MUMBAI: Much is in store for Over-the-top (OTT) content aggregator platform Hotstar. A game-changer in the industry which managed to generate 175 million downloads in two years now plans to expand to other parts of the globe.
Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan has announced new territory launches. Speaking to Mumbrella Asia at the CASBAA OTT Summit in Singapore, he said, “The model can be global with mobile viewing and tech at the heart of things."
Though, he did now reveal how much investments had gone into the company or which countries were being looked at as the next markets in the global expansion plan. “We will look at other models too,” he said. “It may be that some of our customers want to pay to receive no ads whatsoever. And where we do run ads, we try to ensure they are personalised and not disruptive. So, for example, with the cricket the ads run during the break between overs.”
Despite the high cost, he revealed that the app received 60 million active users last month due to its mix of national and international content. “It was a big bet for us to bring all the content together in one place, but that is what the consumer wants. India was ready for it but nobody had invested to connect up the dots before," he added.
He also said that the cricket test match between India and England has received as many as three million people using Hotstar at one time.
Mohan also asserted that the company is seeing rapid growth on a dramatic scale. "Something big is happening in India. That’s clear in the numbers. It’s an exciting story for curated high-quality content and we now have massive brand equity. So we do see an opportunity to take Hotstar to other markets.”
It will be interesting to see what card the company pulls out next.