09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Standard
How language streaming services Hoichoi, Aha shake up entertainment market
The numbers seem small. In 2024, streaming video generated ₹35,600 crore in advertising and pay revenues from 125 million subscribers, according to Media Partners Asia
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Eken Babu is an unlikely detective. The rotund, balding character was created in 1991 by the late author Sujan Dasgupta for Bengali magazine Anandamela. Eken Babu became a web series on Hoichoi, a Bengali streaming service, in 2018. The show is now in its eighth season. Eken Babu's popularity prompted Hoichoi's parent, SVF Entertainment, a major studio and distributor based in Kolkata, to produce a film featuring the character in 2022. This May saw the release of the third film in the franchise, Eken: Benaras e Bibhishika. Hoichoi, a subscription-based service, which launched in 2017, now makes a small profit
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