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Tag: Hotstar

  • Sony Entertainment Television acquires the rights to Endemol Shine’s MasterChef India

    Sony Entertainment Television acquires the rights to Endemol Shine’s MasterChef India

    Mumbai: Celebrating food, togetherness and diversity, Sony Entertainment Television embarks on an appetising journey as it acquires the rights for the Indian adaptation of the internationally revered culinary reality format, “MasterChef”, produced and distributed by Endemol Shine India.

    The show has been airing on StarPlus ever since it was adapted from the original international version, produced by EndemolShine India.

    The Indian version of MasterChef is based on the Australian show, MasterChef Australia, which itself is based on the original British MasterChef, created by Franc Rodaam. It is a top-rated show across the globe, from the UK to Australia, France to Israel, Italy to the Middle East, India and beyond.

    The show has been wowing audiences for more than thirty years. It is produced in over 50 countries worldwide and broadcast in over 200 territories, with over 64 local versions and more than 10,000 episodes, with over 500 milestone seasons. MasterChef is watched globally by over 250 million viewers and has transformed over 100 amateur chefs into professionals.

     

     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     

     
     
     

     
     

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    Sony Entertainment Television (SET) head-programming (non-fiction) Sonal Yadav said, “MasterChef has revolutionised the global foodscape, changing the way cooking is perceived while transforming the lives of amateur chefs globally who have a passion for cooking.” The pandemic has seen a swift rise in home chefs who embark on culinary adventures, experimenting and whipping up food recipes. Hence, now is an apt time to bring forth a platform like MasterChef India that puts the spotlight on such aspirants. We are delighted to be collaborating with Endemol Shine India to cook up a flavorful new season that will celebrate India’s diverse gastronomic excellence.

    Speaking on the collaboration, Endemol Shine India CEO Rishi Negi said, “MasterChef has revolutionised the global foodscape, changing the way cooking is perceived while transforming the lives of amateur chefs globally who have a passion for cooking. The Pandemic has seen a swift rise in home chefs who embarked on culinary adventures experimenting and whipping up food recipes. Hence, now is an apt time to bring forth a platform like MasterChef India that puts the spotlight on such aspirants. We are delighted to be collaborating with Endemol Shine India to cook up a flavorful new season that will celebrate India’s diverse gastronomic excellence.”

  • Disney+ Hotstar strengthens regional offering with new Malayalam titles

    Disney+ Hotstar strengthens regional offering with new Malayalam titles

    Mumbai: As a part of its content expansion plans, Disney+ Hotstar is set to bring the magic of Malayalam cinema to viewers across the country. The OTT streaming platform has announced new Malayalam titles featuring popular stars such as Dulquer Salmaan, Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran, and many others.

    According to a recent FICCI-EY report, regional cinema is growing rapidly. The report charted the growth of video OTT subscribing households to grow from 40 million in 2021 to 60 million by 2024 with regional films and shows becoming a big pull for OTT viewers.

    The report also revealed that Malayalam is rising as one of the top streaming languages across different OTT platforms.

    Here’s a look at some of the top Mollywood titles available on the platform:

    “Lalitham Sundaram“

    Surrounding the event of their mother’s funerals, three siblings lost in their fast-paced worlds reconnect and find their way back to family in this enduring family drama directed by Madhu Warrier. Starring Manju Warrier, Biju Menon, and Anu Mohan, Zarina Wahab, the film also features a melodious score sung by Bombay Jayasree.

    “Hridayam“

    Charting a young man’s rough childhood and the wrong turns he took, “Hridayam,” directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan, is a coming-of-age film. Starring Pranav Mohanlal, Kalyani Priyadarshan and Darshana Rajendran, the film is set to get a Hindi remake by Bollywood director Karan Johar.

    “Bro Daddy“

    A family drama revolving around the lives of two Christian families in Kerala and their youngest secretly being in a live-in relationship makes the premise of this beloved film. Directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, it stars, Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran with Lalu Alex, Meena, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Kaniha, Unni Mukundan, Jagadish, Mallika Sukumaran and Soubin Shahir in supporting roles.

