Ullu revamps strategy, introduces family content
Premium- The video streaming service will now be equally divided between adult and non-adult content, says Vibhu Agarwal, chief executive officer and founder of Ullu
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NEW DELHI :
New Delhi: Video streaming service Ullu, known primarily for adult content, says it has revamped its strategy to introduce more wholesome shows and movies for family audiences, besides allowing for a "censor" filter for its existing bold programming. While the move comes in the wake of increasing scrutiny on OTT content by the government and the judiciary, the service insists this was long in the making.
Switching the filter on will automatically edit any content inappropriate for family audiences from the concerned show or film.
“We had decided on this around March last year long before the conversation and debate around OTT content had even begun. It is only during the lockdown that more people started watching web content and this (scrutiny by the government and other members of society) came in. But we anyway did not want to be labelled a certain way and want to provide a variety of offerings across all age groups," Vibhu Agarwal, chief executive officer and founder, Ullu, said.
Agarwal, who runs a slew of businesses in north India, including steel plants and educational institutions, says the streaming app founded in 2018 was an attempt at diversification.
Agarwal had first produced a film called Baat Bann Gayi starring Ali Fazal and Gulshan Grover in 2013 that didn’t get its due in cinemas but found a wide audience online.
“The fact that more people watched the film on digital platforms than in theatres told me this is going to be the future," said Agarwal, whose service clocked in a 220% increase in paid subscribers during the lockdown.
While the company primarily targets tier-II and tier-III audiences, its subscriber base now includes users from tier-I cities, too. Unlike earlier, people have even begun to pay for the content they consume. Before the lockdown, at least 80% of consumers would only download and watch whatever was available for free and not return thereafter. The Ullu app, which has subscriptions priced at Rs225 a year and Rs162 for six months, will soon introduce a pay-per-view offering for as low as Rs9 for content that will be available to customers for 72 hours.
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This February, the government of India formally tightened its control over digital and OTT platforms by introducing a three-tier mechanism that it termed as a “soft-touch regulatory architecture". While the first two tiers bring in place a system of self-regulation by the platforms themselves, the crucial third calls for an oversight mechanism managed by central government bureaucrats.
“Regulations will create some level-playing field against the TV industry, which was absent earlier. This would lead to consolidation or shutdown of small and niche OTT apps which have been relying on obscene content," Karan Taurani, research analyst at Elara Capital Ltd had said soon after the government guidelines came in.
To be sure, Agarwal says the Ullu platform will now be equally divided between adult and non-adult content. Having brought out shows and films such as Smartphone, The Bull of Dalal Street and Paper recently, Agarwal said the company is partnering with names such as Sanjay Gadhvi, Annu Kapoor, Pradeep Sarkar, and others to meet its target of bringing out two new shows every week in 2021 across languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bhojpuri and English.
“There are several film-makers approaching us now, since they also know there has been a change in our vision," said Agarwal, who also has plans for Ullu merchandize.
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