Exploring entertainment industry from the Meta Memories (better known as FB)
Shashikant Pushpakar ??
Co-Founder of a unique CFaaS company | DNA of a Marketer | Specialist in Cloud, Logistics, FSI
I believe in 2021 or so, I deleted my Facebook app—not the account, just the app. The content and connections didn’t resonate anymore.
Today, while managing our official Meta page, I found myself scrolling through the “memories” tab. It took me back to a time before the influencer/ user generated content which we just keep scrolling. It was the time when YouTube thumbnails and our Facebook "wall" were buzzing with entertainment.
One memory caught my eye: a Tata Sky commercial from the era of constant DTH recharges. If you remember the 90's superhit movie Damini (featuring Meenakshi Sheshadri, Sunny Deol, Amrish Puri, and Aamir Khan (yes, he is there ??), you'll love this ad. It's also a throwback to Damini's iconic courtroom scene—"Taareekh pe Taareekh."
Watch the ad here before we dive in:
The ad promotes Tata Sky's then-new feature—pausing and recording live TV. That service was everywhere a few years ago, but now it's almost forgotten. Tata Sky has since rebranded as Tata Play, and unfortunately, it’s making headlines for not-so-great reasons: Tata Play’s net loss narrows to ?35.38 crore in FY24 as it pushes its streaming business.
When Tata Sky launched in 2006, the idea was to offer premium viewing—24x7 support, DVRs, HD channels. Today, even pay TV feels nostalgic as OTT takes over.
Tata Play, a joint venture between Tata and Sky TV (now owned by Disney), changed its branding to reflect this shift. Their blue and red are now white and pink, symbolizing a new era. Initially, Tata Sky was all about TV content. But with Tata Play, they offer bundled services—TV, OTT, mobile streaming—all on one bill.
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When I did a bit of search, I found that it was 2019 when the brand's shift to OTT began with 'Tata Sky Binge' in 2019, but but because of its strong DTH brand recall, people would still associate it with just TV. They needed a refresh to stay relevant in a world moving beyond TV content - As distributors of content and not just distributors of the TV content.
I'll highly recommend you hearing this Netflix specific episode from Two By Two Podcast by The Ken—one of my current favourites.
The podcast episode is about how Netflix is trying hard to crack the Indian market, calling it their "last growth market." With competition heating up from Jio Cinema and Disney+ Hotstar’s merger, Netflix faces tough competition. Jio’s distribution strength and the extensive content library make this battle even more intense.
The Indian entertainment story is evolving fast, from Tata Play's transformation to Netflix’s India-focused strategy. Both reflect how the entertainment landscape here is shifting, but the potential is immense for those who can innovate, deliver and keep innovating.
Compiling all interesting reads, I found while writing this short article: