STAR India four months ago began making over-the-air content available to all digitally enabled consumers in India. Dubbed ‘hotstar,’ the service is ad-supported and was built on the Accenture Video Solution (AVS) software platform.
STAR also turned to Accenture to develop the strategy for, and help launch, the service. AVS enables STAR to develop broadcast-quality content over Wi-Fi, but also across 4G, 3G and 2G networks.
“With hotstar, our ambition is nothing less than the establishment of a whole new model for on demand video consumption in the world,” said Sanjay Gupta, Star India COO. “We will drive dramatic innovation on this platform with benefits for both users and advertisers. Accenture has been a valuable partner in this effort. They are walking side by side with us in creating this compelling platform, bringing the best of their product and technology expertise to the table. Together, we will establish compelling new benchmarks in the Over the Top space.”
In February, hotstar and digital counterpart starsports delivered more than 25 million video views during an Indian-Pakistan cricket match, making it the most watched sports event online of all time.