tech2 News StaffSep 06, 2017 22:22:16 IST
Star India, a media company backed by Twenty-First Century Fox, has injected 12.33 billion rupees ($192.04 million) into its digital content arm over the last six months amid intense competition among online video providers in India.
Image: Hotstar
Through a rights issue, Star India infused the money in Novi Digital Entertainment Pvt Ltd, which runs streaming video platform Hotstar and Starsports.com, regulatory filings showed. Star on Tuesday won the television and digital rights for Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket for the next five years with a staggering $2.55 billion bid.
India’s $20 billion media and entertainment industry is in the middle of an intensifying war for content between global firms such as Amazon.com Inc, Netflix Inc and a host of home-grown players.
Facebook Inc is also keen to jump on the bandwagon. The company was one of the bidders for IPL’s digital rights, along with other domestic players such as telecom operators Bharti Airtel Ltd and Reliance Jio.
Hotstar, is the market leader among India’s over-the-top platforms when measured by active subscribers, and holds exclusive Indian rights to stream many hit sitcoms from the US TV channel operator HBO, including “Game of Thrones”.
Star India CEO Uday Shankar on Monday said that the Indian Premier League's (IPL) media rights auction was a case of "getting everything or losing everything" for the company. "We were either prepared to get everything or lose everything. It feels good because at Star when we try for something you want to succeed," Star India top boss Shankar told PTI in an exclusive interview.
With inputs from Reuters and PTI
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