Youths Driving OTT Video Content Market in India
Top 5 Indian metros account for more than half of the OTT video content platform user base, says a survey
Young Indians, under 35 years of age, accounted for 89% of the total Indian OTT video content platform users, according to Counterpoint Research’s India OTT Video Content Market Consumer Survey. Among young users, the age groups of 16-24 and 25-35 contributed equally to the overall market. Male users account for 79% of the total users.
Overall, Top 5 metro cities account for 55% of the total OTT video platform users, while Tier I cities account for another 36% of the users. As per the survey, Hotstar
leads the Indian OTT video content market, followed by Amazon’s Prime Video, SONYLIV, Netflix, Voot, Zee5, Altbalaji and Erosnow in terms of the percentage of respondents subscribed to each platform.
Production house-backed local OTT players, such as SONYLIV, Voot, Zee5, Erosnow and Altbalaji are also competing with foreign players such as Amazon’s Prime Video and Netflix. The market remains highly focused on the ad-based model (AVOD), where advertisements drive revenues. However, subscriptionbased market (SVOD) continues to grow significantly.
In terms of engagement, the study found Erosnow users were the most engaged users, with 68% of its users indicating that they watch content on the platform daily. The platform continues to thrive through partnerships. In India, it partnered with Xiaomi for pre-installation on smart TVS. Erosnow has the highest percentage of its users consuming content on smart TVS. A total of 27% of Erosnow users watch content on smart TVS. Erosnow also remains the only major Indian OTT platform to partner
with Apple for its new Apple TV+ service which will launch across the globe later this year. Further, the survey revealed that 9% of Erosnow’s users see content on the platform for more than 21 hours a week. This is the highest among all other OTT platforms in India.
Talking about the findings, Hanish Bhatia, Senior Analyst, Counterpoint Research, said, “India is a young country and OTT video market is a very competitive
space in India at present. Platforms are focusing on price innovation, content creation and acquisition and partnerships as the engine for growth.”
“The low cost of mobile data and affordable smartphones have revolutionized overall video content consumption in India. However, OTT platforms have struggled to register profits, creating an environment ripe for acquisitions or exits. Having said that, new players continue to enter the market as
“The low cost of mobile data and affordable smartphones have revolutionized overall video content consumption in
India. However,
OTT platforms have struggled to register profits, creating an environment ripe for acquisitions or exits. Having said that, new players continue to enter the market as it is expected to record double-digit growth from subscription revenues during the next five years”
– Hanish Bhatia,
Senior Analyst, Counterpoint Research
it is expected to record double-digit growth from subscription revenues during the next five years,” Bhatia added. ■