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Tag: Ajit Mohan

  • Why Ajit Mohan allowed Amazon Prime to advertise on Hotstar

    Why Ajit Mohan allowed Amazon Prime to advertise on Hotstar

    MUMBAI: Hotstar subscribers were a little taken aback when they logged into their accounts to see Amazon Prime being promoted on the masthead during its launch week.

    Some media observers even questioned whether Novi Digital (which runs Hotstar) CEO Ajit Mohan had lost it as he was allowing competitors to use India’s leading OTT/VOD platform to gain traction. Would the Times of India allow a fit and hungry rival to advertise its launch in the newspaper?

    However, Ajit Mohan explained in an internal email to his team why he chose to allow Amazon Prime to advertise on it.

    Indiantelevision.com has got access to this internal communication. Says Ajit in the email:

    “Team:

    Many of you have asked me over the last couple of days why we chose to allow Amazon Prime Video to advertise on Hotstar earlier this week, as part of their India launch. Here is why:

    We are now an indispensable platform for any advertiser that is looking to target users on digital who actually have money to spend. And, nowhere else on digital, whether on social or on news or video, can they find audiences as engaged as they are on Hotstar. It is, therefore, not surprising that Prime Video was keen to launch their service on our platform.

    Equally, we have always assumed that when users are given a choice, they will choose a service that offers a better experience and a more diverse content range. That’s the reason why we are the leading premium video service today. And we will continue to be the leader so long as we focus on retaining our extensive advantage on the above two. And, therefore, there is no reason for us to put artificial barriers vis-à-vis potential competitors. We are not planning to win by blocking others, we will win by continuing to do what we are doing well today.

    Lastly, on Monday, the day Prime Video was on our masthead, we hit the highest watch time ever on Hotstar. Looks like we are adding value to our advertisers even as consumers are showing more and more loyalty to our service.”

    We reached out to Hotstar to get more details on how much Amazon Prime paid for the prime position but came up against a wall. However, observers estimate that it is probably the highest that it has earned for that slot. Stay tuned in for more!

  • Why Ajit Mohan allowed Amazon Prime to advertise on Hotstar

    Why Ajit Mohan allowed Amazon Prime to advertise on Hotstar

    MUMBAI: Hotstar subscribers were a little taken aback when they logged into their accounts to see Amazon Prime being promoted on the masthead during its launch week.

    Some media observers even questioned whether Novi Digital (which runs Hotstar) CEO Ajit Mohan had lost it as he was allowing competitors to use India’s leading OTT/VOD platform to gain traction. Would the Times of India allow a fit and hungry rival to advertise its launch in the newspaper?

    However, Ajit Mohan explained in an internal email to his team why he chose to allow Amazon Prime to advertise on it.

    Indiantelevision.com has got access to this internal communication. Says Ajit in the email:

    “Team:

    Many of you have asked me over the last couple of days why we chose to allow Amazon Prime Video to advertise on Hotstar earlier this week, as part of their India launch. Here is why:

    We are now an indispensable platform for any advertiser that is looking to target users on digital who actually have money to spend. And, nowhere else on digital, whether on social or on news or video, can they find audiences as engaged as they are on Hotstar. It is, therefore, not surprising that Prime Video was keen to launch their service on our platform.

    Equally, we have always assumed that when users are given a choice, they will choose a service that offers a better experience and a more diverse content range. That’s the reason why we are the leading premium video service today. And we will continue to be the leader so long as we focus on retaining our extensive advantage on the above two. And, therefore, there is no reason for us to put artificial barriers vis-à-vis potential competitors. We are not planning to win by blocking others, we will win by continuing to do what we are doing well today.

    Lastly, on Monday, the day Prime Video was on our masthead, we hit the highest watch time ever on Hotstar. Looks like we are adding value to our advertisers even as consumers are showing more and more loyalty to our service.”

    We reached out to Hotstar to get more details on how much Amazon Prime paid for the prime position but came up against a wall. However, observers estimate that it is probably the highest that it has earned for that slot. Stay tuned in for more!

  • 2016: Hotstar is Apple TV’s & Voot Google Play’s top app

    2016: Hotstar is Apple TV’s & Voot Google Play’s top app

    MUMBAI: Hotstar has appropriated the top spot on amazing iTunes as Apple TV’s app of the year for India 2016. The app was launched on Apple TV in August and the recognition comes on the back of a breakthrough year in which Hotstar continued to lead and disrupt the Indian market place. Indiantelevision.com also reported about a similar recognition in the digital space yesterday. In its year of launch, Viacom18’s video-on demand platform, Voot made it to the prestigious -Best Apps of the year 2016 India list on Google Play.

    2016 saw Hotstar introduce a host of new tech features and content proposition for its ever-increasing number of consumers, which currently stands at a whopping 130 million downloads.

    “India is the only country in the world where a streaming platform like Hotstar exists where the best TV shows from around the world, movie premieres and live sports are available on a single platform. The Indian consumer today is absolutely at the frontiers of mobile video: no consumer in any other part of the world has access to better options than the Indian consumer. Now, we are setting our sights on shaping the connected TV experience in India,” said Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan.

    While innovation on live sports streaming continued to draw fans with the deeply engaging coverage of the Vivo IPL 2016, Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Premier League football and Kabaddi World Cup on Virtual Reality, the entertainment offerings were significantly beefed up when Hotstar launched its premium service in April making the best of international shows available in India alongside their US airing.

    The lineup on the premium service includes Emmy award-winning TV shows such as Game of Thrones, The Night Of, Westworld, Veep, and American Crime Story that are all exclusively available in India on Hotstar.

    Also Read:

    Viacom18’s Voot ranked among 2016’s best apps on Google Play

  • 2016: Hotstar is Apple TV’s & Voot Google Play’s top app

    2016: Hotstar is Apple TV’s & Voot Google Play’s top app

    MUMBAI: Hotstar has appropriated the top spot on amazing iTunes as Apple TV’s app of the year for India 2016. The app was launched on Apple TV in August and the recognition comes on the back of a breakthrough year in which Hotstar continued to lead and disrupt the Indian market place. Indiantelevision.com also reported about a similar recognition in the digital space yesterday. In its year of launch, Viacom18’s video-on demand platform, Voot made it to the prestigious -Best Apps of the year 2016 India list on Google Play.

    2016 saw Hotstar introduce a host of new tech features and content proposition for its ever-increasing number of consumers, which currently stands at a whopping 130 million downloads.

    “India is the only country in the world where a streaming platform like Hotstar exists where the best TV shows from around the world, movie premieres and live sports are available on a single platform. The Indian consumer today is absolutely at the frontiers of mobile video: no consumer in any other part of the world has access to better options than the Indian consumer. Now, we are setting our sights on shaping the connected TV experience in India,” said Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan.

    While innovation on live sports streaming continued to draw fans with the deeply engaging coverage of the Vivo IPL 2016, Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Premier League football and Kabaddi World Cup on Virtual Reality, the entertainment offerings were significantly beefed up when Hotstar launched its premium service in April making the best of international shows available in India alongside their US airing.

    The lineup on the premium service includes Emmy award-winning TV shows such as Game of Thrones, The Night Of, Westworld, Veep, and American Crime Story that are all exclusively available in India on Hotstar.

    Also Read:

    Viacom18’s Voot ranked among 2016’s best apps on Google Play

  • Mindshare, Hindustan Lever win big at MMA India’s SMARTIES

    Mindshare, Hindustan Lever win big at MMA India’s SMARTIES

    MUMBAI: The mobile is going to come increasingly centre stage is something we all know. How to reach out to the customers? How to measure what they are doing on their devices? What are the best practices in mobile marketing? These were some of the questions posed at the The Mobile Marketing Association Forum (MMAF) Delhi 2016 – put together by MMA India – which ended last weekend, culminating with the SMARTIES India 2016 awards at The Leela Ambience Gurgaon Hotel and Residences in Gurgaon. Hindustan Lever and Mindshare walked away with the big honours.

    Pepsico India chairman & CEO D. Shivakumarspoke about the challenges of servicing a billion challenges of servicing a billion “mobile users” in India, and expressed how this revolution is affecting the finance industry, pegging the decline of credit card industry. Speaking on mobile ROI, United Spirits CMO AmritThomas opined that if a brand can attribute ROI to partners by providing data insights, it enhances the overall consumer experience. But all this boils down to the consumer, said the research expert, IMRB Sr VP Hemant Mehta. He shared a first look of recent findings about consumer behaviour on feature phones revealing that feature phone users have higher ARPU (average revenue per user).

    Hotstar CEO AjitMohan spoke about quality storytelling on the mobile screen, to engage audiences. He also asked the hard-hitting question “Is the trade-off for precision quality?” denouncing the fundamentally accepted norm that precision and quality cannot go together.

    Group M CEO  CVLSrinivas presented the key note from an agency perspective, speaking about how marketers are still looking for proof to invest in digital, when the proof points are behind them in time.

    The forum was followed by the SMARTIES™ India 2016 awards with gold, silver, and bronze metals announced in 16 categories ranging from Brand Awareness to Cross Media Integration amidst a fun-filled evening hosted by comedian, host and writer SapanVerma. In addition to the category awards, the SMARTIES™ India 2016 also announced the Blue industry awards that included agency of the year in  mobile, the marketer of the year in mobile and best in show titles.

    Mindshare and Performics were the big winners for the night. Mindshare led the race with five golds, winning the agency of the year in mobile award while Hindustan Unilever was chosen as the marketer of the year in mobile. The other winners for the night included Indigo Consulting and Leo Burnett for brand awareness and the best in show award was won by Mindshare for their ‘MMS 2.0’ campaign.

    The SMARTIES™ is the world’s only global mobile marketing awards program that honours innovation, creativity and success in the field of mobile marketing.  This year an ‘all-Brand Jury’, led by jury chairperson and Godrej Group strategic marketing head ShireeshJoshi and consisting of other celebrated marketers in India, evaluated the campaigns to shortlist those that showcased the ‘best of the best’ in the industry. Covering everything from brand awareness to innovation, video/rich media and social media, the awards celebrated the excellent work being done on mobile by both brands and agencies.

    Mobile as a amedia channel offers truly exciting opportunities for consumer engagement. In order to better equip marketers to make mobile work for their brands it is important to understand how to use mobile as a vehicle to deliver a holistic brand experience. For this purpose, the MMA in collaboration with Millward Brown Smarties knowledge partner analysed all the entries for the SMARTIES Awards in India to present an insights presentation, to unearth best practices, key mobile trends and establish what sets apart a winning mobile campaign.

    “I’d like to congratulate all the award winners. I think I speak not only for myself but also on behalf of the Jury when I say that we were really impressed with the entries this year. Innovation is what drives the mobile marketing industry. I look forward to more innovations and participation in the future,” said  Joshi.

    Kantar Millward Brown managing director (west) ShavetaBhardwaj added:  “Marketers are showcasing good increment in their implementation of ‘mobile’ as a unique communication medium. Comparatively, this year we saw marketers leverage the strength of mobile more innovatively. We also saw mobile become more integrated into the campaign strategy, serving as an important component and not just an additional tag-on.”

    “I would like to thank the industry for their overwhelming support and participation at this year’s MMA Forum and Smarties. We have strived to find the best campaigns from across the country and I think that our esteemed Jury has been successful at culling out the best in class campaigns in each category. I hope that the great work that’s happening across India continues in the years to come,” said MMA of India country manager Preeti Desai.

    The 2016 SMARTIES India Blue Industry Awards Winners:

    Category

    Entry Name

    Best in Show

    MMS 2.0

    Agency of the Year in Mobile

    Mindshare

    Marketer of the Year in Mobile

    Hindustan Unilever Limited

    The 2016 SMARTIES India Awards Winners:

    Award Category

    Gold

    Silver

    Bronze

    Brand Awareness

    Indigo Consulting & Leo Burnett

    Mindshare

    DentsuWebchutney/PHD

    Lead Generation / Direct Response / Conversion

    Performics

    Performics

    Indigo Consulting & Leo Burnett

    Product/ Service Launch

    Mindshare

     

    Mindshare/ Indigo Consulting & Leo Burnett

    Promotion

    Mindshare

    Madison

    Mindshare

    Relationship Building/ CRM

    Performics

     

