Jungo TV bets big on India market, launches Jungo Plus app

Team Udayavani, Mar 7, 2021, 3:56 PM IST

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New Delhi: The US-based streaming media company Jungo TV is betting big on the Indian market and has launched its Jungo Plus app that will deliver free live TV and video-on-demand content.

The app will house content from Hollywood blockbusters to passion-centric content verticals like combat sports, LGBTQ, K-pop, international and Indian traditional music among other categories.

“The unique feature that differentiates us with other players in the market is the fact that we deep dive into verticals that audiences are passionate about like e-sports, international music, Indian music, LGBTQ, K-Pop, Hollywood movies and others as a part of our content strategy,” Jungo TV CEO George Chung told PTI.

All the content on the platform is ad-supported and free to watch for the end-customer, he added.

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Los Angeles, Jungo TV currently reaches over 800 million viewers worldwide. It has existing strategic and content relationships in India with players like NXT Digital (The Hinduja Group), MX Player, Art and Artistes, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and The Art of Living Global Network, among others.

With the addition of Jungo Plus, along with a proprietary ad network in partnership with Verizon Media, Jungo TV aims to target audiences in India with its deep-rooted content verticals; a viable business proposition for the brand, content, and platform partners.

“With the diversity of India’s population, increased content consumption on mobile phones, and variety of interests, Jungo TV is poised to be India’s leading platform to provide audiences with programming that will fuel their passions,” Chung said.

He added that the app is available in India on Apple iOS Store and Google Play, and the company is in conversation with other local Indian platforms to expand to other devices.

“Our data shows a relevant and dedicated audience base of over 100 million people, much our content is exclusive and we see ourselves as a first run provider to many verticals for the Indian market, we are confident that this will establish ourselves at the top of their mind,” he said.

OTT players like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify and others have seen massive growth in the Indian market in the past few years on the back of cheap data tariffs and availability of affordable smartphones. The consumption of content from OTT platforms is also on the rise on smart TVs as prices of these devices have come down significantly over the past few years.

The adoption of these digital platforms was further accelerated during the pandemic amid restricted social activities like visits to movie theatres.

Asked about the new regulations for OTT players, Chung said the company respects the new rules of the government, who has every right to mandate content oversight on content to its citizens.

“We embrace this ruling as we consider ourselves guests in India, and like any guest we must respect the rules of the house. To ensure compliance Jungo TV only works with professional content providers that include globally recognised broadcast and production partners, our ad network insures brand safety,” he added.

The government has recently unveiled rules for over-the-top (OTT) platforms and digital media that include a code of ethics and three-tier grievance redressal mechanism. Among other provisions, OTT platforms would have to self-classify the content into five age-based categories – U (Universal), U/A 7+ (years), U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult).

The executive pointed out that the platform does not broadcast news or include user-generated content as these content verticals can be problematic.

“As we keenly focus on niche and verticals that are popular to passionate audiences, we understand the nuances of the audiences and philosophically believe that our content must be authentic to engage and entertain audiences.

“Localisation is a major part of our strategy and we will focus on underserved and over indexing language groups that have global presence, localisation is done in India to ensure authenticity and accuracy,” he said.