OTT TO THE RESCUE

Staying in is what most of us are doing amid this pandemic situation. And naturally, the more we stay at home, the more we find ourselves glued to the screens. Now, with no film releases in sight because of the shutdown of theatres and shoot of TV shows stalled across the country, what everyone is finding solace in are the OTT platforms. In fact, web shows have become the best tool for people to ward off boredom, and the platforms, too, are ensuring that the audience is spoilt for choice.

RISE IN TRAFFIC

The web, in times of no new films or TV shows, has seen a drastic spike in their traffic. Tarun Katial, CEO, ZEE5 India confirms, “We’ve seen a spike across key metros, as audiences continue to consume a wide variety of content. Interestingly, we’ve seen a significant jump in the consumption on connected devices, too, and this could be because many people are working from home.”

Neeraj Roy, Founder & CEO, Hungama Digital Media, shares that since the beginning of March, there has been an increase of over 20% in viewership on Hungama Play. While this trend started in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, they’re also beginning to notice this spike in other cities. “Further, being at home 24/7 has had a visible impact on consumption hours as well. Instead of peaking between 8-10 in the morning, consumption now remains high till 11.30am. Likewise, consumption goes up during lunch hours. At night, instead of the usual 8pm to midnight, consumption now starts peaking at 6pm,” he informs.

Ali Hussein, CEO, Eros Now, on the increase in platform’s engagement during the current lockdown situation, says, “In the era of social distancing, consumers are turning to digital entertainment. We’ve seen an increase of 200% in paid subscribers on a daily basis and App Annie shows a 78% increase in daily traffic.”

ON TREND

With so much ‘spare’ time in hand, OTT content on varied themes has found acceptance. Ferzad Palia, Head- Voot Select, Youth, Music & English Entertainment, Viacom18, says their new shows are already trending. “Our growth can’t be attributed to increased consumption alone… new, original content like Asur and Marzi have received phenomenal response,” he says.

Interestingly, apart from recent films such as Chhapaak, Tanhaji (both on Hotstar), and Street Dancer 3D (on Amazon Prime), doomsday films such as Contagion (based on a fictional virus pandemic), Zombieland: Double Tap and the documentary Pandemic: How To Prevent An Outbreak, now figure among the top watched films on their respective streaming platforms. On Netflix again, films such as Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, a sci-fi movie in which humanity is wiped out because of a T-Virus outbreak is on top besides filmmaker Imtiaz Ali’s SHE, a web show, which is trending at Number 1.

Director Neeraj Pandey, whose show Special OPS has received rave reviews upon its release on Hotstar, says that it’s all about the content and the timing of the release doesn’t matter. “If the content is good, people will see it whenever they have time. As a storyteller, you’re essentially working for the audience, and want to have a wider base.”

Roy further reveals that videos across various formats are being watched widely. “Recently launched Damaged 2 and Kashmakash, or even the ones we launched earlier like Bar Code and Damaged, are witnessing a spike in streaming. Short-format videos under categories of humour, entertainment, health etc. are also being consumed,” he says.

Mentalhood on ALTBalaji and Zee5 is also trendin , and its actor Dino Morea says, “We came at a goo time when everyone is binge watching stuff, and ours is a top-rated show. Glad that people are watching it.”

WHAT’S NEXT

There’s no stopping the OTT platforms as they continue to churn out n w content even in these times.

ALTBalaji has three new offerings — Who’s Your Daddy, BaarishSeason 2 and XXX UNCENSORED S2.

“The main objective of our community service campaign #StayALT is to encourag everyone to follow the precautionary directives, while keeping them engaged with a variety of content,” shares Divya Dixit, SVP, Marketing, Analytics & Direct Revenue at ALTBalaji.

Amazon Prime has made a selection of kids and family content available for free, and will also release Four Mor Shots Please! Season 2 on April 17. Netflix, meanwhile, has one of its most popular shows, Money Heist’s season 4 lined up for an early April release. (From top) Stills from Contagion, Asur, Special OPS, Mentalhood, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and Pandemic: Ho To Prevent An Outbreak

Juhi Chakraborty and Rishabh Suri

As most of us are self-quarantining due to the coronavirus outbreak, digital shows and OTT platforms have turned to be our sole entertainers