     

    Cross Media Integration / Cross Mobile Integration

    PHD

    Mindshare

    Performics

    Cross Screen Advertising

    Mindshare

    Performics

    Mindshare/Maxus

    Messaging

    Mindshare

    netCORE Solutions Pvt Ltd

     

    Mobile Social

    Interactive Avenues

    DentsuWebchutney

    Mindshare

    Innovation

    Mindshare

    PHD/Mindshare

     

    Location Based

    Performics

    Mindshare

    MEC GroupM

    Best Brand Experience in Mobile Rich Media

     

     

    PHD

    Most Engaging Mobile Creative

    Affle& Interactive Avenues Pvt. Ltd

    Vserv Digital Services and Flying Cursor

    APUS
  • Mindshare, Hindustan Lever win big at MMA India’s SMARTIES

    Mindshare, Hindustan Lever win big at MMA India’s SMARTIES

    MUMBAI: The mobile is going to come increasingly centre stage is something we all know. How to reach out to the customers? How to measure what they are doing on their devices? What are the best practices in mobile marketing? These were some of the questions posed at the The Mobile Marketing Association Forum (MMAF) Delhi 2016 – put together by MMA India – which ended last weekend, culminating with the SMARTIES India 2016 awards at The Leela Ambience Gurgaon Hotel and Residences in Gurgaon. Hindustan Lever and Mindshare walked away with the big honours.

    Pepsico India chairman & CEO D. Shivakumarspoke about the challenges of servicing a billion challenges of servicing a billion “mobile users” in India, and expressed how this revolution is affecting the finance industry, pegging the decline of credit card industry. Speaking on mobile ROI, United Spirits CMO AmritThomas opined that if a brand can attribute ROI to partners by providing data insights, it enhances the overall consumer experience. But all this boils down to the consumer, said the research expert, IMRB Sr VP Hemant Mehta. He shared a first look of recent findings about consumer behaviour on feature phones revealing that feature phone users have higher ARPU (average revenue per user).

    Hotstar CEO AjitMohan spoke about quality storytelling on the mobile screen, to engage audiences. He also asked the hard-hitting question “Is the trade-off for precision quality?” denouncing the fundamentally accepted norm that precision and quality cannot go together.

    Group M CEO  CVLSrinivas presented the key note from an agency perspective, speaking about how marketers are still looking for proof to invest in digital, when the proof points are behind them in time.

    The forum was followed by the SMARTIES™ India 2016 awards with gold, silver, and bronze metals announced in 16 categories ranging from Brand Awareness to Cross Media Integration amidst a fun-filled evening hosted by comedian, host and writer SapanVerma. In addition to the category awards, the SMARTIES™ India 2016 also announced the Blue industry awards that included agency of the year in  mobile, the marketer of the year in mobile and best in show titles.

    Mindshare and Performics were the big winners for the night. Mindshare led the race with five golds, winning the agency of the year in mobile award while Hindustan Unilever was chosen as the marketer of the year in mobile. The other winners for the night included Indigo Consulting and Leo Burnett for brand awareness and the best in show award was won by Mindshare for their ‘MMS 2.0’ campaign.

    The SMARTIES™ is the world’s only global mobile marketing awards program that honours innovation, creativity and success in the field of mobile marketing.  This year an ‘all-Brand Jury’, led by jury chairperson and Godrej Group strategic marketing head ShireeshJoshi and consisting of other celebrated marketers in India, evaluated the campaigns to shortlist those that showcased the ‘best of the best’ in the industry. Covering everything from brand awareness to innovation, video/rich media and social media, the awards celebrated the excellent work being done on mobile by both brands and agencies.

    Mobile as a amedia channel offers truly exciting opportunities for consumer engagement. In order to better equip marketers to make mobile work for their brands it is important to understand how to use mobile as a vehicle to deliver a holistic brand experience. For this purpose, the MMA in collaboration with Millward Brown Smarties knowledge partner analysed all the entries for the SMARTIES Awards in India to present an insights presentation, to unearth best practices, key mobile trends and establish what sets apart a winning mobile campaign.

