As the Indian entertainment industry is maturing over time, it is increasingly becoming a complex market to navigate. Over the years, the Indians have transitioned from Doordarshan to Direct-to-Home (D2H) to Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms which have been mainly driven by the changing content consumption behaviour. The global pandemic has fueled this change with digital subscriptions soaring high and emergence of new OTT platforms. India currently has a whopping 424 million OTT audience of which 119 million are active paid OTT subscribers of which majority are from the six metro cities.
The meteoric rise of the OTT platforms started during the peak pandemic days when millions of people were locked indoors and found the perfect entertainment in binge-watching millions of hours of content on multiple streaming platforms. Thanks to the rapid evolution of the internet infrastructure coupled with rise in use of affordable smartphones by a young and growing population, the OTT space never felt the lack of adequate audience. However, as the pandemic slightly eased and alternate avenues of entertainment opened up, OTT's growth rate started mellowing down. To retain the fickle viewers, while some OTT streamers have jacked up their investment to produce original content in multiple languages, others have tried to foray into games and tournaments to tap the cricket-frenzy viewers.
At a time when viewers are spoilt for choice and the streaming platforms offering exciting subscription offers, one should carefully consider various factors before opting for a subscription.
However, to cater to the segment that demands all-in-one or is discontinuing subscriptions due to lack of effective juggling of multiple subscriptions, there is the option of bundle subscriptions
Given the plethora of choices that the Indian OTT audience is thrown at, it is important that a viewer first understands his/her own need from an OTT platform, then undertakes a thorough research of various online apps that provides all-around OTTs, assess the discounts associated for such bundling services and above all take advantage of free trail services, if available. Above all, Indian viewers need not be educated about the advantages of id and password sharing for OTT platforms to maximize return on investment.