YOUR FAVOURITE MOVIES AND SHOWS ARE NOW A SWIPE AWAY
Users on OTT platforms by offering content discovery OTTplay is here to revolutionise customised recommendations based on their likes and preferences
From romcoms starring Ryan Gosling to Frances McDormand’s lesser-known films, OTTplay recommends just what you’d love watching and also tells you where to watch them. As we collectively brave the ongoing pandemic by staying indoors, one thing that has helped us sail through these trying times has been bingeing on shows and movies on various OTT channels. But finding something that you’d actually enjoy watching can often be a challenge. Remember when you spent more time picking a movie/show to watch than you actually spent watching it? We’ve all been there. To cater to this problem, HT Labs, an innovation hub that’s dedicated to developing digital first products, has launched OTTplay, a recommendation and content discovery platform (available on web and app – Android and iOS) that will put you out of your misery of mindless scrolling and ensure that your leisure time is spent only in consuming quality entertainment. The platform nudges users to share their preference of language, genre, favourite actors, filmmakers and the OTT channels they’ve subscribed to, and offers customised recommendations from across 150,000 movies and 30,000 shows across 10 languages and 35+ OTT platforms.
“The aim is to democratise the watching and discovery experience and by playing in the OTT space, we want to lead the viewer to the right movie or show that they would like across OTTs... We want to help users discover shows, films based on what they have watched, liked and would want to watch more of,” says Avinash
Mudaliar, co-founder, HT Labs.
KEY FEATURES OF OTTPLAY User-friendly onboarding: The platform urges users to share their preference of shows and movies by swiping left on titles they ‘dislike’ and swiping right or clicking on the ‘heart’ to convey that they’ve enjoyed watching it. They are also encouraged to share their favourite actors, filmmakers and genre. Thereafter, recommendation engine suggests titles available on OTT channels that best match their preferences. Customised recommendations: The movies and shows suggested to each user are unique and may pertain to the choices they’ve entered during onboarding (It can be altered anytime from the settings menu). One can further filter the suggestions based on genre, provider and whether it’s available for free or requires a subscription. One can sort by rating, recency and relevance too, for more personalised experience.
Find the best regional content: Besides the top OTT platforms increasingly releasing regional content, there are 9+ dedicated regional platforms operating in India with a library of 10k+ titles. “From Karnan to Saajan Bakery, regional superhits now have a nation-wide reach thanks to OTT platforms. And Dhanush or Fahadh Faasil – all enjoy the same pan-India fan following. So, OTTplay serves as a platform that keeps one updated on where to watch the latest releases as well as previous films of an actor you’ve taken a fancy to,” shares Mudaliar.
Binge on classics: Content discovery is essential for classics too. From shows that trigger nostalgia like Malgudi Days to the works of auteurs like Satyajit Ray and Ritwik
Ghatak, are all available for streaming; one just needs to be nudged in the right direction and that’s where OTTplay will have one covered. Make an informed decision:
To allow users to make an informed decision, each movie/show page on OTTplay contains the trailer, cast and crew details, as well as reviews from various sources to help one get a holistic idea about the title before they actually click on ‘watch now’. For latest OTT updates, the platform also publishes news, reviews and listicles which are produced in-house and supported by syndicated partners such as Hindustan Times, Desi Martini, Live Mint and Film Companion. Once a user is convinced that a certain show/movie is worth a watch, they can click on the ‘watch now’ button on the movie/show page and get directed to the platform where it can be viewed.