    “I’d like to congratulate all the award winners. I think I speak not only for myself but also on behalf of the Jury when I say that we were really impressed with the entries this year. Innovation is what drives the mobile marketing industry. I look forward to more innovations and participation in the future,” said  Joshi.

    Kantar Millward Brown managing director (west) ShavetaBhardwaj added:  “Marketers are showcasing good increment in their implementation of ‘mobile’ as a unique communication medium. Comparatively, this year we saw marketers leverage the strength of mobile more innovatively. We also saw mobile become more integrated into the campaign strategy, serving as an important component and not just an additional tag-on.”

    “I would like to thank the industry for their overwhelming support and participation at this year’s MMA Forum and Smarties. We have strived to find the best campaigns from across the country and I think that our esteemed Jury has been successful at culling out the best in class campaigns in each category. I hope that the great work that’s happening across India continues in the years to come,” said MMA of India country manager Preeti Desai.

    The 2016 SMARTIES India Blue Industry Awards Winners:

    Category

    Entry Name

    Best in Show

    MMS 2.0

    Agency of the Year in Mobile

    Mindshare

    Marketer of the Year in Mobile

    Hindustan Unilever Limited

    The 2016 SMARTIES India Awards Winners:

    Award Category

    Gold

    Silver

    Bronze

    Brand Awareness

    Indigo Consulting & Leo Burnett

    Mindshare

    DentsuWebchutney/PHD

    Lead Generation / Direct Response / Conversion

    Performics

    Performics

    Indigo Consulting & Leo Burnett

    Product/ Service Launch

    Mindshare

     

    Mindshare/ Indigo Consulting & Leo Burnett

    Promotion

    Mindshare

    Madison

    Mindshare

    Relationship Building/ CRM

    Performics

     

     

    Cross Media Integration / Cross Mobile Integration

    PHD

    Mindshare

    Performics

    Cross Screen Advertising

    Mindshare

    Performics

    Mindshare/Maxus

    Messaging

    Mindshare

    netCORE Solutions Pvt Ltd

     

    Mobile Social

    Interactive Avenues

    DentsuWebchutney

    Mindshare

    Innovation

    Mindshare

    PHD/Mindshare

     

    Location Based

    Performics

    Mindshare

    MEC GroupM

    Best Brand Experience in Mobile Rich Media

     

     

    PHD

    Most Engaging Mobile Creative

    Affle& Interactive Avenues Pvt. Ltd

    Vserv Digital Services and Flying Cursor

    APUS
  • How VOKE is helping Hotstar to bring 3D VR to Kabaddi

    How VOKE is helping Hotstar to bring 3D VR to Kabaddi

    MUMBAI: That India’s leading video streaming OTT player Hotstar is making its coverage of the World Kabaddi League available to viewers in 3D Virtual Reality(VR)  is known to many now. But what’s not known by most is who is behind making this is a reality. Well, it’s a Silicon Valley based company called VOKE, which has helped stream the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four, the CBS Morning Show and live streams of concerts, NBA, NFL and college football games, courtesy its live TrueVR technology. It is ranked as amongst the best in the live event VR space and its focus is on building the next generation of fan engagement for live sports and entertainment.

    “Star India is one of the most iconic media companies in the world and has been focused on transforming sports in India. This partnership will allow them to provide live, immersive virtual reality experiences to their users for the first time,” says VOKE co-founder & CEO Sankar Jayaram. The flexibility of our technology platform is unique and enables media companies to reach their audiences across a variety of mediums and deliver personalized VR experiences to all fans like never before.”

    Adds Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan: “We owe our loyal and growing platform users the very best video experience in the world. Fans in India look to Hotstar to set the benchmark for video streaming. We are excited to collaborate with VOKE to bring a dramatic new live experience to sports fans.”

