SonyLIV

SonyLIV is an Indian over-the-top freemium streaming platform

owned by Sony Pictures Networks India. SonyLIV was
introduced in 2013 as the first OTT service in India. As a
streaming service, it is carrying content from its local networks,
including films, television series, live sports matches and
Original Programming, and also featuring content licensed from
third-parties in India such as Lionsgate and ITV among others.
Since 2020, SonyLIV has taken more of an active role as
producer and distributor for both films and television series,
and to that end, offers a variety of original programming
content through its online library.

History
SonyLIV was launched on 23 January 2013, by the Sony Pictures
Networks India.

SonyLIV has access to 18 years of content from channels that

are part of the Sony Pictures Networks India and more than 700
movies, which means a total of 40,000+ hours of television
show coverage in Hindi and English.Since its launch, SonyLIV
has streamed live sports events.
Anime was part of SonyLIV. Varieties of anime original
from Animax were available on SonyLIV to stream. After
shutting down a linear TV channel on 18 April 2017,
Animax was made available exclusively as a digital
streaming channel in India from 7 July 2017 to 7 May
2020.

In June 2020, SonyLIV was launched as a streaming

service in the United States on Sling TV, with all the
shows available in India available on the app. SonyLIV
was launched in Canada on 15 October 2021
LIV Sports
LIV Sports was launched on 1 June 2014 by Sony Pictures
Networks India (a new sports streaming service
exclusively for sports properties). LIV Sports was the
official mobile and internet broadcaster for the 2014 FIFA
World Cup starting 12 June 2014. LIV Sports aired both
live and video-on-demand match content with statistics
and analysis. However, this service was integrated into
SonyLIV. As for now, LIV Sports is part of SonyLIV.
SonyLIV first revamp (2016)
In June 2016, SonyLIV underwent a revamp for the first time
and started to stream live television channels. Since this
revamp, SonyLIV has added many shows and movies to the
portfolio. On 1 November 2018, SonyLIV and Lionsgate had
entered into a multi-year content deal. As part of the deal,
SonyLIV will offer an embedded Lionsgate Play with over 500
hours of premium original series. In 2019, SonyLIV started to
stream live channels of other networks, including news
channels.

SonyLIV second revamp (2020)

In June 2020, SonyLIV underwent a revamp for the second time,
and this time they started to stream content from Sony Pictures
Entertainment, Sony Television Studios, ITV and Reliance
Pictures. Also, SonyLIV started to stream its own original
movies and series. On 15 January 2021, WWE Network was
launched in India through SonyLIV.
Overview
SonyLIV is the first Indian over-the-top media service platform to
produce music content for a Hollywood feature film – producing music
for the Hindi version of the blockbuster titled Passengers, starring Chris
Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. The singers for the original soundtrack
titled Aadat included Jubin Nautiyal, Shirley Setia and Raftaar.

Programming
SonyLIV's core library consists of 18 years of content from the Sony
Pictures Networks India's channels including Sony TV, Sony SAB, Sony
Aath and Sony Marathi.

After Sony Pictures Networks India's acquisition of Ten Sports Network,

all TEN Sports live programs also began broadcasting on SonyLIV. Since
then, SonyLIV is streaming WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown and other
WWE pay-per-view events, and UFC. SonyLIV also streamed cricket
matches played by Pakistan, Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West
Indies and Zimbabwe, and Grand Prix motorcycle racing.

SonyLIV also streamed NBA until early 2021.

Genres
SonyLIV features programming in the following key genres:
comedy, crime, drama, horror and action.

Live channels
SonyLIV also live streams its own channels in its network on the
platform.

SonyLIV Originals
SonyLIV has streamed a number of original streaming television
series. The first-ever original was a Gujarati web series titled
Kacho Papad Pako Papad and it is streaming since 2017.
SonyLIV underwent a revamp in its appearance in June 2020.
Since then, SonyLIV provides their original shows in 5–7
languages. Without Hindi, SonyLIV releases originals in the
other languages after 1–2 weeks from the release date.

Scam 1992, Your Honor and Avrodh: The Siege Within are some
well-known SonyLIV original shows.

Availability
SonyLIV is available in India, Pakistan, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives,
Bhutan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong,
Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Canada.

Viewership
SonyLIV has reached about 25 million views on a monthly basis
on its website, app and YouTube channel.
Platforms
Hardware supported
List of SonyLIV-ready devices:

Sony Bravia smart TVs and Sony Xperia smartphones

Android TV devices
Samsung smart TVs

Amazon Fire TV and Fire HD devices

Roku devices

Apple TV

Chromecast devices
Software supported
Supported web browsers by platform:

KaiOS: Available in JioPhone, installable through Jiostore.

OS X: An Intel-based Mac with OS 10.4.8 or later. Browsers supported

are Safari 4 (or higher), Firefox 5 (or higher) and Google Chrome.

Microsoft Windows: Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista,

Windows 7 running Internet Explorer 8 (or higher), Firefox 2 (or higher)
or Google Chrome 6 (or higher). Windows 8.1 through a web browser.

Other software options

Android version 2.2 and above

iOS, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch

Windows Phone
SonyLIV security flaw
On 20 December 2019, Bengaluru-based security researcher Ehraz
Ahmed discovered a security flaw in the SonyLIV app that allowed to
fetch sensitive user information such as profile picture, email address,
date of birth, name and phone number of its registered users

See also
Sony Pictures Networks India

List Of SonyLIV Original Programming

ZEE5

Notes

Optional in India, but monthly subscription is required to access

additional content.’

References