iWorld
Hotstar launches interactive campaigns for Rio 2016 Olympic Games
MUMBAI: Hotstar has launched a series of three heart-warming ad films to drive viewership and awareness about the unprecedented coverage it has planned for the upcoming Rio 2016 Olympic Games. With the creative thought of Life Gives You Tough Choices, the VOD platform’s campaign will offer viewers a variety of options to choose from.
The complete campaign will be covered in a series of 3 films, 2 of which have already been released – the first, a heart-warming film in a family setting showcases the tough choices that a cute boy has to make in order to get what he wants: a peck on the cheek from his family members that he absolutely detests in exchange for their mobile phones to watch the 14 live streams simultaneously! The second campaign film humorously shows the predicament of a girl who’s struggling with simultaneous appointments she has with the sporting legends at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as she decides what to watch.
“Hotstar has emerged as the nation’s first choice for watching large sporting events, and sports aficionados have taken a keen liking for the interactive, data-rich experience that Hotstar offers. The coverage of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Hotstar will not only enable the viewers to watch all sporting events live, but also empower them to choose sports and games of their interest,” said a Hotstar spokesperson.
The campaign has been fully designed and executed in-house by the creative team at Hotstar, and will be supported by a high-impact marketing campaign which will engage users across TV, social and digital platforms.
Hotstar will cover all 42 sports with over 3000 hours of live coverage and video-on-demand. The unprecedented depth of coverage will be accompanied by the most sophisticated Olympics Video Player with a day-wise calendar of events with exact timings, quick links to live/recap, highlights & event statistics, as well as sport and country-wise medals tally.
The app will have 14 Live feeds, whereas the interactive, data-rich video player on the web will present daily coverage running into multiple streams basis the events, access to day-wise listing of events, medals tally and the ability to personalize the experience by allowing the viewer to sort by the country/sport of his choice.
The Rio 2016 Olympic Games begin from 5 August 2016 in Brazil with participation of the largest ever Olympic contingent from India.
Gaming
MTG gaming chief Benninghoff joins NODWIN board as esports firm primes for IPO
The Gurugram-based esports firm is pursuing a public listing, has returned to profitability and is growing revenues by 42 per cent
GURUGRAM: NODWIN Gaming is moving fast. The Gurugram-based gaming and esports company has launched a pre-IPO fundraising round, appointed UBS as lead adviser for both the round and a subsequent public listing, and landed a heavyweight board director, all in one go.
The new board member is Arnd Benninghoff, executive vice president of gaming at Stockholm-listed Modern Times Group (MTG), who has overseen the group’s strategic investments and portfolio growth since 2014. He is no stranger to building things: Benninghoff has founded and built fifteen companies, served as chief digital officer at ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, managing director of SevenVentures, and chief executive of Holtzbrinck eLAB. He began his career as a journalist at Deutsche Presse Agentur and various TV networks, holds a Diplom-Kaufmann in business and administration from the University of Münster, and previously sat on the board of Edgeware AB.
The numbers back the ambition
NODWIN is not pitching a story without substance. The company has returned to EBITDA profitability and posted a 42 per cent year-on-year revenue surge, reaching $58.5m in the first nine months of FY2026. The pre-IPO round will combine a primary issuance to fund global expansion through organic growth and acquisitions, alongside a secondary sale to give existing shareholders some liquidity.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, said Benninghoff understands “the entire lifecycle of the gaming and media ecosystem, from the boots-on-the-ground reality of building startups to the strategic complexity of managing multi-billion dollar global portfolios.”
Benninghoff, for his part, said the company “sits at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and technology, making it one of the most exciting players in the global gaming landscape today.”
A portfolio built for the global south
Founded in 2014 by Rathee and Gautam Virk, NODWIN has quietly assembled one of the more compelling esports portfolios outside the Western hemisphere. Its properties include DreamHack India and Comic Con India, and it recently acquired StarLadder, the Ukraine-based tournament organiser behind premier events in CS:GO and Dota 2. The company also serves as a long-term strategic marketing partner for the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), the world’s most prominent fighting game tournament, helping push it into new geographies.
Its geographic focus spans South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Backers include Nazara Technologies, KRAFTON, Sony Group Corporation, JetSynthesys, and the founders’ investment vehicle Good Game Investments.
What comes next
With UBS running the books, a board freshly reinforced with European media and gaming expertise, and revenue heading in the right direction, NODWIN is laying the groundwork deliberately. The esports industry has burned investors before with big promises and thin margins. NODWIN’s return to profitability, combined with a real portfolio of owned intellectual properties across gaming, music and youth culture, gives it a more credible runway than most. The IPO clock is now ticking.