    The flexibility of VOKE’s platform is significant and it enables media companies to host the VR content on their own sites and branded applications instead of requiring that it be aggregated on the VOKE VR site. Hotstar users will be able access the TrueVR™ stream by selecting the Google Cardboard feature in Hotstar’s iOS and Android apps or by downloading the Hotstar Gear VR app from the Oculus Store. Highlights and video on demand content will be available through the same outlets for those who are unable to watch it live.

    http://www.indiantelevision.com/sites/drupal7.indiantelevision.co.in/files/styles/large/public/vokeger800x800_0.jpg?itok=splOyeGv
    The Voke Camera Pod

    VOKE’s live TrueVR™ stream for the Kabaddi World Cup will be available to Hotstar users on both Google Cardboard and Gear VR headsets. In addition, a personalized, 2D user-controlled experience will also be available for viewers without headsets on Hotstar.com or on the Hotstar app. It is the first time TrueVR™ content from a live event of this magnitude will be available on multiple headsets and mobile operating systems.

    Speaking to SportsVideoGroup in late August, Jayaram explaining the virtues of VOKE’s VR expertise had said: “So we put multiple pods on the field, and we allow users to choose where they want to be…. One, we can do a produced feed and take people where we think they might want to be. But we feel that, if a user really just wants to be sitting down by the players and coaches in VR, those are options and choices we want to give them. All of our cameras are completely synced, down to the frame level. Which means, when you want to do a replay or you pause one camera position, you can pick the action up from another camera at the exact same frame. Our cameras can go down to that level of detail if our viewers want to use it that way. So we provide full multi-POV, synchronized, DVR-capable streams, and that spans across VR, mobile, VOD, everything.”

    VOKE says that the Hotstar partnership will continue for more live sporting events going forward. That should be good news for immersive virtual reality sporting event lovers.

  • How VOKE is helping Hotstar to bring 3D VR to Kabaddi

    How VOKE is helping Hotstar to bring 3D VR to Kabaddi

    MUMBAI: That India’s leading video streaming OTT player Hotstar is making its coverage of the World Kabaddi League available to viewers in 3D Virtual Reality(VR)  is known to many now. But what’s not known by most is who is behind making this is a reality. Well, it’s a Silicon Valley based company called VOKE, which has helped stream the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four, the CBS Morning Show and live streams of concerts, NBA, NFL and college football games, courtesy its live TrueVR technology. It is ranked as amongst the best in the live event VR space and its focus is on building the next generation of fan engagement for live sports and entertainment.

    “Star India is one of the most iconic media companies in the world and has been focused on transforming sports in India. This partnership will allow them to provide live, immersive virtual reality experiences to their users for the first time,” says VOKE co-founder & CEO Sankar Jayaram. The flexibility of our technology platform is unique and enables media companies to reach their audiences across a variety of mediums and deliver personalized VR experiences to all fans like never before.”

    Adds Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan: “We owe our loyal and growing platform users the very best video experience in the world. Fans in India look to Hotstar to set the benchmark for video streaming. We are excited to collaborate with VOKE to bring a dramatic new live experience to sports fans.”

    The flexibility of VOKE’s platform is significant and it enables media companies to host the VR content on their own sites and branded applications instead of requiring that it be aggregated on the VOKE VR site. Hotstar users will be able access the TrueVR™ stream by selecting the Google Cardboard feature in Hotstar’s iOS and Android apps or by downloading the Hotstar Gear VR app from the Oculus Store. Highlights and video on demand content will be available through the same outlets for those who are unable to watch it live.

    http://www.indiantelevision.com/sites/drupal7.indiantelevision.co.in/files/styles/large/public/vokeger800x800_0.jpg?itok=splOyeGv
    The Voke Camera Pod

    VOKE’s live TrueVR™ stream for the Kabaddi World Cup will be available to Hotstar users on both Google Cardboard and Gear VR headsets. In addition, a personalized, 2D user-controlled experience will also be available for viewers without headsets on Hotstar.com or on the Hotstar app. It is the first time TrueVR™ content from a live event of this magnitude will be available on multiple headsets and mobile operating systems.

    Speaking to SportsVideoGroup in late August, Jayaram explaining the virtues of VOKE’s VR expertise had said: “So we put multiple pods on the field, and we allow users to choose where they want to be…. One, we can do a produced feed and take people where we think they might want to be. But we feel that, if a user really just wants to be sitting down by the players and coaches in VR, those are options and choices we want to give them. All of our cameras are completely synced, down to the frame level. Which means, when you want to do a replay or you pause one camera position, you can pick the action up from another camera at the exact same frame. Our cameras can go down to that level of detail if our viewers want to use it that way. So we provide full multi-POV, synchronized, DVR-capable streams, and that spans across VR, mobile, VOD, everything.”

