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Tag: Hotstar

  • Republic TV claims ‘stunning’ debut on Hotstar

    MUMBAI: New kid on the news block Republic TV has claimed it made a “stunning debut on Hotstar” crossing “a million viewers” within a day of its launch.

    In an official joint statement of Republic TV and Hotstar, the news channel announced it has “created leadership in the most coveted news audience in the country, the urban viewers”.

    Republic’s reach on Hotstar’s OTT platform exceeded that of the top English news channels on television, including Times Now, India Today TV, CNN News18 and NDTV 24×7 amongst both the urban M15+ audience as well as viewers in the top 60 cities in India, according to the statement put out by Republic TV, helmed by Arnab Goswami and funded, amongst others, by entrepreneur-turned-politician Rajeev Chandrashekhar, a vice-chairman of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that rules India.

    Claiming that it is a “dramatic announcement given the viewership benchmarks are from a single digital platform”, the Republic TV-Hotstar statement said the new news channel’s viewership figures exceeded that of “traditional news channels significantly”.

    According to the claims, Republic TV’s viewership percentage was 208 per cent of Times Now, 229 per cent of India Today, 311 per cent of CNN News18 and 254 per cent of NDTV 24X7. It further claimed that the comparisons are vis-a-vis TV figures that BARC India would collect within all-India 1mn+ towns, including mega-cities, for 22 April 2017.

    Indiantelevision.com is not in a position to independently verify the viewership figures submitted by Republic TV and Hotstar. BARC India, the country’s present audience measurement currency, has not yet come out with data relating to Republic TV and other Indian news channels for the period under consideration till the time of writing this report.

    Commenting on the matter, the official statement quoted Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan as saying, “This is an exciting start and is a testimony to the impactful launch of Republic and the strength of the Hotstar platform, which has become the de facto destination for young, digital India.”

    Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani said in the statement, “Republic will be the largest and most impactful news platform. We are excited to partner with Hotstar and bring in an entirely new audience to the Republic community. We are also thrilled to have taken a leadership position on debut itself. ”

  • Laqshya launches branded IPs and content division

    MUMBAI: Integrated marketing agency Laqshya Media Group has announced its foray into branded Intellectual Properties(IPs) and content with the launch of a new division under its live event IP Company, Event Capital.This launch comes close on the heels of Laqshya Media Group announcing its foray into talent management with the signing of Indian Cricketer Suresh Raina in April 2017.

    Deepak Choudhary, Founder and Director, Event Capital said, “It is widely known that the branded entertainment space is growing at a break-neck pace, and with Laqshya Media Group’s head start in the live event IP space with Event Capital, creating strategic IPs for achieving a brand’s business objectives is the natural way forward.”

    Bollywood Music Project, the most recent offering from Event Capital has created history with two editions in its debut year with over 50,000 attendees across Mumbai and Delhi, and was livestreamed to an audience of over 10 million.Event Capital has already tested the waters successfully in the branded IP space with the IIFL Wealth Mumbai International Chess Tournament held in December 2016. Swaroop Banerjee, CEO, Event Capital carries a wealth of experience in the branded entertainment and content space with his earlier stints at Viacom18, Star Movies and MTV Asia. Prior to Event Capital, he curated Bajaj Auto’s motorsport IP, Pulsar Festival of Speed. The company will be announcing the head of this new division, who will report into Banerjee.

    Swaroop Banerjee, CEO, Event Capital said, “The Branded IPs and Content division is a logical progression for us and will sit at the heart of what we do, as brands and creators look to new mediums in telling their stories. The space has grown significantly over the past couple of years, and we have witnessed a lot of established brands going beyond event sponsorships to establish their own IPs like Pulsar Festival of Speed,Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, Ray-Ban Never Hide Sounds, etc.to maximise their engagement with their target audiences.”

    “According to the FICCI KPMG Report 2017, there has been a nearly 98 percent increase in the number of live event IPs organised in 2016 as compared to the previous year, and we have already seen the impact of online content destinations like Netflix, Hotstar, etc. No marketer wants to miss this opportunity, and we are already in conversation with some of them to create new IPs or leverage their existing ones with our understanding of building event IPs across varied genres,” he added.

    Over the next few weeks, Event Capital is scheduled to organise its media, communication and design festival, Edutainment Show on May 19-20 at Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai and follow it up with India’s most iconic fashion event for kids, India Kids Fashion Week in July 2017.

