iWorld
Hotstar Specials launches ‘Special Ops’
MUMBAI: Hotstar Specials, along with Friday Storytellers, is set to launch the biggest spy action thriller of 2020, Special Ops. This fast-paced 8-episode series is based on the role of Indian intelligence in a series of real terror attacks that India faced over the last 19 years. Starting with the 2001 attack on Indian Parliament, the show goes back and forth in time covering several other events including 26/11, Kashmir terror attacks amongst others; and the chase for the single mastermind behind these attacks – making it the longest manhunt in Indian Intelligence for India’s deadliest enemy.
The show has been written by Neeraj Pandey, Deepak Kingrani and Benazir Ali Fida; all of them have spent years carefully researching the ways of Indian intelligence. Every aspect of the show has been conceptualized and created to deliver a high-quality thrilling experience. Keeping with the scale, it has been shot across numerous international locales including Turkey, Azerbaijan, Jordan and India.
Special Ops features an ensemble cast including acclaimed actor Kay Kay Menon along with the powerhouse talents such as Karan Tacker, Saiyami Kher, Divya Dutta, Vinay Pathak, Muzammil Ibrahim, Meher Vij, Vipul Gupta, Sajjad Delafrooz, Parmeet Sethi, Gautami Kapoor, Sana Khaan, Sharad Kelkar, KP Mukherjee, and many others.
Specials Ops is slated to release on 17 March 2020 in seven languages on Hotstar VIP.
STAR India Hindi Entertainment head Gaurav Banerjee said: “Neeraj Pandey is one of the most distinguished filmmakers of our time and we are delighted to partner with him for his digital debut. Our goal with Special Ops is to create an action-packed spy series that’s at par with global standards when it comes to quality and scale; it takes forward the Hotstar Specials agenda of bold and varied story telling on a big scale.”
Neeraj Pandey, who has created the show, added: “Special Ops is a story I thought of many years ago – it’s a big idea that required a lot of patience and research to pursue and develop. With newer and exciting formats of storytelling gaining prominence, we were able to build a fabulous team to create this larger-than-life story that strings together many real events from the past two decades. For the first time in the history of Indian entertainment, the 2001 Indian Parliament Attack has been recreated on celluloid. That’s just one of the many big moments from the show.”
“A big idea requires the right scale and platform to bring it altogether. This is an exciting partnership for us and has many firsts – first digital series from Friday storytellers, Neeraj’s first on the digital platform and our association with the largest OTT Hotstar. The show has the right mix of scale, talent and pace to enthral and entertain the audiences,” said Shital Bhatia who has produced the show.
iWorld
T20 World Cup ’26: India–England semi-final sets global streaming record of 619 million views on JioHotstar
India–England semi-final records 65.2 million peak streams
MUMBAI: The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 set a new milestone in global sports streaming, as the India–England semi-final drew record digital audiences on JioHotstar.
The match on 5 March registered 65.2 million peak concurrent viewers, the highest ever recorded for a live event on any streaming platform worldwide. The semi-final also generated 619 million views, making it the most streamed T20 international match in history.
The landmark audience numbers were driven largely by viewers in India, setting a record achieved within a single market, rather than through aggregated viewership across multiple countries.
The high-scoring encounter between India national cricket team and England cricket team produced 499 runs across both innings, fuelling widespread fan engagement across platforms.
According to the International Cricket Council, the digital record surpassed the previous global benchmark of 65 million concurrent viewers, set in November 2024 by another international streaming platform.
Across television and digital platforms combined, the semi-final reached more than 320 million viewers, while total watch time exceeded 23 billion minutes, making it the most watched T20 international match ever.
“This World Cup demonstrates the immense passion of cricket fans and the progress made in bringing the game closer to audiences worldwide,” said ICC chairman Jay Shah.
“This moment reflects the scale of cricket fandom in India and the technological capability required to serve hundreds of millions of viewers simultaneously.”
JioStar vice-chairman Uday Shankar, said the audience surge underscored the future of large-scale digital entertainment.
“One in every three Indians tuned in to watch the second semi-final. Delivering such an experience at scale requires the very best of technology,” he said.
The 619 million views during the match also eclipsed the 533 million views recorded during the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
With the final yet to be played, the 2026 tournament has already set multiple benchmarks in audience reach and digital engagement.
India will face the New Zealand national cricket team in the final on 8 March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The match will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network and streamed on JioHotstar.
