Streaming in India: where video is king
Online video entertainment and video-on-demand services are among the primary kinds of digital media to have captured the imagination of Indian audiences. With a large chunk of the population subscribed to at least one video streaming service, forecasts for the OTT video market look promising. Mainstream subscription video-on-demand services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have slowly penetrated the Indian market, where competition is rife with domestic contenders such as Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5, SonyLIV and JioCinema.Simultaneously, the advent of audio OTT platforms followed a similar trajectory although the market is still in its nascent stages. Music streaming giant, Spotify, charts India as one of its emergent markets given the potential for an increase in subscribers. On the other hand, Indian listeners have no dearth of choice, being offered their beloved tunes on local alternatives such as Gaana, Wynk, and Jio Saavn.
Apart from music, the younger generation has also discovered a new form of online entertainment – podcasts. While still a niche segment of the Indian audio market, marketers see immense potential in the years to come with Indian podcasters developing creative ways to attract audiences. One such instance was the fashioning of podcasts as episodic storytelling which performed well with Indian listeners.
Notwithstanding, Indian audiences are still not keen on paying for content with many households and individuals choosing to share subscriptions. Netflix’s recent move to crack down on multiple users sharing accounts did not bode well for the streaming titan. Additionally, YouTube continues to be India’s one-stop-shop for streaming and watching content that ranges from live sports to music videos to DIY tutorials free of charge.
