While the media is waiting with bated breath for Star TV and Zee to launch Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), a group of media and technology professionals has pulled the carpet from under their feet by launching a 24-hour online channel called Nautanki (www.nautanki.tv).
Visit it; it’s a refreshing introduction to TV-meets-computer, the convergence that everyone has been talking about for the last five years.
There’s a great width of offerings on the channel, ranging from humour and documentaries to films made for the medium. And, unlike the regular TV channels, this is truly an on-demand medium, so watch what you want when you want.
Nautanki boasts fairly impressive content. Rauf Tales, for example, has Rauf Ahmed (former editor of Screen!) reveal little known facts about Bollywood. Kunal Kumar has a retrospective which makes for interesting viewing, and it was the “featured” live program when I surfed.
The streaming is at more than satisfactory quality and speed, and there’s no sense of the frustration one normally experiences waiting for a clip to buffer and download. Whether it remains so in the future when the site receives high traffic (it’s currently beta, and the formal launch is a month away, one hears) will be a significant factor in how well it does.
But, heck, for the moment, it zips onto your computer screen, so enjoy it while the going is good. And while the going is free to the subscriber. Currently, all they ask for is a registration, but if you skip it, that works, too. And since someone has to pay for the content and the back end, advertisers do - and you have to suffer commercials as you could on any, normal TV channel.
There’s a lot more one can do on Nautanki than just watch films. Here’s what else you can do, as described on the site:nautanki.TV is a place for people to watch original Indian content in new ways with video by sharing, commenting on, and viewing videos.
With nautanki.TV, people can:
* Comment, rate, discuss and share videos worldwide* Browse millions of original videos or episodes of any program like they would do on a regular internet channel* Participate in sponsored events, live shows* Customize the experience by subscribing to member videos, saving favourites, and creating playlists* Integrate nautanki.TV videos on websites using video embeds or APIs* At a later date be able to upload and share their own videos
And, of course, a warning and a rider follows. That the service is CURRENTLY free, but that it will move to a paid subscription model for “premium” content.TV channels on your phone. Now a TV channel on your laptop. Who needs a 53 inch TV anyway?
Source:
Venkat Mallik, Managing Director Level Up Network India
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