Breaking Disney exploring options to sell or join venture Disney Star India Business

[StoriesWithPK]

So u mean to say the broadcasters should just cater to the younger audience? As such even in 18-45 age demographic many people do watch TV Channels and so do large majority of kids. As broadcasters it is important for them to cater to diverse audience base.

Also as i have said that in Europe or US OTT subscription is cheaper than subscribing to TV Channels hence is a major factor why many have opted to make a shift...do remember in these markets TV Channels show extremely good content bcoz broadcasters generate huge subscription revenue complimented by ads unlike in India where there are limited funds available to invest more so in acquiring rights of International Content

Lastly even in Europe or US there r lots of FTA channels available which too have a robust audience base.

Anyways like i said broadcasters make tailor made strategies for each market hence u cannot just glance & make comparisons without understanding the various factors which go into crafting business model for linear channels or digital platforms.

You might not be knowing but all genres except English GEC , English Movies & English Music r performing exceedingly well on TV in India. Infotainment / Lifestyle Channels r performing average. There is a shift happening in niche genres but it can be reversed if broadcasters reinvent, evolve their content strategy for the same which is lacking.

Advertisement share u r seeing declining in TV is not a thing to worry as still mass genre channels are attracting brands while on digital platforms brands r showing more interest in reaching out to younger audience. On TV or Digital there is still a lot of difference in ad rates where TV scores high ranging from regular to key events

Yes. If you don't cater to the younger audience then you will end up like fossil fuel.

Agree. A large % of kids do consume TV over OTT but that landscape is changing. Ask any of the executives working at Sony Yay or Cartoon Network or Nick. Ad rates are poor for kids channel. Further decline in viewership will affect the programming.

Wired internet growing should worry cable and DTH operators.

 

[Raju lal]

I'm not a supporter or admirer of Rupert Murdoch, but I must admit that what Star TV is today is all thanks to him, and also stalwarts like Sameer Nair and Uday Shankar, who took it to new heights under Murdoch's guidance.

(I know some people, as they have that habit, will laugh at me for saying this, but it is admissible, that Star grew under supervision of Murdoch.)

Disney, after (literally) "snatching" it from the Murdochs, turned it into a cash cow, and now they are in a fix, so they want to get rid of it.

Fox & Uday Shankar played a major role in Star's massive growth & Success. Star, Zee & Sony started their journey almost together. Zee build their regional presence in a slow and conventional manner while Star played smarter by acquiring the best suitable regional networks & nurturing it, thereby Star's roots at regional (especially south) become faster and Stronger. Zee failed at Sports and Sony still not able to spread out of Hindi, but Star wrote success stories in both.
When Fox changed to Disney followed by Uday's exit, I expected a stunted state of future for Star(regarding what happened with UTV in hands of Disney). But things was different. Star performed better than earlier these days under Disney. K Madhavan able to become a good successor to Uday Shanker. Its linear entertainment network is delivering the best performance of all time. Many positive changes bought by the new team. As an example the GECs upgraded their reality show stages with modern techniques. Movie aquisition , investments in shows, costumes, ..all got improved in recent years. Linear entertainment is going very well but drawbacks happened at streaming and sports side(that too due to some over expenses happened from Fox - Uday era itself).

 

[dino29]

People are ditching TV channels after NTO, DTH consumers are subscribing hardly 4 to 5 pay channels instead of huge bouquets, even TRAI advising consumers to watch some channels, not all channels

Wrong. Large number of subscribers still opt for linear TV, the decline in Pay TV subscriber base is largely due to many people switching over to DD Free Dish but in last few quarters again DTH Subscriber Base has more or less stabilised with retention + addition of new subscribers showing positive signs.....some decline due to OTT is happening that too will slow down as fatigue is setting in.

Also please stop blaming TRAI for increase in price of channels,,it is the broadcasters who implemented the rules in a manner which lead to upsurge in pricing....we have already had detailed discussion on this earlier hence won't repeat again. Ex Chairman of TRAI took the broadcasters with tough stance and brought in great rules but now under new chairman rules r being relaxed/modified to accommodate broadcaster demands which is slowly leading to Pre NTO kind of scenario coming into effect very soon

 

[dino29]

Yes. If you don't cater to the younger audience then you will end up like fossil fuel.

Agree. A large % of kids do consume TV over OTT but that landscape is changing. Ask any of the executives working at Sony Yay or Cartoon Network or Nick. Ad rates are poor for kids channel. Further decline in viewership will affect the programming.

Wired internet growing should worry cable and DTH operators.

