TURN OFF THE TV
The massive success of overthe-top (OTT) media services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in India has disrupted all the existing models of entertainment media, changing the way people consume video content. For today’s net-savvy urban viewers, televisi
Does anyone watch TV anymore? That’s the big question still keeping our entertainment industry on tenterhooks. Since the advent of the massively successful OTT (overthe-top) platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in India, the prospects for the old idiot box have looked grim. The best video content appears to be moving wholesale to the web, so is the best talent. Today, the average urban viewer seems more than willing to consume her daily dose of video content exclusively online. But more than that—and this is what gets the television industry’s goat—she is also willing to pay for that content.
Nobody could have predicted, say around five years ago, that popular entertainment would witness such a paradigm shift in such a short span of time. In fact, the production house moguls of Bollywood, who still fund the biggest TV shows, had thrived for so long in an unchanging media landscape that they’d become complacent. They weren’t quite prepared for the disruption that was to come, or for the scale of that disruption.
It was around two years ago that both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video first set foot in the Indian market. And it didn’t take long for both these brands to become household names. With subscription figures going through the roof, a demand opened up for exclusive India-specific content on both these platforms. Hence the profusion of “original” web series made by Indian artistes and filmmakers on Netflix, as well as on Amazon Prime Video.
“We have had a great start in India,” Jessica Lee, Vice President, Communications, Asia, Netflix, told Guardian 20. “We have focused primarily on content, partnerships and technology to build a great Netflix experience in the country. The first stage for us in India was when we launched in India two years ago. We are now in the second stage where we’re taking the best of Indian storytelling to India and the world. In the past year, we have more than doubled our catalogue in India.”
Currently, Netflix has 125 million subscribers in over 190 countries. It’s this global reach that has made even the biggest names in Bollywood acknowledge the power of online streaming platforms like Netflix. Lee said, “We are working with the best of Indian creators to tell great stories and reach diverse audiences worldwide. Our announcements of original productions