Tag: Star Utsav Movies

Broadcasters pay premium in DD Free Dish auction, total revenue hits Rs 208 crore

MUMBAI: Leading broadcasters have secured slots in Prasar Bharati’s 85th e-auction for DD Free Dish, with the public broadcaster earning Rs 208.10 crore from eleven slots in the first two days of bidding.

In the premium Bucket A+ category for Hindi general entertainment channels, Zee Anmol led the bidding at Rs 18.60 crore, followed by Star Utsav at Rs 18.25 crore and Big Magic at Rs 17.25 crore. Sony PAL, Colors Rishtey, and Sun Neo secured their slots at Rs 18.55 crore, Rs 18.35 crore, and Rs 18.50 crore respectively.

The movie channel category (Bucket A) saw Star Utsav Movies securing a slot for Rs 16.95 crore, whilst Colors Cineplex Superhits, Sony Wah, and Zee Anmol Cinema followed with bids of Rs 16.50 crore, Rs 16.60 crore, and Rs 16.55 crore respectively.

In the news category (Bucket C), NDTV India, now owned by the Adani Group, secured the first slot for Rs 14.35 crore, followed by Republic Bharat at Rs 14.20 crore. These rates marked a significant drop from last year when news channels paid between Rs 16.35 crore and Rs 18.95 crore.

Notably, several channels including Zee Anmol, Star Utsav, Sony PAL, and Colors Rishtey returned to the platform after a three-year hiatus. The secured slots will be valid from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

The robust bidding came despite a recent TRAI directive requiring pay-TV channels on DD Free Dish to become free-to-air across all platforms, demonstrating broadcasters’ continued interest in the platform’s extensive rural reach.

(Some of these numbers have been accessed from The Economic Times)

February 12, 2025
Republic Bharat’s massive nationalistic ‘Rashtra Ke Naam’ launch campaign

As Arnab Goswami announced on Thursday night that there were just hours to go for the much-awaited launch of Republic Bharat-the Hindi news channel ofARG Outlier Media – Asianet News Service- the buzz for the channel across audiences, industry and the country has been unprecedented.

The country’s Number 1 English news channel Republic TV has centered its massive launch campaign for its upcoming Hindi channel Republic Bharat around the theme of nationalism with the line “Rastra Ke Naam”.

Slated not just to shake up the stagnant and fatigued Hindi news cycle, Arnab Goswami and his team have taken the pledge to bring their style of hard-hitting news, deep investigation, impact-driven and people-focused journalism to the millions of Hindi-speakers across India.

Bringing news back to Hindi news television, Republic Bharat is a movement to fight for real causes, real issues, and real people from across the country.

Outdoor Promotion

Republic Bharat’s exhaustive outdoor promotion spans over 700 hoardings spread across 53 citiesin major Hindi speaking states like Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi/NCR, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha.
Packing in an impressive display of the most credible and experienced faces and journalists in the Hindi news industry, the theme across the four creatives in the outdoor campaign is consistent with the brand slogan of “Rashtra Ke Naam”.

TV Promotion

In amongst the most aggressive TV campaigns for the launch of a channel, Republic Bharat’s launch campaign will reach out to a whopping150 million viewers of the HSM market.

To amplify the buzz and magnify the anticipation, the channel has partnered with the Star Network to promote the launch across languages and channels. The deep partnership with the Star Network has ensured that the buzz for Republic Bharat tides into the large Hindi entertainment audiences of Star Bharat, Star Utsav, Star Utsav Movies, Star Pravah, Star Jalsha, Star Gold, Star Sports. The unique partnership has also ensured the penetration of the build-up for the channel has surged into other large FTA channels like Enterr10, Dangal, Bhojpuri Cinema and Fakt Marathi with FCT and many non-FCT elements to engage with the vibrant Hindi speaking audiences in the Hindi heartland which target both urban and rural audiences. In addition, Star Networks English channels have also been leveraged to drive the launch messaging.

Video Links Given Below

Radio Promotion

True to its slogan of ‘Rashtra ke naam’ Republic Bharat has reached out to the masses through its radio campaign. A high frequency radio plan executed over a span of ten days with the largestradio networks across the country has ensured that the buzz around the launch is unmissable. Partnerships with radio networks Big FM and Radio City have ensured that the messaging of the brand reaches Hindi-audiences in 42 cities in the important states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir.

