Eros Group is in preliminary talks with Apple to sell its entire content library of films and music for around $1 billion (Rs 6,366 crore), according to a latest report from the Economic Times. The deal could also include their digital OTT platform. The Indian movie production house is also said to be in talks with Amazon and Netflix.
Eros is initiating talks as it is planning a mega restructuring of the company. It is also looking to merge the NYSE-listed Eros International Plc with the Indian business, Eros International Media Ltd, by the end of this fiscal year to create a single listed entity. Eros Now has rights to over 10,000 films, out of which around 5,000 films are owned in perpetuity, across Hindi and regional languages. It has close to 2.9 million paid subscribers and over 100 million registered subscribers as of June 30, 2017, added the report.
Leading movie and TV streaming platforms like Amazon and Netflix are bolstering their efforts to be a leader in the Indian content streaming market. Both the platforms are strengthening their Bollywood offerings significantly in a bid to lure new subscribers. Bollywood star Salman Khan has signed an exclusive deal with Amazon Prime Video giving them the worldwide streaming rights to all his future titles, starting with Tubelight. Meanwhile, Netflix announced two new Netflix original series from India; Selection Day, based on the book by acclaimed author Aravind Adiga and Again, a supernatural, female-led detective series written by Marisha Mukerjee. Other streaming services in India include Hotstar, Voot, Ozee and Sony Liv.