wwiTV May 26, 2008
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Media Streaming, Organizations , 2commentsA lot of worldwide TV channel aggregator websites coming up these days. When I was writing about the last one (TVChannelsFree), I came across wwiTV.
wwiTV does what other online channel aggregators do: collect the links of online streams for TV channels. Their content ranges from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, and for India they offer around 21 channels. Some of the Indian streams are rare finds like Doordarshan, Lok Sabha TV, Zee TV…
I haven’t tried their service long enough to comment on the stream quality. Post a comment if you have.
TVChannelsFree May 25, 2008
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Media Streaming , 1 comment so farTVChannelsFree aggregates live streaming video sources from around the world- it has almost 3,000 TV channels that you can view in your browser. Although there is content from around 80 countries, what interests us are the 14 Indian channels available.
The channels are in real media or windows media format and the stream quality is quite good. I don’t think any of the content is hosted by TVChannelsFree, they merely have pointers to the source. Either way, this is a gray space from a copyright perspective. For the time being, it doesn’t seem like any Indian media company is worried about their content being streamed online without authorization. If you ask me, the wider audience means more recognition and that is good for Indian channels, nevermind legality.
WindowStreams April 21, 2008
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Media Streaming , 8commentsAnother addition to the plethora of paid subscription media streaming websites. WindowStreams was suggested by the folks reading BestOfMalyalam post. The site is focused on malayalam content and advertises a ‘24X7′ support. The layout is pretty simplistic and straightforward (although for some strange reason they do give a css-driven option to change the site color and layout. Hmm…)
Once again (with rolling eyes), I haven’t tried any of these services, so can’t endorse anything personally. I’d encourage the enthusiastic and helpful readers to write some insightful comments so we can reach a consensus about it.
BestOfMalyalam November 9, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Media Streaming , 11commentsYawn. Another day, another amateur Indian media streaming website. BestOfMalyalam was suggested by a eIndia reader, and I thought I might as well add them to the list.
They offer packaged channels related to malayalam content, for a monthly subscription fee. In fact, they claim “We are the sole authorized distributors of Asianet channels over the web”. Wonder why then they don’t have a mention or ad on the official Asianet website. Anyways, I’ll refrain from any judgment since I’ve not tried them personally (I’m not their target audience either).
LayFile September 19, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Media Streaming, Video Sharing , add a commentAllright, I’m going to dive into the Indian youtube-clones reviews with LayFile. LayFile is a startup that went live sometime in April 2007.
Layfile seems to have a lot of content- but most of it is adult stuff. I didn’t waste my time clicking through the navigation to confirm their share of mainstream content though. The site seems to be overwhlemed by porn, although there is a feeble attempt to categorize it under “Adult videos” navigation link. The fact that LayFile decided to have a “Recently Viewed Videos” on the homepage accentuates the adult theme- every one of the recently-viewed is an adult video clip. Layfile may have started as a generic video-sharing service, but in a short span 5 months, is no more than a database of Indian porn.
Their LiveTV section seems to have plenty of streaming Indian cable channels (free), so that may be worth a look. There is no way to avoid the adult images on homepage though, so if you have kids in the house, it’s best to block it entirely.
NumTV August 12, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Media Streaming , add a commentAnother day, another media streaming site focusing on south Indian content. NumTV was pointed out by one of our readers, and I decided to check it out.
I should give credit where it’s due; the look-and-feel is decent, and they have thoughtful inclusions like the “Easy Guide”, “Get Started Here” sections. Service model is the usual- you signup for an account to watch promos and clips for free, and pay if you want to own/see full content. The content line up is mostly south Indian fare with some Hindi channels (like Zee and Aaj tak), although that doesn’t stop them from claiming to be “one of the world’s largest web casting portals” (sigh!).
I’m not sure how well the service works or how good the video quality is- I’ll leave it up to our readers to comment on that. But NumTV does claim to have an 800 number for customer support, which may be a step up from other sites like Streambox.TV.
