ErosNow partners with Microsoft for ‘next generation’ online video platform

South Asian OTT Eros Now has announced a collaboration with Microsoft to build what it says is a “next generation online video platform” on Microsoft Azure for consumers across the globe. 

As of March, Eros Now has 18.8 million paid subscribers and 154.7 million registered users. This represented a 138% increase in paid subscribers over the preceding 12 months.

Eros Says that it will leverage Azure for three areas of development: an online video platform; interactive voice offerings, providing search across 10 Indian languages; and a personalised recommendation engine that leverages user data combined with Azure AI, analytics, Cloud Data Warehousing solutions and Azure Media Services.

Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO of Eros Digital, said: “The Online Video market has brought a paradigm shift in the way technology is used and will be used to enhance the customer journey and user experience. We at Eros Now have been the earliest movers in the adoption of technology which is a core strength of the brand. 

“The objective and the goal of this collaboration is to ensure we become the primary innovators for the video business and a gold standard for the others to follow. We have immense respect for Microsoft as a company to help us innovate and pave the path for the next generation of online video.”

Peggy Johnson, executive vice president of Microsoft added: “As an innovator in on-demand video, Eros Now has been transforming the way millions of people access and consume content. By using our combined expertise across technology and media, we have an opportunity to build on that foundation and re-imagine entertainment for the rapidly growing audience of digitally-connected consumers in India.”

Anant Maheshwari president of Microsoft India concluded: “India is one of the fastest-growing digital entertainment and media markets worldwide, driven by the growth in online video content. AI and intelligent cloud tools will be the next drivers of the media business and will impact everything from content creation to consumer experience. We are very excited to work with ErosNow to redefine the online video watching experience for consumers.”

This partnership with Microsoft follows several key deals with Vodafone Qatar and Wasu in China – the latter making Eros Now the first and only OTT player to be distributed in China.