YRF partners with YouTube to launch YouTube Box Office in India

A press release from YouTube said all netizens in India have more reasons to rejoice as YouTube is introducing a new destination for all the movie buffs titled 'YouTube Box Office'. This exclusive channel will feature a premium block buster movie every month absolutely free of cost. Kick-starting the initiative will be the latest hit'Band Baaja Baaraat', starring Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma.
The YouTube Box Office channel will also feature other popular movies which users can watch for free from the YouTube catalogue of movies which includes over 1500 titles including regional language films. Intel has taken the lead to bring this initiative to users in India and will be the exclusive presenting sponsor for the channel.
Commenting on the new initiative, Gautam Anand, Director Content Partnerships for YouTube Japan-APAC said, "We wish to create a destination for users which is easily discoverable and also help our content partners get more viewers for their premium content. With over 48 hours of content being uploaded on YouTube every minute, this is our attempt to curate premium and exclusive content which our users enjoy. This initiative also opens up a new window of opportunities for marketers to utilize the platform and engage the YouTube community".
Sandeep Aurora, Director-Marketing, Intel South Asia said, "Intel is extending the "Smart visuals, brilliant performance" positioning of its latest 2nd generation Core processors with this association. The YouTube Box Office channel provides the consumers an opportunity to view premium, high quality movies on their PCs. Consumers can also enjoy these movies on their big screen HDTV with Intel® Wireless Display (WiDi) feature on the 2nd Generation Intel Core Processor based PCs and bring YouTube to life in HD format on their TVs."
YouTube will collaborate with its partners in India on a revenue share basis to bring more of such premium content on YouTube Box Office every month. Speaking about the initiative, Mr. Anand Gurnani, General Manager – Digital & New Media, Yash Raj Films - the producer and distributor of Band Baaja Baaraat said, "Apart from offering tremendous reach, evolved digital platforms like YouTube also enable the monetization aspect through advertising revenues in an unobtrusive manner, while offering a great online viewing experience to the users. We are sure this project will throw up interesting insights and consumption patterns of the digital-friendly audience."
After the big success with IPL, YouTube in India has continued to grow in both users and premium content offerings from Bollywood and popular TV shows. A recent premier of mega hit Dabangg on YouTube got a phenomenal response from the users in India with over 1.3 million channel views.The YouTube Box Office channel will be available to all users in India and will be IP blocked for users in other countries.