  • Arnab’s Republic ready for news battle

    MUMBAI: It seems to be one of those rare media projects that is launching with a battery of advertisers and sponsors. Also, it is an exceptional new television channel that had little or no difficulty in reaching out to the right audience through myriad platforms — linear TV, through cable and MSOs, and OTT.

    Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV, which is being launched at 10am on 6 May as www.indiantelevision.com reported weeks ago, will have a strong digital presence through Reliance Jio‘s over-the-top (OTT) platform Jio TV and Star India’s video-on-demand (VoD) platform Hotstar.

    Star and Jio happen to be among the eight original sponsors of Republic TV. Others advertisers include Renault, Vivo, Hike Messenger, Ola, Yes Bank, Microsoft and Future Group. Vivo is also the presenting sponsor of the 9-pm show, while Microsoft is the technology partner. 

    It appears as if it is having a near-perfect launch. With a high decibel marketing campaign – online, outdoors, on ground – which has made almost everyone in the major metros sit up and take note.

    Republic TV will be available  on cable TV, direct-to-home (DTH) and OTT platforms, its digital avataar being republicworld.com. Amongst the DTH platforms which have given it carriage, according to reports,  include: Videocon2h, Tata Sky and some say even Airtel has hopped on board. The MSOs which have reportedly signed on the dotted line include: DEN, Hathway, Manthan, and Ortel. However, some cable and DTH operators may not offer the channel for free or it would be made a part of a bouquet.

    Goswami’s ‘pro-military and nationalistic’ and may be pro-establishment, will have the biggest OTT advantage with Hotstar 135 million downloads. The free-to-air (FTA) channel will bridge the Indian national news vacuum in Hotstar’s portfolio. Hotstar, which offers premium, free and original content across genres, live-streams Sky News and Fox News owned by 21st Century Fox, its parent company. Star earlier exited from the news business as regulation does not allow foreign holding of 51% in television news franchises.

    Goswami believes (being on Hotstar) was the first step as news produced in India goes digital, and then global, since the non-FTA paid VoD platform would take news to  90 million-plus viewers every month. 

    The former Times Now editor had teamed up with Kerala NDA vice-chairman and Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar in launching Republic TV. Other investors in ARG Outlier include DEN Networks promoter Sameer Manchanda, senior investment banker Hemendra Kothari, Aarin Capital’s Ranjan Ramdas Pai, Asian Heart Institute’s Ramakanta Panda and TVS Tyres’ R Naresh etc.

    Headed by an idealistic journalist and master-presenter, a near-perfect launch of a nationalistic channel in  times of nationalist dispensation notwithstanding, it remains to be seen how it performs in the jungle of warring news channels. As a senior executive  of a long standing English news broadcaster says: “Republic TV has made the right kind of noises at launch phase. Its key challenge will be sustainibility and that too over the long run. Rivals have deeper pockets and clout; they have not really reacted aggressively against it. When they do, it will have to put up its best, and that will determine its road ahead.”

    Also Read:

    Of Arnab’s Republic, nationalism, need for opinionated media & ‘outdated’ BBC

    Republic TV buzzing with pre-launch teasers featuring ‘soft’ targets, issues

  • Republic TV to launch on Hotstar

    MUMBAI: Hotstar, India’s leading streaming platform and Republic TV, the nation’s most awaited news venture, today announced a strategic partnership to shape the future of news online. In a first, Hotstar will open up its platform for a third party content provider, marking a big movement in the evolution of the country’s largest streaming service. Hotstar will also introduce News as a distinct category on the platform, adding to its current portfolio of TV Shows, Movies and Sports from around the world.

    Republic TV is one of the country’s first major news service to launch in a digital era. With Arnab Goswami as the founder and lead anchor, the service aims to dramatically alter the news landscape in the country.

    Announcing the partnership, Uday Shankar, Chairman & CEO, Star India said “Hotstar is the fastest growing digital platform in the world and the leading destination in India for curated, high quality stories. Young India has embraced Hotstar. We believe that young, digitally savvy Indians are deeply interested in understanding their country and the world they live in. We are deeply committed to making sure that we continuously widen Hotstar’s offering, and the launch of Republic TV on Hotstar fills a big gap in our portfolio.”

