Continuing with its efforts to keep consumers entertained within the safety of their homes, BookMyShow on Wednesday announced the launch of its online video streaming platform for live entertainment - BookMyShow Online. Amid the COVID health crisis, BookMyShow’s latest feature is a response to audiences’ growing need for entertainment within their homes, for the present times.
BookMyShow Online caters to the fast-evolving, ever-changing needs of entertainment lovers in India as also globally for customers using the platform across USA & North America, UK, Germany, UAE, South East Asia, and West Indies. BookMyShow’s new streaming feature as a virtual platform for viewing live entertainment has successfully hosted over 30 events at scale, including the first-ever global virtual tours of Latin musician Willie Gomez, Australian pop band The Buckleys as also American music artist Taylor Castro’s performances amongst others, the company said in a statement.
BookMyShow Online is all set to host the first ever Virtual Music Festival in the country with the Sunburn Home Festival, - the virtual edition of Asia’s biggest electronic dance music festival. The festival will feature top DJs (disc jockeys) from across the globe in a never-seen-before avatar with 3D animations and special effects showcasing the virtual live experience of a music concert with end-to-end production of stage, lights, LED, lasers, special effects and more, streamed live on BookMyShow Online.
BookMyShow Online will be home to both paid and free performances across music, comedy, and other performing arts and will be an extension of the live entertainment experiences produced and brought to the country by the entertainment company, BookMyShow said. BookMyShow Online aims to give consumers a seamless option to view live on-ground experiences from the comfort of their living room, or any location of their preference.
BookMyShow Online breaks all geographical barriers when it comes to live entertainment experiences, offering artists all over the world, an opportunity to stream their live performances directly on the platform, helping them reach and engage with millions of their fans in India and globally, the company said. The streaming feature will run across BookMyShow’s app and web platforms matching global capacity standards to host a smooth experience for scores of concurrent viewers at any given point, the company added.
Parikshit Dar, Co-founder & Director, BookMyShow said, “Innovation has always been at the core of BookMyShow, riding on the strength of our product platform, technological expertise and data analytics to enhance the experience of millions of consumers. Sensing the shift in our users’ appetite for entertainment during this lockdown, we were agile enough to change tack by introducing virtual in-home entertainment offerings in India and other global markets.”
The resultant consumer engagement for such initiatives was phenomenal indicating a latent demand and an opportunity to serve seamless virtual live entertainment, said Parikshit, adding, “Our latest video streaming platform BookMyShow Online was born out of this need to make virtual live entertainment, a friction-less and hassle-free viewing experience. The streaming platform was integrated into our native product within a few weeks and offers customisation, massive scale for concurrent viewing and complete security of content. We have, since, been successful in hosting multiple performances from across the globe on BookMyShow Online and are now thrilled to officially launch the service for our valued customers.”
BookMyShow has partnered with video technology platform Brightcove, as the underlying video streaming technology that powers the use case for the video platform BookMyShow Online. Brightcove’s underlying technology enables BookMyShow Online to deliver a reliable, high-quality streaming experience that is easily scalable as the platform’s audience size continues to increase.
Vinit Mehta, Director of Sales - India, Brightcove said, “BookMyShow selected Brightcove’s underlying video technology for its streaming platform because we fulfilled four major requirements that were critical to the customer: reliability, scalability, speed, and ease of use. Brightcove has also brought additional advantages, such as the ability to spin up multiple live events with our live streaming capability, enhance the user experience, and provide a lightning-fast video player for streaming content. Combined with the support of a local team, BookMyShow had the first-mover advantage by going live quickly. We are proud to partner with BookMyShow to enable them to achieve their mission of providing a platform for artists, musicians, and comedians to live stream and monetise their content during the ‘new normal’ whereby mass concerts and events are not yet possible.”