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MUMBAI: Television broadcaster Star India
has launched an ad-supported video
streaming service Hotstar to allow users to
consume its content anytime and anywhere.
The broadcaster has launched a beta version
of the service as Hotstar.com besides a
mobile application on iTunes and Android.
Star Player, the online destination for Star
network content, has been merged with
Hotstar. Star also runs digital sports
servicesstarsports.com and
starfootball.com. Starsports.com is a mix of
ad and subscription model.
With about 20,000 hours of content spread
across seven languages, Hotstar will cater
to a diverse audience. Its content offering
includes 120+ full-length TV shows, 500+
movies and live screening of popular sports
like cricket, football, tennis and kabbadi.
The launch of the portal coincides with the
ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. The new media
rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are
also coming up for bidding. The World Cup
will take place from 14 February to 29 March
while the IPL will take place from 8 April to
24 May.
Star is likely to bid aggressively for IPL new
media rights, having found great success by
streaming it on starsports.com during the
2014 edition as part of a licensing
arrangement with Times Internet, the
incumbent rights holder.
It will try to use these sporting events to
build awareness about the product and drive
sampling. A lot of it will, however, depend
on whether or not it is able to grab the IPL
rights as Multi Screen Media (MSM), which
has IPL broadcast rights, will also go after
the rights. MSM runs a video streaming
called Liv Sports, which was launched
during the FIFA World Cup.
Going back to Hotstar, while not all movies
can be downloaded due to licensing
requirements, there is no such restriction
when it comes to TV shows.
Users can watch all TV shows, without sign-
up or registration, of Star Plus, Life OK,
Channel V, Asianet, Star Vijay, Star Jalsha,
Star Pravah, Star One, Suvarna and Star
World.
Star believes that the Hotstar platform is
the most compelling catalogue ever offered
over-the-top on mobile and the web making
it the most complete video destination for
consumers.
Hotstar is free and has no charges or fees
attached. Users can watch the latest TV
shows, movies and live sports on their
device completely free of charge.
All videos on Hotstar.com will have ads
either in the beginning or in the middle of
the video or a combination of both.
Other than the website Hotstar.com, the
service is available across all mobile
devices which are on Android, iOS and Nokia
Asha platforms.
Hotstar allows users to download content on
their device so that they can watch it offline
when network is limited, or when they
travel.
Apart from offering fresh content, Hotstar
also has full episodes of TV shows from the
years gone by—’Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu
Thi’, ‘Kasautii Zindagi Ke’, ‘Sarabhai vs
Sarabhai’, ‘Mahabharat’, ‘Khichdi’, ‘Iss Pyaar
Ko Kya Naam Doon’, etc. In addition, users
can catch the latest Tamil, Malayalam,
Marathi and Bengali shows.
Some other features
Video playback experience: Through video
technology optimisations, the broadcaster
enabled adaptive video streaming that
adjusts itself to deliver the best possible
video quality. Available bandwidth and
player technology ensure that there is never
any compromise on audio-video quality.
Video is downward optimised to playback
continuously in as little as 64 Kbps (2G
bandwidth) and can play HD quality video
on-the-top-end bandwidth.
Download & go: Given that mobile data
networks are inconsistent, Hotstar enables
users to download their favourite content to
their devices so that they can watch it
offline, or when they are in a situation
where they cannot rely on their mobile
networks.
Playlists: Hotstar allows users to create
their own playlists with content they curate
from the rest of the platform for at-leisure
viewing. There are no restrictions on the
type of content users can add to their
playlists—individual episodes, movies, full
collections or even collections of movies.
Collections, chapters & curation: Hotstar
has come up with features that make
content selection simple by organising
episodes of a show based on a theme. It
also clubs content to make collections of
video clips, episodes of a show and similar
movies.
http://www.televisionpost.com/television/star-launches-ad-supported-video-streaming-service-hotstar/
has launched an ad-supported video
streaming service Hotstar to allow users to
consume its content anytime and anywhere.
The broadcaster has launched a beta version
of the service as Hotstar.com besides a
mobile application on iTunes and Android.
Star Player, the online destination for Star
network content, has been merged with
Hotstar. Star also runs digital sports
servicesstarsports.com and
starfootball.com. Starsports.com is a mix of
ad and subscription model.
With about 20,000 hours of content spread
across seven languages, Hotstar will cater
to a diverse audience. Its content offering
includes 120+ full-length TV shows, 500+
movies and live screening of popular sports
like cricket, football, tennis and kabbadi.
The launch of the portal coincides with the
ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. The new media
rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are
also coming up for bidding. The World Cup
will take place from 14 February to 29 March
while the IPL will take place from 8 April to
24 May.
Star is likely to bid aggressively for IPL new
media rights, having found great success by
streaming it on starsports.com during the
2014 edition as part of a licensing
arrangement with Times Internet, the
incumbent rights holder.
It will try to use these sporting events to
build awareness about the product and drive
sampling. A lot of it will, however, depend
on whether or not it is able to grab the IPL
rights as Multi Screen Media (MSM), which
has IPL broadcast rights, will also go after
the rights. MSM runs a video streaming
called Liv Sports, which was launched
during the FIFA World Cup.
Going back to Hotstar, while not all movies
can be downloaded due to licensing
requirements, there is no such restriction
when it comes to TV shows.
Users can watch all TV shows, without sign-
up or registration, of Star Plus, Life OK,
Channel V, Asianet, Star Vijay, Star Jalsha,
Star Pravah, Star One, Suvarna and Star
World.
Star believes that the Hotstar platform is
the most compelling catalogue ever offered
over-the-top on mobile and the web making
it the most complete video destination for
consumers.
Hotstar is free and has no charges or fees
attached. Users can watch the latest TV
shows, movies and live sports on their
device completely free of charge.
All videos on Hotstar.com will have ads
either in the beginning or in the middle of
the video or a combination of both.
Other than the website Hotstar.com, the
service is available across all mobile
devices which are on Android, iOS and Nokia
Asha platforms.
Hotstar allows users to download content on
their device so that they can watch it offline
when network is limited, or when they
travel.
Apart from offering fresh content, Hotstar
also has full episodes of TV shows from the
years gone by—’Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu
Thi’, ‘Kasautii Zindagi Ke’, ‘Sarabhai vs
Sarabhai’, ‘Mahabharat’, ‘Khichdi’, ‘Iss Pyaar
Ko Kya Naam Doon’, etc. In addition, users
can catch the latest Tamil, Malayalam,
Marathi and Bengali shows.
Some other features
Video playback experience: Through video
technology optimisations, the broadcaster
enabled adaptive video streaming that
adjusts itself to deliver the best possible
video quality. Available bandwidth and
player technology ensure that there is never
any compromise on audio-video quality.
Video is downward optimised to playback
continuously in as little as 64 Kbps (2G
bandwidth) and can play HD quality video
on-the-top-end bandwidth.
Download & go: Given that mobile data
networks are inconsistent, Hotstar enables
users to download their favourite content to
their devices so that they can watch it
offline, or when they are in a situation
where they cannot rely on their mobile
networks.
Playlists: Hotstar allows users to create
their own playlists with content they curate
from the rest of the platform for at-leisure
viewing. There are no restrictions on the
type of content users can add to their
playlists—individual episodes, movies, full
collections or even collections of movies.
Collections, chapters & curation: Hotstar
has come up with features that make
content selection simple by organising
episodes of a show based on a theme. It
also clubs content to make collections of
video clips, episodes of a show and similar
movies.
http://www.televisionpost.com/television/star-launches-ad-supported-video-streaming-service-hotstar/
