The rising journey of OTT platforms

Covid-19 led to a situation like a house lockup initially, and slowed down the economy like never before, taking its toll in the form of business closures, sweeping unemployment, increasing death toll, isolation, and overall slowing down of all things.

But, these ‘Over-the-Top’ platforms are one of the primary reasons why people of all ages and demographics could maintain their sense of sanity as it acted as the best medium to keep people entertained with their choice of genres.

So, if you are an entertainment keeda and a binge-watcher then you can proudly say that you are a contributor to the growth of the Indian entertainment industry on OTT platforms as you spent around 4,600 crore minutes a day on the OTT platforms in March 2020. But after the lockdown you surprisingly went on to binge watch for 6,000 crore minutes a day, increasing it further by 30% every month.

It all started in 2008 with the launch of BIGFlix by Reliance Entertainment, then the first OTT mobile app nexGTv by Digivive came in 2010 which provided access to both live TV and on–demand content. It was also the first app to live–stream Indian Premier League matches on smartphones.

But OTT gained significant momentum in India when both DittoTV (Zee) and Sony Liv were launched in the Indian market in 2013. It was an aggregator platform containing shows across all media channels including Star, Sony, Viacom, Zee, etc. The real change came with the launch of Hotstar, now Disney+ Hotstar in 2015, and Netflix in 2016. Hotstar has 28.5 million as on January 2021 and Netflix has 25.5 million paying subscribers.

Increasing penetration of affordable broadband and smartphones, customized OTT apps with innovative pricing models, providing exclusive content along with the sheer convenience, have made OTT platforms popular. The OTT market has steadily grown to more than 40 players, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Zee5, etc being the most popular choices.

If I want to mention the growth in figures, the percentage of viewers has risen by 30% in the first half of 2020 as compared to 2019, according to Brightcove’s Q2 2020 Global Video Index. OTT consumption has skyrocketed in India as International brands like Amazon Prime and Netflix reported a 67% and 65% increase in subscriptions, respectively. Other players like Zee Network’s Zee5 and AltBalaji recorded an 80% and 60% rise in subscriptions and user base, respectively.

Scam 1992, Patal Lok, Sacred games, The Family Man, Mirzapur, Special Ops, Asur, etc were among the top favorites. Localization of content is one of the driving factors for the growth of OTT platforms. With more than 46% of the population between the age group of 15-45, OTT platforms will have to focus significantly on building a regional and youth-driven content library that appeals to the local flavour.

I feel that the future of OTT platforms is surely bright as it enables the user to watch their preferred shows, movies at their own convenience. The pre-existing growth got a catalyst in the form of the pandemic and then there is no looking back for the industry. At the end of the day, people want to watch good content on any given medium. Hence, its future will depend on the content strategy. So, keep watching your favorite shows at your own convenience as the creators are coming up with some exciting new shows for you.