Mumbai: Disney is set to sell 60 per cent of Its assets to Viacom18 in a strategic agreement as per media reports. The deal is set to close this February.
According to the report, the pact values the India business at $3.9 billion and the transaction is likely to close this February.
Both Disney and Viacom 18 signed a non-binding pact in December last year, as per which Reliance was to have a 51 per cent shareholding and Disney 49 per cent.
Mumbai : Disney Star Network, India’s one of the leading TV network has capped off another remarkable year, with its six Hindi movie channels – Star Gold, Star Gold 2, Star Gold Romance, Star Gold Thrills, Star Utsav Movies and Star Gold Select ending the year 2023 on a winning note as the #1 Hindi Movies Network on TV. These channels have together garnered an impressive market share of 25 per cent in the Hindi Movies channel space.
Disney Star head – content, Disney+ Hotstar & HSM Entertainment Network Gaurav Banerjee said, “We are happy to conclude another remarkable year as the #1 Hindi Movies Network in the country. The success of our Hindi Movies Portfolio lies in our content strategy to deliver top-notch entertainment to our viewers. Our diverse mix of movie channels encompass an unmatched variety of films ranging from the premieres of the biggest blockbusters to high-concept movies with relevant social messages and timeless classics, collectively reaffirming our position as the preferred destination for exceptional cinematic experiences on television. We look forward to continuing our commitment to entertaining viewers with the choicest of exciting and engaging Hindi cinema across genres,”
Backed by a clear brand promise, Disney Star’s Hindi Movies Network has an impressive collection of differentiated brands, each of which enjoys leadership in their respective segments. Star Gold, the go-to destination for Premieres of Blockbuster movies dominated the year once again by airing 3 out of the top 4 World TV Premieres It has consistently aggregated an impressive average reach of 79 Mn viewers every week, closing the year as the highest reach platform and the leader in the Pay Movies category. The channel’s promise of presenting TV premieres of the latest mega blockbusters continued in 2023 with movies like Pathaan, Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva, Rajini The Jailer and Ram Setu.
Star Gold 2, the twin channel of Star Gold, is the second-highest reach platform on TV aggregating an average of 72 Mn audiences every week, consolidating Star Gold’s position as the No. 1 Hindi Movies Network in India.
Star Gold Romance, India’s only channel exclusively dedicated to the romance genre launched on March 23. With movies such as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil Toh Pagal Hai, Mohabbatein, 2 States, including highly acclaimed movies from South such as Sita Ramam & Fidaa and iconic titles from Hollywood such as Titanic, Disney’s Aladdin & Cinderella, and Star Gold Romance has won the hearts of audiences offering a unique space for love, warmth and feel-good romance.
Star Gold Thrills was the most disruptive and successful channel launched in 2023. It has curated high-octane movies from genres like Thrills, Action & Adventure, Sci-fi, Horror and dubbed these movies in Hindi. Through this, it has introduced India to Hollywood’s world-class entertainment. The channel has notched up 57 per cent of male viewership, highest in its category. A well-rounded portfolio of franchises such as Marvel Studios’ Avengers, 20th Century Studios’ Avatar, Godzilla and The Chronicles of Narnia, has kept the viewers on the edge of their seats.
Star Utsav Movies is amongst the leading movie channels on DD Free Dish with blockbuster movie premieres like Ram Setu, Cuttputlli and Babli Bouncer. The channel is also home to the biggest Bollywood movies like Laxmii, Rowdy Rathore, Singham, Total Dhamaal and Chup Chup Ke.
With a robust value proposition and star-studded portfolio, Disney Star’s Hindi Movies network continues to entertain 378 million viewers (monthly reach) with top-quality entertainment and continues to be the preferred destination for movies on television.
Source:
[1] BARC | HSM U, MF 15-50 ABC | TV | 2023 | AMA (Mn)
[2] BARC | HSM U, Univ | 2023
[3] BARC | HSM U, Univ, TV + OOH* |2023
[4] BARC | HSM U, MF 15-50 ABC | 2023
[5] BARC | HSM U, Univ, TV + OOH* | 2023
[6] BARC | HSM U, Univ, Week 16-52’23
[7] BARC | HSM U+R | Universe | TV+OOH* | Week 49-52’23 | Cum Rch (Mn)
Mumbai: Carrying on the legacy of being home to one of the biggest dance shows in India, Disney+ Hostar is thrilled to announce an all-new season of widely watched dance reality show, Dance+ Pro. Season seven of the show will see veteran choreographer Remo D’Souza once again resume his role as the super judge. Along with him on the judge’s bench will be skilled dancers Punit J. Pathak, Shakti Mohan and Rahul Shetty as team captains herding 12 teams on the show. Season 7 of the cult show is taken to the next level and the upcoming edition is free to stream on all devices and will present brands with an exciting and powerful opportunity to connect with a loyal fan base.
