Radio City & Mid-day Award Top OTT Talent with the Second Edition of the Hitlist OTT Awards

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After a successful season 1, Radio City, India's leading radio network, and Mid-day, Mumbai's leading tabloid are set to launch the second edition of the Hitlist OTT Awards. The most credible listener choice award recognizes and celebrates the best talent and content available to viewers on India's OTT platforms.

A month-long transparent voting process launched on 16th January 2021 carries on till 9th February where viewers will pick their favorite talent across 14 categories. Radio City and Mid-day culminated the first edition in 2020, making it the first democratic OTT award to recognize talent across all digital platforms. The event was an instant success with over 1.76 crore people voting for their favorite shows, movies, characters, and writers.

This year's winners will be announced on 14th February. Radio City and Mid-day's editorial teams will shortlist the nominees across 14 categories, who will then be judged by an eminent jury and the public. The nominees will be shortlisted across Best Series, Best Actor Male, Best Female for film and series both, Best Ensemble cast, and more. Along with public voting, the winners will also be shortlisted by a team of internal and external jury which includes well respected film critic and Mid-day's entertainment editor Mayank Shekhar; India's beloved celebrity and influencer RJ, Salil Acharya, and some established web reviewers. The activity will culminate with a grand finale on 14th February. The virtual awards show will be promoted across platforms including radio, print, digital, and OOH.

Over the next one month, all the content Radio City will be inspired by India's OTT content. The Rag Rag Mein jingle will include a mash up of dialogues from popular web series, and Radio City RJs will share interesting trivia about shows and encourage listeners to participate in contests and cast their vote. The digizens can vote by logging in to the microsite www.hitlistottawards.com available on Radio City and Mid-day's social media channels.

Mr. Ashit Kukian, CEO, Radio City said, "We are excited to launch the second edition of the Hitlist OTT Awards. India's OTT platforms, have for a couple of years become an integral part of our lives. They provide us an escape route to an alternate universe, away from the monotony of everyday life. In order to celebrate this entertainment industry and the forces that work tirelessly to make it stand out, we launched this award last year which we are proud to say, has become one of the most credible award show to recognize talent from the OTT space. It gives me immense joy to see how successful this property has become and I hope people continue to shower us with love this year as well. With support from our advertisers, listeners and digizens, we are certain that this property will turn into a legacy. I wish all the nominees good luck. May the best talent win."

With easy access to smartphones and cellular networks, the world of OTT is evolving every day. According to a report published by Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), 49% of India's youth spend 2-3 hours a day watching content on an OTT platform and 69% of millennials and GenZ prefer consuming content on an OTT platform over TV.

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 19 years of expertise in the radio industry, Radio City has consistently been the number one radio station in Bengaluru and Mumbai with 24.8% and 15.2% average listenership share respectively. (Source: RAM Data, TG: 12+ Period: Week 1, 2013 to Week 49, 2020). Radio City Delhi ranks #2 with a 13.1% average listenership share (Source: RAM Data, TG: 12+ Period: Week 1, 2019 to Week 49, 2020).

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 humor and the concept of agony aunt on the radio with Babber Sher and Love Guru, respectively. It also initiated Radio City Freedom Awards, a platform to recognize independent music, and provided a launchpad 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 FY 2019-2020. 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 honour 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.