Digital Promotion

From the voices of India sending in their message of ‘Ab Hindi Ho Jaye’ to snippets of the behind the scenes of Republic Bharat which have been going viral on social media—the brand has aggressively used digital promotion to build up to its big launch.
With a unique digital campaign, Republic Bharat has already created a storm across digital platforms. The pre-launch campaign digitally has been the talking point for netizens and the brand has already garnered a whopping 1.1 Billion Impressions in just a 9 day span.

Mobile

Leaving no viewer out of sight, Republic Bharat has used every method from traditional SMS’s to Whatsapp communication to drive its messaging. The mobile campaign alone has reached over 50 lakh viewers directly from the Hindi speaking audiences.

Social Media

For a brand that has driven conversations on news on social media, Republic Bharat has set social media on fire with its diversified pre-launch campaign.
Adding a personal connect to the campaign, the brand launched its #ArnabKiDiary campaign which made viewers directly connect with Arnab Goswami on the journey of Republic Bharat.
https://www.facebook.com/RepublicWorld/videos/vl.2076765762408568/390266025057551/?type=1
Republic Bharat has created a massive impact on social media platforms with a back to back blast of over 73 videos of high production valuethat amassed a whopping 15.8 Million Video Views.
Republic TV created a day-by-day Twitter campaign and interacted with its Twitter audience to get over 3.2 Million engagements. From its #RashtraKeNaam campaign to its #RepublicBharatKeLog messaging, the daily social media campaign has built the tempo and anticipation for the biggest launch in Hindi news television.
#RepublicBharatKiTeam and #AbHindiHoJaye hashtags trended on Twitter for 2.5 and 1.5 hours respectively. Promoting its journalists and anchors, Republic Bharat’s #PoochtaHaiBharat campaign on social media which asked the questions on behalf of the people of India also trended nationally.

Print Promotion

Giant publications like Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran will lead Republic Bharat’s print promotion campaign and will directly target audiences across the country. A special target focus for the print campaign has been laid on mass Hindi-speaking audiences in key cities like Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Gorakhpur, Aligarh, Meerut, Bareilly, Moradabad, Dehradun, Haldwani, Patna, Bhagalpur, Ranchi, Dhanbad, Panipat, Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Siliguri to ensure that the news brand amasses maximum audiences from day 1.

February 1, 2019
Star Gold banks on latest Bollywood movies for viewership

MUMBAI: There’s no genre more cluttered with channels than Hindi movies. Channels need to bank on a mix of movies including Bollywood, Hollywood and regional dubbed ones to get audience attention.

According to BARC data, in 2017, the viewership in this genre raked an average at 4163 million GVTs, leading to 4733 million GVTs in 2018 in 2+, HSM U+R.

Speaking about Star Gold, the channel is Bollywood-heavy with 70 per cent viewership coming from Hindi content. The channel claims to deliver the top Bollywood premiers among the Hindi movie channels. The network had acquired TV and digital rights in 2017 of six unreleased films like Golmaal Again, Judwa 2, Sanju, Baaghi 2, Raid and Aiyaari.

Star Gold will continue to focus on Bollywood blockbusters. The channel’s upcoming line-up includes Stree, Kaala, Total Dhamaal, Kalank, Super 30 and Ranveer Singh’s next film on the 1983 world cup. Among previous premieres Bajrangi Bhaijaan garnered 17.7 million, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo raked 17.3 million, Judwa 2 received 10.9 million and Golmaal Again received 12.1 million impressions in the urban market.

Star India Hindi movie business EVP and GM Hemal Jhaveri said that the last three biggest premieres, Judwa 2, Golmaal Again and Baaghi 2 rated above four TVR on Star Gold. “A consistent strategy of always maintaining a bank of top Bollywood titles every year has worked for us. We have never strayed away from Bollywood. We are no longer a snacking category. Both premieres and repeat airings get consistently high ratings,” he said.

