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Tag: Ajit Mohan

  • Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon comes back on Hotstar

    Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon comes back on Hotstar

    MUMBAI: #IPKKND is once again flying high amongst the netizen as popular Star Plus show Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon is returning in full glory, this time on Hotstar.

    Renamed as Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon Ek Jashn, this eight episode long special original series on Hotstar will take the lead characters’ ‘Arnav’ and ‘Khushi’s’ story forward since the serial went off air 3 years ago. The show will hit the web on 24 November under the OTT’s Originals band.

    Star India head of digital Ajit Mohan, says, “Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon Ek Jashn is yet another significant example of breakthrough content produced under the hotstar Originals brand. It is in line with our continuing endeavor to create great stories for the hotstar audience.”

    Under the production house Entertainment Mafia, they plan to reinvent the show’s magic once again Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon Ek Jashn will return with eight 10-minute episodes, showing a day in the life of Arnav and Khushi, set three years into their marriage.

    Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon was a top rated show in 2011-12, turning its lead actors Barun Sobti and Sanaya Irani into superstars. The show was extremely popular especially amongst the international viewers across the world. The show went off air in November 2012, disappointing millions. Hotstar since its launch, has offered curated episodes of the show in its library and the fans have flocked to it.

    Some other hotstar Originals titles include the popular series On Air With AIB- a news satire hosted by AIB, the edgiest comedy group and M Bole Toh, a talk show featuring the most compelling celebrities from Bollywood.

  • ‘On Air With AIB’ will set a new template in India: Ajit Mohan

    ‘On Air With AIB’ will set a new template in India: Ajit Mohan

    MUMBAI: While satire has been a large part of the Irish and British culture, closer home, the nation woke up to it with websites likes Faking News and The UnReal Times. On the video content front, mainstream mockery and ridicule touched newer heights when hearty laughs were laughed as the comedy group All India Bakchod (AIB) roasted actors Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh… well… at least until they were forcibly stifled when some inconsequential people took offence and created a hullabaloo.

    Notwithstanding that, taking a cue from AIB’s popularity and its posse’s talent in satirical entertainment, Star India was quick to recognise the potential and tap into the new space by roping them in for a new satirical news show called On Air with AIB. The first episode (Hindi and English version) was unveiled on Hotstar today (29 October).

    Star India digital head Ajit Mohan is of the opinion that On Air with AIB will set a new template in India.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Mohan said, “AIB over the years has established themselves as one of the best in what they do and it’s great to have them on board. We wanted to offer our huge youth following a series of satire news. At the same time, we also felt there can be no better option than AIB and that’s how On Air with AIB came in picture.”

    On Air with AIB will have both Hindi and English versions. While the English version will be aired on Star World, Star Plus will share the Hindi feed. “We will premiere both English and Hindi firstly on Hotstar every Thursday. Then two days later on Sunday, the shows will be aired on the two respective channels,” informed Mohan.

    The English version is curated by Ashish Shakya and Rohan Joshi, while Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba will be orchestrating the Hindi narrative.

    In the first Hindi episode of On Air With AIB, which is titled Zaban Sambhal Ke, Khamba and Bhat wonder about why we should be good. We all hate corruption, yet whistleblowers get the raw end of the stick for calling evil out – every single time. The episode will also see Abhish Mathew talking to the Limca Book world record holder Dr K Padmarajan for losing the most elections! On the other hand, the first English episode of 25 minutes duration is titled Why Be Good? and will see Joshi and Shakya ponder over the same issue.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Shakya said, “The two series will have two different blends, in how they are written and presented. Despite the topic being the same, there are enough differences in the presentation for viewers to find both versions equally interesting. Hence a person who has seen the Hindi feed can also tune in to watch the English one and vice-versa.”

    Since television is a community viewing medium in India, it comes with numerous guidelines and restrictions that content creators need to follow – something, which the internet based maestros AIB are hardly accustomed to. They are renowned for a blend of comedy, which complies to no rules or regulations. 

    When quizzed on how they are planning to adapt with the restricted medium, Shakya replied, “The general perception is that we know only one form of comedy, which is not true. Whenever we interacted with Star, we interacted with Ajit or Uday Shankar and we always found them very likeminded, which made it very comfortable for us. On Air With AIB we will talk about important issues with a blend of satire and use our creativity to explore new dimensions. The constraints of television media will not impact the presentation at all.”

