Stuck inside their houses, people across the globe turned to digital screens to seek entertainment.
Manoj Bajpayee in The Family Man 2
By Rupal S
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Unlike most industries, the Covid-19 pandemic was game-changing for the media and entertainment industry. If the last decade was about the boom of multiplexes, 2020 turned out to be the year of OTT entertainment, with cineplexes and movie theatres being shut down for most parts of the year.
Stuck inside their houses, people across the globe turned to digital screens to seek entertainment. India is the world’s fastest-growing market for streaming platforms, also known as over-the-top or OTT service providers, according to a recent report by PwC. With an annual growth rate of 28.6 percent, it is expected to become the sixth-largest market by 2024, ahead of South Korea, Germany, and Australia.
There were about 40 OTT platforms in India in 2020, most of them in regional languages, according to another report by the National Association of Software and Service Companies. By 2023, the market size will be $5 billion, a Boston Consulting Group report predicts.
OTT video streaming platforms including the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Voot, and SonyLIV, among others, gained immense popularity in India.
As the online streaming audience expanded beyond millennials and metros, and homemakers and senior citizens became OTT viewers, it led to a mushrooming of regional streaming apps that cater to non-Hindi and non-English markets. Many regional platforms like Oho Gujarati, Hoichoi, Aha, NeeStream have seen a huge demand for regional content.
Vibhu Agarwal, CEO, and Founder, ULLU App says, "The pandemic has given a huge boom to all the OTT platforms. Much like other OTT platforms, we have also seen a significant surge in our footfall. More people are aware about ULLU and the content it offers. Normally, if 100 people download the app, 40 subscribe to it. The conversation has always been at the range of 40-45 per cent. However, during lockdown, it went up to 75 per cent. So, we started seeing 75 subscriptions per 100 downloads."
With the extended lockdowns and the current state of the economy, OTT seems to be the next normal for the world of entertainment. For months now, films have been bearing the brunt of theaters which partially opened and then closed again due to the second wave. As the lights are going out on live events, shoots and movie premiers, the only silver lining amidst all this is the rise of the popularity of OTT.
In July, Sushant Singh Rajput-starrer Dil Bechara made the biggest opening ever on Disney+ Hotstar. This was just one of many success stories of web platforms this year. Similarly Kay Kay Menon's Speical OPS, Sushmita Sen's Aarya and Scam 1992 The Harshad Mehta Story were among web-series that were hugely successful on OTT. In 2021, Trade analyst Amod Mehra feels that there is no doubt that OTT has disrupted the entertainment sector, "It has made watching films convenient and handy. Anybody with a mobile phone and an internet connection can watch a film, sitting anywhere in the world."
He adds, "The pricing of OTT is also quite affordable, and so are the internet packages provided by mobile service providers. It does not require a traditional broadcast or cable video infrastructure for distribution. For telecom, cable, media and content businesses, OTT video subscriptions repre-sent a new business model built around ongoing customer relationships."
According to a report, the Indian OTT market is set to reach Rs 237.86 billion (US$3.22 billion) by FY25, from Rs 42.50 billion (US$576.73 million) in FY19.
India will have 500+ million online video subscribers by FY23 and this number is likely to grow with increased smartphone and internet penetration. Going by the current trends, a diversified content portfolio and various pricing plans would help OTT players gain more paid subscribers.
In an earlier interview with mid-day, actor Mallika Sherawat says that the web space is really interesting, "All kinds of stereotypes are being broken. We see expletive content and nudity done aesthetically in many web series and the audience has been receptive to it as they understand it. When I did a kissing scene in Murder, I had to go through a media trial."
The actor says that working on OTT Is completely a different ball game, "Every scene has to be elaborated. It’s a very different world and I am start-ing to understand it. [I have realised that] it’s far more complicated than making films. Today every big star is doing something on OTT and I believe the web space has been a big equaliser. It is the talent which is being recognised and not just a renowned name. I have read a few interesting scripts and will soon be finalising them."
According to the annual M&E report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) along with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), SVoD (sub-scription video-on-demand) has registered a 55-60% year-on-year growth in India in 2020.
Titled ‘Lights, Camera, Action…The Show Goes On,’ the report was released at the CII Big Picture Summit 2020 that was held in partnership with the ministry of information and broadcasting in December. The report said tier-two, three and four towns have taken the lead in availing OTT services by clocking 1.5 times the number of new OTT (over-the-top) users as compared to metro and tier-one cities during the pandemic.
Mehra concludes that many filmmakers are rethinking their distribution strategies for releasing films and reaching out to a wider audience in a hassle-free manner and OTT seems to be the new alternative to watching films in theatres. "OTT gained popularity during the pandemic. Filmmakers seem to be quite happy with the deal they are getting from video-streaming platforms. One membership is all that is needed for the entire family to watch several films, and that too within the confines of their homes, saving them a lot of time and money."
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