Everyone today is driven by series and this idea of binge-watching. It is not surprising today that with a significant chunk of Indians watching Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’, a higher population of the country has invested in watching regional shows and series of the same line.
What we mean to put stress upon, is that with every passing second, more and more individuals are diverting themselves towards Over-the-Content (OTT) platforms in India, be it Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, MX Player or any of the plethora of such platforms available today.
Attributing major part of its success to sports, Hotstar has been ranked the most downloaded and most used OTT entertainment app in India. Thanks to such dynamic IPL and now the Cricket World Cup series’ followers in India, Hotstar has secured 49 percent share in the OTT entertainment app segment in terms of smartphone installations.
Parallel to this, the govt has lately been in talks to think about censoring certain series and movies on Netflix. Recently, the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister has voiced out that the govt will take such action only after thorough discussions with the stakeholders. Not just this, Zee Group‘s digital platform ZEE5, in order to increase its customer base, has decided to launch a mobile-only plan, just as Netflix has done.
Hotstar and Jio Live TV, Just Killing It!
Hotstar streams live sports, including cricket matches loved by Indians, ono its platforms. It did the same during the IPL matches and the now Cricket World Cup matches. This isn’t new, it has been doing this since the past some years.
It has now emerged as the leader of OTT apps, with 49% shares single-handedly, followed by Times Internet’s MX Player, with 42% shares. Not just this, Jio Live TV ranks 1in the live channel category sweeping off 30% market shares, followed by Airtel and Vodafone Pay.
Thoughts of Censoring Netflix Ongoing
Amidst the thoughts of censoring the US-owned OTT platform, Netflix, the Indian Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar recently announced that such an action would only be finalized after thorough discussions with the stakeholders.
Netflix is not just addictive but now is planning to come up with mobile-only plan in India, which would make the binge even more affordable. The upcoming plan will let customers stream the content on a mobile device. It has been testing a Rs 250 monthly plan, since March.
Netflix isn’t the first one to come up with such an idea. In fact, it’s following the path of its rivals Amazon Prime Video and Hotstar, who have already released such a perk for their user base.
Zee5 Plans to Announce Mobile-Only Tariff
Zee Group’s OTT platform, Zee5 has also decided to announce mobile-only tarrif plans, mainly to uplift their revenues and gather more customers, similar to the footprints of Netflix. Such a pack will let users to watch content on a cheaper rate, with an option to let users watch only those advertisements which they want.
Zee5 says that the platform is ready and is already attracting different advertisers from everywhere, with regional content being in highest demands, with successful regional subscription packs in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. It targets to increase it user base to 80 million by March from the 70 million app downloads recorded till March 2019.
It has partnered with over 30 companies worldwide, with strong expertise in OTT platforms, along with Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Reliance Jio to help them grow and reach smaller towns of the country.
People today are heavily driven by OTT apps for entertainment. Reports have revealed that 79% smartphone users in India access at least 1 or more OTT apps per day, aong with Youtube and TikTok as other platforms.
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