Walmart-Flipkart deal gathers pace, Hotstar rules digital viewership of IPL 2108

Sunday April 22, 2018 , 2 min Read

Indian unicorn Flipkart seems to have finally come around. US retail giant Walmart has been in talks with the multibillion-dollar ecommerce major for months to acquire a controlling stake and the deal is said to be an important one as the US retailer gets set to battle rival Amazon in India. Sources say the deal is being worked out at Bentonville, Walmart’s headquarters, and the brick-and-mortar giant is figuring out regulations in Singapore, where Flipkart is registered. It had been reported earlier that Walmart had completed due diligence on Flipkart, and reports that Walmart may finalise its deal with Flipkart “as early as next week” are doing the rounds now.

Sachin-Binny_Flipkart — Flipkart Co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal

IPL's digital viewership has increased 76 percent over the last year, and Star is doing a few things right with live video-streaming despite making IPL viewing a paid experience after the first 10 minutes. Its digital-streaming service Hotstar is towering over Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in India right now, and in the inaugural week of IPL 2018, Hotstar reached a record 82.4 million viewers, accounting for over 22 percent of the tournament’s overall viewership. Hotstar has pulled this off thanks to cheap 4G data plans, the decision to launch a dedicated sports subscription packs and higher viewer engagement.

Hotstar touched six million concurrents during the MI vs RCB game

India is known as a crafts hub, and this luxury design startup based in Udaipur is focused on making India a forward-thinking design destination. The House Of Things is a platform for heritage crafts and niche design from all parts of the world. Started by Astha Khetan, This self-funded company offers a selection of furniture, lighting, home ware, textiles, curios, and art sourced from over 200 brands and artisans from all over the world.