Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

According to reports, Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart has held talks to buy a stake in Hotstar, Star India’s video streaming service. This move could be directed at countering the rise of Amazon Prime Video, and other OTT players in the space like Netflix, Voot, and TVF, among others.

While the reports are expected to be preliminary in nature and have not reached the advanced stage, it may or may not materialize. The reports have not been confirmed by either Flipkart or Hotstar.

Earlier in July, it was reported that Flipkart had partnered with Hotstar to launch a new ad platform.

This new alliance, if it goes through, could prove valuable for Flipkart as it will help the e-commerce giant to enter the growing OTT space in India. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have seen a marked growth in their customer numbers, Flipkart will be looking to capture a piece of this market.

It was also reported earlier, that Flipkart had held preliminary talks with Netflix, exploring a potential alliance. The talks with Netflix did not progress much.

The reported talks among Flipkart and Hotstar were denied by a Hotstar spokeswoman, in her statement.

‘This query has no basis in facts. No such conversation is happening with Flipkart or any others. We are well resourced and on a velocity of growth that is ahead of almost every other consumer Internet company in India. As flattered as we are by the rumours, the service is too valuable for such conjectures to be even entertained,” the Hotstar spokeswoman said in an emailed response to a query.

“However, we remain open to partnerships that can help grow the Internet ecosystem in India and beyond,” Hotstar added.

According to a PwC report, Indian OTT market is expected to be worth more than $800 million by 2022, making it the tenth largest OTT market by revenue.

By Varun

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