Leading Disruptor in Live and On-Demand Video Streaming—SonyLIV Selects Intertrust
Intertrust’s Cloud-based Multi-DRM Service Will Protect OTT Entertainment and Sports Content for More Than 130 Million Users
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#IntertrustTech–Intertrust’s cloud-based multi-DRM service, ExpressPlay DRMTM, has been selected by SonyLIV to protect content streaming and downloads including both online and offline playback on all devices.
The partnership covers all channels and entertainment programming on the SonyLIV platform, including over-the-top (OTT) live and on-demand streaming of TV, premium shows, movies, and sports events.
Owned by Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd., SonyLIV is one of the top five OTT services in India. It houses more than 40,000 hours of VOD programming across five languages—Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu—coupled with more than 24 years of content from channels of Sony Pictures Networks India. Last year, the service launched in the Middle East and has plans to expand its complete bouquet of services in several Southeast Asian countries.
“Riding on its compelling stories and diverse content catalogue, SonyLIV has garnered a record growth in MAUs, engagement, and subscriptions over the last year,” said Manish Verma, Head of Technology, SonyLIV. “The content protection service enabled by the ExpressPlay DRM is key to our ability to gear up for even more traction in the year ahead. ExpressPlay DRM will be key to augmenting our phenomenal success with live sports which has triggered a doubling of overall consumption growth over the last year alone.”
Intertrust’s technology will protect both live and on-demand OTT sports streaming on SonyLIV, which achieved a landmark viewership of 70 million for the FIFA World Cup 2018, the highest-ever for football in India. Last year, the broadcasting of the Indian cricket team’s overseas tour of Australia and England commanded a viewership of 50 million and 30 million respectively, accounting for a five-fold jump in time spent on the platform.
“The forces of technology and competition continue to erode media silos. Protecting both content creators and service operators is essential to remaining agile as streaming services look to offer up the best viewing experience,” said Talal G. Shamoon, CEO at Intertrust. “The ExpressPlay DRM service lets OTT providers protect and control media consumption across any mobile or smart device, allowing viewers to enjoy a personalized selection of channels, live entertainment, and sports enabled by a world-class streaming app like SonyLIV.”
The market-leading Intertrust ExpressPlay multi-DRM service, which supports all streaming platforms, DRM, and media formats, now protects OTT content for one-quarter of the world’s population. It is the only multi-DRM cloud service that supports Apple FairPlay Streaming, Google Widevine, Adobe Access, Microsoft PlayReady, and the open-standard Marlin DRM. It is a complementary solution to ExpressPlay XCA, which provides seamless interoperability for hybrid TV operators on mobile, web, smart TVs, and set-top boxes. The ExpressPlay content security suite offers forensic watermarking and anti-piracy services (powered by Friend MTS) to protect live and premium 4K/UHD content.
About SonyLIV
SonyLIV is the first Indian premium Video on demand (VOD) service by Sony Pictures Networks’ (SPN) providing multi-screen engagement for users on all devices. Launched in January 2013, the digital streaming player is home to 24 years of rich content from the library of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) with over 40,000 hours of programming. SonyLIV subscribers get exclusive access to key sporting events from across the globe, the latest Hollywood Shows, Originals, 30,000+ hours of TV Shows, LiveTV, News, Lifestyle, Fitness and Kids content.
With 130 million+ app downloads so far, SonyLIV is the first amongst its competition to provide original and exclusive premium content to Indian viewers. SonyLIV is the first OTT platform to launch an Original web series – #Lovebytes, followed by India’s first Marathi Original – YOLO. Currently, the platform has over 150+ original shows spread across Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali. The Tamil and Telugu library itself boasts of 2000+ hours of Movies and Originals.
