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INDIAN

OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


New Regional Flavours,
more Entertaining Content

INDIAN TRENDS 2018-19


Relevant Statistics & Insights
from an Indian Perspective.
Prologue
Digital technology has steered the third industrial
revolution and influenced human civilization as a whole. A
number of industries such as Media, Telecom, Retail and
Technology have witnessed unprecedented disruptions
and continue to evolve their existing infrastructure to meet
the challenge.

The telecom explosion in India has percolated to every


corner of the country resulting in easy access to data, with
Over-The-Top (OTT) media services changing how people
watch television. The Digital Media revolution has
globalized the world with 50% of the world’s population
going online and around two-thirds possessing a mobile
phone. Social media has penetrated into our day-to-day life
with nearly three billion people accessing it in some form.

India has the world’s second highest number of internet


users after China and is fully digitally connected with the
world. There is a constant engagement and formation of
like-minded digital communities. Limited and focused
content is the key for engaging with the audience, thereby
tapping into the opportunities present, leading to volumes
of content creation and bigger budgets.

MICA, The School of Ideas, is a premier Management


Institute that integrates Marketing, Branding, Design,
Digital, Innovation and Creative Communication. MICA
offers specializations in Digital Communication
Management as well as Media & Entertainment
Management as a part of its Two Year Post Graduate
Diploma in Management. In addition to this, MICA offers an
online Post-Graduate Certificate Programme in Digital
Marketing and Communication. These programmes
provide a holistic understanding of the digital environment
with insights into digital companies and platforms, and
their strategies and innovations. This has enabled MICA to
remain at the forefront in addressing the needs of a
complex, ever-changing global market and consumer
environment, and in preparing future leaders for a digitally
enabled world.

The Over-The-Top (OTT) Report developed by MICA, is thus


an endeavour in this direction. The report encompasses
in-depth research and analysis from an Indian perspective
and is one of its kind. Happy reading!

Dr. Shailendra Raj Mehta


President and Director, MICA, The School of Ideas.
Dean’s Message
The global trends in Media and Entertainment (ME) sector
are rooted in digital transformations - new technology,
tools and platforms, increasingly driven by locally and
globally diverse consumer preferences. There is a great
creative and business opportunity for local language
specific and culture appropriate content innovations, and
expanded usage of digitally enabled platforms relevant for
diverse audience connect in various parts of the world.

Media and Entertainment companies are developing and


integrating digital strategies, especially content based story
telling in order to connect better with digitally-enabled
consumers to create meaningful experiences and
long-term relationship. MICA has been one of the first
academic institutes to: recognise the global disruption;
promise of the digital revolution; and power of leveraging
the associated transformation. We have incorporated and
mainstreamed the digital transformation and ME sector
management learning in the school curriculum, as well as
develop a business management specialisation in this area.

In addition to business management, strategic marketing,


brand management, marketing analytics, corporate and
culture communication subjects, the institute now offers a
specialization in Digital Communication Management as
part of its two year Post Graduate Diploma in
Management/Communications Programs (PGDM and
PGDM-C). Another shorter online Post Graduate Certificate
Programme in Digital Marketing and Communication is also
offered regularly. We are also developing deep
relationships and partnerships with Media and
Entertainment Industry leaders for short-term courses,
executive learning programs, knowledge co-creation and
cutting edge analytical research.

These programs provide all participants a holistic


understanding of the digital environment, and they learn
about digital companies and platforms, strategies,
marketing, communication, innovations - in order to gain a
thorough grounding of consumer insight mining and
engagement - critical in learning the most effective ways of
connecting industry and consumers worldwide.

MICA’s Media and Entertainment Management


Specialisation is responsive to the industry that is
particularly impacted by the digital disruption and offers an
increasingly attractive career path for the next generation
creative and analytical managers and leaders.

Through such creative and collaborative initiatives, MICA as


an institute continues to remain at the forefront in
addressing the needs of a complex, ever-changing global
market and consumer environment, and prepares our
future leaders for the digitally enabled world.

Preeti Shroff, PhD


Dean - MICA, The School of Ideas.
Foreword
Media and Entertainment industry has seen a big push
over the last few years due to the growth of digital
consumption. Digital domain has been growing at a fast
pace. Consumption habits and patterns are transforming
over years. Factors like easy access to internet, cheap
smart phones, additional screens, affordable data plans,
and higher bandwidth availability have been responsible
for such transformation. India has become a competitive
market for average bandwidth availability per user. The
cost of accessing content has also drastically fallen in the
last couple of years.

Over the Top (OTT) platforms have redefined their purpose


and need for the consumers over the years. The growing
popularity of on demand content have given a push to
language content creators with more prolific and relatable
content. We at MICA found the need to study the trends of
OTT content and consumption, and hence this report.
While OTT players are thriving to achieve their best, there
was a need to understand the dynamics of each platform
from consumption, content, cost, revenue, and
connections point of view.

The report has illustrations, interviews, insights, graphs,


trends, data points, and analysis of OTT platforms. India has
a variety of OTT players operational. We have received very
encouraging feedback from the readers of the report last
year. In addition, to the content of last year we have added
newer platforms, and news apps as well. This will help the
reader look at the different category in a more holistic way.

This report is a step towards making an exploration in the


space of OTT platforms. Technological developments will
continue to enhance the consumption experience. The
growing demand of content will further enable the content
strategy teams to identify relatable local content on these
global platforms. This report gives you a comprehensive
understanding of who consumes what, on which platform,
how and most importantly why. Happy reading!

Dr. Darshan Ashwin Trivedi,


Editor Indian OTT Platforms Report and
Adjunct Faculty, MICA, The School of Ideas.
Preface
It has been almost a year since we released the first
volume of the INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT. The
overwhelming response that we have received on the
first volume from the media fraternity, the entertainment
industry, and especially the leaders of various OTT
platforms is the motivation behind the second edition of
this report.

With this edition, we continue our in-depth efforts in


mapping, analyzing, and decluttering the enfolding story
of the Indian OTT industry.

While the continuing meteoric growth of the Indian OTT


industry is almost mirroring the steady expansion of the
global industry, it is peculiar in many ways. As we
predicted in the first volume, all major players have
turned their focus towards acquiring and dishing out
more and more regional content. This trend is likely to
continue in the coming years, as the players look to make
their regional offerings full spread to include news,
movies, devotional, business, kids, etc. categories.

Another trend that's likely to intensify in the coming year


is the innovative use of interactivity coupled with live
content. Sports, news, and reality shows already enjoy a
sizable share of the Indian audience. And the OTT
platforms are smartly integrating interactivity and
marketing them aggressively to lure the TV audience to
the platforms.

Apart from analyzing the exciting trends within the OTT


industry, this report also explores a few other players like
The Times of India, Flipboard, In Shorts etc. Players who
don't strictly fall in the OTT category and yet they
compete for the same audience and often with
overlapping content. However, they are positioning
themselves as a boutique offering catering to a targeted
audience.

These are exciting times for both the content creators


and consumers. I hope you enjoy reading the report as
much as we have enjoyed putting it together.

Chirag Dagli
Director - Communication Crafts
Message From CMES
We are delighted to introduce the second edition of MICA’s
OTT report- an initiative of the Centre for Media and Enter-
tainment Studies (CMES).

CMES - an initiative of MICA, aims at bridging the gap


between Academia and the Media & Entertainment indus-
tries through research-based solutions for enduring
contemporary issues and problems. While focusing on
academic research related to the Media and Entertainment
sector, the Centre is also focusing on grooming talents with
industry orientation, at its core. The Centre is working
primarily at creating innovative and collaborative platforms
for academia, industry, researchers and policy makers to
find high-end research-based solutions for everyday
challenges of the Media and Entertainment sector.

In addition, the Centre has collaborated with media houses


for creating media management case studies for academic
and industry knowledge sharing.

Offering a training platform for students, practitioners and


professionals to become the future Media and Entertain-
ment industry leaders of India, CMES is MICA’s quest to
demystify the unique identity that ‘academia’ and ‘industry’
holds, as one is ‘the other’ for another. The Centre, in a
nutshell, is an attempt to break the silos and bring both
‘academia’ and ‘industry’ together and provide a platform
where knowledge is generated to sustain practices along
with innovation research and collaborations.

Through this report, we have tried to showcase the chang-


ing ecosystem of the OTT in Media and Entertainment
sector, in India and the opportunities that await the content
creators and platforms. We are certain that the report will
provide great insight to all readers both in the industry and
academia.

Prof. Santosh K Patra Dr. Bhaskar Das,


Head, Centre for Media and Mentor, CMES
Entertainment Studies (CMES)
Index
THE DIGITAL DISRUPTION IN THE MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY 14
YouTube 20
Hotstar 32
JioTV & JioCinema 40
Voot 44
SonyLIV 50
Amazon Prime Video 56
Netflix 62
Zee5 68
Airtel TV 74
Hungama 78
ALTbalaji 82
YuppTV 88
Eros Now 92
TVFplay 98
Viu 104
MX Player 108
Ullu 114
ShemarooMe 118
Sun NXT 122
Hoichoi 126
Addatimes 130
OTT Watch List 132
Regional Content on YouTube 136
NDTV 182
Twitter 186
Times Of India 192
Dailyhunt 196
Flipboard 202
Google News And Weather 206
In Shorts 210
UC News 214
The Hindu 218
The Economic Times 222
Expert View Points 225
14 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
OVERVIEW The future of for OTT platforms across the world looks bright
with a steady competition from linear TV. To adapt itself to
the transformation TV has started innovating by adopting
the new age digital platforms to reach out to the audience.
Over the last one decade, the traditional linear television
promise included OTT platforms as a part of their strategy
for future survival. According to AIB Research, the
over-the-top (OTT) video market across the world will
continue to grow at a brisk pace and with a surge compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10 percent through 2022, the
OTT market will generate a massive $51.4 billion.

Subscribers enjoy the lower cost of OTT options, as well as


the lack of long-term commitments. In North America and
Europe, pay TV providers are adding OTT options to prevent
customer churn. Some pay TV operators have created
virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD)
options, also known as skinny bundles, as a lower-cost path
for subscribers1.

Globally even while TV has started showing a little decline, in


number of subscribers OTT has shown a clear increase in
subscription. The average revenue per user (ARPU) for pay
TV is expected to go down to four times that of OTT in 2020,
from six times that of OTT in 2017. Thus with increasing
number of subscribers the OTT players are marching
towards heading solid numbers to the revenue in the times
to come. The global content scenario is at a fast pace getting
redefined from sourced content to produced content. "The
gloves are off," Convergence Research declares. "Amazon,
Apple, DAZN, Facebook, Google and Netflix all have the
money muscle to finance their own productions or outbid
on programming including major sporting franchises.
Following the owned content promised alongwith the OTT
platforms owned by the broadcasters, going forward fewer
content deals between programmers and independent OTT
providers would take place2."

The revenue for the global OTT monitoring and compliance


market is expected to increase from $62.0 million in 2018 to
$149.7 million in 2024, at a compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) of 15.8 percent over the forecast period. Over the
top (OTT) monitoring and compliance (M&C) solutions often
overlap with complementary software solutions, such as
quality of experience (QoE) and quality of service (QoS)
measurements for the distribution of video over streaming
services. Most OTT monitoring and compliance vendors
have proprietary software and use a combination of servers,
network routing, and intelligent software to notify streaming
services about the quality issues in real-time3.

1
https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/News/Online-Video-News/OTT-Market-Growing-at-10-Worldwide-Totaling-$51B-in-2022-125023.aspx, accessed 28 May 2019.
2
https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/News/Online-Video-News/In-U.S.-OTT-Revenue-Grew-41-While-Pay-TV-Grew-1-in-2017-124478.aspx, accessed 28 May 2019.
3
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190516005740/en/Global-149.7-Mn-OTT-Monitoring-Compliance-Market, accessed 28 May 2019.
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 15
Consumers are demanding and
wanting a personalized video viewing
experience with a large variety of
content available to them on their
devices to be viewed in their own
convenient time. The video streaming
services have revolutionised to cater
to these needs of the viewers. The
videos that are watched online could
be in any of the different format or
basically a revenue model.

The OTT SVOD market is expected to


increase due to growth in GDP
per-capita, increase in number of
smartphone users, worldwide
internet penetration, etc. Yet the
market faces some challenges such
as, content piracy, censorship, low
internet speed, etc. With
technological innovations like block
chain, 5G services, and local CDN
networks these challenges will no
more remain like challenges.

Massive
investments
in content
globally
Globally players are realizing
importance of creating curated
content, in line with viewer
preferences. As a result traditional
players as well as digital natives are
making significant investments to
build their content pipeline. Players
like Netflix invest aggressively to Hours Spent in Top 5 Video Streaming Apps
match 3x the investment made by Two Year Growth
top players like Amazon Prime and
50B
Hulu. (BCG December 2018). The +105%

average money spent on content for 2016


40B
OTT platforms is higher than the 2017
average content cost for television in 2018
emerging markets like India. 30B

+130%
Time spent on Video Streaming Apps 20B
+95%

globally went up 140% in 2018 vs.


2016 in countries like Australia, India, +155%
10B
Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand. +110%
+95% +115% +100%
It shows the consumption habits +110%

shifting from desktop and television 0


to mobile. (App Annie, The state of
India

Brazil

United States

South Korea

United Kingdom
Japan

Germany

France

Canada

the mobile 2019)

Note: Android phone


Source: App Annie, The state of the mobile 2019

16 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


For India the highest consumed platform is
YouTube followed by the Amazon Prime and
the three Indian platforms HotStar,
JioCinema and Voot. YouTube has its monopoly
across different markets.
2018 Top 5 Video Streaming Apps by Time Spent

China India Brazil US South Korea Japan Germany France UK Canada

Tencent
Video YouTube YouTube YouTube YouTube YouTube YouTube YouTube YouTube YouTube

iQIYI Hotstar Netflix Netflix Afreeca TV niconico Netflix Netflix Netflix Netflix

YouTube Amazon Amazon


Youku JioTV Hulu Twitch Prime Prime myCANAL BBC iplayer Twitch
Kids
Video Video

Amazon Amazon
bilibili Twitch YouTube
Prime Prime pooq AbemaTV Twitch Twitch BBC Sport
Video Kids
Video

Amazon Amazon
Imgo TV Voot Globo Play Twitch oksusu dTV BILD Molotov Prime Prime
Video Video

Note: Android phone


Source: App Annie, The state of the mobile 2019

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 17


Rise in Capacity of spend
for Video Streaming Apps
for the consumers
App store consumer spending Live has been a strong promise in the
through subscription spending grew past year. Cricketing seasons, news
285% worldwide in the top 5 video content or shows like ‘Game of
streaming. Netflix was the top app by Thrones’ streamed live was a strong
annual consumer spend in nearly attraction for consumers.
every country where it has its Broadcasters have a new weapon for
presence and nearly every time linear television called live content
period from 2016 to 2018.The launch streamed on OTT platforms. The live
of Disney’s streaming service Disney+ promise is expected to push the
is set to disrupt the market in 2019 consumption for informative,
across the globe. As compared to the newsworthy, timely content ideas.
other countries the capacity of Events like elections and terrorists
spending for Indians have been the attacks created a lot of content which
highest. did rounds on various OTT platforms.
Consumption of video content on
For India 2018-19 has been an News OTT platforms has increasingly
exciting year as far as OTT content been substituting the need for text
industry is concerned. The previous content consumption. The domain
year saw an influx of content with promise for OTT content, it being a
various kinds of content offerings personal medium has also been sex
across platforms. For the first time and violence; something that the
Indian OTT markets looks promising mainstream is unable to provide in
and ever booming. The past year also the mainstream Indian television.
welcomed new platforms like Ullu, Indian platforms like ALTBalaji and
Shemaroome, MXPlayer and more. Ullu played to the promise and
This is the best time for OTT attracted eyeballs. International
platforms as there is a sudden growth platforms like Netflix and Amazon
of platforms, with more investments, also kept attracting Indian viewers
more content, more consumers and with their promise of ‘non-family
more revenue. viewing content’.

Television content has been the


biggest category of consumption over Growth in Consumer Spend in Top 5 Video Streaming Apps
the past one year. The viewers 2016 vs 2018
appreciated Indian soap operas and
long form narratives. There is no
negative growth in television viewing 600%

over the last year, thus catch up


500%
viewing is one of the strongest
promises of OTT offerings.
400%

300%

200%

100%

0
United Kingdom

Canada

Brazil

United States
France

South Korea

China

Japan

Germany
India

Note: IOS and Google Play Stores; China is IOS only


Source: App Annie, The state of the mobile 2019

18 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Another striking thing that was The content ecosystem for OTT
observed was that platforms that platforms continued to grow in the
came into being recently or are trying last year with co-existence of
to strengthen their library are crowdsourced content, independent
dependent on already existing library content, studio produced content,
of content that was first aired on film content, TV content to acquired
Indian television. India has hundreds content. The market is ripe and is
of channels, contributing hundreds of waiting for a big push with new
thousands of hours of content every entrants waiting to crack the Indian
year. Content has proved its worth on territories. The consumer on OTT
one platform, is syndicated to platforms is a global Indian
another platform, thus rehashed consumer. There is a complex mix of
content is still in demand. Content is glocal socio cultural insights that the
flowing like water across the OTT players have been following,
platforms, and consumers are which is a reflection of the consumer
sampling it across platforms. There of today.
has been a dearth of freshly created
content with strong fandom. Thus Radio brought in the promise of
audio-visual content is rapidly proving music on the go. It delivered the
to be platform agnostic. As against promise of music content
this, there will be a strong demand of consumption for decades. The
freshly created content specific to emerging OTT platforms were
OTT platform. The originally observed engaging the younger
produced content for the platform consumers with a high consumption.
will define the growth of a particular The content market is awaiting a big
OTT platform. transition. The linearity of
consumption is getting redefined.
Following the availability of internet The narratives are getting shorter.
through mobile phones at a massive The series seasons were seen getting
scale and low rates, the internet dark realigned to international standards
zones, especially the semi urban and of one hour and ten episodes.
rural areas have got access to
content. Many of these users are first While many different content ideas
generation OTT content consumers. were tried, content like Black Mirror:
Since these areas are non urban Bandersnatch with interactive
areas, which are supposed to have an narrative was a true innovation for
inflow of mainstream content, the viewers. This may attract more and
new consumers have been attracted more Indian content creators to
to regional content. A combination of redefine their narrative style. Looking
regional promise on an AVOD at how the gaming and live content
platform works very well for such streams are growing, emerging tech
regional markets. India is also about driven content like nonlinear content,
narratives, there are far more untold interactive narratives, multiple
stories in these regional markets, platform narratives, immersive
compared to those in the content will be explored by the
mainstream Indian content markets. content creators in the time to come.
Once these will be told, the Indian Since many new platforms are
content market will become truly dependent on syndicated content for
dynamic in the years to come. their volume, the original content
with pave the way for new
engagement tactics.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 19


20 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
YouTube Originals are available to subscribers of YouTube
Premium account. Although the 79 odd shows span seven Launched
May 7th 2008 (India Launch)
different languages1, English content makes up 86% of the
Originals. ARRived, a music reality show featuring the Owned by
legendary AR Rahman became India’s solo entry, debuting Google (Alphabet Inc.)
in November 2018.
Headquarter
San Bruno, California, United States

Google Play Store Downloads

India is YouTube’s
5 billion+ (for YouTube),
100 million+ (YouTube Go and YouTube Music),
50 million+ (YouTube Kids)
fastest growing market Unique Users

with 265 million


274 million (March 2019)

Reach

monthly active users2. 93.4% (March 2019)

Average Minutes/visitor
7.4 minutes (March 2019)

Revenue Model
AVOD (Advertising Video on Demand)
Share of YouTube Originals by Genre
SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)
Comedy Documentary Drama Family

Reality Action Animation Scifi and Fantasy


YouTube’s seamless, user-friendly interface adds to the
customer experience. It has a Trending section for music,
7% gaming, news, and movies that have become viral. Its
2% Library and History sections allows its subscribers to
quickly access previously. Users can compile their own
8%
32%
playlists and catch the trending songs on YouTube Music.

Key YouTube Features


Channel Name Subscribers (as on April 2019)

YouTube Music 105 million+


23%
YouTube Movies 79.2 million+

YouTube Sports 75.6 million+

YouTube Gaming 82.1 million+


15%
5% YouTube Spotlight 28 million+
8%
YouTube Live 9.7 million+

Source: https://www.youtube.com/, Accessed May 2019.

1
English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Turkish
2
https://musically.com/2019/04/11/india-is-youtubes-fastest-growing-market-with-265m-monthly-users/, accessed 28 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 21


The YouTube Share of YouTube Originals By Language

Music app

1%
3%
3%
3%

registered
2%
2%
English

3 million Spanish

downloads Korean

French

within the first German

week of its Japanese

launch in India3. 86%


Turkish

The YouTube Kids app curates child


friendly content for the under 18
audiences. Other noteworthy feature Source: https://www.youtube.com/, Accessed May 2019.
is the YouTube Creators Academy
and YouTube for Artists, which guides
budding YouTubers and Artists Top 10 Subscribed YouTube Channels in the World5
respectively to launch and grow their Channel Name Subscriber Count (as on April 18, 2019)
channels’ subscriber and viewership
T-Series 94.6 million
base using YouTube’s monetization
and Analytics features. There is a PewDiePie 94.3 million
YouTube TV feature offering live TV 5-Minute Crafts 53.9 million
from 70+ networks, however this is
only accessible to subscribers in the Canal Kondzilla 48.5 million

United States. SET India 46 million

Justin Bieber 44.3 million


85% users accessed Cocomelon-Nursery Rhymes 44.3 million
YouTube on the WWE 42.1 million
mobile phone4 Dude Perfect 41.3 million

The Top 10 subscribed YouTubers in HolaSoyGerman 38.8 million

the world include independent


Source: socialblade.com, Accessed May 2019.
YouTube creators (PewDiePie,
HolaSoyGerman), music and
entertainment labels (T-Series, Justin
Bieber), sporting content (WWE), and
kids’ content (Cocomelon-Nursery
Rhymes).

3
https://musically.com/2019/04/09/youtube-music-hits-3m-downloads-in-one-week-in-india/, accessed 28 May 2019.
4
http://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2019/apr/09/85-users-access-youtube-on-mobile-phones-1962290.html, accessed 28 May 2019.
5
This excludes YouTube’s own channels such as YouTube Music, YouTube Movies etc.

22 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Top Subscriber based across Unlike the international territories,
YouTube Catagories in India in 2018 (in million) where native content creators like
Pewdiepie triumph corporate labels
Music 340.67
on YouTube, it is largely the
established entertainment labels that
command the stronghold among
Entertainment 226.17
Indian channels.

News & Politics 111.94 Based on its review of 2900 Indian


YouTube channels’ views and
subscribers, Data analytics firm
Films 108.49
Vidooly reveals that music,
entertainment, and news formed the
Comedy 101.57 top three subscribed categories on
YouTube in 20186.
Education 74.68
A single video in the
Kids 74.06 entertainment
category gets 10,000
People & Blogs 55.19 views on an average7

How-to & Style 52.54 The Top 10 subscribed YouTube


channel confirm this claim; the
T-Series currently label towers over
Food 36.29
YouTube as the most subscribed
channel globally. Besides the
Science & Technology 32.07 predominance of Hindi, subscription
of Punjabi and Bhojpuri channels like
Animation 18.86
Speed Records and Wave Music also
flourished. YouTube has also become
the go-to zone for children, with
Health & Fitness 12.44 ChuChu TV Nursery Rhymes & Kids
emerging the most subscribed Indian
Sports 6.41 educational channel8. Three of its
videos have already surpassed the
billion mark9, an unprecedented
Auto & Vehicles 5.44
achievement for an Indian YouTube
channel.
Travel & Events 5.01

60% of the watch


Pets & Animals 4.14 time on YouTube is
happening outside
Gaming 2.73
the six metro areas10.
Source: Vidooly Analytics

6
https://qz.com/india/1527590/t-series-chuchu-tv-amit-bhadana-won-indian-youtube-in-2018/, accessed 28 May 2019.
7
https://www.afaqs.com/news/story/53164_ChuChu-TV-on-YouTube-is-the-most-watched-channel-in-education-category-Vidooly-Report, accessed 28 May 2019.
8
https://www.afaqs.com/news/story/53164_ChuChu-TV-on-YouTube-is-the-most-watched-channel-in-education-category-Vidooly-Report, accessed 28 May 2019.
9
Johny Johny Yes Papa and Many More Videos; Phonetic Songs with Two Words – A For Apple; Surprise Eggs Nursery Rhymes, accessed 28 May 2019.
10
https://musically.com/2019/04/09/youtube-music-hits-3m-downloads-in-one-week-in-india/, accessed 28 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 23


Over 250 Top 10 Subscribed Indian YouTube Channels

million people
Channel Name Subscriber Count (as on April 18, 2019)

T-Series 94.6 million

watched music SET India 46 million

on YouTube11
Zee Music Company 35 million

Zee TV 26.6 million

Sony Music India 24.7 million


Music content, from either movie
soundtracks or independent artists, Wave Music 23.7 million
made majority of the top watched ChuChu TV Nursery Rhymes & Kids 23 million
Hindi content on YouTube. An excep-
tion includes Jingle Toons’ Hindi Goldmines Telefilms 22.6 million

nursery rhyme for children. A Speed Records 22.5 million


separate section in this report
Shemaroo Filmi Gaane 22.4 million
highlights the most watched YouTube
content in the various Indian regional Source: socialblade.com, Accessed May 2019.
languages besides Hindi.

According to
Google, 97% of
the content
consumed on
YouTube is in
the regional
languages12.

Popular Hindi YouTube Videos


Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Official music video


from the 2017
Bollywood film
Tiger Zinda Hai
Music
Swag Se Swagat Song featuring Salman 20-Nov-17 739 million 739 million YRF
(Soundtrack)
Khan and Katrina
Kaif. Singers: Vishal
Dadlani, Neha
Bhasin

Song by Neha Music Zee


Mile Ho Tum
Kakkar from the (Album/ 27-Jun-16 723 million 3.7 million Music
Reprise Version
album Fever. Independent) Company

Nani Teri Morni Nursery rhymes Animation/ Jingle


11-Mar-16 644 million 1.4 million
Ko Mor Le Gaye for children. Kids Music Toons

24 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Ustad
Song by Rahat
Rahat Fateh Music Rahat
Fateh Ali Khan
Ali Khan - (Album/ 8-Jun-14 651.7 million 2.4 million Fateh
from the album
Zaroori Tha Independent) Ali Khan
Back 2 Love.
PME

Official music video


from the 2017
Bollywood film Badri
Ki Dulhania
Badri Ki Dulhania Music
featuring Varun 6-Feb-17 549.5 million 1.3 million T-Series
Title Track (Soundtrack)
Dhawan and Alia
Bhatt. Singers - Dev
Negi, Neha Kakkar,
Monali Thakur, Ikka.

Official music video


from the 2016
Bollywood film Baar
Baar Dekho featuring
Music Zee Music
Kala Chashma Katrina Kaif and 26-Jul-16 537.5 million 1.4 million
(Soundtrack) Company
Sidharth Malhotra.
Singers - Amar Arshi,
Badshah, Neha
Kakkar.

Official music video


from the 2016
Bollywood film
Nashe Si Chadh Music
Befikre featuring 18-Oct-16 523.8 million 1 million YRF
Gayi Song (Soundtrack)
Ranveer Singh and
Vaani Kapoor. Singer
– Arijit Singh

Official music video


from the 2017
Bollywood film Tiger
Zinda Hai featuring Music
Dil Diyan Gallan 2-Dec-17 509.1 million 2.2 million YRF
Salman Khan and (Soundtrack)
Katrina Kaif. Singer:
Atif Aslam

Official music video


from the 2019
Bollywood film
Simmba featuring
SIMMBA: Music
Ranveer Singh and 5-Dec-18 503.5 million 2.7 million T-Series
Aankh Marey (Soundtrack)
Sara Ali Khan.
Singers: Neha
Kakkar, Kumar Sanu,
Mika Singh

Official music video


from the 2018
Bollywood film
Satyameva Jayate
Music
DILBAR Lyrical featuring Ranveer 9-Jul-18 499.1 million 1.9 million T-Series
(Soundtrack)
Singh and Sara Ali
Khan. Singers: Neha
Kakkar, Kumar Sanu,
Mika Singh

Source: https://www.youtube.com/, Accessed May 2019.

11
A billion screens of opportunity: India's Media & Entertainment sector (March 2019, p. 113, Rep.). (2019). New Delhi: FICCI and Ernst & Young LLP.
12
A billion screens of opportunity: India's Media & Entertainment sector (March 2019, p. 112, Rep.). (2019). New Delhi: FICCI and Ernst & Young LLP.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 25


The beauty of YouTube is the High-Traction YouTube Channels by
freedom it offers its creators from Independent Content Creators Based in India
across the world to display their
opinions/talent/experiences, be it Channel Name Content Type
Subscribers Total Views
(as on April 18, 2019) (as on April 18, 2019)
cooking, singing, stand-up comedy,
skits, make-up tutorials, challenges BB Ki Vines Comedy 13.4 million 1.69 billion
etc., and become social media
Technical Guruji Tech 12.4 million 1.15 billion
influencers.
Sandeep Maheshwari Inspirational 9.9 million 530 million

There are over Vidya Vox

Nisha Madhulika
Music

Food
5.7 million

6.9 million
606 million

1.2 billion

1200 Indian FactTechz Science 9 million 635 million

YouTubers with Shruti Raj Anand

Aayu and Pihu Show


Beauty

Kids
3.6 million

2.2 million
559 million

576 million

1 million+ Rohit Khatri Fitness Fitness 3.2 million 177 million

subscribers13. LiveToDance with Sonali

CarryisLive
Dance

Gaming
1.7 million

1.9 million
237 million

171 million

Dhruv Rathee Politics 1.8 million 100 million

AVRprankTV Pranks 5 million 560 million

Sarpmitra Akash Jadhav Animals 1.9 million 284 million

Swami Ramdev Spiritual 2.1 million 275 million

Farming Leader Agriculture 1.5 million 122 million

Sejal Kumar Fashion 1 million 124 million

Wifistudy Education 7.6 million 748 million

Source: https://www.youtube.com/, Accessed May 2019.

13
http://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2019/apr/09/85-users-access-youtube-on-mobile-phones-1962290.html, accessed 28 May 2019.

26 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


YouTube With 500 million users expected to
consume video entertainment in GroupM is the
remained the
India by 2020, the popular brands too
have raised their stakes in digital largest buyer
largest platform of YouTube in
advertising to reach out to
consumers. The top ten ads on
YouTube in 2018 together made up
for digital 18 million hours of watch time and India16.
over 423 million+ views15 .
advertising14.
Top Watched Advertisements on YouTube – 2019

Company Category Name of the Commercial Views (as on April 19th, 2019)

Hyundai Celebrating 20 Years of 222 million


Automobile Brilliant Moments

Samsung Bixby Voice Assistant-MND


201 million
Samsung Tech mother helps daughter with
#VoiceForever

Make up off in 1 swipe with


Garnier India Beauty Garnier Micellar Water - 73.4 million
Now at Rs.175 for 125ml

Indiabulls (Dhani) Get Phone se loan in 3 simple steps


Finance 63.7 million
directly in your bank account.

Honda Automobile Honda New Corporate TVC 53.8 million

Kwality Wall's Food New Kwality Wall’s Family Packs 48.7 million

Tata Motors Automobile Reach For A Dream | 46.9 million


#ChaseTheSupermoon

#MoveForward with Uber - Badhte


Uber Transportation Consumer 37.5 million
Chalein Feat. Virat Kohli

Electronics OPPO F7 - Real Support 31.9 million


Oppo India
Makes Real Hero

Tech iPhone - Unlock - Apple Video Unavailable


Apple

Source: https://www.youtube.com/, Accessed May 2019.

14
A billion screens of opportunity: India's Media & Entertainment sector (March 2019, p. 117, Rep.). (2019). New Delhi: FICCI and Ernst & Young LLP.
15
https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/advertising/youtube-unveils-the-top-indian-ads-watched-in-2018/67023205, accessed 28 May 2019.
16
https://www.televisionpost.com/groupm-is-the-largest-buyer-of-youtube-in-india-mark-patterson/, accessed 28 May 2019.
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 27
Political Advertising on Social Media:
Over 3.76 crores were by political parties in
advertising on Google and affiliated
platforms like YouTube.

#BharatWins: T-Series Vs Pewdiepie

Swedish YouTuber Pewdiepie, the longstanding highest subscribed YouTuber in the world, went
into a full-blown online battle with T-Series, India’s top music and pop culture brand, after the
latter’s subscription count threatened to end his reign. Variety deemed the situation akin a
‘cultural war’ for YouTube, pitting a native content creator against a corporate label. The tussle
saw Pewdiepie aiming diss tracks against T-Series, subsequently banned in India after the Delhi
High Court order, T-Series launching a #BharatWins campaign on social media, and countless
memes and jibes traded by fans of both. Finally, in 2019, T-Series beat Pewdiepie and became
the most subscribed channel on YouTube.

Subscribers (as on April 18th, 2019)


PewdiePie – 94.38 million T-Series – 94.63 million

Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam


Party spent INR 1.48 crores, followed by
The Ruling Party Bharatiya Janata Party
(INR 1.21 crores)17.
The Battle Between T-Series and Pewdiepie

100
93.36
92.23
90
79.41
80
78.35
70 66.59
63.79
61.85
60 57.37 58.82 64.17
55.99

50
50.86
40
40.58
30
31.28

20 25.43
20.76

10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Source: socialblade.com

T-Series Pewdiepie

17
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bjp-leads-in-advertising-on-google-youtube-with-rs-1-21-crore-spend/story-pvZoP28DRIm0R5fTobVsWO.html, accessed 28 May 2019.

28 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


YouTube Total Unique Visitors (000)
Between April 2018 and March 2019

Desktop Mobile Total Digital Population

300000 274249 273788 273188 273965 274030


254947 255464 256892 257157 256381 257392 256590

250000 43758 44403 41563


252827 254303
237377 236930 237853 237503 236885 237574 237290
200000

150000

100000

50000
38553 45146 44217 253770 252969 254660
38690 38450 39310 39552 38427 37845

0
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

Key Measures of the Platform most of the internet users are on the
YouTube recorded 274 million total platform, saturating the growth poten-
unique viewers in March 2019, tial. 144177 million minutes were
occupying a 93.4% reach. The change spent on the platform in total, with an
is limited since last March because average of 7.4 minutes per visitor.

Change in Total Unique Viewership


Between April 2018 and March 2019

Mar-2018 Mar-2019 % Change

Total Digital Population 2,29,443 2,74,030 19%

Mobile 2,12,648 2,54,660 20%

Desktop 33466 41563 24%

Source: ComScore MMX % Change Media Trend Report, March 2019

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 29


YouTube Mobile App March 2019

Total Unique Total Average Minutes


Media
Visitors (000) Minutes (000) per Visitor

YouTube 249,954 128,164,304 512.8

YouTube Music 11,219 109,286 9.7

YouTube Studio 4461 163,005 36.5

YouTube Go 2772 197,788 71.3

YouTube Kids 1217 247,292 203.3

YouTube Gaming 1135 15,520 13.7

Source: ComScore MMX % Change Media Trend Report, March 2019

YouTube’s consumption heavily tilts terms of the unique visitors. YouTube


towards mobile app, which has a Kids meanwhile shows a high
usage of 512.8 minutes per visitor. audience stickiness despite having
Among YouTube’s other offerings, the relatively lower total unique visitors.
mobile app of YouTube Music leads in

YouTube Audience March 2019

Males, TUV Females, TUV


Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

6 -14 1161 6 -14 1054

15 - 24 71685 15 -24 33004

25 - 34 57559 25 - 34 30379

35 + 49667 35 + 29521

All Males 180072 All Females 93958

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

Consumer Demographics
YouTube remains skewed towards Males between 15-34 Consumption
male audiences, with its male-female drive 47% of the overall consumption
ratio of 66:33 consistent with the on YouTube.
previous year.

30 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Asia-Pacific is the
second largest
Ad Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,

Recent
March 2019)
Region % Comp

Developments Europe
Asia Pacific
28.8
24.8
Latin America 16.8
Features North America 14.8
Both the free and paid versions of Middle East-Africa 14.8
YouTube Music launched in India in
March 201918.

For the week April


5th-11th 2019, three World Metrix
Indians featured (ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)
among the Top 10
Global artists in Top ad categories Most advertised on

Music – Alka Yagnik, Retail


Media & Entertainment
Multi-Category
Retail
Neha Kakkar, and Education Search/Navigation
Kumar Sanu19. Computers & Technology
Travel
Entertainment
Service

YouTube is deepening its investment


in interactive originals and live
specials20.

