iWorld
India vs Pakistan: Hotstar clocks highest-ever single day reach of 100 million
MUMBAI: Hotstar, India’s largest premium streaming platform, once again shattered records by hitting an unprecedented daily active user number of 100 million during the India vs. Pakistan match on 16th June, making this the highest-ever single day reach for the platform. Underlining the fact that Hotstar’s viewership continues to grow across the width and breadth of India, 66% of the 100 Mn users came in from towns beyond the big metro cities. The streaming giant also registered record-breaking concurrency of 15.6 million, the highest ever for an ODI match, marking a 1.7x increase in average concurrency compared to any other India match.
Unmatched in its sheer scale, this season of ICC Cricket World Cup is being streamed across 6 languages – English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada. Hotstar has also retained its exciting social layer of #KoiYaarNahiFar with the Watch ‘N Play feature successfully creating an unparalleled and engaging cricket-watching experience for all the Hotstar users. Through this feature, Hotstar enables friends coming together irrespective of their location, allowing them to make their voices heard by chatting about the match and their Watch ‘N Play experience, not only with their friends and family, but also with experts and celebrities.
Commenting on the development, Hotstar chief product officer Varun Narang, said “We are delighted to have been able to deliver an uninterrupted cricket watching experience to such a large audience at once. Having achieved a single day platform reach of 100 million demonstrates the indisputable technology prowess that Hotstar brings to the OTT industry. This remarkable achievement has helped us set a new viewership benchmark.”
In addition to India, Hotstar is bringing the ICC Cricket World Cup to consumers in the US and Canada as well, who are tuning in to the platform via the app, on the web (us.hotstar.com), Google play store, app store, as well as on living room devices like Roku TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Android TV, and Samsung Smart TV.
Hotstar’s immense reach and scale has always made it a preferred destination for advertisers across the country. Offering ad targeting for live sports at scale, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 on Hotstar is an exciting affair for all involved, including co-presenting sponsors Dream 11, Uber Eats, Amazon Pay, and Coca Cola, and associate sponsors Royal Challenge, Acko, CEAT, and ICICI Lombard.
iWorld
Subedaar puts Indian original cinema on the global map with record-breaking Prime Video debut
MUMBAI: Prime Video has a runaway hit on its hands. Subedaar, the gritty action drama starring Anil Kapoor, has stormed to become the most-watched Indian original movie on the platform in its opening weekend, cracking the Top 10 across 31 countries and landing in 91 per cent of India’s pin codes within days of its March 5 premiere.
The film, a visceral, emotionally-charged story of a retired soldier, Subedaar Arjun Maurya, wrestling with civilian life amid crime and corruption, has struck a nerve. Directed by Suresh Triveni and co-starring Radhikka Madan, Mona Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Aditya Rawal, Faisal Malik, and Khushboo Sundar, the film is already being hailed as a showcase for what Indian original storytelling can achieve on the world stage.
“Subedaar’s success is a reflection of the growing scale and global resonance of Indian storytelling,” said Nikhil Madhok, director and head of originals at Prime Video India. “The film’s emotional narrative, its rooted portrayal of a soldier confronting his toughest battles beyond the battlefield, has struck a chord. Anil Kapoor delivers an acting masterclass, while Suresh Triveni’s solid direction and great performances from the ensemble cast have resulted in love and appreciation from customers across the world.”
Kapoor, 62, has been here before, but rarely at this altitude. Written by Triveni and Prajwal Chandrashekar, with dialogues by Triveni, Saurabh Dwivedi, and Chandrashekar, the film is a production by Opening Image Films in association with Anil Kapoor Film & Communication Network (AKFCN), produced by Vikram Malhotra, Kapoor, and Triveni.
Subedaar streams exclusively on Prime Video in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu across India, and in over 240 countries and territories worldwide.
For Prime Video, the numbers tell the real story: one weekend, one film, a global footprint, and a very loud signal that Indian original cinema is no longer just travelling well. It’s arriving.
