OTT Platforms Raise in India 2021

COVID-19 is an unprecedented global pandemic which has changed the way audience consume media. An undeniable trend surfaced in this period– adoption of OTTs. There are many reports which point to the growing market and consumer appetite for content of choice available on OTT platforms. OTTs offer a never before consumer advantage– choice of content, ease of access, choice of device / mediums (hand phone, laptop, tablet or TV screen). Gone are the days when family members fought for screen time of choice on family’s singular home device i.e. TV. With this study, the researchers studied the evolution of OTT space in India and reviewed the dynamic OTT space – evaluate some firsts like big banner movie releases on platforms like Amazon and Netflix, return of old content like Mythological programmes from the DD era on Hotstar etc. To complete the study, it was imperative to evaluate the impact of growing content consumption on psychographics across generations (children, adults and elderlies) as there is limited censorship in the OTT space. With this background, the researchers workedon the objectives and tried to evaluate the role played by the pandemic in evolving OTT media consumption trends; a qualitative mapping of increase in OTT adoption – Pre and Post COVID 19 in India; study underlying trends around increasing consumer appetite for the medium and analyse psychographic impact on children, adults and elderlies – listing pros and cons for freely available content with minimal censorship. The researchers adopteda combined qualitative and quantitative approach to extrapolate the data. A survey was also conducted to do audience mapping and analysis.In addition to primary data, content from news articles, industry research reports, international journals for accumulation of key trends were analysed.

Today, India enjoys services from over 40 OTT providers including domestic and international players like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5 and Eros Now. According to a credible research firm - Price Waterhouse Coopers Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2019-23, the over the top (OTT) market in pegged to growth at the rate of 21.8 % CAGR, from Rs. 4,464 crores in 2018 to Rs. 11,976 crores in 2023. Meanwhile, FICCIEY Report 2019 suggests the market will reach Rs 24 billion by 2021.

To consume content via OTT medium, it is imperative for the consumer to have access to an internet enabled device like a Smart TV, Mobile phone, Laptop or a Tablet. Owing to the basic need for technology access, younger generation is much more comfortable interacting with OTT platforms but post COVID the read and adoption has increased manifolds. The BCG report ‘Entertainment Goes Online'7 - suggests that OTT consumers can be classified under three main categories:
Traditionalists – who primarily consume
on other than OTT platforms
OTT Experimenter – who have significant
consumption on both conventional and
OTT platforms
Early Adopter – whose primary
consumption occurs on OTT platforms.
While early adopters are still a more urban
phenomenon, going forward it will be
more equally distributed.