YouTube is pushing back on its


paywall content. It unveiled in May
2019 nine new original programmes,
which will be available free this year21.

As a countermeasure to problematic
user-generated content on
YouTube22, the company plans to hire
human raters to evaluate the content,
understand local tastes, and improve
the platform’s recommendation
engines. This will be implemented in
US first then expanded to 20 other
countries23.

YouTube made up
40% of the digital
revenues for music
labels24.

18
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/youtube-music-youtube-premium-debut-in-india-3639551.html, accessed 28 May 2019.
19
https://charts.youtube.com/charts/TopArtists/global, accessed 28 May 2019.
20
https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/youtube-ben-relles-interactive-original-content-1203184576/, accessed 28 May 2019.
21
https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/media/youtube-unveils-nine-new-originals-for-free-streaming/69158608, accessed 28 May 2019.
22
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/17/business/youtube-ceo-susan-wojcicki.html, accessed 28 May 2019.
23
http://www.forbesindia.com/tech/news-analysis/youtube-ceo-susan-wojcicki-says-borderline-videos-are-a-big-pain-point-on-the-platform-6470741.html, accessed 28 May 2019.
24
A billion screens of opportunity: India's Media & Entertainment sector (March 2019, p. 205, Rep.). (2019). New Delhi: FICCI and Ernst & Young LLP.
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 31
32 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
Hotstar, India’s largest OTT streaming service largely relies
on Star India’s enormous content library. Its audience base Launched
primarily views either sports or catch-up TV entertainment. February 2015
The 12 web-exclusive shows are majorly in Hindi and Owned by
English with a larger share of comedy, romance, and drama Novi Digital Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
genres. (Subsidiary of Star India Pvt. Ltd,
now owned by The Walt Disney Company)

Headquarter
Mumbai, Maharashtra

Total Downloads
350 million1
Share of Hotstar Originals by Language
Google Play Store Downloads
English Hindi Tamil Telugu 100 million+

Subscribers
700K paid subscribers as of July 20182
7%
Unique Users
6% 128.5 million (March 2019)
27% Reach
43.8% (March 2019)

Average Minutes/visitor
13.4 minutes (March 2019)

Popularity Rankings
No 1 both by downloads and monthly average
users and No 2 in Revenue for apps in
entertainment (MAU)3 (App Annie)
Revenue Model
60% AVOD (Advertising Video on Demand)
SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)

Source: Hotstar.com, Accessed May 2019.

1
https://www.headlinesoftoday.com/tech/tech-news/hotstar-to-ramp-up-its-original-content-invest-rs-120-crore.html, accessed 29 May 2019.
2
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/companies/hotstar-gets-rs-516cr-valued-at-rs-1850cr/articleshow/65394288.cms, accessed 29 May 2019.
3
A billion screens of opportunity: India's Media & Entertainment sector (March 2019, p. 113, Rep.). (2019). New Delhi: FICCI and Ernst & Young LLP.
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 33
Hotstar is believed to The eighth and final season of
Game of Thrones was simulcast
have 69.4 percent of on Hotstar in India6.
video streaming app Following the outstanding performance of its sporting

downloads share in the


content, Hotstar launched Roar of the Lion on Hotstar
Specials in March 2019, which features cricketer MS Dhoni.

Indian OTT market4.


The docuseries narrates the aftermath of the spot-fixing
scandal faced by Chennai Super Kings in 2013.

The third season of fan-favorite On Air with AIB premiered Original web-exclusive content is definitely on the cards for
last September. The comedy troupe offered a hard-hitting Hotstar, which has remained conservative in this regard
social commentary on issues ranging from fuel hike to fake compared to the competitors Netflix and Amazon Prime. It
news. The second season of another comedy Better Life has tied-up with the content house Applause
Foundation had an August premiere. Both shows were Entertainment and 15 major filmmakers including Salman
discontinued the platform after one of the cast members Khan, Shekhar Kapoor, and Nagesh Kukunoor mainly for
faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment5. The drama productions in over seven languages7. The Indian
fourth season of AIB offshoot Abish Mathew’s popular remake of the hugely successful BBC series The Office is
YouTube comedy talk show Son of Abish premiered on underway.
Hotstar in April 2018, with celebrity guests like Miss Malini
and Vicky Kaushal.
Hotstar had a
In dramas, the trailer of Vikrant Massey and Jackie Shroff
starrer Hindi drama Criminal Justice premiered in March
2019. It is an adaptation of an eponymous British
record-breaking 11.2
mini-series and is expected to premiere on 5th April. million concurrent
Share of Hotstar Originals by Genre
viewership during India
Comedy Drama Sports
vs New Zealand T20
Documentary Romance
20198.
8%

25% 42%

17%
8%

Source: Hotstar.com, Accessed May 2019.

4
VentureBeat. (n.d.). Share of app installs in streaming market across India as of March 2018, by company. In Statista - The Statistics Portal. Retrieved April 2, 2019,
from https://www.statista.com/statistics/915772/india-share-of-app-installs-in-streaming-market-by-company/., accessed 29 May 2019.
5
https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/naveen-richard-sumukshi-suresh-on-better-life-foundation-cancellation-one-should-recognise-other-artistes-efforts-5431561.html
6
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/entertainment/news/game-of-thrones-season-8-india-simulcast-hotstar-2015758, accessed 29 May 2019.
7
https://www.livemint.com/Consumer/upheyJzwLPEBLd8Ec4c65O/Hotstar-adds-to-streaming-drama-with-originals.html, accessed 29 May 2019.
8
https://entrackr.com/2019/02/hotstar-streaming-11-2-mn-viewers/, accessed 29 May 2019.

34 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Top ten sports by growth Other Offering TV and cinema
potential to grow revenues globally Hotstar has the latest content of 30 content make up 80%
TV channels, of which 11 are sports,
under Star Network. A Select Picks
of Hotstar’s viewership
1. Esports feature handpicks content for users. while the remaining
It offers movies in nine languages 20% registered from
ranging dramas, thrillers, kids, docu- sports10.
2. Football/Soccer mentary etc. HOOQ offers Hotstar
Premium subscribers access to the Hotstar’s other key attraction is the
6000 hours of Hollywood content 14 sports ranging from established
from Sony Pictures, Miramax, Lions- categories like cricket and Formula 1
3. Basketball gate and Warner Bros. Nine language to rapidly emerging ones like
options are available9. e-sports11.

4. Mass participation sports Hotstar bagged 135 million


viewers in the first three days
5. Boxing/ martial arts
of the VIVO IPL 201912.
For IPL 2018, a turnout was over
202 million.
6. Rugby

Hotstar’s total unique viewers have 2018. With a viewership reach of


7. American football risen by 792%, from 14.4 million in 43.8% in March 2019, the platform
March 2018 to 128 million in March had almost half the share as YouTube
2019. There have been ups and as compared to 2017-18 where it
downs throughout the period, with bested a 30% share at its peak. This is
8. Cycling dips as high as 25% (between May impressive considering Hotstar has
and June 2018) witnessed along with only had 4 year-run compared to
gains ranging anywhere between 4 to YouTube’s 12-year reign. 19255
9. Tennis 270%. Total unique visitors on mobile million minutes were spent on the
has also seen substantial gains platform in March 2019, with an
during the period, with the share of average of 13.4 minutes per visit.
mobile audience far surpassing Engagement on smartphones is
10. Cricket desktop figures from 60-65% in much higher at 145.2 minutes per
March 2018 to 93-95% post May visitor.

Source: indiesport.com., Accessed May 2019.

Hotstar Total Unique Visitors Multi Platform (000)


Between April 2018 and March 2019

Mobile App Desktop Mobile Total Digital Population

150000

125254 128523
119252 121779
120000 114006
102003 101130 108667
94726 92315
93699 96149 90832 86095 95832
90000 89290 90298 86116 88691 86166 87000
86432 78919 72647 80051
80561 82935 78435
74631 68303 71672
72323 65439
60000

33889
30000 25788
9475 7911 7067 7885 8078 8329 7486 10290
10546 6806 6266 5641
4230
0
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

9
Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Marathi, English, Kannada, and Gujarati, accessed 29 May 2019.
10
http://thesiliconreview.in/media-and-entertainment/hotstar-plans-to-invest-rs-120-crore-into-original-content, accessed 29 May 2019.
11
https://www.insidesport.co/esports-poised-to-break-1bn-barrier-in-2019-report/, accessed 29 May 2019.
12
https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/hotstar-rolls-out-tvc-for-vivo-ipl-2019-campaign-koiyaarnahifar-95788.html, accessed 29 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 35


Sporting events have majorly Season 6, Indian Super League 2018,
contributed to Hotstar’s spike in T20 International, and the recently
viewership. The distribution tie-ups concluded 2019 Indian Premier
with leading telecom operators like League, in addition to the numerous
Airtel and Jio as well as the lowering of bread and butter GEC dramas under
Hotstar’s annual subscription plan, the Star banner, continued to sustain
the launch of the sports only Hotstar in the coming months.
subscription pack at INR 299 per year
prior to the Indian Premier League Another notable phenomenon is the
2018 (IPL) tournament contributed to 2588% boom in Hotstar mobile app
the exceptional numbers in May viewership, from a mere 4 million
2018, with an expected post-IPL fall in visitors in March 2018 to 108 million
the viewership. in March 2019. Besides the various
telecom tie-ups flourishing consump-
Properties like the 2018 Asia Cup, tion of the Hotstar mobile app, user
Bigg Boss Telugu shored up engagement has also been driven
viewership in September. Adding through interactive in-app features
HOOQ’s 6000-hours of content like Watch’NPlay during IPL13,
library in October, Koffee With Karan

Change in Total Unique Viewership


Between April 2018 and March 2019

Mar-2018 Mar-2019 % Change

Total Digital Population 14,441 1,28,523 792%

Mobile 9444 1,21,779 1189%

Desktop 6398 10290 61%

Source: ComScore MMX % Change Media Trend Report, March 2019

Consumer Demographics
Hotstar’s demographic tilt to male men’s interest genre, is likely one of
audiences remains unchanged, who the contributing factors. The 15-24
made up 69% of the platform’s age group remains the largest
consumption in March 2019. The viewers among both females and
sports heavy content, generally a males.

Hotstar Audience March 2019

Males, TUV Females, TUV


Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

6 -14 236 6 -14 121

15 - 24 36137 15 - 24 16654

25 - 34 28440 25 - 34 13348

35 + 23815 35 + 9772

All Males 88628 All Females 39895

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

13
https://yourstory.com/2018/04/what-driving-hotstar-record-viewership-ipl-2018, accessed 29 May 2019.

36 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Consumption of Hotstar is the
highest in the Asia Pacific region. Ad Metrix
North America emerged as the third
largest market with Star India (ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
network pulling off its shows from March 2019)
cable TV in the US and Canada and
Top ad categories: Most advertised on
making Hotstar the exclusive
streaming destination14. Online Media Entertainment
Consumer Goods Multi-Category

Recent Computers & Technology


Retail
News/Information
Search/Navigation
Services
Developments
Education

Features

World Metrix
In a first, Hotstar put the IPL and
other sports behind an annual INR
299 paywall with 10-minutes of free
viewing15. (ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)
Hotstar VIP subscription service gives
users exclusive access to Hotstar Region % Comp
Specials content and Star network Asia Pacific 87.4
serials before the scheduled televi- Middle East-Africa 6.7
sion timing. Users under this service North America 4.2
can avail a Pay By Cash option. Europe 1.5
Hotstar All Annual Sports will be
automatically updated to this plan
without additional charge16.

In efforts to boost advertising


revenues, Hotstar introduced age,
gender, and demography based
targeted advertising for the IPL 2019.
Its digital streaming partners include
Amazon Pay, Swiggy, and Maruti
Suzuki among others17. To boost user
engagement during the event, a live
comments feature and a VR game
have been launched as well.

14
http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/star-india-us-hotstar-ott-channel, accessed 29 May 2019.
15
https://www.televisionpost.com/star-to-monetise-ipl-on-hotstar-with-a-mix-of-subs-ad-rev/, accessed 29 May 2019.
16
https://inc42.com/buzz/hotstar-launches-new-subscription-service-hotstar-vip/, accessed 29 May 2019.
17
https://www.livemint.com/industry/media/hotstar-to-introduce-targeted-ads-during-ipl-2019-1551998257957.html, accessed 29 May 2019.
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 37
Funding and Revenues
Hotstar received INR 516 crore in funding from Star US in
July 201818 and INR 1066 crore from both Star India and
Star US in March 2019. It fetched revenues of INR 569
crores in the quarter ending June 201819. These invest-
ments might come in the aid of the INR 489 crore losses
incurred by the company in 2016-1720.

The streaming giant is


investing INR 120 crore
towards original content 21.
Hotstar believes its AVOD-SVOD blended model and mass
subscription service are its winning strategies22.

Partnerships
Hotstar partnered with South East Asian streaming service
HOOQ in October to widen its content library. HOOQ, a
relatively minor player in the Indian market, now reaps
benefits of Hotstar’s extensive reach23. This development
comes at a time when Hollywood cinema contributed a
healthy 10% of the total Indian film business in 2018.

18
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/hotstar-gets-rs-516-crore-valued-at-rs-1850-crore/articleshow/65396201.cms, accessed 29 May 2019.
19
https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/media/hotstar-gets-fresh-funds-of-rs-1066-crore-from-star-india-and-star-us/68418280, accessed 29 May 2019.
20
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/hotstar-gets-a-dose-of-capital-2018-sees-infusion-of-74-million/1516687/, accessed 29 May 2019.
21
https://www.headlinesoftoday.com/tech/tech-news/hotstar-to-ramp-up-its-original-content-invest-rs-120-crore.html, accessed 29 May 2019.
22
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/streaming-firm-hotstar-sees-blended-revenues-as-winning-strategy-2852521.html, accessed 29 May 2019.
23
http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/over-the-top-services/hooq-hotstar-enter-unique-strategic-partnership-181009, accessed 29 May 2019.

38 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


The way people are consuming entertainment across the
globe is changing rapidly. India is no different. Thanks to
inexpensive smartphones, cheaper data, and wider 4G
networks, an ever increasing number of people are
consuming content on digital screens across the country,
and more specifically on mobile.

At Hotstar, we believe in delivering a path-breaking


experience to our viewers, and the fact that we clocked
viewership of 300+ million during the IPL this year over last
year’s 202 million is a testament to our growth. We even
blew past our own global record with 25.3 million
simultaneous viewers during the India vs New Zealand
semi-final match in the ICC Cricket World Cup. Be it the
ability to provide glitch-free live sports streaming for
millions simultaneously, augmenting the experience with
gaming and social features through Watch-n-Play, or
re-imagining storytelling through our Hotstar Specials -
we're constantly pushing the boundaries on bringing the
best experience to our users and with that continue to set
new benchmarks for video streaming.

Not only is Hotstar the largest premium entertainment


platform in India or the leading destination for sports, it is
a platform that is truly for every Indian. Today we have
over 100,000 hours of content across languages, while our
platform itself is available in 8 Indian languages. The
Hotstar VIP subscription helps us get one step closer to
the audience by bringing them the latest Hotstar Specials
in 7 languages, early access to their favorite television
content, and all live sports. With Hotstar Specials we aim
to bring alive disruptive, authentic and larger than life
stories that are created by some of the best storytellers of
India. We want to allow for great creative expression that
is not restricted to formats or genres and are excited by
the endless opportunities of storytelling that spans the
length and breadth of the country.

But for us, it doesn’t stop merely at bringing content to a


single window; it goes beyond. Our ability to make it
engaging and interactive is what truly redefines the way
people are consuming content. At Hotstar, we believe the
future of TV has not been invented yet.

Varun Narang
Chief Product Officer, Hotstar

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 39


40 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Offerings
JioTV SNIPPETS
JioTV has not ventured into original content and instead
provides its subscribers with an assortment of Live (600+) Launched
September 2016
and HD (100+) channels, on the go, over their
internet-enabled devices. Users have options of content in Owned by
15+ languages and the freedom to pause over live Reliance Jio Infocomm
broadcasts as well as catch-up with shows up to seven days
Headquarter
Mumbai, Maharashtra

Network Subscribers
280 million+1(Dec 2018)

TV Channels by Language Revenue Model


Bundled free for and exclusively
Hindi Gujarati Bhojpuri Bengali for Jio subscribers.
Assamese English Urdu Tamil
Punjabi Odia Marathi Malayalam JioTV
Kannada Others (French, Nepali) Google Play Store Downloads
100 million+

6%
Unique Users
2% 74.5 million (mobile app; March 2019)
4%
2% Reach
27.9% (mobile app; March 2019)

33% Average Minutes/visitor


107.9 minutes (mobile app; March 2019)

20% Popularity Rankings


No 2 by downloads and No 3 by monthly
average users for apps in entertainment
(MAU) (App Annie)

JioCinema
0%
1% 5%

10%
6%
Google Play Store Downloads
4% 3% 4% 50 million+

Source: JioTV App, Accessed May 2019.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/telecom/telecom-news/jio-added-8-56-million-users-in-december-vodaidea-airtel-lose-users/
1

articleshow/68081995.cms?from=mdr, accessed 29 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 41


JioTV features the best of channels JioTV Channels by Genre
covering categories like
entertainment, News, Sports, Kids,
5%
Regional2 amongst various others. News

The choices in channels as well as 9% Kids


telecast of the most popular shows in
India like Kumkum Bhagya, Taarak Entertainment
34%
Mehta ka Ooltah Chashmah and live 8% 8%
Sports
cricket and tennis3, have captured the
attention of many Indian households. 1%1%
Devotional
2% 2%
Between August and September
2018, users were unable to view any Lifestyle

Zee Entertainment channels on JioTV 10%


Movies
10%
due to pricing disagreements
between the two players. 4% Music
6%
Subsequently, a renegotiation deal
Business
brought back all 37 Zee
21%
Entertainment channels as well as the Infotainment
addition of the Zee5 app content on
JioTV4.
Source: JioTV App, Accessed May 2019.

Key Measures of the Platform


JioTV’s total unique visitors improved JioTV Total Unique Visitors (000)
from 31.1 million viewers in March Between April 2018 and March 2019
2018 to 74.5 million in March 2019, a
139% change. JioTV currently has a 100000
reach of 27.9%, nearly half of the
video OTT market leader Hotstar. A
total of 8037 million minutes were 85321
consumed in March 19, with a strong
average of 107.9 minutes per visitor. 80000 76836
75441 74895 74503
71044 72646
69313

70161 69118
67894 66917

60000
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

2
https://www.medianama.com/2018/09/223-jiotv-hotstar-india-cricket-matches/, accessed 29 May 2019.
3
https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/mobile/reliance-jio-star-signs-5-yr-deal-to-offer-india-cricket-matches-on-jiotv/65901365, accessed 29 May 2019.
4
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/zee-channels-back-on-jiotv/articleshow/66140339.cms, accessed 29 May 2019.

42 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Recent Offerings – JioCinema
JioCinema subscribers presently have

Developments
access to syndicated original matter
from independent content houses
like AltBalaji7, Eros Now, Filter Copy,
JioTV Play Store Voot, and Arre. The company also
offers over 1 lakh+ hours of content
downloads have including movies, 140+ television
doubled in the last shows, trailers, music videos, short
one year. clips etc. These are available in Hindi,
English, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi,
Partnerships Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati and Punjabi.
Reliance Jio has made significant JioCinema also has a JioKids section
investments in sports content. In which hosts a wide variety of
September 2018, it struck a 5-year animated shows and movies, kid
deal with Star India giving its users friendly movies, nursery rhymes that
access to live cricket broadcast of have both of entertainment and
matches of all formats organized by educational -values.
the BCCI. JioTV users also have the
exclusive advantage to view the live
streaming of the Vivo IPL 2019
matches free via Star India services
Recent
on Hotstar5. Developments
Partnering with Jio allows access to its Partnerships
vast subscriber base. In addition to its As on December 2018, JioCinema
partnerships with content house added Disney content to its shoulder,
Arre, JioTV has fresh content thus expanding its content stream
streaming in from Q India (QYou into the Marvel, Lucas and Pixar
Media), currently showing Curly Tales universe. An update to the JioCinema
and Home Cooking Show6. app has a designated Disney division,
which is accessible once users share
the link with a minimum of five friends
over social media8.

Reliance Jio, in association with Intex


Televisions, launched a range of
brand new 4K Television models
towards the end of 2018 wherein the
television have an inbuilt Jio Cinema
app9.

5
https://www.medianama.com/2018/09/223-jiotv-hotstar-india-cricket-matches/, accessed 29 May 2019.
6
https://www.televisionpost.com/qyou-launches-india-service-on-jiotv-signs-up-new-content-partners/, accessed 29 May 2019.
7
https://www.datareign.com/reliance-jio-altbalaji-original-content-jiocinema-jiotv.html, accessed 29 May 2019.
8
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/jiocinema-to-host-content-from-disney-india/67277255, accessed 29 May 2019.
9
https://www.bgr.in/news/intex-4k-uhd-smart-tv-launched-november-2018-integrated-jio-cinema-app-price-starts-rs-52990/, accessed 29 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 43


44 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
Voot has 16 Originals on its platform, largely in the genres
of comedy and drama followed by reality and romance. Launched
While the shows were exclusively in Hindi last year, this March 2016
year’s additions include Kannada and English language Owned by
content as well. Viacom 18

Voot has commissioned


Headquarter
Mumbai, Maharashtra

around 18 hours of Total Downloads


115 million+1

drama content this year3. Google Play Store Downloads


50 million+

On the heels of the popularity of Indian talk shows offering Unique Users
a candid glimpse of the lives of Bollywood celebrities 22.5 million
(Koffee With Karan), Voot launched Feet Up With the Stars. Average Minutes/visitor
Hosted by the renowned fashion stylists and fashion 3.8 minutes (Mobile app only; March 2019)
director Anaita Shroff Adajania, it has featured guests like
Radhika Apte and Ayushmann Khurrana. Popularity Rankings
No 7 by downloads and No 8 in
monthly average users for video app in
Share of Voot Originals by Genre entertainment (MAU)2 (App Annie)
Comedy Romance Reality Revenue Model
Drama Talk Show
AVOD (Soon to Be Freemium)

6%

27%
20%

20%

27%

Source: Voot.com, Accessed May 2019.

1
https://www.medianama.com/2019/01/223-network18-earnings-q3fy19/, accessed 25 May 2019.
2
A billion screens of opportunity: India's Media & Entertainment sector (March 2019, p. 113, Rep.). (2019). New Delhi: FICCI and Ernst & Young LLP.
3
https://tbivision.com/2018/12/04/viacoms-voot-joins-the-premium-ranks/, accessed 25 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 45


Comediga and Just Car Caralli mark Voot’s foray into the Content Viewing Share on Voot
much underserved Kannada market space4. Just Car Caralli
features interviews with well-known celebs like Rashmika Catch-Up Content Voot Original + Kids Content
Mandanna and Rakshit Shetty. Meanwhile, Comediga is a Shoulder Content (e.g. Bigg Boss & Roadies Digital Exclusive)
stand-up comedy series offering a platform for regional
talents like Sunetra Pandit and Pavan Venugopal.

In News! Well-known 20%

Bollywood actor Arshad


Warsi marks his Voot
debut in the upcoming 20%
60%

Original series .
To diversify its content pool, Voot launched Original short
films in February 2019 as part of ShortCuts, produced by
Tipping Point, Viacom18 Studios’ digital content arm. Over
12 shorts have been uploaded yet. The stories are hyped
as ‘edgy and provocative’ and are ready to rival similar Source: TBVision.com, Accessed May 2019.
offerings by competitors like ALTBalaji etc5.

Voot Originals forms a minor viewership share on the


platform as compared to the catch-up content and the
‘shoulder content’ (i.e. extra footage from popular TV
shows like Roadies and Bigg Boss uploaded on Voot as
digital exclusives)6.

Millennials Drive the Digitals:


The millennial-driven MTV has
400-450 million consumers on
TV, with 100-150 million using
their digital service, VOOT7.
Over 8.5 billion minutes of MTV
content were consumed on Voot
in the last 12 months8.

Other Offering
Voot offers its viewers the content library of Viacom18,
which includes catch-up TV of 11 entertainment channels
and 16 news channels. Eight language options are
available9. Voot also has video content from independent
media companies Vice Media and Firstpost.

Rise of the Gully Boy: Vice


Media’s first documentary Kya
Bolta Bantai? premiered on Voot
and chronicles the rise of gully
rap in India10.
4
https://variety.com/2019/film/asia/indian-streaming-platforms-original-production-1203166281/, accessed 25 May 2019.
5
https://www.televisionpost.com/voot-to-launch-12-short-films-in-feb-produced-by-tipping-point/, accessed 25 May 2019.
6
https://tbivision.com/2018/12/04/viacoms-voot-joins-the-premium-ranks/, accessed 25 May 2019.
7
http://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2019/mar/17/tv-turns-interactive-to-bring-home-genz-1952208.html, accessed 25 May 2019.
8
https://www.televisionpost.com/gen-z-offers-opportunities-for-more-content-diversity-increased-localisation/, accessed 25 May 2019.
9
Hindi, English, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali
10
https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/vice-indias-first-documentary-kya-bolta-bantai-to-premiereon-voot-90805.html, accessed 25 May 2019.

46 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Content Viewing Share on Voot The platform has also streamed
e-sports, an thriving sports category,
bringing to India gaming festivals like
DreamHack, ESL Pro League Odense
10%
2018. However there events were
mired by reports of poor quality of
streaming11, the inappropriateness of
the platform for such content etc.12.

45%
Hindi Voot movies includes popular Hindi
English titles such as Bajirao Mastani and
Regional
Airlift. Voot Kids meanwhile features
children’s most beloved characters
like Rudra, Motu Patlu, and Chhoti
45%
Anandi and also includes a small
collection of kid’s movies.

Key Measures of the Platform


Traffic on Voot has tapered down in
2018. While the previous year
Source:https://www.televisionpost.com/voot-might-launch-subscription-service-in-next-4-5 witnessed a 160% yearly change in
-months-akash-banerji/ (Figures are approximate)
unique visitors, this year marked a
42% rise with 22.5 million visitors in
March 2019 (a 7.7% reach), as
Total Unique Visitors Voot (000) compared to 15.8 million in March
Between April 2018 and March 2019 2018. Voot is used majorly on mobile
Desktop Mobile App Mobile Total Digital Population
devices (90%), with more than 4/5th
of visitors accessing via the Voot
35000 32470
mobile app. A total of 1716 million
31023
28975
30800
minutes were consumed in March
30000
29696 2019, averaging at a low 3.8 minutes
24815 24672 28041 27851
25000 23217 22291 26266 23299 22562
22004
22532 per visitor. A better performance was
24161
19235 21942 22092 22400
23997 observed for the mobile app, at 94.9
20000 21214 20457
18584
20235 20270 20774
average minutes per visitor.
17421 16904 17032 17816 17352 16962
15000 16279
14366
10000
Some months in 2018 namely
April-May, July, and
3491 3352 3515
5000
2435 2573 2382 3229 3379 3643 2754
2097 2146 September-October, brought a rise
0 in the traffic. The season three of the
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19 hit youth-based series Kaisi Yeh
Yaariyan, the 19th IIFA Awards, and
Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
Bigg Boss 12 all premiered during
these months.

Change in Total Unique Viewership Voot’s traffic suddenly dip in 2019


Between April 2018 and March 2019 and the lack of tent-pole projects of
the scale of Bigg Boss 12 might
Mar-2018 Mar-2019 % Change explain this phenomenon.

Total Digital Population 15840 22532 42%

Mobile 13801 20774 51%

Desktop 2668 2146 -20%

Mobile App 11651 16,962 3%

Source: ComScore MMX % Change Media Trend Report, March 2019

11
https://www.talkesport.com/news/how-india-experienced-esports-in-2018-talkesportrewind/, accessed 25 May 2019.
12
https://www.talkesport.com/onpoint/dreamhack-mumbai-a-dream-which-couldnt-come-true/, accessed 25 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 47


Consumer Demographics Voot Audience March 2019
Unlike its competition, Voot
witnessed a greater traction in female Males, TUV Females, TUV
Age Group (000) Age Group (000)
visitors as compared to male (45:54)
with the 15-24 age group leading 6 -14 26 6 -14 32
close to half the consumption. The
15 -24 4525 15 -24 5986
platform includes for its female
audiences a range of highly watched 25 - 34 3461 25 - 34 3520
GECs particularly on Viacom 18’s
35 + 2208 35 + 2775
Colors. An example of this is Silsila
Badalte Rishto Ka, which was moved All Males 10220 All Females 12313
to Voot in November 2018.
Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

Recent
Developments Ad Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
Features March 2019)
Voot plans to launch a subscription
service and live-streaming of Top ad categories
entertainment channels in the Computers & Technology
pipeline. The live TV for entertainment Online Media
shall be behind the paywall13. Retail
Consumer Goods
Education
Voot plans to expand both the Hindi
and regional bouquet of Voot
Originals. Among the upcoming
offerings is the thriller drama The
Sawaikar Case, starring acclaimed
actor Atul Kulkarni14.
World Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
From being an entirely advertisement March 2019)
driven platform, Voot will roll out a
Region % Comp
low-cost freemium model by
mid-201915. The paywall will include a Asia Pacific 96.5
dedicated product for Voot kids that North America 1.3
shall be education-focused.
Voot caters primarily to the Asia-Pacific region.
In future, Voot aims to have 60%
catch up content and 40% of
exclusive and original content16 by
adding new content every 4-6
weeks17. It also hopes to expand into
over 20 countries with a strong
diaspora18.

International Markets
Voot made its debut splash in the UK
market in November launching 18
multi-lingual web series as well as
news content to target the 1.825
million Indian diaspora19.

13
https://www.televisionpost.com/voot-might-launch-subscription-service-in-next-4-5-months-akash-banerji/, accessed 25 May 2019.
14
http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/over-the-top-services/voot-taps-marathi-film-industry-talent-for-the-sawaikar-case-190228, accessed 25 May 2019.
15
https://tbivision.com/2018/12/04/viacoms-voot-joins-the-premium-ranks/, accessed 25 May 2019.
16
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/inside-the-content-factory-at-voot/article24885091.ece, accessed 25 May 2019.
17
https://www.televisionpost.com/voot-might-launch-subscription-service-in-next-4-5-months-akash-banerji/, accessed 25 May 2019.
18
https://tbivision.com/2018/12/04/viacoms-voot-joins-the-premium-ranks/, accessed 25 May 2019.
19
https://www.firstpost.com/business/viacom18s-adverting-led-video-on-demand-platform-voot-to-enter-uk-market-in-november-to-launch-18-premium-web-series-5087361

48 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


With a library of 60,000 hours of content, the consumption
on VOOT has grown significantly from 34 million+ active
users to currently 55 million active users. Our average
time spent has also continued to grow and with over 100
billion minutes of watch time we are the 2nd largest
Premium Indian AVOD platform. The next milestone is to
reach 100 million MAU. Bespoke content and
personalized distribution are the key pillars to driving
reach and the growth of the platform going forward. We at
VOOT are investing substantially in content and you will
see an upscaled and immersive content pipeline coming
up on VOOT. We have already announced over 30+
premium marquee originals expected to be launched
through the year. We have also set up a dedicated
Engineering and Technology centre at Bangalore to
improve UI/ UX and personalisation.

Sudhanshu Vats
Group CEO & MD, Viacom18

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 49


50 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
SonyLIV has 72 shows in its Web Originals section. This
marks a minor increase in the catalogue of 20% since last Launched
year. Many of these shows are not exclusively January 2013
commissioned or distributed by SonyLIV platform and are Owned by
partnerships with independent content factories like Arré, Sony Pictures Networks India
The Comic Wallah, Café Marathi etc. They are available for
viewing in their entirety on latter’s standalone websites or Headquarter
YouTube. 60% of the content tread the popular genres of Mumbai, Maharashtra
comedy, drama, and romance while nearly 30% comprises Google Play Store Downloads
non-fiction reality entertainment and lifestyle videos such 50 million+
as cooking, travel etc.
Unique Users
24.5 million (Mar 19)
SonyLIV struck a deal with the YouTube content channel TVF
to launch the second season of its high-traction show Tripling1. Reach
8.4% (Mar 19)
Another content house Dancing Shiva showcased the
second season of its well-received All About Section 377, Average Minutes/visitor
2.7 minutes (Mar 19)
retitled Still About Section 377 on the platform; the
dramedy shatters some of the myths surrounding the Country Focus
LGBT community. Investments were also made towards India
Marathi web content through the shows Full Tight and
Popularity Rankings
#Founders. The OTT platform prioritizes high-quality writing
7th - Monthly Active Users,
and visual engagement over bold and sensational content2. 5th - Downloads and
9th - Revenue for apps in entertainment
Web Originals on SonyLIV by Language (MAU) (App Annie)

Revenue Model
2% AVOD (Advertising Video on Demand)
TVOD (Transactional Video on Demand)
15%
SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)

8%
Hindi
1% Kannada

English

Marathi

74% Gujarati

Source: SonyLiv.com, Accessed May 2019.

1
https://www.televisionpost.com/tvf-partners-sonyliv-for-second-season-of-web-series-tripling/, accessed 25 May 2019.
2
https://www.iwmbuzz.com/digital/personalities-digital/48573/2019/01/28, accessed 25 May 2019.
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 51
The Rising LGBTQ+ Representation on Indian OTT Media

There has been a spike in the conversation around the LGBTQ+ community following the
promising verdicts both in Section 377 and the Rights of Transgender Persons. Many of the OTT
streaming services have taken cognizance of these developments and are increasingly featuring
LGBTQ+ characters as protagonists on OTT shows. SonyLIV’s Still About Section 377, ZEE5’s 377
Ab Normal, Amazon Prime Video’s Four More Shots Please! and Made in Heaven, Netflix’s
Sacred Games, Voot’s Untag, and ALTBalaji’s Romeo and Jugal are notable names.

Share of SonyLIV by Genre

3% 3%

14% 27%
Comedy
Romance

Lifestyle
Drama

Reality
14%
Horror

Thriller

Travel

23%
15%
1%

Source: SonyLiv.com, Accessed May 2019.

70 million viewers tuned in


to SonyLIV to watch the
FIFA World Cup 20183.
SonyLIV Total Unique Visitors (000)
Between April 2018 and March 2019

Desktop Mobile Total Digital Population

40000
35673
34969
33868
35000 32181

30000 32997 32364 32028 28105 27517


26042
24579
23552 23734 28793
25000 26659
23700 22924 22783
20000 21411 21326
15733
15000
14456
10000
5481
4734 4048
3651 3504 2629 2797 2890
5000 3393 1605 2349 1817 2183
1736
0
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

3
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/sports/record-70-million-viewers-watched-fifa-world-cup-on-sonyliv/articleshow/65032935.cms, accessed 25 May 2019.

52 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Other Offerings Key Measures of the Platform
The additional features of SonyLIV SonyLIV’s total unique visitors
include Live TV for 29 channels, a changed by 366% from 5.2 million in
host of sports, 700+ movies in 8 March 2018 to 24.5 million in March
languages, 500 hours of Starz and 2019. The app has a reach of 8.4%, a
Lionsgate premium original series as mighty rise compared to 1.9% share
part of ‘LionsgatePlay’, 8000+ hours of the universe in March 2018.
of food-related videos, limited fitness SonyLIV’s user engagement fell from
and kids’ content, among others. 4.5 minutes to 2.7 minutes per visitor
Leading English news channel over the period and totaled to 1655
Republic TV and international fashion minutes in March 2019. Mobile users,
channels of Fashion TV partnered who contributed over 87% of the
with SonyLIV to provide their content traffic, spent an average of 70.1
on the platform4. Sports accounts for minutes; the engagement was higher
around 35-40% of SonyLIV’s content. on the mobile app at 80.8 minutes.

SonyLIV’s offerings are partially free SonyLIV had a massive upsurge in


and partially behind paywall. visitors between April and July 2018
with the FIFA World Cup 2018 playing
pivotal part a in this traction.

