Bebo Launches in India
Announcement posted by Bebo 24 Mar 2009
Bebo expands into India with premium media and entertainment players
AOL People Networks has announced the launch of Bebo in India, and marked its entry into the Indian market with Hindi entertainment TV channel, REAL.
Bebo is a social experience that helps individuals discover what's going on with their world and helps the world discover what’s going on with them. Bebo’s Lifestream platform affords users a simple way to connect and keep up with everyone and everything they care about irrespective of which medium they use or where the activity takes place, be it on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace or another site.
The new Bebo experience in India (www.bebo.com <http://www.bebo.com> )* marks Bebo’s continued international expansion and follows launches in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and US Latino. Bebo has already gained a strong following as a social experience in the U.K., U.S., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Poland with more than 22 million** unique visitors worldwide.
“Working with premium partners such as REAL allows us to bring a wealth of entertainment to users in India from day one. Our platform allows users to connect with other users, content and brands, both globally and locally. The richness of our experience lies in the user’s ability to express him or herself – as evidenced in our new Lifestory feature – and in the ability to connect to people, media and brands through the Lifestream to everyone and everything they care about,” said Nicole Vanderbilt, VP International, Bebo.
On Bebo, users can connect with both existing friends and with other users who share common interests and similar tastes. Through the Lifestream and Open Media platform, they can discover and share the media they love wherever it lives. By partnering with Turner and Alva Brothers Entertainment’s REAL, the social network is making several channels of premium entertainment content available to Bebo users in India.
According to Vidyuth Bhandary, Head – Marketing at RGBPL, “At REAL, Digital media will be an important part of our viewer outreach efforts and we will use this media to complement our on-air programming to provide genuine interactivity to our viewers.” He further added, “A large portion of REAL’s demographic is active on social networking sites and therefore we are delighted to partner with Bebo on our flagship show Sarkaar ki Duniya. REAL’s alliance with Bebo will enhance consumer’s content appetite with a new touch point in the dynamic digital domain. Working with Bebo, we are certain that we will be able to offer our viewers access to new creative content and new ways of interacting in their own environment.”
Bebo also plans to incorporate a number of media partners into its groundbreaking Open Media platform including Saavn. As the largest digital distributor in Bollywood, Saavn will allow users of (www.bebo.com/saavn <http://www.bebo.com/saavn> ) easy access to a plethora of the latest releases, music tracks and music videos.
"We are so thrilled to be working with Bebo and think the Saavn channel will help unite Bollywood fans around the world online," said Vin Bhat, Chief Executive Officer of Saavn. "As the audience for Bollywood becomes more and more globalised, we think Bebo becomes the perfect platform to bring fans together and serve them up the hottest in South Asian entertainment. We are also hoping the channel captures new audiences for Bollywood and inspires mainstream breakthroughs for the films, music, and stars that captivate billions of people around the world annually."
To increase viral opportunities for media owners and publishers, Bebo has created a "Share on Bebo” (http://www.bebo.com/c/share/help) button for publisher sites, making it simple to implement and creating a two-way conversation between the publisher and Bebo platform. When a user shares his or her favourite media content, a status update will appear in the user’s "sayings" and in their "Lifestream”, virally spreading the news to his or her entire network and driving traffic back to the media owner or publisher.
Bebo forms the centrepiece of the AOL People Networks business unit. People Networks' collection of community platforms help improve people’s lives by connecting them with everyone and everything they care about. People Networks does this through a web-based experience on Bebo.com, through desktop clients and mobile devices. At the heart of People Networks is the Lifestream, a real-time, platform for aggregating and distributing social feeds across mediums.
***
Notes to Editor:
Open Media: Established in November 2007 as a way for media companies to promote, distribute and monetise their programming, while giving users a new way to experience content online, Open Media allows users to explore, store and curate within their personal profiles their favourite global video content. They can then virally distribute that content throughout their 'friends network' and the wider Bebo community. MTV, CBS, BBC and more than 500 others are already a part of Open Media.
