The rise of OTT platforms in Covid 19 era

Video streaming platforms are having their moment in the sun in India. Given that all cinema halls have been closed months now, people are left with few entertainment options other than television. With millions of Indians cooped up at home the OTT consumption went through the roof. The lockdown period instilled a sense of optimism in the industry regarding the future of Over-the-Top (OTT platforms). As the name suggests, these platforms offer content directly to viewers via the Internet. ALTBalaji, India’s leading OTT platform has witnessed an average of 17,000 new subscribers each day in lockdown, a 60% increase from the average of only 10,600 per day in March prior to the lockdown. Similarly, other OTT players like Amazon Prime and Netflix witnessed 67% and 65% surge in subscriptions, respectively.

The OTT industry will have more than to 500 million viewers by 2022. An individual in India spends on an average spends 70 mins a day watching content on these platforms, which has increased in wake of COVID. That’s not all – OTT is expected to grow at 22% a year to reach Rs 12,000 crore in the next four years. About 64% of the consumption is in Hindi, while the remaining is in English and other regional languages. A significant reason is the penetration of smartphones, on which content is generally viewed. No wonder, the number of OTT platforms are growing by the day – from only 2 in 2012, over 30 platforms are churning content in India currently.

Detailed video analysis by Divya Dixit, Senior VP, Marketing, Direct Revenue & Analytics, ALT Balaji on the rise of OTT platforms in India.