    Speaking about the target audience for the show, Mohan said, “Every technology takes time to evolve and video streaming requires a certain level of bandwidth, which at this stage is mostly available in urban regions. So currently, we are targeting urban India.”

    From OOH to TVC to digital, Star India is backing the initiative with a 360 degree marketing and is leaving no stones unturned to generate awareness about their new offering. The collaboration had a role to play in the marketing too as all the television commercials were executed by AIB’s new ad wing Vigyapanti. Other marketing initiatives were taken care of by Star India and its partners.

    Hotstar follows a advertising led revenue model where all its content is available for free. Despite the venture’s aggressive foray into original content, it is not looking to impose a subscription based model anytime soon. “We are very happy with the position that we are in at this moment. Advertisers have been reacting well to our innovations and we are not looking to change our revenue model. We have a strong portfolio with content spread across different genres and languages,” informed Mohan.

    AskMe Bazaar has been roped in as the presenting sponsor of the show, which is co-powered by Tata Motors and Idea.

  • Hotstar ropes in iRock’s Siddhartha Jain as creative director – original content

    Hotstar ropes in iRock’s Siddhartha Jain as creative director – original content

    MUMBAI: Star India’s video on demand platform Hotstar has leapfrogged towards original content creation by appointing iRock Production’s Siddhartha Jain as creative director – original content.

     

    Jain will report to Star India digital head Ajit Mohan.

     

    A source close to the development tells Indiantelevision.com, “Hotstar is aggressively marching forward towards original content and the appointment is a testimony of that.”

     

    Jain, is a serial entrepreneur and film producer. He headed iRock Films India and produced the horror film Ragini MMS.

    Prior to starting iRock with former Adlabs Films chairman Manmohan Shetty, Jain worked at Adlabs for two years. He also produced Marigold – the Salman Khan and Ali Larter starrer US-India film, directed by Willard Carroll, with Hyperion Studio (USA).

  • Star India ropes in AIB for news comedy series

    Star India ropes in AIB for news comedy series

    MUMBAI: Star India has roped in India’s premier comedy collective All India Bakchod (AIB) for new news comedy series called On Air with AIB.

     

    The show will go on air in October and have 10 English and 10 Hindi episodes. It will first release on Star’s OTT platform Hotstar, followed by weekend airing on Star World and Star Plus.

     

    All four members of AIB – Gursimran Khamba, Tanmay Bhat, Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya synchronously said, “We have no idea why anyone in their right minds would ask us to inflict our views on unsuspecting audiences. Also, we live in such a perfect country where everything is amazing and where the maddening, infuriating and often silly state of affairs is not a comedic goldmine, so why would you have us do news comedy? But we’re doing this because we want to see what it’s like to be on a show that requires us to put on pants.”

     

    Taking a cue from insult comedy, which AIB is infamous for, Star India CEO Uday Shankar added, “I am told that based on extensive, exhaustive research, AIB are considered mildly entertaining and we should give them a show on our network. I have complete faith that we will regret this in the months to come.”       

     

    Star India digital head Ajit Mohan said, “We are sort of excited to bring AIB’s brand of mature humor to our platform. This may be the start of a new era of quality content in India, I am told. Janta hamein maaf karein.” 

     

    On Air with AIB will be a weekly series with English and Hindi episodes dropping simultaneously on Hotstar on Thursdays and on Star World and Star Plus on Sundays.

  • India will shape mobile innovation: Ajit Mohan

    India will shape mobile innovation: Ajit Mohan

    MUMBAI: The digital consumer is on his way to become the king of media and entertainment. It is he who will dictate future content trends, platform specifics and most importantly revenue flows. How can the vast media and entertainment ecosystem channelise its vision towards a sustainable revenue system reaping off the all encompassing digital landscape – overhauling payment gateways, broadband speed and consumer sensitisation?

     

    Seeking answers to these questions, a panel discussion was held in FICCI Frames 2015 moderated by BBC Global News presenter Matthew Amroliwala. The panel comprised Star India digital head Ajit Mohan, Yahoo India MD Gurmit Singh, UCWeb India MD Kenny Ye and Airtel global voice and data business CEO and director Srinivasan Gopalan.