Change in Total Unique Viewership


Between April 2018 and March 2019

Mar-2018 Mar-2019 % Change

Total Digital Population 5279 24579 366%

Mobile 3534 22783 -3%

Desktop 2254 2183 545%

Source: ComScore MMX % Change Media Trend Report, March 2019

Consumer Demographics
SonyLIV continues to be a audience share. The 15-24 age group
male-driven platform thanks to its in both genders formed 45% of the
sporting content, with a male-female viewership, followed by 35+ age
ratio of 68:32 in March 2019. Thanks group. Females above 35 comprised
to the platform’s conscious attempts a healthy share of the traffic.
to boost its female viewership, the
proportion of female visitors has
increased since last March 2018,
where it comprised merely 21%

Hotstar Audience March 2019

Males, TUV Females, TUV


Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

6 -14 48 6 -14 8

15 -24 7491 15 -24 3526

25 - 34 4914 25 - 34 1242

35 + 4229 35 + 3121

All Males 16682 All Females 7897

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

4
https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/sonyliv-and-republic-world-announce-strategic-tie-up-to-expand-digital-presence-89767.html, accessed 25 May 2019.
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 53
SonyLIV’s base is primarily in the after acquisition of media rights for
Asia-Pacific region. Middle East-Africa events such as T10 Cricket league
emerging a minor market, particularly and the like.

Ad Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)

Top Ad Categories for SonyLIV.Com


Consumer Goods
Telecommunication
Finance
Computers & Technology
Automotive

World Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)

Region % Comp
Asia Pacific 94.3
Europe 0.8
Middle East-Africa 4.3

Recent
Developments
Features
SonyLIV bundled its live sports into its hours of Lionsgate’s premier
existing INR 499 subscription plan content7.
and also introduced sachet packs at
INR 29 per week5. SonyLIV partnered with the Califor-
nia-based leading mobile marketing
SonyLIV is working platform CleverTap to improve user
experience through video push notifi-
towards raising the cations that lets viewers view video
female viewership previews in push notifications even
when the screen is locked8.
as well as further its
penetration into SonyLIV also teamed up with Amagi
non-metro and to utilize its Thunderstorm
cloud-based platform for targeted
regional markets6. OTT dynamic ad insertion9.

Partnerships Indian ISP provider ACT Fibernet


SonyLIV and Lionsgate partnered to partnered with SonyLIV to offer the
launch Lionsgate Play in November former’s customer base across 16
2018 which gifted SonyLIV users 500 states access to SonyLIV’s content10.

5
https://www.televisionpost.com/sonyliv-brings-live-sports-under-its-existing-subs-plans-launches-sachet-subs-pack-priced-at-rs-29/, accessed 25 May 2019.
6
The hindu business line: SonyLIV keen to woo more women watchers (2019). . Chatham: Newstex. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/
docview/2171476010?accountid=82913, accessed 25 May 2019.
7
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lionsgate-india-and-sonyliv-partner-to-launch-lionsgate-play-premium-offering-300742378.html, accessed 25 May 2019.
8
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clevertap-and-sonyliv-partner-to-improve-user-experience-with-video-push-notifications-300768707.html, accessed 25 May 2019.
9
https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/18/09/r12344295/sonyliv-partners-with-amagi-to-further-grow-ott-ad-revenues, accessed 25 May 2019.
10
ACT fibernet partners with SonyLIV to strengthen its OTT offerings. (2018). Voice & Data, Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2158158887?accountid=82913

54 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


2018 has been a phenomenal year for SonyLIV where we
scaled up our offerings across sports and English content
driving a dramatic rise in viewership. FIFA 2018 was an
iconic event for us that fetched us a record breaking
70MN viewership, the highest ever for football in India.
Cricket continued to be a crowd puller four us with India
series of South Africa, England and Australia garnering 25
MN, 30 MN and 50 MN viewers respectively. Interestingly,
we managed to develop sizeable interest for even
non-cricket sports over last year like Basketball with 1.6X
jump in viewers and a 7X jump in time spent on the sport
along with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that
witnessed a 3X growth in viewership. But our benchmarks
weren’t limited to content only. Our consumer
engagement initiatives delivered stupendous results, led
by KBC Play Along that fetched 69.8% participation from
beyond 6 metros with a remarkable high in the Hindi belt.
We managed to garner 600 MN interactions last season
and hope to double the count this time. With a 3X increase
in monthly active users, we kickstarted 2019 with absolute
aplomb. Early on, we expanded our services in Tamil and
Telugu announcing 4000 hours of content across both
languages spanning web originals, films and TV shows.
Adding to our extensive portfolio of originals, we launched
a slice of life series Gullak in Hindi that gained favour
amongst the audience. Continuing with our efforts of
being digital pioneers, SonyLIV also announced the launch
of India’s biggest OTT gaming destination with Multiplayer
Video Quiz, Augmented Reality formats and games on
SPN’s most popular shows ever. SonyLIV’s consumer
footprint today extends to Middle East with services
across UAE, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain. For the ease of our
consumers and convenient in-app purchases, we have
partnered with a host of brands like BHIM, Google Pay,
Paytm, Phone-Pe and PayPal. Today, SonyLIV is one of the
leading apps in India to cross the landmark of 100 MN
downloads on Play Store. Moving forward, we will continue
to innovate the digital streaming experience further and
diversify our content portfolio to stay ahead of the curve.

Mr. Uday Sodhi, 


Executive Vice President and
Head - Digital Business
Sony Pictures Networks (SPN)

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 55


56 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
“India has the biggest Launched
December 2016
set of originals for Prime Owned by

Video outside of the US.” Amazon

Headquarter
- Jennifer Salke, Head, Amazon Studios Seattle, Washington, USA

Google Play Store Downloads


100 million+
Share of Amazon Prime Originals By Genre
Unique Users
Action Comedy Documentary Drama 23.1 million (Mobile App Only; March 2019)
Reality Romance Kids/Animation Horror Reach
Science Fiction/Fantasy 8.6% (Mobile App Only; March 2019)

Average Minutes/visitor
96.3 minutes (Mobile app only; March 2019)
10%
Popularity Rankings
27%
No 10 by downloads and No 4 in
monthly average users for video app in
entertainment (MAU) (App Annie)
17%
Revenue Model
SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)

2% 2%

8%

2%
22%
10%

Source: primevideo.com, Accessed May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 57


There are close to 100 originals on Amazon Prime Video, a Amazon Prime Originals by Language
rise of 53% compared to previous year figures.
English Japanese Hindi
The nine Indian series are primarily dramas, with three German Spanish
series in particular – Made in Heaven, Mirzapur and Four
More Shots Please – becoming the talk of the town in recent
months. Made in Heaven, created by one of India’s most 2% 2%
promising duo Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti, takes us 8%
through the murky secrets of Big Fat Indian weddings and
offers a sharp commentary on caste, gender, and sexuality.
Four More Shots Please! is similarly set in an urban backdrop
of South Mumbai and follows the lives of four women who 12%
bond over drinks. Mirzapur meanwhile is a heated crime
drama set in the heartlands of Uttar Pradesh. Following rave
reviews, the shows have been renewed for a second run1 2.
The pool of new originals also includes the stand-up comedy
reality show Comicstaan and the Shilpa Shetty-hosted dating
reality show Hear Me. Love Me. See Me.
76%

Amazon Prime
India New Originals Source: primevideo.com, Accessed May 2019.

1
https://www.equitybulls.com/admin/news2006/news_det.asp?id=247590, accessed 24 May 2019.
2
https://www.easterneye.biz/zoya-akhtar-confirms-season-2-of-made-in-heaven-2/, accessed 24 May 2019.

58 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Comicstaan became the most
watched Amazon Prime Original
series in its first week in India3.
Among the International Originals on Amazon, the majority of the series
continue to be English, with top shows including the award-winning comedy
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the Julia Roberts thriller Homecoming, the WWII inspired
dystopian saga The Man In the High Castle, among others. An abundance of
crime and thriller dramas was observed. The platform has also upped its
investment in the international distribution of Japanese content4 that includes
an assortment of dramas (Tokyo Girl), reality series (Documental), action
(Amazon Riders) and romance (Fukuyadou Honpo: Kyoto Love Story).

Amazon Prime Video bought the digital


rights of Yash Raj Films’ Thugs of Hindostan
for INR 70 crore5. The film premiered on the
digital platform ahead of its TV release6.

Other Offerings

Racing Ahead: Amazon Prime


bought the digital rights of 13 of
the Top 25 box office grossers
released between June
2017-June 2018, much ahead of
Netflix and Zee6.
Top television content on Amazon Prime Video include The Office, The Vampire
Diaries, Downtown Abbey, Two Broke Girls, etc. Standup comedies like Zakir
Khan: Haq Se Single, Chacha Vidhayak Hain Humare also witnessed high binge
watching.

Local content accounts for 70% of the overall


Prime Video programming in India7.

3
https://www.televisionpost.com/comicstaan-becomes-most-watched-original-series-on-amazon-prime-video/, accessed 24 May 2019.
4
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2018-04-20/amazon-makes-kamen-rider-amazons-happy-marriage-shows-available-in-200-countries/.130637
5
A billion screens of opportunity: India's Media & Entertainment sector (March 2019, p. 87, Rep.). (2019). New Delhi: FICCI and Ernst & Young LLP.
6
https://www.televisionpost.com/amazon-prime-video-premieres-thugs-of-hindostan-ahead-of-tv/, accessed 24 May 2019.
7
https://www.emarketer.com/content/five-ways-amazon-is-betting-big-on-india, accessed 24 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 59


Amazon Prime Video has a stellar
roster of movies in 10 languages8. Did You Know? Amazon Prime
Critically acclaimed and commercially
successful films both premiered on Video is the cheapest priced in
India. Indian customers pay
the platform including titles like Raazi,
Arjun Reddy, Tumbbad, K.G.F.:
Chapter 1, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety,
Bey Yaar, and A Quiet Place, among 86.4% less for a monthly
others. It has spent a considerable
amount in buying the digital rights of
the regional cinema like Suriya’s
subscription of online streaming
Thaanaa Serndha Koottam and
Kadaikutty Singam. The platform also
platform Amazon Prime Video11.
has regional dubbed versions of
popular Hollywood content.

The large catalogue of kids’ content Change in Total Unique Viewership


on Amazon Prime proceeds from the Between April 2018 and March 2019
insight that kids are major consumers
of digital content9.
Mar-2018 Mar-2019 % Change
Ultimately, the video content on
Amazon Prime Video and the music Mobile App 6372 23101 263
content of Amazon Music help
leverage the overall customer Source: ComScore MMX % Change Media Trend Report, March 2019

engagement with the Amazon


website10.

Key Measures of the Platform Prime Video Total Unique Visitors (000)
Statistics for Amazon Prime Video are Between April 2018 and March 2019
available for the mobile app only.
30000
Amazon Prime Video has cut through
the competitive Indian OTT space, 26926

capturing 8.6% share of reach in 25261


24764
March 2019 with 23.1 million unique 25000 24233
26140
23101
viewers. Its share of reach boomed 22462
22516
by 242.2% since March 2018, when
6.3 visitors accessed the platform 19686 21967
20000
marking a 263% rise. An average of 18566

96.3 minutes were spent per visitor, 19202

totaling to a consumption of 2224


minutes on the app. 15000
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

July 2018, a high performance month, Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
marked the premiere of seven titles
as part of Prime Day, including Raazi,
the Hindi blockbuster helmed by Alia
Bhatt; Comicstaan, a stand-up
comedy competition which went on
to become the most watched Original
series on Prime Video in its first week
of streaming in India; 102 Not Out,
Transformers: The Last Night, and
Dunkirk, among others12. Similarly,
November 2018 marked the addition
of a Hindi-language user interface for
India and more importantly the
debut of Mirzapur.

8
Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Marathi, English, Kannada, and Gujarati
9
http://kidscreen.com/2019/04/02/how-are-kids-watching-content/, accessed 24 May 2019.
10
https://www.fortuneindia.com/enterprise/amazon-india-up-and-running/103083, accessed 24 May 2019.
11
https://www.business-standard.com/article/technology/india-cheapest-country-to-watch-amazon-prime-video-know-interesting-facts-118112100358_1.html
12
https://www.rapidtvnews.com/2018070352714/amazon-india-to-launch-raazi-comicstaan-for-prime-day.html#axzz5nmnqMIS0, accessed 24 May 2019.

60 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Prime Video Audience March 2019

Males, TUV Females, TUV


Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

6 -14 NA 6 -14 NA

15 -24 7367 15 -24 2352

25 - 34 5349 25 - 34 2159

35 + 4041 35 + 1832

All Males 16758 All Females 6344

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

Consumer Demographics Prime Originals to begin production


Visitors were largely males (72.5%) in in India, Japan, UK, Spain, Mexico,
the month of March 2018. The 15-34 Germany, and Italy13. This includes 6
demographic formed upward of 70% Indian Originals, like the Akshay
of the audience share for Amazon Kumar starring action adventure
Prime Video for both genders. series The End (working title), the
crime thriller The Last Hour, among
Recent Developments others. Regionalization is on the cards
Amazon Prime Video announced in with Tamil and Telugu Originals
February 2019 that it has green-lit planned14.
more than 20 new and returning

Akshay Kumar is believed to


have received a fee of INR 90
crore for his Prime debut in the
upcoming thriller The End15.
Amazon Prime Video made inroads in Partnerships
the Kannada market starting It was announced in March 2019 that
November 2018 with the launch of India Nirvana Postpaid customers can
popular Kannada film titles16. enjoy a free 1 year subscription of
Amazon Prime Video18.
Amazon Prime Video plans to add TV
channels in India under the section India-based Vu Televisions has
Amazon Prime channels. Subscribers in-built Amazon Prime Video app on 7
will have to pay per channel in of its newly launched Pixelight and
addition to the INR 999 annual UltraSmart TV models19.
subscription cost to view this
content17.

13
https://www.hindustantimes.com/tv/amazon-prime-announces-20-new-shows-including-6-indian-shows-from-anushka-sharma-ali-abbas-zafar/
story-y9n9oSstOePMCKaslL0UPM.html, accessed 24 May 2019.
14
https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/amazon-prime-video-to-raise-india-game-with-original-shows/68279641, accessed 24 May 2019.
15
https://www.ibtimes.co.in/akshay-kumar-being-paid-whopping-rs-90-crore-feature-amazon-prime-video-series-793510, accessed 24 May 2019.
16
https://www.apnnews.com/amazon-prime-video-adds-kannada-content-to-further-expand-its-regional-content-portfolio/, accessed 24 May 2019.
17
http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/over-the-top-services/amazon-prime-video-to-add-tv-channels-in-india-190309, accessed 24 May 2019.
18
https://www.news18.com/news/tech/idea-cellular-offers-one-year-free-amazon-prime-with-nirvana-postpaid-plans-2070125.html, accessed 24 May 2019.
19
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/technology/vu-launches-new-tvs-with-built-in-amazon-prime-video-starting-at-rs-14500/1538028/, accessed 24 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 61


62 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
Netflix India’s arsenal includes a 1000+ Netflix Originals
(includes series and films)2 3. This formidable oeuvre spans Launched
January 2016 (India)
across high-octane political dramas (House of Cards),
science fiction (Black Mirror), documentaries (Gaga: Five Owned by
Foot Two), crime sagas (Narcos: Mexico), romance (Meteor Netflix Inc.
Garden), animation (Disenchantment), and reality
Headquarter
entertainment (Queer Eye). Mumbai, Maharashtra (India operations)

Google Play Store Downloads


500 million +
Wall Street analysts Subscribers

predict Netflix to 148.9 million (globally)1;


0.5 million+ subscribers (mid-2018)

spend USD 15 billion Unique Users


15.5 million (March 2019)

on content in 20194. Reach


5.3% (March 2019)

Average Minutes/visitor
24.1 minutes (March 2019)
Share of Netflix Originals by Genre Popularity Rankings
12th by downloads,
9th in monthly average users and
10% 1st by Revenues for video app in entertainment
(MAU) (App Annie)
5%
Revenue Model
31% SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)
5%

4%

4% Comedy Reality

2% Documentaries Romance

Crime/Thriller/Mystery Scifi and Fantasy


15%
15% Drama Action/Adventure

Horror Animation

9%

Source: Netflix.com, Accessed May 2019.

1
https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/netflixs-india-content-spends-helping-subscriptions-watch-time-growth/68919496, accessed 24 May 2019.
2
Source: https://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/839338?so=az, accessed 24 May 2019.
3
Netflix Originals might be defined as either 1) A series or film commissioned or produced by Netflix 2) A show or film where Netflix holds exclusive international streaming rights
3) A show or film co-produced by Netflix with another network or company or 4) A continuation of a previously cancelled show or film. The term ‘Netflix Original’ might also extend
to shows and films which are only accessible on the Netflix platform in a respective country. Source: https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/the-four-types-of-netflix-originals/
4
https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/netflix-content-spending-2019-15-billion-1203112090/, accessed 24 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 63


Netflix has invested heavily in the Netflix plans to release its first Indian
comedy genre (31%). A massive preschool animated series Mighty Little
collection of stand-up specials of Bheem in 2019, made by the creators
beloved humorists across the globe; of the mega-popular TV animated
this sub-genre of comedy has strong series Chhota Bheem9.
popularity and profit potential at a
lower investment compared to genres India recorded its
like drama or action5. Australian
performer Hannah Gatsby’s Nanette
first case of
was one such highlight in 2018. While ‘Netflix Addiction’
this genre is largely dominated by when a Bangalore-based
international comedians, Indian
stand-up acts that have found a spot on individual sought
Netflix include Vir Das and Aditi Mittal. help at an addiction
centre after spending
Two of every seven to ten hours
daily watching Netflix10.
three viewers of
Netflix’s Sacred
Netflix Originals is dominated by
international content, with Indian
media making up a mere 1.5% of the
Games were Netflix Originals. This content has been
praised for serving different genres and
from outside having sophisticated production values
and mature and performances that can
India6. appeal to audiences across the globe. A
key property that has been the talk of
Netflix has popularized the non-fiction the town since its release is the
genre of documentaries and crime-drama Sacred Games.
docuseries7. Many of them are based
on notorious crimes (The Netflix has announced
Disappearance of Madeleine McCann), 10 new Indian original
controversial personalities (Wild Wild
Country), and music stars (Taylor Swift films to be made in
Reputation Stadium Tour). India in the genres
The animation content under Netflix
drama, science fiction,
Originals includes popular content for thriller, horror,
kids (Boss Baby: Back in Business), comedy and
a host of manga series (Violet
Evergarden) and content meant for romance11. One of the
adults (F is for Family, Bo Jack collaborators is the
Horseman). Animation is heavily
consumed on the platform, with 60% of
Shah Rukh Khan
Netflix’s audiences watching kids’ owned Red Chillies
shows, and Netflix plans to spend 11% Entertainment which
of its overall content budget ($1.1
billion) this year on the genre8. will be producing Class
Although there are no local Netflix of '8312.
Original animation content currently,

5
Source: https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/netflix-dave-chappelle-trevor-noah-1201998372/v, accessed 24 May 2019.
6
A billion screens of opportunity: India's Media & Entertainment sector (March 2019, p. 124, Rep.). (2019). New Delhi: FICCI and Ernst & Young LLP., accessed 24 May 2019.
7
https://www.crimsonhexagon.com/blog/documenting-the-rise-of-documentaries/, accessed 24 May 2019.
8
https://www.fastcompany.com/90326878/how-netflix-plans-on-owning-your-kids-screen-time, accessed 24 May 2019.
9
https://www.rapidtvnews.com/2018110654074/netflix-to-release-mighty-little-bheem-in-2019.html#axzz5jfJQ4Q3U, accessed 24 May 2019.
10
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/17/health/india-netflix-addiction-treatment-intl/index.html, accessed 24 May 2019.
11
https://www.livemint.com/industry/media/netflix-announces-10-new-indian-original-films-1555312397706.html, accessed 24 May 2019.
12
https://scroll.in/reel/920142/netflix-karan-johar-shah-rukh-khan-shashanka-ghosh-indian-original-films-2020, accessed 24 May 2019.

64 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Netflix has invested in Originals on female-centric issues,
including Lust Stories, an anthology film exploring female
sexuality, the Oscar-winning documentary-short Period.
End of Sentence on breaking the taboos around
menstruation, and the Shefali Shah-starrer Delhi Crime,
based on the notorious 2012 Delhi rape case.

Netflix Turns Radflix! Bollywood


actor Radhika Apte notably
became a subject of memes after
appearing in multiple Netflix
productions (Lust Stories, Sacred
Games, Ghoul). As a response,
Netflix released its own spoof
video Omnipresent.
Following the nation’s demand for regional entertainment,
the platform released the Priyadarshan-directed Tamil
drama Sometimes.

Netflix has
announced Baahubali:
Before the Beginning,
the prequel of the
blockbuster film
franchise Baahubali13.
Other Offerings
Netflix has series spanning several genres such as action &
adventure, thriller, romance, reality TV etc., 3500+ movies
in seven languages and child-centered content. Popular
syndicated series include The Office (U.S.), Friends, Parks &
Recreation, Grey’s Anatomy, and New Girl14. Four of the five
biggest ever box office Indian films15 are available on the
platform. The Sandra Bullock starrer Bird Box was
streamed by 26-45 million accounts in its first week16.
Netflix also acquired the worldwide rights to Mowgli, the
2018 live-action remake of the classic Jungle Book series17.
Viacom announced content partnership with Netflix for
both movies and kids’ content18.

Key Measures of the Platform


At 15.5 million, Netflix’s total unique visitors almost tripled
in March 2019 compared to its performance in March
2018, registering a reach of 5.3%. The unique visitors
estimate is conservative compared to the period between
July 2018 and January 2019, where the platform estimated
between 20-25 million visitors.

13
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/beginning-netflix-announces-prequel-baahubali-series-91288, accessed 24 May 2019.
14
https://www.recode.net/2018/12/21/18139817/netflix-most-popular-shows-friends-office-greys-anatomy-parks-recreation-streaming-tv, accessed 24 May 2019.
15
Dangal, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, Secret Superstar, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, accessed 24 May 2019.
16
https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/bird-box-ratings-netflix-nielsen-1203102316/, accessed 24 May 2019.
17
https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/27/17622446/netflix-mowgli-movie-warner-bros-andy-serkis, accessed 24 May 2019.
18
https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/viacoms-netflix-deal-highlights-its-content-strategy/67854267, accessed 24 May 2019.
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 65
On an average, Netflix pulled in a
figure of 19.4 million between April The iconic show Friends is now
18 and March 19. 2047 million
minutes were spent on Netflix in streaming only on Netflix in
India. It was previously available
March 19, averaging 24.1 minutes per
visit.

Not surprisingly, mobile performance on Hotstar and HOOQ19.


picked up faster than desktop, and
have approximately 84:16 ratio in
Change in Total Unique Viewership
consumption. However, consumption
Between April 2018 and March 2019
share through mobile devices has
been on a gradual decline since
August 2018. In March 2019, 117.7 Mar-2018 Mar-2019 % Change
minutes were spent on an average
per visitor on mobile. Total Digital Population 5396 15501 187

April to July 2018 have been high Mobile 3719 12198 228
performance months in terms of
monthly growth in subscribers,
Mobile App 1150 9748 748
peaking in July (25.4 million). During
these four months, some of its
Desktop 2183 3799 74
particularly created a splash,
including Wild Wild Country, a
Source: ComScore MMX % Change Media Trend Report, March 2019
documentary on the controversial
spiritual leader Osho; Lust Stories, an
anthology film on modern Netflix Total Unique Visitors (000)
relationships from the perspective of Between April 2018 and March 2019
Indian women; and 13 Reasons Why
Season 2, a teen drama about the Desktop Mobile App Mobile Total Digital Population
suicide of a high-school student. The
30000
July premiere of Netflix’s flagship 25481
24882
Indian Original Sacred Games 25000 22928 23376

accounts for the crest in viewership. 20269 19965


21429 21244
22779 19480
The partnership with Airtel and 20000 18559
18471 19957 17296
15554
Hathway Broadband supplied a 14283
16103
17010
17930
15501
15000 12897 12926
steady flow of viewers. Dec 18-Jan 19 11016 12234 14303 13915
11989 12198
11849
brought a spike through international 9435
12937
12406 9748
10000
content like Bird Box and Black 9467 9469
7658 4097 4320 4547 4089 3799
Mirror: Bandersnatch. succeeding 5000
2131
2574 3015 3601 3661 3563 3574

months, Netflix’s introduction of a low


cost plan for mobile-only users holds 0
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19
promise.
Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
Viewership on Netflix’s mobile app
has averaged at around 63% during
the year. Nevertheless, Netflix should Netflix Audience March 2019
incentivize its mobile app usage since Males, TUV Females, TUV
the average time spent on the app is Age Group (000) Age Group (000)
the greatest among devices (145.8
6 -14 73 6 -14 32
minutes).
15 -24 5333 15 -24 1158
Consumer Demographics
25 - 34 3528 25 - 34 1520
Despite investing in female-centric
content, Netflix’s demographic was 35 + 2242 35 + 1615
heavily skewed towards male
All Males 11176 All Females 4325
audiences like most other streaming
platforms. This is very different from Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
its demographic profile in territories
like United States, where greater
gender parity has been achieved20.

19
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/entertainment/news/friends-netflix-india-now-streaming-hooq-hotstar-2015779, accessed 24 May 2019.
20
http://www.businessofapps.com/data/netflix-statistics/, accessed 24 May 2019.

66 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


World Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)
Region % Comp
North America 29.5
Latin America 26.8
Europe 25.8
Asia Pacific 10.9
Middle-East Africa 7

India stands the 10th cheapest


among 24 nations in terms of
the Netflix monthly subscription
plans.
72% of the unique visitors in March Partnerships
2019 were men, within which the Netflix partnered with Hathway to
15-24 age group dominated nearly offer its content on Hathway’s set-top
50% of the share. Interestingly, Netflix boxes24. It also tied up with internet
saw a greater traction among older service provider Atria Convergence
female viewers; the 35+ age group Technologies to expand payment and
made the largest share of visitors, cashback offers for users across
followed by 25-34. Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and
Hyderabad25.
Netflix’s penetration is greater in
Western markets such as the United The Indian unit of
States, Latin America, and Europe.
Netflix made a net
profit of INR 20.2
Recent lakh for 2017-1826.
Developments Samsung Galaxy S10 phone users
having Vodafone networks with
Netflix reportedly purchased a
Vodafone RED postpaid subscription
1.5-lakh sq ft office space in
of at least INR 499 per month get
Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in
one-year free subscription of Netflix27.
Mumbai last December and plans to
Similarly, Airtel Postpaid and V-Fiber
double its employee base in the
broadband users will get 3 months of
country21.
Netflix subscription free of cost28.

Features
Netflix plans to introduce an INR 65 Within 6 months
weekly and INR 250 monthly plan for of subscription,
its mobile-only users22.
42% of Netflix
Netflix is testing compressing accounts’ primary
technologies to improve viewing
experience on slower internet
viewings became
connections23. connected TVs29.
21
https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/people/netflix-cmo-kelly-bennett-international-originals-vp-erik-barmack-to-leave-the-company/68315845
22
https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/netflix-tests-rs-65-weekly-rs-250-monthly-plans-in-india/story/334127.html, accessed 24 May 2019.
23
https://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/over-the-top-services/netflix-indias-abhishek-nag-on-streaming-challenges-connected-tvs-and-local-stories-190405
24
https://www.livemint.com/Companies/lDobr6N6IVBiBNd70bjcqM/Netflix-partners-with-Hathway-Broadband-in-India.html, accessed 24 May 2019.
25
https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/act-fibernet-announces-strategic-partnership-with-netflix/68297193, accessed 24 May 2019.
26
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/netflix-india-makes-profit-in-its-1st-year/articleshow/66423533.cms, accessed 24 May 2019.
27
https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/vodafone-of
fers-one-year-free-netflix-subscription-with-samsung-galaxy-s10-phones-here-are-all-details-1499693-2019-04-11, accessed 24 May 2019.
28
https://www.digit.in/news/telecom/airtel-and-netflix-announce-strategic-partnership-in-india-free-3-month-netflix-subscription-availab-43093.html, accessed 24 May 2019.
29
https://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/over-the-top-services/netflix-indias-abhishek-nag-on-streaming-challenges-connected-tvs-and-local-stories-190405

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 67


68 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
ZEE5 is one of the fastest growing OTT platforms in India.

SNIPPETS
ZEE5 launched in February 2018 with 8 original shows,
which has boomed to 87, by mid-2019. With the launch of
72 original shows recently3, ZEE5 gives strong competition
to existing OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Launched
February 2018
The Originals are available in nine languages , led by Tamil Owned by
and Hindi. ZEE5 has dubbed majority of its content in Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL)
regional languages4 to maximize viewership. 39 of the ZEE5
Headquarter
Originals are films, which includes both full-length and
Mumbai, Maharashtra
short films, most of them in Hindi and Tamil. The platform
offers majority Originals in the genres of drama (33%), Google Play Store Downloads
thriller (27%) and comedy (18%). 50 million+1

Unique Users
ZEE5 targets 20x-30x 26.2 million (Mar 19)

increase in subscriptions
Reach
8.9% (Mar 19)

by 20205. Average Minutes/visitor


3.2 minutes (Mar 19)

Two Originals that made waves on ZEE5 last year include Popularity Rankings
Karenjit Kaur – The Untold Story of Sunny Leone, based on 10th - Monthly Active Users,
6th - Downloads (Ann Annie)2
the life of adult film actor turned Bollywood sensation
Sunny Leone, and Rangbaaz, Revenue Model
AVOD (Advertising Video on Demand)
ZEE5 Originals by Language TVOD (Transactional Video on Demand)
SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)
2% 2%

8%

35% English

Hindi

Marathi
Telugu

Kannada
40%
Tamil

Bengali
2% Punjabi
4% Malayalam
6%
1%

Source: Zee5.com, Accessed May 2019.

1
ZEE5 - Movies, TV Shows, LIVE TV & Originals (2019, April 18), Retrieved April 18, 2019.
2
As per App Annie’s report on the top video OTT apps of 2018
3
https://zeenews.india.com/television/zee5-to-come-up-with-72-new-shows-2180319.html, accessed 30 May 2019.
4
Tamil, Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Telugu and Hindi
5
http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/over-the-top-services/zee5-targets-20x-30x-increase-in-subscription-numbers-in-next-one-year-190219, accessed 30 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 69


a crime thriller starring Saqib Saleem ZEE5 Channels by Genre
that struck a chord particularly with
audiences from Lucknow and Uttar
Pradesh6. 6%

ZEE5 roped in popular Bollywood Action


actors like Kunal Khemu and Arjun 27%
18%
Rampal for the thrillers Abhay and Comedy

The Final Call respectively. The


Drama
platform’s marquee original POISON
is a eleven-episode crime thriller Reality
series and boasts of actors like Tarun
Romance
Virwani, Arbaaz Khan, Freddy
Daruwala & Riya Sen7. ZEE5’s Bengali 9% RomCom
Original Sharate Aaj, features well
Thriller
known actor Parambrata
6% 33%
Chattopadhyay.

ZEE5 is big on regional originals, 1%


releasing shows like D7 and Kalavu in
Source: Zee5.com, Accessed May 2019.
Tamil, Mirror and Aarpoo in
Malayalam, and Sex, Drugs and
ZEE5 Total Unique Visitors (000)
Theatre and Hutatma in Marathi.
Between April 2018 and March 2019

Some ZEE5 Originals like Badnaam Desktop Mobile App Mobile Total Digital Population
Gali bring to screen less-discussed
issues in the Indian society like 30000
25886 26232
surrogacy8.
25000 23551
21030 24285 24754
20223 20447
The platform has been constantly 20000
18944 19622
22281
19508
working to layer their offering with a 18992 19668 19315
17433 18358
range of high-octane Originals, 15000 13434 13061 16623
17565 17427
14744 14959
handpicked movies and our 8526 9894 13857
10000 11992 12623
ever-popular TV Shows, across 12334
9014
7583 8619
languages and genres for the global 3765
5000 6345
audiences9. 5474
1353 1803 1511 1488 1600 1931
1539 1220 1833

0
1526 1153 1089
Other Offerings Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

With 12 navigational and featured


Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
languages10 and 1.25 lac+ viewing
hours across 90+ live TV, catch up TV,
500+ television shows, 3,500 films,
4,000+ music videos, lifestyle shows,
news, children's programmes,
exclusive short series and 35+
acclaimed plays, ZEE5 offers a vast
library of entertainment in languages
that resonate with Indian audiences.

6
http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/over-the-top-services/zee5-targets-20x-30x-increase-in-subscription-numbers-in-next-one-year-190219, accessed 30 May 2019.
7
https://www.glamsham.com/en/zee5-launches-a-dark-thriller, accessed 30 May 2019.
8
https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/patralekhaa-divyendhu-come-together-for-badnaam-gali-a-digital-film-on-surrogate-mothers/
story-B9dSZ3lvvbysh1Yd7NB5CM.html, accessed 30 May 2019.
9
https://www.digitalstudiome.com/broadcast/31342-zee-announces-lineup-of-original-shows-on-zee5, accessed 30 May 2019.
10
English, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati & Punjabi

70 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Key Measures of the Platform drastically between June-August 2018
ZEE5 witnessed a 164% change in as the ZEE5 Original Karenjit Kaur –
unique visitors, from 9.9 million in The Untold Story of Sunny Leone and
March 2018 to 26.2 million in March Zero KMS and the movies Veere Di
2019, with audiences crossing the 20 Wedding, Parmanu premiered.
million mark in October 2018. 90%+ During this period, Airtel also
visitors accessed the platform on partnered with ZEE5 to offer the
mobile phones. The mobile app latter’s exclusive content on Airtel TV.
usage has exponentially risen during Viewership jumped the 25 million
the 1-year period, from 26% of the mark in December 2018 and later in
viewership in March 2018 to 73% by March 2019 as Rangbaaz, the Marathi
March 2019. Original Sex, Drugs, and Theatre, and
The Final Call and the blockbuster
Viewers spent a total of 2165 minutes films Simmba and Uri – The Surgical
on the platform in March 2019, Strike elevated ZEE5’s content
averaging 3.2 minutes per visitor. The bouquet. Vodafone Idea also
average minutes per visitor was snagged a deal to offer ZEE5 content
higher on mobile (84.5 minutes) and on Vodafone Play and Idea Movies
mobile app (101.5 minutes). and TV apps.

April 2018 saw a spike in the Consumer Demographics


viewership with the streaming of Life ZEE5 has more or less gender parity
Sahi Hai Season 2, Tamil series in viewership in March 2019, with
American Mappillai, and the Hindi 56% male and 46% female visitors.
dubbed Columbian drama Pablo The audiences were evenly divided
Escobar, The Drug Lord. Following a among 15-24, 25-34, and 35+ age
dip in May, the viewership rose brackets for both genders.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 71


Ad Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)

Top Ad Categories Zee5.Com


Consumer Goods
Online Media
Retail
Computers & Technology
Travel

World Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)

Region % Comp
Asia Pacific 95.3
Europe 0.9
Middle East-Africa 1.8
North America 2.0

Recent Developments
ZEE5 is said to launch 5 originals the Jio KaiOS feature phones and Mi
namely Skyfire, Auto Shankar, LED TV14 15, and Vodafone-Idea to
Thiravam, Jadu Kadai and provide content on Vodafone Play
Natasaarvabhowma11. and Idea Movies and TV16.

A mobile-only subscription plan is on With the aim to bringing transparency


the cards that proposes to be 30% in the performance of advertising on
cheaper compared to existing the platform, ZEE5 partnered with
subscriptions and targets in MOAT and Nielsen Digital Ad
particular regional content users and Ratings17.
Tier II and III markets12.
International Expansiont
Partnerships and Zee5 Global has expanded to 190
Distribution territories and it offers content in 17
ZEE5 and Gaana come together to languages – including Malay, Thai,
offer free subscriptions to users. Bahasa, German and Russian –
Users of both platforms will benefit besides 12 Indian languages18.
from the library of ZEE5 comprising
movies, original shows and TV shows, Starting April 1st 2019, Malaysian
and Gaana’s music library13. audiences can access Zee Tamil
exclusively on ZEE5 platform both as
ZEE5 partnered with Reliance Jio and live-TV and catch entertainment19.
Xiaomi making the app available on

11
Retrieved from Zee5 website on May 15, 2019https://www.glamsham.com/en/zee5-launches-a-dark-thriller
12
https://www.businessinsider.in/netflix-hostar-amazon-prime-face-new-threat-from-zee5-language-specific-subscription-plans/articleshow/68886964.cms
13
https://www.exchange4media.com/marketing-news/zee5-and-gaana-come-together-to-offer-free-subscriptions-to-users-94607.html, accessed 30 May 2019.
14
https://www.bgr.in/news/zee5-to-be-available-on-reliance-jios-kaios-powered-feature-phones/, accessed 30 May 2019.
15
https://www.adgully.com/zee5-partners-with-xiaomi-s-mi-tv-81237.html, accessed 30 May 2019.
16
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/vodafone-idea-zee-ink-content-deal/68466096, accessed 30 May 2019.
17
https://bestmediainfo.com/2019/04/zee5-partners-with-moat-and-nielsen-dar-offers-measurability-in-ott/, accessed 30 May 2019.
18
https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/unlocking-the-best-of-indian-entertainment-for-the-world-zee5-global-unveils-its-content-in-5-new-
international-languages-892193281.html, accessed 30 May 2019.
19
https://www.exchange4media.com/media-tv-news/zee-tamil-brings-the-best-of-tamil-content-to-malaysia-exclusively-on-zee5-95503.html, accessed 30 May 2019.

