Radio City & Mid-day announce the launch of Season 3 of Hitlist OTT Awards

• Public voting started from 18^th February 2022 to determine the winners of country’s finest talent on the OTT platform
• The most original and credible awards continue to recognize talent from the Indian OTT space
  

India, February 21, 2022: Radio City, India’s leading radio network, and Mid-day, Mumbai’s leading tabloid launch the third edition of ‘Hitlist OTT awards’. Public voting for the most awaited OTT awards commenced from 18^th February 2022. After the successful conclusion of the first two seasons, the third season is underway to nominate and determine the most original and credible listeners’ choice award that recognizes the best of India’s talent and content on the OTT platform.

India’s OTT creators have become an integral part of the entertainment space and established their own identity with original stories and brilliant portrayal of talented performances. Hitlist OTT Awards were first launched in 2020 and received a great response from the audience in its first two seasons. The third season of the most original and credible OTT Awards continues on its legacy to identify ingenious talent from the OTT space.

A month-long voting process for the public started from 18^th February 2022 and will close on 18^th March 2022. The in-house jury including Mayank Shekhar, a well-known film critic & Mid-day's entertainment editor along with Radio City RJ Salil Acharya, India's recognized star influencer and several other well-known online critics will be empaneled as the judges. The public will get an opportunity to choose their favorite talent across 16 popular nomination categories such as Best Show, Best Season, Best Web Film (Hindi and Non-Hindi), Best Non-Fiction, Best Online Sensation, Best Actor - Series (Male & Female), Best Supporting Actor - Series (Male & Female), Best Actor - Film (Male & Female), Best Supporting Actor - Film (Male & Female), Best Ensemble Cast, Best Showrunner/ Creator. The digizens can log in to the URL - https://www.radiocity.in/hitlistawards available on Radio City and Mid-day’s social media channels and cast their vote (Janta ka faisla). The award finale will be held on 29^th March 2022 in Mumbai in the presence of the nominees and prominent personalities from the OTT entertainment world.

Speaking about being the most democratic OTT awards in the country, Mr. Ashit Kukian, Chief Executive Officer, Radio City said, “It gives us great joy to witness the ongoing enthusiasm for the third season of the Hitlist OTT Awards. It's one of the most sought-after events as it recognizes innovative content creators and talented artists who have been at the forefront of developing enriching entertainment for the OTT platform. The last two award seasons were successful in truly transforming the OTT awards landscape. These awards have gained popularity among audiences pan India and have consequently raised the bar for OTT players to produce quality content that resonates with the viewers’ expectations. As the OTT market is predicted to grow at 22-25% CAGR, recognitions such as the Hitlist OTT Awards will continue to build a legacy that celebrates the diligence of creators and artists to bring quality entertainment to the audiences. We are excited to witness the battle unfold to crown these creative and talented performances in the OTT space.”

The third season kick-started with OTT industry stalwarts namely Aparna Purohit - Head, India Originals, Amazon Prime Video; Pratiksha Rao - Director- Films and Licensing, Netflix India; Nimisha Pandey - Chief Content Officer, Hindi Originals - ZEE5; Arunabh Kumar - Founder, TVF; Sameer Nair - CEO, Applause Entertainment; Apoorva Mehta - CEO, Dharma Productions; Madhu Bhojwani - Partner, Emmay Entertainment, participating in an engaging panel discussion around the topic ‘Deep-diving into the evolving OTT industry’ which was moderated by Mayank Shekhar. 

Radio City & Mid-day have begun promotions of Hitlist OTT Awards - Season 3 on their social media platforms along with cross-promotions from OTT actors on their respective social media handles. Radio City RJs are generating excitement around the awards in the form of contests, interviews with celebrities, industry speaks, trivia time, and much more. These contests and interviews provide the listeners an opportunity to interact with their favorite OTT actors and stars. Similarly, Mid-day also has begun to run daily campaigns to generate public awareness for the award nominations. The entire awards nomination list is being featured on the popular tabloid along with a designated Hitlist section that showcases the artist’s profile and interviews of the nominees. These interviews cover the journey of the artists, their experiences, the evolution of the OTT platform, and its potential to capture the entertainment space. Promotions for the 3^rd season are being carried out across radio, print, digital, social media, and on-ground platforms.

About Radio City:

Radio City, a part of Music Broadcast Limited (MBL) is a subsidiary of Jagran Prakashan Ltd. Being the first FM radio broadcaster in India and with over 20 years of expertise in the radio industry, Radio City has consistently been the number one radio station in Bengaluru and Mumbai with 14.8% and 24.9% average listenership share respectively. (Source: RAM Data, TG: 12+ Period: Week 1, 2013 to Week 52, 2021). Radio City Delhi ranks #3 with 12.2% average listenership share (Source: RAM Data, TG: 12+ Period: Week 1, 2019 to Week 52, 2021).

Music Broadcast Limited currently has 39 stations across 12 states, comprising 62% of the country’s FM population. Radio City reaches out to over 69 million listeners in 34 cities covered by AZ Research 2019 (Source: AZ Research Report). The network provides terrestrial programming along with 17 other web-stations, through its digital interface, www.radiocity.in

Radio City has spearheaded the evolution of FM radio by offering content that is unique, path-breaking and invokes city passion amongst listeners with its brand philosophy of “Rag Rag Mein Daude City”. The network introduced humour and the concept of agony aunt on radio with Babber Sher and Love Guru respectively. It also initiated Radio City Freedom Awards, a platform to recognize independent music and provided a launch pad to budding singers with Radio City Super Singer, the first singing talent hunt on radio.

Radio City bagged 85 awards across national and international platforms like Golden Mikes, India Radio Forum, New York awards, ACEF awards etc. in the recent past. Radio City has consistently featured for the 7th time in ‘India’s Best Companies to Work for’ study conducted by Great Place to Work Institute. Radio City has also been recognized in ‘India’s Best Workplaces for Women – 2019’ and has ranked amongst the Top 75 organizations on the list. In 2020, Radio City ranked 4th in ‘Best Large Workplaces in Asia’, according to the GPTW survey. 

About Mid-day:

Mumbai's homegrown newspaper mid-day is a 41-year-old brand that is squarely focused on the city and its residents. Considered the last word in local news, it effortlessly straddles in-depth local reportage with exclusive entertainment news and robust sports coverage. Mid-day was the first newspaper to introduce a daily entertainment section with detailed and accurate news about the film, television, and web industry, making Hitlist a game-changer in daily journalism. It’s around-town section The Guide is the city's only leisure guidebook to offer free and fair coverage of all that's new and worth experiencing in the city. Mid-day's annual recognition of the best food and drink establishments to have opened in Mumbai - The Guide Restaurant Awards - has set a benchmark by being the top no-fear, no-favour F&B honor that the city hosts.

Mid-day is a subsidiary of Jagran Prakashan Ltd (JPL), India's leading media and communications group, with interests across print, radio, OOH, activation, mobile, and digital, making it one of the largest media businesses in the country.