     

    The digital platform is yet to have a concrete revenue model and most of the content available now is free content. Mohan said, “India is going to shape innovation in mobile and not the United States and hence we need to have our own model and cannot refer to any other. My observation is that consumers are underserved and they are absolutely ready for real and fresh content in the VOD platform. It is a mass market and quality content will find recognition and appreciation.”

     

    Yahoo’s Singh added, “Yahoo is a 20 years old company that has seen technological evolution. Every 10 years, we have a new technology, which shapes the processing and the same will happen when 4G and 5G comes in. All the existing devices will talk to each other, complement each other and advertisers will have a choice of platform. The advantage of digital is that proper analysis can be done, which makes reaching the target audience easy and accurate. This will also ensure higher returns.”

     

    Talking about the Indian circumstances, UCWeb India’s Ye said, “The government of India launched a digital India campaign, which is highly encouraging and mobile will play a very important role in making India digital. The revenue model is yet to be figured out and a lot of that will be decided by development in infrastructure in the near future. Better online payment infrastructure and more credit and debit card holders will make the revenue model easier.”

     

    The online ventures need communications and carriers to carry the signal from provider to consumer. Airtel’s Gopalan asserted, “About 93 per cent of internet usage is in mobile and it’s high time that content makers and service providers collaborate in order to make things more efficient and revenue generating. We should bundle content and put it in a package for the consumers. And data is not expensive in India and it’s mobile data, which is expensive and there are different reasons behind it.”

     

    Star India’s digital platform Hotstar was free and it got a lot of encouragement in terms of viewership. Commenting on the success of the venture, Mohan said, “Hotstar is not free. The content needs data and the consumers are paying premium rates to see content and hence the myth is baseless.”

     

    It remains to be seen what revenue model the digital platforms accept and if the formula of content is king is followed.

  • Starsports.com to lure digital fans with new World Cup campaign

    Starsports.com to lure digital fans with new World Cup campaign

    MUMBAI: The biggest sporting event for this year – the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 – is just around the corner and the clamour around it is only getting louder. While TV will be abuzz with promotions galore, a good amount of traction can be expected on social media too. To boost the buzz on social media, Lowe Lintas + Partners has unveiled a new campaign ‘Carry the World Cup’ for starsports.com.

     

    The brief for the campaign was to mirror the passion of the youth and their association with the sport in India. Today, with 3G on mobile phones, the youth stays connected 24×7 thereby allowing them to keep doing what they want to. The agency wanted to tap into this lifestyle and leave behind a thought that when one carries a mobile phone, which has the starsports app on it, one is actually carrying the World Cup along. It thereby allows them to continue following their favourite sport and at the same time do what they please to do. 

     

    Speaking about the campaign a spokesperson from starsports.com said, “Given the centrality of the mobile phone in the life of a young Indian, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 is going to be carried round the clock on a mobile screen this time. At starsports.com, we are putting together an exciting proposition for the digital fan. As always, Lowe has put together a compelling campaign for us that will resonate well with young sports fans around the country.”

     

    The challenge for the agency was to get as much attention for the tournament online as compared to the live matches on television.

     

    Commenting on the creative execution that was undertaken for the campaign, Lowe Lintas + Partners national creative director Arun Iyer said, “The youth don’t believe that life comes to a standstill when the cricket WC is happening. It’s this thought that was a springboard for the creative. We then just went ahead and showed all the stuff you can do while watching the WC. In execution, we wanted it to be really cool and have scale. And that’s what Bharat Sikka has helped us do.”

     

    Directed by Sikka, the campaign was shot by Ransom Films. Starsports.com and the starsports mobile app will provide online live streaming and video-on-demand for the entire WC.

     

  • Starsports.com to show ICC WC 2015 in four languages

    Starsports.com to show ICC WC 2015 in four languages

    MUMBAI: As the year comes to an end, cricket fans are eagerly awaiting for 2015 to begin. Cricket mania is set to take over as ICC Cricket World Cup will begin in February next year. And waiting to cash in on the opportunity is starsports.com.

