Voot
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
OTT platform
Available in
  • Hindi
  • English
  • Bengali
  • Marathi
  • Gujarati
  • Tamil
  • Telugu
  • Kannada
Dissolved9 August 2023 (2023-08-09)
Successor(s)JioCinema
Headquarters
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Area servedIndia
United Kingdom (Virgin Media only)
United States (Sling TV only)
OwnerViacom18
Industry
Products
Services
  • Film production
  • Film distribution
  • Television production
ParentParamount Global
RegistrationOptional
Launched29 March 2016 (2016-03-29)
Current statusDiscontinued

Voot was an Indian over-the-top media service (OTT) owned by Viacom18. First launched in March 2016, it offered content from Viacom18's local brands, as well as original series. 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.[1]

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.[2]

In April 2022, Reliance Industries and Paramount Global announced additional financial backing from Uday Shankar and James Murdoch's Bodhi Tree Systems to expand their streaming business. This would include Reliance's competing JioCinema service being brought under Viacom18.[3][4] The agreement was approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in September 2022.[5]

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, and upcoming rights to the Indian Premier League.[6] New series of Voot originals began premiering on JioCinema in June 2023.[7][8]

In August 2023, Voot was shut down in favour of JioCinema.

Programming

Voot had content from Colors TV, MTV, Nickelodeon, and other Viacom18 owned television channels. It also hosted many Bollywood films for streaming.[9] It had produced several 'Voot Originals' shows for streaming as well. In the children's segment, it worked on shows in Malayalam.[10]

In March 2021, it was announced that Voot Select would add original programming from U.S. parent company Paramount Global's upcoming global streaming service Paramount+, as well as selected CBS and Showtime original series.[11]

Original series

Title Genre Premiere Cast(s)
Chinese Bhasad Comedy 1 May 2016[12][13]
Soadies Comedy drama 2016 Baba Sehgal, Anju Mahendru,[14] Raghu Ram, and Rajiv[15]
Sinskaari Sex related

web-chat Show

18 May 2016 Alok Nath[16]
Badman Mockumentary 8 July 2016[14][17] Gulshan Grover, Chunky Pandey
Shaadi Boys Satirical

comedy-drama

22 July 2016[18][19] Aakash Ahuja
It's Not That Simple Drama 6 October 2016[20][21] Swara Bhaskar, Akshay Oberoi, Karan Veer Mehra, Vivan Bhatena
Untag Comedy drama 1 January 2017[22] Meiyang Chang, VJ Andy, Dipannita Sharma and Shiv Panditt
Yo Ke Hua Bro Comedy 18 August 2017[23] Aparshakti Khurana, Gaurav Pandey, Ridhima Pandit, Sumeet Vyas and Shamita Shetty
Stupid Man Smart Phone Travel show 20 September 2017 Sumeet Vyas
Time Out Drama 27 November 2017[24][25][26] Tahir Raj Bhasin and Sarah-Jane Dias
Its Not That Simple 2 Drama 14 December 2018[27] Swara Bhaskar, Akshay Oberoi, Karan Veer Mehra, Vivan Bhatena
Shortcuts Anthology

