The Hindu Business Line : Seventymm bullish on prospects

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Bangalore Jan. 19 Online movie rental firm Seventymm is bullish on the online medium and expects its service to pick up fast. Apart from increasing subscriber base and expanding to major cities, Seventymm plans to associate itself with brands that will synergise with its core offering.

Although the company would not specify the brands, Mr Subhanker Sarker, COO, Seventymm, said talks are on with retail chains and brands operating in the "home consumption" and "home delivery" space. "It could even be a grocery store or brands related to music and books," Mr Sarker.

Currently, Seventymm has an arrangement with Philips and Makemytrip, which give special Seventymm subscription offers to customers who buy or use their products/services.

Referring to the explosive growth in the DVD player market, Mr Sarker said: "In 1999, 9,000 DVD players were sold. In 2006, the number rose to over 20 million. The projection is that by 2010, there will be 70 million households with a DVD player. Even if 25 per cent of 70 million adopts the online rental medium, it is a huge market.

Net to push growth

"Today, the six cities — Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata — account for 70 per cent of the DVD player penetration in India. But the good news is that the market is also moving to smaller cities and rural areas. More and more people are spending on entertainment at home. So, obviously there is a huge market to be tapped. Rising Internet penetration will only add to the potential."

Currently, Seventymm offers its service in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai.

It hopes to expand to Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata by April. It will then target tier 2 cities as well.

Today, the company has 12,000 subscribers in Bangalore, 3,000 in Delhi and 500 in Mumbai. By 2010, Seventymm hopes to have one million subscribers. By 2007, it is eyeing a subscriber base of over one lakh.

The company offers about 15,000 titles in English, Hindi and 12 regional languages. It hopes to have 25,000 titles by the end of 2007. Seventymm also plans to offer value-added services such as movie screenings and discussions, as part of the Seventymm Club initiative. Courses on movie appreciation and movie making and a short film contest are also on the cards.

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