\tPrasar Bharati, India\u2019s public broadcasting heavyweight, rolled out its streaming platform Waves at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, marking the state broadcaster\u2019s entry into the country\u2019s competitive streaming space.<\/p>\n
\tThe platform launches with a slate spanning 12+ languages and 10+ genres, featuring everything from video-on-demand content to free gaming, radio streaming, and 65 live channels. In a bid to differentiate itself from existing streamers, Waves also integrates e-commerce capabilities through a partnership with ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce). <\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt is indeed a momentous occasion for the Indian entertainment industry with the launch of Waves OTT,\u201d said Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at the launch event. \u201cI am very happy to see the diverse range of content on the platform, including a host of films and content across languages including Konkani.\u201d In India and many Asian countries, streaming is also referred to by the acronym OTT (Over The Top). \t<\/p>\n
\tThe service\u2019s initial content slate features fantasy action title \u201cMonkey King the Hero is Back,\u201d national award winner \u201cFouja,\u201d and Vipul Shah\u2019s thriller series \u201cBhed Bharam.\u201d The lineup also includes \u201cFauji 2.0,\u201d a modern take on the 1980s Shah Rukh Khan starrer, featuring Gauhar Khan and directed by Sandeep Singh. Family drama \u201cThode Door Thode Paas\u201d starring Pankaj Kapoor, Kailash Kher\u2019s music reality show \u201cBharat ka Amrit Kalash,\u201d and Oscar winner Guneet Monga Kapoor\u2019s social impact film \u201cKicking Balls\u201d round out the marquee offerings. <\/p>\n
\t\t\t \t\t\tPopular on Variety\t\t \t \t\t \t \tFor younger viewers, the platform offers animation programming including \u201cDoggy Adventure,\u201d \u201cChota Bheem,\u201d \u201cTenaliram,\u201d and \u201cAkbar Birbal,\u201d alongside games like \u201cKrishna Jump,\u201d \u201cFruit Chef,\u201d \u201cRam the Yodha,\u201d and the U.S. Cricket Premier League tournament.<\/p>\n
\tPrasar Bharati CEO Gaurav Dwivedi emphasized the platform\u2019s focus on family viewing: \u201cWaves brings a wide range of content for clean family viewing into every Indian home that can use this platform to watch, listen, read, play, shop in a curated environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe platform has secured partnerships with various content providers, including Lionsgate for video content and multiple gaming companies such as Mud Games and Tag Labs. Educational content providers like PACE have joined to offer test prep tutorials. \t<\/p>\n
\tInformation & Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju positioned the launch within India\u2019s broader digital strategy: \u201cWaves OTT marks a significant step in the Indian government\u2019s Digital India vision. The comprehensive, inclusive and diverse OTT will bridge the digital media and entertainment divide, on the back of its collaboration with BharatNet for last mile connectivity to rural audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe service will stream live events, including the Prabhu Shriram Lalla Aarti from Ayodhya and Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s monthly \u201cMann ki Baat\u201d address. <\/p>\n
\tPrasar Bharati chair Navneet Kumar Sehgal noted that Waves stands out as \u201cone of the only OTT networks which is your window to not only the world of clean family entertainment but also to shopping, games and news and current affairs for kids and youth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe platform\u2019s content acquisition strategy, outlined in its 2024 policy, targets urban, metro, middle India, and non-resident Indian audiences. Various government ministries, including External Affairs, Finance, and Culture, have contributed programming to the platform. The service will also feature content from film schools like FTII and partnerships with National Creator awardees including Kamiya Jani and Gaurav Chaudhary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prasar Bharati, India\u2019s public broadcasting heavyweight, rolled out its streaming platform Waves at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, marking the state broadcaster\u2019s entry into the country\u2019s competitive streaming space. The platform launches with a slate spanning 12+ languages and 10+ genres, featuring everything from video-on-demand content to free gaming, radio streaming, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tv-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieetv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieetv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieetv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieetv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieetv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movieetv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieetv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieetv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieetv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieetv.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}