Q India adds 38 million new TV homes

QYOU Media Inc. (TSXV: QYOU) (OTCQB: QYOUF) has announced that The Q India, the company’s Hindi language youth oriented channel available in and on over 660 million homes and devices in India, has secured its largest single television distribution agreement to date by adding DD Free Dish, a platform reaching 38 Million television households. This nearly doubles television reach for The Q India to over 88 Million television households [bringing the total reach in April 2021 to approximately 700 Million homes and devices]. DD Free Dish is India’s only open access Direct-To-Home (DTH) Service which is provided free of cost (no monthly fee).

Channels carried on the DD Free Dish platform have experienced a sharp rise in viewership in both urban and rural markets with Free Dish contributing up to 25% of total viewership in the critical Hindi Speaking Market (HSM) which is the target market for The Q India. The Q India continues to be focused on building revenue from television ad sales in 2021 given that typical television ad rates are currently up to 10 times higher than comparable digital and mobile ads, as those two platforms continue to develop.

DD Free Dish is owned by India state broadcaster, Doordarshan. Its Direct-To-Home satellite service was launched as DD Direct+ in December 2004 and was subsequently renamed as DD Free Dish on August 27, 2013. At present, its capacity is 2 HD channels, 106 SDTV channels along with 48 radio channels. Its current reach to 38 Million TV Households has established it as the single largest TV platform in India.

Curt Marvis, CEO and Co-Founder of QYOU Media added, “This is an extremely important and critical distribution partnership to support our push towards higher ratings, higher revenues and added brand value. It nearly doubles our reach to TV households and brings us very close to our goal of 100 Million TV households in 2021. DD Free Dish has proven itself in the India market with extraordinary viewership metrics. We believe that The Q India will be the beneficiary of substantial ratings and revenue increases as a result of joining the Free Dish bouquet of channels.”

The Q India is an advertiser and influencer marketing supported Hindi language content brand, channel and VOD provider delivering hit digital programming from social media stars and leading digital video creators targeting Young Indian audiences. The channel has recently become one of India’s fastest growing youth entertainment brands reaching 4.4 Gross Rating Points(GRP) on BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) in February 2021. With a growing library of over 850 programs, and beginning in April with the addition of DD Free Dish, the channel will reach an audience of 700 million via 88 million television homes with partners including TATA Sky, Airtel DTH, SitiNetworks and DD Free Dish; 380 million OTT users via platforms including ShemarooMe, MX Player, ZEE5, and Dish Watcho; and 232 million users on mobile and digital platforms including Snap, JioTV, Airtel Xstream, Amazon Fire TV and Chingari. Newswire