The pandemic brought forth multiple challenges for establishments across sectors. Business houses that rose to the occasion with innovation and self-belief stood strong and remained firm on the growth path. Star India swam against the tide and has now emerged victorious despite all the uncertainties.
“The pandemic was a learning curve for everyone. The media and entertainment industry, by and large, did well. At Disney Star Network, we witnessed astounding success during this period; with close to 30% market share. Each of our verticals - sports, entertainment and regional - is performing well,” notes K Madhavan, President, Walt Disney Company India and Star India, during an interaction with IMPACT.
The network has done exceedingly well in these two years, Madhavan gives full credit to his team, “We have an incredibly talented and passionate team. The pandemic disrupted the traditional ways of doing business and brought the need for technological innovation to the spotlight accelerating changes in the entertainment ecosystem. This clubbed with high-quality storytelling are a few reasons why we are number one and continue to be number one. Our entertainment portfolio offers wholesome quality content for the entire family and we remain committed to investing deeply in content creation across platforms.”
Talking about disruption in regional content, he claimed the network has been able to change the perception of regional content by introducing premium quality shows in the space. “Localisation and strong regional focus is key to our strategy. We have invested in developing high-quality shows that would appeal to family audiences. Just to give you a perspective, at the time of Bigg Boss, there was a lot of discussion about it being very costly. Getting superstars like Kamal Haasan or Mohanlal is a very expensive game plan, and everybody questioned it. But we entered the market and succeeded. Another good example would be the cross-pollination of shows, which has worked well across the network. For instance, Sreemoyee on Star Jalsha was conceptualised based on an insight we gathered around homemakers feeling left behind and taken for granted by their families. It was considered a risky show with the lead protagonist being middle-aged, but it has resonated very well with families. The show was recreated for Star Plus as Anupamaa, and Aai Kuthe Kay Karte on Star Pravah, both continuing to track very well on the respective channels.”
India Plans
While globally Disney has been shutting down linear channels to focus on Disney Plus, Madhavan believes India is a different market there is immense headroom for growth in both Television and OTT.
“We have around 300 million households, out of which 100 million households are without television/electricity, i.e. 1/3rd of the population does not have a television set. And there are only 120 (million) pay-tv households. So, I see a huge potential.”
Talking about dependency on distribution revenues, Madhavan says, “In the developed markets, the distribution revenue is 2/3rd of your income and the advertisement revenue is 1/3rd but in India, it's the other way round. In the last two to three years, we could not touch the distribution revenue due to uncertainties around the regulations.” He is hopeful that the issues will be resolved soon. “We are in constant touch (with TRAI) and we hope it happens soon.”
Star is known for its presence in all critical language markets and genres but Madhavan - a veteran of regional markets - still sees scope for growth.
“We are present in 95 per cent of the market, which includes both the Hindi Speaking Market (HSM) and regional. We will continue to expand our entertainment offerings to more regions. For example, we are planning to launch an Odia channel soon,” he shares.
On the OTT front, Madhavan claims there are 50 million unique subscribers in India. “So, I would say, linear channels have a huge potential to grow, at least in the next six to seven years.”
Talking of Disney+ Hotstar, Madhavan says he is bullish about the growth of their digital platform. “We were the first ones to venture into the OTT space with Hotstar and launched Disney+ Hotstar in April 2020 and since then it has become the biggest direct-to-consumer streaming service in India. We have the best content in sports, movies, and entertainment in addition to a huge library of international content. Our experience of 30 years in serving top-notch entertainment to varied tastes of audience groups puts us at an advantage even in the OTT space. We also understand that India is a price-sensitive market and our strategy has been devised keeping this fact in mind. If you look at the pricing, it is Rs 1,499/year for Premium, Rs 899/ year for Super and Rs 499/ month for Mobile, empowering subscribers to choose from a variety of different plans that best suit their needs.”
Showing an intense amount of belief in the company’s ventures, Madhavan vehemently refutes the belief that Disney+ Hotstar is a bit too dependent on cricket for market share and revenue growth. “This is only a perception. We are equally investing on the content front across languages. In India, we have around 100,000 hours of content, out of which 1/5th or close to 20,000 hours of entertainment content is being produced by Disney Star’s linear network. All this content is available in the digital space too. Apart from content on TV, a large number of movies like Akhanda, Atrangi Re, Bro Daddy, and Hotstar Specials shows like Special Ops, Aarya, Human, November Story have performed well on the platform. We also bring a wide library of international content across languages which includes titles like Loki, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and more.”
When asked about when Disney+ Hotstar would turn profitable, Madhavan said, “Our priority is to improve the quality and improve the technology and reach the subscriber. If it's a combination of all three, you will achieve your business interest. We don’t have any timeline.”
About Star India
- Star India has defined the Indian media landscape for more than 30 years, and is one of the country’s leading media conglomerates, reaching more than 700 million viewers a month on TV across India and over 100 other countries.
