BCS Stories
The OTT services- Striving to emerge as the preferred platform among consumers.
OTT is not the industry-killer broadcasters had feared, rather thanks to OTT, viewership of broadcast television is getting a boost. Local TV stations and their ownership group are getting the biggest benefit from OTT. That’s because local broadcasters offer something over OTT that Netflix Incorporated and Amazon.com Incorporated don’t; access to local news and sporting events.
The Indian video OTT market in India is expected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2021 to $4 billion in 2025 and further to $12.5 billion by 2030 in view of access to better networks, smartphones, and digital connectivity, according to a report by RBSA Advisors.
“The OTT market in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 28.6 per cent over the next four years. RBSA believes that this industry has the potential to grow to be $15 billion industry over the next 9 to 10 years,” it said.
The next wave of growth in the OTT landscape will spring from tier II, II and IV cities as well as the Indian language speaking populace. These comprise players such as Voot, ErosNow, SonyLIV, Zee5, Hoichoi, ALTBalaji, and Adda Times among others.
OTT platforms in India have been increasingly attracting subscribers on a daily basis. Apart from top favourites Disney+ Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, the space is seeing a plethora of local and regional OTT players.
Also read, OTT is changing the television experience
The audio OTT market which sees participation from players like Gaana, Jio Saavn, Wynk Music, Spotify and others is also poised to grow from $0.6 billion in 2021 to $1.1 billion in 2025 and further to $2.5 billion by 2030, it added.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a game-changer and OTT video streaming platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Voot, SonyLIV and others had gained immense popularity in India.
The massive investments made by OTT services like Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ Hotstar and others in originals as well as acquired content will help subscription video-on-demand make up 93 per cent of the total OTT revenue (as compared to 87 per cent globally), increasing at a CAGR of 30.7 per cent between 2019-2024, it said.
The report stated that the ARPU (average revenue per user) in the OTT video segment in India is projected at $7.2 (about Rs 537.25) in 2021. Also, the OTT userbase is expected to be at 462.7 million by 2025.
The viewing habits of Indian consumers have evolved a lot in the last few years. While on the one hand, short-form video content consumption on smartphones and social platforms has been on the rise, binge-watching shows on various OTT platforms have also become more common on the other hand.
Experts Speak
“28 million Indians (up from 10.5 million in 2019) paid for 53 million OTT subscriptions in 2020 leading to a 49% growth in digital subscription revenues. Growth was led largely by Disney+ Hotstar which put the IPL behind a paywall during the year, increased content investments by Netflix and Amazon Prime Video and launch of several regional language products. In addition, 284 million Indians consumed content which came bundled with their data plans.”
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Megha Tata
Managing Director – South Asia
Discovery Communications India
“Going forward we will see a fine balance between OTT and linear, especially in India. Content will be a key differentiator and the ownership of content and the ownership of customer will remain two key pillars. Also, data and analytics will play an integral role in decision making.” Read more.
Avinash Pandey
Chief Executive Officer
ABP Network
“M&E industry will be looking at strategic and operational reinvention as consumer habits changed significantly over the past year. With some landmark decisions in place and some in process – whether to do with digital & OTT regulations or reforms within the measurement system – experimentation, diversification and agility will be critical in order to thrive in the post-COVID-19 landscape.”
Harit Nagpal
MD & CEO
Tata Sky Ltd.
“Establishing a level playing field between cable, DTH and OTT, with respect to tariffs and taxes and gradual easing of some recently imposed regulatory controls, will help the industry grow.”
Rick Ducey
Managing Director
BIA Advisory Services
“Live local news is something that TV broadcasters do really well. Meanwhile, there is a real appetite for local sports among viewers, even if they’re not in the market where this coverage is being broadcast. Collectively, superior coverage of local news and sports is what people associate with broadcast TV, and why they’re now seeking this local content on the web.
Netflix, Amazon, Roku and other brands have normalized OTT and CTV viewing into the media habits of TV audiences. They now get the tech, have learned to enjoy the user experience and now are putting higher expectations on the TV experience local TV stations deliver. Near term, on-boarding viewers lost from cord-cutting and new media habits onto OTT is a vital strategy for local TV groups.”
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