72 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


The video viewing industry has shown the first signs of real
breakout in the past few quarters. Real investment and
focus has finally started to move towards digital video
streaming. This is not at the back of having a tick box in the
digital space, but making some serious strides on building
for Indian users through technology, data and content.
Understanding Indian user segments, their uniqueness,
their needs, their challenges, their consumption habits.
The widespread growth of internet has contributed in
enabling Indians to make more conscious choices of what
they want to watch and when. The viewer is constantly
adapting and changing in terms of their preferences, with
the digital viewer seeking real, relevant, resonating
content every day and these can only be achieved through
research and deep diving to formulate exciting original
content.

Riding on this strong insight, ZEE5 built a strong pipeline of


original content in 2018 by launching quality and engaging
Original content almost on a weekly basis. We are seeing
the traction for our digital original content build-up which
was further commended by the positive response we
received for Rangbaaz, our biggest original after Karenjit
Kaur – The Untold Story of Sunny Leone.

We launched ZEE5 with an aim to be a one-stop digital


destination which addresses the entertainment demands
of a new India that is digital savvy and globally connected,
yet fundamentally rooted in its culture. With ‘Language’ as
the core proposition embodied across the entire content
and user experience, ZEE5 truly caters to an Indian
audience without boundaries. Moreover, having multiple
touchpoints across devices with features like
personalization, voice search and language enabled
search helps offer a seamless experience to our users.

Our robust content catalogue is getting us immense


traction and spike in numbers from audience across the
globe. We have at least one original web series come out
in six different languages each month on an average –
Marathi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam besides Hindi
spanning across genres like biopics, docu-dramas, sci-fi,
thrillers, rom-coms among others.

Tarun Katial
CEO, ZEE5 India

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 73


74 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
Airtel TV has no original content of its own at present.
However, it more than makes up for this with tie-ups with Launched
December 2017
some of the biggest VOD services have ensured the latest
series and 10000+ movies of ZEE5, Eros Now, Hotstar, Owned by
HOOQ, and ALTBalaji, and the regional players Hoichoi, and Bharti Airtel Ltd.
Fastfilmz are available on the app. Additionally, NDTV and
Headquarter
Airtel struck a partnership whereby the world’s first live New Delhi
channel NDTV Hop was launched for the millennial
audiences. Exclusively for Airtel TV users, NDTV Hop covers Google Play Store Downloads
news, Bollywood, fashion, technology etc. These include 50 million+
shows like Convo, Deal Le Ke Dekho, and Ambika Anand. Unique Users
The ZEE5 Originals and NDTV Hop is currently accessible 14.5 million (Mobile App)
on Airtel TV Premium accounts. Moreover, Live TV is offered
for 360 channels comprising news, entertainment, Reach
93.4% (March 2019)
devotional, kids etc. This include 53 HD channels.
Average Minutes/visitor
35.8 minutes (Mobile App)
Share of Airtel TV Originals by Genre
Popularity Rankings
Hindi Malayalam Bhojpuri 4th - Downloads,
English Bengali Punjabi 6th - Monthly Active Users
for video app in entertainment
Tamil Marathi Gujarati
(MAU) (App Annie)
Telugu Oriya Urdu
Revenue Model
Kannada Assamese French
Bundled free for Airtel subscribers.
1%
1.5%
1.5%

3%
3%

4%

29%
4%

5%

6%

6%

14%

10%

14%

Source: Airtel App, Accessed May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 75


Key Measures AritelTV Total Unique Visitors (000)
Between April 2018 and March 2019

of the Platform
20000
For Airtel TV, Comscore data is
16988
available between May 2018 and 15909
15043 15083 14527
March 2019. There were 14.5 million 15000 13438
14447
13079
visitors on the platform in March
13812
2019, and the platform has huge
11951
potential to further its consumption 10000
10243
among the 340 million+ subscriber
base of Bharti Airtel. 521 million
5000
minutes were consumed during the
month averaging at 35.8 minutes per 0
visitor. 0
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

Consumer Demographics Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
74% of the unique visitors in March
2019 were males, largely in the 15-24
bracket. Females above 35 also
Airtel TV Audience March 2019
showed promise as an audience.
Males, TUV Females, TUV
Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

Recent 6 -14 NA 6 -14 NA

Developments 15 -24 4,771 15 -24 920

25 - 34 3,200 25 - 34 1,178
Features
35 + 2,829 35 + 1,629
Airtel TV Premium was launched in
October 2018. This subscription All Males 10,800 All Females 3727
includes access to 300 exclusive titles
Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
and a 10,000+ catalogue of TV shows,
live channels, and films1. Airtel TV
Premium is free of cost for all the
Partnership
Airtel subscribers with an ARPU2 of
Partnered with Zee5 to offer its
INR 100 or more on mobile. A
content on Airtel TV Premium starting
campaign titled #AirtelThanks was
October 20186. Also struck a content
rolled out in this regard; besides free
partnership deal with the regional
Airtel TV Premium subscription
player Hoichoi for all Airtel TV users7.
access, other notable freebies include
three months Netflix subscription gift
NDTV and Airtel TV forged a content
for Airtel Infinity Postpaid subscribers,
partnership and launched NDTV Hop,
which can be availed through Airtel TV
the world’s first live channel that’s
and MyAirtel app. Similarly, users
exclusive for Airtel users, in October
committing a minimum of INR 199
2018. The channel is available over
per month get the free ZEE5
smartphones in a portrait mode and
premium content access3.
primarily targets millennials with eight
fresh hours of programming each
The desktop version of Airtel TV
day8.
began in April 2019. The content was
accessible only to select users under
early access program4 until May 2019,
where it made its full-fledged debut5.

1
https://beebom.com/airtel-launches-airtel-tv-premium-subscription-with-access-to-exclusive-content/, accessed 30 May 2019.
2
Average Revenue Per User
3
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/airtel-thanks-benefits-flipkart-offer-4g-smartphone-cashback-1931135, accessed 30 May 2019.
4
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/timeline/Science/44140/198306/airtel-tv-launched-for-desktop-how-to-use, accessed 30 May 2019.
5
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/telecom/news/airtel-tv-web-live-tv-movies-shows-testing-2033554, accessed 30 May 2019.
6
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/airtel-partners-zee5-flipkart-netflix-to-offer-data-content-benefits-to-select-users/66182167, accessed 30 May 2019.
7
https://www.adgully.com/airtel-and-hoichoi-partner-to-bring-hoichoi-content-on-the-airtel-tv-app-81900.html, accessed 30 May 2019.
8
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/airtel-ties-up-with-ndtv-to-offer-exclusive-content-on-airtel-tv/66214401, accessed 30 May 2019.
76 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 77
78 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
Currently, Hungama Play hosts three original Hindi/Hinglish
drama series and one Marathi comedy. Mid-2018 saw the Launched
July 7th 2015
release of, Hankaar, on the underworld in Mumbai, and
Damaged, a crime thriller starring Amit Sial of Mirzapur and Owned by
Inside Edge fame1. Towards the end of 2018, the series Bar Hungama Digital Media Entertainment
Code debuted also stars television personalities Karan
Headquarter
Wahi and Akshay Oberoi2. Hungama Play’s first regional Haryana
original Padded ki Push up released in October 2018 and is
a Marathi comedy. Google Play Store Downloads
5 million+

“Marathi happens to be Unique Users


7 million (March 2019; For Hungama.com)
one of the most Reach
2.4% (March 2019;For Hungama.com)
consumed languages on Average Minutes/visitor

its video streaming 4.5 minutes (March 2019;For Hungama.com)

Revenue Model
platform”. SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)
TVOD (Transactional Video on Demand)
– Neeraj Roy, Managing
Director and CEO, Hungama Play3.

1
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1748072/, accessed 30 May 2019.
2
https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/sponsored-entertainment/bar-code-show-hungama-play-episodes-video-5404509/, accessed 30 May 2019.
3
https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/tMP4TFCU1UFzkL8vuO77WP/Opinion--Regional-shows-get-a-push-on-digitalplatforms.html, accessed 30 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 79


Consumer Demographics Other Offering
Hungama Play offers access to 7500+
Hungama Audience March 2019 movies in 11 languages4 and 1500+
hours of TV in English and Hindi5.
Males, TUV Females, TUV
Age Group (000) Age Group (000)
Key Measures of the Platform
6 -14 17 6 -14 8 Note: Data is available for the overall
Hungama.Com platform and not for
15 - 24 1931 15 -24 1117 Hungama Play exclusively.
25 - 34 1346 25 - 34 1130
Total unique visitors changed by
35 + 1063 35 + 432 217%, from 2.2 million in March 2018
All Males 4357 All Females 2687 to 7 million in March 2019 and
claimed a reach of 2.4%. 90% of the
Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019 visitors accessed Hungama via
mobile devices. A total of 95 million
Total Unique Visitors Hungama.com (000) minutes were consumed in March 19,
Between April 2018 and March 2019 averaging 4.5 minutes per visitor.
Mobile consumption was relatively
Desktop Mobile Total Digital Population
higher at an average of 14 minutes
12000 per visitor.
10521 10399
10000 9594 9464
9122 9117
8429 9785
8994 9444 7805
8000 8468
8288 8229 7044
8025
5992
5592 7047 5602
6000 6448

5296
4000 4866 4763

2000 977 1066 1066 1142 1103


789 822 853 867 956 704
603

0
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

4
English, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bhojpuri and Oriya
5
Google Play Store description

80 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Change in Total Unique Viewership
Between April 2018 and March 2019
Recent
Mar-2018 Mar-2019 % Change
Developments
Total Digital Population 2224 7044 217
Features
Hungama play is working on
expanding their library of original
Mobile 538 704 31
shows by introducing content in
Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Kannada and
Desktop 1816 6448 255
Bengali6.
Source: ComScore MMX % Change Media Trend Report, March 2019
Partnerships and Distribution
Hungama Play partnered with TCL
Electronics and Shareit to make its

World Metrix content available on their TVs and


app respectively7,8.
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019) Indian football fanatics in January
2019 welcomed Hungama Play’s
Region % Comp
partnership with Veqta Sports for the
Europe 3.4 live screening of Coppa Italia, Italy’s
Asia Pacific 69.4 annual tournament played between
North America 6.1
78 football clubs for which Veqta
Middle East-Africa 20.3
sports is the official sponsor9.

Indian consumers surfing the Indian


Railway Catering and Tourism
Corporation website (IRCTC) for

Ad Metrix railway enquiries can soon


experience audio and video content
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report, provided by Hungama Play over
March 2019) IRCTC’s chatbox Disha10.

Top ad categories

Retail
Computers & Technology
Telecommunications
Online Media
Automotive

6
https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/tMP4TFCU1UFzkL8vuO77WP/Opinion--Regional-shows-get-a-push-on-digitalplatforms.html, accessed 30 May 2019.
7
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/tcl-to-invest-20-cr-in-india-in-q2/article26945438.ece, accessed 30 May 2019.
8
https://www.afaqs.com/news/story/54145_SHAREit-collaborates-with-Hungama-Play-to-widen-content-offering, accessed 30 May 2019.
9
https://www.insidesport.co/veqta-sports-hungama-join-hands-to-live-stream-coppa-italia/, accessed 30 May 2019.
10
https://m.dailyhunt.in/news/india/english/inc42-epaper-inc/hungama+joins+hand+with+ai+startup+corover+to+offer+music+service+on+irctc-newsid-112037534

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 81


82 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
ALTBalaji is one of India’s leading platforms focusing on
delivering purely original content. Since the past year, the Launched
April 16th 2017 (India)
number of original shows have gone up by 34% with 29
original shows, some shows revived for their second or third Owned by
seasons. The content primary caters its offerings to three Balaji Telefilms Limited
audience segments – dramas (Kehne Ko Humsafar Hai) for
Headquarter
women between 20-40, male-centric content (Gandi Baat), and Mumbai, Maharashtra
tent pole projects for international audiences (The Test Case).
Paid Subscribers
ALTBalaji has released multiple comedy series include 13.1 million (as on February 2019)1
stand-up comedy in five languages3 featuring talents like Google Play Store Downloads
Suresh Albela and YouTube star Manoj, and comedy sketches 10 billion+
in Marathi performed by Bharat Ganeshpure and Sagar
Karande. The Bengali original, Dhimaner Dinkaal stars Saswata Unique Users
4.4 million (March 2019)
Chatterjee, who famously played one of the antagonists Bob
Biswas in the super hit Hindi film Kahaani. This show is dubbed Reach
in five other languages4. Ssumier Pasricha and his widely viral 1.5% (March 2019)
social media character Pammi Aunty have also joined the
Average Minutes/visitor
comedy cart on ALTBalaji’s Pammi Aunty #MumbaiDaSiyappa; 20.3 minutes (March 2019)
on the show Pasricha essays multiple characters.
Popularity Rankings
ALTBalaji Original Shows by Genre Number 3 Top Grossing OTT Video
Romance Drama Youth Stand up Shows
Streaming Apps (App Annie2) and
Among 10 Top Grossing
Comedy Erotica Supernaturals & Thrillers
Revenue Model
Freemium, SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)

17%
19%

6%

14%

22%

11%

11%

Source: ALTBalaji.com, Accessed May 2019.

1
https://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/over-the-top-services/altbalaji-guns-for-6x-revenue-growth-to-add-200-hours-of-original-content-in-fy2020-190417, accessed 21 May 2019.
2
https://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/over-the-top-services/altbalaji-guns-for-6x-revenue-growth-to-add-200-hours-of-original-content-in-fy2020-190417, accessed 21 May 2019.
3
Gujarati, Tamil, Hindi, Punjabi and Telugu
4
Tamil, Arabic, Malayalam, Telugu and Bahasa Malaysia
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 83
Ssumier Pasricha
was awarded the
Video Influencer of
the Year at the vIDEA
2019 video media
awards5.
ALTBalaji Originals also renewed for
new seasons include Karrle Tu Bhi
Mohabbat, Dil Hi Toh Hai, Kehne Ko
Humsafar Hain, and Gandi Baat. The
platform has upped their game in
terms of star cast, roping in for their
new additions Kay Kay Menon (The
Great Indian Dysfunctional family),
Shreyas Talpade (Baby come Naa),
Mahie Gill and Arunoday Singh
(Apaharan), to name a few. Some
upcoming Originals include the
romance-drama Baarish, starring
Sharman Joshi and Asha Negi, the
mystery thriller Boss – Baap of
Special Services with Karan Grover
and Sagarika Ghatge6, and the
comedy thriller Fixer.

ALTBalaji has emerged as the adult


alternative to its family-friendly sister
on television Balaji Telefilms, with the
edgy and erotic content like Gandi
Baat and X.X.X.– Uncensored pulling
in massive viewership. The latter
show was initially planned for the big
screen but released as a web series,
with an eye-catching description
cautioning the viewers to ‘Watch
responsibly’. The web series Ragini
MMS Returns, part of the super-hit
horror erotica franchise Ragini MMS,
is renewed for a second season and
reportedly led by Sunny Leone7.

5
https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/mtv-bags-the-video-agency-of-the-year-award-altbalaji-wins-the-ott-platform-of-the-year-at-videa-2019-119042300259_1, accessed 21 May 2019.
6
https://www.indiatoday.in/television/web-series/story/boss-teaser-out-karan-singh-grover-and-sagarika-ghatge-win-hearts-with-their-amazing-chemistry-1475296-2019-03-11, accessed 21 May 2019.
7
https://www.indiatoday.in/television/web-series/story/after-karenjit-kaur-sunny-leone-to-play-lead-in-ekta-kapoor-s-web-series-ragini-mms-2-1498271-2019-04-10, accessed 21 May 2019.

84 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


ALTBalaji Total Unique Visitors (000) X.X.X.– Uncensored
Between April 2018 and March 2019
required some of its
Desktop Mobile App Mobile Total Digital Population female cast mem-
8000 bers to sign a nudity
7000
clause8,9.
6042
6000
5138 Other Offerings
5565
5000 4368 4425 4466 Looking beyond their ever-growing
4852
4000 4183
4410 4065 ALTBalaji originals, viewers may also
3956 4010
3620
2860 3155 stream MTV’s Box Cricket League and
3000 2485
2361
2141 2093 2702
2882 Balaji Telefilms’ Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2
2000 1564 1627
1477
2018 1445 1913 1716 on the platform. 14 Balaji Telefilms
1460 1445 1517 1349
1276
1000
269
1064 1051 1042 333 548 484 469 produced movies ranging from
186 168 155 133 197 213 183
0 comedy, horror, action, and drama
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19 are available for viewing.

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019


Key Measures on the Platform
ALTBalaji’s performance improved
considerably compared to its first
Change in Total Unique Viewership year, where the total unique visitors
Between April 2018 and March 2019 had fallen by 78% over the year. In
2018, ALTBalaji witnessed a 386%
Mar-2018 Mar-2019 % Change change in the visitors and ended up
with 4.4 million visitors in March
Total Digital Population 918 4466 386% 2019. The average unique visitors
during the year were 3 million, and
Mobile 788 4065 416% the traffic accelerated substantially
after December 2018. More than
Mobile App 494 3155 539% 90% visitors accessed ALTBalaji via
mobile devices, which witnessed a
Desktop 174 469 170% massive rise in the total unique
visitors over the year. 129 million
Source: ComScore MMX % Change Media Trend Report, March 2019 minutes were consumed in total
during March 2019, averaging at 20.3
minutes per visitor. Mobile engage-
ment for this period was lower at 8.7
ALTBalaji Audience March 2019
minutes.
Males, TUV Females, TUV
Age Group (000) Age Group (000) The high-traction months of
April-May 2018 and October
6 -14 10 6 -14 16
2018-January 2019 witnessed a
15 - 24 1420 15 - 24 385 lineup of releases including Kehne Ko
Humsafar Hain, Gandii Baat, Kasautii
25 - 34 1111 25 - 34 311
Zindagii Kay, Broken But Beautiful
35 + 587 35 + 626 and Apharan.
All Males 3128 All Females 1338
Consumer Demographic
Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019 The ratio of male-female visitors on
ALTBalaji was 7:3 in March 2019. The
largest demographics were males
between 15-34 and Females above 35.

8
https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/bollywood/story/sunny-leone-nudity-clause-ekta-kapoor-sex-sexuality-xxx-expose-247822-2015-04-09, accessed 21 May 2019.
9
https://www.mid-day.com/articles/after-kyra-dut Change in Total Unique Viewership t-xxx-gets-three-more-beauties-on-board/16169180, accessed 21 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 85


Recent With 13.1 million subscribers at
Developments present, ALTBalaji’s base has
Features grown by an astonishing
ALTBalaji backtracked on kids’
content due to its incompatibility with
ALTBalaji’s 18+ image as well as the
991.67% between Q4 FY18 and
high costs incurred on animation10. Q4 FY19.
ALTBalaji launched the campaign
#breastbuffer for raising awareness
ALTBalaji Subscribers in (in millions) FY18 FY19
about breast cancer. The campaign
execution included a creatively 15 13.1
designed logo appearing between
episodes reminding viewers to check
10.5
for breast lumps. Besides, artists
10
from television and films were roped
in, including Yogita Bihani, Sagarika,
5.33
Mahie Gill and Hina Khan11.
5
3.4
ALTBalaji snagged the best OTT
Platform of the year at the Video 0.15 0.31 0.52
1.2

Media Awards and Summit 2019 0


(vIDEA 2019). In addition, White Rivers Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Media received the Best Video Content
for a Social Media Marketing Campaign Source: Balaji Telefilms Quarterly Report

for their marketing campaign for the


ALTBalaji Original Apaharan12.

Partnerships ALTBalaji Subscribers revenues FY18 vs FY19 (in Crores)


Strategic content partnerships with
30
free channels and telecom apps like Jio, 28.1

Airtel, and Vodafone contribute close


to 70% of ALTBalaji’s viewership13.
20

Mid 2018 saw a strategic partnership


signed between ALTBalaji and
YuppTV expanding the former’s 10 7
viewership among Indian expats
living across the globe looking for
South Asian content14.
0

Financial Performance FY18 FY19 Q1-Q3

Balaji Telefilms invests INR 100-150


crore each year on ALTBalaji15.
Notwithstanding the high costs
involved, ALTBalaji is reaping the
benefits of Indian audiences’ growing
likelihood to pay for streaming
content. The platform is set to
witness a 6X growth in subscription
revenues. It earned close to INR 28.1
crore in the three quarters of FY19,
and INR 8 crore in Q3 itself. This is a
remarkable gain compared to its INR
7 crore INR in its first year of launch16.

10
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/we-would-rather-create-ips-than-acquire-titles-says-altbalaji-ceo/1545669/, accessed 21 May 2019.
11
http://www.adageindia.in/digital/altbalaji-launches-breastbuffer-to-spread-awareness-around-breast-cancer/articleshow/69009716.cms, accessed 21 May 2019.
12
https://www.videaawards.com/winners/, accessed 21 May 2019.
13
https://www.fortuneindia.com/enterprise/altbalaji-building-a-business-for-the-future/102826, accessed 21 May 2019.
14
https://www.medianama.com/2018/05/223-altbalaji-partners-with-yupptv/, accessed 21 May 2019.
15
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/altbalaji-aims-to-break-even-in-the-next-3-years/articleshow/65414425.cms, accessed 21 May 2019.
16
https://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/over-the-top-services/altbalaji-guns-for-6x-revenue-growth-to-add-200-hours-of-original-content-in-fy2020-190417
86 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2018
ALTBalaji rocks Hindi speaking Indian audience, with the largest range
of Hindi Original exclusives. Smartly distributed to reach every device
with a very affordable price. Be it romance, thrill, comedy, drama – for
the man, the women or the young Indian, in two years it is the leading
subscription based service and in the top 3 across all app-stores, by
gross revenue. With award winning content, it is nurturing a rapidly
growing binge watching Indian market place. Pioneered by Ekta Kapoor
from the leading content powerhouse house of Balaji Telefilms, ALT
adds to the commanding.
Mr. Sunil Lulla
Former Group CEO | Balaji Telefilms

ALTBalaji is gunning to break even by 2022.


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 87
88 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
YuppTV has not added new Originals over 2018 and
continues to run the four Telugu originals on its channel – Launched
October 14th, 2015 (India)
703, Endulika, Hey Krishna and Mana Mugguri Love story.
Owned by
Other Offerings YuppTV
YuppTV.com, headquartered out of Georgia, U.S.A, caters
Headquarter
to the Indian diaspora living in 190+ countries across the Hyderabad, Telangana (India Operations)
globe. YuppTV offers only select content for its Indian
users. Total Downloads
15 million+
YuppTV (India) offers close to 240+ Live TV channels, 2000+
Google Play Store Downloads
movies and 180+ TV shows in 13+ languages1. YuppTV
10 million+
works on a Freemium model where the YPass subscription
unlocks the entire catalogue of YuppTV and makes it ad Unique Users
free and accessible on multiple devices. 3.7 million (March 2019)

Reach
The catch-up TV bouquet has soared from 39 channels last 1.3% (March 2019)
year to 260 today. Live sports channels are no longer
offered on the platform unlike the previous year. Average Minutes/visitor
1.9 minutes (March 2019)
Live TV Channels on YuppTV By Language Revenue Model
AVOD (Advertising Video on Demand)
Telugu Tamil Malayalam Kannada

Gujarati Marathi Punjabi Bengali

20%
23%

7%

4%

1%

4% 25%

16%

Source: YuppTV.in, Accessed May 2019.

1
Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, Oriya and Bhojpuri

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 89


Live TV Channels on YuppTV by Language Apart from the regularly telecast TV
shows, YuppTV features popular web
series from independent content

1%
2% 2%
houses like Arre, Blush, and Midnight
8% Grindhouse. Adding to the regional
News
canvas are content by the production
31% Entertainment films Rascalas, Put Chutney and
10% Madras Metre. YuppTV Bazaar also
Spiritual
continues to host an assortment of
Music features by ScoopWhoop, Being
Indian.
Movies

Business & Finance Key Measures of the Platform


19% YuppTV has a limited reach of 1.3% in
Knowledge the Indian market, with 3.7 million
Fashion & Lifestyle
users visiting the platform in March
27% 2019. This figure is 88% greater than
its March 2018 performance (2
million). YuppTV’s unique visitors only
crossed the 3 million mark towards
Source: YuppTV.in, Accessed May 2019. the end of 2018. Mobile traffic
accounted for the majority share of
Change in Total Unique Viewership the traffic (an average of 89%), with
Between April 2018 and March 2019 almost no growth in Desktop visitors.
A total of 53 million minutes were
Mar-2018 Mar-2019 % Change spent on YuppTV in March 2019, with
a low average of 1.9 minutes per visit.
Total Digital Population 2021 3798 88% Mobile usage was relatively greater at
14.2 minutes per visitor.
Mobile 1689 3410 102%

Desktop 441 449 2%

Source: ComScore MMX % Change Media Trend Report, March 2019

Total Unique Visitors/Viewers on YuppTV (000)


Between April 2018 and March 2019

Desktop Mobile Total Digital Population

4000 3798

3500
2998 3057 3028 3005 3410
3000 2841
2676
2491
2366 2318 2815 2823
2500 2692 2649
2663
2047 2053
2390 2268
2000
2055
1901
1500 1763
1739

1000
558
457 449
328 348 362 336 264 274 377
500 220 218

0
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

90 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


YuppTV Audience March 2019 Consumer Demographics
Male audiences, who made up nearly
Males, TUV Females, TUV 79% of the total viewers in March
Age Group (000) Age Group (000)
2019, are primary viewers of YuppTV.
6 -14 0 6 -14 8 Over 40% of the male viewers aged
above 35. Meanwhile female viewers
15 - 24 771 15 -24 342 between 15-24 showed greater
25 - 34 937 25 - 34 211 activity on the platform.

35 +

All Males
1293

3001
35 +

All Females
237

798
Recent
Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019 Developments
Partnerships

Ad Metrix
YuppTV.com bought the rights to
VIVO IPL 2019 for the second
consecutive year for viewing in
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report, Australia, Singapore, Sri Lanka,
March 2019) South/Central America, Southeast
Asia, Europe and Malaysia. This
Top ad categories on YuppTV is most
content is currently inaccessible to
YuppTV.Com advertised on
Indian audiences2.
Telecommunications News/Information
Computers & Technology Entertainment In May 2018, YuppTV.com joined
Finance Multi-Category
arms with ALTBalaji to stream the
Retail Services
latter’s original content on existing
Media & Entertainment Navigation
subscribers of YuppTV. These
programmes are exclusively available
to the south Asian subscribers

World Metrix accessing the application across the


globe except for the Indian
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report, subcontinent3.
March 2019)
Towards the end of 2018, YuppTV
Region % Comp
partnered with India’s premier MSO4
Asia Pacific 63.9 7Star to provide subscribers with an
Middle East-Africa 24.9 Android-based hybrid set top box.
Europe 6.1 This box will bridge the growing gap
North America 5.1
between cable television and on
demand video and give customers an
additional ease of watching their
favorite TV shows apart from the
diverse catalogue of on-demand
videos5.

2
https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2019/03/26/yupptv-acquires-ipl-cricket-digital-rights-bt-for-the-uk/, accessed 21 May 2019.
3
https://www.medianama.com/2018/05/223-altbalaji-partners-with-yupptv/, accessed 21 May 2019.
4
Multiple System Operator
5
https://www.pcquest.com/yupptv-introduces-android-based-hybrid-set-top-box-supports-ott-dvb-c-iptv/, accessed 21 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 91


00 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
92 2018
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
Eros now offers 28 original shows, all in Hindi. For the site
primarily known for its cinema content, it comes as no Launched
surprise that Bollywood news and gossips dominate, 2012
followed by comedies and thrillers. Eros Now launched Owned by
seven new web-series in FY 2018-19, significantly in the Eros International Plc
genres of dramas and crime-thrillers.
Headquarter
Mumbai, India

Eros Now witnessed a Google Play Store Downloads


10 million+
25% rise in average Subscribers

subscriber session time.


142 million (15.9 million paid)1

Unique Users
2.3 million (March 2019)

Genre share of the original Reach


0.8% (March 2019)
shows of Eros Now
Average Minutes/visitor
Drama Bollywood news and gossips Lifestyle 1.5 minutes (March 2019)
Thriller Adventure Animation Comedy
Revenue Model
SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)

25% 29%

11%
7%

7%
3% 18%

Source: erosnow.com, Accessed May 2019.

1
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190221005491/en/Eros-International-Plc-Reports-Quarter-FY-2019, accessed 22 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 93


Side Hero, an eight-part comedy web series on actor
Kunaal Roy Kapur’s life launched in September 2018 as is
the first Eros Now Original fictional series2.

Metro Park, launched in March 2019, captures the story of


a Gujarati family settled abroad. The show, starring Ranvir
Shorey, has received industry acclaim3 and a pan-Indian
potential4.

Eros Now also cashed in on the popularity of sports


content with the show Behind The Stumps, a comedic talk
show sometime around the Indian Premiere League (IPL)
and featuring members of All India Bakchod (AIB) and
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) cricket team.

Eros plans to invest INR


350 to 490 crore on
original content
annually5.
Eros Now was into limelight in recent months for their
series Modi: A Common Man’s Story, based on the life of
the current Prime Minister of India. The strategic timing of
the series, around election time, led to severe opposition
from Opposition parties6, with the Election Commission of
India finally deciding to ban the drama until further notice7.

The newly introduced Eros Now Quickie features short


form original content and has four shows each with 10
episodes8.

Eros Now digital premieres of


Happy Phirr Bhaag Jayegi and
Manmarziyaan had an
impressive average of 75 minutes
of session time.
Eros Now has the biggest catalogue of movies & music in
several languages9 10. This includes 12,000 digital titles
spanning movies, television shows, and music videos and
over 2.5 lakhs music tracks. In Q3 FY19, they released one
film or digital premiere on Eros Now weekly, added 165
music videos and 445 movie titles.

46 movies had their digital


premiere on Eros Now between
Q1 and Q3 2019, with 19
premiering in Q3 itself11.

2
https://bestmediainfo.com/2018/09/eros-now-launches-its-first-original-show-side-hero/, accessed 22 May 2019.
3
https://www.dnaindia.com/bollywood/report-ranvir-shorey-s-metro-park-a-quirky-take-on-desis-settled-overseas-2725776, accessed 22 May 2019.
4
http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2019/mar/27/metro-park--is-akkarakazhchakal-made-for-a-larger-audience-1956332.html, accessed 22 May 2019.
5
https://www.livemint.com/industry/media/eros-now-ties-up-integration-deal-with-uk-based-virgin-media-1551429841179.html, accessed 22 May 2019.
6
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/entertainment/with-an-eye-on-lok-sabha-polls-eros-now-to-stream-web-series-on-pm-modi-in-april-3704771.html
7
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/election-commission-bans-pm-narendra-modiu-web-series-modi-journey-of-commonn-man-eros-now/story/338842
9
Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali, accessed 22 May 2019.
10
https://erosnow.com/about_us (May 6, 2019), accessed 22 May 2019.
11
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190221005491/en/Eros-International-Plc-Reports-Quarter-FY-2019, accessed 22 May 2019.
94 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2018
Current Trending Content on Eros Now

Movie Name Language

Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi Hindi

Kintu Golpo Noy Bengali

Housefull 3 Hindi

Goliyon ki Raasleela: Ram-leela Hindi

Song Name Movie

F for Fyaar Manmarziyaan

Ding Dang Munna Michael

Main Sharabi Cocktail

Ghani Bawari Tanu weds Manu Returns

Source: erosnow.com, Accessed May 2019.

Total Unique Visitors Eros Now (000)


Between April 2018 and March 2019

Desktop Mobile Total Digital Population

4000
3634 3558
3500
3451 3036
2849 3340
3000 2740 2692

2500 2775 2316 2370


2667
2488 2431 2030
2000 1807 2161 2176
1897 1495
1500 1680
1142
1000 1271
952
500 321 332 310
180 256 220 187 251 248 212 227
152
0
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

The platform has blockbuster films Eros Now had 2.3 million unique
like Happy Bhag Jayegi, visitors and a reach of 0.8% in March
Manmarziyaan, Bajirao Mastani, Tanu 2019. 90% of the platform’s traffic is
Weds Manu, etc. and titles across 10 on mobile devices. Its performance
Indian regional languages. The digital ranged between 1.1 and 3.6 million
on-demand platform has a collection over the year. User engagement
of international shows, which air on reached 12 million minutes in March
the Pakistani channels Hum TV and 2019, averaging 1.5 minutes per
ARY TV. visitor. Mobile engagement was
slightly higher at 4.7 minutes per
Key Measures of the Platform visitor.
%Change in Viewership Data
between March 2018 and March Consumer Demographics
2019 has not been given for Eros 80% of the audience on Eros Now in
Now as only Desktop data was March 2019 were males. Among
available for this entity on Comscore males, the 25-34 age group formed
until March 2018. Therefore the largest audience base; among
comparing it with its March 19 females, it was the 35+ bracket.
performance, where multi-platform
figures are provided, would give a
skewed representation.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 95


Eros Now Audience March 2019

Males, TUV Females, TUV


Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

6 -14 14 6 -14 0

15 - 24 474 15 -24 140

25 - 34 840 25 - 34 114

35 + 567 35 + 221

All Males 1894 All Females 475

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

Ad Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)

Top ad categories on Eros Now is most


ErosNow.Com advertised on
Online Media Multi-Category
Finance News/Information
Public Service Services
Automotive Entertainment
Retail Search/Navigation

World Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)

Region % Comp
Asia Pacific 74.3
Middle East-Africa 14.5
North America 8.8

Eros Now’s 15.9 million paid subscribers for


the Q3 FY19 is a 218% growth year-over-year.
Registered users exceeded 142 million, a 78%
increase compared to the previous year12.
Recent Developments Partnerships
Globally, the digital & ancillary Eros Now signed up several
business of Eros International partnerships over 2018 with Dialog
generated $35.6 million in revenue in Axiata PLC, FreeCharge, BSNL, Xiaomi
Q3 FY19, a growth of 31.4% over last India, iQui, FashionTV, and E-Vision,
quarter, and represented a expanding Eros Now’s distribution
record-breaking 46.4% of their total globally as well as adding to its
revenues in the same period. content portfolio13 14 15 16 17.

12
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190221005491/en/Eros-International-Plc-Reports-Quarter-FY-2019, accessed 22 May 2019.
13
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180628005749/en/Dialog-Partners-Eros-Give-Sri-Lankans-Regional, accessed 22 May 2019.
14
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/eros-now-and-xiaomi-mi-tv-enter-into-distribution-partnership/articleshow/65012299.cms
15
https://www.televisionpost.com/eros-now-inks-content-licensing-deal-with-chinas-iqiyi/, accessed 22 May 2019.
16
https://erosplc.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/eros-now-enters-strategic-partnership-fashiontv, accessed 22 May 2019.
17
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181002005614/en/Eros-Strengthens-Presence-MENAPartnering-E-Vision-%E2%80%98eLife, accessed 22 May 2019.

