Android).Launched in Services launched in April 2012. Founded in 2010 in Singapore by Sudesh Iyer (founder of Sony Entertainment TV in India), Subin Subaiah (banker associated with Bankers Trust, Bank of America, Standard Chartered) and S Mohan (founder of Accellion, buUuk and other technology/venture companies).The offering A mix of new blockbusters, popular/evergreen classics, kids and TV content for family viewing. Some content is geo-blocked but most is available globally.Target users Mainly Indian viewers, including in India, non-resident Indians and international viewers who enjoy Indian content. Users are mostly young and affluent.Subs base Targeting a minimum of six million users by mid-2015. Platform bosses say they are on target to achieve that. Biz/pricing models Free streaming and pay-per-view specials (from US$0.99) and a premium monthly subscription service for US$4.99 a month.Buys content rights for “Whatever makes sense”, including online day and date. How many hours of content will you acquire in 2014? The plan is to add more than 5,000 hours in the year.How many new titles are added a month? 30-40 titles, including the latest blockbuster movies and TV series immediately post telecast. In August 2014, Spuul added short-form movies and a comedy vertical showcasing popular comedy programmes.Most-watched Titles like Ankhon Dekhi, streamed on the same day as theatrical. Recent releases like Dhoom 3, Zilla Ghaziabad, Jackpot, Ragini MMS, Shadi Ke Side Effects have seen good numbers. The aim “Spuul wants to reach out to maximum users with quality content to be the destination for the Indian consumer. We take our user feedback seriously and the content strategy is dynamic. The idea is to make consumer content experience worthwhile as well as convenient. The user is presented with features like high definition, subtitles, resume across devices and offline sync. Offline sync backed by military encryption allows the user to watch content without the internet connection and this combats the challenges of infrastructure in developing markets. One can enjoy movies on the go without having to think about internet availability.” [Prakash Ramchandani]The biggest challenge “Online piracy has always been a big challenge. We are trying to address this through various anti-piracy campaigns but ultimately content owners and regulators have to join forces. This needs immediate attention for legit platforms to be a high revenue driver to unlock the value of content. In addition, content owners should look at shorter release windows to reach a wider audience across households consuming through various devices.” [Prakash Ramchandani]Priorities “Ambitious plans but one focused step at a time. Spuul is delivering the promise of new blockbuster movies. Shortening content windows for movies, TV content, premiering worldwide films has worked and we will continue to learn and invest. Before we go broader to serve the Indian consumer with a variety of genres, we want to claim the one-stop shop for specific Indian content – movies and TV. Our content, tech and product engine is constantly thinking ahead to serve targeted geographies.” [Prakash Ramchandani]The best thing that has happened to the OTT industry in Asia this year“Better infrastructure. More people converting to smart mobile usage. It’s not just video consumption but the range of OTT ideas that are springing up making it more convenient and user-friendly. With respect to online videos, the perspective of the provider is now changing and OTT video consumption is pretty much in the consideration set of the content owner and theend user.” [Prakash Ramchandani]The best thing that has happened to Spuul so far“We are growing, the team is growing and we are doing our part to contribute. We are hungry and better things are yet to happen!” [Prakash Ramchandani]* All information and opinion was supplied by the platforms themselves and fact checked for accuracy as far as humanly possible. ContentAsia has not road-tested all the platforms and offers no opinion on how well any of them work or what the strengths and weaknesses are from a consumer perspective.Issue Three 2014