    “Bangalore Days“

    An endearing tale of finding love, sustaining friendships and forming bonds that last forever, this Anjali Menon directorial is considered one of the finest of Malayalam films. Starring Nazriya Nazim, Nivin Pauly, Dulquer Salmaan, Fahadh Faasil, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Isha Talwar and Paris Laxmi, it has won several accolades following its release in 2014.

    “Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham“

    Can a pair of gold rings gifted out of love ever land you in trouble? “Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham,” a satire film written and directed by Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduva explores just that. Starring Nivin Pauly, Grace Antony, Vinay Forrt, Sudheesh, Jaffar Idukki, Joy Mathew, Vincy Aloshious, Sivadasan Kannur, and Rajesh Madhavan, this film makes daylight of a chaotic mess.

    “Premam“

    Written, directed and edited by Alphonse Puthren, “Premam” is a coming-of-age romance that explores a young man’s journey across failed relationships, rekindled love, and finding purpose. A delightful watch, the film stars Nivin Pauly, Sai Pallavi, Madonna Sebastian, Anupama Parameswaran, Shabareesh Varma, Krishna Sankar, Ananth Nag, Siju Wilson, and others.

    “Ustad Hotel“

    Revolving around failed dreams, burning passion, and a love for food, “Ustad Hotel,” directed by Anwar Rasheed, is your typical warm-hearted Sunday watch that brings a big smile to your face. Starring Dulquer Salmaan, Thilakan, Nithya Menen, Siddique, Mamukkoya, and Lena in supporting roles, this film figures high on the Malayalam film watch list.

    “North 24 Kaatham“

    An adventure drama film written and directed by debutant Anil Radhakrishnan Menon, this film features prominent actors Fahadh Faasil, Nedumudi Venu, and Swathi Reddy and is known for its beautiful musical scores.

  • OTT and the future of sports broadcasting

    OTT and the future of sports broadcasting

    Mumbai: According to a recent study ‘Can OTT sports platforms shake up the broadcast landscape’ by data and analytics firm Ampere, the growing number of pure-play and generalist OTT services in the sports rights market is putting the traditional rights model under stress.

    In Europe, the likes of DAZN and Amazon Prime Video are beginning to eat into the market share of traditional rights holders, accounting for nearly 10 per cent of sports spends annually. Globally, though, the figure stands at slightly below six per. In cases where OTT services increased the number of bidders for rights, the value of rights has increased. For instance, DAZN’s entrance to German UCL market grew the total value by 62 per cent for 2018-21 cycle. For 2021-24, OTT services have secured all rights to the UCL in Germany, with the new deals increasing the total value by 58 per cent. However this trend did not hold in cases where the overall number of bidders came down, where the impact was negative.

    What this suggests is that pure OTT players have the potential to impact an upward growth in sports rights value together with traditional buyers, especially in cases where the value of rights has stagnated over the years. In the short term, until OTT platforms reach a comparable or higher level of subscription than pay-TV, they will keep adding value to the game.

    The study outlined four broad ways in which OTT services are impacting the sports media landscape – targeting digital-first audiences, making premium sports more affordable, super-serving specific categories of sports fans, and creating a range of D2C opportunities like out-of-market selection, co-exclusivity, and exclusive D2C for rights holders. 
    Case in point: IPL stagnation in rights value is a far-cry for a cricket crazy nation as India. Take for instance, the next (2023-27) cycle of IPL rights that has an aggressive set of bidders in the fray, including the content behemoth Amazon Prime Video. 

    Reliance’s bid, which is likely aimed at more data revenue through Jio, than subscription and ad revenue through the media business under Viacom18, will make the ‘Amazon vs RIL vs Disney vs Sony pitch’ more interesting. The winner will be announced around end-March or early April. 

    While Star’s September 2017’s bid of Rs 16,347.50 crore or ~$2.3 billion (amounting to a 158 per cent increase over the previous deal worth $1.03 billion) for just half the number of years was jaw-dropping, equally noteworthy was Facebook’s individual bid of R. 3,900 crore for the digital rights alone. From less than five per cent in the overall pie of 2008 deal, digital had grown by 25 per cent (4.5 times) in 2017, being seen as a standalone package. 