When asked about his strategy for the acquisition of movies, Jhaveri said, “Our strategy is very simple and perhaps it has really worked for us. We are not content racist about dubbed content, English or Hindi content, it is the content which a viewer would love to watch and we acquire it.” He said that the basis of any channel that doesn’t produce anything is curation and Star Gold heavily works on curated content.

More than 40 per cent viewership of the Hindi movie channels comes from the releases of the last three years from the urban 15+ males viewers. Women delivered higher ratings on the premieres of Golmaal Again as well as Judwaa 2. The cluster’s rural reach portfolio is 189 million individuals on an average for the last 13 weeks (2+, HSM rural).

In BARC week 30 in HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals, Sony Max emerged as a leader with 693696 impressions (000s) sum. Sony Wah, Star Utsav Movies, Zee Cinema and Star Gold stood at second, third, fourth and fifth positions with 592195 impressions (000s) sum, 551341 impressions (000s) sum, 547194 impressions (000s) sum and 445783 impressions (000s) sum respectively.

August 3, 2018
Star Bharat debut ratings and reach impressive

MUMBAI: Well, Star India seems to be on a roll these days. No sooner had the euphoria dimmed after it outwitted others with a masterstroke $ 2.56 billion global bid for India’s premier cricket league IPL, it’s now time to savour the success of  rebranded-cum-rechristened channel Star Bharat, which is rubbing shoulders with category leaders in terms of ratings and reach — and that too within a short period.

On 28 August 2017, Life OK was revamped with a new name, logo, tag line and, of course, a lineup of fresh original shows. It debuted on free-to-air DTH platform DD FreeDish with its parent having successfully bid for a place after coughing up a shade over Rs. 160 million. That Star Bharat continues to be available on other cable and DTH platforms could be another masterstroke.

Now sample the data collated by audience measurement organization BARC India. In week 36, Star Bharat took the second position in the GEC category garnering 669588 (000s) Impressions and 378234 (000s) Impressions, respectively, in the urban+rural and rural markets. The two-week old channel’s reach too had gone up by 15 per cent from week 35-36, while the ratings or impressions grew by 29 per cent.

In contrast, in week 34 of BARC India, Life OK (the earlier avatar of Star Bharat) was placed at 10th spot in the urban+rural market with 328571 (000s) Impressions, while  in the urban market it did slightly better at sixth position with 213162 (000s) Impressions.

Cometh week 35 of BARC India. After an overhaul in name and programming, Star Bharat in its first week of operation climbed to the fifth spot in urban+rural market with 519743 (000s) Impressions. It also made an entry in the rural market at the fourth spot with 278785 (000s) Impressions and in urban market occupied the sixth position with 240958 (000s) Impressions.

An independent observer of the TV industry, having seen many a channel strategy gone awry, admitted that Star’s planning and research regarding distribution and programming does seem to be working. Primarily the FTA platform approach, though audience data provided to indiantelevison.com regarding Star Bharat doesn’t specify whether the viewership and reach is coming from DD FreeDish or elsewhere.

TG: HSM, 2+
Top 10 Channels pre re-branding and post:

Top 10 Hindi GECs in week 36:

Here the equation becomes interesting. According to information collated by Indiantelevision.com, a 10-second ad rate for Star Bharat is presently estimated at around Rs 10,000, whereas Life OK commanded a higher price in the range of Rs 30,000-40000/10 seconds.According to the BARC India data, the four-week average for Life Ok (Week 31-34) was 345621 (‘000s) Impressions.However, the average for weeks 35-36 shows a growth of 72 per cent in the viewership of Star Bharat with figures of 594666 (‘000s) Impressions.

“The (sponsorship) rates will pick up once the ratings come. At present, it is just two weeks data. If there is stability in the ratings over the future weeks, there is a possibility that Star Bharat may increase its ad rates. Right now the marketing buzz and hype is pushing the channel, but after a few weeks it will not only stop, but may even out too,” a senior media planner told Indiantelevision.com, adding that the channel, as also the advertising world, will have to wait for at least “four to six weeks” to fairly evaluate the viewership data.
Old shows  such as ‘May I come in Madam’, `Sher-E-Punjab Ranjeet Singh’, ‘Ghulam’ and `Chandrakanta’ have been taken off the air by the channel management of Life OK/Star Bharat, though crime series ‘Savdhaan India’ continues on Star Bharat. The channel in its new avatar has unveiled a content line up that is aimed at living up to the brand’s philosophy of ‘Bhula ke darr, kuch alag kar’ (forget the fear of the unknown and do something different).

