Amazon has revealed the latest venture into the Indian spilling display accompanying Amazon MX Player, a new ad-financed program-on-demand platform. Born from the consolidation of MX Player and Amazon miniTV, this aid connects popular content from two together spilling podiums, providing a different atheneum of shows, films, and originals in diversified accents and types.
The move comes at a time when Walt Disney is gearing up to merge its India unit with Reliance Industries as part of a joint venture announced on February 28. The transaction combines the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India to create one of India’s largest TV and digital streaming platforms. The Competition Commission of India approved the Rs 70,350-crore merger in August.
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Shows on Amazon
Amazon MX Player offers a healthy choice of shows, containing famous titles like Aashram, Dharavi Bank, Campus Diaries, Bhaukaal, Raktanchal, Shiksha Mandal, Roohaniyat, and Jamnapaar. In addition to these Indian originals, the platform will feature a curated group of worldwide content, containing Korean, Mandarin, and Turkish dramas named in Hindi, Tamil, and additional local languages. This difference aims to pamper India’s different semantic audiences, guaranteeing witnesses across the country can approach content that resonates with them.
Amazon CEO statement
Speaking on the launch, Girish Prabhu, Head of Amazon Advertising India, emphasized the collaboration of the consolidation. “Today, we are collecting the far-flung reach of MX Player accompanying Amazon’s strong advertising technology, admitting brands—whether they persuade Amazon or not—to connect with a highly engaged audience across India.”
The merger conferences initially emerged in 2023, accompanying Amazon reportedly continuing talks in early 2024 later a brief pause. By May, a compromise was attained, accompanied by Amazon acquiring certain assets of MX Player in an all-cash undertaking value under $100 million, or nearly Rs. 839 crores. As part of this deal, key appendages of MX Player’s administration group will join Amazon, and share to drive the the platform’s growth and expand reach across India.
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MX Player started existence as a cross-platform media player grown by South Korea’s J2 Interactive. In June 2018, Times Internet, part of India’s giant Times conglomerate seized a ruling stake in MX Player for $140 million and re-started it as a video streamer. It contracted departed Eros Now COO Karan Bedi as CEO.
Everyone TV, the org behind U.K. free streaming platform Freely, has struck a deal with Amazon Fire TV. The pact will see Freely integrated into Amazon Fire TV smart TVs and other Fire TV OS-enabled sets starting this fall. Freely, which debuted in April 2024, offers free live and on-demand content from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 without requiring a dish or aerial. The platform will be available on Amazon’s Fire TV 2-Series and 4-Series, as well as TCL and Panasonic models sporting Fire TV OS.
The move expands Freely’s reach, which already includes Hisense, Bush, Toshiba, and Panasonic TVs with TiVo OS. More smart TV and OS providers are expected to join the roster.
Amazon to enhance advertising revenue
The Amazon deal is significantly beneath that worth. This deal supports Amazon accompanying a calculated “distribution and marketing partner,” which could help Amazon MX Player organize a more powerful ledge, particularly in smaller places where MX Player retains an important vicinity.
In September, over 250 million unique consumers retained an approach to millennia of original shows, well-known pictures, and worldwide shows named in local accents on the combined duty, it added. The service is usable through its app on mobile, Amazon.in Shopping app, Prime Video, Fire TV, and Connected TVs.
