Dekkho launches TV-like Linear Programming feature

Dekkho has recently announced the launch of its new Linear Programming feature. A first for any OTT platform, Dekhho’s Linear Programming allows content creators to make customized 24-hour programming with an easy-to-use back-end system and run a first-of-its-kind TV-like format on the digital medium. The feature will be available on Dekkho’s website as well as its Android and iOS mobile applications.

Dekkho will jointly curate along with content creators, existing top performing videos as well as undiscovered premium videos from its repository and organize them to create long-form content packages from different creators. Since content creators will not be required to create additional or fresh content in order to feature on the platform’s linear TV playlist, existing video content on the platform will benefit from increased viewership. Likewise, short-form content creators will get greater exposure through this pseudo-long content format, which will help them realize up to 3-5 times higher viewing for their catalogues. Creators will additionally be granted total control over the content published, its genre, and running time, and will receive direct feedback from fans and users on current as well as upcoming programming. Dekkho will also enable them to plan and update their programming according to the viewer demand.

Commenting on the launch of the feature, Tanay Desai, Co-founder at Dekkho said, “The prevalent on-demand model of video streaming can often lead to a fragmented and broken viewer experience, especially for users who prefera laid-back viewing experience that does not involve navigating between various content offerings. This is a huge market which has not been tapped into. This segment will provide much higher engagement and a loyal fan base, hence Dekkho is introducing an innovative Linear Programming feature. It offers users a TV-like programming structure with the convenience of a digital medium, allowing them to enjoy an uninterrupted viewing experience of repackaged content for the first time on any digital platform. With this feature, users also get to act as content curators by making playlists of their favorite videos and sharing them with other users. With the latest rollout, creators and channels will get greater exposure on Dekkho’s platform and have a chance to significantly increase their viewership.”

With the linear programming feature, users can forego the manual discovery and selection of videos and instead view a selection of relevant content bundled together at the push of a button. Users also get the chance to discover content from multiple creators who provide similar content through Dekkho’s recommendation engine, thereby offering increased visibility to more non-mainstream and regional creators. Users can also view regional content in their preferred language from multiple creators in a single package. Dekkho will additionally give its users the power to decide what they want to watch by creating their own programming playlist through a feature called ‘Reels’. This will allow any Dekkho user to pick videos from its library and assemble a programming playlist. Dekkho will, in turn, gamify this process to drive user engagement. Dekkho also plans to eventually enable downloading of a section of linear programming for offline consumption.

The feature will benefit advertisers as well, giving them the opportunity to cater to a loyal, long-form-consuming audience through linear programming. Since advertisers will have prior knowledge of what content will stream on live/linear channels, they will be able to take better decisions in terms of identifying target audiences and optimizing their ad spends.

“Creators have already observed a 3.5x rise in viewership on linear channels as compared to video-on-demand and OTT platforms. Advertisers, too, still prefer to invest their ad budget in linear TV, and they’re confident that it will remain a dominant medium. Scale and simplicity are the main reasons behind this thought process.Through a linear programming structure on Dekkho, we can better target a segment of conventional viewers who still prefer television over digital and offer them the content of their choice the way they like it,” said Vinay Pillai, Co-founder at Dekkho

Since its launch, Dekkho has disrupted online video streaming with its differentiated approach. It aims to revolutionize videos in India by providing premium content across music, comedy, fashion, food, travel, and lifestyle which first premiers on Dekkho. The platform allows its users to discover, view, share, and recommend high-quality content close to their hearts through an invite-only feature.