(11 January 2007 10:17 pm)

MUMBAI: Cellcast Interactive India has launched Sumo.TV, a pioneering product offering India’s first end-to-end user-generated content (UGC) solution for broadcasters.

“Sumo.TV invites individuals to share their personal or creative videos that could be featured on prime time television”, said Cellcast Plc, UK, vice president Mahesh Ramachandra. Sumo.TV has already been launched in the UK and China markets.

“In the UK market we have started a 24-hour channel with the content contributed solely by viewers. This exceeds what even YouTube or MySpace can provide for their communities,” Ramachandra added. All content can be contributed through the newly-launched website, at www.sumo.in, where individuals can view, share and manage their own content.

Said Cellcast Interactive India CEO Pankaj Thakar, “UGC reflects a fundamental change in audience behavior, especially in the 18-34 age group in India where most of them are spending time online or on mobile creating and sharing their own content. Sumo.TV offers them an outlet to share their content with millions through the power of television.”

“Importantly, the content contributors can earn revenue whenever their videos are watched or shown on television,” he added. Every time a user’s content is downloaded by another user, shown on television, or streamed on mobile services, he will receive a percentage of received revenues. Effectively, Sumo.TV users are being invited to set up their own mini-channels.

Sumo.TV, said Thakar, brings together a compelling consumer proposition, offering users new ways of finding that ‘15 minutes’ of fame, new ways of making money from personal content and new ways of expressing themselves and making friends. In the U.K., the Sumo.TV website (www.sumo.tv) alone has an average of 80000 unique visitors per day.

“India is experiencing a truly dynamic phase in media technology convergence and we, at Cellcast, are delighted to launch the revolutionary product Sumo.TV in the market that will help us derive the benefits over a long period. Cellcast India plans to air the video content on local television and are currently in talks with a number of television channels about the same,” he added.

All the best videos submitted to the website or via mobile phone are selected by trained staff and broadcast on Sumo.TV channels and programmes. Broadcasters who license Sumo.TV have immediate access to all the components of next-generation UGC programming including original user-generated content, UGC-oriented interactive TV formats, 3D video jukebox, content management system and production tools Video-sharing and community website mobile services. These tools and services allow a broadcaster to create anything from an hour-long weekly television show to an entire UGC-driven 24/7 television channel.