Netflix Is Coming Soon To Cable & DTH In India!
In India, Television is still the first choice when it comes to entertainment at home.
In an attempt to expand their market and to penetrate more into one of it’s fastest growing global markets, Asia and primarily India, Netflix is looking to tie-up with some major cable TV operators and DTH service providers in India, and look to double their numbers among the growing base of the television viewers in the country.
In India, Television is still the first choice when it comes to entertainment at home. With only a handful of population using Smart TVs, Netflix is finding it hard to find penetration into the masses.
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Netflix: Targeting The Masses
Millions of homes in India have cable TV set-top boxes and Netflix wants to enter these homes through these set-top boxes. The streaming content provider is actively engaged with a number of partners in India. They are trying to figure out how they can get on these set-top boxes along with a customized remote control featuring a dedicated Netflix button.
Back in March, they went into a strategic partnership with Airtel and Videocon d2h to integrate the Netflix app in their DTH boxes. Recently, Airtel and Videocon have indeed included a dedicated Netflix button on their remote controls.
Like in India, the entertainment major is also trying to tie up with some cable operator partners in other Asian countries like Malaysia and Singapore. They have predicted that their next 100 million subscribers will come from the Asia Pacific region, and a significant amount of those will be from India.
The Smart TV-like Experience
The tie-ups with cable operators and DTH service providers will enable them to offer a smart TV-like experience to the customers on regular TVs. This integration will enable easy navigation between cable television channels and online video content.
Netflix connected TVs have emerged as a primary viewing devices. Among the subscribers in India, 34% of the viewing hours were from TVs in India. Smart TVs are presently the most popular internet-enabled devices in the country, followed by media streaming devices like Apple TV, Google Chromecasts, Gaming Consoles and Set-Top Boxes.
India Specific Shows Is The Key
They are planning some India specific shows like Amazon Prime. With the increasing demand for multi-device connectivity and contextual entertainment, Netflix users across the Asia Pacific region use anywhere between three to five different internet connected devices to watch it.
Though a majority of members in Asia Pacific region log in mainly through laptops and mobile devices, around 42% subscribers use connected TVs as their primary device to watch Netflix content.
The Primary Viewing Device – Television
With over 42% streaming happening through television, subscribers are also spending twice the amount of time watching Netflix content on their connected televisions rather than from laptops and mobile devices.
Being one of the top-priority global markets, Netflix is also ramping up its Indian presence. The US based company has recently opened up their first India office in Mumbai, and are working on a number of functionalities like digital payments, content and production, marketing and business development.
Soon Netflix will also bring regional content in India. The company is now solely focused on device engagement among prospective clients.
It remains to be seen whether the tie-up with cable operators will work in the favour of Netflix amidst some stiff competition already waiting in the market in form of Hotstar, Amazon Prime, Voot and ALT Balaji to name a few!
