StartupDunia

While Star launches Starboxoffice.com and BAG films launches E24Bollywood.com, Filmaka has launched a different kind of entertainment portal. The site is not focused on Bollywood content or gossip. Rather, its a site where users can upload their short movies and participate in thematic contests.

Movies can be between 1-3 minutes long and users actually pay Rs 500 /- to upload and participate in the contest. Contests are held at two levels - “entry level” and “jury level”. Users submit their entries into the “entry level” category. Only winners from the ‘entry level’ category are eligible to enter the ‘jury level’, where the films are judged by jury members like Farhan Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Rahul Bose, Ashutosh Gowariker, Anil Kapoor and other prominent celebrities. Entries to the ‘entry level’ are voted for by users as well as other peers.

While I found 1-2 somewhat interesting short films on the site, most of the content is still behind a paid subscription wall (users pay $5 to get access to older entries). Also, I find the site overtly complicating in terms of their contests and voting rules etc.

Eros International and Joost have signed a deal wherein Eros will provide over 200 movies and 600 music videos to the Joost network.

Eros has been pretty aggressive when it comes to distribution via new and emerging media channels. They already have partnerships with Comcast, YouTube and Sky.

Joost is the new P2P based Internet TV startup founded by ex-Skype founders. I’ve taken a test drive of Joost and was really impressed with the quality of service.

via BS

TinselVision recently announced tieups with several Indian content providers such as Zee TV, STAR Tv etc. Now, company CEO and Chariman, Chase Weir, tells IndianTelevision that they are also planning a social networking site, which will close the loop into offering a broad spectrum of choices. Desivision.tv, acquired by TinselVision in August, will be incorporated into the social networking site.

via IndianTelevision 

With so many VC’s investing in the consumer Internet space, should you be selective while choosing the right VC to partner with ? That’s exactly what this article in LiveMint tries to address - How to zero in on the right VC ? The article has been produced based on responses elicited from several Indian entrepreneurs and is definitely worth a read.

If you still have doubts about why partnering with the right VC is crucial, read this and this.

Close on the heels of the Yipes acquisition, Rediff has a story on Reliance Communications’ ambitions and grand plans for a global footprint.

• Goal to become the world’s single largest wireless network by year end
• 16,000 Crores will be invested for network expansion in FY08
• The company will cover 23,000 towns
• DTH network will be launched by end of year

FLAG Telecom has reported profits for the first time and plans are to expand from 40 to 60 countries. The Yipes brand will be going global leveraging the FLAG network.

Several other tidbits in the rest of the story.

WatchIndia has launched an entertainment portal for Indians in US and Canada. The portal will comprise of live Indian channels and video-on-demand content featuring Indian TV, news, Indian TV serials, Bollywood movies, music and cricket. Some of the channels that will be streamed live are Zee Tv, Zee sports, Aastha, Zoom and Times Now News.

The subscription package costs $25 /- month and can be viewed anywhere except in India.

via release

Apparently, Indian media industry is concerned about the copyright violations on YouTube and other Web 2.0 media sharing sites. Kaushal Modi, head of SET India’s licensing and telephony division, works closely with the US office of Sony Entertainment to monitor and track copyright violations. Seems that they’ve already had several episodes of Indian Idol removed from YouTube. Modi is not keen on revenue sharing because:

“I have an exclusive relationship with Sify in the internet space for Indian Idol. If I find the popular programme on YouTube, I would prefer it is removed from the site rather than an arrangement of revenue sharing.”

via FE

I wouldnt need a “survey” to tell me that.  But thats just what the Branded, MTV and Synovate Music Matters survey (phew !) reports. As per the survey, Indians are the most passionate, TV driven music consumers in Asia. 67% watch music videos on TV every day, 22% watch videos 2-3 times a week. 71% of Indians rate themselves as fairly to very passionate about music, with China (42%), Korea (45%) and Singapore (38%) making up the rest.

Note that this survey was for music videos on TV. Contrary to the above figures, digital music is far less prevalent in India, thanks to the miserable Internet penetration.  Music downloads on mobile are gaining popularity, with 1/3 of the respondents having downloaded a song to their mobile and 56% ready to purchase music playing mobile phones.

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As per a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), India is set to become the worlds fastest growing market for entertainment and media.  The Indian E&M space is expected to reach RS 100,000 crores by 2011. Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing region, with India and China leading the region at a CAGR of 18.5% and 16.8% respectively over the next five years.

Internet advertising is poised to emerge as the fastest growing segment over the next five years.

US will be the largest but slowest growing market at 5.3% CAGR by 2011.

via BS

Remember DesiHits - the Bollywood based site that received $1 million in funding from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Trident Capital a few months back ?

Well, they just announced the launch of the DesiHits! iTunes store. The catalogue of digital music currently includes Bollywood, Bhangra, urban Desi fusion, Desi hip hop and R&B, as well as World beats and popular mainstream hits. With this, they are the first and only Bollywood based desi iTunes store.

Great idea. Will it work ? well, when it comes to Indian movies and music, piracy is rampant. We hate to pay for Bollywood music and some how, easily manage to get the latest songs off the net.

What do you think ?