OTT players like Netflix, Hotstar, and Voot are keen to find a common currency to measure viewership numbers and improve advertising options as well as content. Urvi Malvania reports.
Eleven years into the league and after a 70 per cent year-on-year growth in merchandise sales over the past three to four years, albeit on a low base, the franchise owners are coming up with innovative games and shows around their teams besides spinning a wider range of merchandise around their star players.
Best vs Best. Tiger vs Tiger. Star India, BCCI team up for a high decibel campaign for the cricket jamboree.
Netflix and Amazon Prime are raising their stakes in the game, commissioning original shows and going all out to acquire regional films for their libraries.
Nearly half of the World Cup squad has been picked up by IPL franchises, and not all went for the base price.
Trailers are key to the way an audience perceives a movie and hence a big part of the lifecycle of a movie.
Netflix and Prime have decided that rather than only buying the rights to Bollywood blockbusters to expand their reach in India, producing original content would be a better idea.
The HRX story will be watched closely by many, for Bollywood stars have rarely made the transition from movies to business.
In the wake of lukewarm response to his last two films Lingaa and Kochadaiyaan, T E Narasimhan and Urvi Malvania examine ways in which Rajinikanth can reclaim past glory.
'The Marvel Cinematic Universe is 9 franchises that have been combined together.' 'It's like running a relay race, only we are handing over characters instead of batons to each other.'
The third highest paid endorser after Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, Sindhu is the highest paid among woman athletes and non-cricket sportspersons in the country, says Urvi Malvania.
'He resonates more with the youth which is always something brands want.'
Franchise films will continue to dominate the calendar, with big-ticket movies like Avengers: Infinity War, Aquaman, Dark Phoenix, Deadpool 2, Black Panther.
Actors and sportspersons are increasingly blacklisting products like colas and fairness creams. Urvi Malvania explores what lies behind the concern among endorsers over brands they promote and how will it impact both.
India's list of non-cricket sports stars is growing, but when it comes to endorsement deals, the bulk of the money is spent on a handful of cricketers.
The 100MB app casts the cricketer in a digital avatar that can be used in a variety of ways. Celebrities, Urvi Malvania reports, are increasingly leveraging their fan following in the real world to build virtual empires.
According to industry experts, television has lost the young urban viewer for English or Hindi shows. Urvi Malvania finds out what is making more and more of them turn to digital platforms like Voot and Hotstar.
Star's maths is simple: It expects to make something close to Rs 40 billion from the two properties in the first year (2018) itself, which is pretty close to its break even point
Not only is the number of native language users set to grow faster than English users over the next five years, these users are more likely to lead a more active digital life. Arundhuti Dasgupta & Urvi Malvania find out how brands are rethinking digital marketing plans to accommodate this.
Global studios and indie content shops tap into the growing fan base for movie and TV characters in India, report Arundhuti Dasgupta & Urvi Malvania.
Urvi Malvania on what makes Ranveer Singh so popular that he is succeeding Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar as the brand ambassador of Thums Up.
Movies like Jungle Book, Conjuring 2 helped Hollywood capture its biggest share of the Indian box office this year. Can Bollywood keep up? Urvi Malvania reports.
Global OTT players are late to the party. Indian players like Hotstar and Hungama Play have surged ahead with customisations tailored for the Indian viewer.
'Physically, he is your boy next door, but attitude-wise, he is an evangelist who does not mind shouting from the rooftops to take a stand on a cause he believes in.'
Several big budget movies, including one for Rs 300 crore on Karna and another Rs 1,000 crore movie based on Bhima, have been launched on the same model.
'He was the first creative person to recognise and fully realise the power of film in an era when press ads were the only competence of Indian creatives.'
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The tinsel town's overall financial performance would have been in a bad shape if it was not for the success of the woman-oriented blockbusters, writes Urvi Malvania.
The veteran director feels Hindi cinema has come a long way and is hopeful it will achieve greater heights.
'The IPL is by the biggest sports property in the country and having it will give any digital video player an edge.'
Mythological and historical shows are lapped up not just by the young, but equally by grown men and women.
CSK is reinventing itself to get rid of the controversies and improve brand value
Drones are being sold by e-retailers like Flipkart and Snapdeal for less than Rs 40,000 apiece.
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