Rentrak Launches Box-Office Tracking Service in India

Rentrak has announced the launch of its India box-office tracking service, which aims to fill the need for independently verified box-office data in the country. The announcement was made at the ongoing Mumbai Film Festival.

India has an estimated 11,000 screens, and box-office data is still largely based on figures reported by distributors and producers rather than being directly sourced from cinema locations. Rentrak will step in to collect and analyze data from cinemas, as it does in other markets.

“This can be a win-win situation for all parties involved — producers, distributors and exhibitors,” Rentrak’s vice present for Europe, the Middle-East and Africa, Arturo Guillen tells The Hollywood Reporter.

Industry estimates reckon India clocks 3.5 billion admissions per year with total revenues touching $1.5 billion. Given that Indian films are released in various overseas territories, Rentrak says it is already tracking Bollywood titles in 44 countries. Rentrak’s India client base will include local arms of Hollywood studios that have become active in local productions such as Disney, Fox Star Studios and Viacom18, in addition to Indian banners.

Read more Fox Stations Partner With Rentrak to Expand Ratings Data

“As we have seen in other markets, cinemas benefit from our data as it helps them track footfalls, which is helpful for in-cinema advertising and programming decisions,” said Rentrak India MD Rajkumar Akella, pointing that a similar trend could also be seen in India.

“A leading Indian producer once told me that data is the basis to define reality,” added Guillen, referring to how data can also help in tracking consumer tastes.

This is Rentrak’s second attempt at entering India after its now-defunct 2007 pact with Mumbai-based Bigtree Entertainment, which provides entertainment ticketing applications and solutions.

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