ShortsTV Expands to India with Tata Sky

Shorts International, the world’s leading short movie entertainment company and operator of the ShortsTV channel, is pleased to announce the launch of ShortsTV in India with Tata Sky, the country’s largest content distribution platform, reaching millions of subscribers.

The launch of ShortsTV’s Indian network marks a strategic move by Shorts International into one of the world’s biggest markets for short film entertainment content, following the growing success of ShortsTV in the US, Europe and, most recently, Latin America. India has a rich history in short movies which have been responsible for putting many Indian directors and actors on the map and generating many millions of viewers.

With a growing library of over 5,000 titles, including Oscar and other award-winning live action, animated and documentary shorts, Shorts International is poised to deliver a world-class entertainment experience for short movies in India. Shorts International is also committed to bringing more short films into the mainstream film arena and is actively looking for partners to generate more original content.

ShortsTV further intends to launch its new machine-learning app in India. Already available in the Netherlands, the first-of-its-kind short film app gives viewers the power to create their own movie channels based on their favorite genres and their mood.

Carter Pilcher, Chief Executive Officer of Shorts International and member of the Academy of Motion Pictures, commented: “The short form entertainment revolution is sweeping across the globe; but nowhere is the appetite for bite-size entertainment content, delivered across multiple platforms, more prevalent than in India. The scale of this market makes this expansion of significant strategic importance for our company and for short movies as a whole. India has a rich history in short movies which have been responsible for putting many Indian film makers and actors on the map. We are proud to be working in partnership with Tata Sky, the leading content distribution platform in India, to create a massive entertainment opportunity for an audience of potentially millions.”

Arun Unni, Chief Content Officer of Tata Sky, said: “As viewing habits evolve, short films have seen a huge surge in popularity across the world, including in India. Increasingly, prominent filmmakers and actors are using this creative medium to tell wonderful stories being watched by millions on the internet. However, there hasn’t been a single curated destination for the Indian consumer to watch this content. ‘Tata Sky Shorts TV’ aims to be that destination where a curated selection of 2,000+ of the World’s best short films can be enjoyed on a 24*7 basis. We are proud to partner with “Shorts TV”, who have worked hard for more than a year to localize the proposition with 500+ Indian short films.”

About Shorts International:

• Shorts International is the world’s leading short movie entertainment company
  With over 5,000 titles, Shorts International has the world’s largest library of shorts available on TV, online and in theatres, including award-winning and star-studded live action, animated and documentary shorts from around the world.
• Shorts International owns ShortsTV, the world’s only 24/7 HD TV channel dedicated to short movies. It is available in approximately 70 million households across the US, India, Latin America, the Netherlands, Belgium, Slovakia, Hungary and Serbia.
• In 2018, ShortsTV launched the ShortsTV App which marries the linear ShortsTV feed with the functionality of the Internet, at the click of a button on a viewer’s remote control. Using advanced machine-learning algorithm technology, the ShortsTV App enables viewers to either watch TV or to create, control and personalize their own TV channel, engineered to their desired genres or moods.
  Online, ShortsTV offers hundreds of the world’s best independent shorts for download on iTunes in 92 countries, as well as on Amazon Instant Video (UK, US and Germany), Google Play (US and Canada) and Verizon and Frontier (US).
• Since 2006, Shorts International has exclusively presented the ‘Oscar Nominated Short Films’ theatrical release in cinemas across the US, South America, Europe, Australia and South Africa.
  Shorts International is headquartered in London, England and is represented in the US by Shorts Entertainment Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary located in Los Angeles, CA. The company is led by Carter Pilcher, CEO, and is owned by Shorts Entertainment Holdings, with AMC Networks as a significant minority shareholder.

About Tata Sky:
Tata Sky Limited (‘Tata Sky’) is a joint venture between the Tata Sons and 21st Century Fox. Incorporated in 2001 and launched services in 2006, Tata Sky is India’s leading content distribution platform providing Pay TV and OTT services. With the objective of connecting to the best content in the world on any budget, any screen, anytime and anywhere, Tata Sky was the first to launch multiple products and services that redefined the subscribers viewing experience in the country. Tata Sky has been a pioneer in the HD Set top box segment having significant market share in the category. It has been continuously adding new channels and platform services across various genres and languages to beef up its content offering to cater to all segments of the audience. Tata Sky currently has its footprints spread across 2 lakh towns with over 18 million connections in India.