EXCLUSIVE: SonyLIV has ordered its most ambitious original series to date, an adaptation of Indian independence non-fiction book Freedom at Midnight, as the streamer gears up to become a global ser…
Khan chief noted that since switching SonyLIV from a catch-up service to a subscription model focused on ambitious original shows in June 2020, the streamer had gone from less than 80,000 users to more than 18 million.was the service’s biggest production investment to date, with shooting set to take place in India, Switzerland and the UK and several high-profile stars set to be cast.
The show is currently at an extended pre-production stage, with the plan to shoot in the next six to nine months, COVID-permitting., which is from showrunner Sudhir Mishra and based around a group in their mid-20s in 1977 who experience the first government crackdown of their lifetimes;, which is about the Bangladesh liberation war and billed by Khan as “the only war of language”; and, about how despite massive illiteracy after Indian independence in 1947, a democratic election was held.
, could reach well beyond the current subscriber number and was now kicking on with its international expansion partially delayed by the pandemic — with plans to be a global service for the Indian diaspora within three years. SonyLIV is currently available across 28 territories including in Europe, the UK, the Middle East, North Africa, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. In the U.S. it was launched on Sling TV.Every fifth or sixth person in the world is Indian, so the market is really is really big but the value has not been unlocked over the years,” said Khan. “The fact is technology like OTT, direct-to-consumer and long-tail viewership good shows have more chance to travel.