    VOKE says that the Hotstar partnership will continue for more live sporting events going forward. That should be good news for immersive virtual reality sporting event lovers.

  • Star’s multi-screen Rio 2016 coverage gets thumbs up from viewers

    Star’s multi-screen Rio 2016 coverage gets thumbs up from viewers

    MUMBAI: With 191 million viewers tuning into watch the just concluded Rio Olympics in Brazil and every two out of three doing so on Star Sports channels, coupled with nearly 70 percent of the reach of television in affluent homes in the top 6 metros via digital platform Hotstar, it has been a gold medal performance from Star India.

    This statement from Star India today when the media world is talking about a over US$ 350 million buyout of TEN Sports by Sony Pictures Network India, is important from the point of view of sports broadcasting in India. SPNI also runs co-branded sports channels with ESPN.

    “For us, it is a matter of pride that Star Sports is the destination network for multi sports consumption in the country. Our endeavour to build a multi sports ecosystem is being rewarded with audience interest and attention not just in cricket but even in other sports…Star India’s unprecedented reach made the Rio 2016 Olympic Games the most epic sporting event in the history of viewing sports in India,” an official statement from Star quoted Star Sports CEO Nitin Kukreja as saying.

    The immersive and data rich experience, backed by powerful visuals and marketing, has once again created history in terms of user delight, translating into the highest ever viewership of Olympics in India, Star claimed.

    “As the official television broadcaster in India (the Olympics feed were shared with pubcaster Doordarshan by Star under stipulated regulations), Star Sports brought the game alive and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games was bigger than ever before with an unprecedented 191 million viewers (as per BARC data; CS 4+ Urban) tuning in to watch the games,” the Star statement stated, highlighting that two out of every three viewers tuned in to watch the mega event on the Star Sports network, thus “re-establishing its credentials as one of the leading sports networks in India capable of delivering national impact across geographies and demographics.”

    Hotstar, the exclusive digital streaming partner in India for the Rio Games, providing round the clock coverage of the games with 14 live streams for sports fans, attracted nearly “70 per cent of the reach of television in affluent homes in the top 6 metros” delivering an incremental reach of almost 10 million viewers in India with viewers streaming almost an hour of the Games during the two weeks, propelling Olympics into the top brackets of sporting events covered online, Star said.

    The standout highlight of the tournament was when India came together to watch the thrilling badminton women’s singles final between PV Sindhu and Spain’s Carolina Marin.

    The gruelling gold medal encounter garnered 17.2million impressions (again BARC data), making it the highest viewed TV programme on that day. It was also the highest rated non-cricket game on any sports network since the inception of BARC. On Hotstar, more than 5 million viewers tuned in to watch the match live, unprecedented for any event outside of international cricket, Star statement added.

    According to Hotstar CEO Ajit Moha, “As the world celebrated its sports champions, Hotstar enabled an experience that was unprecedented for sports fans not just in India but anywhere in the world: free access to almost every single moment of the Olympics fans with big moments being curated and showcased on the platform round the clock. Olympics allowed us to showcase our mission of building India’s most exciting content destination on demand.”

    With Star Sports channels showing various disciplines of Rio Games, including one channel dedicated to Hindi commentary, Star also undertook a massive campaign #IsseBadaKuchNahi ( nothing is bigger than this) focused on the stature of the Olympics as well as the medal prospects from India.

    Star Sports, which has some premier sporting properties in its portfolio, has been creating a multi-sport ecosystem in India. In 2016, from the ICC World T20 to Seasons 3 & 4 of Pro Kabaddi to the recently concluded Olympics, with each of these events delivering in excess of 175 million audiences at an all-India level (Source: BARC). Further in the year ahead, Star Sports has a multi-sport calendar coming up, consisting of 2016 Kabaddi World Cup in Ahmedabad, the international cricket season at home for team India and the Indian Super League.

    Hotstar, having already established itself as the premier digital sports destination in India, offered the widest possible coverage of all 42 sports with over 3000 hours of live coverage on the web, and 14+ streams running on the app all day. Its communication was focused on the massive choice it offered sports fans, with access to every moment of the Olympics and the convenience of watching live games or catching up on big performances any time of the day.

