New OTT platform hayu launched in India

New Delhi: Media and entertainment company NBCUniversal has launched a subscription-based OTT (over-the-top) streaming platform hayu in India. It specializes in the reality genre, and offers over 8,000 episodes of reality TV content including all seasons of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, along with franchises like The Real Housewives, Top Chef, Million Dollar Listing and Family Karma.

Sub-genres on the platform include home and design, dating, cooking, fashion and true crime. A majority of the international shows will be available on hayu in India the same day as their US broadcast. A three-month subscription to the service costs Rs. 349 and a 12-month one will come for Rs. 999.

“Given the immense popularity of reality TV in India, we are thrilled to be launching hayu in the country and we look forward to super-serving Indian viewers with the best unscripted content has to offer,” Hendrik McDermott, managing director, direct-to-consumer, global, hayu said in a statement adding that the platform is already available in 27 other countries.

Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar may be leading on the foreign OTT platform front in India, but things are all set to get more competitive in the domestic market.

This September, price plans of HBO Max, the Warner Bros-owned platform, were leaked online. Media experts point to a possible launch early next year, though the company is yet to confirm it, but has dropped a hint with the appointment of a managing director for southeast Asia and India.

Meanwhile, Lionsgate Play, the video streaming app owned by Hollywood studio Lionsgate, that has just announced its first Indian original could add to the competition with media analysts pointing to the need for local programming from all of these new entrants even as established players try to enhance appeal with multilingual content and marketing campaigns.