Our main focus areas are sports and digital: Madhavan, K

The epidemic posed several obstacles for businesses in a variety of industries. Businesses that responded to the situation with creativity and self-confidence held their ground and continued to thrive. Despite all the uncertainty, Star India swam against the current and emerged triumphant.

"Everyone learned something from the epidemic." In general, the media and entertainment industries performed well. During this time, Disney Star Network saw unprecedented success, with a market share of about 30%. During a recent interview, K Madhavan, President, Walt Disney Company India and Star India, stated, "Each of our verticals - sports, entertainment, and regional - is performing well."

Madhavan credits his staff for the network's success over the last two years, saying, "We have an extraordinarily skilled and committed crew." The pandemic upended old economic practises and highlighted the need for technology innovation, hastening developments in the entertainment industry. This, along with high-quality storytelling, are a few of the reasons why we are and will remain number one. Our entertainment portfolio includes wholesome, high-quality programming for the whole family, and we're continuing to spend heavily in content production across platforms."

When it comes to regional content disruption, he claims that the network has been able to transform the perception of regional programming by providing high-quality shows to the market. "Our strategy relies heavily on localization and a strong regional focus. We've put a lot of effort into creating high-quality entertainment that will appeal to a wide range of people, including families. To put things in perspective, there was a lot of talk about Bigg Boss being highly expensive at the time. Getting celebrities like Kamal Haasan or Mohanlal is a highly costly strategy, and it was questioned by everyone. However, we joined the market and were successful. Another notable example is show cross-pollination, which has shown to be successful throughout the network. Sreemoyee on Star Jalsha, for example, was created based on information we acquired about homemakers who felt abandoned and taken for granted by their family. With a middle-aged protagonist, it was considered a risky programme, but it has struck a chord with families. The sitcom was remade for Star Plus as Anupamaa, and for Star Pravah as Aai Kuthe Kay Karte, all of which are still doing well on their respective networks."

India is making preparations.

While Disney has been shuttering linear channels throughout the world to focus on Disney Plus, Madhavan feels India is a unique market with plenty of space for development in both television and OTT.

"We have roughly 300 million households, of which 100 million do not have television or power, implying that one-third of the population does not have access to television." There are just 120 (million) pay-TV households in the country. As a result, I see a lot of promise."

"In industrialised markets, distribution revenue is 2/3rd of your income and advertisement revenue is 1/3rd, but in India, it's the other way around," Madhavan adds of the reliance on distribution revenues. We haven't been able to touch distribution revenue in the previous two to three years owing to regulatory uncertainty." He believes the problems will be handled quickly. "We're in continual contact with TRAI, and we're hoping for a quick resolution."

Star is well-known for its presence in all important language markets and genres, but Madhavan, a seasoned regional market expert, believes there is still room for expansion.

"We cover 95% of the market, which comprises both the Hindi Speaking Market (HSM) and the regional market." We'll keep expanding our entertainment offerings to new areas. For example, we're getting ready to create an Odia channel," he says.

In the OTT space, Madhavan claims that India has 50 million unique users. "At least in the next six to seven years, I would think linear channels have a big potential for growth."

When it comes to Disney+ Hotstar, Madhavan is optimistic about the platform's future growth. "With Disney+ Hotstar, we were the first to enter the OTT industry and launched it in April 2020, and it has since become India's largest direct-to-consumer streaming service." In addition to a large collection of worldwide content, we have the top content in sports, film, and entertainment. Even in the OTT market, our 30 years of expertise providing top-notch entertainment to a diverse range of audience groups gives us an edge. We also recognise that India is a price-sensitive market, and our strategy has been tailored to reflect this. Premium costs Rs 1,499 per year, Super costs Rs 899 per year, and Mobile costs Rs 499 per month, allowing consumers to pick from a number of plans that best fit their needs."

