Dish TV India Launches its One-stop OTT Entertainment Solution

NEW DELHI:
Following a successful run on its original content, Watcho is expanding its offering by providing bundled packages of the most popular OTT platforms, thus providing its subscribers with a whole new world of digital content along with the convenience of a single subscription.

WATCHO will offer OTT content from Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5, Sony LIV, Lionsgate Play, Hungama Play, HoiChoi, Klikk, EpicOn, Chaupal, and Oho Gujarati via a single login and subscription model. Additionally, subscribers will also be able to enjoy the massive library of original content including 35+ enthralling web series, Swag (UGC content), snackable shows, and live TV from WATCHO exclusives. DishTV will further enhance its plans as more OTT platforms are in the pipeline to join Watcho to make it a comprehensive entertainment destination.

Indian OTT viewers struggle to keep up with the latest content by juggling multiple platforms. Watcho’s latest OTT aggregation service lives up to its promise of “One Hai Toh Done Hai,” which seeks to deliver the convenience of one plan and one payment package to contribute to the ease of access to maximum content in one place while improving the viewing experience. Further, as an introductory offer (available for a limited period), DishTV, D2H, and Siti Cable subscribers can avail of and enjoy the new service for a month, without paying any additional cost. Once subscribed, users would have the flexibility of accessing the OTT content on Mobiles, Tablets, Laptops, and TV through the app or web.

Speaking on the launch, Anil Dua, Group CEO, Dish TV India Limited said, “As pioneers of DTH technology, Dish TV India has played a significant role in changing the Indian television landscape. With rapid digitization, evolving consumer preferences, and a paradigm shift in the industry dynamics, we are moving a step ahead by aggregating video streaming apps (OTTs) and thereby expanding  Watcho’s offerings. With Watcho’s new service, we have strengthened our OTT content distribution platform by creating a single subscription gateway that delivers amazing value and convenience to our subscribers. With the introduction of this new services, we intend to make Watcho a one-stop entertainment destination with original content, linear TV and on-demand diverse entertainment anytime, anywhere, and on any screen.” 

Sukhpreet Singh, Corporate Head – Marketing, DishTV & WATCHO, Dish TV India Ltd. said, “WATCHO – Our home-grown OTT platform has been steadily growing its reach and crossed the 60 million plus downloads mark at the end of the FY Q1 2022. The platform has been working towards carving a space for itself in the competitive and energetic streaming video services industry. OTT Industry is brimming with multiple OTT apps, which leave the consumers struggling to search for the preferred content. To address these consumer challenges, we are introducing the WATCHO OTT aggregation service that will augment the overall digital content consumption at an affordable price point. With this, we want to democratize the accessibility of various OTT platforms from a single platform.” 

The four subscription packs have been designed to meet the needs of varied requirements of customers. Viewers can enjoy unlimited entertainment through Watcho monthly subscription packs:

“We are delighted to associate with Dish TV for WATCHO. As Disney+ Hotstar continues to offer best-in-class content, through this association we look forward to making our vast library of content accessible to newer audiences. The consumers of WATCHO will be able to binge-watch and enjoy the best of the content of Disney+ Hotstar,” said Gurjeev Singh Kapoor, Head – Distribution and International, India, Disney Star.

Talking about the partnership, Vivek Arora, Head Alliances and Partnerships, ZEEL – South Asia said, “At ZEE5 our endeavour has always been at expanding our presence, democratising content consumption and making it accessible to audiences across markets. We are happy to partner with Dish TV for Watcho which aims at broadening the horizons of digital content consumption in India.

ZEE5 offers an invigorating slate featuring diverse content across genres along with catch-up Tv, old classics and blockbusters across languages. We shall continue to strengthen our connect with the audiences through innovations and alliances, offering unique entertainment exposures for an enhanced experience on the platform.”

Speaking on the launch, Amit Dhanuka, Executive Vice President, Lionsgate, said, “We at Lionsgate Play are elated to partner with Dish TV’s Watcho on their latest bundling offering. With the ever- evolving OTT space in India, app bundling plays an important role to help brands reach a wider consumer base and will continue to do so in the future as well. With this extensive partnership too, we aim to offer the audience the best of our content at a great price and provide them with an enhanced viewing experience.”

Speaking on the launch, Sourjya Mohanty, COO, EPIC ON said, “The digital ecosystem is constantly evolving, and so are the consumers. In today’s market, one needs to be present across platforms and aggregation is increasingly playing an important role in helping users to find what to watch. With Watcho, we hope to expand our premium and multiform offerings to a larger set of audiences across the country.” 

Adding to this Soumya Mukherjee, COO hoichoi said, “ We always aim at making hoichoi easily and widely accessible to our customers. Being a part of Watcho takes us a step forward in that direction. With this form of OTT aggregation, viewers can access a large number of platforms with just a single login. This adheres to our motive of providing our customers with the most convenient and enjoyable viewing experience and fits in our journey of spreading hoichoi’s reach for all audiences.”

Abhay Kumar Tantiya, Director of Angel Television Pvt. Ltd.(Klikk), said, “We’re extremely happy and proud to partner with Watcho. Dish TV has long been one of the market leaders in the DTH space and has launched an OTT platform Watcho which will serve as a marketplace for other OTT platforms, therefore we are extremely happy to expand this relationship and push it forward with Watcho. Hopefully, this journey promises to be a memorable one alongside other OTT platforms, together. We’re looking forward to catering to more people and reaching a greater mass. Only onwards and upwards from here.”

“Today, Oho Gujarati is the foremost regional OTT platform in the Gujarat market. With more than 25 original shows, we look forward to adding 2 new originals every month. After widespread acceptance in Gujarat, we were looking to partner with national players for a bigger reach. Watcho, a venture by DishTV, is a complete entertainment package that offers new and convenient ways of enjoying your favorite shows and movies. We feel that it is the perfect vehicle to reach to a larger audience base and we are glad to be a part of its wide range of offerings. We look forward to entertaining more and more people with exciting Gujarati shows and films across the globe.” Says Abhishek Jain, Co-Founder, Oho Gujrati Sandeep Bansal, Managing Director of Chaupal, said, “Chaupal signifies entertainment beyond boundaries, where regional languages and cultures interact, giving a glimpse of Indian panorama. At Chaupal, we always believed in giving a wealth of choices to our subscribers in terms of new content offerings in mother tongues- Punjabi, Haryanvi, and Bhojpuri, to begin with. Since its launch in 2021, Chaupal has witnessed a huge surge in content consumption on large screens and connected devices. We are hopeful that the association with Dish TV’s Watcho will further boost Chaupal’s engagement and help its content traverse all barriers of region and language. We are thrilled about the collaboration between both the brands.”

Speaking about the association, Siddhartha Roy, CEO, Hungama Digital Media said, “Hungama Play has a diverse, multi-lingual, and multi-genre library of content. Our association with Watcho enables us to offer consumers wholesome entertainment led by an incredible library of Movies, TV shows, and Hungama Originals. We are excited to partner with Watcho and are certain that the content experience offered by Hungama Play will delight the consumers of Watcho and also expand the reach of our content to a new customer base.”