96 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2018


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 97
98 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
TVFPlay presently has 16 TVF originals, majorly comedies.
New episodes were released in 2018 of popular titles such Launched
as the spoof Barely Speaking with Arnub and the 2012
lighthearted Tech Conversations With Dad. The second Owned by
season of road-trip dramedy Tripling premiered in 2019. The Viral Fever (TVF)

The upcoming Kota


Operated by
Contagious Online Media Network Pvt. Ltd

Factory is shot entirely in Headquarter


Mumbai, Maharashtra

black-and-white. Google Play Store Downloads


5 million+
The content house is charting into the drama territory, with Unique Users
two new shows launched in the past year – the family 1.7 million (March 2019)
dramedy Yeh Meri Family, starring Mona Singh of Jassi Jaissi
Koi Nahin fame, and the recently premiering millennial Reach
0.6% (March 2019)
drama The Insiders. The trailer Kota Factory on the lives
behind coaching institutes also released in April 19. Average Minutes/visitor
4.3 minutes (March 2019)
TVF offers a host of other short-form snackable content for
Revenue Model
a quick laugh. The Qtiyapa feature currently has 65 sketch
AVOD (Advertising Video on Demand)
comedies, 34 uploaded since 2018. Public figures such as and Branded Content
Narendra Modi, Kangana Ranaut, and Virat Kohli, all have
been lampooned in rip-roaring skits. Youth-centric skits on
college exams, parent-teacher meetings, and encountering
one’s college crush ensure instant traffic.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 99


TVF and Total Unique Visitors TVFPlay (000)
Between April 2018 and March 2019

Girliyapa Desktop Mobile App Mobile Total Digital Population

launched three 4000

3500
3826
3583

shows in
3327
3082
3124
3000
2900

December on 2500

2000
1967
2256
2128
2174
2055 1775
1980
1862 1773

Snapchat’s
1813 2067
1743
1813 1409 1675
1500 1631 1157 1330
896 887 1056

Discover – Style
1000 827
824 1021 1024
500 114 714 326
678 247 183
114 94 157 137 163 135 118 118
79

Wagon, Gossip
0 0 0

Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

Girl, and What Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

a Player1. Change in Total Unique Viewership


Between April 2018 and March 2019

There are 81 clips and 11 shows in


the Screen Patti section of ‘new-age’ Mar-2018 Mar-2019 % Change
comedy aimed at male audiences.
The snappy videos are centered Total Digital Population 697 1773 154%
around diverse topics ranging from
PubG to road trip, ‘bhai-bhai’ (male Mobile 563 1675 198%
bonding), date with an entrepreneur
etc. Recent releases include Desktop 175 118 -33%
Weekends, on the plight of millennials
in workplace and the Valentine’s Day Source: ComScore MMX % Change Media Trend Report, March 2019
special Hum Tum. Celebrities such as
the cast of Badhaai Ho, comedian
Zakir Khan, and Manoj Bajpayee have
guest appeared in the Screen Patti
videos.

TVF’s Original for MX


Player I'mMature
broke new ground as
India’s first-ever and
only series
nominated for
CanneSeries (Top 10
Web-Series) at
Cannes International
Series Festival 2018.

1
http://www.uniindia.com/tvf-launches-3-new-shows-on-snapchat/entertainment/news/1426821.html, accessed 23 May 2019.

100 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


The Girliyapa offerings have doubled Key Measures of the Plaform
since 2017, with its quirky TVFPlay’s performance far better in
female-centric content 2018 compared to the previous year,
conceptualized around India’s Next where the total unique visitors
Top Model, What Happens in a plummeted since its 2017 debut.
Bachelorette Party, Unfair & Lovely, While the platform only crossed the
Pregnancy Ka Side Effects, etc. New million mark once in 2017, a high of
on the block are the shows Girls 3.8 million visitors was witnessed in
Hostel, launched in collaboration with July 2018 following which it has not
Whisper, and Mr. and Mrs., which fallen below one million. In March
fetched the Best Writing (Comedy) 2019, it charted 1.7 million unique
award at iReel Awards 20182. visitors, a 154% change since March
2017. TVFPlay has a reach of 0.6%.
The Timeliners, also a part of the TVF More than 90% of the visitors
network, has expanded its library accessed via mobiles, 80% of whom
massively in the past year, airing 57 used the TVFPlay app. 23 million
videos to date. The lifestyle channel minutes were spent on the platform,
targets the millennials with trending averaging at 4.3 minutes per visitor.
content – ‘Types of Guys on a Date’, Engagement on the mobile and
‘Indians and Cars’, ‘Famous Bollywood mobile app were slightly better at
Scenes: Mirzapur Style’, to name a 11.1 minutes and 13.7 minutes. The
few. Notable shows by this venture best performing months of
include Engineering Girls, a show on July-August 2018 saw the release of
three plucky women transitioning the TVF Original Yeh Meri Family.
from college to the hectic world of
startups and internships; TTL Socials, Consumer Demographics
a music show featuring upcoming Males comprised 3/4th of the traffic
artists; and School Days. on TVFPlay in March 2019. TVFPlay
stuck a chord with younger
TVF also sponsored the Virat audiences, with the 15-24 age group
Kohli-led Royal Challengers Sports comprising 53% and 75% of the male
Drink Bold League, the snippets of and female audiences respectively.
which are available on TVFPlay3.

TVFPlay Audience March 2019

Males, TUV Females, TUV


Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

6 -14 3 6 -14 0

15 -24 716 15 -24 317

25 - 34 353 25 - 34 100

35 + 276 35 + 8

All Males 1348 All Females 425

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

2
http://www.indiantelevision.com/television/tv-channels/news-broadcasting/sumukhi-suresh-and-girliyapa-create-their-mark-at-news18com-s-ireel-awards-2018-180910
3
https://www.insidesport.co/royal-challenge-sports-drink-returns-with-unique-platform-for-cricket-fans/, accessed 23 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 101


Ad Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)

Top Ad Categories forTVFPlay.Com


Media and Entertainment
Online Media
Finance
Consumer Goods

Recent
Developments
Partnerships
TVF plans on 20 originals including its sibling dramedy Tripling. Unlike its
regional series and a Bollywood earlier season, the new episodes will
feature film in 2019-2020. It wants to not be available on TVF’s YouTube
focus on the South Indian markets by channel. Meanwhile, Yeh Meri Family
launching shows in Kannada, Telugu, is available on Netflix.
and Tamil, and might consider
content in Gujarati. Also planned is a TVF largely works on branded content
foray into genres like drama, model. For its show Yeh Meri Family, it
romance, and thriller4. partnered with Association of Mutual
Funds in India (AMFI) with the content
As a content house, TVF broadens the educating its viewers on the benefits
distribution of its shows through its of mutual funds while remaining
deals with established OTT players. engaging as a standalone series
This year, it joined hands with the nevertheless5. The two companies
newly launched platform MXPlayer to had collaborated previously on the
stream The Insiders as an MX second season of The Timeliners’ hit
Exclusive. It similarly struck a deal with web series The Aam Aadmi Family6.
SonyLIV, a family-oriented platform Kota Factory forged a deal with the
apt to stream the second season of learning platform Unacademy.

Existing investor Tiger Global pumped in USD


6 million (INR 41 crore) into TVF. It raised the
funds at an estimated post-money valuation
of USD 40 million (INR 270 crores), lower
than its previous valuation of USD 61 million
(INR 419 crores).

4
https://www.televisionpost.com/tvf-plans-to-launch-20-originals-including-first-feature-film-regional-shows-in-2019/, accessed 23 May 2019.
5
http://www.socialsamosa.com/2019/01/content-marketing-case-study-yeh-meri-family-tvf-amfi/, accessed 23 May 2019.
6
https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/the-viral-fever-partners-with-amfi-for-dramedy-web-series-yeh-meri-family-90812.html, accessed 23 May 2019.
102 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 103
104 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
Viu is on its way to double its Originals for the Indian market
since last year, with 35 offerings currently viewable on its Launched
platform. With considerable efforts towards regionalizing March 4th, 2016 (India Launch)
its offerings as compared to the other OTT platforms, Viu’s Owned by
Originals are in six languages. Vuclip

Headquarter
Nearly half of the media is in Hindi, followed by Telugu,
Singapore
Tamil, and Kannada. Apart from the six new Hindi additions,
the Tamil content in particular has been the focus this year, Google Play Store Downloads
with rib-tickling upbeat comedies like Madras Mansion, Nila 5 million+
Nila Odi Vaa, and Door No. 403, and non-fiction content like
Unique Users
Love 36 and Naughty Nights with RJ Vignesh. The Malay 625K (March 2019)
market was also forayed with the release of the neo-noir
thriller Devoted starring the eminent character actor Reach
Sharnaaz Ahmad. 0.2% (March 2019)

Average Minutes/visitor
Genre-wise, a medley of dramas and comedies have been 3.8 minutes (March 2019)
added to last year’s fray of talk shows and thrillers. Fresh
Revenue Model
seasons were launched of the popular shows like the
AVOD (Advertising Video on Demand)
coming-of-age story Love, Lust, and Confusion, the
SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)
romantic dramedy Pelli Gola, and the cricket chat show
What The Duck. Millennials are primarily the target1.

1
https://www.exchange4media.com/marketing-news/viu-launches-in-tamil-market-with-millennial-focused-fresh-content-91242.html, accessed 24 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 105


Viu plans 100 Total Unique Visitors Viu (000)
Between April 2018 and March 2019

Tamil originals Desktop Mobile Total Digital Population

in the next 1200


1085

three years2. 1000

760
854

800
664 688
642 625
581
Other Offerings 600 664 556
464
363
Viu includes 50+ sterling Korean 374
589 422 256
497 422 497
400
dramas and 400+ movies popular
230 225 522
among audiences across the country. 187 172 174
197
225
333
200 174 392
197
0 0
Key Measures on the Platform
0 0 0
0

Viu has been unable to widen its Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

presence in the Indian market since


Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
last year. When comparing its perfor-
mance in March 2018 and March
2019, the unique visitors have
Live TV Channels on Viu By Language
reduced by over 46%, from 1.1 million
to 625K. It crossed the million mark
only once this year in February 2018
and had 600K unique visitors on an
average. This figure is slightly better 20%
23%
than last year, where the average
unique visitors were 415K. Interest- Comedy

ingly, while some months saw a great- Drama


er share of users accessing Viu via Entertainment
mobile, desktop performance proved
Horror
better in other periods. 4 million
Reality
minutes were consumed in March
17%
2019, with an average of 3.4 minutes 17% Talk Show

per visitor. Thriller

11%
6%
6%

Source: erosnow.com, Accessed May 2019.

2
https://www.fortuneindia.com/enterprise/viu-is-betting-big-on-regional-content/102632, accessed 24 May 2019.

106 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Viu Video Audience March 2019 Consumer Demographics
Female and male viewers equally
Males, TUV Females, TUV consumed Viu in March 2019. More
Age Group (000) Age Group (000)
than 3/5th of the male audiences
6 -14 7 6 -14 NA were in the age group of 15-24.
Females above 35 were the largest
15 - 24 214 15 -24 63 users of Viu in this period.
25 - 34 75 25 - 34 25

35 + 25 35 + 216 Recent
All Males 321 All Females 304
Developments
Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
Features
Content-wise, Viu plans to foray into
the Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi

World Metrix market in the future.

iB Cricket Super Over League, a


(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report, virtual cricket tournament, streamed
March 2019) on Viu3.

Region % Comp Viu envisions to


Asia Pacific 68.9 have 100 million
Middle East-Africa 29.8
North America 0.5 users globally in the
next 3-5 years4

3
http://www.uniindia.com/sehwag-mccullum-face-off-in-first-match-of-ib-cricket-super-over-league/business-economy/news/1530886.html, accessed 24 May 2019.
4
https://www.fortuneindia.com/enterprise/viu-is-betting-big-on-regional-content/102632, accessed 24 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 107


108 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content
MX Player offers 15 original shows, seven of which are talk
SNIPPETS
Shows, followed by drama and romance. Most of the originals
Launched
are in Hindi followed by Tamil. The content in available in 10
July 20111 (Launched as an offline music app);
other languages namely Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, February 2019 (OTT streaming platform)
English, Tamil, Bengali, Punjabi and Malayalam. MX Player is
focusing on long-form content that are 20-60 minutes per Owned by
episode and 10-20 episodes per season. Times Internet (Times Group)

Headquarter

Times Internet New Delhi

Google Play Store Downloads


purchased MX Player for 500 million+2

Subscribers
a whooping INR 1000 350 million3

crore5. Unique Users


106.4 million (Mar 19)

Reach
Share of MX Player Originals by Language 36.3% (Mar 19)
Hindi Kannada Marathi
Average Minutes/visitor
Telugu English Tamil 1.6 minutes (Mar 19)
Bengali Punjabi Malayalam
Revenue Model
AVOD (Advertising Video on Demand)4
7%

7%
The talk show Famously Filmfare features inside talks and
gossips involving famous personalities of the regional film
7% industries6.
33%

20%

6%

6%
7%
7%

Source: MXPlayer.in, Accessed May 2019.

1
Google Play store
2
Google Play store
3
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/times-internet-buys-mx-player-for-rs-1000-crore/articleshow/64773344.cms, accessed 30 May 2019.
4
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/mx-player-offers-premium-shows-for-free/articleshow/68071496.cms, accessed 30 May 2019.
5
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/times-internet-buys-mx-player-for-rs-1000-crore/articleshow/64773344.cms, accessed 30 May 2019.
6
Malayalam, Punjabi, Kannada, Bengali, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 109


MX Player has 600
million users globally7.
Given the current election euphoria in the nation and
staying true to their promise of ‘Jaisa Mann, Waisa
Manoranjan’ aka ‘every entertainment’, MX players
launched a campaign #ElectionsOnMX8. It also produced
an election-centric satirical series on political news Kiski
Sarkar, hosted by India’s most loved stand up artists such
as Anirban Dasgupta, Rahul Dua, Rahul Subramaniam etc.

The famed content house Viral Fever launched An MX


Original Series – I'mMature. The show earned critical
acclaim and has been renewed for a second season9.
I'mMature has received 21 million+ views as of today10.

I'mMature became India’s


first-ever and only series to be
nominated for CanneSeries at
the Cannes International Series
Festival 201811.

Other Offerings
MX Player is the first and only
Indian entertainment platform
combining offline video playing
capabilities, online video
streaming and music streaming
(via Gaana) in a single app to offer
the most well-rounded mobile
entertainment experience12.
MX Player includes web shows, TV, news, movies, music,
sports, and other content. Its web shows include MX
Originals and 100K hours of licensed material from Sony,
ALTBalaji, Arre, TVF, Dice Media, OML, etc13. There are two
MX Exclusive shows, namely The Insiders, in partnership
with TVF, and Tathastu with Aree. Catch up TV of seven
channels are available.

MX Player has a vast library of films in Hindi and English and


several regional languages14. Along with TV and films, the
app has collaboration with seven different sports
promotion companies like Cricbuzz, ESPN, UFC, and so on.

6
Malayalam, Punjabi, Kannada, Bengali, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu
7
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/times-internet-acquires-mx-player/articleshow/64771142.cms, accessed 30 May 2019.
8
https://www.exchange4media.com/marketing-news/mx-player-unveils-multi-genre-mx-originals-96120.htm, accessed 30 May 2019.
9
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/news/immature-season-2-renewal-details-revealed/articleshow/68718478.cms, accessed 30 May 2019.
10
https://www.mxplayer.in/show/watch-immature-series-online-00fefdd91f5216e6ebd9a7bfb68cb83d, accessed 30 May 2019.
11
https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/the-viral-fever-launches-an-mx-original-series-immature-94761.html, accessed 30 May 2019.
12
//economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/68072724.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst, accessed 30 May 2019.
13
https://yourstory.com/2019/03/app-fridays-mx-player-one-stop-entertainment-vijlmcidn9, accessed 30 May 2019.
14
Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Marathi and Gujarati

110 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Key Measures of the Platform
MX Player captured 106.4 million
Recent
unique visitors in March 2019, within
two months of its launch as a video
Developments
OTT service in India. This ensured an
Features
audience reach of 36.3%, and 12951
MX Player plans to add features such
minutes spent on the platform during
as support for games and LinkedIn
the month averaging at 1.6 minutes
listing suggests. The company is
per visitor. User engagement on the
hiring games engineers to device 2D
mobile devices, used by 99.5% of the
games, which would be solely for
visitors, was far higher at 122 minutes
Android users15.
per visitor.

Consumer Demographics
75% of the visitors on MX Player in
March 2019 were males. Within this
demographic, the 15-24 and 25-34
age groups were the largest
audience. A similar trend was
observed among females, although
the proportion of female visitors in
the 25-34 age bracket were almost as
high as the 15-24 group.

MX Player Audience March 2019

Males, TUV Females, TUV


Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

6 -14 6 6 -14 32

15 -24 37805 15 -24 10479

25 - 34 26887 25 - 34 10015

35 + 15905 35 + 5293

All Males 80603 All Females 25819

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

Ad Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview
Report, March 2019)
Top Ad Categories for MX Player
Health
Computes & Technology
Public Services
Education
Media & Entertainment

15
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/games/news/mx-player-to-add-support-for-games-linkedin-listing-suggests-2031779, accessed 30 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 111


With over 400 Mn internet users and the ever-increasing demographics whether it is women, millennials or themes
smartphone penetration in India, there has emerged a like freedom of expression, nostalgia, political thrillers,
large underserved audience that wants entertainment historical fiction, and larger than life dramas. We’ve
that appeals to them. At MX Player, our goal is to cater to already gone live with 10 MX Originals within 2 months of
this emerging need through our promise of launch and over the next 12 months, we are looking at
“Everytainment” - entertainment for every need, want or launching around 20 more such originals across multiple
mood. genres and languages while creating an enticing brand for
advertisers.
MX Player is the largest local video player in the world and
is now emerging as a preferred destination for Another area of growth for us lies in the regional content
entertainment which combines offline video playing space. On MX Player, we have content across 10
capabilities, online video streaming & music streaming – languages and we have undertaken marquee projects like
all on one common platform. Currently, we have 75Mn Queen (a political drama) and Ponniyin Selvan (historical
daily active users and at 175Mn monthly active users with saga) in Tamil as well as 2 web series each in Telugu,
a user profile that is a representation of the demographics Marathi, Bengali and Bhojpuri along with 1 web series
of the country. each in Kannada, Punjabi and Gujarati. These series are in
the pipeline as part of our original programming to cater
We already have more than 1,00,000 hours of to regional audiences.
entertainment with our library of licensed content from
some of the biggest players in the industry which The product has been built from scratch with a simple and
encompasses over 100 web series (one of the largest intuitive interface and offers sub-one-second latency to its
catalogues of Indian web series), 650+ TV shows, 5Mn+ viewers, which translates to instant streaming. By using
Music Videos, the best of international combat & fight massive scale datasets, MX Player has created a
sports and over 100+ International Shows across regions, world-class recommendation and personalization engine.
moods, genres, and languages. This gives us a scale that is By far, it is the only platform to build such an engine
unparalleled for an advertising-based video on demand in-house, which sets it apart from the competition.
platform. Additionally, MX Player is leading the way in video tech by
building better compression algorithms to optimize
Second screens are also becoming first screens very streaming on the top of global compression standards like
quickly; a single TV cannot cater to every member in a H-265. More so, the app is built keeping low-to-high end
household anymore and second (or third and fourth) devices in mind and works well for the fluctuating network.
screens are making content accessible at all times – giving
audiences choice and convenience. Our trailblazing journey has just begun, and you will see a
lot more from us in the immediate future - be it from the
We offer our audiences premium content crafted for content front, tech/product or marketing innovations.
them, for free. We are creating stories for different

Mr Karan Bedi
CEO, MX Player
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 113
114 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Ullu launched at a heavily discounted subscription plan of
INR 36 per year. It caters to a ‘massy’ audience majorly with
SNIPPETS
erotic and suggestive content within many of the series1. Launched
December 2018
Original Content
Owned by
Ullu’s content features Ullu Digital Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of
Jaypeeco Infotainment

prominently among Headquarter


New Delhi
content most Google Play Store Downloads

downloaded on the
1 million+

Unique Users

torrent websites 1337x2. 1.2 million (March 2019)

Reach
0.4% (March 2019)
Share of Ullu Originals by Language Average Minutes/visitor
12.9 minutes (March 2019)
English Hindi Tamil Telugu

7%

6%

27%

60%

Source: Ullu app, Accessed May 2019.

1
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/now-streaming-is-steaming/articleshow/68757213.cms, accessed 28 April 2019.
2
https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/entertainment-news-formula-erotica/301188, accessed 28 April 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 115


The platform has 15 web originals in Most Watched on Ullu
Hindi, which comprise dramas,
thrillers, and comedies. Examples Name of the Show Genres
Views
(as on April 2019)
include Halala, on the controversial
practice of Nikah Halala among
Series Wanna Have a Good Time Comedy-Drama, Erotic 1.6 million
certain Muslim sects; Dubeyji and the
Singardaan Drama-Romance, Erotic 1.2 million
Boys, an erotic comedy on struggling
actors moonlighting as call-boys to Bribe Drama, Fantasy 102K
pay off their rent; and Dance Bar, a
Short Films Ghapa Ghap Comedy, Suspense, Erotic 1.5 million
suspense involving a business tycoon
Mallika Erotic, Fantasy 182K
and a bar dancer. The content is
dubbed in seven other languages Name of the Song Name of the Show
namely Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Bengali,
Album Songs Kya Baat Hai Dance Bar 27K
Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, and
Kannada.

Other Offering Ullu Total Unique Visitors (000)


Ullu’s syndicated web series includes Between April 2018 and March 2019
Still About Section 377, a Dancing
Shiva Productions on acceptance of Desktop Mobile Total Digital Population

same-sex relationships; Maid in India, 2000


a series by Web Talkies that also airs
1615
on SonyLIV, etc. There are 10 short
films, of which Ghapa Ghap, with its 1500 1639
1238
suggestive title and poster, has
garnered maximum eyeballs. Ullu 1278
1000
additionally features the music videos
of the soundtracks of certain web
series. 500

Key Measures of the Platform 0


0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 37 52

Data for Ullu is available for the Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19
period of February and March 2019.
Ullu performed exceedingly well for a Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
nascent app, crossing the million
mark within two months of its
release. As on March 2019, it had Ullu Audience March 2019
close to 1.2 million total unique users
and claimed a reach of 0.4%. The Males, TUV Females, TUV
Age Group (000) Age Group (000)
users spent a total of 27 million
minutes averaging at 12.9 minutes 6 -14 NA 6 -14 NA
per visitor. The traffic was almost
entirely on the mobile, where the 15 -24 863 15 -24 213

average minutes per visitor clocked at 25 - 34 192 25 - 34 1


21.2
35 + 9 35 + 0

Consumer Demographics All Males 1064 All Females 214


Ullu resonated largely with males,
who were upward of 80% share of Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
the unique visitors. This comes as no
surprise considering the adult
content on Ullu is largely
male-centric. The 15-24 age
demographic formed the largest
audience share.

116 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 117
118 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
Shemaroo offers original shows under its ‘Bollywood
section’. Unlike competing mainstream OTT platforms, Launched
ShemarooMe Originals are primarily non-scripted content February 2019
centered on the Bollywood offerings1. Owned by
Shemaroo Entertainment
The OTT platforms offers 20 original programs, 80% in
Headquarter
Hindi, followed by Marathi and Gujarati.
Mumbai, Maharashtra

Google Play Store Downloads


Comedy Big on 1 Lakh+

ShemarooMe: 80% of Revenue Model


Freemium (AVOD and SVOD)

ShemarooMe Originals
are comedic spoofs of
the Bollywood content.
ShemarooMe Originals by Language
Biography Comedy Cooking Show Talk Show

10%

5%

5%

80%

Source: shemarooent.com, Accessed May 2019.

1
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/entertainment/news/shemaroo-launches-video-streaming-app-shemaroome-for-android-ios-and-web-1993166, accessed 15 May 2019.
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 119
The sole scripted series Manatlya
Mana is a rom-com featuring popular
Marathi actors Sonalee Kulkarni and
Siddharth Chandekar. Besides,
Shemaroo Gujarati airs a cookery
show.

Other Offering
Shemaroo's extensive library offers
3500+ movie titles and 1,000 hours of
non-film content2 3. The cinema
ranges from classics (Mughal-e-Azam,
Mother India, Disco Dancer) to newer
films (Jab We Met, Hunterrr, Ankhon
Dekhi). , Some classic series from the
90s like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi and
Zabaan Sambhalke are also offered.

The devotional section features


content live streamed from religious
locations such as shrines. In March
this year, the platform curated a
30-day series on Kumbh Mela4.

ShemarooMe it has more than 150


hours of content for children5.
Besides the films, famous Gujarati
and Marathi theatre plays are also
available on the platform.

Recent
Developments
Partnership
Shemaroo Entertainment partnered
with leading telecom player Vodafone
Idea to provide ShemarooMe’s
content to Vodafone and Idea users6.
It also acquired 50% stake in
Dominiche Productions, whose 400
hours of content covering
predictions, numerology, tarot card
reading, vastu shastra, is now
available on ShemarooMe7 8. The
company has announced that its
association with Amazon to expand
its distribution via The Amazon Fire
Stick TV9.

Expansion
Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd.
announced its entry in the US market,
which enables the ShemarooMe app
to widen its accessibility to the US
market10.

2
The movies are available across Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Marathi, and Bengali.
3
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/entertainment/news/shemaroo-launches-video-streaming-app-shemaroome-for-android-ios-and-web-1993166, accessed 15 May 2019.
4
https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/trends/digital-entertainment-rural-market/story/341986.html, accessed 15 May 2019.
5
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/entertainment/news/shemaroo-launches-video-streaming-app-shemaroome-for-android-ios-and-web-1993166, accessed 15 May 2019.
6
https://www.themobileindian.com/news/vodafone-idea-partners-with-shemaroome-to-offer-video-content-to-its-users-25438, accessed 15 May 2019.
7
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/shemaroo-acquires-50-stake-in-dominiche-productions/articleshow/68889013.cms, accessed 15 May 2019.
8
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/entertainment/video-streaming-platforms-focus-on-category-building-to-tap-into-niche-genres-3857741.html, accessed 15 May 2019.
9
https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/shemaroome-app-associates-with-amazon-fire-tv-stick-96229.html, accessed 15 May 2019.
10
https://www.roi-nj.com/2019/04/18/lifestyle/shemaroo-entertainment-enters-u-s-market-with-hoboken-based-streaming-service/, accessed 15 May 2019.

120 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Shemaroo has been an early adopter in the migration of of individuals consuming video content online in India is
the industry from physical to digital formats. We were one expected to grow to more than 500 million by 2020 and
of the early companies in the media industry to realise the reach over 700-800 million by 2023. This exponential
potential of the digital medium in the early 2000’s and growth in the online video consumption will be primarily
continue to innovate in this space. With increasing driven by consumers from smaller towns and rural areas.
smartphone penetration, cheaper mobile data and rising ShemarooMe aims to reach out to these masses even
internet speed, the digital arena will be a significant beyond metros whose content preferences are not
growth driver in the coming years. To bank on this limited to the niche English speaking consumer. With
opportunity, we launched ShemarooMe, a proprietary customised offerings on the slate, ShemarooMe will suit
video streaming app with content across genres and the different content preferences of every Indian. Also in
languages from Shemaroo’s extensive library. This is in line order to further expand our consumer base and cater to
with our aim to significantly increase our B2C presence in the growing demand for Indian content globally,
the next few years through innovative product offerings ShemarooMe has been launched in the US.
addressing the evolving entertainment needs of
consumers. The launch of our OTT app is a significant step SheamarooMe fits in seamlessly in our ‘Digital journey’
towards our exciting B2C and digital journey. We aim to which already includes some of our other established
remain focused on offering compelling content to cater to businesses like YouTube monetization and Digital
evolving consumer preferences. syndication. We crossed more than 1.2 billion views in the
month of March 2019 on YouTube across all our channels.
ShemarooMe is a comprehensive OTT app for the Indian Also we continue to offer compelling content to leading
market with a diverse and exclusive content offering for an players in the Digital space like Amazon Prime, Reliance Jio,
audience looking for Indian video content across YuppTV, Vuclip, Etisalat and telcos such as Vodafone and
Bollywood, Gujarati, Marathi, Devotion, Punjabi, and Kids Idea.
genres to cater to the needs of all age groups. The number

Hiren Gada
CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 121


122 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Offerings SNIPPETS
Sun NXT comprises over 50K hours of content including
4000+ movies, shows from 42 live channels, music content, Launched
comedy content, and catch up TV. June 12th 2017
Owned by
Of the 42 live channels, 13 are in Tamil, 11 in Telugu, 9 in Sun TV Network Limited
Kannada, 8 in Malayalam, and 1 Bengali. The platform
Headquarter
includes music videos of the latest albums in the regional
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
languages as well as comedy clips of popular comedians
such as Santharam and M.S. Narayana. Google Play Store Downloads
10 million+
Sun NXT has gradually begun using its platform to premiere
Unique Users
new content. For instance, the trailer of the song ‘Simtaan- 162K (March 2019; Desktop Only)
garan’ from the Tamil film Sarkar starring superstar Vijay
premiered an hour ahead on Sun NXT. Reach
0.1% (March 2019; Desktop Only)

Average Minutes/visitor
274.4 minutes (March 2019; Desktop Only)

Revenue Model
SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 123


Key Measures of the Platform Sun NXT Total Unique Visitors Mobile App (000)
Only Desktop data is available for Sun Between April 2018 and March 2019
NXT. The total unique visitor changed
250
by 26%, from 129K in March 2018 to
162K in March 2019, averaging at 205
146K during the year. The user 200 189 187
198

engagement was very high, averaging 169


162
at 274.4 minutes per visitor and 146
141
totaling to 35 million minutes in 150

March 19. 107


98 97
100
Consumer Demographics 79

Sun NXT had a male: female ratio of


60:40 in March 2019, with 15-24 age 50
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19
group comprising 50% of the
demographic in both genders.

Sun NXT Audience March 2019


Recent Males, TUV Females, TUV

Developments Age Group

6 -14
(000)

NA
Age Group

6 -14
(000)

NA
Services
15 -24 50 15 -24 34
Sun network launched in the Bengal
market with Sun Bangla. 25 - 34 25 25 - 34 9

35 + 23 35 + 21
Partnerships and Distributions
Sun NXT partnered with telecom All Males 98 All Females 64
giant Vodafone Idea to provide its
Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
content on the apps Vodafone Play
and Idea Movies and TV app.

Achievements
Company representatives state that
Sun NXT crossed the 1 million paid
subscriber mark in Q3 2018. Monthly
subscription revenues are estimated
at INR 5 crore1.

Future Plans
Sun NXT is in the last stage of closing
the deal with Reliance Jio to make the
content available on Jio TV.

1
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/sun-tv-network-to-expand-presence-in-ott-business-eyes-revenue-growth-119031200592_1.html, accessed 29 April 2019.

124 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 125
126 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
26 Original Shows; 500+ Bengali movies; 1000+ Bengali
Songs Launched
September 2017
Offerings Owned by
26 Shows (All in Bengali) and 9 original films. Shree Venkatesh Films (SVF)

Headquarter
Hoichoi is the one of the lone players operating exclusively
Kolkata
in the regional space. The platform aims to be a ‘360 degree
entertainment’ for the 250 million Bengalis globally1. Google Play Store Downloads
1 million+
Comedy (Mismatch, Japani Joy), thriller (Dark Web,
Unique Users
Paranoia), detective (Byomkesh, Bouma Detective), and 140K (March 2019; Desktop Only)
erotica (Charitraheen) genres are the main draw of
Hoichoi. Average Minutes/visitor
6.4 minutes (March 2019; Desktop Only)
Many of the shows are female-driven (Astey Ladies! Dupur Revenue Model
Thakurpo, Charitraheen), and include female ensembles SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand),
(Astey Ladies! Bou Keno Psycho?). The Raima Sen-starrer Pay-per-View for Movies
Hello! features a love triangle albeit in this case the wife has
a mistress.

Share of Web Original Series


on Hoichoi by Genre What’s in a Name?
Comedy Detective Horror Non-Fiction The word Hoichoi
means ‘fun and
Crime Drama Mystery Romance
Thriller

entertainment’ in
27%
27% Bengali.

4%
8%

4% 15%
4%
7% 4%

Source: Hoichoi.tv, Accessed May 2019.

1
https://yourstry.com/2018/09/meet-hoichoi- regional-language-ott-platform-redefining-innovation, accessed 15 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 127


Hoichoi features prominent actors platform is also behind the worldwide in March 2018 to 140K in March
from the Bengali fraternity including digital premiere of Bengali movies 2019. A total of 2 million minutes
Raima Sen (Hello!) and Anirban such as Criss Cross, and Byomkesh were consumed in March 19,
Bhattacharya (Byomkesh). The Gowtro. It features the oeuvre of averaging 6.4 minutes per visitor.
avant-garde filmmaker Q, most legendary filmmakers from the Traffic grew between May-June 2018
recognized for his controversial film Bengali soil – Satyajit Ray, Rituparno with the streaming of Laboratory, a
Gandu, has created a ten-episode Ghosh, and Mrinal Sen. Hoichoi has a Hoichoi Original film based on a
mystery series Taranath Tantrik for collection of movies for kids including popular story by Rabindranath
Hoichoi. Haami and Amazon Obhijaan. Tagore, and the second season of the
highly popular adult-comedy series
Other unique original series includes Prominent writers in the Bengali Dupur Thakurpo. Similarly, August
Magic #hoyejak, a non-fiction canon have inspired some of the 2018 saw the digital premiere of the
entertainment featuring TC The original content, such as Sharadindu superhit Bengali film Haami. The
Mentalist. Bandyopadhyay (Byomkesh) and November-December period marked
Rabindranath Tagore (Laboratory). the release of the Original series
Hoichoi has nine original films in Hello Season 2 and the film Dhanbad
Bengali, mainly dramas (Bobbyr Key Measures of the Platform Blues.
Bondhura, Borodin) and romance Comscore data for Hoichoi is
(Ami vs Tumi, Shesh Theke Shuru). available only for the Desktop. Consumer Demographics
Distinguished artistes included More than 75% audience on Hoichoi
Kaushik Sen, Moomoon Sen are Hoichoi witnessed an 85% growth in were in the age group 15-34
associated with these works. The traffic from 76K total unique visitors

Hoichoi Audience March 2019

TUV
Age
(000)

6 -14 0

15 -24 56

25 - 34 52

35 + 32

All 140

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

Hoichoi Total Unique Visitors Mobile App (000)


Between April 2018 and March 2019

300
265

250

200 184
171
163
153
140
150 128 134
128 120

95
100
74

50
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

128 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Recent
Developments
Services
Hoichoi announced in September
2018 that it would an additional 100
hours of original content including 30
web series and 12 movies. It also
plans to raise its movie catalogue
from 500 to 800 movies2.

The Hoichoi Top Up Cards payment


method allows offline payments. This
is available across stores in tier-II and
tier-III cities, which comprise 40% of
the platform’s audience3.

Partnerships and Distribution


Hoichoi partnered with telecom giant
Vodafone Idea and Airtel to provide
its content on the apps Vodafone Play
and Idea Movies and TV app4 and
Airtel TV5. It is also available across
Android TV and Roku streaming
device.

Achievements
Hoichoi ranked the 8th position in the
top 10 grossing entertainment apps
on iOS6.

Hoichoi won ‘Silver’ in the ‘Regional


Content Creator of the Year’ category
at the StreamCon Asia 2019.

Future Plans
Hoichoi is eying the 180 million
Bengalis residing in Bangladesh and
the Middle East with homegrown
titles.

Hoichoi plans to introduce Pay Per


View to allow viewers to stream the
latest movie content for two weeks
since its theatrical release. This can
be a game-changing initiative.

Hoichoi expects to break even in the


next four years.

2
http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/over-the-top-services/ hoichoi-is-now-available-on-android-tv-globally-and-roku-in-the-us-190225, accessed 15 May 2019.
3
https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/hoichoi- announces-100-hours-of-original-content--92149.html, accessed 15 May 2019.
4
https://telecom.economictimes.inditimes.com/news/ vodafone-idea-partners-with-regional-content-provider-hoichoi/67253908, accessed 15 May 2019.
5
http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/over-the-top-services/airtel-partners-bengali- ott-platform-hoichoi-181123, accessed 15 May 2019.
6
https://www.televisionpost.com/svfs-hoichoi-among-top-10-grossing-entertainment-apps-on-ios/, accessed 15 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 129


130 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
Original Content SNIPPETS
23 original shows plus movies, music and sports content
predominantly in Bengali. Launched
November 2016
Offerings Owned by
Addatimes has 23 original shows (19 exclusively in Bengali; Addatimes Media Pvt Limited
4 in Bengali and Hindi).
Headquarter
Kolkata
Share of Web Original Programming on
Addatimes by Genre Google Play Store Downloads
0.1 million
Biography Comedy Crime Detective
Revenue Model
Drama Lifestyle Music Reality SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand)
Romance Shorts Talk Show

Formerly offering Bengali content only, Addatimes has


4% 5% branched out and now offers Hindi-language content
4%
through the shows like The Senapatis - Rise of Bengal's
Ganglord (1971-1984) which it claims have performed well.
18%
13% The platform features an assortment of genres ranging
dramas, comedies, detective, talk shows, lifestyle etc. thus
making it a true ‘adda’ for regional entertainment. Other
popular shows include Feluda, on Satyajit Ray’s famous
4%
4% eponymous creation, Khyapa, a coming of age story, and
4% Baba Thake Bashai, a family drama.

9% Addatimes had the world digital premiere of the critically


9% acclaimed Bengali films Pupa and Sahaj Paather Gappo.

Recent Developments
26% The CEO Rajiv Mehra claims the app has over 30000
subscribers (July 2018) and should break even by 2021.