Madhavan passionately refutes the notion that Disney+ Hotstar is overly reliant on cricket for market share and revenue development, demonstrating a strong conviction in the company's projects. "It's only a perspective." We are investing equally on content across all languages. In India, we have over 100,000 hours of programming, with Disney Star's linear network producing about 1/5th of that, or close to 20,000 hours of entertainment material. All of this information is also accessible in digital format. Aside from TV series, a variety of films such as Akhanda, Atrangi Re, Bro Daddy, and Hotstar Specials shows such as Special Ops, Aarya, Human, and November Story have done well on the site. We also deliver a multilingual collection of foreign content, including titles like Loki, The Falcon, and The Winter Soldier, among others."

"Our aim is to increase the quality and develop the technology and reach the subscriber," Madhavan said when asked when Disney+ Hotstar will become profitable. It's a blend of all three, and you'll be able to realise your company goals. "We don't have a schedule."

Investing Significantly in Sports

Disney Star has become synonymous with sports, and it is the country's biggest sports network, broadcasting nearly all of the country's major cricketing events, including the ICC T20 World Cup and the IPL. Other national competitions, such as kabaddi, and international leagues, like as Wimbledon and the Premier League, have also been acquired.

"We have a long-term interest in sports and digital," Madhavan adds when asked if delving into sports was beneficial for the network. First and first, we are bullish, and second, we are enthusiastic about the industry. We are actively investing and will continue to expand our sports portfolio in order to realise our goal of making India a multi-sporting nation."

When it comes to the mature global sports business, Madhavan points out that India is still a tiny participant and that there is still room for the sports category to grow. "In the United States, close to 50-60% of people watch the NFL; in comparison, we have a relatively tiny proportion, but it is growing." The IPL is a typical example of how our devotion revolutionised the league and led to its huge expansion, making it one of the most profitable sporting assets in the world. Since we took control, the number of people watching the IPL has increased by fourfold. That's a significant change. We continue to be positive on the sports vertical as well as the investment. We also have additional long-term assets such as PKL and ISL. We expanded the property and elevated a regional sport to a national level. This has aided us in changing the public's perspective of local sports," he said.

"Regionalization has also played a key role in expanding the reach of sports properties across India. Today, indigenous languages account for more than 80% of cricket consumption, with Hindi accounting for 60% and Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada accounting for the remaining 20%-25%. In the case of football, Bangla and Malayalam account for over 70% of total ISL consumption. That's how much interest there is in regional sports broadcasts," he remarked.

Prepare for the IPL.

With the IPL, ICC, and BCCI's media rights up for renewal, Madhavan says they're ready to bid aggressively.

"We're still optimistic about the future media rights auction." And we'll keep bidding until it's profitable." "Sports consumption in India is still low compared to international markets," he continued when asked if the IPL had more room to develop. There is definitely room for the property to develop with the appropriate plan."

Consolidation Potential

"There are three or four significant companies at the national level," Madhavan answers when asked if the media business is consolidating. Because entering the OTT or TV industry at a national level entails such high expenditures, consolidation is unavoidable. This will result in healthy competition, which will benefit the business and provide great material to the viewers. In reality, it's already happening: the quality of the production, technology, innovation, and animation are all on par with worldwide standards."

The Stability Pillar

In every sense, the epidemic period was difficult. "Navigating through the epidemic was tricky," Madhavan says when we ask him how he managed one of the largest networks through these trying times. The epidemic threw the whole old business structure into disarray. For all of us, it was a steep learning curve. We made large investments in high-octane programmes like Bigg Boss and Super Singer in order to comprehend the shifting entertainment demands of customers. We also increased our original content hours on TV and made substantial investments in high-octane shows like Bigg Boss and Super Singer. Our watch time was roughly 3.5 hours or 3.6 hours at the time. This was the time when a lot of regional material gained popularity. With a 40% market share, Star Pravah emerged as the unchallenged leader. Star Maa has a roughly 40% market share in the Telugu market, making it one of India's top three channels. With over 50% market share, Asianet has solidified its position at the top, which we have maintained throughout the years. In August-September 2020, Star Vijay hit a major turning point, and it is now one of Tamil Nadu's most popular weekday primetime networks. Star Plus is the HSM market leader, with sales at their highest in seven years. During the pandemic, we delivered two successful IPLs in extremely difficult settings."