  • Star’s multi-screen Rio 2016 coverage gets thumbs up from viewers

    Star’s multi-screen Rio 2016 coverage gets thumbs up from viewers

    MUMBAI: With 191 million viewers tuning into watch the just concluded Rio Olympics in Brazil and every two out of three doing so on Star Sports channels, coupled with nearly 70 percent of the reach of television in affluent homes in the top 6 metros via digital platform Hotstar, it has been a gold medal performance from Star India.

    This statement from Star India today when the media world is talking about a over US$ 350 million buyout of TEN Sports by Sony Pictures Network India, is important from the point of view of sports broadcasting in India. SPNI also runs co-branded sports channels with ESPN.

    “For us, it is a matter of pride that Star Sports is the destination network for multi sports consumption in the country. Our endeavour to build a multi sports ecosystem is being rewarded with audience interest and attention not just in cricket but even in other sports…Star India’s unprecedented reach made the Rio 2016 Olympic Games the most epic sporting event in the history of viewing sports in India,” an official statement from Star quoted Star Sports CEO Nitin Kukreja as saying.

    The immersive and data rich experience, backed by powerful visuals and marketing, has once again created history in terms of user delight, translating into the highest ever viewership of Olympics in India, Star claimed.

    “As the official television broadcaster in India (the Olympics feed were shared with pubcaster Doordarshan by Star under stipulated regulations), Star Sports brought the game alive and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games was bigger than ever before with an unprecedented 191 million viewers (as per BARC data; CS 4+ Urban) tuning in to watch the games,” the Star statement stated, highlighting that two out of every three viewers tuned in to watch the mega event on the Star Sports network, thus “re-establishing its credentials as one of the leading sports networks in India capable of delivering national impact across geographies and demographics.”

    Hotstar, the exclusive digital streaming partner in India for the Rio Games, providing round the clock coverage of the games with 14 live streams for sports fans, attracted nearly “70 per cent of the reach of television in affluent homes in the top 6 metros” delivering an incremental reach of almost 10 million viewers in India with viewers streaming almost an hour of the Games during the two weeks, propelling Olympics into the top brackets of sporting events covered online, Star said.

    The standout highlight of the tournament was when India came together to watch the thrilling badminton women’s singles final between PV Sindhu and Spain’s Carolina Marin.

    The gruelling gold medal encounter garnered 17.2million impressions (again BARC data), making it the highest viewed TV programme on that day. It was also the highest rated non-cricket game on any sports network since the inception of BARC. On Hotstar, more than 5 million viewers tuned in to watch the match live, unprecedented for any event outside of international cricket, Star statement added.

    According to Hotstar CEO Ajit Moha, “As the world celebrated its sports champions, Hotstar enabled an experience that was unprecedented for sports fans not just in India but anywhere in the world: free access to almost every single moment of the Olympics fans with big moments being curated and showcased on the platform round the clock. Olympics allowed us to showcase our mission of building India’s most exciting content destination on demand.”

    With Star Sports channels showing various disciplines of Rio Games, including one channel dedicated to Hindi commentary, Star also undertook a massive campaign #IsseBadaKuchNahi ( nothing is bigger than this) focused on the stature of the Olympics as well as the medal prospects from India.

    Star Sports, which has some premier sporting properties in its portfolio, has been creating a multi-sport ecosystem in India. In 2016, from the ICC World T20 to Seasons 3 & 4 of Pro Kabaddi to the recently concluded Olympics, with each of these events delivering in excess of 175 million audiences at an all-India level (Source: BARC). Further in the year ahead, Star Sports has a multi-sport calendar coming up, consisting of 2016 Kabaddi World Cup in Ahmedabad, the international cricket season at home for team India and the Indian Super League.

    Hotstar, having already established itself as the premier digital sports destination in India, offered the widest possible coverage of all 42 sports with over 3000 hours of live coverage on the web, and 14+ streams running on the app all day. Its communication was focused on the massive choice it offered sports fans, with access to every moment of the Olympics and the convenience of watching live games or catching up on big performances any time of the day.