MxMIndia

Tag: Hotstar

  • The recent success of Sacred Games obviously meant that Hotstar – despite being the leader – had some catching up to do

    1 Minute View: Catch-up time for Hotstar

    1 Minute ViewThe decision by Star India OTT platform for launching special/ original film-makers is not an unexpected one. Other than cricket, its library of movies and a few originals, Hotstar’s OTT thrust on originals has been weak. Even Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai, a new season of which it aired exclusively on Hotstar, didn’t last much.

    But the rules of the game have been rewritten by some of the new OTT players, and especially Netflix and Amazon Prime. The investments made by Zee5 and Voot are significant as are from players like Eros Now and ALT Balaji. But the recent success of Sacred Games obviously meant that Hotstar – despite being the leader – had some catching up to do.

    Hotstar did what works best for a network like Star India. Get some of the greats from the entertainment to produce content.

    But while the presence of quality storytellers will make a difference and also create a buzz around the content, what works on other screens is not a surefire hit on OTT.

    And just pumping in $$$s via promotion isn’t enough. Hotstar will need to reimagine its content for it to be bingeworthy.

    For now, it’s good news for content-makers. Inshallah, for audiences too.

  • ‘Storytellers’ include Shekar Kapur, Neeraj Pandey, Kabir Khan, Nikhil Advani, Ram Madhvani, Venkat Prabhu and Salman Khan

    Hotstar goes on Originals overdrive with top film-makers

    By A Correspondent

     

    Star India has announced an aggressive strategy to propel its OTT platform Hotstar. The company announced the launch of Hotstar Specials, featuring shows from well-known movie-maker. Although numbers were not officially revealed, Star has planned an outlay of upwards of Rs 125 crore on the project. Actual spends on marketing and promotions may exceed this amount.

     

    Said Sanjay Gupta, MD, Star India: “Star has always challenged conventions and been at the forefront of content reinvention in India. With the mobile phone leading an explosion in the number of screens in the country, we feel that our content also needs to reinvent and boldly move forward. With Hotstar Specials we hope to create the biggest Indian stories delivered to a billion screens. To bring this vision alive, we are proud to partner with a stellar line up of talent who are headlining our first set of Hotstar

     

    For its first set of Hotstar Specials, Star India has partnered with top names like Shekhar Kapur, Neeraj Pandey, Kabir Khan, Nikkhil Advani, Ram Madhvani, Venkat Prabhu, Sudhir Mishra, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Nagesh Kukunoor, Mahesh Manjrekar, Vishal Furia, Rohan Sippy, Debbie Rao, Sharad Devarajan and Salman Khan.

     

     

  • This is a new structure for Facebook India of having a senior leader reporting into Menlo Park and not Asia Pacific

    Ajit Mohan to move from Hotstar to the Facebook hotseat

    By A Correspondent

     

    The wait is over. Around a year after Umang Bedi, its last India head moved out, on Monday, Facebook Inc announced that it has appointed Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan as Managing Director and Vice-President, Facebook India. He will join from early next year. Mohan is said to have pipped several biggies in the media to the post… including someone from his own organisation – Star India.

    Mohan’s role is bigger than that of Bedi. In this newly created role of Managing Director for India, a VP-level role, one of his most important responsibilities will be aligning teams and driving Facebook’s overall strategy in India. This is a new structure for Facebook India of having a senior leader reporting into Menlo Park and not Asia Pacific.

    Mohan will be responsible for Facebook’s India strategy and for driving the company’s continued investment in India. He will lead a senior leadership team in India that will strengthen Facebook’s relationships with people, businesses, and government and intensify the company’s efforts to help people in India connect with the people and things they care about most.

     

    “India is one of the largest and most strategically important countries for Facebook. As we think about what it will take to achieve our mission of bringing people together and building community, we know that investment in India is critical. Ajit’s depth of experience will help us to continue to have a positive impact in India across communities, organisations, businesses and with policy makers,” said David Fischer, Vice-President of Business and Marketing Partnerships, Facebook Inc.

    “I am delighted to take on the mantle of shaping Facebook’s charter in India. It is a unique opportunity to shape the agenda of a company that has brought the world closer together in one of the most exciting markets in the world. I look forward to championing India in Facebook and working with stakeholders across the spectrum to help build deep and meaningful communities across the country,” said Mohan.

     

    The next year is going to be significant for Facebook and India being (as of now) an election year. Social media and microblogging platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are expected to play a key role, and along with Whatsapp, could change the course of the way the elections will be fought. Given this Mohan could well have a tightrope walk as the tendency is always to blame the media/ digital vehicle first and not the content creators.

     

    Facebook has had a good run with the advertising fraternity, and that needs to be cemented further to grow the reliance on digital over traditional media.

     

    Meanwhile, we’ll wait to hear who takes over from Mohan at Hotstar. Mohan is credited (and rightly so) to have scaled up Hotstar operations and equity, though most of it is on the back of sports (read IPL and India cricket). Surely it will need a hotter star to fill his shoes.