* Bebo.com is geo-targeted to show country specific content based on an individual’s location and IP address
About Bebo:
Bebo is your life online. It is a social experience the helps you discover what's going on with your world and helps the world discover what’s going on with you. Bebo has more than 22 million** unique visitors worldwide and on the days that they use Bebo, they spend an average of 25 minutes** on the site.
Bebo forms part of the AOL People Networks business unit which combines Bebo, the AIM (excluding AIM Mail) and ICQ personal communications networks, widget technology company Goowy Media, social search and answer service Yedda, social aggregation service Socialthing! and Userplane. People Networks' collection of community platforms reaches 93 million*** unduplicated users worldwide. Bebo is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL LLC, a majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.
Source for metrics data in this release:
** ComScore Media Metrix, January 2009
*** Custom AOL-defined People Networks report, based on comScore Media Metrix Audience Duplication report (January 2009)
About REAL:
REAL is the recently launched smart and distinctive Hindi entertainment TV channel tailor-made for ‘Neo – Indians’. REAL promises a distinctive content blend of reality and fiction, with a fresh story telling approach. The channel offers interactive entertainment experience that is positive, fun and joyful. Real Global Broadcasting Pvt. Ltd. is a 50:50 joint venture between Alva Brothers Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Turner International (Turner Asia Pacific Ventures Inc).
REAL is a digitally encrypted pay channel and will be distributed through the Zee Turner bouquet. It will be available across the country on cable systems and digital platforms. The channel can be down linked from IntelSat - 10 (68.5 degree East). REAL is available on DishTV on channel no. 103 and TATA Sky on channel no. 127.
Log on to www.realtelevision.in <http://www.realtelevision.in> and SMS REALTV to 57007
About Saavn:
Saavn brings the best of Bollywood and Indian entertainment to the world. As the largest digital distributor in Bollywood, Saavn owns the digital rights to hundreds of movies, more than 250,000 music tracks, 20,000 music videos, and 10,000 ringtones. Saavn programs, packages and distributes its exclusive catalog and new Bollywood releases to more than 75 global media companies including Time Warner Cable, Verizon Wireless and Apple's iTunes. Saavn is a joint venture of [212]MEDIA and Hungama Mobile, and the company has offices in Mumbai, London, New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto. To find out more, visit: http://www.saavn.com.
URL: http://www.bebo.com/saavn
Bebo is a social experience that helps individuals discover what's going on with their world and helps the world discover what’s going on with them. Bebo’s Lifestream platform affords users a simple way to connect and keep up with everyone and everything they care about irrespective of which medium they use or where the activity takes place, be it on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace or another site.
The new Bebo experience in India (www.bebo.com <http://www.bebo.com> )* marks Bebo’s continued international expansion and follows launches in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and US Latino. Bebo has already gained a strong following as a social experience in the U.K., U.S., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Poland with more than 22 million** unique visitors worldwide.
“Working with premium partners such as REAL allows us to bring a wealth of entertainment to users in India from day one. Our platform allows users to connect with other users, content and brands, both globally and locally. The richness of our experience lies in the user’s ability to express him or herself – as evidenced in our new Lifestory feature – and in the ability to connect to people, media and brands through the Lifestream to everyone and everything they care about,” said Nicole Vanderbilt, VP International, Bebo.
On Bebo, users can connect with both existing friends and with other users who share common interests and similar tastes. Through the Lifestream and Open Media platform, they can discover and share the media they love wherever it lives. By partnering with Turner and Alva Brothers Entertainment’s REAL, the social network is making several channels of premium entertainment content available to Bebo users in India.
According to Vidyuth Bhandary, Head – Marketing at RGBPL, “At REAL, Digital media will be an important part of our viewer outreach efforts and we will use this media to complement our on-air programming to provide genuine interactivity to our viewers.” He further added, “A large portion of REAL’s demographic is active on social networking sites and therefore we are delighted to partner with Bebo on our flagship show Sarkaar ki Duniya. REAL’s alliance with Bebo will enhance consumer’s content appetite with a new touch point in the dynamic digital domain. Working with Bebo, we are certain that we will be able to offer our viewers access to new creative content and new ways of interacting in their own environment.”