Disney+ Hotstar is the go-to platform for captivating entertainment, especially for iconic dance reality shows like Nach Baliye, Dance Champions, and Dance+. This rests on the idea of the genre forever innovating itself. Dance+ Pro carries forward this legacy with the introduction of industry-first innovations like AI chatbots, will share contestants’ backstories, and a unique ‘Watch Plus’ tool that for the first time will allow viewers to closely analyze a dance move at their own pace. Along with these, the show also introduces newer collaborations like dancers joining hands with local social media stars and representing various regions and languages. Additionally, the show will also offer a host of engagements with Remo D’Souza inviting dance entries from the audience every week. Fans can also record and send their favorite dance move. Winning entries stand a chance to get featured on the show. Additionally, viewers are also invited to create reels replicating the popular steps of the dances. The multi-touchpoint engagements take it beyond screens and make it an ideal platform for brands to gain maximum visibility.
Disney+ Hotstar head – content, & Disney Star HSM entertainment network Gaurav Banerjee said, “Disney+ Hotstar has propelled entertainment storytelling through genres and formats and Dance Plus Pro is a step forward towards this commitment. We are extremely excited to bring forth a brand new season of this spectacular dance show headlined by super-judge Remo Dsouza and hope the audience will enjoy it.
With Dance+ Pro being a popular reality show, Disney+ Hotstar this year is set to elevate the watch experience further through a plethora of technological and content innovations for viewers. Brands can also be a part of the experience with the platform’s expansive reach and innovative features like in-episode integrations, branded segments, anchor mentions, ILU showcase, astons and windows as well as show-based vignettes with celebs.
Mumbai: Disney+ Hotstar, India’s leading streaming platform, has launched a handbook for effective brand building on the platform. Titled Winning in the OTT era with Disney+ Hotstar, the handbook shares learnings based on the analysis of over 200 plus campaigns and offers a 360° view of why marketers must include OTT in their marketing strategy. The playbook has been developed in collaboration with industry experts Kantar, Neurons, Integral Ad Science, Mediasmart and Metrix Lab. The playbook shares key media planning principles along with creative best practices for video ads to enable advertisers to make the most of their campaigns on OTT platforms, it also inspires advertisers to go beyond vanilla advertising by collaborating with the Disney+ Hotstar’s CreativeWorks team to create bespoke, contextual, impactful campaigns. It also shares insights to make the most of the connected TVs (CTV) feed as a medium to connect with their desired audiences.
“The changing media-scape of advertising has made it imperative for brands to embrace OTT platforms. Disney+ Hotstar has continuously led the way in the ever-evolving OTT industry, constantly innovating to provide exceptional experiences for both consumers and advertisers. We are delighted to present the Winning in The OTT Era with Disney+ Hotstar playbook, that shares the recipe for success to enable advertisers harness the full potential of our platform thus maximizing impact for their campaigns. Created in collaboration with leading industry experts, the handbook offers invaluable guidance for effective media planning and brand building, enabling our advertisers to make data-driven decisions and significantly enhance advertising ROI,” said Disney Star head of network – ad sales Ajit Varghese.
Additionally, the handbook lays down the best practices that can be deployed by brands to maximize their ROIs when advertising on Disney+ Hotstar:
● Campaigns with three plus video ads were most successful in driving brand awareness, favorability, and purchase intent.
● Campaigns with 20 plus second video ads delivered the highest success
● Midroll campaigns supplemented with other creative formats delivered 30 per cent more success in driving brand message and purchase
● Operating at a frequency of six plus increases purchase intent by 70 per cent and brand awareness by 50 per cent
● Longer campaigns (>six weeks) yield higher success on upper and lower funnel metrics.
Campaigns following these practices on Disney+ Hotstar recorded a 10 per cent higher success rate vs. industry benchmarks defined by Kantar across digital campaigns. The study also highlights how Impact advertising on the platform has delivered 100 per cent success across the funnel for sponsors and inventory buyers and outperformed industry benchmarks. The case studies recorded reveal the following:
● Sponsors of Koffee With Karan Season 7 achieved 3X Uplift through in-show integration and branded vignettes, 4X brand awareness, 2.8X Online ad awareness, 3.3X message association, 2.8X brand favorability and 2.6X purchase intent.
● Sponsors of Dance+ Season 6 achieved two times organic value through impact advertising on the show making it one of the most successful campaigns across the industry.