    According to market buzz, IPL’s digital rights value will see similar growth of around 25-30 per cent for this cycle and understandably so. From 2017 to now, IPL has seen considerable value addition in terms of both OTT viewership as well as digital technology. The overall value is expected to soar up to of $ five billion. A senior BCCI official recently told news agency PTI, “With two new teams about to fetch anything between Rs 7000 to Rs 10,000 crore, IPL broadcast rights could more than double to reach $ five billion (~Rs 36,000 crore).”

    The OTT value ad
    Hotstar got on to a flying start with the first match of IPL 2015 registering 7.2 million views on the app; six times the viewership of the first match of IPL 2014 on starsports.com. In the seven years since it began streaming the IPL live, the league’s viewership has grown from around 40 million in 2015 to 300 million in 2019, increasing every year. While the viewership for the 2020 edition on Hotstar could not cross the previous year’s benchmark, it ranged between 5.7 million and 6.7 million throughout the next (2021) season.

    What’s more significant about these numbers is that they were reached despite the matches being played behind a paywall. Going back to the Ampere study, sports OTT audiences currently make up 25 per cent of total sports audience, and there nearly 800 mn to convert. This is a significantly younger audience with 75 per cent aged between 18 and 44 years. Not only are they willing to pay more, but are also spending more time and are more engaged with both live and non-live programming on the OTT services. In addition to accessibility of content and flexibility of billing options, OTT services are more affordable and unbundled, offering higher control to viewers. They target fans of sports which struggle to find sufficient space on traditional broadcasting platforms. 
    Echoing a similar viewpoint, Grapes national business head – Rajeesh Rajagopalan says, “by virtue of being both precise and personal, OTT services have consolidated the scattered viewership for niche sports, or sports other than cricket in India. The badminton and kabbadi leagues that have come into existence today, is because OTT players started buying these rights.” Pointing out another positive contribution of sports streaming, he states, “OTT being way more innovative with advertising than TV, offers scope even for the smaller brands with medium or modest budgets, provided they have a clearly-defined objective.”

    “The decline in TV viewership of niche sports due to NTO will add to the popularity of sports streaming, which has been on the rise since the onset of the pandemic. The growth is expected to come from tier 2 and 3 cities. It will be spearheaded by DTH platforms providing OTT as a part of their services,” adds Zenith VP Linu John.

    Commenting on the OTT opportunity for brands in India Havas Media Group India head–digital services Rohan Chincholi remarks that from the consumers’ standpoint, India is a market with the lowest cost per GB (~Rs seven per GB) & from the advertisers’ standpoint, there is a massive 350 million+ OTT viewership in India. Of these, paid subscribers are to the tune of ~80 million+ and they subscribe to over two OTT platforms each. 

    “Hotstar is projecting to reach close to 100 per cent of OTT users in India this IPL which speaks volumes about viewers’ interest in streaming sports. However, these audiences are not loyal to one OTT service. Cricket has the potential to garner mass reach in a short span, which is where the platforms win via subscriptions and repeat usage,” observes Chincholi.  
    On the kind of advertising being explored this season he adds, “from an advertising perspective, bundled sponsorships, associations and standalone buys will be a function of clients’ budget. Ad rates will command a premium on all marquee streaming events.  Cost per reach will be higher than any other video sharing/social platform but it’s also a function of audience targeting and data layering – transacting audience cut, connected TV audience.”

    Building on the point WATConsult AVP media planning and strategy Shanu Jain shares that about 70 per cent deals are bundled under different sponsorships including presence on different IPL collaterals, Live prediction, pre & post shows brand integrations, special packages, while around 30 per cent of them are standalone on mid-roll video ads. They command 35-40 per cent premium than normal rates on GEC and other video streaming platforms like YouTube. “Majority of IPL viewership comes from the age bracket of 15-30 years, and Hotstar leads the way in innovative ad formats and inventories. A lot of new ad formats have been introduced to facilitate better recall and user engagement, beginning with pre-rolls every time you start the match to drive higher relevance, and integrating the brand communication at different intervals, to additional options like group chats, contests and regular CTW ads have helped brands look at efficiencies in-terms of audiences who’re watching and clicking on the ads,” notes Jain. 