  • The tie-up will offer the Malayalam news channel in reaching out to new TGs and new advertisers for the channel

    Mathrubhumi News now on Hotstar

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Mathrubhumi Group’s news channel will now be available on Hotstar. The tie-up will offer the Malayalam news channel in reaching out to new TGs and new advertisers for the channel, notes a communique.

     

    Said M V Shreyams, Joint Managing Director, Mathrubhumi Group: “Mathrubhumi News in the most reliable and impactful news platform, we are happy to partner with Hotstar and reach out to an entirely new audience to the MB News community, the platform looks promising and future ready and it’s the need of the hour to be on such a destination”.

     

     

  • WatchN'Play provides an opportunity for every cricket enthusiast to apply their knowledge of the game and compete with millions of other fans

    Social Street creates buzz for Hotstar’s latest feature

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Social Street has planned and executed an outdoor campaign for Hotstar’s Watch N’Play game. The campaign consisted of larger-than-life 3D figurines of a batsman’s avatar with the player himself missing. This is said to be symbolic of Hotstar’s search for players and asking users to fill in the missing space by playing the game on its IPL platform.

     

    Said Spencer Noronha, Managing Partner – OOH, The Social Street: “We were very excited to launch this new property for Hotstar. The idea was to create big buzz and drive ample curiosity for audiences to sample and enjoy this real-time gaming experience first-hand. It’s a delight to see the outstanding response that the campaign has received across cities, especially the curiosity we garnered for the 3D creatives.”

     

     

  • The study reports nearly five times growth in video consumption in the last 12 months, with 96 percent of all usage being focused on long form video

    Video lighting up data and smartphones, says Hotstar study

    By A Correspondent

     

    Star India’s OTT platform has released its first India Watch Report 2018 with usage patterns on its platform. The study reports nearly five times growth in video consumption in the last 12 months, with 96 percent of all usage being focused on long form video. The last 12 months have also seen access to data and consumption of video go deeper into inner India, notes the report.

     

    Speaking about the report, Ajit Mohan, CEO, Hotstar said: “A new generation of users are emerging in India who take for granted round the clock access to the best stories; who know that they can watch the best shows from around the world at the same time as the world (and sometimes way ahead of most of the world); who do not worry about being forced to skip their team’s weekend football games because they are not at home in front of their television; and who have the implicit faith that all breaking news will reach them without any effort on their part.”

  • The ads used Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) technology from Hockey Curve

    Performics.Resultrix executes Hotstar’s election day campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    This news has come in much after the elections have happened, here’s it any which way: Performics.Resultrix powered up the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh state election display campaigns for Hotstar, with its new technology. The display ads featured real-time updates from the elections that happened in December 2017. The ads used the unique Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) technology from Hockey Curve.

     

    Said Tanushree, Managing Partner from Performics.Resultrix: “This campaign is revolutionary and delivered outstanding results for Hotstar. It was strategised and executed through a mix of automation, machine learning, data and analytics, and predictive marketing – areas where we are market leaders. We look forward to doing more of such smart, breakthrough work that delivers sharp ROI for clients.”

     

    And this is what a Hotstar spokesperson said: “Our endeavour has always been to create enriching experiences for viewers whether it is through outstanding content or advertising. The campaign strategy amplified updates in real-time, bringing in huge base of interested audiences. No doubt this added to the popularity and followership of election coverage of Hotstar. We will work closely with Performics.Resultrix on more of such creative and strategic partnerships.”

     

     

  • The knowledge sharing session on ‘Overview & Insights of OTT’ touched upon the future of technology enhancing streamlining of content and the growth of content consumption

    IAA Conversations discusses future of OTT

    By A Correspondent

     

    The India Chapter of International Advertising Association (IAA) organiseda new edition of ‘IAA Conversations’ with Ajit Mohan, CEO, Hotstar and Ashish Bhasin, Chairman  & CEO South Asia – Dentsu Aegis Network in Mumbai last week. The session was moderated by Megha Tata, COO, BTVI.

     

    Underscoring the people’s appetite for video consumption is on a rise and smartphones accelerate this possibility, Mohan said: “The myth that small screen may not be good for long content viewing is slowly breaking. The power of accessible, curated real stories online is strengthened through technology. OTT has lent us the ability to leverage stories and transform experience. OTT has helped to marry the engagement ability of a television with the consumer understanding of OTT. Cricket has helped people to come to this platform.”

     

    Bhasin said that tectonic shifts are happening online, stating: “Where there are eyeballs there go the numbers. 13-14 per cent market is digital. Video consumption will increase with smart phones. As of now there is a 22-24 per cent penetration. In India every medium holds the potential to grow. The big problem in the ecosystem for the medium to grow is the standardisation of currency to measure multimedia reach.”

     

    Said Ramesh Narayan, President, IAA India Chapter the event:“As a responsible industry association, the India chapter of the IAA has found this a great way of engaging the youth and at the same time amplifying the message on a national basis.”

