Mumbai News, 15 April 2020 : Given the fact that Indians have been observing a strict lockdown for the last three weeks to fight against COVID-19 and it’s now extended till May 3, keeping themselves entertained at home has been integral. Among all the other ways to keeping busy, consuming content on various digital platforms has been high. While there are several OTT platforms and GET channels doing the job, Pen Network has been leading all the way. Their two YouTube channels — Pen Movies and Pen Bhakti — have witnessed record consumption over the last few days.
While Pen Movies features popular Bollywood films like Phir Hera Pheri, Welcome and other films dubbed in Hindi, Pen Bhakti has been a favourite for the epic mythological show, Mahabharat, and several animated spiritual films including Hanuman.
Though these channels have always been a favourite, when it comes to traction, there has been a steep increase in the way people are consuming content on these channels during the lockdown period. A source says, “While the YouTube channel of Pen Movies has a subscriber base of 9.7 million, Pen Bhakti has 1.06 million subscribers. Pen Network has over 1000 hours of content with over 350 plus movies. A significant increase in viewership has been witnessed during the lockdown period.” It’s interesting that the epic, BR Chopra’s Mahabharata, is also being screened on the government-owned Doordarshan. For the uninitiated, Pen India LTD holds all the rights of the celebrated mythological tele series.
Elated with the numbers, Pen India chairperson, Dr Jayantilal Gada, says, “At Pen, our prime objective has always been to offer the best possible content for the entertainment of our consumers. These are tough times for all of us and I’m glad we, in the form of Pen Movies and Pen Bhakti, have managed to reach out to the citizens of our country. The kind of content that our channels offer either make people laugh or inspire them with their mythological greatness. Our constant endeavour is to provide sensible content to our viewers and we will continue to do that.”
