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Lata Jha

ShemarooMe to expand video streaming service to 150 countries

Hiren Gada, chief executive officer, Shemaroo Entertainment.

ShemarooMe, the over-the-top video streaming platform owned by media content house Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd, will expand its international presence to 150 countries including Canada, UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Middle East and North Africa. The app that hosts the Shemaroo library including film, devotional, kids, fitness and other kinds of content, was previously available in India and the US.

The nearly 60-year-old company, which has specialised in home entertainment including video cassettes and DVDs, had launched the subscription-based platform earlier this year. Its library includes Hindi and other local language films, songs, kids and devotional content and classic sitcoms. Shemaroo has partnered with telecom companies like Vodafone Idea Ltd and streaming services such as Times Group's MX Player and the Dainik Bhaskar app for distribution in India.

ShemarooMe will use different pricing strategies depending on the market and allow for limited free trials for audiences to sign up for subscription. This international expansion will play out in terms of various distribution and marketing tie-ups in the overseas markets. ShemarooMe’s content will be available across different geographies through Google Play Store, Apple Appstore, Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

“Our content has resonated with audiences across different geographies and we have a bouquet of offerings on our ShemarooMe app which is enjoyed within all age groups. This combination will allow audiences to satiate the Bollywood buffs in them and stay entertained with authentic Indian content in any corner of the world. I am confident that ShemarooMe will be taking Indian content to wider networks with this international expansion,” Hiren Gada, chief executive officer, Shemaroo Entertainment, said in a statement.

The digital foray earlier this year was driven by Shemaroo’s overall new media business. The 50 Shemaroo channels on video sharing website YouTube together garner 30 million views daily, with two of them—Shemaroo and Shemaroo Filmi Gaane—part of the top 20 list of channels.

Second, there is an exhaustive library dominated by Bollywood content. Shemaroo boasts of 3,700 movie titles across Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Marathi, and Bengali, running into 8,000 hours. The non-film content, including devotional, kids’, health and fitness and classic sitcoms, makes up another 4,000 hours.

"We are delighted to announce the global launch of ShemarooMe. With our presence in over 150 countries, we strive to entertain every lover of Indian content the world over,” Zubin Dubash, chief operating officer, Shemaroo Digital, said in a statement.

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