Source: Addatimes.com, Accessed May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 131


132 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
OTT Watchlists
Name of the Platform Details

Launched by the preeminent DTH player Dish TV in the Q3 FY2019, Watcho features original shows
and live TV, unlike its counterparts like Airtel TV, which rely on syndicated content. The platform is
free for Dish TV and d2h subscribers for the initial six months, and for three months in the case of
non-Dish TV customers1. The subscription costs are nominal.

Watcho streams 11 originals under its Premium membership, with a bend towards comedies
(Chhoriyan, Masala) and dramas (Sindrella, Daughter of Prasad). The Spotlight section brings
onboard around 475 digital influencers and rising creators from the world of fashion (Shruti
Watcho TV Anand), culinary arts (Ritu Daman), poetry (Amandeep Singh), film-making etc. for bite-sized
content. Vote the Hell, a standup comedy themed around politics comes at the opportune moment
of the general elections 2019 and is likely to catch viewers’ attention.

Other features include Live TV for 80 channels, movies in five languages2, 10 original short films,
and 15 plays.

Google Play Downloads – 50K+

Following suit of its competitorAnimated


Amazon’snursery
foray into video
rhymes OTT
very space (Infobells-Bangla,
popular with Amazon Prime Video,
Flipkart
Bengali Indian e-commerce giant FlipkartINRECO Bengali
may launch itsChildren’s
own OTT Songs,
contentJugnu Kids)in. two years3.
platform
Bangladeshi singer Arman Alif very popular

On April 12, 2019, Disney announced its entry in the OTT space with entity Disney+. Disney+ is set
to arrive in November 2019 worldwide. It will have 500+ movies and 7,500+ TV shows from Walt
Disney Studios and Walt Disney Television, including content from Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and
National Geographic. Disney+ exclusives are also in the pipeline. The OTT shall compete with the
Disney+
giant existing players Netflix and Amazon Prime. Disney will likely launch Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu
— as a bundle. Users will able to stream content from Disney Plus for a starting price of USD 6.99
(approx. INR 480) per month. The preponderant Indian streaming giant Hotstar plans to air Disney+
content, and localize it through dubbing and subtitling.

There were reports in January 2019 that Paytm, India’s leading mobile payments and financial
Paytm
services, might be entering the video OTT service space in the near future4.

Supriya Sahu, the Director General of Doordarshan, spoke about the public broadcaster’s plans to
enter the OTT space with its iconic content library5.

Doordarshan, in collaboration with The Department of Science and Technology, also launched the
Doordarshan
OTT platform India Science in January 2019 for the dissemination of scientific awareness
particularly with Indian perspectives, ethos, and cultural milieu.

Google Play Downloads – 5K+

One of the foremost players today in the Marathi news genre on television, Saam TV of the Sakal
Group announced last August that it would launch its news app and OTT platform in six months and
Saam TV
would be speaking to Hotstar, Whatson etc. for content. The app is presently available on Google
Play Store however no video OTT content exists as of now.

1
https://trak.in/tags/business/2019/04/18/dish-d2h-challenges-hotstar-netflix-with-their-own-ott-app-watcho-has-content-war-been-triggered/, accessed 23 April 2019.
2
Hindi (and Hindi dubbed South movies), Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam.
3
https://www.medianama.com/2018/12/223-flipkart-video-streaming-service/, accessed 23 April 2019.
4
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/paytm-plans-entry-in-content-space-as-fight-for-consumers-share-of-wallet-and-time-intensifies/
articleshow/67524560.cms?from=mdr, accessed 23 April 2019.
5
https://www.indiatoday.in/television/web-series/story/doordarshan-plans-to-have-its-own-ott-platform-1433982-2019-01-18, accessed 23 April 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 133


134 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
KEY REGIONAL VIDEO
OTT PLAYERS Introduction
There are namely three major video OTT players that
focus almost exclusively on Indian regional languages and
markets. These are Hoichoi, Addatimes, and Sun NXT. The
former two specialize in Bengali content; Bengali cinema
itself has had a rich and longstanding heritage and
therefore it doesn’t come as a surprise that two regional
players have emerged to capture the digital space with an
array of original shows that resonate with the Bengali
segment.

Similarly, Sun TV network holds a monopoly in the


broadcasting space in the four Southern markets – Tamil
Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. Its OTT
launch Sun NXT mainly features its entire content library
and offers catch-up TV services. With the promising
performance of the digital platform’s subscription
revenues, the channel plans to foray into original content
in the near future.

It remains to be seen if these regional players can


maintain their niche and find avenues for expansion
amidst growing competition from the dominant players in
the video OTT space who have realized the potential of
regional entertainment and are gunning for their market
share.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 135


136 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
REGIONAL CONTENT
ON YOUTUBE
Regional is Our Analysis –
The New National Entertainment Triumphs
80% of the 50 top subscribed
Introduction channels in the 10 major regional
There is a steady but assured languages3 were
expansion of regional content with entertainment-related, followed by
the increased penetration of news (Odiya, Kannada, Malayalam,
internet in rural India1,2. and Marathi) and lifestyle. Three of
the regional channels have
By 2021, out of 829 significantly surpassed the 10
million mark – Speed Records
million Internet (Punjabi), Wave Music (Bhojpuri),
users, 429 million will and T-Series Apna Punjab (Punjabi).

be from small-town 75% of the top 10 high-traction


and rural India while content in the 10 major regional
400 million will be in languages are music-related, either
the soundtracks of feature films or
the big cities (Ernst songs by independent artists. Songs
and Young). 95 per from film soundtracks were more
popular in Bhojpuri, Odiya,
cent of all video Kannada, Malayalam, and Tamil.
consumption in India Independent artists’ music caught
is in regional on more in Punjabi, Gujarati, and
Marathi. The remaining 25% were
languages (KPMG) made up by animated nursery
rhymes in regional languages
OTT platforms have taken note and (particularly those of infobells), and
upped the ante of their regional movies. Punjabi and Telugu content
offerings. Uday Sodhi, Sony Pictures were most watched among the
Networks’ digital business chief languages.
says: "75 per cent of the emerging
Internet users consume content in These videos were uploaded
their local language” (Hindu between 2010-2019, with 29% alone
Business Line, 2018). uploaded since 2018 indicating the
rising consumption of regional
YouTube, the unrivalled leader in content.
the digital realm, has a plethora of
Indian regional offerings in
languages such as Marathi, Bengali,
Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Oriya,
Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Kannada, and
Punjabi (Bhattacharyya, 2018).

1
Bhattacharyya, A. (2018, Jul 20). Our scale of content creation is different from other video OTT players, says entertainment head of YouTube india. Financial Express
Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2072307035?accountid=82913, accessed 27 April 2019.
2
The hindu business line: Talking in tongues (2018). . Chatham: Newstex. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2099183264?accountid=8291, accessed 27 April 2019.
3
Selecting 5 high-traction videos in each language by subscriber count., accessed 27 April 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 137


Language Overall Observations

Content from the blockbuster Marathi movie Sairat, either official


Marathi music videos of its soundtrack or fan renditions, were among the
top watched Marathi content.

Odiya Ollywood singer Humane Sagar’s songs extremely popular.

Animated nursery rhymes very popular (Infobells-Bangla,


Bengali INRECO Bengali Children’s Songs, Jugnu Kids) .
Bangladeshi singer Arman Alif very popular

Gujarati Popularity of Independent artists (female – Geeta Rabari,


Kinjal Dave and male – Jignesh Kaviraj, Parth Chaudhary)

Popularity of Independent artists (male dominance – Guru Randhawa,


Punjabi Harrdy Sandhu, Jass Manak)

Animated nursery rhymes (infobells – Tamil) and


Tamil
film music popularity (superstar Dhanush)

Animated nursery rhymes extremely popular (infobells – Telugu).


Telugu
Hindi dubbed versions of Telugu films also consumed.

TRIVIA: T-Series launched ‘Stage Works’, an educational institute for


North Eastern Languages the fashion, music, film and other performing arts, in Guwahati to
encourage talents in the North East.

138 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Top YouTube Videos by Language

Language Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Official Video of the


Song Zingaat from
the Blockbuster
2016 Marathi Movie Zee
Zingaat Sairat sung by Ajay Music
Marathi 14-Apr-16 160.4 million 582K Music
Official Full Video and Atul Gogavale. (Soundtrack)
Marathi
TRIVIA: Sairat is the
highest grossing
Marathi film to date.

Rangabati is
Odisha’s most
popular folk song
from the Sambalpur
region. Coke Studio
India, a series which
Rangabati - Ram features live
Sampath, Sona studio-recorded
Mohapatra & music performances
Music
Odia Rituraj Mohanty - by various artists, 3-Jul-15 38.8 million 205K Coke Studio
(Album/
Coke Studio@MTV re-interpreted the vIndia
Independent)
Season 4 song as a beautiful
bi-lingual
conversation of
Sambalpuri & Tamil.
Singers – Sona
Mohapatra, Tony &
Rajesh, and Rituraj
Mohanty.

Eagle Music
dedicated the
Music
Bengali song Eagle Music
Bengali Oporadhi (Album/ 26-Apr-18 210.9 million 1.1M
Oporadhi sung by Video Station
Independent)
Arman Alif for
Ramadan 2018.

Music Video from


Maari 2 2018 Maari 2 sung by Music Wunderbar
Tamil 2-Jan-19 237.3 million 1.6 million
Rowdy Baby actor Dhanush and (Soundtrack) Studios
Dhee.

Penance is a 2016
Malayalam short film
which deals with the
social responsibility
Penance
that a person should
Malayalam Malayalam Movie/TV 10-Jun-16 162.7 million 70K Film Patients
possess in the society.
Shortfilm
A possible reason for
the high views is the
thumbnail which is a
suggestive visual.

Official music video


from the 2016 film
Bhojpuriya Raja,
sung by Pawan Singh Worldwide
Chhalakata Music
Bhojpuri and Priyanka Singh. 8-May-16 259.1 million 524K Records
Hamro Jawaniya (Soundtrack)
Film stars Pawan Bhojpuri
Singh and Kajal
Raghwani.

Official music video


of independent song Music
Gujarati Rona Ser Ma Re sung by Geeta (Album/ 16-Apr-17 215.5 million 480K Raghav Digital
Rabari. Independent)

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 139


Top YouTube Videos by Language

Language Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Official music video


of the song from the
super-hit 2016
movie Kirik Party,
Music Paramvah
Kannada Belageddu sung by Vijaya 25-Nov-16 74 million 249K
(Soundtrack) Music
Prakash. Movie stars
Rakshit Shetty and
Rashmika
Mandanna.

Official music video


Music
of single by
Punjabi Lahore (Album/ 13-Dec-17 680.6 million 3.2 million T-Series
independent artist
Independent)
Guru Randhawa.

Chal Chal Animated nursery Animation/ Infobells


Telugu rhymes for children. 18-Nov-16 558 million 1 million
Gurram Kids Music – Telugu

Music video of the


Music (Album/ Ashim
Assamese TAXI GARI song sung by Nekib 21-March-16 22.1 million 60K
Independent) Sarmah
and Priyanka Bharali.

Music video of the Music (Album/


Manipuri Bullet Bullet 19-May-18 8.5 million 45K TANTHA
song sung by Kabira. Independent)

Video of Abhay and


Nepalese Aayush, two
Kids vs Alien Nepalese children Miscellaneous ASquare
Nepalese 17-May-18 41.6 million 195K
Dance Challenge performing the Crazy (Talent) Crew
2018 Frog Dance
Challenge

140 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Top YouTube Videos by Language

Language Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Konkani Preparation of a Miscellaneous Shubhangi


Konkani 2.6 million 215.5 million 11K
Chicken Recipe regional dish. (Talent) Keer

Agarbatti Folk song sung by Music (Album/


Bhili 1-May-18 9 million 10K िहंदी TECH मे
karu Arjun R Meda. Independent)

Music
Kashmiri folk song Aadil Gurezi
Kashmiri DUPTE Nunem (Album/ 31-March-18 8.3 million 58K
by Aadil Gurezi. Official
Independent)

Mizo KIRA A Mizo feature film. Movie/TV 25-June-17 3.8 million 8.4K Zochannel

BHOLA
Kunkay Inaj Music (Album/ NATH
Santali A folk song 10-Nov-17 12.3 million 8.5K
Gida Re Independent) MAHTO
GODDA

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 141


142 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
POPULAR MARATHI
YOUTUBE CHANNELS
Channel Description Subscribers
(as on February 2019)

ABP Majha 24-Hour Marathi News 2.7 million

Sumeet Music Channel for Marathi Folk Music 2.4 million

ZEE24 TAAS 24-Hour Marathi News 2.3 million

Zee Music Marathi Zee’s official channel for Marathi music entertainment 2.3 million

Madhuras Recipe Marathi Channel for Traditional Marathi Recipes 1.7 million

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 143


Popular Marathi YouTube Videos

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Official Video of the


Song Zingaat from
Zingaat - the Blockbuster Music Zee Music
14-Apr-16 160.4 million 582K
Official Full Video 2016 Marathi Movie (Soundtrack) Marathi
Sairat sung by Ajay
and Atul Gogavale.

Hit independent
Marathi song sung
Music
Govyachya by Shubhangi Kedar, 14-Feb-18 95.3 million 324K Jayashri Divekar
(Soundtrack)
Rajneesh Patel, and
Praveen Koli.

Official Video of the


Song Dewak Kalaji Re
from the 2018 Music
Dewak Kalaji Re 6-May-2018 67.2 million 249K Video Palace
Marathi Movie Redu (Soundtrack)
sung by Ajay
Gogavale

Independent
Aamdar Zalya Marathi Lokgeet Music
11-Dec-2017 63.2 million 91K Sumeet Music
Sarkha Vatatay sung by Sankalp (Album/Independent)
Gole

Chandoba Chandoba
Bhaglas Ka (also
sometimes known as
Chandoba
Chandomama Animation/
Chandoba 12-Mar-16 59.4 million 70K Jingle Toons
Chandomama Kids Music
Bhaglas Ka
Bhaglas Ka) is very
popular Marathi Kids
song, Balgeet.

Hit Marathi ‘item


Shantabai Music
song’ composed by 18-Oct-15 58.2 million 82K Sumeet Music
Official Video (Album/Independent)
Sanjay Londhe.

144 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Popular Marathi YouTube Videos
Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Official Video of the


Song Sairat Zaala Ji
from the 2016
Music
Sairat Zaala Ji Blockbuster Marathi 9-Jul-18 499.1 million 1.9 million T-Series
(Soundtrack)
Movie Sairat sung by
Ajay Gogavle and
Chinmayi Sripada.

Mamachya Gavala
Jauya is an animated
version of a song for
Mamachya Animation /
children about 19-May-16 52.3 million 79K Jingle Toons
Gavala Jauya Kids Music
travelling on a
vacation to meet
loved ones.

Hit independent
Marathi song sung
Music
Govyachya by Shubhangi Kedar, 14-Feb-18 95.3 million 324K Jayashri Divekar
(Soundtrack)
Rajneesh Patel, and
Praveen Koli.

Features a 5 year old


Zing zing Zingat singer Amit Phulore
Music
Sangeet Amit Phulore singing the hit 2016 13-Jul-16 44.3 million 114K Amit Phulore
(Album/Independent)
(Age 5 Year) DJ songs Marathi film Sairat
song Zingaat

Sonu Tujha
Majhyavar Bharosa
Nay Kay is a Hit
Sonu Tujha Marathi
Music
Majhyavar Independent Song 25-Jan-2018 41.6 million 47K Sumeet Music
(Album/Independent)
Bharosa Nay Kay sung by
Bhagyashali
Kshirsagar and Ajay
Kshirsagar.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 145


146 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
POPULAR ODIA
YOUTUBE CHANNELS
Channel Description Subscribers
(as on February 2019)

Sidharth TV High quality Odia entertainment content 2.6 million

Tarang TV Official YouTube channel of Odia TV channel 1.7 million

Kanak News Official YouTube channel of 24x7 news and 1.4 million
current affairs TV channel

OTV Official YouTube channel of news channel OTV Odisha 1.3 million

Sidharth Music High quality Odia music content 1.2 million

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 147


Popular Odia YouTube Videos

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Rangabati is
Odisha’s most
popular folk song
from the Sambalpur
region. Coke Studio
India, a series which
features live
Rangabati -
studio-recorded
Ram Sampath,
music performances
Sona Mohapatra & Music Coke Studio
by various artists, 3-Jul-15 38.8 million 205K
Rituraj Mohanty - (Album/Independent) India
re-interpreted the
Coke Studio
song as a beautiful
@MTV Season 4
bi-lingual
conversation of
Sambalpuri & Tamil.
Singers – Sona
Mohapatra, Tony &
Rajesh, and Rituraj
Mohanty.

Hit Odia song sung


Hai To by Udit Narayan and Music
25-July-18 28.5 million 81K Tarang Music
Premara Rangoli Dipti Rekha for the (Soundtrack)
2018 film Blackmail.

Supar Hit Odia Papu


An Oriya song sung Music
Adhunika II Station 1-Jan-18 23.1 million PoM PoM
by Debesh Pati. (Album/Independent)
Bazar Jhiati II 54K Creations

Song sung by Indian


playback singers Udit
Narayan and
Hai To Prema Ra Diptirekha for the
Music
Rangoli - Blackmail upcoming movie 12-Mar-18 23.5 million 94K Tarang Music
(Soundtrack)
| Studio Making Blackmail. Includes
interview snippets
with the singers and
music director.

Song from the Odia


film Sundergarh Ra Music Tarang
Pyar Wala Hichki 24-May-18 22.9 million 59K
Salman Khan sung (Album/Independent) Cine Productions
by Humane Sagar.

148 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Popular Odia YouTube Videos

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Song from the Odia


First Time film Laila O Laila Music
26-Dec-17 20.7 million 61K Sidharth TV
Gote Jhia Tu sung by Humane (Soundtrack)
Sagar & Nivedita.

Song from the Odia


Movie Baby sung by Music Amara
BABY Title Song 10-Nov-16 20 million 32K
Humane Sagar, (Soundtrack) Muzik Odia
Chunmoon

Song Pattigala
Odiya hero sidhant Pattigala sung by Ira
Music
& rekha jain's Mohanty from the 23-May-10 19.7 million 3.2K
(Soundtrack) 0721213037
hot video 1999 Oriya film Maa
Pari Kie Heba

‘Item song’ by the


Mo Haladi Gina singer Aseema
Music Sidharth TV
Panda for the Oriya 27-Oct-17 19.2 million 37K
(Soundtrack)
film Bajrangi.

Song by Tarique Aziz


Nagin Nagin from the super hit Music
2-Jun-17 19.2 million 37K Tarang TV
Official Video Song Oriya film Sister (Soundtrack)
Sridevi

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 149


150 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
POPULAR BANGLA
YOUTUBE CHANNELS
Channel Description Subscribers
(as on February 2019)

Zee Bangla Official YouTube channel of Bengali GEC 4.5 million

Sony AATH Premium Bangla Entertainment channel 2.7 million

SVF Official YouTube channel of East Indian Production house 2.6 million

Saregama Bengali Bengali music channel 1.8 million

Bengali Fairy Tales Kids’ animation channel 1.7 million

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 151


Popular Bangla YouTube Videos

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Eagle Music
dedicated the
Music Eagle
Bengali song
Oporadhi (Album/ 26-Apr-18 210.9 million 1.1M Music Video
Oporadhi sung by
Independent) Station
Arman Alif for
Ramadan 2018.

Rhyme on Lalaji is an
animated nursery
rhyme to educate Animation / Infobells
Lalaji Song 19-May-17 122.8 million 183K
kids on cleanliness Kids Music Bangla
through humour.

Independent Bengali
Music G Series
Nesha song sung by Arman 20-Aug-18 68.9 million 68.9K
(Album/Independent) (Music)
Alif

A coming-of-age
story of a cheerful
filmy girl called Boni
who is strongly
influenced by films
Rajjotok | to such an extent
Bangla Serial | that she equates her Movie/TV 26-Dec-15 59.2 million 24K Zee Bangla
EP 542 - Webisode real life situations
with a film. This
particular clip is a
romantic scene
between the
protagonists.

Bengali animated
Animation / Infobells
The Monkey Song nursery rhyme for 13-June-16 56.1 million 83K
Kids Music Bangla
children.

152 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Popular Bangla YouTube Videos

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Bengali animated
nursery rhyme for
INRECO
Aye Re children. Sung by Animation /
27-Nov-14 51.9 million 80K Bengali
Chhute Aye Antara Chowdhury Kids Music
Children Songs
and Salil
Chowdhury.

Wife caught
Infidelity scene
husband with
from B-movie Movie/TV 28-Apr-17 48.1 million 28K Ultra Regional
neighbor Bharja –
Bharja – The Wife
The Wife Part 3

Naked
Short Film with a Binjola
(Short Film With Movie/TV 26-Jul-17 46 million 46K
message Films Bangla
A Social Message)

Independent
Music Pammi
Tor Mon Paray Bangla Song sung 13-July-18 42.2 million 198K
(Album/Independent) Multimedia
by Mahdi Sultan

Bengali animated Jugnu Kids - Bangla


Upar Pankha Animation /
nursery rhyme for 4-Jan-17 42.2 million 54K Nursery Rhymes
Chalta Hai Kids Music
children. & Baby Songs

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 153


154 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
POPULAR TAMIL
YOUTUBE CHANNELS
Channel Description Subscribers
(as on February 2019)

Think Music India YouTube channel for Tamil film music. 4.5 million

VikatanTV Channel dedicated to the Tamil language 2.7 million


television content produced by Vikatan Televistas.

Zee Tamil Official YouTube channel of TV channel Zee Tamil. 2.6 million

Infobells – Tamil Tamil nursery rhymes and educational content for children. 1.8 million

IndiaGlitz Tamil Movies,


Interviews, Shooting Spot, Tamil entertainment news. 1.7 million
Review,Gossip

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 155


Popular Tamil YouTube Videos

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Music Video from


Maari 2 - 2018 Maari 2 sung Music Wunderbar
2-Jan-19 237.3 million 1.6 million
Rowdy Baby by actor Dhanush (Soundtrack) Studios
and Dhee.

Why This Popular song from Music Sony Music


16-Nov-11 177 million 1.3 million
Kolaveri Di the 2012 Tamil film 3. (Soundtrack) India

The Tamil baby song


The Little Boy Animation / infobells
video is a depiction 7-Jul-16 139.5 million 136K
is Naughty Kids Music Tamil
of a playful baby.

The Tamil Rhymes


for children
collection is all about
The Tamil Rhymes Animation / infobells
the little baby, its 14-Oct-16 103.2 million 130K
and more Kids Music Tamil
emotions,
naughtiness, daily
activities etc.

Lyric Video from


2018 film Kanaa
sung by Aaradhana
Sivakarthikeyan, Music
Kanaa - 24-Aug-18 97.5 million 795K Sony Music
Sivakarthikeyan, and (Soundtrack)
Vaayadi Petha India
Pulla Lyric Vaikom
Vijayalakshmi

156 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Popular Tamil YouTube Videos

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Aalaporan
Thamizhan is a song
from the 2017 Tamil
Mersal -
film Mersal. Music
Aalaporan Music Sony Music
by A.R. Rahman. 17-Nov-17 95.6 million 565K
Thamizhan (Soundtrack) South VEVO
Singers: Kailash
Tamil Video
Kher, Sathya
Prakash, Deepak,
Pooja AV.

Title song from the


2018 Tamil film
Gulaebaghavali sung
by Anirudh
Music Think Music
Gulaebaghavali Ravichander, Mervin 25-Jan-18 95.1 million 402K
(Soundtrack) India
Solomon. Movie
features Prabhu
Deva, Hansika
Motwani, Revathi.

Lyric video from 2019


Tamil movie Charlie
Chaplin 2 sung by
Senthil Ganesh & Music
Chinna Machan 9-Jul-18 499.1 million 1.9 million T-Series
Rajalakshmi. Movie (Soundtrack)
stars Prabhu Deva,
Nikki Galrani, Adah
Sharma.

This Tamil cute


baby song for
children portrays
the common fear
Little Kid that the little Animation / infobells
28-Apr-17 80 million 105K
on the Road babies have on Kids Music Tamil
discovering their
own shadow for
the first time and
being scared of It.

The Tamil Rhymes


for children Animation / infobells
Lazy Boy 2-Jan-15 79.4 million 98K
collection is about a Kids Music Tamil
Lazy Boy.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 157


158 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
POPULAR MALAYALAM
YOUTUBE CHANNELS
Channel Description Subscribers
(as on February 2019)

Asianet Official YouTube channel of Malayalam TV 3.5 million


GEC channel Asianet.

Official YouTube channel of Malayalam TV 2.4 million


Asianet News
news channel Asianet.

Muzik247 Official Youtube channel of Muzik247 1.7 million


for Malayalam and Tamil music.

Official YouTube channel of Malayalam


Manorama News 1.5 million
TV news channel Manorama News.

API Malayalam Malayalam filmed entertainment channel. 1.3 million

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 159


Popular Malayalam YouTube Channels

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Penance is a 2016
Malayalam short film
which deals with the
social responsibility
Penance
that a person should
Malayalam Movie/TV 10-Jun-16 162.7 million 70K Film Patients
possess in the society.
Shortfilm
A possible reason for
the high views is the
thumbnail which is a
suggestive visual.

An independent
song by American
Be Free
singer Vidya Vox
(Pallivaalu Music
which is a remix of 9-Jan-17 129.3 million 906K Vidya Vox
Bhadravattakam) (Album/Independent)
the Kerela folk song
ft. Vandana Iyer
Pallivaalu
Bhadravattakam.

Song from the 2017


Malayalam
Entammede
Mohanlal-starrer
Jimikki Kammal Music satyam
Velipadinte 17-Aug-17 97.9 million 568K
Official Video (Soundtrack) videos
Pusthakam. Singers –
Song HD
Vineeth Sreenivasan
& Renjith Unni.

The song Manikya


Malaraya Poovi sung by
Vineeth Sreenivasan is
Oru Adaar Love from the upcoming
Music
Manikya Malaraya Malayalam movie Oru 9-Feb-18 87.6 million 830K Muzik247
(Soundtrack)
Poovi Song Video Adaar Love. The song is a
revised modernized
rendition of a Mappila
song.

American artist Vidya


Vox covers raditional
Kerala Boat song
Kuttanadan Kuttunadan Music
12-Jan-16 53 million 451K Vidya Vox
Punjayile Punjayile, ft Jomy (Album/Independent)
George & Shankar
Tucker.

160 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Popular Malayalam YouTube Channels

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Video of the Song


Jeevamshamayi from
the 2018 Malayalam
Movie Theevandi Music Goodwill
Jeevamshamayi sung by Shreya 14-April-18 40.3 million 208K
(Soundtrack) Entertainments
Ghoshal & Harisankar
KS. Movie stars Tovino
Thomas & Samyuktha
Menon.

Song Malare is from


the 2015 Malayalam Anwar Rasheed
Music
Premam Malare film Premam. Singer Jun 20, 2015 39.6 million 147K Entertainment
(Soundtrack)
– Vijay Yesudas. Official

Luttappi song Animation video Animation / Malayala


7-Jan-13 38.3 million 38K
from Mayavi 2 for kids. Kids Music Manorama Songs

Song from the 2017


movie Baahubali 2
The Conclusion. Music Manorama
Ore Oru Raja 20-Jul-17 36.2 million 88K
Singers – Vijay (Soundtrack) Music Songs
Yesudas, Shweta
Mohan.

Song from 2015


Malayalam film
Bhaskar the Rascal
I Love You starring Mammootty Music
11-Apr-15 33.1 million 57K Manorama
Mummy song & Nayanthara. (Soundtrack)
Music Songs
Singers – Shweta
Mohan, Devika
Deepakdev.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 161


162 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
POPULAR BHOJPURI
YOUTUBE CHANNELS
Channel Description Subscribers
(as on February 2019)

Wave Music Official YouTube channel of Wave Music, 21 million


the leading Bhojpuri music record label from India.

Regional division of music company Worldwide 8.3 million


Worldwide Records Bhojpuri Records releasing Bhojpuri Films and Music Albums

Team Films Bhojpuri Bhojpuri music entertainment channel. 6.5 million

RCM Music Bhojpuri Bhojpuri music entertainment channel. 3.8 million

RCM Bhojpuri Hit Bhojpuri music entertainment channel. 3.5 million

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 163


Popular Bhojpuri YouTube Channels

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Official music video


from the 2016 film
Bhojpuriya Raja,
Chhalakata sung by Pawan Singh Music Worldwide
and Priyanka Singh. 8-May-16 259.1 million 524K
Hamro Jawaniya (Soundtrack) Records Bhojpuri
Film stars Pawan
Singh and Kajal
Raghwani.

Official music video


from the film 2017
Satya, sung by
Music
Raate Diya Butake1 Pawan Singh & Indu 16-Nov-17 209 million 370K Wave Music
(Soundtrack)
Sonali. Film stars
Pawan Singh and
Akshara Singh.

Hindi song Tum


Mere Baad
Mohabbat Ko Taras
Jaoge sung by Music
Tum Mere Baad 22-Mar-17 163.7 million 411K Wave Music
Bhojpuri singer Anu (Album/Independent)
Dubey for her album
Pyar Mohabbat.

Official music video


of the song Piyawa
Se Pahile sung by
Piyawa Se Pahile Music
Ritesh Pandey from 9-Sept-17 148 million 340K Wave Music
(Album/Independent)
the album Piyawa se
Pahile.

Official music video


from the film 2018
Deewanapan, sung
by Khesari Lal Yadav
Coolar Kurti Me and Priyanka Singh. Music 9-Apr-18 143.8 million 243K Yashi Films
Film stars Khesari Lal
Yadav and Kajal
Raghwani.

Official music video


from the album
Tohar Akhiya Ke Tohar Akhiya Ke
Kajal Hamar Jaan Music
Kajal Hamar Jaan 9-June-17 127.3 million 145K Bihariwood
Lai Gayil, sung by (Album/Independent)
Lai Gayil
Bhushan Singh
and Lovely Singh.

The highest grossing


Bhojpuri film of 2017
Nirahua
starring Dinesh Lal Movie/TV 25-Nov-17 125.5 million 251K Wave Music
Hindustani 2
Yadav "Nirahua" and
Aamrapali.

Official music video


from the 2017 movie
Dilwala, sung by Music Wave Music
Bhatar Katani 4-June-17 117.5 million 137K
Khesari Lal Yadav. (Soundtrack) Bhojpuri
Movie stars Khesari
Lal, Akshara Singh.

1
Wave Music has uploaded two videos of the song Raate Diya Butake with same audiovisual content.

164 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 165
166 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
POPULAR GUJARATI
YOUTUBE CHANNELS
Channel Description Subscribers
(as on February 2019)

RDC Gujarati Channel for Gujarati music videos. 4.6 million

Studio Saraswati Official Channel for Gujarati entertainment videos. 3.2 million

Official YouTube channel for Gujarat’s Popular


Raghav Digital 2.9 million
Music Label & Production House.

Ekta Sound Channel for Gujarati music videos. 1.7 million

Indian Media House Shemaroo Entertainment’s Official


Shemaroo Gujarati 1.3 million
YouTube channel for Gujarati Entertainment content.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 167


Popular Gujarati YouTube Videos

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Official music
video of
Music
Rona Ser Ma Re independent 16-Apr-17 215.5 million 480K Raghav Digital
(Album / Independent)
song sung by
Geeta Rabari.

Official music video


of independent Music
Chote Raja 22-Dec-17 152.4 million 375K Raghav Digital
song sung by Kinjal (Album / Independent)
Dave.

Official music video


Hath Ma of independent Music
song sung by 28-May-17 89.4 million 261K Raghav Digital
Chhe Whisky (Album / Independent)
Jignesh Kaviraj.

Official music
video of
Music Studio
Gujarati Leri La La independent 28-Jul-17 77.8 million 199K
(Album / Independent) Saraswati Official
song sung by
Kinjal Dave.

Official music
video of
Music
Ma Tara Ashirvaad independent song 18-July-17 74.6 million 181K Raghav Digital
(Album / Independent)
sung by Geeta
Rabari.

168 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Popular Gujarati YouTube Videos

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Official music video


from the 2019
Bollywood film
Bewafa Simmba featuring
Music
Tane Dur Thi Ranveer Singh and 19-Dec-17 63.9 million 176K RDC Gujarati
(Album / Independent)
Salaam Sara Ali Khan.
Singers: Neha
Kakkar, Kumar Sanu,
Mika Singh

Official music video


of independent Music
Gomda Nu Dil 20-Oct-17 53.7 million 150K Raghav Digital
song sung by Parth (Album / Independent)
Chaudhary.

Official music
video of
Music Studio
Mahadev Aayo independent 9-Aug-18 48.6 million 238K
(Album/Independent) Saraswati Official
song sung by
Geeta Rabari.

Official music video


Aaje Taro Samay of independent Music Studio
26-June-18 48 million 163K
Kale Maro Aavse song sung by (Album/Independent) Saraswati Official
Vijay Suvada.

MojMa Official music video


of independent Music
( Ghate To 19-April-18 45.5 million 203K Raghav Digital
song sung by (Album/Independent)
Zindagi Ghate )
Kinjal Dave.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 169


170 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
POPULAR KANNADA
YOUTUBE CHANNELS
Channel Description Subscribers
(as on February 2019)

Anand Audio Official channel of Kannada Music Label Anand Audio. 3.4 million

Zee Kannada Zee’s official channel of Kannada GEC Zee Kannada. 2.3 million

Tv9 Kannada Official channel of Kannada TV news channel. 2 million

Shemaroo Kannada Indian Media House Shemaroo Entertainment’s Official 1.3 million
YouTube channel for Kannada Entertainment content.

Public TV Official channel of Kannada TV news channel. 1.3 million

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 171


Popular Kannada YouTube Channels

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Official music
video of the song
from the super-hit
2016 movie Kirik
Party, sung by Music Paramvah
Belageddu 25-Nov-16 74 million 249K
Vijaya Prakash. (Soundtrack) Music
Movie stars
Rakshit Shetty
and Rashmika
Mandanna.

Official music video


of the song from the
2018 movie
Raambo-2, sung by
Music
Chuttu Chuttu Ravindra Soragavi 21-Mar-18 71.1 million 179K Anand Studio
(Soundtrack)
and Shamitha
Malnad. Movie stars
Sharan and Ashika
Ranganath.

Music video of the


song from the 2012
film Chingari Music Ashwini
Bhavana Hot Song released. The film 14-May-15 61.5 million 45K
(Soundtrack) Media Networks
stars Darshan and
Deepika Kamaiah.

Making of the song


Bombe Helutaithe
from superhit 2017
film Raajakumara.
Bombe Helutaithe Song sung by Vijay Music DBeats
9-Mar-17 59.1 million 196K
(Making of the Song) Prakash. Movie stars (Soundtrack) Music World
Puneeth Rajkumar,
Priya Anand, and
Prakash Raj.

Official music video


Music
3 PEG of Kannada Rapper 13-March-16 56.3 million 202K Chandan Shetty
(Album/Independent)
Chandan Shetty.

172 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Popular Kannada YouTube Channels

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Official Video Song


from the 2017
Kannada film
Anjaniputhraa, sung
Music
Chanda Chanda by Ravi Basrur and 1-Jan-18 55 million 124K PRK Audio
(Soundtrack)
Anuradha Bhat.
Movie stars Puneeth
Rajkumar &
Rashmika Mandanna.

Animated nursery
rhyme version of the
Punyakoti - popular Kannada Animation / Infobells
22-Dec-16 52.6 million 117K
Govina Haadu song Punyakoti - Kids Music Kannada
Govina Haadu (The
Honest Cow).

Official Lyric Video


from the 2018
Kannada film The
Villain, sung by Vijay
Prakash, Kailash Music
Tick Tick Tick 24-July-18 48.8 million 178K Anand Studio
Kher, Prem, and (Soundtrack)
Siddharth Basrur.
Movie stars Shiva
Rajkumar, Sudeep,
and Amy Jackson.

Thotake Animated Infobells


Animation / Kids Music 13-Apr-14 48.6 million 75K
Hogu Timma nursery rhyme. Kannada

Official music video


of Kannada Rapper
Music
Tequila Chandan Shetty 17-Dec-17 45.7 million 328K Chandan Shetty
(Album/Independent)
featuring Shalni
Gowda.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 173


174 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
POPULAR PUNJABI
YOUTUBE CHANNELS
Channel Description Subscribers
(as on February 2019)

Speed Records The biggest Punjabi Music Record label in the world 21.4 million

T Series Apna Punjab Official Punjabi channel of T-Series. 14.6 million

Geet MP3 Channel for Punjabi music content. 9.8 million

Official channel of White Hill Music and 8.2 million


White Hill Music
While Hill Production for music and movie releases.

