Ekta Kapoor challenges dynamics on television

Ekta Kapoor

In a first of its kind development, Ekta Kapoor's production house has managed to crack a deal with Sony Entertainment to procure the rights to stream her upcoming show for the channel on her digital platform. Episodes from Kapoor's Dil Hi Toh Hai, starring Karan Kundra, will stream on her OTT platform, ALTBalaji, 24 hours after they air on television. The permissions come as a result of the ownership of the intellectual property (IP) rights of the show, which, in this case, rests with Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms Limited. While the IP rights of TV shows usually rest with the channel, Siddharth Kumar Tewary has been the only other producer to secure the rights for his show, Porus.

Karan Kundra

Confirming the news to mid-day, a source close to the production house termed the development as a significant step towards strengthening the position of a production house in the creation of a show. Nachiket Pantvaidya, Group COO and CEO ALTBalaji, said, "With widespread penetration of the Internet and smartphones in India, we launched ALTBalaji to acquire new viewers globally, as these users are not encumbered by restrictions posed by TV - both as a device and as a format. The retention of a TV show's rights by Balaji marks a major shift in the industry." Dil Hi Toh Hai, also starring Poonam Dhillon, is a family drama centered around industrialists who deal in the pharmaceuticals business. Set to air on TV from the first week of June, it sheds light on the relationships between siblings, who respect each other despite their differences.

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