- Disney Star’s channel portfolio cuts across general entertainment, films, sports, infotainment, kids, and lifestyle content across eight languages. The network generates over 20,000 hours of content every year and broadcasts 70+ channels, reaching 9 out of 10 C&S TV homes in India.
- The Star Sports network is the leading sports network with 14+ channels in its bouquet. It is home to a number of leading domestic and international sports and is making quantum leaps in transforming sports in the country, helping India become a multi-sporting nation.
- Disney+ Hotstar India’s largest premium streaming platform has changed the way Indians watch their entertainment - from their favourite TV shows and movies to sporting extravaganzas. With the widest range of content in India, Disney+ Hotstar offers more than 100,000 hours of TV shows and movies in eight languages, and coverage of every major global sporting event, including the IPL.
- The company is present in the Indian movie production and distribution space through Fox Star Studios. Disney Star studios is responsible for the marketing and distribution of its Hollywood slate in the country.
Going Big on Sports
Disney Star has become synonymous with sports and is the leading sports network in the country with almost all the big-ticket cricketing events, including the ICC T20 World Cup and the IPL. It has also brought the rights for other national tournaments in sports like kabaddi or international leagues like Wimbledon and Premier League.
Asked if venturing into sports proved profitable for the network, Madhavan says, “We have a long-term interest in sports and digital. Firstly, we are bullish, and secondly, we are passionate about the business. We are currently in investment mode and will continue to grow the sports portfolio achieving our vision to make India a multi-sporting nation.”
Talking about the matured global sports market, Madhavan explains how India is still a minor player and there is further scope for the sports segment to flourish, “In the US, close to 50-60 per cent of people watch the NFL, compared to that, we have a very small share, but it is expanding. The IPL is a classic case and our commitment transformed IPL and contributed to the massive growth of the league, making it one of the world’s most lucrative sports properties. IPL’s viewership has grown 4X since we took over. That's a big move. We are bullish on the sports vertical and we continue to be bullish on the investment. Also, we have other properties like PKL and ISL with a long-term view. We developed the property, took a local sport to a national level. This has helped us change the whole perception about local sports,” he explained.
“Regionalisation has also played an important role in taking sports properties deeper and wider across India. Today more than 80 per cent of the consumption of cricket is in local languages, about 60 per cent in Hindi and another 20-25 per cent in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada. In the case of football, Bangla and Malayalam constitute almost 70 per cent of the total consumption of ISL. That's how much affinity there is for regional broadcasts of sports,” he added.
Plan for IPL
With media rights of the IPL, ICC and BCCI coming up for renewal, Madhavan says they are all set to bid aggressively.
“We remain bullish about the upcoming media rights. And we will bid till it makes business sense.” When asked if IPL has further scope to grow, he added: “Sports consumption in India is still low compared to international markets. With the right strategy, there is definite scope to further grow the property.”
Scope for Consolidation
When asked if the media sector is headed towards consolidation, Madhavan says, “There are three or four major players at the national level. Entering the OTT or TV space at the national level involves huge costs hence consolidation is bound to happen. This will lead to healthy competition, which will be good for the industry and the audience will get quality content. In fact, it’s already happening - the production quality, technology, innovation and animation are close to international standards.”
Who is K Madhavan?
- K Madhavan was named as the Country Manager and President of The Walt Disney Company India and Star India in April 2021. K Madhavan drives the strategy and growth of the company in India, with responsibility for the vast Disney, Star and Hotstar businesses and operations spanning across entertainment, sports and regional channels, and direct-to-consumer.
- Madhavan joined Star India in 2009 as its South Head. Under his leadership, the company built a thriving regional entertainment portfolio.
- Since 2019, Madhavan served as Country Manager of Star & Disney India, overseeing the Company’s television and studios business in India.
- Previously, Madhavan was the driving force behind Asianet’s growth as the undisputed leader in Malayalam with more than 50% of market share, serving as MD and CEO in 2000-2008.
- Prior to his media career, he was in the banking and corporate finance sector.
The Pillar of Strength
The pandemic period was tough in every way. When we asked the boss how he navigated one of the biggest networks through these difficult times, Madhavan shares, “Navigating through the pandemic was tough. The pandemic disrupted the whole traditional system of running the business. It was a big learning curve for all of us. Consumer’s content consumption witnessed a change, we took great efforts to understand the changing entertainment needs of the consumers, grew our original content hours on TV, and made significant investments in high-octane shows like Bigg Boss and Super Singer. During this time, our watch time was around 3.5 hours or 3.6 hours. This was the period when a lot of regional content came to the forefront. Star Pravah emerged as an undisputed leader with a 40% market share. Star Maa has been among the top 3 channels of India with nearly 40% market share in the Telugu market. Asianet has cemented its position at the top with over 50% market share, which we have sustained over the years. Star Vijay witnessed a big inflection point in August-September 2020 and is amongst the preferred channels in Tamil Nadu in Weekday Primetime. Star Plus continues to be the HSM market leader and is at its highest level in seven years. On Sports, we delivered two successful IPLs in very challenging conditions during the pandemic.”