    OTT services globally have only just started to move the dial in the sports rights market which continues to be dominated by legacy players. They have an increasingly significant part to play alongside TV buyers by helping sports appeal to young hard-to-reach demographic. The Ampere study indicates that while the OTT audiences’ higher willingness to pay may make them look more attractive, their size compared to traditional TV broadcasters must be taken into account to ascertain whether this actually equates to higher revenues or not. 

  • Hotstar’s Gaurav Shahlot joins Khatabook as head of product

    Hotstar’s Gaurav Shahlot joins Khatabook as head of product

    Mumbai: Fintech start-up Khatabook has announced the appointment of Gaurav Shahlot as head of product. He will also be a part of the core leadership team at Khatabook.

    With over 10 million monthly active merchant users on its platforms, Khatabook plans to continue to drive growth by building a seamless product experience under Shahlot’s product leadership, said the platform in a statement

    In his new role, he will be responsible for leading the product strategy and development along with team building and setting systems and processes for the product team to operate at scale. His key focus area would be to scale the products aligned to ongoing and new business initiatives of the company.

    “Over the last three years, we have built a product with mass acceptance based on first principles. With increasing use cases on Khatabook, we needed a leader who has the experience of solving product problems at scale in a high-growth environment,” said Khatabook CEO and co-founder Ravish Naresh. “Gaurav has extensive experience with scaling and running products at scale. With his experience, leadership skills and passion for Khatabook’s mission, Gaurav is a natural fit to lead the product at Khatabook.”

    A seasoned leader in product management, Shahlot brings expertise in identifying customer pain points and predicting future market needs to build innovative products. Before joining Khatabook, he was associated with Hotstar where he headed product management for over five years.

    Before Hotstar, he worked with Myntra, leading mobile products. Shahlot co-founded Musicfellas, a music discovery platform to help users listen, share and support independent music all over the world, which was later acquired by Times Internet. An alumnus of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, he has done BE, computer science.

    “I strongly believe in Khatabok’s mission to enable MSMEs in India with the power of technology,” said Gaurav Shahlot. “Nothing gives me more joy than building and scaling products, so I am incredibly thrilled to be part of Khatabook’s journey as it continues to transform small businesses in India, impacting the lives of millions.”

  • Hotstar is most preferred OTT choice: Axis My India survey

    Hotstar is most preferred OTT choice: Axis My India survey

    Mumbai: Consumer data intelligence company Axis My India’s latest findings for the India Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) revealed that 27 per cent of people in the country watch OTT, with the majority of viewers being in the age group of 18-35. Hotstar is the preferred choice, followed by Amazon Prime, Netflix, Jio TV, and MX Player.

    27 per cent viewers prefer Hindi and regional websites and apps, while 24 per cent (comprising 60 per cent youth) prefer English. 31 per cent of the population in southern India prefers using apps and websites in the English language. Regional language apps and sites claimed 34 per cent preference among them, revealed the survey data.

    Consumption of media remains the same for a majority of 52 per cent of families which reflects the highest percentage since the last four months and is majorly from the south of India. It has increased for 22 per cent of the families, majorly from east and north amongst 18-25 and 26-35 year-olds. Overall, the net score of this month is at -4 as compared to -2 for the previous month.

    India Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) is a monthly analysis of consumer perception on a wide range of issues. The surveys were carried out via computer-aided telephonic interviews with a sample size of 10552 people across 36 states. 64 per cent belonged from rural India; 36 per cent were from urban centres.

    The sentiment analysis delves into five relevant sub-indices – overall household spending, spending on essential and non-essential items, spending on healthcare, media consumption habits, and mobility trends.

    Commenting on the November report, Axis My India CMD Pradeep Gupta said, “With the year approaching an end, we witness consumers’ gradual return to normalcy, though a slight drop in Net Promoter Score also demonstrates that the impact of festive spending is slowly tapering.”

