Disney : Star Plus, Cricket, Hotstar

[Funkyboyhas]

Will Disney, After Buying Star, Be Third Time Lucky in India?

Walt Disney - It Takes Two To Tango, Especially In A Market Like India, And Disney Knows It Well. With The Acquisition Of Star India, It Is Ready To Get A Larger Chunk Of The Broadcasting And Ott Pie. But Will It Be A Perfect Dance?

www.businesstoday.in

 

[Ankur 370]

star india is now disney india network
more infotainement lifestyle culturel kids entertainment sports events and orignal serials growing for india

 

[Ankur 370]

Disney star channel's
National geographic | Fox Life | Disney kids | Star sports | GEC | Star movies and Gold channels
equal entertaining ott service named disney + hostar

 

[dino29]

Very interesting article and it seems like disney willing to step aside from its traditional approach and now immensely focused to build strong pay subscriber base for Disney+Hotstar. It will buy major cricket rights even at steep prices.

Article says that emphasis on traditional linear tv will b less but i am quite sure same would not apply to mass channels in India as traditional tv still has is quite important here and has immense growth potential. Regarding niche channels , already star/disney is cutting down on costs and this will continue or gather more momentum if IPL rights come at a very high price.

I must state that though i agree cricket rights r important for broadcasters in India but when price of its broadcast rights touch extremely high level then as a regular viewers it is not quite a good thing. Reason being that broadcasters tend to invest less in other things be it content on tv channels or having more diveresed tv channels portfolio itself. Reading the article i think Star/Disney would have continued niche channels like Channel V, Nat Geo People, Star World, Star World Premiere, FX, Disney Junior etc and even expanded in other genres like English Music chs if there was more legroom available in financial resources. Also i am extremely unhappy with cricket live or highlights playing across all star sports channels which again is linked to higher investment made in cricket thus broadcaster finding ways to monetise wherever possible.

At the end of the day no matter how much anyone states that it is not about revenue or profits but main index of success is valuation, i would say that revenue/profit r still extremely important for running a network /company efficiently and its expansion. Be it star/disney or others i am sure they will have this longterm vision in mind.