News Corp owned Star India has re-launched its IVR portal, Star Plus on Mobile, on 24th February, and interestingly, has made it subscription based at a fairly reasonable price of Rs. 2 per day, and Rs. 10 per month (albeit, with fair usage limits). Previously, STAR was charging on a per minute basis, at Rs. 2 per minute. The IVR portal is accessible through the mobile short code 5057827, and is available on Vodafone, Idea, Tata Docomo, BSNL and Reliance; the plans will bundle free minutes ranging from 10 minutes in the daily plan to 30 or 60 minutes in the monthly plans, depending on the operator, after which the subscriber will need to re-subscribe to the plan. Content Portfolio & User Experience The IVR portal features three to four minute capsule summaries of all Star Plus shows including Pratigya, Sasural Genda Phool and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai. These summaries are put on the portal a few hours after the telecast. It also serves related content such as audio blogs or personal diaries of all major characters from shows, music from the shows which is also downloadable and contests which offer prizes like gift vouchers or a chance to meet the TV stars. Interestingly, the IVR portal also lets users apply for jobs on Star, including acting in the channel's shows. We tried the product out on Airtel (still pay-per-min at Rs. 2 per minute, alongwith Aircel). Listen to the recording, Star Plus On Mobile, here (mp3)* Speaking with MediaNama, Lalit Bhagia,Vice…