    Sharing insights on media consumption, he added, “While media consumption remains standard for the majority, our CSI Survey has further revealed that consumers from the north as well as the south favour vernacular languages when engaging with the digital mediums. This insight opens up opportunities for various local as well as national and international players in terms of where and in which form to place their brand content and advertisements.”

  • Dukaan brings on board Swiggy’s Sandeep Mina as COO

    Dukaan brings on board Swiggy’s Sandeep Mina as COO

    Mumbai: Dukaan, a SaaS platform that helps local entrepreneurs to open a digital storefront, announced that Sandeep Mina has joined the company as the chief operating officer with effect from 1 July. Previously Mina was the VP of monetisation at food delivery platform Swiggy.

    At Dukaan, Mina will lead strategy and operations for optimising the adoption of the platform, building a strong revenue path, and elevating the growth of the organisation, it said in a statement.

    Mina comes with vast experience having worked for almost two decades across supply, operations, sales, and product & revenue strategy with reputed brands like Swiggy, Coca Cola, LG, Star TV, Marico, and others. Prior to Swiggy, he spent three years working with Hotstar as vice president of sales, product & revenue strategy.

    “Dukaan is now a year old and we are shifting gears to grow and expand strategically,” said Dukaan founder and CEO Suumit Shah. “A seasoned leader like Sandeep Mina brings with him great depth of expertise and experience and also shares our vision to revolutionise and simplify retail. We are pleased to have him on board and look forward to working with him.”

    “Retail and e-commerce are evolving markets and have the potential to grow exponentially in the next few years,” Mina said. “This is the right time to be a part of this industry and contribute to building the direction of this growth. I am happy to be a part of Dukaan, and join the team in building the future of retail.”

  • Content spending to top $250 billion by year-end, amid soaring demand

    New Delhi: Despite a year of uncertainty and production hiatuses due to the global pandemic, streaming platforms have set the global film and TV industry on a trajectory of accelerated growth with no imminent ceiling in sight. According to a latest assessment by London-based fin-tech platform, Purely Streamonomics, audience demand, production spending, and TV budgets reached all-time highs during the pandemic.

    While the actual number of films that went into production dropped last year, and TV series experienced shooting delays, more cash than ever was committed to content, reflecting continually rising production budgets and greater rights-buying activity.

    Production spending to top $250 billion by year-end

    Based on current trend lines, Purely expects production spending to top $250 billion by year-end, and then keep rising beyond that, especially as media mergers: Warner Bros Discovery, Amazon-MGM and Televisa-Univision start to flex their combined muscles around the planet.

    “What is remarkable about these record numbers is that the industry’s spending has yet to bump up against any natural ceiling. Every year there is talk of the industry being on the cusp of ‘peak television’ and yet it is clear from our own business dealings that the streaming of films and TV shows is only now starting to reach escape velocity,” said Purely, founder and CEO, Wayne Marc Godfrey, “Streaming is not just displacing traditional sources of entertainment revenue such as pay-TV and linear broadcasting, it is actually expanding the global marketplace for video.”

    The research shows that gross cash amount spent producing and licensing new entertainment content (excluding sports) soared by 16.4 per cent in 2020 to reach $220.2 billion, setting yet another milestone that is on track to be surpassed again this year. “But this is only the start of what’s to come. Even more spending growth is on the short-term horizon as a new wave of ad-supported platforms start gaining a stronger foothold around the world, alongside the subscription-funded services that have been driving the streaming marketplace until now,” says the report by the London-based fin-tech platform.

    Four emerging trends:

    Deluge of new streaming platforms:

    Since 2019, the number of global customers subscribing to streaming video platforms (has grown from 642 million to more than 1.1 billion, a 71 per cent leap that has been turbo-charged by months of enforced lockdowns at home. The pandemic not only drove rampant growth on existing platforms, it also accelerated the acceptance of powerful new global competitors including Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, HBO Max, Peacock, Discovery Plus, Paramount Plus and Star. Joining these global platforms in the hunt for monthly customers are several regional Champions. Total number of subscribers is expected to reach at least 1.6 billion by 2025—representing about a fifth of the planet’s total projected population by then.

