Voot was an Indian subscription video-on-demand and over-the-top

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

service owned by

Viacom18 Viacom18 Media Private Limited is an independent Indian media conglomerate, part of JioStar. It is owned by Reliance Industries and Bodhi Tree Systems. The Organisation had various channels and content production studios in India. Following ...

, a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between

Reliance Industries Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Its businesses include energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, entertainment, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is the ...

, Network18. The service was initially launched on 4 May 2016. It initially launched as an advertising-supported service, before introducing a subscription tier in 2020 under the Voot Select banner.

History

Launched in March 2016, Voot initially operated as an advertising-supported service. In February 2020, Voot introduced a paid subscription service known as Voot Select, offering exclusive original series, and early access to selected programmes before their television premiere. In April 2022,

and

Paramount Global Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...

announced additional financial backing from

Uday Shankar Uday Shankar (born Uday Shankar Choudhary; 8 December 1900 – 26 September 1977) was an Indian dancer and choreographer, best known for creating a fusion style of dance, adapting European theatrical techniques to Indian classical dance, imbu ...

and

James Murdoch James Rupert Jacob Murdoch (born 13 December 1972) is an American - British businessman. He is the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the former chief executive officer (CEO) of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019. He was the chairma ...

's Bodhi Tree Systems to expand their streaming business. This would include Reliance's competing JioCinema service being brought under Viacom18. The agreement was approved by the

Competition Commission of India The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is the chief national competition regulator in India. It is a statutory body within the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and is responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002 to promote competition a ...

(CCI) in September 2022. The two services initially co-existed, but Voot began to wind down and migrate its content to JioCinema in August 2023, beginning with sports rights such as the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, and upcoming rights to the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

. New series of Voot originals began premiering on JioCinema in June 2023. In August 2023, Voot was shut down in favour of JioCinema.

Programming

Voot had content from

Colors TV Colors TV is an Indian general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. Its programming consists of Soap opera, family dramas, Comedy, comedies, fantasy shows, youth-oriented Rea ...

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

, and other Viacom18-owned television channels. It also hosted

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

films for streaming. It had produced several 'Voot Originals' shows for streaming as well. In the children's segment, it worked on shows in Malayalam. In March 2021, it was announced that Voot Select would add

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 show, television, television fi ...

from U.S. parent company

's upcoming global streaming service

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

, as well as selected

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

and Showtime original series.

Original series

References

{{VOD services Subscription video on demand services Defunct subscription services Defunct video on demand services Indian entertainment websites Viacom 18 2016 establishments in Maharashtra 2023 disestablishments in India Indian companies established in 2016 Mass media companies based in Mumbai Mass media companies established in 2016 Mass media companies disestablished in 2023 Internet properties established in 2016 Internet properties disestablished in 2023 OTT Platforms in India

History

Programming

Original series

See also

References