     

    According to Star India EVP and new media head Ajit Mohan, the portal will be following a three step strategy ahead of the mega event. “Firstly, we will create an immersive experience by launching a video timeline that will be available to all fans of starsports.com fans. It will allow them to catch up very quickly on a match, when they come to witness the action on the website. We were the first to introduce the video timeline and we will now take it to every fan,” he says.

     

    “Secondly, we will provide the option for users to switch between languages. Currently we are looking at four languages; Hindi, English and two regional languages,” he adds.

     

    “Thirdly, we are going to have a lot more data and analytics on our site. Apart from this, there will be original stories written by a stellar list of writers like Harsha Bhogle,” he informs.

     

    The website currently is in a celebratory mood. According to data, recently released by comScore, the portal which was launched in June 2013 has beaten the dominant 20 year-old market leader ESPNcricinfo, by a slender margin. For the month of October, the website garnered 4.242 million traffic versus 4.233 million of ESPNcricinfo.

     

    The data also suggests that sports viewership in India is going through a rapid change due to a shift in viewership patterns. Consumers are moving away from basic text and scorecards to a more immersive sports experience on digital. The explosion in the sale of smart phones and increase in access to 3G and broadband explains this trend, says the study.

     

    When questioned what have been the ingredients that have helped starsports.com achieve this recent feat, Mohan explains that the portal has always focused on three areas – enhancing video experience, engaging data and analytics and lastly, storytelling.

     

    “We want to create a video experience that surpasses all constraints of data access and works even at low bandwidths,” says Mohan while adding that sports fans are avid consumers of statistical data too.

     

    Mohan credits his digital team for the website’s way forward. “The DNA of this company is that we are story tellers. We turn data and analytics into sports telling, in a way that can’t be done on television.  For example, we have short clips of matches that are curated to tell a story,” concludes Mohan.

  • Twitter Amplify launches in India

    Twitter Amplify launches in India

    MUMBAI: It’s time for making money from Twitter. Starsports.com and Vodafone India have tied up with Twitter for its Twitter Amplify programme in India for the first time. Through the programme, the broadcaster and the brand will be tapping into growing social conversations around TV programmes especially live sports.

     

    Twitter Amplify allows broadcasters to publish their best content directly to Twitter and then monetise it with advertisers through sponsorship packages. Assisted by ‘promoted tweets’, it will amplify the reach of the video content distributed through companies’ Twitter accounts.

     

    Through the programme, starsports.com looks to enhance viewer experience across the web and mobile by offering high quality clips of sporting action directly to consumers engaged in conversations on Twitter around live matches. It says, “This is likely to lead to greater engagement around live sports in social media as well as create an opportunity for fans to consume the action without leaving the conversation.”

     

    Advertisers will be able to tap into social conversations on Twitter along with a multi screen audience engagement strategy to consume content wherever or whenever they want.

     

    “2014 is a great year for Twitter becoming the social soundtrack for television as 95 per cent of the public social conversation around TV is happening on Twitter today, especially for live sporting events. Broadcasters and brands know that Twitter is a natural TV companion that drives audience tune-in, engagement and affinity,” said Twitter India market director Rishi Jaitly.  “We look forward to working with cutting-edge broadcasters and advertisers, like Star Sports and Vodafone, who want to tap into a compelling second screen experience We are delighted that cricket fans can now enjoy TV highlights in real-time on Twitter,” he added.

     

    Star India head of digital business Ajit Mohan said, “We have built starsports.com as the most compelling destination for fans in India to follow sports on a mobile screen and the best platform for advertisers to reach an attractive audience on digital. This program is a new innovation for us to understand the possibilities of being present when the conversations are happening on Twitter.”

     

    Vodafone India chief commercial officer Vivek Mathur said, “As a brand we are always looking at innovative ways of driving brand engagement and conversations on social media. Cricket (and sports in general) is one of our identified passion points and one with which Vodafone has a huge association. We are very excited to be the pioneers in launching a new social innovation in India centered around Twitter and cricket.”

     

    Through this partnership, Twitter users will receive timely updates about their TV experience and remind them to tune in to the live cricket action and key sporting moments.