    Content Spending Reaches a New High

    As more platforms entered the streaming market and audience demand reached all-time highs in 2020, overall Film & TV production spending increased worldwide.

    According to the research, The Walt Disney Co remains the biggest single spender on content, with a grossed-up total of $28.6 billion for 2020 – which is more than spend across the whole of Asia ($27.7 billion) last year, followed by recently formed Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix. Once Amazon completes its own acquisition of MGM, that combined entity would rank as the fourth largest North American production. On that basis these top four companies alone, with combined spending of $75.3 billion, almost equates to the entire worldwide spending outside of North America ($77.3)

    Spending On Indie Content Surges

    As much as Netflix and the five major Hollywood studios spend producing their own content, independently made and acquired content accounts for twice as much money globally. According to Purely Streamonomics’ global research, indie content spending jumped by 25.3 per cent year-on-year in 2020 and now accounts for 65.5 per cent of the world’s film and TV production activity.

    Budgets Are Soaring for TV shows

    As audiences continue to grow, and more competition enters the market, the stakes keep getting higher. In order to stay competitive, producers face pressure to up their production spending. As a result, budgets have risen in recent years, especially for TV shows. According to the research, average budgets across all new series in the US– scripted, unscripted, daytime and kids – was on the rise, up 16.5 per cent in 2020. The cost of introducing and monitoring COVID protocols in 2020 also added 20-30 per cent to production budgets.

    The findings of the research were presented in the form of infographics by Purely Streamonomics and created by digital publisher Visual Capitalist. The data is based on SEC filings by U.S. media conglomerates and tech giants, as well as reports published by national film and TV data-gathering organisations around the world.

  • Republic TV expands its footprint in UK with DistroTV

    Republic TV expands its footprint in UK with DistroTV

    Mumbai : English news channel Republic TV is pivoting to digital, OTT and smart TV distribution with the latest addition of DistroTV to cater to the diaspora in the United Kingdom market.

    The channel along with its Hindi news channel R Bharat has now set its sights on the international markets. With a view to address the news consumption pattern across all demographics, the channels are taking a market wise approach and targeting new age distribution platforms including the burgeoning OTT and connected TV sets ecosystem.  It’s also looking to syndicate its content library across various new age platforms.  

    After content partnerships with all major OTT platforms Like Hotstar, Yupp TV, it has now added DistroTV in the UK and APAC markets.

    Commenting on the strategy, Republic Media Network, group CEO, Vikas Khanchandani  said, “Republic TV is a news media technology company and has been the front runner to make its streaming services available across smart phones and connected TVs with its partnerships with OTT, OEMs and Telco platforms both within India and globally. The pandemic has accelerated streaming TV consumption driven by news & sports.  It’s an opportune moment for us to pivot our strategy in the UK market as streaming is outpacing pay TV in UK.” 

    COO – India distribution head and international markets, Priya Mukherjee, COO said, the channel has reached a peak of 421K and maintains an average reach of around 200K in the last quarter during the pandemic. “Many platforms have approached us given the leadership position and the loyal audiences we built in the UK, in such a short time.  Our distribution capabilities, give us an opportunity, to approach each market differently and we are looking at all possible models that are best suited to our expansion plans, including a more, Direct to Consumer approach,” she added.

  • Disney to pull the plug on southeast Asia/HK networks

    Disney to pull the plug on southeast Asia/HK networks

    New Delhi: In what may come as a huge surprise for viewers in southeast Asia and Hong Kong, Disney is mulling over closing as many as 18 channels in the region from October this year. The end-of-an-era move could have a major impact on the entire video entertainment supply chain in the region.

    Disney staffers were told about the decision at a town hall out of Singapore on Tuesday, according to sources close to the development. The efforts are aimed at enabling the organisation “to align its resources more efficiently and effectively to current and future business needs.” However, an official statement is yet to be released.

    The move is believed to be part of The Walt Disney Company’s global efforts towards a direct-to-consumer-first model and further stimulating the growth of its streaming services.