So, Star Bharat now flaunts shows like `Om Shanti Om’, `Kya Haal Mr. Panchaal’, `Nimki Muhkiya’, `Saam Daam Dand Bhed’ and `Ayushman Bhav’.

Reach ‘000s for week 35 and 36

Star has three other channels on the DD FreeDish platform including Star Utsav, Star Utsav Movies and Star Sports First. The last one, which debuted earlier this year, again is a new FTA offering of sorts that has been riding the kabaddi league wave.Indiantelevision.com tried to reach out to Star India for its comments, but could not elicit a response till the time of writing this report. However, if we get some comments on Star Bharat from the channel owner, it’d be updated.

The big question is: will this rebranding and repositioning strategy work for Star Bharat? To use a cliché, only time will tell… oops, sorry, BARC India will tell.

ALSO READ :

Life OK rebranded as Star Bharat may start from 15 Aug

Star Bharat to be available on DD FreeDish as b’caster’s fourth FTA offering

TDSAT ‘no’ to stay Star Bharat launch, DPO payments subject to adjudication

September 15, 2017
Star Utsav Movies to launch on 28 May; focuses on being truly rural

MUMBAI: With an extensive portfolio of channels under it, Star India is all set to add one more feather to his hat. The network will launch its free to air (FTA) Hindi movies channel Star Utsav Movies on 28 May.

The advent of BARC has led rural markets taking the center stage with more than half of the TV viewership coming from the heartland. Entering this space, is this new channel which is completely focussed at the rural market and will play popular Bollywood films for the homes that do not have access to these films.

Following the motto of being the first truly rural channel, their tagline Har Din Utsav promises an indication of their endeavour to give its viewers a reason to celebrate every day with the biggest and best stars on screen. Aimed at building a strong footprint in the rural market, the new channel will cater to the rural tastes, consumption and need.

Star Gold, Movies OK, Star Gold HD and Star Utsav Movies general manager Hemal Jhaveri says, “We are excited to announce the launch of Star Utsav Movies on 28th May, India’s first ‘Truly Rural’ Hindi movie channel. Our analysis indicated that there was a clear need gap in this category since 25% of the total viewership came from movies, but the Hindi movie genre share is a miniscule 5 %. This is because of the non-availability of good content from the existing Hindi movie channels in the FTA space”.

The channel has done an extensive research over 8-9 months in multiple states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, etc to unravel the rural psyche before rolling out the channel. Through their survey, various key elements like afternoon slot, rural entertainment viewing pattern, the availability of screen, etc were considered before laying the channel’s programming schedule.

“The study shed light on the key usage and behavior patterns which has been the cornerstone for all acquisition, programming and marketing inputs on this new channel offering”, points Jhaveri.

Through this data, the channel will look at their content vigilantly to have a sturdy family appeal policy being followed in their line-up.

“What made this research unique and accurate was the fact that it was tailor made to each respondent surveyed basis their viewing behavior which was captured on close circuit cameras positioned in their homes. The rural markets are the last important frontier and we believe Star Utsav Movies will empower both the consumers and advertisers alike,” he further adds.

The channel will be initially available exclusively on Doordarshan’s free direct-to-home (DTH) platform Freedish and will later be made available on other platforms according to the channel’s distribution strategy.

Various advertisers from FMCG, telecoms, tractors, agriculture equipment, etc sectors are expected to get on board. Whereas, the content offering on the channel will be different from the network’s other channels like Star Gold, Movies Ok and Star Gold HD.

To drive reach and awareness for the new channel, a multi-media launch campaign has already kick-started. Besides a comprehensive high impact TV plan, the promotion also includes a high octane radio plan besides unique brand experiences on ground across villages in key markets which will bring alive the brand promise.

The channel is leveraging the might of Star India Network to rapidly build awareness.

