Balaji Telefilms shares rose as much as 1.5 per cent on Friday after the entertainment company announced a partnership with YouTube to create and launch five exclusive shows.
Balaji Telefilms’ digital entertainment focus will also make it more accessible to YouTube’s huge online audience in India and abroad.
The partnership will produce five premium original shows of around 200 episodes.
The new projects will be along with the returning ones, with Haq Se Season 2, Phir Pyar Ki Yeh Kahani Suno and Kehne Ko Humsafar Hai Season 4 among the announced shows.
The productions are developed specifically for digital viewers and will be made in 4K resolution.
High quality production will be emphasized to provide viewers the same quality as they have come to expect from television and major streaming platforms.
Balaji Telefilms will also be able to distribute its scripted entertainment content.
Indian television has long been the company’s home and digital content has also been developed in recent years because of its production capability and intellectual property.
Ekta Kapoor will manage the creative direction of the projects while Balaji Telefilms will possess the intellectual property.
YouTube will also be involved in distribution and monetisation for global marketing and partnerships, through advertising and brand partnerships.
At the same time, YouTube is becoming increasingly popular for long-form entertainment.
YouTube users are watching more professional content on smart TVs, connected TVs and other large screen devices, and traditional entertainment companies now have the power to reach consumers from an online medium directly through digital platforms.
They could also help Balaji Telefilms build its international reach. The company will likely have an international audience if they distribute the shows on YouTube, both Indian audiences living abroad and international viewers interested in Indian storytelling.
The market was pleased with the move and shares of Balaji Telefilms rose as much as 1.5% on the day.
Investors will be watching the performance of the new shows and whether or not this partnership will be of any value to the company’s digital business.
The deal also demonstrates the evolution of the Indian entertainment industry. Production houses that have historically focused on television are also more and more looking at digital platforms.
Online services are spending on longer-format, professionally produced programming.
With five shows and around 200 episodes planned, the Balaji Telefilms-YouTube partnership would give the company another platform to monetise content and gain a competitive edge in a fast expanding digital entertainment market.
The success of the partnership will ultimately depend on audience response, viewership and how well the new shows are received and how well the new shows can sustain long-term engagement of the audience.
At the moment, the partnership will be about audience response, viewership and the ability of the new shows to generate sustained engagement.
Balaji Telefilms has to keep it up on the digital content side of things for now the agreement is a real digital-content opportunity for Balaji Telefilms and a positive boost for its stock.
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