Daybreak - When cricket and Koffee aren’t enough, JioHotstar wants to make 'Sparks' fly

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

What happens when India’s biggest streaming platform decides it’s no longer satisfied with just airing Koffee with Karan and cricket? And it now wants to take on YouTube and Instagram?You get Sparks–an ambitious experiment by Jiohotstar that’s is set on winning over Gen Z viewers, one short video at a time.In February, right before the IPL kicked off, Jiohotstar launched Sparks. It is a free, creator-led platform of bite-sized episodes featuring the likes of Tanmay Bhat, Zakir Khan, Ranveer Brar, and Elvish Yadav. On paper, it might sound like just another experiment with content. But it is actually a marked product shift the platform is making after its merger with Disney’s India business. And at the heart of this strategic move is a  25-member team that includes former top executives from YouTube and Instagram. But let’s be real. This is like David trying to beat not one, but two Goliaths, that too on their home turf. Add to that the fact that this is a space where the rules are always shifting, creators are supremely loyal, and content never sleepsIn today's episode, host Snigdha Sharma is joined by The Ken reporter Rounak Kumar Gunjan who dug deeper to find an answer to one big question: can a streaming giant reinvent itself as a scroll-worthy destination? Tune in.If you have any thoughts or questions about this episode, send them us as texts or voice notes on Daybreak’s WhatsApp at [phone]. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Hi, this is Rohan Dharma Kumar. If you've heard any of the Ken's podcast, you've probably heard me. My interruptions, my analogies and my contrarian takes on most topics. And you might rightly be wondering why am I interrupting this episode too? It's for a special announcement. For the last few months, I and Sita Raman Ganeshan, my colleague and the Ken's deputy editor, have been working on an ambitious new podcast. It's called Intermission.

We want to tell the secret source stories of India's greatest companies. Stories of how they were born, how they fought to survive, how they build their organizations and culture, how they manage to innovate and thrive over decades, and most importantly, how they're poised today. To do that, Sita and I have been reading books, poring over reports, going through financial statements, digging up archives, and talking to dozens of people. And if that wasn't enough, we also decided to throw in video into the mix. Yes, you heard that right. Intermission has also had to find its footing in the world of multi-camera shoots in professional studios, laborious editing, and extensive post-production.

Sita and I are still reeling from the intensity of our first studio recording. Intermission launches on March 23rd. To get alert, as soon as we release our first video. episode, please follow intermission on Spotify and Apple Podcast or subscribe to the Ken's YouTube channel. You can find all of the links at the ken.com slash I am. With that, back to your episode. What happens when India's biggest streaming platform decides it's no longer satisfied with just airing cricket or coffee with Karan?

And now it wants to take on YouTube and Instagram. Well, you get Sparks. a bold new experiment from Geo Hot Star that is out to win over Gen Z and millennial viewers one short video at a time. In February this year, just before the IPL kicked off, Geo Hot Star launched Sparks. It is a free creator-led vertical packed with bite-sized episodes featuring the likes of Tanmei Bhat, Zakir Khan, Ranvir Brar and Elvis Yadav. Now, on paper, it might sound like just another experiment with content.

But if you think about it a little bit, you will realize that this is actually a super ambitious product shift that the platform is trying to make, especially after its blogbuster merger with Disney India's business. So it is Geo Hotstar's hook and retain strategy where they want GeoHotstar in its ideal state to be a hook for the younger audiences, where they move from GeoHotstar sparks, where they watch episodic, short. shorter form of content, and they move from, which is free by the way as of now, and they move from sparks onto the longer form of content or sports content, which where the entire monetization funnel starts. Now, at the heart of this very strategic move is a small but mighty 25 member team that includes former top executives from, well, YouTube and Instagram. their mission, turn GeoHotstar into a serious player in the short form video space. But wait, let's get real.

