Future and growth of OTT media platforms in India

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16 Sep 2020

Emergency of OTT Platforms in India
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Business Design, COVID

India is a country with a population of around 1.34 billion. Around 65% of the population is below the age of 35, hence considered one of the youngest nations in the world with an average age of 29. With such a demography, the obsession and thirst for entertainment is huge. The media and entertainment sector has been evaluated at INR 1.82 trillion, with around 11.8% CAGR in the year 2019, which is more than the global growth rate of 4.2% CAGR. OTT, Over The Top, is a streaming media service that offers content to the viewers online through the internet. This industry, over the past decade, has come a long way while disrupting the traditional television model and has completely changed the way people consume media and entertainment content.

Five years back, if someone would have said they have got a Netflix or Amazon Video subscription, it would have been considered a surprise, while now it is the reverse. Such has been the growth of the OTT platform in our country, that we can say OTT was the reason for the growth of the entertainment sector. Currently, the OTT platform has been valued at INR 35 billion with close to 500 million internet users (also expected to grow at 8% annually), who spend an average of 40 mins per day consuming online media content. It has been anticipated that by 2022, India would be the number one in terms of revenue or valuation of digital and OTT media content.

OTT media and its growth has been like a revolution. Its initial entry into the Indian entertainment scene is a fascinating topic to study. In 2012, we had about two OTT media platforms, but now, as of Jan 2020, the number is about 40. In 8 years, this is an incredible growth both in terms of a business and an industry. So, what led to this growth? Some of the key factors are:
- Urbanization and westernization of the population – Gradual migration to big cities and the culture shift in method and type of media people consumed
- Access to digital devices – A significant rise in the number of mobile and other digital device users (around 402 million smartphone users as of Feb 2020)
- Improved infrastructure – Better bandwidth/net connectivity
- Convenience – USPs like limited advertisements and Pause & Play options have captured the population.
The OTT industry in India is populated both with local and global players with heavy competition. The next OTT revolution is all about gaining supremacy in both market share and revenues in the Indian market. The industry includes traditional media streaming companies, platforms run by TV channels, and production houses. Some of the dominant players holding the reigns of the industry are Hotstar – with around 300 million active users; ZEE5 – 60 million active users; Amazon Prime video – 13 million active users; Netflix – 11 million active users. All these companies over time, have understood the preferences of consumers and have invested heavily in original, diverse, and high-quality content focusing on a mix of sports, movies, and shows in different regional languages. This has attributed to their success and continuous growth in the industry.

The COVID19 pandemic wreaked havoc in businesses and industries across the globe. The media and entertainment industry, which relies heavily on advertisement spend and on groundwork, was one of the worst affected in the country, staring at losses of about INR 25000 crore. Amid this harrowing experience, respite if any, was found through the OTT platforms. With the whole population confined at home due to lockdown, the demand for quality and diverse content rose, and a subsequent rise was seen in the subscription and revenues for these platforms. With movie screens and malls closed for four+ months now, movie production houses are left with no options but to look to OTT platforms for releasing their films. Some high-profile movies like Gulabo Sitabo, Angrezi Medium, Penguin, Ponmagal Vandhal, etc have seen direct releases on these new platforms. With the disruption brought about by this pandemic, almost every business is going virtual trying to have their presence on the digital front. The shift towards digital and quality content is so evident that certain job roles and profiles such as ad executives and marketing consultants have been replaced by copywriters and content strategists. With some of the state governments announcing the opening of movie screens in theatres and malls with social distancing norms, it will be interesting to see how the OTT platforms and the production houses re-strategize their distribution and content models.

The Future of OTT in our country is defined by diverse and quality content. As of 2019, India had around 150 million OTT platform users, and 50% of them were from tier-2 cities. Roughly around 220 million consume content from social media and Google. So, these 70 million people who are not using the platforms but still consume content online are the ones the OTT companies are targeting. India being a young nation, these numbers are bound to increase in the years to come, and OTT companies are investing heavily to capture this segment. If we must summarize the future of OTT in one word, it would be – OPPORTUNITY!

S. Subramaniam

PGPM – Business Leadership, Class of 2020-21

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