Apart from being the official Indian streaming partner for Global Sporting events like the Olympics, Euro and FIFA World Cup, SonyLIV keeps its viewers entertained throughout the year with Live action Cricket, Football, Tennis, Basketball, eSports, Racing and Fighting Sports. The platform offers its subscribers a host of premium International tournaments like the UEFA Champions League, Australian Open, Serie A, W.W.E., N.B.A., UFC, F.A. Cup, Europa League, Euro 2020, Tokyo Olympics and The Ashes, to name a few. The platform has expanded its global outreach the Middle East and has plans to expand its complete bouquet of services in several Southeast Asian countries.
SonyLIV has partnerships with key International studios – Sony Pictures, Lionsgate and iTV, which allows subscribers exclusive access to Award-winning shows like The Handmaid’s Tale, Seinfeld, Power, The Good Doctor and Mr. Mercedes. SonyLIV also has exclusive local partnerships with the likes of TVF, which adds popular Indian Originals like Gullak and Tripling S2 to their vast content library.
About Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN):
Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation, Japan.
SPN has several channels including Sony Entertainment Television (SET and SET HD), one of India’s leading Hindi general entertainment television channels; MAX, India’s premium Hindi movies and special events channel; MAX 2, another Hindi movie channel showcasing great India Cinema; MAX HD, a high definition Hindi movie channel airing premium quality films; WAH, the FTA channel for Hindi movies; SAB and SAB HD the family-oriented Hindi comedy entertainment channels; PAL, a genre leader in rural Hindi speaking markets (HSM) showcasing the best of Hindi general entertainment and Hindi movies from SPN’s content library; PIX and PIX HD, the English movie channels; AXN and AXN HD, the channels showcasing the best in Reality, Entertainment and Drama; Sony BBC Earth and Sony BBC Earth HD, the premium factual entertainment channels, Sony AATH, the Bangla entertainment channel; YAY!, the kids entertainment channel; sports entertainment channels – SONY SIX, SONY SIX HD, SONY TEN 1, SONY TEN 1 HD, SONY TEN 2, SONY TEN 2 HD, SONY TEN 3, SONY TEN 3 HD; Sony Marathi, the Marathi general entertainment channel; SonyLIV – the digital entertainment VOD platform; SPN Productions, the networks’ film production arm and Studio NEXT the independent production venture for original content and IPs for TV and digital media. SPN reaches out to over 700 million viewers in India and is available in 167 countries.
The network is recognized as an employer of choice within and outside the media industry. SPN is a recipient of several awards, including the Great Place to Work®, ‘Aon Best Employers India’ awards in recognition of SPN’s unique workplace culture and exceptional people practices, consistently ranking amongst India’s Top 10 Companies with Best Health & Wellness Practices by SHRM & CGP Partners and listed by Working Mother & AVTAR as one of the 100 Best Companies for Women in India.
Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited is in its 25th year of operations in India. It has a subsidiary, MSM-Worldwide Factual Media Private Limited and an affiliate, Bangla Entertainment Private Limited in India.
For more information, log onto www.sonypicturesnetworks.com
About Intertrust
Intertrust provides trusted computing products and services to leading global corporations–from mobile, consumer electronics and IoT manufacturers, to service providers and enterprise software platform companies. These products include the world’s leading digital rights management (DRM), software tamper resistance, and technologies to enable private data exchanges for various verticals including energy, entertainment, retail/marketing, automotive, fintech, and IoT. Founded in 1990, Intertrust is headquartered in Silicon Valley with regional offices in London, Tokyo, Mumbai, Bangalore, Beijing, Seoul, Riga, and Tallinn. The company has a legacy of invention, and its fundamental contributions in the areas of computer security and digital trust are globally recognized. Intertrust holds hundreds of patents that are key to Internet security, trust, and privacy management components of operating systems, trusted mobile code and networked operating environments, web services, and cloud computing.
Additional information is available at intertrust.com or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Contacts
Contacts for SonyLIV:
Somdatta Sen: +91 9833596410 somdatta@avianwe.com
Vamika Naruka: +91 8652289379 vamika@avianwe.com
Contacts for Intertrust:
Thomas Morelli: +1 (206) 218-3984 intertrust@sparkpr.com