● Tanishq co-creating and hosting reality series with Disney+ Hotstar CreativeWorks, The Great Indian Bride, saw the brand creatively reach out to modern brides of India and, in the process, achieve five times purchase intent and 2.3x brand awareness uplift.
Mumbai: The India Brand Summit, held on November 28, 2023, at The Lalit Mumbai, brought together leaders, marketers, entrepreneurs, and experts to discuss current trends in the dynamic brands and marketing arena. During a fireside chat with Ajit Varghese, Head of Network Ad Sales at Disney Star, Anil NM Wanvari praised Disney Star’s record-breaking viewership during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
Varghese highlighted the success of the World Cup, attracting over 500 million TV viewers and a streaming reach of 295 million, making it one of the most successful ICC Cricket World Cups to date. He also emphasized their focus on seamless viewer experience, enhanced engagement, and facilitating ROI discussions. The streaming platform introduced a bunch of innovations including MaxView, a technological innovation that allows cricket fans to watch the game in vertical mode (9×14 portrait view) for the very first time in the history of cricket streaming. MaxView was launched in collaboration with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and had close to 30% people sample it during the tournament.
Varghese also spoke about the self-serve platform launched for live cricket for the very first time. And how the platform gave advertisers the opportunity to advertise on cricket by just booking on the Disney+ Hotstar platform directly. The streaming service had hundreds of agencies logging in and almost 150+ new advertisers who advertised on cricket for the first time.
Disney+ Hotstar broke the record for peak concurrency with 59 million viewers for the final match. Ajit spoke about how the platform enabled its tech to handle this feat seamlessly. “We actually enabled our tech to handle almost 50-55 million concurrent users. There are two things that you need to look at. One is, when you get to that concurrency, can you serve ads to all of them? Second, what if the concurrency goes up further? So, the enablement of tech is on both fronts. One is the ability to handle more concurrency. Second is having that ad insertion in a seamless way so that the user experience does not have lags, breakage and all of that.”
He further added, “From a targeting point of view, there were around 12 targeting options. Now we took it up to 55 with the World Cup. Ad insertion capability moved up almost by 5X. So there are a lot of things that you observe when you watch a match seamlessly because finally for a consumer it’s his mobile and it’s his experience. When you look at close to 300 million people watching that tournament and when I look at 59 million concurrency, both should not have any leakage in experience and that’s why I think the sport is a history and the overall experience has been historic.”
Wanvari then questioned Varghese about the upcoming Pro Kabaddi League to which he said “When we started PKL in 2014, in the year two or three itself, it became the second largest sport in India. And we recently announced PKL being available for free on mobile on Disney+ Hotstar with the aim to make Kabaddi accessible to all of India and foster a stronger sense of engagement amongst the fans.”
He also highlighted the overall growth the league has witnessed, the boost in PKL player payments, and the significant advertiser value return expected from PKL, he said, “The growth in player payments is 10x. And if you look at the kind of advertiser value return, I would say this would be the single event which gives you more than 15-16x kind of return. PKL will be bigger than any other reality show.”
When asked about the division between TV and OTT audiences for the World Cup, Varghese
said “It is very interesting with the World Cup being offered for free on mobile. What we saw is that TV viewership was not affected at all. So, if you look at this World Cup or the last World Cup, TV viewership has held strong with TV’s peak concurrency hitting 13 crores. What’s beautiful with that logic is, digital streaming while has grown leaps and bounds, it hasn’t impacted TV viewership.”
Varghese shared lessons for brands and advertisers, highlighting the effectiveness of sports in advertising. He emphasized the need for transparency in metrics and the importance of sports marketing for profitability and campaign success. Regarding the confusion between views and concurrent viewers, Varghese stressed the importance of transparency and factual data to instill confidence in advertisers.
He also discussed the growth of Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST) in India, primarily operating on Ad-supported Video on Demand (AVOD).
Addressing the rise in consumption patterns on social media, Varghese debunked the notion that people only spend time on social platforms, emphasizing on the variety of content available today including User Generated Content and Professionally Generated Content. He discussed the evolving models for content creation as well.
Varghese concluded by discussing India’s advertising market, anticipating growth as the country evolves into a per capita market. He highlighted the ample headroom for advertising spends to grow in India’s expanding economy and population.