Thriller

8 February 2019
Fuh Se Fantasy Anthology

Romance

5 April 2019
Marzi Psychological thriller 2 March 2020 Rajeev Khandelwal and Aahana Kumra[28]
Asur Thriller 2 March 2020 Barun Sobti, Arshad Warsi, Anupriya Goenka, Ridhi Dogra, Sharib Hashmi, Amey Wagh[29]
The Raikar Case Crime Thriller 9 April 2020 Ashwini Bhave, Atul Kulkarni, Kunal Karan Kapoor, Lalit Prabhakar, Neil Bhoopalam, Parul Gulati
Illegal - Justice,Out of Order Political Thriller 12 May 2020 Neha Sharma, Akshay Oberoi, Deepak Tijori, Piyush Mishra
The Gone Game Crime Thriller 20 August 2020 Sanjay Kapoor, Shweta Tripathi, Arjun Mathur, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Dibyendu Bhattacharya
Crackdown Action Thriller 23 September 2020 Saqib Saleem, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rajesh Tailang
Candy Thriller September 2021 Richa Chadda, Ronit Roy, Manu Rishi, Gopal Datt[29]
Bigg Boss OTT Reality Show August 2021 Karan Johar, Divya Agarwal, Nishant Bhat, Pratik Sehajpal, Shamita Shetty
Ranjish Hi Sahi Drama January 2022 Tahir Raj Bhasin, Amala Paul, Amrita Puri
Apharan 2 - Sabka Katega Dobara Action Drama 18 March 2022 Arunoday Singh, Mahie Gill, Monica Chaudhary, Nidhi Singh, Varun Badola
London Files Crime, Thriller 21 April 2022 Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Gopal Dutt, Sapna Pabbi, Medha Rana, Warren Palmer
Baked - The Bad Trip Comedy 2 May 2022 Pranay Manchanda, Shantanu Anam, Manik Papneja, Kriti Vij
Aadha Ishq Romantic, Thriller 12 May 2022 Gaurav Arora, Aamna Sharif, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Pratibha Ranta
Code M Season 2 Crime, Thriller 9 June 2022 Jennifer Winget, Tanuj Virwani
Cyber Vaar Crime, Thriller 10 June 2022 Mohit Malik, Sanaya Irani
The Great Weddings of Munnes Comedy Drama 4 August 2022 Abhishek Banerjee, Barkha Singh, Paresh Ganatra, Sunita Rajwar, Aakash Dabhade

See also

References

  1. ^ "Viacom18 launches video-on-demand platform Voot – The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 24 December 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  2. ^ "Viacom18 launches Voot Select, a subscription-based video streaming service". businessline. 4 March 2020. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  3. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (27 April 2022). "James Murdoch's Bodhi Tree, Reliance, Viacom18 Strike $2 Billion Deal to Create Giant Indian TV and Streaming Company". Variety. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Bodhi Tree-Viacom18 deal: Why the new deal points towards Reliance's aggressive push in broadcasting business". Business Today. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  5. ^ "CCI approves merger of Jio Cinema OTT platform with Viacom18". Business Today. 22 September 2022. Archived from the original on 13 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  6. ^ Laghate, Gaurav (6 October 2022). "Viacom18 to shift sports content to JioCinema". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  7. ^ Jha, Lata (9 August 2023). "Voot folds into JioCinema; users now free to migrate". mint. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Viacom18 completes merger of JioCinema and Voot OTT platforms, majority subscribers transitioned". BusinessLine. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Viacom18 launches video-on-demand platform Voot". Money Control. 29 March 2016. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  10. ^ Bansal, Shuchi (11 October 2017). "Digital platforms mainstream regional content". Live Mint. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Paramount Plus Content Finds Home on India's Voot Select (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. 11 March 2021. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  12. ^ "TV writer makes directorial, web debut with 'Chinese Bhasad' – Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  13. ^ "Chinese Bhasad". Voot. Archived from the original on 27 June 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  14. ^ a b "Ready for Badman and Soadies? – Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  15. ^ "Soadies". Voot. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  16. ^ "Sanskari 'Babuji' goes 'Sins-kaari': Alok Nath to discuss sex online". Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  17. ^ "Badman". Voot. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  18. ^ "Web series Shaadi Boys a satirical take on extravagance in Indian weddings, say writers". The Indian Express. 24 July 2016. Archived from the original on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  19. ^ "Shaadi Boys". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  20. ^ "VOOT launches its sixth original web-series". www.afaqs.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  21. ^ Gaekwad, Manish. "Swara Bhaskar glams up for web series 'It's Not That Simple'". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  22. ^ "Life is all about untag-ging yourself!". Times of India. 8 January 2017. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  23. ^ "Aparshakti Khurana relates to his character in the new web series Yo Ke Hua Bro". The Indian Express. 30 August 2017. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  24. ^ "Voot's new original 'Time Out' out on November 28". Exchang4media. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  25. ^ Khateeb, Almas (3 January 2018). "'Time out' Review: The Unrealistically Realistic Life in a Metro". TheQuint. Archived from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  26. ^ "Time Out on Voot". Voot. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  27. ^ Scroll Staff. "'It's Not That Simple' season 2: Swara Bhasker is back to questioning gender bias". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  28. ^ "Marzi first impression: An engaging thriller owned by Aahana Kumra and Rajeev Khandelwal". The Indian Express. 6 March 2020. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  29. ^ a b "All You Need to Know About Voot Select: Price, Originals, Exclusives". NDTV Gadgets 360. Archived from the original on 7 March 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
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