This is like David trying to beat not one but two Goliaths, that two on their home turf. Add to that the fact that this is a space where the rules are always shifting, creators are supremely loyal and content never sleeps. So what makes GeoHotstar think that it has a chance? So, today on this episode, we are joined by my colleague, the Ken reporter Ronna Kumar Gunjan, who dig deeper to find an answer to one big question. Can a streaming giant reinvent itself as a scroll-worthy destination? Welcome to Daybreak, a business news podcast from the Ken.

I'm your host, Nick Da Sharma, and I don't chase the news cycle. Instead, every day of the week, my colleague Rahil Filippos and I will bring you one business story that is worth understanding and worth your time. Today is Thursday, the 17th of April. Hi, Ronak. Okay, so first question, right? We understand, you know, what Sparks is kind of trying to do. It wants to take on YouTube and Instagram through short form content.

But also, it is trying to maintain these very fundamental distinctions, right, between itself and these two giants. Can you begin by telling us about them? So the first difference between the two will be the fact that YouTube and Instagram are user-generated content, while GeoHotStar will always be professionally generated content, which means that the cost of production will also be different. For YouTube and Instagram, it is far lower, and for GeoHotStar, it will be slightly higher. But GeoHotStar is completely aware of this, and it wants to keep its cost of production for sparks at about 1-10th of that.

of its long-form content, which is very visible in the content that it is sort of hosting in GeoHodestar as well. You will see a difference in production quality, etc. for its long-form content and its sparks content. That's the first difference. Second difference will always be supply of content. YouTube and Instagram, since its user generated, since there is revenue sharing model as well, you will see a difference in terms of supply of content forever.

at GeoHodestar and YouTube slash Instagram. And GeoHotstar is also completely aware of that part of the puzzle as well, which is why it wants to keep its episodic content as interactive as possible so that people keep coming back to it and don't feel that there is a shortage of content on the platform. The third difference is that of a feedback loop. So Instagram and YouTube have this feature of comments. for instance or super chat for instance, which make the user slash viewer feel as a part of the community where they can comment and the creator can sort of either reply or tailor his or her

content according to those comments. While that's not really a scene at J.R. Starks, they don't want to go with comments ever and they're absolutely clear about it. They've had extensive meetings, internal meetings, etc. And they've discussed comments at length. And they've come to a conclusion that they don't want to go with comments. Right. This is fascinating. You know, this decision to kind of forego comments altogether,

especially because they want to tap into the Instagram and YouTube audience. But we'll come back to this later. First, I want to ask you, you know, about this episodic content that you mentioned earlier. Like these, you know, microdramas and capsules, right? Can you explain what these are and why? are they gaining traction, especially in China? So, we're constantly fighting against falling attention spans, right? TikTok became really famous YouTube, then Instagram reels came in, and then YouTube shorts came in.

All of them are extremely famous because it's either 30 seconds, 45 seconds, a minute max of content that you see, and then you scroll over. You don't have to commit for 40 minutes, 45 minutes, or a couple of hours for movies, etc. So, which is why the popularity. Now, micro dramas do exactly that, along with the added advantage of not being randomized. So it's a one minute episode and you can, you know, sort of spend a minute on that episode and move on to the next episode, which is again a minute. So within five minutes, you've watched five different episodes. And unlike, say, YouTube short or an Instagram reel, where you're scrolling onto randomized content, a cat video followed by, say, a car video. here the continuity is also maintained.

So it's slightly more addictive than Reels, which is why the kind of numbers it's generating across China. Right. Okay, Ronak, let's come back to the comments bit and this decision on part of GeoSparks to kind of stay away from them. Again, you know, like I was earlier saying, it doesn't quite add up if they want to tap into the YouTube and Instagram audience because interaction is such a big part of the appeal of these platforms.

forms, right? So I want to understand, like, why are they doing this? Gio Hotstar never wants to experiment with comments because they've done that in the past with IPL. And in terms of live comments and comments that stayed on the platform, it did not really work for them. Also, comments in general has been debated inside Google and Instagram as well. And they found out that there is a lot of moderation that needs to be done, comment moderation, content moderation, et cetera, because there are hateful comments, there are comments related to, say, color, race, religion, etc. And all of that needs to be purged before being displayed.