  • Star Sports and Twitter partner to launch ‘Tweeplay’

    Star Sports and Twitter partner to launch ‘Tweeplay’

    MUMBAI: Starports.com and Twitter have tied up with TenTenTen Digital Products to launch a new interactive experience on Twitter called ‘Tweeplay’. 

     

    This innovation promise entertainment for sports fans across India as they can now be certain of watching replays of major sports events by just sending a tweet. This unique experience on Twitter will be available during the IPL playoff matches right up to the final on 1 June.

     

    Fans can avail of instant replays by just following four simple steps…

     

    Step 1: Twitter users tweet “@StarSportsIndia #StarSportsTweeplay Help”

     

    Step 2: They will receive a reply with an appropriate set of commands that they can use to demand for specific highlight videos of the match

     

    Step 3: They can then tweet with the specific command and receive a real-time reply from @StarSportsIndia with the highlight video e.g. @StarSportsIndia #StarSportsTweeplay Dhoni 6

     

    Step 4: Watch the video right within their TWEET AND Twitter timeline

     

    On the development Star India head of digital business Ajit Mohan said, “Star Sports has always strived to innovate on digital and we areexcited to partner with Twitter to debut this one-of-a-kind offering which empowers fans to pick and watch sports moments of their choice. This is an experiment and could potentially be a path breaking accompaniment to the starsports.com experience. We have had more than 50 million visits on IPL to date and introducing this innovation at the playoffs is a great way to sign off on the tournament.”

     

    Twitter India head of sports Aneesh Madani said, “As a platform for live, public conversations, Twitter and sports have always been a great fit. Our goal is to reach and delight all sports fans in India by bringing them closer to their game of choice and re-live the best moments of the match. 

     

    We applaud starsports.com and TenTenTen for this breakthrough initiative of near real-time interactivity on the platform.”

     

    Tweeplay is created and being managed by TenTenTen Digital Products. TenTenTen MD and CEO Ramesh Srivats said, “Tweeplay is a unique way to offer snack-sized content on-demand on Twitter. We are very excited about launching it with starsports.com  during the Pepsi IPL playoffs and hope that a never-seen-in-the-world-before service like Tweeplay will help drive online buzz & content consumption.”

  • Starsports.com gains big by streaming IPL 2014

    Starsports.com gains big by streaming IPL 2014

    MUMBAI: The nation is caught in the Pepsi IPL 2014 fever. The series that is being streamed on starsports.com, in its first week, has managed to garner an unprecedented traction of more than a million visitors every day. During the period, starsports.com has attracted around 47 lakh unique visitors across web and mobile delivering just more than a crore visits.

     

    During the first seven matches played in the current season, 150 million minutes of video were consumed by users with an average of more than 32 minutes per match. Consumption on mobile now stands at 42 per cent of the overall traffic. The majority of the viewer base is in the age group of 18-24 years in the top eight metro cities which contribute to overall 60 per cent of the traffic. Gender specifically, female traffic saw a significant surge contributing 27 per cent of the overall audience.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Star India EVP and head, new media Ajit Mohan said, “IPL 2014 is perhaps a turning point for sports consumption. For the first time, online consumption of sports is becoming about video, video, and video. And, our investment in creating a world class backbone for video delivery is showing up as a significant improvement in the experience for sports fans, especially on a mobile screen.”

     

    Since its inception in December 2012, starsports.com has invested heavily to build a video infrastructure customized for India, where the experience is characterized by a proliferation of mobile devices and where a large number of consumers still have access to low bandwidth. In addition, for IPL, the company has leveraged its television infrastructure to deliver mid-rolls (advertisements in the middle of the overs) in addition to the already prevalent pre-rolls (advertisements which roll before the start of the video). 

     

    Video streaming of Pepsi IPL 2014 on the sports website has attracted many sponsors-HUL as the presenting sponsor and amazon.in, Toyota, ITC Personal Care and Reckitt Benckiser as associate sponsors.

     

    Star India president sales Amit Chopra added, “The most innovative advertisers in India are recognising the power of the mobile screen. Many of them have been hesitant in the past about investing in video ads online, given the sketchy delivery of both content and ads. We have been able to offer a powerful proposition to these advertisers by delivering a great video experience and a highly engaged sports fan.”

     

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