Times Internet's online video service BoxTV to follow freemium model

Times Internet Ltd has officially unveiled its online video service BoxTV. BoxTV would allow users to watch a range of content from movies to TV shows to short films. It would work on a freemium model, which means part of the content would be on ad-supported free-to-user basis and rest will be available for monthly subscription.

Indian subscriptions start at Rs 199 per month, while users in US and UK would need to shell out $4.99 and £4.99 per month, respectively.

BoxTV was till now available on an invite-only preview through which it claims to have garnered 50,000 requests already.

Techcircle.in had earlier written about the site, which was stealthily unveiled in alpha mode. As of now, the site can be accessed only on invitation-request basis and it will remain in that mode for the next few months.

The biggest question is how is it different from the free video content daddy YouTube? "We started working on this a year ago and the biggest challenge for us also was how to make it different from YouTube. So, firstly it works on a freemium model and secondly we won't be a platform for all where content can be uploaded and viewed. Box TV is all about premium content," said Satyan Gajwani, CEO of Times Internet Ltd.

Apart from having premium content from Hollywood, Box TV will also feature content in Indian regional languages.

On the portal, there is one top huge banner that shows top 4-5 featured videos and below that are four sections -- 'just added', 'popular', 'for you' and 'friends activity' -- which makes it social. The 'for you' section features content based on usage pattern.

Box TV is available on platforms like iPhone, iPad, Android devices and TV-connected platforms such as Roku.

Its content partners include Sony Pictures, UTV, Shemaroo, Rajshri and claims to have around 3,500 movies, 500 short films and 2,000 TV shows as of now.

(Edited by Prem Udayabhanu)