SonyLIV is an Indian over-the-top freemium streaming platform owned by Culver Max Entertainment. SonyLIV was introduced in 2013 as the first OTT service in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. As a streaming service, it is carrying content from its local networks, including films, television series, live sports matches and

original programming Original programming (also called originals or original programs, and subcategorized as "original series", "original movies", "original documentaries" and "original specials") is a term used for in-house television, film or web series productio ...

, and also featuring content licensed from third-parties in India such as Lionsgate and ITV among others. Since 2020, SonyLIV has taken more of an active role as producer and distributor for both films and television series, and to that end, offers a variety of original programming content through its online library.

History

SonyLIV was launched on 23 January 2013, by Culver Max Entertainment. SonyLIV has access to 18 years of content from channels that are part of Culver Max Entertainment and more than 700 movies, which means a total of 40,000+ hours of television show coverage in Hindi and English. Since its launch, SonyLIV has streamed live sports events.

Anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

was part of SonyLIV. Varieties of anime original from Animax were available on SonyLIV to stream. After shutting down a linear TV channel on 18 April 2017, Animax was made available exclusively as a digital streaming channel in India from 7 July 2017 to 7 May 2020. In June 2020, SonyLIV was launched as a streaming service in the United States on

Sling TV Sling TV is an American streaming television service operated by Sling TV LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dish Network. Unveiled on January 5, 2015, at the Consumer Electronics Show, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor a ...

, with all the shows available in India available on the app. SonyLIV was launched in Canada on 15 October 2021.

LIV Sports

LIV Sports was launched on 1 June 2014 by Culver Max Entertainment (a new sports streaming service exclusively for sports properties). LIV Sports was the official mobile and internet broadcaster for the 2014 FIFA World Cup starting 12 June 2014. LIV Sports aired both live and video-on-demand match content with statistics and analysis. However, this service was integrated into SonyLIV. As for now, LIV Sports is part of SonyLIV. Loosa

SonyLIV first revamp (2016)

In June 2016, SonyLIV underwent a revamp for the first time and started to stream live television channels. Since this revamp, SonyLIV has added many shows and movies to the portfolio. On 1 November 2018, SonyLIV and Lionsgate had entered into a multi-year content deal. As part of the deal, SonyLIV will offer an embedded Lionsgate Play with over 500 hours of premium original series. In 2019, SonyLIV started to stream live channels of other networks, including news channels.

SonyLIV second revamp (2020)

SonyLIV revamped its content and interface in May 2020 using AWS Cloud. SonyLIV uses Amazon ElastiCache to support real-time, in-memory caching at scale, Amazon CloudFront as a low-latency content delivery network, and Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS) as a highly available message queuing service. In June 2020, SonyLIV underwent a revamp for the second time, and this time they started to stream content from Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Pictures Television Studios, ITV and Reliance Entertainment. Also, SonyLIV started to stream its own original movies and series. On 15 January 2021, WWE Network was launched in India through SonyLIV.

Overview

SonyLIV is the first Indian over-the-top media service platform to produce music content for a Hollywood feature film – producing music for the Hindi version of the blockbuster titled ''Passengers'', starring Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. The singers for the original soundtrack titled ''Aadat'' included Jubin Nautiyal, Shirley Setia and

Raftaar Dilin Nair (born 16 November 1988), better known by his stage name Raftaar, is an Indian rapper, lyricist, dancer, TV personality and music composer associated with Hindi and Punjabi music. He started his career as a dancer. He began his car ...

Programming

SonyLIV's core library consists of 18 years of content from Culver Max Entertainment's channels including

Sony TV Sony Television, Sony TV, or Sony HD may refer to any of the following television-related products from Japanese conglomerate Sony: * Television sets designed and manufactured by Sony Corporation in Japan ** Trinitron, television hardware brand (19 ...

, Sony SAB, Sony Aath and Sony Marathi. After Sony Pictures Networks India's acquisition of Ten Sports Network, all TEN Sports live programs also began broadcasting on SonyLIV. Since then, SonyLIV is streaming

WWE Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show f ...

, WWE SmackDown and other WWE pay-per-view events, and UFC. SonyLIV also streamed cricket matches played by

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, West Indies and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, and Grand Prix motorcycle racing. SonyLIV also streamed NBA until early 2021.

Genres

SonyLIV features programming in the following key genres: comedy, crime, drama, horror and action.

Live channels

SonyLIV also live streams its own channels in its network on the platform.

SonyLIV Originals

SonyLIV has streamed a number of original streaming television series. The first-ever original was a Gujarati web series titled ''Kacho Papad Pako Papad'' and it is streaming since 2017. SonyLIV underwent a revamp in its appearance in June 2020. Since then, SonyLIV provides their original shows in 5–7 languages. Without Hindi, SonyLIV releases originals in the other languages after 1–2 weeks from the release date.

Rocket Boys ''October Sky '' is the first memoir in a series of four, by American engineer Homer Hickam Jr. originally published in 1998 as ''Rocket Boys''. Later editions were published under the title ''October Sky'' as a tie-in to the 1999 film adaptat ...

, ''

Scam 1992 ''Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story'' is an Indian Hindi-language biographical financial thriller streaming television series on SonyLIV directed by Hansal Mehta, with Jai Mehta serving as the co-director. Based on the 1992 Indian stock market ...

'', '' The Big Bong Connection'', '' Your Honor'', '' Pyar Ishq Rent'' and '' Avrodh: The Siege Within'' are some well-known SonyLIV original shows.

Availability

SonyLIV is available in

, UAE,

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. It’s also available in the United States via

Viewership

SonyLIV has reached about 25 million views on a monthly basis on its website, app and YouTube channel.

Platforms

Hardware supported

List of SonyLIV-ready devices: *

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Bravia smart TVs and Sony Xperia smartphones * Android TV devices *

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

smart TVs *

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

Fire TV and

Fire HD The Fire HD, also known as Kindle Fire HD, is a member of the Amazon Fire family of tablet computers. Fire HD refers to Amazon Fire family tablets with HD resolution. The ten generation Fire HD subfamily consists of: 7" and 8.9" (2012 models), 7" ...

devices * Roku devices * Apple TV * Chromecast devices

Software supported

Supported web browsers by platform: * KaiOS: Available in JioPhone, installable through JioStore. * OS X: An Intel-based or Apple Silicone Mac with OS 10.4.8 or later. Browsers supported are Safari 4 (or higher), Firefox 5 (or higher) and Google Chrome. *

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was release to manufacturing, released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Wind ...

Service Pack 2, Windows Vista,

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...

running

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Windows line of operating systems (in ...

8 (or higher), Firefox 2 (or higher) or Google Chrome 6 (or higher), and

Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 is a release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on August 27, 2013, and broadly released for retail sale on October 17, 2013, about a year after the retail release of its pre ...

through a web browser.

Other software options

* Android version 2.2 and above * iOS,

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, ...

, iPhone and iPod Touch * Windows Phone

SonyLIV security flaw

On 20 December 2019,

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

-based security researcher Ehraz Ahmed discovered a security flaw in the SonyLIV app, that allowed to fetch sensitive user information such as profile picture, email address, date of birth, name and phone number of its registered users.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Sony Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Television Subscription video on demand services Video on demand services Indian entertainment websites Internet television channels Sony Pictures Networks India 2013 establishments in Maharashtra Mass media companies established in 2013