Ssoftoons launches India’s first animation for all OTT platform, SSOFTOONSPLUS

Mumbai, Ssoftoons, a leading Animation Production House in India, today launched their own Animation OTT, SsoftoonsPlus, that offers entertaining Animation content for all age groups. With over 100 shows in Bengali and 100 in Hindi already created, the platform plans on adding 4 new shows every week in both languages, creating a rich content bank of 500 shows in each language, in the coming months. As a complete family entertainer, SsoftoonsPlus offers content across genre, from mythology, comedy, folklore, drama, and kid’s content, promoting Indian cultural values and historical knowledge.

As per the records on statista.com, in 2021, the Indian animation and VFX industry was valued at about INR 83 billion, despite the adverse effects of the global pandemic in 2020. Now, the sector is poised to grow at a rate of 29%, valuing up to INR 180 billion by 2024. And while a booming entertainment industry bouncing back from the pandemic is one of the major drivers, the rise in OTT content consumption is also driving the growth of this sector.

With its new OTT platform, Ssoftoons aims to create a niche for themselves as a leading ‘animation for all’ platform with content in multiple regional languages, with socio-culturally rich Indian content. Speaking about the launch, Mr. Sourav Mondal, Co-founder and CEO, Ssoftoons said, “The increasing penetration of the internet and mobile devices, in rural India, is playing a vital role in driving the future of OTT services. Moreover, the rise of 5G will play a massive role in enhancing the mobile experience for users as it becomes even easier to consume content on the go. However, when it comes to animated content, most of it is readily available in Hindi and English while regional content is mostly in dubbed format and may or may not have the socio-cultural connect with viewers across the Indian population. With SsoftoonsPlus, we aim to directly connect with users across the demography, focusing on regional content that can be accessed through a one-size-fits-all subscription model and a more diverse subscription model, which caters to the populace of different income levels. I think for long-term benefit, OTT service providers must focus on ad delivery optimization, targeting their audiences and monetisation tactics to drive revenue rather than locking viewers in a subscription-based model. Hence, we are thinking of a hybrid model in our near future, keeping the duration of advertisement in the video to a minimum. We are also adding merchandising products to gain extra revenue from our customers.”

Currently, SSOFTOONSPLUS is targeting Bengali and Hindi consumers. But soon it will add Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Oriya for our regional viewers. Ssoftoons will be partnering with YouTube channels and the videos will be launched on Ssoftoons YouTube after a few months of OTT release. The company is also thinking of releasing the content in PODCAST format as the next stage of SsoftoonsPlus.

A few of the shows on the platform include Dadi Maa ki Kahaniya, a series based on fairy tales and folk tales from around the world, modified to relate to Indian viewers, Choti Moti Kahaniya, a comedy series created to capture the humour in daily lives of Indian families, Darna Jaruri hai, a series about ghosts who are funny, intelligent, silly, helpful and scary, Bewkuf Naukar, Buddhuram, the story of a stupid house help, Do Budhiya, a comedy of two old ladies that is enjoyable for all the family, Lullu, the story of a loving ghost who tries to be re-incarnated through his good deeds but fails, and the story of Tuni, a bird mother who fiercely protects her kids from evil through her intelligence. SsoftoonsPlus also has exclusive devotional content for senior citizens.

As an animation production house, Ssoftoons has been instrumental in bringing a lot of iconic comic characters to the television screen and subsequently to YouTube and other new age platforms. Till date they have amassed more than 16mn subscribers in YouTube alone apart from clocking thousands of minutes of viewing time in the television. Their videos have clocked in more than billion views on YouTube which has earned them 4 YouTube Gold Awards and 10 YouTube Silver Awards. Hindustan Times