Mumbai: In a historic triumph for sports broadcasting, Disney Star, the official broadcaster of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, has set new benchmarks for viewership, redefining the cricketing landscape. The highly anticipated final clash between cricket powerhouses India and Australia has not only etched itself into the chronicles of sporting history but has also become the most-watched event ever on both linear TV and digital streaming. With an astounding reach of 30 Crore for the live broadcast on TV, Star Sports Network ensured that cricket enthusiasts across India were glued to their television screens, making it the most watchedTelevision event ever. The magnitude of the final was further highlighted by a peak concurrency of 13 Crore viewers on TV and 5.9 crore peak concurrency on Disney+ Hotstar (Digital).
As per BARC, the tournament crossed a viewership of half a billion viewers for the first time as 518 million (51.8 Crore) TV viewers tuned in for the live broadcast of the marquee tournament being played in India after 12 years. The live TV broadcast for the tournament garnered 422 billion minutes of TV watch time making it the most watched ICC Men’s World Cup in the history of the event. The final between India Vs Australia delivered a peak concurrency of 13 crore which surpassed the previous highest peak concurrency in the tournament with India Vs Pakistan at 7.5 crore and India Vs New Zealand at 8 crore. Disney Star left no stone unturned in bringing the grandeur of the World Cup to fans in India and across the globe, showcasing its unwavering dedication to delivering unparalleled sporting content.
The streaming arm of Disney Star broke its own record five times through the tournament to witness a peak concurrency of 5.9 crores for the final, solidifying its position as the go-to destination for cricket enthusiasts seeking a seamless and immersive viewing experience. The platform surpassed global streaming records across all formats of cricket at the beginning of the tournament with the peak concurrency of 3.5 crore viewers during the India Vs Pakistan match. This was followed by a streak of record-breaking numbers – 4.3 crore peak concurrent viewers during the India Vs New Zealand match, 4.4 crore peak concurrent viewers during the India Vs South Africa match and most recently, 5.3 crore peak concurrent viewers during the thrilling semifinals between India and New Zealand match.
Speaking about the recent success of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, Disney Star country manager & president K Madhavan said, “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), for their invaluable support, making this tournament an overwhelming success. We would also like to thank the fans, who showered their support throughout the tournamentand with their unwavering passion making this historic achievement possible. Disney Star is dedicated to paving the road for sports broadcast in India and it has been extremely encouraging to see growth across both, the linear and digital mediums, thereby increasing the fan base of cricket. This is testament to the uniqueness of the India market where linear and digital continue to grow alongside each other.This successful tournament has set the stage for a promising future in our association with the ICC.”
Disney Star, in its pioneering approach to sports broadcasting, redefined and reimagined how fans consume cricket. In a groundbreaking collaboration with the International Cricket Council (ICC), Disney+ Hotstar introduced MaxView-a technological innovation that allowed cricket enthusiasts to experience the game in vertical mode (9X14 portrait view) for the first time in the history of streaming cricket.
Disney Star also provided an extensive 11 feeds for ICC Men’s CWC 2023, including coverage in 9 different languages (English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, & Malayalam), ensuring that cricket enthusiasts across diverse linguistic landscapes could savor the thrilling moments of this historic World Cup.
As the curtain falls on this historic event, Disney Star takes pride in having orchestrated a cricketing spectacle that captivated the hearts and minds of millions, reaffirming its commitment to pushing the boundaries of sports entertainment.
Mumbai: Former group head of Star Plus & Disney Kids ads sale business Chandan Das, has been elevated to the role of region head for Star Jalsha, Jalsha Movies and Jalsha Kiran. Das made the announcement via his Linkedin post.
He has over 12 years of experience and has worked in HT Media and Info Edge, serving Disney Star for nine years. In his new role, he will report to national head – Ad sales for the Bengal and Odisha cluster Ashish Gupta. Das started his career as a recruitment officer at Bharti Axa Life Insurance and then went on to become a management trainee at Lakme Lever. He is an alumni of West Bengal University of Technology, Kolkata.
Mumbai: The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 has set more record-breaking numbers as hundreds of millions of fans engage with the biggest Cricket World Cup ever.
The event that runs from 5 October to 19 November has seen fans in India through Global Broadcast partner Disney Star consuming more Men’s Cricket World Cup cricket than ever before. The live broadcast for the first 18 tournament matches has clocked up 123.8 billion viewing minutes which is a 43 per cent growth compared to the previous edition in England and Wales in 2019.
The World Cup has also witnessed an incredible 364.2 million viewers tuning in to the live broadcast of the first 18 matches of the tournament, with fans enjoying the very best of cricket in one day, combined with the unique Indian passion for the sport and the national pride of all competing nations creating an unrivalled global sporting occasion.
The monumental clash between India and Pakistan played on 14 October in Ahmedabad witnessed a peak live concurrency on television of 76 million and 35 million concurrent viewers on digital.
