Sumo.TV Launched in India

User generated content is making its way from the Internet, to television screens. London-based Sumo. TV has announced its plans to enter the Indian television market, via its new website, www.sumo.in , where internet users can upload their own videos (via the internet or mobile phones) and hope they are selected for broadcast on TV. Representatives said that they are currently in talks with major Indian channels, to put the user generated content on air.

Sumo TV, which is already a 24 hour channel in UK’s Sky network (channel 146), is described as ‘The world’s first multi platform, user-generated content based television program, that addresses the changing audiences in the world.’

According to Mahesh Ramchandra, vice president, Cellcast Plc, Uk said, “TV Audiences (in the 18 to 34 age group) are moving towards the internet, via social networking sites, video sharing sites and blogs- It’s all about creating and sharing. But the fact is that the television still occupies centre space in the living room. We are trying to engage the internet-savvy audience into a unique television format. Sumo.Tv invites individuals to share their personal and creative videos that could be featured on prime time television. Sumo.TV has already launched in UK and China markets and had proved to be a hit with television audiences in those countries.”

Pankaj Thakar, CEO, Cellcast Interactive, India said, “However, Sumo.tv will moderate, filter and supervise any content that goes on air. While the website will allow users to post randomly, the videos that will go on air will be carefully selected.”

However, as of now,the website has videos lifted off popular video sharing site, Youtube.

Simple online editing tools will also be provided to the users, to crop or add music to the videos and the users will be able to create their own mini channel or playlist of content. The content types for videos are categorized into talent shows, three minute films, reviews, talk shows, original ’news stories’ and ’late night content’. He says, “India has a huge population, but only around 40% has access to high speed internet. Now, with Sumo.TV, the remaining may enjoy quality user generated content on their television sets, without worrying about downloading videos.”

Sumo.TV’s Indian website offers a unique meta search engine for its videos, which translates regional language tags into English and then searches the site. The company says it is looking for original local content from different parts of the world and has developed a region-wise, language specific search engine.

Thakar said, “Content contributors can earn revenue whenever their videos are watched on television, or downloaded on the website. Everytime a user’s content is downloaded by another user, shown on TV or streamed on mobile devices, he will receive a percentage of received revenue. He added India is experiencing a truly dynamic phase in media technology convergence and we, at Cellcast, are delighted to launch the revolutionary sumo.TV in the market, that will help us derive the benefits over a long period of time.”