Gone are the days when TV or movie theaters where the only way to absorb online content. India has seen a tremendous rise in the consumption of video content on various platforms in the past couple of years. The major reason behind this exponential growth is often provided as deeper internet penetration and growth rate of smartphone usage. It is easy, affordable, and can be used anywhere, anytime.
Cheaper and efficient data costs along with good connectivity, have led both rural and urban populations to consume video content at an alarming rate.
Over the top or OTT are platforms that provide online content in different genres. Netflix, Amazon Prime, ALT Balaji, etc. are some popular OTTs among the audience.
Reasons For Tremendous Growth in OTT Platform Usage
Growth And Future Of OTT Platforms In India
Reasons For Tremendous Growth in OTT Platform Usage
Providing Freshly Brewed Content
OTT platforms provide brand new and freshly brewed content in different genres and languages. These platforms take unique and risky concepts and create video content. These topics may not have been used earlier in video content in India, making the viewers more stuck to it. The languages are also no longer a barrier as there is video content for every possible language, making it a universally accessible platform.
Affordable And Cheap
Cheaper rates such as Amazon prime charges a user, INR 999 per year, or INR 129 per month), makes it affordable for most of the classes in India. This is why it is taking its gear in India.
Screening Movies Before television Screening
Screening Indian movies on these platforms before television screening, hence no more waiting for tickets to go to the movie theaters, and hence, the time can be invested in watching more online video content.
Free Subscriptions on OTT platforms
Luring audience by, following Freemium subscription policy or providing a month of a free trial. For example, Hotstar allows a user to access some shows for free whereas other premium shows are charged. On the other hand, APV and Netflix allow a user to try their services for free during their initial months of subscription.
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No Interruptions
The shows in such platforms are usually ad-free making it a pleasant experience for the viewer, as they don't have to see the same ad again and again and can enjoy the show without any interruptions.
Video On Demand
Unlike TV, you don't have to carry remote, set-top boxes with you to enjoy your favorite video content. With the help of these services, you can watch your favorite shows anytime, anywhere without any hassle. Because of this reason, it is more accessible and easier to use for the public.
Limited And Quality Video Content
Unlike the Indian video content, these OTT platform services have series featuring limited episodes rather than having thousands of episodes. This is what keeps the youth engaged in such platforms. Also, the series is not a cliche story, which is common in TV video content but there are different and unique stories.
Download And Watch Later
The OTT services have no particular time slot for a particular show unlike TV, which makes the users watch any show of their choice, at any time of the day they want. Also, they can keep it downloaded, making it accessible to them during the poor network times.
Other small OTT platforms in India are, Voot, TVFPlay etc..Youtube is also planning to launch its original content platform.
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Growth And Future Of OTT Platforms In India
According to a recent PWC report, Smartphone penetration in India is expected to grow around 99% by 2022, and at the same time, OTT platforms are expected to grow at a CAGR of 22% by 2022, to around INR 6K crores. With such a huge user base and maximum smartphone consumers being a population less than an age of 35, OTT platforms will focus more on youth-friendly content. Another factor helping in this tremendous growth is the rising level of disposable incomes i.e. today an average Indian consumer can spend more amount on his enjoyment, as compared to a few years back. Also shows and movies in local languages (eg: Telugu, Tamil) have made people from various fronts get attracted to these platforms, reason, unlimited movies, and shows in their mother tongue at a very cheap rate.
It's not that such platforms have shown only for youth, but for the kids and the elderly, middle-aged every age group has been taken under consideration.
Internet data consumption per minute has also come down, for example, let's say a couple of years back, streaming a two and a half hour movie required 1GB of data for 360p quality. Nowadays only 800MB is sufficient for the same movie in 480p quality, so quality has improved and data consumption per minute has come down. So, people can watch two movies at a go by consuming just 1GB or 1.5GB of data.
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Price also plays a dominant factor, Amazon Prime video saw a larger user base than Netflix in 2016 because of this factor. APV charges a user INR 129 per month for unlimited access and at the same time Netflix charges INR 800 for its premium quality. So, OTT platforms must work on a framework to provide maximum benefits at minimum cost, a tough nut to crack but necessary to lure the Indian audience.
Conclusion
India proves to be a huge and diverse market for OTT platforms, so offering different plans to cater to a different set of people with different income levels would prove to be a solution for faster absorption and growth. Also, focussing more on Indian friendly content would prove to be a further plus point for OTT providers. So, for now, it can be said that India might drift towards these platforms from traditional TV, but TV would surely remain as an important entity in India. Because if you see, on the other hand, there are people who don't have access to such smartphones or networks. Also, the older generation likes their old school ways to stick with hence they will Lena towards TV more than OTT.
Link : https://startuptalky.com/over-the-top-media-services-ott-platform/
Author :- Devashish Shrivastava
June 20, 2020 at 09:16PM
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