MUMBAI: Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) (“Eros” or “the Company”), a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, today announced that Eros Now, its cutting edge digital over-the-top (OTT) South Asian entertainment platform, has reached over 100 million registered users and 7.9 million paying subscribers worldwide as of March 31, 2018. This substantial growth in paying subscribers represents a 58% increase over the last reported quarter and a 277% increase from 2.1 million paying subscribers as of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017.  The Company also today reiterated its previous guidance that its Eros Now paying subscriber base is expected to double over the next 12 months to approximately 16 million paying subscribers by fiscal year end 2019.

Eros Now recently launched its first worldwide direct-to-digital original film, Meri Nimmo, in association with acclaimed director Aanand L Rai, to very positive critical reception. In addition, over the next year Eros Now is planning to launch a stable of feature films, made-for-digital originals films and over 20 original episodic programs, all of which will be available exclusively only on Eros Now to paying subscribers. In addition to exciting new content, several factors have contributed to the platform’s outsized growth including enhancement of the consumer experience on the Eros Now service, introduction of pioneering content innovations and renewed alliances with domestic and international content distribution partners including the major mobile telecom operators in India. The recent successes come as a result of the company’s unique partnership strategy, which has been built upon the agreements with various distribution partners over the past few years and has been key to delivering high quality subscribers with increased time spent on the platform. The steady and robust growth figures are an indication of the loyalty consumers feel towards the platform.

Speaking on the significant development, Eros Digital, CEO, Rishika Lulla Singh said, “When we launched three years ago, our mission was to reach out to viewers looking for differentiated and quality content. In December 2016, we achieved 2.0 million paying subscribers which doubled to 5 million within a year. This quarter has seen a substantial leap resulting in 58% Q-on-Q growth. This benchmark is a testament to our strong content library coupled with a strong tech backbone. I am very confident of our original content line-up and we are geared up to experience an exponential growth in our paying subscriber base, this is just the start which will only get better.”