     

     

  • The appointment comes with the mandate to showcase the power of the Hotstarplatform to leading brands

    Hotstar appoints Punitha Arumugam as Platform Evangelist

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hotstar has announced the appointment of Punitha Arumugam as Platform Evangelist, with the mandate to showcase the power of the platform to leading brands. Arumugam, a media agency veteran, has spent over 13 years at Madison Media where Group CEO was the last position she held and she was later at Google as Agency Director for over five years. While an expert in traditional media, she has now – given her Google experience – increasingly evangelised the use of digital by agencies and marketers.

     

    Before this role, she was at Google where she led itsagency business, first from India and later for the region from Singapore, as Managing Director, APAC Agency for Google APAC. She is currently setting up her own firm in the communications tech space.Arumugamstarted her career in 1990 with Ogilvy in Chennai and subsequently joined Lintas Initiative Media. She moved to Madison in 1999. For the last five years, she has been heading the Emvies organising committee for the Advertising Club.

     

    Commenting on the development, Ajit Mohan, CEO, Hotstar, said “Punitha is a leader in digital who has a fantastic track record of having aided the creation of many agency and brand partnerships in India and around the region. Hotstar is a special place for brands. We are delighted that she is coming on board to help us introduce the unique power of Hotstar to marketers around the country.”

     

    Added Arumugam: “Hotstar is one of the few video platforms in the world that has tremendous scale, very engaged audiences and remains open to advertisers. I believe the world of marketing is evolving quite rapidly, and Hotstar has the unique ability to marry the scale and engagement of television, with the power of audience understanding that digital brings. This is what brands have been waiting for, and I am delighted to play a role in shaping the next phase of the industry’s evolution.”

     

     

  • The interview was conducted by award winning documentary film-maker Sarah Mcdonald

    Whattacoup! Hotstar pips news channels by airing Talwar interview

    By A Correspondent

     

    Guess who Nupur and Rajesh Talwar spoke with in the electronic media soon after being released from jail? No, not Republic TV or Aaj Tak, the two top-ranked channels in English and Hindi. Not even Times Now or NDTV or ABP News or India TV.

    The dream interview, or what would’ve been billed ‘Super Super Exclusive’ by the channels, aired on Hotstar on Saturday. We don’t know whether Hotstar paid the Talwars top dollars for grabbing rights for the interview, but the news industry was abuzz with the development. When MxMIndia pointed out to the editor of one channel that he now has new competition in the form of Hotstar, he remained unfazed because he felt that a Hotstar-like service will not be able to match a news channel in terms of reach. To this a media observer we spoke to retorted: “Perhaps news channels have more reach. But that’s today… this is the future.”

    The interview is a one-off show and has been created in partnership with HBO, we are told. This was made by awardwinning documentary film-maker Sarah Mcdonald. The interview ends with a mention of a four-part documentary series that will be “coming soon” on Hotstar and Star World.

    It would be interesting to see if Hotstar continues to pursue the path of similar interviews and others in the business – Voot, Ditto/Zee5, Sony Liv, Viu, Alt Balaji etc follow suit, but it surely adds a new dimension to the news business.

    Hotstar meanwhile also earned a fair deal of editorial mention including the The Times of India and a front-page mention in The Hindustan Times. Hmmm.

     

     

     

  • Premiering on June 24, the show will air every Saturday and Sunday at 8 pm on &TV

    ‘Bakula Bua Ka Bhoot’ set for launch on &TV

    By A Correspondent

     

    They are making waves with the return of Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai on Hotstar, and now the team of JD Majethia and Aatish Kapadia’s Hatsoff Productions is launching a comic caper called Bakula Bua Ka Bhoot on &TV. The show premieres on June 24 and will air on Saturdays and Sundays at 8 pm.

     

    Said Kapadia, who is writer, director and co-producer on the show: “Can a dead woman teach her family how to live life better? Bakula Bua Ka Bhoot is a sweet sour take on the unfulfilled wishes of a mischievous ghost and her afterlife adventures with her dysfunctional family.”

     

  • The ad has been conceptualized by Enormous Brands and created by Storytellers

    Champions forever, says Hotstar in latest campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    In collaboration with Enormous Brands and Storytellers, Hotstar has launched a new film for Champions Trophy titled ‘Champions Forever’. While the message dovetails beautifully with the name of trophy, it is also a touching story that celebrates the heart-warming persistence of a young boy, suffering from polio, who against the odds, wants to live his dream and play cricket.

     

    “With ‘Champions Forever’ we wanted to pay a tribute to the true power of the cricketing narrative in India. The film portrays the fact that cricket has not only created champions on the field but it has made millions feel like champions off it,” a Hotstar spokesperson said.

     

    Commenting on the film, Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner, Enormous Brands, said: “Sportsmanship is all about celebrating the champion in all of us. From the person who hits the swinging six on the last ball, to the kid who play-acts all of Sachin’s classic shots a million times, to want to play like him one day. We all have a champion in all of us. If we have the true grit &resolve, we can all be champions.”