Lokdhun Punjab Official channel of Kannada TV news channel. 6.7 million

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 175


Popular Punjabi YouTube Videos

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Official music video of


Music
Lahore single by independent 13-Dec-17 680.6 million 3.2 million T-Series
(Album/ Independent)
artist Guru Randhawa.

Title song from the


2018 film Laung
Laachi, sung by
Music T-Series
Laung Laachi Mannat Noor. Movie 21-Feb-18 678.6 million 2 million
(Soundtrack) Apna Punjab
stars Neeru Bajwa
and Amberdeep
Singh.

Official music video


of single by Music
High Rated Gabru 3-July-17 634.3 million 2.8 million T-Series
independent artist (Album/ Independent)
Guru Randhawa.

Making of the song


Bombe Helutaithe
from superhit 2017
film Raajakumara.
Bombe Helutaithe Song sung by Vijay Music DBeats
9-Mar-17 59.1 million 196K
(Making of the Song) Prakash. Movie stars (Soundtrack) Music World
Puneeth Rajkumar,
Priya Anand, and
Prakash Raj.

Official music video


of single by Music
Prada 13-Jun-18 433.6 million 2.9 million Geet MP3
independent artist (Album/Independent)
Jass Manak.

Official music video


of single by Music
Daru Badnaam independent artists 24-Dec-16 433.5 million 2.6 million VIP Records
(Album/Independent)
Kamal Kahlon &
Param Singh.

176 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Popular Punjabi YouTube Videos

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Official music video


of single by Music
Made in India 5-July-18 376.8 million 2 million T-Series
independent artist (Album/Independent)
Guru Randhawa.

Official music video


of single by Music Sony Music
Naah 30-Dec-17 349.6 million 2.1 million
independent artist (Album/Independent) India
Harrdy Sandhu.

Official music
video of single by
3 Pegg Music T-Series
independent 16-Dec-16 345.2 million 1.1 million
Sharry Mann (Album/Independent) Apna Punjab
artist Parmish
Verma.

Official music
video of single by Music Sony Music
Kya Baat Ay independent 24-Sept-18 327.8 million 2.5 million
(Album/Independent) India
artist Harrdy
Sandhu.

Official music
video of single by Music White Hill
Na Ja 20-Feb-17 316.1 million 1.8 M
independent (Album/Independent) Music
artist Pav Dharia.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 177


178 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
POPULAR TELUGU
YOUTUBE CHANNELS
Channel Description Subscribers
(as on February 2019)

Aditya Music Telugu music-based channel 8.4 million

ETV Telugu India Official YouTube channel of Telugu GEC. 6.4 million

Animated nursery rhymes and


Infobells - Telugu edutainment content for children. 6.1 million

Sri Balaji Movies Telugu entertainment channel. 6.1 million

Telugu One Telugu entertainment channel. 4.8 million

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 179


Popular Telugu YouTube Videos

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Animated nursery Animation / Infobells


Chal Chal Gurram 18-Nov-16 558 million 1 million
rhymes for children. Kids Music Telugu

Animated nursery Animation / Infobells


Baby Song 21-Aug-14 417.7 million 267K
rhymes for children. Kids Music Telugu

3-D animated
Veeri Veeri Animation / CVS 3D
nursery rhymes 29-Aug-13 316.5 million Feature Hidden
Gummadi Pandu Kids Music Rhymes
for children.

3-D animated
Animation / CVS 3D
Edavaku Edavaku nursery rhymes 29-Sept-13 199.5 million Feature Hidden
Kids Music Rhymes
for children.

Official video of the


song from the 2017
film Fidaa, sung by Music
Vachinde 23-Sept-17 186.1 million 453K Aditya Music
Madhu Priya, Ramki. (Soundtrack)
The film stars Varun
Tej, Sai Pallavi.

180 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Popular Telugu YouTube Videos

Name of the Video Description Genre Date Published Views (as on April 2019) Likes (as on April 2019) Channel

Official video of the song


from the 2017
blockbuster film
Baahubali 2:The
Conclusion, sung by Daler Music Lahari Music,
Saahore Baahubali 18-May-17 135.3 million 327K
Mehendi, M.M. (Soundtrack) T-Series
Keeravaani and
Mounima. The film stars
Prabhas, Rana Daggubati,
and Tamannaah.

Hindi dubbed
version of Telugu
Music Goldmines
Sarrainodu film 2016 Allu Arjun 26-July-18 128.4 million 372K
(Soundtrack) Telefilms
starrer feature film
Sarrainodu

3-D animated
Animation / CVS 3D
Chitti Chikamma nursery rhymes 27-April-12 122.4 million Feature Hidden
Kids Music Rhymes
for children.

3-D animated
Jo Achyutananda Animation / infobells
nursery rhymes 31-Jan-17 118.9 million 76K
Jo Jo Kids Music Telugu
for children.

3-D animated Animation / infobells


Meow Meow Pilli nursery rhymes 3-March-17 118.8 million 163K
Kids Music Telugu
for children.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 181


GOOD
NEWS

182 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Content
About SNIPPETS
NDTV, founded by Radhika Roy and Pronnoy Roy, launched
as a television news channel in 1988 and has since become Founded
1988
one of the esteemed news and lifestyle networks in India.
Its news cluster includes NDTV 24x7, NDTV India, NDTV Owned by
Profit, while its GEC and lifestyle offerings are NDTV New Delhi Television Limited
Imagine and NDTV Life respectively.
Headquarter
New Delhi
Features
The NDTV app offers live TV and radio facility of its news Google Play Store Downloads
channels. The various sections covered include 5 million+
entertainment, elections, opinion, gadgets, automobile, Unique Users
sports, city news, food, health etc. 62.9 million (March 2019)

The News Beeps feature summarizes news items in three Reach


21.5% (March 2019)
bulleted points for easy reading.
Average Minutes/visitor
NDTV Premium option gives high-quality Live TV streams 2.1 minutes (March 2019)
and an ad-free experience at INR 300 for half-yearly and
Popularity Rankings
INR 550 for yearly subscription. 7th by MAU and 11th by Revenues (App Annie)

In August 2018, NDTV


reported that its Food
website is highly
popular with over 12
million unique visitors1.

1
https://www.ndtv.com/communication/ndtv-earnings-for-quarter-ending-june-30-q1-2019-1897407, accessed 10 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 183


The Popular section highlights the NDTV Total Unique Visitors (000)
Most Read and Most Commented Between April 2018 and March 2019
stories.
Desktop Mobile Total Digital Population
The app includes a Picture-in-Picture
80000
update allowing users to view
multiple visual content 70000 65115 63294 63160 63976 65575 64824 62984
61222
59140
simultaneously. 60000 57512 59121
53488 61060 61092
59160 58981 60069 59372 58894
50000 55930 53872 55311 55109

NDTV Convergence, 40000


49401

the digital arm of 30000

NDTV, earned more 20000

than INR 40 crore in 10000 6230 7579 6011 5960 5686 4965 5321 5062 5994 5407 7322 5715

revenues in the 0
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19
quarter ending
Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
December 31, 2018. It
signed a massive
five-year INR 300 NDTV Audience March 2019
crore worth Males, TUV Females, TUV

advertising deal with Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

native advertising 6 -14 104 6 -14 12

platform Taboola in 15 -24 13,961 15 -24 6,313

December. 25 - 34 13,287 25 - 34 6,623

35 + 13,172 35 + 9,511
Key Measures of the Platform All Males 40,525 All Females 22,459
NDTV visitors changed by 27%, from
49.5 million in March 2018 to 62.9 Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
million visitors in March 2019 thus
claiming a reach of 21.5%. A total of
580 million minutes were spent on
the platform, averaging at 2.1 World Metrix
minutes per visitor. More than 90% of (ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
the visitors accessed via mobile, March 2019)
where the engagement was higher at
Region % Comp
7.2 minutes.
Asia Pacific 76.8
Middle-East - Africa 7.8
Consumer Demographics Europe 4.2
65% of the audiences on NDTV in North America 10.9
March 2019 were males. The
audience was equally distributed
between the three age segments
above the age 15.

Among females, the 35+


demographic took up nearly 40% of
the share.

184 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 185
186 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
About SNIPPETS
Twitter is an American news and pioneering social network-
ing service, which employs the concept of microblogging Founded
2006
and gives users a maximum of 140 characters (now 280) to
‘tweet’ their message. Registered users can either post, like, Owned by
or retweet tweets, and the ‘hashtag’ (#) is used to index Twitter
topics of keywords on Twitter. The platform rapidly rose to
Headquarter
prominence, giving rise to influencers, publicizing news and San Francisco, California
events, sparking global conversations and spurring revolu-
tions. Twitter has 35+ offices worldwide. In India, it is Google Play Store Downloads
located in Bengaluru, Delhi, Gurugram, and Mumbai. 500 million+

Unique Users
Twitter had 330 million monthly active users globally in Q1 6.1 million (March 2019)
2019. The platform has been showing a downward spiral-
ing growth trend over the years, from double-digit growth Reach
21.5% (March 2019)
figures every quarter until 2012 to a negative performance
in 2018. India, despite have 500+ million internet users, Average Minutes/visitor
lags behind in usage1 as compared to other countries, with 1.5 minutes (March 2019)
April 2019 figures showing that even Turkey, Brazil, Russia
Popularity Rankings
and Saudi Arabia have more monthly active users in 1st by MAU and 4th by Revenues (App Annie)
comparison. Twitter’s annual reports state that emerging

Number of monthly active Twitter users worldwide


From 1st quarter 2010 to 1st quarter 2019 (in millions)

350 336 335


327 326 330 330 326 321 330
318
313 317
307 305 310
302 304
288
300 284
271
255
241
250 231.7
218
204

200 185
167
151
138
150
117
101
100 85
68
54
49
40
50 30

0
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Source: Statista 2019

1
https://cfo.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/have-more-ground-to-cover-in-india-says-twitter-cfo/66982204, accessed 10 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 187


markets like India particularly pose a Leading countries based on number of Twitter
challenge due to the widespread use users as of April 2019 (in millions)
of feature phones and SMS messag-
ing, which circumscribe the optimal Spain 6.34
utilization of the platform and slacken
Mexico 7.09
revenue generation.
India 7.86

Twitter has shown an overall growth Turkey 8.56

on the earnings front, earning USD Brazil 8.57


3.04 billion in revenue, a 25%
Russia 9.91
increase since 2017, and making a
Saudi Arabia
profit of USD 1.2 billion as on the year 10.19

ending December 31, 20182,3. United Kingdom 14.1

Advertising formed the highest share Japan 38.35


of the revenues, followed by data
United States 49.45
licensing and other sources. The US
market contributed over 50% of the 0 10 20 30 40 50

revenues, while the rest came from


Source: Statista 2019
international territories. The coming
year promises to bring in further
earnings, with Twitter making USD
Most popular media profiles on Twitter in India
787 million in revenues, an increase
users as of April 2019 (in millions)
of 18% year-over-year, and a net
income of USD 191 million. As for
@filmfare (Filmfare) 4.36
Twitter Communication, the Indian
unit of Twitter, the net profits halved @ZoomTV (Zoom TV) 4.7

from experts attributing the decline @IndiaToday (India Today) 5.15

to limited advertiser interest4. To @the_hindu (The Hindu) 5.27


boost advertising, the platform made
@httweets (Hindustan Times) 6.75
in-stream video ads available to all
advertisers in India since June 20185. @aajTak (Aaj Tak) 7.93

@abpnewstv (ABP News) 8.26

Entertainment Wins! @TimesNow (TIMES NOW) 8.87

Katy Perry has the @ndtv (NDTV) 11.38

most followed @timesofindia (Times of India) 11.76

Twitter account 0 2 4 6 8 10 12

(107.23 million), Source: Statista 2019

closely followed by
former POTUS
Barack Obama
(105.82 million), and
Justin Bieber (105.32
million)6.

Features
Forty-seven language options are
available on Twitter including seven
Indian regional languages7.

2
https://s22.q4cdn.com/826641620/files/doc_financials/ar/2018/AnnualReport2018.pdf, accessed 10 May 2019.
3
As compared to a loss of USD 108 million in 2017
4
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/twitter-india-net-halves-to-2-crore-in-fy18/article25372845.ece, accessed 10 May 2019.
5
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/twitter-expands-in-stream-video-ads-to-all-advertisers-in-india/articleshow/64571696.cms, accessed 10 May 2019.
6
Social Blade. (n.d.). Twitter accounts with the most followers worldwide as of April 2019 (in millions). In Statista - The Statistics Portal. Retrieved May 10, 2019,
from https://ww w.statista.com/statistics/273172/twitter-accounts-with-the-most-followers-worldwide/., accessed 10 May 2019.
7
Kannada, Tamil, Gujarati, Bangla, Hindi, Marathi, Urdu

188 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Most popular television channel
profiles on Twitter in India
users as of April 2019 (in millions)

@StarPlus (Star Plus) 3.06

@MTVIndia (MTV India) 3.55

@vijaytelevision (Vijay Television) 3.82

@CNNnews18 (News18) 4.16

@StarSportsIndia (Star Sports) 4.3

@ZoomTV (Zoom TV) 4.7

@aajtak (Aaj Tak) 7.9

@abpnewstv (ABP News) 8.26

@TimesNow (Times Now) 8.87

@ndtv (NDTV) 11.38

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Source: Statista 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is


the most followed Twitter profile
in India with 47 million followers
as of April 20198.
While general entertainment content Twitter is making every effort towards
may command greater viewership on widening its presence in India,
platforms like television, news entities reportedly ‘one of Twitter’s largest
gain the largest following on Twitter. and fastest growing audience
The top media profiles are Times of markets globally’10. The Twitter Lite
India, NDTV, and Times Now; similarly, app – a data saving version of the
the most followed television channels Twitter for slower networks –
with Twitter handles include NDTV, launched in India in August 201811. In
Times Now, and ABP News emerge September, it announced
leaders. Nevertheless, celebrities like partnerships with 50 established
Shahrukh Khan and Deepika video content collaborators across
Padukone claim among the largest the Asia Pacific for live streaming and
fan base among Twitter profiles in video highlights programming in
India, reinforcing the power of sports, entertainment, and news.
entertainment. Twelve of these are Indian partners,
including NDTV, Red Chillies
Twitter India Entertainment, and Filmfare etc12.

launched the social


initiative
#Powerof18 in
November 2018 to
encourage the Indian
youth in civic
engagement in the
2019 elections9.
8
Socialbakers. (n.d.). Most popular Twitter profiles in India as of April 2019, by number of followers (in millions). In Statista - The Statistics Portal. Retrieved May 10, 2019,
from https://www.statista.com/statistics/827159/india-leading-twitter-accounts-by-number-of-followers/., accessed 10 May 2019.
9
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/twitter-india-launches-powerof18-initiative-for-youth-civic-engagement/articleshow/66589877.cms
10
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/have-more-ground-to-cover-in-india-says-twitter-cfo/articleshow/66979599.cms, accessed 10 May 2019.
11
http://www.mediainfoline.com/techno/twitter-launches-twitter-lite-google-play-app, accessed 10 May 2019.
12
http://ficci.in/ficci-in-news-page.asp?nid=15298, accessed 10 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 189


Fake News Menace: Twitter Total Unique Visitors (000)
Between April 2018 and March 2019
A study of over 16K
US Twitter Accounts Desktop Mobile App Mobile Total Digital Population

reveals that a small 80000

fraction of Twitter 70000


61172
users are 57561 59889
60000 56890 57331
53664 52574 52067 54170
50565 52164

responsible for 50000 56677 48177 57293


54384 53543 53458
50598 49638
48778 47057 47767 47909
spreading majority 40000 44644

of the fake news13. 30000 25942


22210 21983 22686 21551 21031 20600 20747 21111 18611 20377 21213
20000

The ‘fake news’ menace haunts every 10000 4547 4729 4636 4969 4967 4686 4612 5290 5611 5503 5168 5063
social media platform, and Twitter is 0
no exception. Oftentimes, the Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

distortion of facts and statements


Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
taken out of context on social media
have led to extreme forms of unrest
and violence. Twitter is working
towards this concern with Twitter Audience March 2019
seriousness14. In a run-up to the 2019
Males, TUV Females, TUV
elections in India, it provided a new
Age Group (000) Age Group (000)
dashboard showing the expenditure
of political parties on its platform as 6 -14 113 6 -14 54
well as initiated training for various
15 -24 17588 15 -24 4593
stakeholders, including Election
Commission of India, to flag 25 - 34 14360 25 - 34 7200
suspicious content15.Twitter offered
35 + 11840 35 + 5755
features to users to report misleading
information on voting during the All Males 43901 All Females 17602
elections16; however, the delayed
Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
rollout of this feature was criticized17.
Future reliance on artificial
intelligence to fight fake news is
anticipated18.
World Metrix
Key Measures of the Platform (ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
Total unique visitors reached 61.1 March 2019)
million in March 2019, with a 20.9% Region % Comp
reach of audiences. A total of 2058 North America 25.3
million minutes were spent during Latin America 13.0
this period, averaging at 1.8 minutes Europe 23.5
per visitor. 90% of the visitors Asia Pacific 26.8
accessed Twitter via mobile, whereas Middle East-Africa 11.3
an average of 40% used the Twitter
mobile app. Engagement on the
mobile app was much greater at 84.4
minutes per visitor.

Consumer Demographics
70% of the audiences on Twitter in
March 2019 were males, with the
15-24 age group comprising 40% of
this demographic.Among females,
the 25-34 age group had the most
visitors, followed by 35+ category.

13
https://www.deccanherald.com/international/few-twitter-users-spreading-714840.html/, accessed 10 May 2019.
14
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/novel-tool-to-monitor-fake-news-on-facebook-twitter/articleshow/66400446.cms, accessed 10 May 2019.
15
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/twitter-to-bring-new-dashboard-for-enhanced-political-ad-transparency-in-india/articleshow/67480268.cms
16
https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2019/strengthening-our-approach-to-deliberate-attempts-to-mislead-vot.html, accessed 10 May 2019.
17
https://qz.com/india/1603632/is-twitter-doing-as-much-as-facebook-on-fake-news-in-india/, accessed 10 May 2019.
18
https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/fake-news-a-multi-variable-problem-there-is-no-one-fix-twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-5442759/

190 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 191
192 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
About SNIPPETS
The Times of India is the largest English language daily
newspaper in the world, with a massive readership 15.2 Founded
million as on Q1 20191. It is the jewel in the crown of the 1838
Times Group, an Indian media conglomerate holding a Owned by
stake in publishing, broadcasting, radio, film, and the digital The Times Group
domain. Times Internet, the digital arm of the Times Group
Headquarter
established in 1999, touts itself as India’s largest digital
Mumbai (Times of India);
products company with 39 key properties2,3, 450 million+
New Delhi (The Times Group)
monthly users and 134+ billion monthly minutes spent4.
Google Play Store Downloads
In its Times Internet Today 2019 report, Times Internet 10 million+
claims its digital news publications collectively touch 265 Unique Users
million consumers. The Times of India brings in 200 63.1 million (March 2019)
monthly active users, a 44% growth this year5.
Reach

Times Internet made 21.5% (March 2019)

Average Minutes/visitor
over INR 1359 crores in 1.5 minutes (March 2019)

Popularity Rankings
revenues in FY19. 3rd by MAU and 6th by Downloads (App Annie)

Features
The Times of India website and app gives users a There is a section on video news, which includes original
comprehensive and up-to-date access to the latest video content produced by Times of India. LIVE TV is
developments in India and worldwide ranging politics, another major feature, giving real-time access to four
business, entertainment, lifestyle, opinion, sports, travel,
major channels – Times Now, ET Now, Zoom, and Mirror
wellness etc. Readers wanting news updates directly Now. The Times Internet Today 2019 Report claims
sent to their mails can subscribe to the Times Top 10 Times Now has recently become the second most
Newsletter featuring stories that matter. watched digital news outlet. The podcast facility offers
news as brief audio segments for on-the-go consump-
The website has added several features to build user tion. A Trivia quiz has also been launched to test users’
engagement. The News Briefs encapsulates news pieces knowledge on a wide range of topics.
in short and in a flip through format suitable for the app.

Prominent
Text-to Speech Times Top 10 Election
Podcast Dateline for
Support for App News Letter Related Features
Older Stories

1
https://www.medianama.com/2019/01/223-network18-earnings-q3fy19/, accessed 14 May 2019.
2
The Times of India, The Economic Times, Magic Bricks, Gaana, MX Player, CricBuzz, Dineout, ET Money, GradeUp, MensXP, TimesPrime, ETPrime.com, IDiva, India Times,
CricPlay, Times Card, Times Point, News Point, Coupon Dunia, Navbharat Times, Vijay Karnataka, Ahmedabad Mirror, Ei Samay, Navgujarat Samay, Pune Mirror, Bangalore
Mirror, Samayam, Maharashtra Times, Mumbai Mirror, Baazi Now, Willow, Whats Hot, Miss Kyra, Speaking Tree, Times Job, TechGig, Get Me a Shop, ETimes, Gadgets Now.
3
https://www.timesinternet.in/products, accessed 14 May 2019.
4
https://www.timesinternet.in/about, accessed 14 May 2019.
5
Times Internet Today 2019 (Rep.). (2019, April 30). Retrieved https://www.afaqs.com/all/news/images/news_story_grfx/2019/05/54994/Times-Internet-Today-2019.pdf

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 193


Fake News Times of India Total Unique Visitors (000)
Between April 2018 and March 2019

Alert: Times Desktop Mobile Total Digital Population

Fact-Check is a 80000

fact-checking
70000
63157
60000 63066
51957 52743 53741 51517 53364 51897
49954

initiative to fight
49577 48636 47903 49559
50000
51853 52563 53656 53090 49501
51324 51811
49369 48565 47826 49780
40000

fake news and 30000

misinformation.
20000

10000
265 264 228 220 209 224 237 251 492 241 202 210
0
The Times of India was particularly Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

active during the election period,


Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
launching interactive Data Hub for
election insights, Campaign Trackers
to keep tab on politicians’ activities,
and Poll Fantasy Game for making Times of India Audience March 2019
predictions, among others
Males, TUV Females, TUV
Age Group (000) Age Group (000)
Modi Meter 18-24 15,584 18-24 6,539
launched around
25 - 34 11,980 25 - 34 5,083
election time to test
35 + 15,836 35 + 8,044
viewers’ knowledge
of the present
All Males 43,401 All Females 19,665

government’s Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

performance in the
past 5 years.

Key Measures of the Platform


Total unique visitors were 63.1 million
in March 2019, a 29% change since
the 49.1 million visitors in March
2018. It had a reach of 21.5%, with
241 million minutes spent on the
platform averaging at 1.5 minute per
visitor. On mobile, the engagement
was slightly higher at 3.8 minutes.
Visitors predominantly accessed the
platform via mobile (99%).

Consumer Demographics
Men comprised nearly 70% of the
audience on Times of India in March
2019. The 35+ and 18-24
demographics were most active
among both genders.

194 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 195
196 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
About SNIPPETS
Dailyhunt formerly launched as Newshunt in 2009 until
Virender Gupta, its current Founder & CEO, acquired it and Launched
rebranded the company in 2011. In 2015, Goldman Sachs February 2015
Group named Dailyhunt as one of the possible “billion-dol- Owned by
lar babies" among India’s internet start-ups1. Today, Verse Innovation Pvt Ltd
Dailyhunt is one of India’s foremost news aggregators and
Headquarter
e-bookstores, sourcing its content from 800-1500+ leading
Bangalore, Karnataka
news partners and 20,000 stringers2 and using high-end
artificial intelligence to serve personalized content to Total Downloads
users3. The Dailyhunt group also owns OneIndia, the largest 160 million+1
Indian language platform for content on the web4.
Google Play Store Downloads
50 million+
100K new articles are uploaded Unique Users
on Dailyhunt each day. 65.7 million (March 2019)

Reach
The company’s president Umang Bedi states that 22.4% (March 2019)
Dailyhunt’s mission is to become the largest Indic Platform,
which offers the next billion users content in the local Average Minutes/visitor
Indian languages that informs, enriches, and entertains. It 4.9 minutes (March 2019)
aims to solidify its distribution through partnerships with Popularity Rankings
telecom players to come pre-loaded with every possible 1st by MAU and 2nd by Downloads (App Annie)
handsets in the nation5.

1
https://www.livemint.com/Companies/T3vGY3fLajXwHulRGxFICP/Alibaba-in-talks-to-pick-up-stake-in-Dailyhunt.html, accessed 15 May 2019.
2
https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/this-is-how-homegrown-dailyhunt-is-taking-on-the-google-facebook-duopoly-93028.html, accessed 15 May 2019.
3
http://bwpeople.businessworld.in/article/Umang-Bedi-The-Corporate-Dapper-of-the-Start-up-Industry-/05-11-2018-163673/, accessed 15 May 2019.
4
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/dailyhunt-picks-up-stake-in-oneindia/articleshow/53257575.cms, accessed 15 May 2019.
5
https://yourstory.com/2018/09/dailyhunt-100m-indians-hooked-month-21m-hooked-day-heres, accessed 15 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 197


Virender Gupta and
Umang Bedi were
awarded the
exchange4media
‘Influencer of the Year’
award in 20186.
Features
Dailyhunt Goals for 20207

3X User Base 2X Time Spent 5X Inventory

14 language options are available for viewing the content8.


Dailyhunt includes content from partners such as The Asian
Age, Republic, The Quint, Financial Express, Orissa POST,
DNA, etc. covering beats including politics, entertainment,
sports, technology, automobile, lifestyle, horoscope,
celebrities, etc. In July 2018, a partnership was announced
between Dailyhunt and the long-running Pune-based Sakal
Media Group wherein the latter’s hyperlocal content in
Marathi would be offered on Dailyhunt’s platform9. The
nature of content consumed by users varies by geography;
for instance, entertainment content beats all in Telugu,
news dominates in Tamil and Bangla, while politics is key
driver among Marathi audiences10. To give a personalized
experience, users can follow interests based on location
(e.g. Bengaluru related news), sources (IBTimes), channels
(Live), topics (cricket), and several sources within each
sub-section (for instance, Gadget Galiyara within ‘Mobiles
and Gadgets’). LiveTV is available for channels like Republic
TV, BTVI, India Today etc.

The content can be consumed on Dailyhunt’s platform itself


as opposed to being redirected to the source website; this
is one of the major contributors to Dailyhunt’s high
engagement rate.

6
https://www.exchange4media.com/marketing-news/exchange4media-influencer-of-the-year-award-conferred-upon-virendra-gupta-and-umang-bedi-92999.html
7
https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/mobile/dailyhunt-to-roll-out-pin-code-based-ad-targeting-for-small-businesses-plans-big-app-redesign/65329251
8
Hindi, English, Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Nepali, Telugu, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Oriya, Malayalam
9
https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/dailyhunt-partners-with-sakal-media-group-91267.html, accessed 15 May 2019.
10
https://www.afaqs.com/news/story/53744_Platforms-like-ours-wouldnt-exist-without-our-partners-Ravanan-N-vice-president-content-Dailyhunt, accessed 15 May 2019.

198 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Dailyhunt Financials-A Snapshot
132.9

Revenues 126.23

256.26

Expenses 285.65

11.5

124.02

Losses 159.45

28.6

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

%Gain/Loss FY18 FY17 Source: Statista 2019

90 percent of the outdoor, food, wildlife, science and


military in 5 languages11 as a
Dailyhunt app Discovery Plus feature available on
consumption happens Dailyhunt’s app12. Dailyhunt also
endeavors to build up both
in non-English professionally and user generated
languages. content13.
Dailyhunt includes original short form
content namely Need To Know and
Over 1 billion videos
Pro Con Hai. Need to Know ropes in are played on
well-known personalities like Dailyhunt every
Anuradha Menon, known for her alter
ego Lola Kutty, and Danish Sait and month14.
uses wry humor to educate viewers
Advertisements are a key revenue
on the various Indian states and their
source for any newspaper, which
sociopolitical climate etc. Pro Con Hai
includes Dailyhunt, contributing close
also discusses burning issues such as
to INR 279 crore in revenues and
state regulations over alcohol
anticipated to touch 558-698 crore
consumption, Swaccha Bharat
by the end of FY1915. The significant
Abhiyaan through the blend of
traffic coming from smaller towns has
animation and satire.
inspired the company to use
Video content is increasingly gaining pin-code based local targeting across
center stage with its booming audio, video, and image formats in
consumption especially from the 14 languages16, in partnership
non-metro sections. Dailyhunt aims with Sunday Mobility17.
to boost the time spent on video from
10 percent to 50 in 2019. Discovery The #Harbhashaequal ad campaign
Communications India partnered launched by Dailyhunt in August 2018
with DailyHunt to offer its short-form endeavored to promote language
content under the verticals of equality in India18.

Catching up to the election fever,


Dailyhunt kick started the campaign
#KhudKiSochBanao encouraging the public
to refrain from blindly following biased
media coverage and form opinions through
credible and trustworthy sources19.
11
Bengali, English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu
12
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/discovery-partners-dailyhunt-to-showcase-short-form-content/articleshow/68482745.cms
13
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/viral-content-doesnt-mean-scandalous-content-says-president-of-dailyhunt/1259903/, accessed 15 May 2019.
14
https://yourstory.com/2018/09/dailyhunt-100m-indians-hooked-month-21m-hooked-day-heres, accessed 15 May 2019.
15
https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/advertising/exclusive-dailyhunt-targets-80-100-million-in-ad-revenue-this-fiscal/68284319, accessed 15 May 2019.
16
https://dae.dailyhunt.in/help/who-are-we, accessed 15 May 2019.
17
https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/mobile/dailyhunt-to-roll-out-pin-code-based-ad-targeting-for-small-businesses-plans-big-app-redesign/65329251
18
https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/advertising/dailyhunts-digital-campaign-harbhashaequal-aims-to-promote-language-equality-in-india/65362304
19
https://www.exchange4media.com/marketing-news/dailyhunt-launches-election-campaign-dailyhunt-chalao-khudkisochbanao-95189.html, accessed 15 May 2019.
REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 199
Due to its widespread consumption, While revenues expanded in India
Dailyhunt has garnered attention and the foreign markets US and
from several leading investors. The Singapore, the dwindling
company raised over INR 106.5 performance in Dubai and Africa hit
crores in recent rounds of funding the overall abroad revenues.
from backers like Sequoia, Omidyar
Network, Falcon Edge, LightVC and
Renu Sehgal Trust20,21. Goldman
Sachs is also gearing to invest 70 percent of
Daily Hunt’s
big-time in Verse Innovation Pvt Ltd,
the company owning Dailyhunt,
raising INR 1224 crore approximately,
of which INR 248 crore has reportedly user base
been received22. A word is out that
Chinese conglomerate Alibaba Group
also proposes to acquire 10-12%
emerge from
stake in the company23. Tier 2, 3, and 4
Dailyhunt recorded an increase in the
losses in FY18 compared to FY17 towns, and
owing to a slight fall in revenues and
relatively higher rise in the expenses. rural areas24.
Dailyhunt Operating Revenues by Country
75.57
India Total 80.94
7.1 (+)

31.15
Abroad Total 27.1
13 (-)

4.99
US 6.8
36.3 (+)

16.77
Singapore 20.21
20.5 (+)

0 20 40 60 80 100

%Gain/Loss FY17 FY18

Source: entrackr.com, Accessed May 2019.

Total Unique Visitors on Dailyhunt


Between April 2018 and March 2019

Desktop Mobile App Mobile Total Digital Population

80000

70000 65790

60000 65352
51359
50000 48454 48222

40642 41998 50547


47815 47587
40000 35533 34984
32014 40129 41441
30000 25860 26052 26838 35321 34590
31491 20379 20542 21258 21921
19849 20097
25739 25940 26628 16487 17199
20000 15736
12162 11234 13207

10000
365 394 449 524 638 655 743 798 880 931 1311 850
0
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

20
https://inc42.com/buzz/sequoia-omidyar-and-renu-sehgal-trust-invest-3-45-mn-in-dailyhunt/, accessed 15 May 2019.
21
https://m.dailyhunt.in/news/india/english/inc42-epaper-inc/dailyhunt+secures+6+39+mn+in+series+e+from+falcon+edge-newsid-96085873, accessed 15 May 2019.
22
https://www.vccircle.com/goldman-sachs-to-make-big-ticket-investment-in-content-platform-dailyhunt/, accessed 15 May 2019.
23
https://www.livemint.com/Companies/T3vGY3fLajXwHulRGxFICP/Alibaba-in-talks-to-pick-up-stake-in-Dailyhunt.html, accessed 15 May 2019.
24
https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/mobile/dailyhunt-to-roll-out-pin-code-based-ad-targeting-for-small-businesses-plans-big-app-redesign/65329251

200 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Key Measures of the Platform Consumer Demographics
Dailyhunt president Umang Bedi Umang Bedi, President at Dailyhunt,
estimates Dailyhunt’s MAU to touch states that 64% of the platform’s
325 million by the end of the FY19, consumers fall under the 35 age
and become the largest digital media bracket, while the remaining 36% are
platform in India25. between ages 35 and 45. This insight
reflected in the demographic data on
In March 2019, Dailyhunt registered total unique viewership in March
65.7 million visitors, a 106% change 2019. 70% of the audience on
since March 2018 figures (31.9 Dailyhunt were males.
million). It had a reach of 22.4% in
March 19, with 5801 million minutes
spent on the platform averaging at
4.9 minutes per visitor. 99% of the
visitors accessed via mobile devices
where the engagement was much
higher at 88.5 minutes.

DailyHunt Audience March 2019

Males, TUV Females, TUV


Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

6 -14 236 6 -14 121

15 -24 7011 15 -24 16654

25 - 34 5844 25 - 34 13348

35 + 6989 35 + 9772

All Males 45507 All Females 39895

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

Ad Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)
Top Ad Categories for DailyHunt
Finance
Travel
Telecommunication
Education
Automotive

World Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)

Region % Comp
Asia Pacific 87.1
Middle East-Africa 7.5

25
https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/advertising/exclusive-dailyhunt-targets-80-100-million-in-ad-revenue-this-fiscal/68284319, accessed 15 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 201


202 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
About SNIPPETS
Flipboard is a news aggregation and social media
aggregation platform that assembles news on various Founded
topics and thus provides something for everyone. 2010

Owned by
Features Flipboard, Inc
Flipboard allows personalization of media content
according to one’s interests and passions, with its compact, Headquarter
minimalist interface enhancing the user experience. It California, United States
compiles news from several sources around the topics of Google Play Store Downloads
interest, with users redirected to the source website upon 500 million+
clicking. News content is available of 30+ regions
worldwide. Flipboard allows users to customize magazines Unique Users
19.3 million (March 2019)
with their preferred audiovisual and text media, which is
shareable with other users on the platform. Reach
6.6% (March 2019)

Average Minutes/visitor
3.3 minutes (March 2019)

Popularity Rankings
8th by MAU (App Annie)

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 203


Total Unique Visitors on Flipboard Key Measures of the Platform
Between April 2018 and March 2019 Flipboard had 19.3 million unique
visitors in March 2019, garnering a
Desktop Mobile App Mobile Total Digital Population
reach of 6.6%. 121 million minutes
25000
were consumed during this period,
averaging 3.3 minutes per visitor.
20727
20000
19841 19785
19199 19335 Usage was predominantly on mobile
17738 17823 17886 18337
16479
17152 17429
19837 19771
19187
20715
19325
devices. Although mobile app saw
18323
15000
17734
17145
17814 17874 17415 negligible visitors, engagement was
16473
high at an average of 21 minutes.
10000

Consumer Demographics
5000 Males comprised 66% of the visitors
1570 1448 1635
1369 1298 1134 1352 1046 805 620 508 884
on Flipboard in March 2019. Among
0 21 24 20 30 27 34 36 23 40 32 29 41 females, the 35+ age group evinced
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19
the highest viewership.
Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

Flipboard Audience March 2019

Males, TUV Females, TUV


Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

6 -14 NA 6 -14 NA

15 - 24 4812 15 -24 2045

25 - 34 4015 25 - 34 1570

35 + 4042 35 + 2850

All Males 12869 All Females 6466

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

Ad Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)
Top Ad Categories for Flipboard
Computers & Technology
Telecommunications
Media & Entertainment

World Metrix
ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019

Region % Comp
Asia Pacific 18.2
Middle East-Africa 19.5
North America 47.5

204 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 205
206 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
About SNIPPETS
Google News and Weather was a news aggregator by
Google, which discontinued in October 2018. Currently, Founded
Google Play Newsstand and Google News & Weather are 1998 (Google);
2014 (Launch of Google News and Weather)
integrated into Google News.
Owned by
The updated AI-powered Google News has a For You Google LLC
section with the Top 5 stories personalized and selected for
Headquarter
users based on the users’ location and updates on
California, United States
previously followed news. The Newscast format puts
together all the material around a topic for better viewing. Google Play Store Downloads
Lastly, a Full Coverage tab allows users to view the multiple 1 billion+
sources and formats in which stories are presented. Unique Users
7.3 million (March 2019; Mobile devices)

Reach
2.7 minutes (March 2019; Mobile devices)

Average Minutes/visitor
26.8 minutes (March 2019; Mobile devices)

Popularity Rankings
9th by MAU and 9th by Downloads (App Annie)

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 207


Key Measures of the Platform Google News Total Unique Visitors (000)
Note: The Comscore data given Between April 2018 and March 2019
represents the platform Google News 7916
8000
(mobile devices). 7595
7397
7314
7088
6935
Google News witnessed a 49% dip in 7000
total unique visitors, from 14.4 million 6362 6319
6610
in March 2018 to 7.3 million in March 6035
6000
2019. A total of 196 million minutes
5954
were consumed in March 2019,
averaging at 26.8 minutes per visitor. 5000
4889

Consumer Demigraphics 4000


Over 60% of the audience accessing Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19
Google News in March 2019 were
men. Among female visitors, the 35+ Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

age group was the most active.