So all of that takes a lot of effort. For instance, it has this entire global team for comment moderation only. There is a lot of investment that goes into it, VigioHodestar does not want to sort of take up. So they will never be getting into comments as a company policy regarding J. Hot Star Sparks as well. Right. So, you know, assuming, you know, that they want creators to come on this platform,

what then would be the incentive for them to join Sparks? Like, you know, interaction with viewers or audiences plays such a big role in their profession. So why would they want to come here? So honestly, the only advantage that creators have when they move to a platform like Jee Hot Star, Sparks, is financial. Other than that, there is not really a lot to gain for these creators. Because they've created their community from scratch, either on Instagram or YouTube. They're able to monetize their content on YouTube slash Instagram.

They're able to sell their tickets there. The entire offline thing that they have, where they perform at, say, stadiums or concerts, etc. They're able to sell their tickets through Instagram and YouTube as well. So all of those things, and from a money perspective as well, because it's a revenue sharing thing, they draw a significant amount of money from YouTube and Instagram as well. So all those perspectives fall in place for creators. So the only reason why a creator would want to now branch out to, say, hot star sparks, geo-hotstar sparks would be just monetary slash financial gains.

Right. But Roanak, like with whatever long-term plan that they have, for GeoHodestar sparks, isn't this like such a big disadvantage? It is, it is. In terms of interaction with its audiences, GeoHotstar are aware that it will have to take a hit on that part of the spectrum. Right. So, you know, if it is knowingly doing this,

can you tell us, does it have any kind of a strategic plan to kind of make up for this in other ways? Yeah. So they're planning to. introduce some of the other things like quizzes for instance. So what they did was during coffee with Karin as well, the top four, they introduced this quiz where they asked audiences as to which color of a blazer would they like to see Karin wearing in the next episode. So, and they voted some color and Karan was asked to wear that colored blazer. So similar interactive quizzes they want to do with Sparks as well as to, for instance,

they would be asking the audience, which two creators do they want to see collaborate in the next season? Or who should be the next guest on a particular creator's show, for instance? Or which creator do they want to see do a completely new show on a hot star? So based on those comments, they'll be taking some decisions. And they want to make the audience feel that they're part of the community, part of the entire process. Right, I see.

So, again, you know, coming back to what Sparks is trying to do. do, there's still, you know, I still think that there is this dissonance with regard to what it wants to be and how it's going about it, right? Like, I mean, YouTube and Instagram, they've become such important platforms for creators, you know, to be seen and get recognition, land Netflix specials or whatever. So could Sparks ever become that for creators? Yeah. So, Shingda, Sparks will always be the second step for these creators. The first step will always be Instagram and YouTube because, as they say, YouTube is like this, you know, the first stage for all of these creators where they're seen, noticed, and then they move on to the

second stage, which is these OTT platforms. So, Sparks will always be an OTT platform only for these creators. Their discoverability, the fact that they get famous, the fact that they would create a community of their own, all of that will continue to happen on YouTube and Instagram only. which is basically the key difference between a user-generated platform and a professionally generated platform. Right. Okay. Now, Ron, can we now go back to how this sort of content has picked up in China? You know, do you think we will see a similar pattern here, you know, with bite-sized content, you know, which is produced?

