Kalki 2898 AD: Producers are struggling with satellite rights

“Kalki 2898 AD” is one of the biggest Telugu hits of all time. The film grossed a whopping $18 million in North America, next only to “Baahubali 2.”  This alone proves how massive a hit it was. Still, the film has not yet closed its satellite channel deal.

The producers first tried to convince Star Maa Group to close the deal, but the channel didn’t show much interest in paying the exorbitant fee that the makers demanded. Now, the responsibility lies with Zee Group. Zee Group has now agreed to purchase the satellite rights, but they have not yet sealed the agreement.

Due to Prabhas’ immense global popularity, OTT streaming companies purchase his films for hundreds of crores of rupees before their theatrical release. Netflix and Amazon Prime both acquired the OTT rights for this movie and have been streaming Hindi and South-language versions, respectively.

But selling off satellite rights has become a tough task for producers. The channels are not showing interest in buying films, even if big stars feature in them. The channels are not generating significant revenue from this content, as people are consuming it on over-the-top (OTT) platforms.

While producers have made a lot of money from the expansion of the OTT market, revenues from satellite rights have drastically shrunk.