There are some other interesting offerings- south Indian ebooks for download (buy), Live Wedding (they can broadcast your wedding around the world- smart idea, there may be a business here
). It’s also worth noting a bunch of ‘adult’ movies available in the menu, not far from the ‘Jesus Calls’ option. The overwhelming number of sarcastic comments I could pen about that has incapacitated me to write any further…
PlanetVU June 28, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Media Streaming , 3commentsPlanetvu is more than a television content streaming site. They have a proprietary IPTV platform technology that they developed with backing from Pinnacle Capital, a VC firm based in Canada.
They do broadcast Indian channels, but the selection is very, very limited. It’s a bunch of ZeeTV channels,
$8.99 for individual channel, and $14.99 for packages like Zee Punjabi, Zee Marathi. The compete.com data is rough but shows only about 1,200 visitors per month. I’m not sure about the quality of video since there are no freebies offered (there is a 2 week ‘risk-free’ trial, though).
In conclusion, I don’t think it’s worth a try in the current state. Maybe when they expand their channel offerings significantly, I’ll give them another shot.
JumpTV June 28, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Media Streaming , add a commentJumpTV or Jump.TV is probably the biggest online media streaming site I’ll mention on eIndia. That’s because they have an international focus when it comes to broadcasting television over internet and are backed by big names from Lionsgate Entertainment, Sony Pictures and others. They offer nearly 300 channels from 75+ countries including India, and get about 200,000 visitors per month.
Before you get all worked up, know that the Indian channel lineup is limited to 17 or so channels. Only six are available to watch for free
(India TV, People TV, Punjab Today, S1 News, Tara Music and Tara Newz). Rest are in the range of $9-$12 per month subscription, and include some worthwhile channels like ASC Flix and Sahara Filmy. That being said, the streaming quality looks good and is stable. There are added niceties like channel guides, package deals, pay-per-view (sports events mostly) and community features (forums, blog etc).
If you want to pay money to watch (limited) desi television, I’ll recommend this site. It’s much more professional and reliable than other mom-and-pop startups (for example, read the negative experiences people had with Streambox.TV here ).
DesiCrickets March 30, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Media Streaming , 4commentsAnother startup trying to focus on the cricket fanatics. DesiCrickets is very new (A kind reader recently pointed it out at eIndia). At the time of writing this post, there were 360 members registered on it.
DesiCrickets is an attempt to create a community around cricket fans. Once you register, you’ll find functionality like asynchronous messaging, forums, buddy list, avatar/profile etc. The overall look-and-feel is similar to what a standard CMS (Content Management System) would produce.
Don’t expect the ‘free’ aspect to last beyond the registration. The actual cricket streaming is something you need to pay for. Presently, they have only one package available- World Cup streaming $14.99 for two months. An interesting additional functionality is the ability to replay matches.
I haven’t subscribed, so no clue about what the quality is. We all know what horrors can surface when paying to online streaming media startups (if you don’t, read the ever-growing list of angry comments about my Streambox.tv post here). So proceed with caution 
and leave a comment here if you’ve been a subscriber of DesiCrickets.
Note: A more mature cricket streaming site is Willow.tv. Read about it here.
Rajshri February 16, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Media Streaming , add a commentHere is a good example of a major film production company increasing their reach by incubating a digital media division. Rajshri Productions has been around since 1947; they are one of the major players in the Indian film production and distribution business, along with TV serials, short films and documentaries.
Rajshri is their official website, aimed at distributing their premium content to viewers worldwide. The site is very usable… looks simple and neat. The best aspect is that all the content is free for online viewing. And its a sizable amount- around 130 full-length movies, numerous TV serials (like Malgudi Days, Mahabharat etc), songs, concert recordings and short films.
I really like their presentation. All content is well classified and show a rating, view count. The business model is very logical (at least to me)- they let you watch online for free, but to download and own it you need to pay $1.99 per serial episode and$4.99 per movie. Overall, a well-thought and promising venture.