iWorld
Spuul’s Bhojpuri bet for growth
MUMBAI: Every over the top (OTT) platform is raging about India’s diverse market and untapped opportunity. While others are testing the water with Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Marathi apart from the regular fanfare of English and Hind shows, Singapore based Spuul is going the Bhojpuri way as well.
The platform already had some Bhojpuri content but about six to seven months ago, it felt the need to renew its attention towards this deprived market since rural audiences are warming up to video content now.
Spuul content head Girish Dwibhashyam also thinks that as a high number of people from Bihar migrate to other parts of the country, Bhojpuri content has a market across the country as well as within the state. Cheaper data, affordable handsets have made the digital video space class agnostic. “Consumption from the hinterland has multiplied in the last one and half years. Bhojpuri has assured viewership not only in Bihar but also across India,” he says.
Currently, the platform is only focusing on Bhojpuri movies starring popular actors like Dinesh Lal Yadav. Dwibhashyam claims that the movies they have are the most popular ones of recent past produced by renowned production houses. Aashik Aawara, Nirahua Chalal Sasural 2, Sangram, Rakhtbhoomi, Action Raaja, Nehle Pe Dehla, Muqabala, Jaanam are some of the most popular Bhojpuri movies streaming on Spuul. As the platform has a huge diaspora audience too, it might add catch-up content in certain markets. Initially, the platform has seen a lot of traction from tier II, tier III cities.
“Right now our ultimate goal is to be a place where Bhojpuri speaking audience can come and watch videos, not only movies but also other kinds of content going forward. But at least when it comes to movies we want to be top for Bhojpuri speaking audience for the content in the language they speak,” he comments on the objective of revamping Bhojpuri library.
When it comes to content curation, the team focuses both on external analysis and internal data. The popularity of stars, the popularity of the movie, box office collection are among the major factors which act as a catalyst for adding a movie to the catalogue.
“Couple of years back we had Bhojpuri movies. We have some consumption numbers on the actors who have done well on our platforms. We keep improvising and regularly track which movies are being consumed in what way. When we started out with the catalogue of Bhojpuri movies six-seven months back, first we did a lot of observation to which stars are doing well, which movies, what type of movies are doing well. Then accordingly, we have added new movies,” he adds.
It has competition because ZEE5 and ALTBalaji are both foraying into this market as well. Moreover, content king YouTube has hundreds of viral Bhojpuri videos which get good traction. Hence, to cope with the upping competition in this market Spuul needs to update its library continuously.
But Dwibhashyam believes the growing Bhojpuri market has scope for multiple players. In addition to that, differentiating content will also play a key role. According to him, the Bhojpuri OTT market has not reached that stage where competition will start affecting the players.
For promoting its new catalogue, Spuul is primarily emphasising on digital marketing only. It has done a large number of digital ads targeting certain geographies and native speakers along with consumer PR. Other than digital, he claims Spuul has been mentioned in local newspapers recently which helped it to create a buzz in the local market.
Dwibhashyam thinks it is in the right direction based on the promising initial response. In a bid to gain a stronger foothold across the country, the OTT platform will soon announce an important development for Bengali content too.
iWorld
Banijay Asia’s The 50 tops OTT charts with 8.1 million JioHotstar views
Reality competition becomes most watched show on JioHotstar in debut week.
MUMBAI: Fifty contestants walked into a palace, but millions of viewers showed up for the drama. Reality competition The 50, produced by Banijay Asia, has emerged as the most watched show on JioHotstar, clocking 8.1 million views in its debut week. The figure, reported by Ormax Media, places the show at the top of the OTT viewership charts and marks a strong opening for the digital reality format.
Adapted from a popular French format, The 50 brings together 50 personalities from television, digital platforms, music and reality shows inside a grand palace setting. Over the course of a 50 day competition, participants form alliances, compete in unpredictable tasks and navigate eliminations as the field steadily narrows.
Guiding the game is a mysterious figure known as The Lion, an unseen game master whose voice introduces twists, challenges and strategic turns throughout the show, adding an extra layer of suspense to the contest.
What distinguishes The 50 from typical reality competitions is its audience driven prize structure. Instead of the winner taking home the final reward, the prize is awarded to one of the winner’s registered followers through the show’s dedicated app. The mechanism effectively turns viewers into participants, allowing fans to have a direct stake in the outcome.
The contestant lineup features a mix of television actors, reality stars and digital creators, including Karan Patel, Urvashi Dholakia, Divya Agarwal, Mr Faisu and Dushyant Kukreja, each bringing their own fan following to the show.
With its blend of celebrity personalities, strategic gameplay and interactive viewer participation, The 50 has quickly carved out a strong foothold in India’s digital entertainment landscape. Its 8.1 million views in the opening week underline the growing appetite for large scale reality formats designed specifically for OTT audiences.