    Commenting on the partnership, Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief and Founder, Republic TV said, “Hotstar is a compelling destination for content cutting across genres and age groups. We are confident of breaking the digital barrier and believe this is the first step as news produced in India goes digital and then global. We believe the coming together of these two exciting brands and services will take news to the 90 million plus viewers on Hotstar every month. You can now catch Republic TV on the move and on demand.”

  • ‘Sarabhai’ stands out for wit & cast’s inimitable timing, says Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan

    MUMBAI: Leading VoD platform Hotstar finally announced the launch date of the much-awaited comedy, Sarabhai versus Sarabhai, to be 16 May. “We looked at the comedy space on digital and realised that there is a glut of content that liberally uses swearing and insults to create comedy. While that has its place, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’s brand of comedy stands out in sharp contrast as content that’s best known for its wit, sarcasm and the stellar cast’s inimitable timing,” said Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan.

    Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai is based on the life of a funny and quirky Gujarati family, living in Mumbai. The show’s originality and humour have earned it a spot among the best of Indian television, the sequel of which has now been made for the VoD platform.

    Hotstar is a leading premium streaming platform with more than 100,000 hours of drama and movies in nine languages, and coverage of every major global sporting event.

    “Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai: Take 2″ is the latest in our signature bouquet of content called — Hotstar Originals. Each show in this bouquet, be it On Air with AIB, Cineplay or Tanhaaiyan, is genre-defining in its own unique way, and we’re really excited to see the enthusiasm Sarabhai vs Sarabhai: Take 2 has already drummed up,” added Mohan.

    Following a unique marketing campaign that has sent fans into a frenzy of anticipation, India’s leading video-on-demand platform, Hotstar, finally announced the launch date of the much-awaited comedy, Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai, to be 16th May.

    Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai, back after a hiatus of seven years, will premiere on Hotstar as Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai: Take 2. The show features Satish Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Sumeet Raghavan, Rupali Ganguly, Rajesh Kumar and Deven Bhojani, and is produced by Jamnadas (JD) Majethia and Aatish Kapadia. The second season promises the same wit and sarcasm that became the hallmark of the show, along with some new and interesting story tracks and characters.

    Hotstar, keenly aware of the consistent and passionate fandom for the show, designed an immersive marketing campaign which would allow fans to become part of the show’s journey, while giving new audiences a peek into what makes the show a smash hit.

    The quirky digital campaign kick-started with a teaser on April 3rd, taking fans on a virtual tour of the show’s set for the ‘Muhurat shot’ via Facebook Live. Millions of fans immediately responded with incredible enthusiasm, resulting in the show trending on Facebook for 4 days.

    Hotstar dialed up the engagement further with a digital video, inviting suggestions from audiences for naming the second season of the show.

    The video went viral, attracting over 15 million views (and counting), within just 2 days of release. The suffix in the show’s title, ‘Take 2’, was selected from over 50,000 suggestions from fans.

    The new name of the show was finally revealed via the official promotional film for Sarabhai vs Sarabhai: Take 2 on social media, racking up 3 million views within 10 hours of release. The film, which shows the characters diligently cleaning various objects around the house, underscores the show’s proposition as a comedy that is ‘Clean bhi, crazy bhi’.

  • Netflix viewing is 6% of Hotstar’s in India: 21st CF CFO Nallen

    NEW DELHI: Star India’s parent 21st Century Fox feels that Star’s OTT platform Hotstar future in the Indian market was great and that it has become the `second TV’ in Indian homes that highlights global competitors like Netflix and Amazon have failed to make a dent yet.

    According to 21st Century Fox senior EVP and CFO John Nallen, the portable nature of the app (Hotstar on a smart phone) has made people use it as a “second TV”. Similarity of content on traditional TV on Star channels (“we produce 17,000 hours per year of local Indian product”) is what drives the market, ratings and minutes on Hotstar, he added.

    Speaking to investors in March 2017, Nallen pointed out that there have been 135 million downloads — “the biggest app download in Indian history”– of Hotstar app and in terms of usage in January 2017, it had eight billion minutes of viewing, “ten times of what it had six months earlier”.

    “When I look at the growth of our business, Hotstar is a key piece of it in India, and it also had the opportunity to appeal to the Indian diaspora where we sell our products currently in the US and the UK,” the 21st CF CFO highlighted.  At 21st Century Fox, Nallen oversees all of the company’s financial dealings, specifically overseeing capital market and merger and acquisition transactions as well as various corporate-wide operating initiatives.