Bebo also plans to incorporate a number of media partners into its groundbreaking Open Media platform including Saavn. As the largest digital distributor in Bollywood, Saavn will allow users of (www.bebo.com/saavn <http://www.bebo.com/saavn> ) easy access to a plethora of the latest releases, music tracks and music videos.
"We are so thrilled to be working with Bebo and think the Saavn channel will help unite Bollywood fans around the world online," said Vin Bhat, Chief Executive Officer of Saavn. "As the audience for Bollywood becomes more and more globalised, we think Bebo becomes the perfect platform to bring fans together and serve them up the hottest in South Asian entertainment. We are also hoping the channel captures new audiences for Bollywood and inspires mainstream breakthroughs for the films, music, and stars that captivate billions of people around the world annually."
To increase viral opportunities for media owners and publishers, Bebo has created a "Share on Bebo” (http://www.bebo.com/c/share/help) button for publisher sites, making it simple to implement and creating a two-way conversation between the publisher and Bebo platform. When a user shares his or her favourite media content, a status update will appear in the user’s "sayings" and in their "Lifestream”, virally spreading the news to his or her entire network and driving traffic back to the media owner or publisher.
Bebo forms the centrepiece of the AOL People Networks business unit. People Networks' collection of community platforms help improve people’s lives by connecting them with everyone and everything they care about. People Networks does this through a web-based experience on Bebo.com, through desktop clients and mobile devices. At the heart of People Networks is the Lifestream, a real-time, platform for aggregating and distributing social feeds across mediums.
***
Notes to Editor:
Open Media: Established in November 2007 as a way for media companies to promote, distribute and monetise their programming, while giving users a new way to experience content online, Open Media allows users to explore, store and curate within their personal profiles their favourite global video content. They can then virally distribute that content throughout their 'friends network' and the wider Bebo community. MTV, CBS, BBC and more than 500 others are already a part of Open Media.
* Bebo.com is geo-targeted to show country specific content based on an individual’s location and IP address
About Bebo:
Bebo is your life online. It is a social experience the helps you discover what's going on with your world and helps the world discover what’s going on with you. Bebo has more than 22 million** unique visitors worldwide and on the days that they use Bebo, they spend an average of 25 minutes** on the site.
Bebo forms part of the AOL People Networks business unit which combines Bebo, the AIM (excluding AIM Mail) and ICQ personal communications networks, widget technology company Goowy Media, social search and answer service Yedda, social aggregation service Socialthing! and Userplane. People Networks' collection of community platforms reaches 93 million*** unduplicated users worldwide. Bebo is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL LLC, a majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.
Source for metrics data in this release:
** ComScore Media Metrix, January 2009
*** Custom AOL-defined People Networks report, based on comScore Media Metrix Audience Duplication report (January 2009)
About REAL:
REAL is the recently launched smart and distinctive Hindi entertainment TV channel tailor-made for ‘Neo – Indians’. REAL promises a distinctive content blend of reality and fiction, with a fresh story telling approach. The channel offers interactive entertainment experience that is positive, fun and joyful. Real Global Broadcasting Pvt. Ltd. is a 50:50 joint venture between Alva Brothers Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Turner International (Turner Asia Pacific Ventures Inc).
REAL is a digitally encrypted pay channel and will be distributed through the Zee Turner bouquet. It will be available across the country on cable systems and digital platforms. The channel can be down linked from IntelSat - 10 (68.5 degree East). REAL is available on DishTV on channel no. 103 and TATA Sky on channel no. 127.
Log on to www.realtelevision.in <http://www.realtelevision.in> and SMS REALTV to 57007
About Saavn:
Saavn brings the best of Bollywood and Indian entertainment to the world. As the largest digital distributor in Bollywood, Saavn owns the digital rights to hundreds of movies, more than 250,000 music tracks, 20,000 music videos, and 10,000 ringtones. Saavn programs, packages and distributes its exclusive catalog and new Bollywood releases to more than 75 global media companies including Time Warner Cable, Verizon Wireless and Apple's iTunes. Saavn is a joint venture of [212]MEDIA and Hungama Mobile, and the company has offices in Mumbai, London, New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto. To find out more, visit: http://www.saavn.com.
URL: http://www.bebo.com/saavn