Google News Audience March 2019

Males, TUV Females, TUV


Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

18-24 1,403 18-24 818

25 - 34 1,433 25 - 34 687

35 + 1,751 35 + 1,222

All Males 4587 All Females 2727

Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

208 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 209
210 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
About SNIPPETS
Inshorts, previously News in Short, picks news content
across the globe and deftly condenses them to 60 words. Founded
2013
Only information is presented without giving opinions. Two
language options are available – Hindi and English. Owned by
Inshorts caters to the premium segment, especially the Inshorts Medialabs Private Limited
corporate persons who need quick briefings owing to
Headquarter
hectic schedules1. Noida

Features Google Play Store Downloads


5 million+
App Annie declared Inshorts as
Unique Users
the stickiest news app among the 6.2 million (March 2019)
Top 10 News & Magazine Reach
Category apps on Android Phone 21.5% (March 2019)
in India in May 2018. Users are Average Minutes/visitor
active for an average of 15.4 days 1.9 minutes (March 2019)

per month and 4.3 days per Popularity Rankings


4th by MAU and 11th by Downloads (App Annie)
week2.

Inshorts Turns to AI
Inshorts introduced an artificial intelligence-assisted news summarization on its app using a Rapid60 algorithm.
The algorithm, trained using database of more than half a million human-edited Inshorts articles, will enable the
site to multiply its content output from 10K to 1 lakh a month. It will initially be used for long-tail and niche interest
articles in English, with the top stories remaining human-edited3.

1
https://www.exchange4media.com/marketing-news/we-make-news-reading-more-convenient-tarun-arora-inshorts-95555.html, accessed 12 May 2019.
2
https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/inshorts-is-the-stickiest-news-app-amongst-top-10-news-apps-687749781.html, accessed 12 May 2019.
3
https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/startups/inshorts-debuts-ai-based-news-summarization-on-its-app/64531038, accessed 12 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 211


Swiping left on any piece redirects
InShorts Total Unique Visitors (000)
users to the original source to read
Between April 2018 and March 2019
the unabridged article.
Desktop Mobile App Mobile Total Digital Population
An Inshorts Poll appears below
8000
certain news items encouraging
viewers to share their real-time 7000 6156
5968 6233
5673 5651 6121
feedback on different subjects. 6000 5076
5452
5657 5118 5645
5934
5076
5422
5444 4874 5365 5299 6197
5071 5109 5055
4860 5571 5603
5000 5425 5392 5480 5257
Inshorts became an 4000
4739
4963
4831
4979 5019
4626 4556

instant hit among 3000

the public and 2000

touched operational 1000


22 33 34 42 65 53
21 37 59
profitability in
13 21 38
0
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19
November 2017. In
December 2018, it Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

was announced that


Inshorts had doubled Inshorts Audience March 2019
its annual revenue Males, TUV Females, TUV
run rate from INR 30 Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

crores to INR 60 6 -14 NA 6 -14 NA

crores in last six 15 -24 2,194 15 -24 751

months. The 25 - 34 1,063 25 - 34 270

platform now targets 35 + 1,345 35 + 611

INR 100 crore All Males 4,602 All Females 1,631

revenue rate by end Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
of FY18-194.
Users can color code the news piece Key Measures of the Platform Consumer Demographics
based on relevance which will allow Inshorts had close to 6.2 million More than 70% of the unique visitors
for personalization of the news unique visitors in March 2019, a in March 2019 were men, within the
content. 194% change since March 2018, 15-24 age segment comprised nearly
when visitors equaled 2.1 million. The 50% of the audience.
Inshorts has 250 advertisers platform currently has an audience
including Mercedes, OnePlus, Netflix, reach of 2.1%, with 388 million A similar case was observed for
Amazon etc. It has a 50:50 revenue minutes spent in total averaging 1.9 females, with the 15-24 age group
ratio between ads and sponsored minutes per visitor. Engagement on forming largest share of the pie,
content. The platform has been mobile devices and mobile app were followed by 35+ demographic.
extremely innovative in its ad considerably higher at 62.6 and 74.6
properties. In May 2018, it launched minutes respectively. While mobile Inshorts is currently
Fact Cards with the Raymond Khadi app performance was exceptional testing short-form
campaign in which seven interesting throughout 2018 averaging 95%, a
facts about fabric weaving were slight dip in mobile app visitors was content for
shared in the form of cards, thus experienced since February 2019. vernacular audiences,
innovatively promoting the brand5. In
with the app’s
March 2019, Inshorts introduced the The visitors spent over 388 million
Digital Magazine ad format which minutes on the platform, averaging at co-founder Azhar
engages the reader more intimately 1.9 minutes per visitor. Engagement Iqubal adding that
with the brand story6. Other ad on mobile, the predominant device to
formats tested include Premier ads, access the platform, was substantially
this market preferred
notifications, and vertical video, greater at 62.6 minutes per visitor. video compared to
among others. text news7.
4
https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/business-of-brands/inshorts-revenue-rate-more-than-doubles-in-last-6-months-to-rs-60-crore-per-annum/67021922
5
https://www.exchange4media.com/marketing-news/inshorts-launches-fact-cards-with-the-khadi-campaign-89828.html, accessed 12 May 2019.
6
https://www.televisionpost.com/inshorts-launches-new-ad-format-digital-magazine/, accessed 12 May 2019.
7
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/sme/tiger-global-backed-news-app-inshorts-doubles-revenue-rate-in-the-last-six-months/1403410/, accessed 12 May 2019.

212 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 213
Content
About SNIPPETS
UCWeb Inc., a Chinese mobile internet company whose
flagship product UC Browser is currently the 2nd most Launched
used browser in India, launched UC News in 20161,2. UN June 2016
News emerged as one of the most popular apps in India, Owned by
crossing 100 MAUs in 20173, with its content available in UC Web.in (Alibaba Mobile Business Group)
over 15 Indian languages4.
Headquarter
Features Guangzhou, China

Entertainment, sports, Google Play Store Downloads


100 million+

and lifestyle categories Unique Users


2.7 million (Mobile App Only; March 2019)

are among the most Reach


1% (Mobile App Only; March 2019)
consumed on the news Average Minutes/visitor
108.8 minutes (Mobile App Only; March 2019)
app5. Popularity Rankings
5th by MAU and 8th by Downloads (App Annie)

Share of UC News by Language


Entertainment Sports Lifestyle Others There are 30+ channels on UC News including politics,
education, business, humor, health, inspiration, religion,
etc. Personalization of content is possible by setting one’s
own account, selecting channels of particular interest,
following accounts to build one’s subscription feed, and
bookmarking articles. Users can additionally report or
27.4%
remove possible spam news from their feed.

40.2%

18.6%

13.8%

Source: ucnews.com, Accessed May 2019.

1
http://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/all/india, accessed 13 May 2019.
2
https://yourstory.com/2018/12/mobile-app-india-loved-2018, accessed 13 May 2019.
3
https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/alibaba-group-s-uc-news-registers-100-million-active-users-in-india-and-indonesia-117041100537_1.html
4
Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati, Bengali, Malayalam, Punjabi, Urdu, Telugu, Bhojpuri, Odia, Assamese, Manipuri, English
5
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/indian-smartphone-users-spend-over-1-hour-consuming-entertainment-content-report/66332332, accessed 13 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 215


UC News was the Browser Market Share India
first brand to cash in KaiOS Safari Firefox

on the rising fame of Opera UC Browser Chrome

YouTuber Bhuvan 80

Bam, famous for his 70


61.41 61.14 62.91 63.23

channel BB Ki Vines6.
59.98
57.81
60 54.01
50.82 51.91 50.34
48.07 49.03
50
Short-form video news content
40
prominently features within UC News. 33.49 33.69 31.89 31.03 30.76
27.02
This follows the development of UC 30
22.7
20.82 19.28 19.41 19.2 19.24
Browser adding 3.6 crore 20
short-videos to its platform after 10
7.06 6.58 6.46 6.45 7.42 7.2 6.86 6.53 6.23 5.8 5.48 5.08
2.34 2.48 2.36 2.9
observing a surge in consumption7. 2.58
2.31 2.21
2.53
2.34
2.49
2.3 2.45
2.43
2.4
2.59
2.37
2.21
2.27 2.11
3.52
2.47
2.17
2.56
2.25 2.31
0 1.89 1.86 1.76 1.77 2.68 2.9 3.15 3.3 3.8 3.25 3.19
Besides a separate ‘Videos’ tab on the Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19
app, videos also feature atop the
different channels like entertainment, Source: Statcounter
fashion, tech etc. The UCShow tab
lists vertical videos of user-generated
short video content on the social UC News Total Unique Visitors (000)
media platform VMate, also owned by Between April 2018 and March 2019
UCWeb.
8000

Chinese Takeover of 7000 6849

Indian Tech! 44 of 6000


5894

the 100 most popular 5000


Android apps in India 4002 4049 3921

are Chinese8,9,10.
4000 3977 3456
3156
3000 3220 2529
3100
2795
Key Measures of the Platform 2000
Note: Comscore data for UC News is Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

available for the mobile app only.


Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

Total unique visitors on the mobile


app stood at 2.7 million in March
2019, claiming a reach of 1%. The UC News Audience March 2019
platform’s visitor count has declined
Males, TUV Females, TUV
over 2018-19 period. Age Group (000) Age Group (000)

The visitors spent a total of 304 15 -24 351 15 -24 409


million minutes in March 2019,
25 - 34 525 25 - 34 294
averaging at 108.8 minutes per
visitor. 35 + 808 35 + 407

All Males 1684 All Females 1110


Consumer Demigraphics
Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
UC News had a 3:2 ratio of male and
female visitors in March 2019. Men
above 35 were the largest audience
base among men followed by 25-34
age group. In the case of women,
both 15-24 and 35+ demographics
were equally active.

6
https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/youtube-is-the-future-because-its-freebhuvan-bambb-ki-vines-91339.html, accessed 13 May 2019.
7
https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/uc-browser-bets-big-on-short-videos-for-2019-119031200686_1.html, accessed 13 May 2019.
8
https://thewire.in/world/india-china-technology-trade, accessed 13 May 2019.
9
https://factordaily.com/the-chinese-takeover-of-indian-app-ecosystem/, accessed 13 May 2019.
10
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/of-indias-top-100-apps-44-are-chinese/article26857166.ece, accessed 13 May 2019.

216 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 217
Content
About SNIPPETS
At 6.2 million, the long-established The Hindu has the
second largest readership among English-language daily Founded
newspapers in India. Its primary competitors in the print 1878
space include The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, The Owned by
Indian Express, and The Tribune among others. The Hindu The Hindu Group
website launched in 1996, followed by the app in 2013. The
Headquarter
Hindu’s website has won laurels at prestigious events such
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
as the Website of the Year Awards and the South Asian
Digital Media Awards. Google Play Store Downloads
5 million+

The Hindu completed


Unique Users
1.3 million (Mobile App; March 2019)

140 years in 20181. Reach


0.5% (Mobile App; March 2019)

Average Minutes/visitor
35.4 minutes (Mobile App; March 2019)

Popularity Rankings
10th by MAU and 13th by Downloads (App Annie)

1
https://www.exchange4media.com/media-print-news/the-hindu-turns-140-92196.html, accessed 13 May 2019.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 219


Features The Hindus Total Unique Visitors (000)
The Hindu lets users personalize Between April 2018 and March 2019
their home screen contents by both
1500
topics and regions. Categories 1442
1392
covered are national, international,
sports, editorial, entertainment, 1286
1326
1285
education, multimedia, lifestyle, 1258 1260 1259

books, et cetera. 1189


1200

1102
The Hindu has attempted to integrate
its print and digital media through 1027
965
Print Play, a feature that scans
interactive content on print ads
900
featured in The Hindu. In a bid to Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19
attract advertisers, The Hindu signed
a two-year partnership with Taboola, Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
a prominent discovery and
recommendation platform. The deal
allows advertisers to place their The Hindu Audience March 2019
advertisements directly on The Hindu
through Taboola. A Taboola feed Males, TUV Females, TUV
Age Group (000) Age Group (000)
launched on The Hindu’s desktop,
mobile web and in-app, shall enable 18-24 558 18-24 257
users to access content including
articles, in-feed video and premium 25 - 34 307 25 - 34 67

content2. 35 + 96 35 + 106

All Males 961 All Females 430


Key Measures of the Platform
Note: Comscore data for The Hindu is Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
available for the mobile app only.

Consumer Demigraphics
Nearly 70% of the total unique
visitors in March 2019 were men. The
younger demographic of 18-24 was
most active among both genders.

2
https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/the-hindu-signs-exclusive-two-year-partnership-deal-with-taboola-launches-taboola-feed-and-taboola-newsroom-
119021800445_1.html, accessed 13 May 2019.

220 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 221
222 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019
Content
About SNIPPETS
The Economic Times is the third largest English language
daily newspaper in India, with a readership 3.7 million as on Founded
1838 (The Times Group);
Q1 2019. It is a part of the Times Group, an Indian media
1961 (The Economic Times)
conglomerate holding a stake in publishing, broadcasting,
radio, film, and the digital domain. Times Internet, the Owned by
digital arm of the Times Group established in 1999, touts The Times Group
itself as India’s largest digital products company with 39 key Headquarter
properties, 450 million+ monthly users and 134+ billion Mumbai (The Economic Times);
monthly minutes spent. New Delhi (The Times Group)

In it’s Times Internet Today 2019 report, Times Internet Google Play Store Downloads
claims its digital news publications collectively touch 265 5 million+
million consumers. The Economic Times drives the
Unique Users
business news segment in the country. 35.7 million (March 2019)

Reach
Features 12.2% (March 2019)
The Economic Times provides business relevant news from
around the world, including the stock market trends, Average Minutes/visitor
personal finance news, technology news, and features and 1.5 minutes (March 2019)
opinions, among others. Its interface is similar to The Times Popularity Rankings
of India website and app, with news briefs (segmented into 6th by MAU (App Annie)
Morning and Evening), newsletters, Live TV (ET Now),
Podcast (ET Radio), and so on.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 223


An ET Prime subscription-only The Economic Times Total Unique Visitors (000)
platform gives in-depth analytical Between April 2018 and March 2019
coverage of corporate India by a
team of honed reporters, editors, Desktop Mobile App Mobile Total Digital Population
and business analysts.
40000 37340
35732

“Alexa, What’s
35000 32575
32138
30217
30000 28143 28452 32525
31225

the Gold Price


25574 24862 25120
25000 23181 27873 27966
21399 26145
24424
23933
20000

Today?” The
22061
20808 21382
18787
15000 17750

Economic
10000
5520 5442 5609 6001 5584
5044 4535 4975 4568 5057 4764 5193
5000

Times is
842 900 839 876 860 872 906 843 937 904 1010 986
0
Apr 18 May 18 Jun 18 Jul 18 Aug 18 Sep 18 Oct 18 Nov 18 Dec 18 Jan 19 Feb 19 Mar 19

available in the Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019

Skills section The Economic Times Audience March 2019

on Amazon Males,
Age Group
TUV
(000)
Females,
Age Group
TUV
(000)

Alexa app. 6 -14 98 6 -14 NA

15 -24 7,615 18-24 4,155


Key Measures of the Platform
25 - 34 8,177 25 - 34 3,712
With a 64% change in total unique
visitors, from 21.7 million in March 35 + 8,437 35 + 3,537
2018 to 35.7 million in March 2019,
All Males 24327 All Females 11404
Economic Times claims a reach of
12.2%. A total of 2452 minutes were Source: ComScore MMX Multi-Platform Demographic Report, March 2019
consumed in March 2019, averaging
at 3.3 minutes per visitor. An average
85% visitors accessed the platform Ad Metrix
via the mobile phones. While only a
fraction of the visitors used the (ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
mobile app their engagement was March 2019)
extremely high at 1575.7 minutes Top Ad Categories for The Economic Times is
per visitor. The Economic Times most advertised on:
Online Media News/Information
Consumer Demographics Computers & Technology Multi-Category
Men comprised 68% of the total Finance Search/Navigation
unique visitors in March 2019. The Travel Retail
Retail Financial Services
platform was consumed almost
equally by all the three age groups
(15-24, 25-34,35+).

World Metrix
(ComScore Desktop Media Overview Report,
March 2019)
Region % Comp
Asia Pacific 82.0
Europe 2.0
North America 10.4
Middle East-Africa 5.4

224 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 225
Dawn of
Content regulations in Indian context have always been in
the news historically. India had primarily three major
platforms in the pre-independence era viz. print, radio
Regulations and feature films. The concept of regulations was always
interpreted from the lens of censorship. The British
for OTT empire would bring in regulations from the point of view
of controlling freedom of speech and maintaining their
‘voice’. Newspapers, Magazines, Handbills, Posters and
many more forms of expression through Print medium
were established during the process of freedom struggle.

Early Regulations were Press Regulations of 1799


promulgated by Lord Wellesley, Press Act was
promulgated in 1835 whereas in 1857 the government
passed Gagging Act to have compulsory licensing of
printing presses and to empower government to control
the voice raising against the government. The Press Act of
1910, and The Press Emergency Act of 1931 pushed the
regulations to a newer height. The radio regulations were
under the radar of Indian Telegraph Act 1885 and Indian
Wireless Telegraphy Act (No 7 of 1933). In case of the All
India Radio, all the regulations were initially under the
scope of Indian Telegraph Act’s guidelines. Likewise
Indian cinema was monitored under The Indian
Cinematograph 1918.

Considering the Indian content ecosystem, Indian


television content code is not as liberal as that of Ofcom
in the UK and the Federal Communication Commission in
the USA. The entire content code of Cable TV Act was
drafted to put a check on the potential cultural invasion
through Foreign Television Programmes (FTP).

The current discussions about content regulations within


the digital domain are evolving at a fast pace. Globally
highest usage of content on the internet is within the
video category, India isn’t and exception there. India has
a mix of local, regional, national and international content
players active in creating content for the world
community. The discussions around content regulations
are taking an interesting turn. The Indian viewer is
developing a global outlook. The exposure, taste,
consumption pattern and choices reflect the diversity of
India. Content on internet is connected globally. The
IAMAI has just announced the Code for Self-Regulation of
Online Curated Content Providers. The content code is
drafted to explore the creativity of content creator. The

226 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


code prohibits any content if; the content deliberately Here are some of the missing link in the entire narrative.
and maliciously disrespects the national emblem or The regulatory framework will have influence of the larger
national flag; content represents a child engaged in real ecosystem of the country. There must be an attention
or simulated sexual activities or any representation of the given to pending bills like Communications convergence
sexual parts of a child for primarily sexual purposes; Bill, 2014 which is still awaited. This may change the
content deliberately and maliciously intends to outrage communication machinery in big way. The bill will replace
religious sentiments of any class, section or community; five existing laws namely -The Indian Telegraph Act-1885,
content deliberately and maliciously promotes or Cable TV Networks Act 1995, Indian Wireless Telegraphy
encourages terrorism and other forms of violence against Act-1933, The Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act
the State (of India) or its institutions; and content that has 1950 and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act
been banned for exhibition or distribution by online 1997. So technically there is a vision of having a single
video service under applicable laws or by any court with regulatory authority for all the communication processes
competent jurisdiction and is still running on an OTT in the country.
platform. The code also mentions about how to display
age sensitive content on the platform. Further there is The coming 12 months are going to be exciting as far as
also a provision of complaint redressal mechanism the regulations are concerned. The self regulatory
exactly how there is provision for complaint redressal framework is the best for the largest democracy in the
under the BCCC or NBSA in context of television. The non world. Finally what the current TRAI consultation paper
compliance to the code can be dealt with by involving recommendations comes across, how the OTT platforms
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Ministry of will come under the regulatory regime, how the proposed
Electronics & Information Technology. bills will impact the functioning and regulation of content
ecosystem will decide the way how business will take
The spirit of the self-regulatory guidelines are very shape. The VOD OTT space is thriving with possibilities.
progressive in nature for a country like India. Britain has Self regulatory guidelines with strictest action for the
in the month of April, 2019 proposed a 100 page white offenders like OfCom or FCC has will be the best way
paper with the categories of content that would be forward.
governed by the new rules that include child
pornography, revenge pornography, cyberstalking, hate According to the Ficci-EY media and entertainment
crimes, encouragement of suicide, sale of illegal goods, industry  report 2019, paid video subscribers grew from
sexting by minors, and "disinformation." The proposal around 7 million in 2017 to 12-15 million in 2018, while
would also try to stop inmates from posting online video subscription revenues grew almost four times in
content in violation of prison rules. 2018 to `13.4 billion. The government is looking forward
to regulate online content especially for indigenous
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today issued players. It will be interesting to note what government
Consultation Paper on Regulatory Framework for comes up with considering the envelope is being pushed
Over-The-Top (OTT) communication Services. TRAI seeks in the light of bringing content regulations for television,
to address which service when provided by the OTT OTT and radio under one roof. TRAI could play an
service provider should be regarded as the same or important role here, but the real problem is the viewers
similar to service being provided by the Telecom Service who want to watch unfiltered quality content.
Providers (TSPs). The current discussion is around the
TRAI trying to say that though the OTT platforms provide
similar services, they are unregulated. The point of Dr. Darshan Ashwin Trivedi,
contention here is that TRAI is trying to bring OTT players Editor Indian OTT Platforms Report and
under stricter compliances of the law enforcement Adjunct Faculty, MICA, The School of Ideas.
agencies like the TSPs. The OTT players have made their
stance clear stating they do adhere to the provisions of IT
Act and more.

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 227


2nd Screens a
Tectonic Shift
in Video Content
Consumption

Last few years have witnessed a tectonic shift in the way channels. Whether it was making the users play with the
video content is being consumed in India. For close to 200 legendary superstar from the comfort of their homes in
Mn Cable & Satellite homes we have 360 Mn Smartphone Kaun Banega Crorepati Play Along to getting India’s
users. The fact that both the screens (TV as well as favourite comedy King, Kapil Sharma, to his fans’ homes via
Smartphone) are in a solid growth trend, makes India a augmented reality to getting fans jamming in a sing along
unique market. with their favourite singing Indian idols to making them a
content creator for Salman’s Dus ka Dum, we have received
With a mere 5 MN individuals projected to be “Digital only” tremendous response to these initiatives.
in terms of video consumption in the next few years, we
need to clearly look at India as an “AND” market instead of The effort to make TV from a “Lean Back” medium to a
an “OR” market. It is seeming to be a dominantly TV + “Lean forward” medium saw an encouraging response. We
Smartphone market in near future. have so far, created a user base of 20 Mn+ who have
engaged with TV shows via a 2nd screen initiative.
At Sony Pictures Network, we have taken many initiatives
and steps to tap into this viewer base. We had offered the The technology delivered via the Sony LIV app to millions of
viewers sitting at home a chance to “Play-along” with the viewers owning smartphones has helped create a win-win
hot seat contestant during Season 9 and 10 of Kaun opportunity for viewers, advertisers, show engagement and
Banega Crorepati (KBC). The ability to engage with the show viewer loyalty.
using one’s smartphone got a tremendous response from
the viewers. Over the two seasons in 2017 & 2018, we saw We see, interactivity as the next leap for video consumption
more than 40Mn registrations (596 Mn interactions and across screens (TV as well as Smartphone). There is a large
over 47 million hours of time spent. These are unmatched segment of viewers who love to engage and interact while
statistics across the world for any form of 2nd screen viewing their favourite content. At SPN, we are betting big
interactivity initiative. on it and you would see a host of innovations in the coming
months.
We, at SPN, saw the un-tapped potential of the power of
1+1 and set up a dedicated team to drive 2nd screen Amog Dusad
interactivity initiatives across our shows, genres and TV SVP & Head-Original Content & Partnerships, SonyLIV.

228 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Growing Popularity
of Southern
Language OTT
Content Industry

Expected to be a $5 billion industry by 2023, OTT is Voot and SonyLIV have also caught up, building a rich
certainly the future of entertainment in India. While the content pipeline. Some of the noteworthy shows across
scale and diversity of Indian entertainment allows the platforms have been Vella Raja, Gangstars on Prime, High
coexistence of Films, TV, Digital OTT and other avenues like Priestess, Thiravam, Ekkadikki Ee Parugu, Auto Shankar on
Print Media, Gaming etc it is becoming clearer that as more ZEE5, Maya Thirrai on ALTBalaji, Lots of Love, F Buddies on
and more of the Indian population is joining the Digital MX Player etc. The 20+ project announcements made in
wave, OTT is increasingly becoming stronger and the the last 6 months show that OTTs are bullish on South
preferred mode of content consumption across all Indian content and commissioning 30-40% regional shows
demographics. alongside Hindi ones. There are some really exciting Tamil
shows releasing in the next few months and this trend is
All the major OTT platforms starting with Amazon Prime going to get stronger in the next 1-2 years where we will see
and Netflix have bulked up their Tamil, Telugu, Kannada a significant number of Tamil, Telugu and even Kannada
and Malayalam film libraries in the last one year. The and Malayalam shows. Also, almost all shows being made in
theatre to OTT cycle is reducing with Viswasam, KGF and Hindi and other languages will also be getting dubbed in all
Lucifer finding OTT release on Prime within 2 months of South Indian languages across all OTTs. In terms of genre,
theatrical. Netflix has taken up older blockbusters like Crime, Thriller, Drama, Biographies are taking the centre
Kaala, Spyder, Kaththi, Maari, Mersal among others. stage with Comedies and Romances filling up rest of the
Likewise, home grown platforms like Hotstar, JioCinema, slate.
SonyLiv and MX Player have also been expanding their
South Indian film libraries. Going forward, we will witness Kavithalayaa Productions founded by the (Late) Dadasaheb
digital surpassing satellite and becoming the primary Phalke Awardee, Dr.K.Balachander in 1981 and an iconic
release platform for South Indian films after theatrical. A production house has been at the forefront of this
large number of films will find direct-to-digital or post phenomenon, pioneering the creation of a vibrant
theatrical digital releases in the next couple of years. eco-system for content production from the South. With an
unparalleled legacy of award-winning films and close to
With strong budgets backing good stories, appetite for 1000+ hours of quality TV, Kavithalayaa is one of the first
versatile and bold content, cinema quality for small screen, South Indian production houses to create original content
OTT is a unique model that has truly unleashed the power for the evolving OTT market. Harmony with AR Rahman, its
of storytelling by bringing forth a blend of web series first digital venture, launched last year on Amazon Prime, is
formats. Existing and new content creators are the highest rated show till date (IMDB rating; 9.1/10) and
experimenting with themes, genres and duration formats work on Season 2 is under way.
to create a plethora of content for web that is finding takers
across languages, regions, age groups, genders, interests Kandaswamy Bharathan
and distribution channels. Joint Managing Director, Kavithalayaa Prodauctions (P) Ltd.
& Visiting Faculty, MICA & IIM Ahmedabad
Platforms like ZEE5 and MX Player, right from their
inception, have planned their programming with a
significant share of South Indian shows. Others like Prime,

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 229


Analytics
Data Analytics has always been of crucial importance to any
business, particularly in the Media industry. However, with
the internet explosion and increasing online presence with
Driving freemium and variants of subscription models, the
Over-The-Top (OTT) are aggressively relying on Analytics.
the Future OTT is a term used for those providers who distribute
content/streaming media directly to viewers, through the
Internet, bypassing telecommunications and broadcast
television platforms that have traditionally controlled the
distribution of this content.

The most prominent player in the OTT services market is


Netflix with in-excess of 115 million video-on-demand
(VOD) subscribers. Evolving from DVD to dominance in the
streaming space, Netflix is “The Uncrowned King” of the
online streaming world. This is attributed to the aggressive
and intelligent use of data analytics, understanding user
behaviour and their entertainment preferences, diverse
content library for every interest, excellent pricing, amazing
OEM partnerships with their widget loaded on every single
type of devices. This enables Netflix to target audiences
with personalized offers. This helps them improve
customer experience and customer retention. According to
Juniper Research, Netflix is showing highest customer
retention in the U.S. and U.K. compared to its rivals.

Other OTTs such as Amazon Prime, Hulu, Viacom-Pluto,


and regional players such as Hotstar, Alt-Balaji, SonyLIV,
Voot (Viacom18) are rapidly growing in regional and global
markets.

India is a home for 80%+ non-English-speaking population


with 50+ languages spoken by one million+. With such a
diverse regional user-base, India offers a mammoth
opportunity for the vernacular OTT market.

230 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Here are few key examples of the growing use of increasingly important for OTT services.
Data Analytics for the deeper insights :
• Top Searches from users and leveraging AI for effective The data collected by the OTTs is not only on the viewing
recommendations for content and advertisement patterns of the main content, but also on the
• Click rate for targeted advertisement vs routine advertisement watched completely or skipped. Based on
advertisement engine this data, advertisements of similar products start to
• User Preferences based on ratings, Postal codes, appear while watching the main content. With Smart TVs
Gender, Age, Education, day in a week and Time and increasing use of mobile devices to view the videos; in
• Number of users watch a particular content future, a viewer would be able to click on the product
(entire content vs part content) advertisement of choice and purchase the product
• Average gap between one episode and the next immediately. Data collected and analysed for the click rate
• Analytics about When user pause, rewind, fast-forward, on the advertisements would be used to provide targeted
or stop watching advertisements to the viewers.
• What devices user use to watch which media
• Users’ browsing and scrolling habits One of the important trend that OTT players should watch
• Fashion preferences data within the movies and shows for, is growing Marketplaces for content creators. It has
and it’s influence on retail potential to flatten the entry barriers and disrupt traditional
media and entertainment business models. Today a small
However, not all OTTs succeed due to lack of proper data director can create a low budget movie and launch it
analytics, its reporting, interpretation, appropriate exclusively on Netflix. Similarly, Indian market offers huge
decisions, and timely execution. Execution of proper data opportunities for vernacular and regional marketplaces.
analytics on such a humongous amount of information
provides deep insights to the decision makers of OTT to To summarise, data analytics is of great importance to
design an implementable strategy with a firm OTTs in enabling them to successfully manage media
growth-sustainability plan. content, its quality, increase & retain its customer base;
thereby, growing and sustaing in these competitive
National and regional OTT players have a unique markets.
opportunity to build market share with the experiments
and innovations backed by analytical data, content caching Nikhil B. Shah
at edge (CDN- to improve the user viewing experience and VP, Cilans Systems
reduce the bandwidth cost), and AI based targeted
vernacular advertisements. OTTs are stepping up to
provide localized content and retain their viewers. AI driven
recommendation engines and related analytics (for
example, how much time users spend on
recommendations and what kind of recommendations) are

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 231


Evolution of
One of the most interesting things we saw on YouTube
recently was how Tesla’s stock fell by 10% in a single trading
day (it subsequently rose) when Elon Musk appeared on
Marketing the JRE (Joe Rogan Experience Podcast) and smoked a joint-
while urbanely answering deep questions about the future

with OTT of AI. Apparently, that podcast was enough to send


panicked investors into stock selling behavioral change.

Platforms Very recently, 19 year old YouTuber James Charles lost over
2 million subscribers within a couple of days because his
erstwhile mentor called him out over some purportedly
unsavory things he had done. He was also promoting a rival
brand, which his mentor considered a breach of trust.
Closer to home, we have seen similar effects on the AIB
channel after it was hit by the #metoo movement. The AIB
founder, Tanmay Bhatt is desperately making amends by
apologizing and promising change in order to regain public
trust.

Cancel culture is the popular name for this phenomenon,


and no amount of PR/Marketing is going to change this very
real, and oftentimes disturbing and irreversible trend. It
exists everywhere, and India is no exception.

We are also seeing some other real time behavioral


changes in media consumption. Cutting the umbilical
cable/satellite cord is a recent phenomenon- when we see
entire families check what’s on Netflix/Amazon Prime/other
OTT platforms before (if ever) going to check what’s
happening on normal media. Yes, this behavior is still in its
infancy. It has groups of early adopters and innovators who
are avoiding what’s on normal radio and TV for the fluid
content of the new OTT formats. Marketers know that what
early adopters and innovators do, the rest of the market
adopts. They are well aware that this is changing the
nature of the marketing game, but don’t know how to react
with traditional marketing approaches and tools. Social
media is where these influencers ( those wonderful
storytellers amongst the early adopters and innovators)
run the roost. It is a global phenomenon. A Game of
Thrones spoiler is as despised in India as it is in Taiwan,

232 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS REPORT 2019


Australia, the US or Italy. In consuming and discussing India is yet coming to terms with this kind of marketing- it is
media, human beings are surprisingly similar. still considered “out there” and focus is clearly still on the
short term, tactical “conversion driven” marketing. This will
Nuance is in. Podcasts and YouTubers have offerings that also change, and all it requires is one brand and one digital
are regularly more than an hour long, helping millions of agency to take the thought forward.
people enjoy their lonely drives back from work (bye bye
normal radio?) and then we have the IGTV influencers for But perhaps, the world of marketing may need to even
people who think less content is, actually, more. Perversely, consider a world that goes beyond advertising. In an
we live in an age that has both a short and a long attention information symmetrical age, where the consumer knows
span. The underlying phenomenon that makes both of more than the producer, this is in the realm of the possible.
these things true simultaneously is freedom from a To understand the power of information symmetry that
supplier driven format. Indian origin people like Lily Singh digital brings to the table, just ask a doctor facing a patient
are already owning and claiming this space as their own, who has googled up his disease and potential cures before
and acceptance by global audiences seems to be easier. meeting him.
India’s IVM podcasts has made a promising start-allowing
interesting conversations on interests and topics that have That’s why people who talk of digital as another marketing
traditionally found no expression in the Saas-Bahu channel don’t really get it. Digital has made and is making
mainstream offerings. fundamental changes in human behavior. OTT platforms
are at the forefront of this change. They say that Media
When TV studios and radio stations, geared around the reflects societal changes- but changes to media itself
advertising model, created content, they perhaps always reminds us how rapidly society is changing. Marketing has
needed to compromise on the quality, quantity and intent to keep swift pace, and with new ideas.
of the content. Marketing has been geared around these
existing patterns of media consumption, and that security Siddharth Deshmukh
blanket is being rudely shaken. This makes the job of Adjunct Faculty, MICA, The School of Ideas.
marketing in this OTT infested real world both infuriating
and enchanting. Gone are traditional ways of lighting up
reptilian brains into choosing brand X over brand Y. We are
talking, now, both in digital and physical worlds, of bold,
new ways of conversing with the sophisticated consumer.

Gillette’s toxic masculinity movement is a great example.


Sure, there was an outcry against it (mainly from us
privileged men), but most people miss the point- the
product was picked up typically by women, as key grocery
purchasers, who connected to what the brand was saying.
There are many more examples of a new kind of “woke”
advertising, centering around movements – some badly
executed, (the Kendall Jenner Pepsi Commercial that was
trashed) and some beautifully done (Nike’s running
community)

REPORT 2019 INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS 233


Research Team
Saesha Kini (MICA) 
Mitali Rozia (MICA)
Mansi Shah (MICA)
Hilda Harmony (MICA)
Leslin Bastain (MICA)

Industry Mapping & Trend Analysis


Dr. Darshan Ashwin Trivedi,
Editor Indian OTT Platforms Report and
Adjunct Faculty, MICA, The School of Ideas.

Data Visualization
Chirag Dagli
Founder & Director Indian OTT Platforms Report, 2019
Communication Crafts A MICA CMES property

In association with
Design, Iteration & Compilation by
Jagat Vyas (Communication Crafts)
Design & Visualization

Jayesh Davda (Communication Crafts)


Design & Visualization

Kruti Patel (Communication Crafts)


Co-ordination & Data Support

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