May 26, 2016
Star Utsav Movies to launch on 28 May; focuses on being truly rural

MUMBAI: With an extensive portfolio of channels under it, Star India is all set to add one more feather to his hat. The network will launch its free to air (FTA) Hindi movies channel Star Utsav Movies on 28 May.

The advent of BARC has led rural markets taking the center stage with more than half of the TV viewership coming from the heartland. Entering this space, is this new channel which is completely focussed at the rural market and will play popular Bollywood films for the homes that do not have access to these films.

Following the motto of being the first truly rural channel, their tagline Har Din Utsav promises an indication of their endeavour to give its viewers a reason to celebrate every day with the biggest and best stars on screen. Aimed at building a strong footprint in the rural market, the new channel will cater to the rural tastes, consumption and need.

Star Gold, Movies OK, Star Gold HD and Star Utsav Movies general manager Hemal Jhaveri says, “We are excited to announce the launch of Star Utsav Movies on 28th May, India’s first ‘Truly Rural’ Hindi movie channel. Our analysis indicated that there was a clear need gap in this category since 25% of the total viewership came from movies, but the Hindi movie genre share is a miniscule 5 %. This is because of the non-availability of good content from the existing Hindi movie channels in the FTA space”.

The channel has done an extensive research over 8-9 months in multiple states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, etc to unravel the rural psyche before rolling out the channel. Through their survey, various key elements like afternoon slot, rural entertainment viewing pattern, the availability of screen, etc were considered before laying the channel’s programming schedule.

“The study shed light on the key usage and behavior patterns which has been the cornerstone for all acquisition, programming and marketing inputs on this new channel offering”, points Jhaveri.

Through this data, the channel will look at their content vigilantly to have a sturdy family appeal policy being followed in their line-up.

“What made this research unique and accurate was the fact that it was tailor made to each respondent surveyed basis their viewing behavior which was captured on close circuit cameras positioned in their homes. The rural markets are the last important frontier and we believe Star Utsav Movies will empower both the consumers and advertisers alike,” he further adds.

The channel will be initially available exclusively on Doordarshan’s free direct-to-home (DTH) platform Freedish and will later be made available on other platforms according to the channel’s distribution strategy.

Various advertisers from FMCG, telecoms, tractors, agriculture equipment, etc sectors are expected to get on board. Whereas, the content offering on the channel will be different from the network’s other channels like Star Gold, Movies Ok and Star Gold HD.

To drive reach and awareness for the new channel, a multi-media launch campaign has already kick-started. Besides a comprehensive high impact TV plan, the promotion also includes a high octane radio plan besides unique brand experiences on ground across villages in key markets which will bring alive the brand promise.

The channel is leveraging the might of Star India Network to rapidly build awareness.

May 26, 2016
Star India to strengthen its FTA offering with launch of Star Utsav Movies

MUMBAI: After BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council ) India’s rural data roll out, the broadcasters who were only targeting the premium consumers with premium launches in a big way, are now focusing on the FTA market also.

Broadcast giant Star India is set to launch a new movie channel named ‘Star Utsav Movies’.

As per available information Star India is planning to launch the channel in the month of June, once the IPL gets over.

A source close to the development has confirmed the news to Indiantelevision.com,” Star Utsav Movies will be an FTA channel and the catalogue will have a mix of both old and new.”

Since BARC India’s rural roll-out, Star India’s FTA channel Star Utsav has been constantly featuring in the list of top GEC channels. It has also made appearances in the list of top channels in across genres category.

April 11, 2016
Star India to strengthen its FTA offering with launch of Star Utsav Movies

MUMBAI: After BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council ) India’s rural data roll out, the broadcasters who were only targeting the premium consumers with premium launches in a big way, are now focusing on the FTA market also.

Broadcast giant Star India is set to launch a new movie channel named ‘Star Utsav Movies’.

As per available information Star India is planning to launch the channel in the month of June, once the IPL gets over.

A source close to the development has confirmed the news to Indiantelevision.com,” Star Utsav Movies will be an FTA channel and the catalogue will have a mix of both old and new.”

Since BARC India’s rural roll-out, Star India’s FTA channel Star Utsav has been constantly featuring in the list of top GEC channels. It has also made appearances in the list of top channels in across genres category.

April 11, 2016