It is non-user-generated or do you think it will be different here? The reason it has not played out similarly in India is because India has banned TikTok. So a lot of creators, a lot of production houses, etc., have started investing in such shorter form of content across the world. And they're hosting it on TikTok and a couple of more platforms. It is only time that in India also we'll start seeing similar content, maybe on YouTube or Instagram or GeoHodestar Sparks, where production houses will sort of start producing full series on these platforms through these capsules, etc. Where one episode will be a minute long and then it will be a 60, 70 episode long series. Another reason why I think it'll take on India is because the entire viewer discretion is actually moving towards shorter and

shorter form of content. Here you would see even movies being say three, three and a half hour long. That's almost history now. One of the most famous Indian production houses for YouTube, TVF, came up with very long episodes that has sort of come down now. Even their episodes are now shorter. So because attention spans are falling, we will move towards shorter content. And by the way, GioHodestar before launching Sparks reached out to production houses

as well. They reached out to Dharmah, etc. for a shorter form of content. So they are in toxic production houses to start developing these one-minute capsules for them. Yeah, I see. But you know, no matter what, Ronuk, if you just think in terms of scale, you even mentioned this in your story, like 500 hours of content is being uploaded on YouTube every minute versus, you know, what, 40, 45 hours that Sparks had in its first month? Like, it's not even comparable. It's nothing, right? So it's impossible for them to kind of scale up to that extent then, I guess.

Like, you know, is that something that they accept or what? Yeah, that is a problem. And they're aware of that supply of content problem. But the thing is, it's, it'll, that difference will always remain because the model is such. This is not user generated. It is professionally generated. Right. Ronak, there's one more thing that I was thinking about.

You know, like, GEO is basically using Sparks as this sort of a funnel, right? To attract younger audiences to its long-form OTT content, right? The monetization funnel, like you mentioned earlier on the episode. But again, this audience is not a fan of long-form content anyway. And that is the whole point, right? They can't, so they can't change your user, behavior, you know, of an entire age group, obviously.

So I don't see younger people suddenly becoming interested in long-form content because of sparks, right? Even if that happens, and you're right, the probability of that happening is very high. But even if that happens, GeoHodestar can always be monetized through ads, right? So it's not as if it's a complete waste in terms of production, etc. there is there will absolutely be some sort of monetization on sparks as well going forward. But another purpose that it will serve is discoverability. For instance, marketing efforts and all of those things are not a complete guarantee for a user to know that there is a longer form of content on the platform as well.

But if you are on GioHotStar and you are consuming some sort of shorter form of content on Sparks, the chances of you discovering that longer form of content that GeoHotstar has is far higher than somebody who's constantly on YouTube or Instagram and has no clue as to what's happening at you hot star. So discoverability is also one of the metrics. Hmm. Yeah, fair. Also, I was wondering, you know, because you were looking at the evolution of short form content so closely for this story. did you come across anything that kind of, you know, took you by surprise? Yes, yes. So before getting into the story, I was of the opinion that YouTube shots or Instagram reels are absolutely part of mindless scrolling. I thought people don't really put in a lot of thought before they start scrolling because, I mean, I always assumed that scrolling is doom scrolling and nothing else.

But that's not really the case. this person at GeoHotstar said a lot of people sort of even if when they're scrolling through Instagram on Reels or YouTube shots, etc., they're very mindful of the kind of content they're scrolling. For instance, they would like to watch only cat videos at a particular time of the day. Or if they're at the airport, they would completely move away from videos that, you know, sort of show accidents, for instance, or any sort of thing. anxiety, for instance.

And I did not think that there is any sort of a user behavior to be caught there as well. But Joe Hotstar said, in our content, we are completely aware there are a lot of people, when we start mobilizing that part of the audience, a lot of people will be, say, sitting at the airport or sitting at a bus stop or sitting inside of us and scrolling content. So we want to be very careful of what kind of content we are putting out. We don't want to put out content which makes people anxious. or would sort of make people move out of the app because we're scaring them away sort of a thing.

So I had absolutely no clue that people, even while doomscrolling, have choices. Right. Okay. Thank you so much, Ronak, for joining us. And thank you for tuning in, dear listeners. If you have any thoughts or questions about GeoHodestar Sparks, please feel free to send us a voice note or a text message on WhatsApp.

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Today's episode was hosted by Snigda Sharma and edited by Rajiv Sien.