    Asked if Amazon and Netflix impacted the OTT market in India as both were investing heavily, Nallen said, “Netflix, not really. It is six per cent of Hotstar viewing (in India). Amazon is investing significantly in local products, which is in Hindi and local languages.”

    According to an official statement from Star earlier this month, Hotstar became the first local service to cross 100 million downloads on the Google Play Store, racing ahead of many other consumer Internet companies in India, including e-commerce services like Amazon India and Flipkart, taxi ride services like Ola, payment apps like Paytm and even news services like Times of India, NDTV and Dailyhunt.

    The service also announced recently that it has emerged as the primary screen for cricket extravaganza VIVO IPL 2017 in India’s top cities, especially those with more than a million in population.

    Speaking at the CASBAA OTT Summit in Singapore in March, Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan, without elaborating on exact plans, had asserted the platform wanted to expand to other parts of the globe, adding the model could be “global with mobile viewing and tech at the heart of things.”  He did not expand on the territories being targeted for expansion or the investments being made by the company.

    ALSO READ:

    Hotstar becomes first ‘Made in India’ platform to reach 100-m downloads in two yrs

    Hotstar brings back comedy show Sarabhai vs Sarabhai

    Netflix’s Reed Hastings’ compliment pleases Hotstar

     

  • 21st Century Fox outlook on Star bullish despite $30m DeMon hit

    MUMBAI: Though India’s currency demonetisation late last year with ripple effects of currency shortage spilling over in 2017 hit businesses all round, including the likes of Star, its parent 21 Century Fox has pinned high hopes on the OTT platform Hotstar and the overall ability of Star to overcome short-term hiccups because of market dominance.

    Terming the demonisation move of PM Modi-led government in New Delhi a “crazy speed bump” that hit businesses all round, 21st Century Fox  CFO John Nallen, in a conversation with investment analysts at a conference last month, admitted that Star too got “affected” from last quarter 2016 to first quarter 2017 calendar year. He revealed at that time that Star India took a hit of almost $30 million, and the company expects that things would start looking up mid-March 2017 onwards.

    According to Nallen, India would prove to be a major revenue earner for Star and Hotstar in the long term.

    Pointing out that, in the last two years, 20 million TV households were added to the eco-system, which brought the total number of TV households to 180 million (a recent BARC broadcast survey put the total number of Indian TV HHs at 183 million with rural leading the growth), Nallen said, “We are in the middle of a five-year cycle where pay TV households doubled and advertising nearly doubled during that period of time…so when advertising lifts, we get a little more of what the advertising lift and it is because of the company’s (Star) market share and dominance in the market.”

    Nallen was also confident that Star, with its bouquet of regional and sports channels delivered via cable and satellite and complimented by OTT platform Hotstar, will continue to be the jewel in the News Corp crown (a description of Star by 21st Century Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch).

    “The plans of Star TV are still intact. I am assuming that there is no geo-political issue(s) and no economic disruptions…that no one wakes up with some other rule in India that will disrupt the business,” the seasoned CFO observed, adding that Star an important clog in Murdoch’s media empire as it was one of the “biggest growth driver(s)” and the objectives and targets with which the business was set up and operationalised in India were achievable.

    Also Read :

    Star Plus & Sony Pal retain respective leadership, Naagin 2 maintains lead

    How Hindi GEC channels fared in first quarter of 2017

    Star India shows now travel to West Asia, tripling ratings

  • Hotstar becomes first ‘Made in India’ platform to reach 100-m downloads in two yrs

    MUMBAI: Hotstar is the first ‘Made in India platform’ to cross 100 million downloads on Google Play Store, and it has raced to this milestone in two years.

    Over the last two years, Hotstar has been consistently blazing the trail on setting new benchmarks for a consumer Internet company. From being the fastest growing platform in the world to introducing technological innovations in streaming, Hotstar has been the pioneer in opening up the premium video category in India.

    This week, Hotstar shattered yet another ceiling. It became the first local service to cross 100 million downloads on the Google Play Store. On the Play Store downloads chart, the online video platform has raced far ahead of many other consumer Internet companies in India, including e-commerce services like Amazon India and Flipkart, taxi ride services like Ola, payment apps like Paytm, and even news services like Times of India, NDTV and Dailyhunt. Almost all of Hotstar’s downloads have come from India. The service reached this milestone within just 2 years of its launch in 2015.

    Across the Play Store, App Store and other Android app stores cumulatively, Hotstar has crossed more than 200 million downloads since launch.