Buddy, u need to deep dive into the actual facts before coming to conclusion and as such all broadcasters r trying to cater to all audience segments be it via TV or OTT

Ad rates too r dependent on various factors and not just viewership.... Just to give an example u may be seeing lot of ads on hindi news channels but ad rates on these r not that high bcoz brands do not agree to pay more while on English News Channels ad rates r high as demographic of such channels consists of premium audience .....within mass oriented channels too ad rates differ hugely across various programs or events

 

[dino29]

Fox & Uday Shankar played a major role in Star's massive growth & Success. Star, Zee & Sony started their journey almost together. Zee build their regional presence in a slow and conventional manner while Star played smarter by acquiring the best suitable regional networks & nurturing it, thereby Star's roots at regional (especially south) become faster and Stronger. Zee failed at Sports and Sony still not able to spread out of Hindi, but Star wrote success stories in both.
When Fox changed to Disney followed by Uday's exit, I expected a stunted state of future for Star(regarding what happened with UTV in hands of Disney). But things was different. Star performed better than earlier these days under Disney. K Madhavan able to become a good successor to Uday Shanker. Its linear entertainment network is delivering the best performance of all time. Many positive changes bought by the new team. As an example the GECs upgraded their reality show stages with modern techniques. Movie aquisition , investments in shows, costumes, ..all got improved in recent years. Linear entertainment is going very well but drawbacks happened at streaming and sports side(that too due to some over expenses happened from Fox - Uday era itself).

Also Disney is not only successfully running bouquet of large number of channels from various genres but to their credit even having exclusive English GEC for youth called Disney International HD and Hindi Dubbed Hollywood Movies Channel...even Star Gold Select SD/HD has exclusivity attached to it in offbeat hindi movies genre bcoz And Xplor HD has limited reach.

I am expecting Star Movies Select to be rebranded soon either back to its old avatar of airing meaningful cinema or as a kids movie channel or English GEC. Bindass too might soon be revamped

 

[Ashok Varma]

Wrong. Large number of subscribers still opt for linear TV, the decline in Pay TV subscriber base is largely due to many people switching over to DD Free Dish but in last few quarters again DTH Subscriber Base has more or less stabilised with retention + addition of new subscribers showing positive signs.....some decline due to OTT is happening that too will slow down as fatigue is setting in.

Also please stop blaming TRAI for increase in price of channels,,it is the broadcasters who implemented the rules in a manner which lead to upsurge in pricing....we have already had detailed discussion on this earlier hence won't repeat again. Ex Chairman of TRAI took the broadcasters with tough stance and brought in great rules but now under new chairman rules r being relaxed/modified to accommodate broadcaster demands which is slowly leading to Pre NTO kind of scenario coming into effect very soon

Big networks like Star and Sony wants reduce their existing holding by 50% due to Revenue erosion in linear tv, but still you are in dreams for growth.

 

[RdX]

But things was different. Star performed better than earlier these days under Disney. K Madhavan able to become a good successor to Uday Shanker. Its linear entertainment network is delivering the best performance of all time. Many positive changes bought by the new team. As an example the GECs upgraded their reality show stages with modern techniques. Movie aquisition , investments in shows, costumes, ..all got improved in recent years. Linear entertainment is going very well but drawbacks happened at streaming and sports side(that too due to some over expenses happened from Fox - Uday era itself).

Even Disney (ESPN) Joint venture with Star Sports till 2013, those days Disney maintained some standard in Media Rights acquisition and Numbers of channels. they focused 365 days live Matches/events, But After Murdoch Fox Acquired Star Sports completely Uday gone aggressive acquiring only Big Media Rights like BCCI, ACC, IPL Media Rights, that BCCI Rights value out of context everytime even now Uday repeating same thing under Reliance/Ambani company without realistic calculation.

 

[Ashok Varma]

Even Disney (ESPN) Joint venture with Star Sports till 2013, those days Disney maintained some standard in Media Rights acquisition and Numbers of channels. they focused 365 days live Matches/events, But After Murdoch Fox Acquired Star Sports completely Uday gone aggressive acquiring only Big Media Rights like BCCI, ACC, IPL Media Rights, that BCCI Rights value out of context everytime even now Uday repeating same thing under Reliance/Ambani company without realistic calculation.

IPL and BCCI rights have e auction, so there is no question of overpriced as rivals were defeated by 50 cr/100 cr, but ICC has closed door auctions, Disney Star won with over a billion USD difference, so it’s overpriced.

 

[StoriesWithPK]

Buddy, u need to deep dive into the actual facts before coming to conclusion and as such all broadcasters r trying to cater to all audience segments be it via TV or OTT

Ad rates too r dependent on various factors and not just viewership.... Just to give an example u may be seeing lot of ads on hindi news channels but ad rates on these r not that high bcoz brands do not agree to pay more while on English News Channels ad rates r high as demographic of such channels consists of premium audience .....within mass oriented channels too ad rates differ hugely across various programs or events

You're insinuating that only you know everything and others are just reading headlines.

It's okay. Keep living in your imaginary situation. Let's wait and see in a few more years.

Great programming leads the audience to where they watch.

 

[Ashok Varma]

Now Disney dials Adani, Sun TV etc list go on

Walt Disney in talks with Adani, Sun TV to sell India streaming, TV biz: Report

The US entertainment giant’s senior executives have also gauged the interest of private equity funds considering the company is exploring a range of options

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