India’s clash against New Zealand in Dharamsala on 22 October eclipsed the record for highest digital concurrency set by the India v Pakistan clash when it witnessed 43 million concurrent viewers on Disney+ Hotstar during the final overs of the match. This was the highest peak across any format of cricket ever on digital.
Fans inside the venue have been able to enjoy the true celebration of the best all-round cricket experience with a total of more than 542,000 fans attending matches up to the mid-way point in the event, which is 190,000 more than at the equivalent stage in 2019.
ICC chief executive Geoff Allardice said: “We are delighted to see the interest and engagement in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 through the unbelievable audience numbers on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar. The World Cup has captured the imagination of the public across India with records tumbling and hundreds of millions of fans enjoying the pinnacle event of the one-day game more than ever before.”
Disney Star head – Sports Sanjog Gupta said: “Marquee Cricket continues to demonstrate unparalleled capacity to aggregate audiences across platforms and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 has set new viewership benchmarks on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar. With the Indian team’s strong performance, the fluctuating fortunes of top teams, and a competitive points table, we expect a further increase in the momentum of the tournament. Disney Star is committed to serving sports fans and will continue to delight viewers around the world with its coverage of the global event.”
Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd., is all set to finalise a multibillion dollar deal with Walt Disney Co. to buy its India operations, according to media reports.
The RIL is expected to enjoy a controlling stake in the Disney Star business, which has an estimated valuation of $10 billion. The US entertainment giant will end up holding a minority stake in the business. Reliance views the assets at between $7 billion to $8 billion, as per close sources.
The giant acquisition is expected to be declared by the companies next month. Under the proposal, Disney is likely to continue holding on to a minority stake in the Indian company after the completion of cash and stock swap transaction. According to the news report, Disney could choose to hold onto assets for a bit longer.
Mumbai: Major League Baseball and Disney Star have collaborated with IMG and Amped Pictures to produce ‘Indian Baseball Dreams’, a docuseries that tells the story of first-generation Indian American Arjun Nimmala. Nimmala was drafted in the first round of the MLB amateur draft in July by the Toronto Blue Jays, making history as the first-ever first-generation Indian American to be drafted at such a high position across any of the four major U.S. professional sports.
The docuseries takes viewers along Nimmala’s journey to further explore his roots in his parents’ hometown of Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) and to uncover India’s sporting culture – meeting up with Ajinkya Rahane for a bit of friendly cricket, the sport Nimmala grew up practicing. Throughout the docuseries, Arjun meets India’s own budding baseball talents whose stories are also featured.
The four-part documentary has been launched on 18 October 2023, on Star Sports Select 1 & Star Sports Select 2 and the final episode will be aired on 21 October 2023, with repeat telecasts continuing until 26 October 2023. Additionally, ‘Indian Baseball Dreams’ will launch nationwide on Disney+ Hotstar in November.
This docuseries is part of an expanded partnership renewal between MLB and Disney Star. Along with broadcasting the World Series as it has done since 2020, Star Sports is airing additional rounds of the Major League Baseball Postseason live throughout October and November for the first time on Star Sports Select 1 and 2. These telecasts are produced specifically for the Indian market for the first time, and feature MLB’s best teams as they chase a World Series title.
“Indian Baseball Dreams follows Arjun Nimmala, a 17-year-old Indian American baseball prodigy, as he aims to make history by becoming the first first-generation Indian American athlete selected in the first round of a major US sport. This series highlights Arjun’s exceptional talent, dedication, and the growing influence of baseball beyond borders. It’s a captivating journey that bridges cultures, showcasing the universal power of sports to inspire triumph and heritage. Don’t miss this incredible story of breaking barriers and developing connections between India and baseball.”, said a Star Sports Spokesperson.
Manish Batavia, who has called the games in India, spoke on the experience of bringing live baseball to the Indian audience.
“The similarities between India’s biggest obsession Cricket and America’s favourite indulgence Baseball are what make it a joyride to be commentating on MLB! Drawing parallels between the two sports to build a certain familiarity and relatability with and around MLB for Indian fans has been the key objective for us,” Batavia said.
Major League Baseball, since establishing an office in India in 2019, continues to grow interest in the sport of baseball, including by running its flagship MLB Cup program, a youth tournament that has grown to include 154 teams in 2023 from across the country.
MLB India business development manager Ryo Takahashi commented, “We at MLB India continue to find ways to connect with our audience in India, where we really believe in the opportunity to grow interest in baseball. Star Sports has been a strong partner of ours to expand baseball’s reach while we continue to provide opportunities to play the game of baseball through our youth events.”