    The service also announced recently that it has emerged as the primary screen for VIVO IPL 2017 in India’s top cities, those with more than a million in population. In a newspaper announcement last week, Hotstar revealed massive growth in viewership over the previous year, including a five times increase in watch time and a 12 times increase in concurrent viewership on the platform.

  • Hotstar brings back comedy show Sarabhai vs Sarabhai

    MUMBAI: India’s leading video-on-demand platform, Hotstar, today announced the return of cult comedy show Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, for its viewers this May. A show that still enjoys active fandom several years after it went off air, and one that’s often been hailed as being well ahead of its time, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai will return exclusively on Hotstar as a part of the Hotstar Originals bouquet.

    The show will take a seven-year leap and will return with the entire well-loved cast, featuring Satish Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Sumeet Raghavan, Rupali Ganguly, Deven Bhojani and Rajesh Kumar, as well as a slew of new characters. Produced by Hats Off Productions’ Jamnadas (JD) Majethia and Aatish Kapadia, the 10-part series will further expand Hotstar’s signature content bouquet, called Hotstar Originals.

    “From Maya’s haughty retorts to Rosesh’s epic poetry, every component that made Sarabhai vs Sarabhai timeless, will very much remain the hallmark of this series. That said, there’s much more hilarity and some brand new characters to look forward to. The wisecracky, intelligent soul of the show, will return exactly as our fans remember it, with more laughs and new stories,” says Hats Off Productions founder JD Majethia.

    “With Hotstar Originals, our intent is to bring to audiences, inspired content that goes on to define its specific genre, be it On Air with AIB, Tanhaiyaan or Cineplay”, added Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan. “Sarabhai vs Sarabhai did exactly that some years ago, bringing Indian audiences a kind of sharp, witty and contemporary comedy that they had never seen before. The buzz and love around the show was so strong that we had to bring it back.”

    Sarabhai vs Sarabhai is based on the life of a hilarious Gujarati family living in Mumbai. “Each character in the family is replete with their own distinct quirks, and trust me when I say that each of these characters is based on real people in my extended family. I play around with them in my head and then write the episodes, and if I feel like I’m having a blast, then I feel sure that the viewers will too,” shares Aatish Kapadia, the writer and creator of the show.

    The show’s originality and humour have earned it a spot amongst the best of Indian television, with millions of fans eagerly anticipating its return.

  • Don’t miss a single Hot IPL moment

    MUMBAI: Hotstar, India’s leading video-on-demand platform has launched its Vivo IPL 2017 commercial, a clarion call to get ready for the most avidly watched cricket tournament of the year. Hotstar, which is the exclusive digital streaming partner for Vivo IPL, has kicked off its campaign with a 60 second film, to be followed by shorter films as the campaign progresses. The campaign has been conceptualised by independent agency Creativeland Asia.

    The film, set to a track composed by Sneha Khanwalkar and performed by rapper Naezy, opens with people from different walks of life in a typical Indian city, getting their game face on. What’s different, however, is that as opposed to the years where IPL meant life grinding to a halt, we see fans going about their lives, while effortlessly catching all the unpredictable and hot IPL cricket action.

    Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan shared, “With Hotstar, the old narrative of cities turning into ghost towns during IPL is passé. The audience’s lives have gotten busier and thanks to IPL on mobile with Hotstar, there is no longer any need to make a trade-off between your passion for cricket and going on with daily life. The action on the field can heat up at any time and Hotstar is your ally for not missing a single hot moment, no matter where you are. Na life rukegi, na game rukega.”

    Creativeland Asia founder and creative chairman Sajan Raj Kurup said, “This has been an unbelievably action packed project from the word go. The insight was that Hotstar allows you to go about your life while still catching all the IPL action live. So, no matter what you’re doing – working, studying or travelling, with Hotstar you’re constantly in a state of readiness to catch every bit of every hot match. The fielding stance is a great metaphor for readiness. We used this metaphor to show people around the city being ready for every ball of the IPL. From the script idea to the composition of the music/lyrics and shooting from road to road with a smallish feature-film crew, this is perhaps the most anecdotal project we have done in recent times.”

    Cricket fandom is a ubiquitous phenomenon and with its exclusive Vivo IPL digital partnership, now in its fourth year, Hotstar projects that it will be the first screen for cricket fans this Vivo IPL with more viewers on mobile than on TV, across one million plus population towns in India.