From being a book-circulating library to aggregating and distributing material for television platforms to now having three TV channels and an OTT platform, the company has come a long way. Shemaroo Entertainment, situated in Mumbai, has worked in a variety of media over the course of its six decades in business. In its 60th year, the company, which had a revenue of Rs 381.4 crore in FY22, seeks to enhance its consumer-facing roots.
“We were a B2C company for the first few decades of our existence. Then, as our aggregation and syndication businesses grew, we became increasingly B2B, partnering with a variety of companies to help them grow their businesses. “we needed to reconnect with our customers “Shemaroo Entertainment’s CEO, Hiren Gada.
To become more consumer-focused, the company redesigned its brand and introduced ShemarooMe, an OTT app, as well as three TV channels. Shemaroo Entertainment plans to convert six of its IPs into films and web series as part of its 60th-anniversary celebrations.
Shemaroo Entertainment recently launched Umang, its third free-to-air (FTA) channel, after launching Shemaroo TV and MarathiBana in 2020. It’s a Hindi GEC geared toward ladies, and it’s available on DD Free Dish.
Due to a large number of TV dark homes, he believes FTA channels have more potential. According to a poll conducted by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) in 2020, 210 million Indian households own a television, up 6.9% from 197 million in 2018. The number of people viewing television has also increased by 6.7%, to 892 million from 836 million in 2018. In the future, the channel plans to produce more original material. “As the FTA platform matures and viewer tastes shift,” Gada says, “some amount of fresh invention, paired with pre-existing shows, will be a theme for most of the players.”
In 2019, the entertainment company launched ShemarooMe, an OTT service. Bollywood films, Gujarati content, and other genres are available on the portal. It now has around 500 feature-length movies and adds one new one every week. It has seen more subscription money than ad revenue and has devoted more resources to promoting its SVoD service. “The goal for all of the major premium players would be to increase their subscription revenue. It not only gives predictability, but also a strong connection with the ultimate audience
Shemaroo Entertainment would spend Rs 50 crore in new ventures such as Shemaroo TV, MarathiBana, and Umang, as well as the OTT app ShemarooMe. More than half of the funds will be invested in the broadcasting industry. This money will go toward content creation, as well as content aggregation and acquisition. The first are ad-supported platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and others. The second is through ShemarooMe, its OTT platform. The third is telecom, and the fourth is syndication, in which it collaborates with other platforms to meet content needs. YouTube generates the most money, accounting for more than half of all revenue.
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