    A senior mediaperson said India is unlikely to be affected by the move, which, while unfortunate, is not entirely unexpected. Last year, the M&E colossus restructured its global operations; this involved separating its India and Asia Pacific businesses after APAC president and Star & Disney India chairman Uday Shankar’s departure, and hiring new talent to spearhead its SVoD push in the southeast region.

    With Disney pulling the plug, as many as 18 channels could disappear from the airwaves, which includes Fox, Fox Crime, Fox Life, and FX, movie channels including Fox Action Movies, Fox Family Movies, Fox Movies, and Star Movies China and some sports channels — Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2, Fox Sports 3, Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2. Popular kids channels including Disney Channel and Disney Junior, music channel Channel V and actual services Nat Geo People; and SCM Legend could also go off air in the region. This leaves a question mark over how the other pay-TV platforms will fill the void.

    The multimedia giant is quickly gaining in the streaming space. Since its launch over a year ago, Disney+ has transformed itself into a streaming leader, with membership numbers flying past long-term forecasts.

    So far, Disney has rolled out Disney+ in Singapore along with a separate Hotstar app, and hybrid service Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia. Launches in other parts of southeast Asia and Hong Kong are likely this year. Disney+ has 2.6 lakh paying subscribers in Singapore as of April 2021 and 4.5 million in Indonesia, according to estimates presented by regional industry analysts Media Partners Asia.

  • Five new movies & shows to catch on Netflix, Prime Video, & Disney+ Hotstar

    Five new movies & shows to catch on Netflix, Prime Video, & Disney+ Hotstar

    NEW DELHI: Post the Covid2019 outbreak, OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar have gained massive traction in India. As the second wave of the pandemic is spreading rapidly in the country, people have once again started spending time in their homes, and this trend could further elevate the popularity of streaming services. 

    In the first half of April, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+Hotstar released several movies and originals, and the streaming platforms have quite a good selection for this week too. 

    Indiantelevision.com presents you with a list of the five most anticipated movies that will be streamed on OTT platforms in India this week. 

    Stowaway (Netflix) 

    Joe Penna's science fiction action thriller Stowaway will drop on Netflix on 22 April. The film stars Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson, and Toni Collette in the lead roles. 

    The story revolves around a spaceship crew that discovers an accidental stowaway shortly after takeoff while embarking on a mission to Mars. As resources quickly start dwindling, the spaceship's medical researcher becomes the only one who hopes for a survival, while others expect a grim outcome. 

    Joe Penna's previous movie was Arctic, another survival drama. Expectations surrounding Stowaway have already reached sky-high as Penna is returning with another sci-fi survival flick. 

    Venus and Serena (Amazon Prime Video)

    Venus Williams and Serena Williams, popularly called the Williams sisters, were once the most prolific talents on tennis courts. A documentary about their life named Venus and Serena will be streamed on Amazon Prime Video on 21 April. 

    The documentary will portray their glorious career and tournament wins and will show how the duo pushed the limits of longevity in such a demanding sport. 

    The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+ Hotstar)

    Even though Disney+ Hotstar has no new releases this week, audiences are eagerly waiting for the sixth and final episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that will be streamed on 23 April. 

    The series based on Marvel characters premiered on 19 March, and since then fans of Marvel have been eagerly waiting for Fridays to witness new developments in the latest addition to the Marvel cinematic/television universe. As the first season of the show comes to a close on 23 April, fans are expecting a mindblowing conclusion that may set the stage for the next season. 

    Life in Color with David Attenborough (Netflix)

    One of the most anticipated documentaries of the year, Life in Color with David Attenborough begins streaming on Netflix on 22 April. There is a general perception that humans are the only species that can see in colour, but this documentary proves it wrong. Narrated by natural historian Sir David Attenborough, the docuseries tries to show how animals use colours to survive in the wild. 

    Shadow and Bone (Netflix)

    Shadow and Bone is an upcoming fantasy series landing on 23 April on Netflix. Based on Leigh Bardugo’s bestselling Grishaverse novels, fans of the trilogy are anticipating how the makers will accomplish the screen adaptation. The recently released trailer of the show looks extraordinary, and it clearly indicates that the showrunners are pulling out the stops to present a rich, sweeping fantastical world for viewers.