BookMyShow on Friday launched a pay-per-view video streaming service titled, BookMyShow Stream. The online ticketing site has stated that the launch of its pay-per-view streaming serve is a venture to a relatively unexplored market compared to the now cluttered Indian OTT market.
As of launch, the TVoD (transaction video-on-demand) service has 600 films available on it. The platform hopes to offer its customers over 2,000 movies over the course of the next 9-12 months. The service will provide movies in partnership with American studios such as Sony Pictures, Warner Bros and Universal Pictures, domestic production houses like Viacom18, Shemaroo and Rajshri Productions. It has also partnered with regional content providers like Divo and Sillymonks, among others.
The service can be accessed through BookMyShow's mobile app as well as its website. The service will also be available on Apple TV, Android TV, Firestick, Chromecast and desktop browsers.
BookMyShow stream will allow its customers to use features such as downloads and offline viewing. The service has been launched with some of the latest big-budget Hollywood movies already available on it. These include - Christopher Nolan's Tenet, Gal Gadot starrer Wonder Woman 1984, horror-fantasy The Craft: Legacy. These movies can be rented as well as purchased for prices between Rs 40 to Rs 600 (depending on the film). Users can rent a movie for up to 30 days but once they start viewing the film they'll have to finish it within the next 48 hours. A film can be purchased for six months or even longer. Two new films will be available each Friday.
BookMyShow will also bring foreign independent cinema to the doorsteps of Indian viewers as these films are less likely to be released in cinemas.
shish Saksena, chief operating officer, cinemas, BookMyShow, said, "TVoD that sits somewhere between theatrical and subscription platforms is a legitimate opportunity window that exists in India". Saksena added that this latest venture is an extension of BookMyShow's cinema ticketing business and that the company would not comprise on its services or take them away.