A

PROJECT REPORT

ON

“Will OTT Content Or The Series Viewing Habit Overtake Movies Among Genz”

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

PROF.TAPASHREE BOSE

SUBMITTED TO UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF FULL TIME COURSE POST

GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MANAGEMENT (PGDM)

SUBMITTED BY
(SANJANA BIRENDRASINGH RITHAL)
(BATCH 2019-20)

University of Mumbai’s
Garware Institute of Career Education and Development
BSS Foundation College
Mumbai

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Declaration:

I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the Project Report entitled “Will OTT Content Or
The Series Viewing Habit Overtake Movies Among Genz”

written and submitted by me to the University of Mumbai, in partial fulfillment of the

requirement for the award of degree of Master of Business Administration under the
guidance of (Name of the Guide) is my original work and the conclusions drawn therein are
based on the material collected by myself.

Signature of Project Guide :

Signature of coordinator

Signature of External Examiner

Place:
Date: Sanjana Rithal
Student Name & Signature

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Sr.No. Topic Page No.

1 Introduction to the project 1

1.1

1.2

2 Theoretical Background

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

3.1

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 CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT

PROJECT TITLE- WILL OTT CONTENT OR THE SERIES VIEWING HABIT

OVERTAKE MOVIES AMONG GENERATION.

An over-the-top (OTT) media service refers to a streaming media service offered directly to

viewers via the internet bypassing cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms that
traditionally act as a distributor of such content. The emergence of OTT platforms has
disrupted the entertainment sector. It is being propelled by the rise in the standard of living,
evolution of smartphones, ubiquitous and affordable Internet connectivity coupled with
increasing penetration in rural areas, and changing preferences of the audience. Content is
now king in a real sense, and it is personalized and provides opportunity for wider focused
distribution. A recent Boston Consulting Group report has predicted that the OTT segment in
India is currently pegged at $0.5 billion and is poised to grow to $5 billion by 2023.
Affordability and convenience are the key factors that have propelled the OTT revolution in
India. Cinema is a habit, if you break a habit for four-six months, you'll get a lot of people
dissuaded to come to cinemas. Even if there is a reduction of 15-20 per cent in the footfall,
which is anyway on a decline, cinema is going to be badly hit

It is noteworthy that several OTT players have been producing original shows and films
besides offering live entertainment, which has managed to capture eyeballs. The proliferation
of OTT platforms has evoked apprehension among the filmmakers that this may be the death
knell for theatrical experience. It is now not uncommon to see certain films opting for the
OTT route to reach out to the appropriate target audience. Video streaming platforms have
certainly made watching movies affordable, convenient, and available ‘on the go,’ especially
for those who prefer binge-watching.

Moreover, gourmet food and an escapism experience as accompaniments to theatrical

viewing make it still attractive. It is a major source of revenue for the film. The box office
route is still a viable option for both content companies and theatres if the past track record
are anything to go by, be it occupancy, footfalls, revenue or operating profits. It serves as a
key measurement metric for the success of a motion picture. It is unlikely for big-budget
movies opting for an OTT platform- only route in the near future unless there is an
exclusivity of content to a particular platform.

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Both mediums, for now, are holding on to their exclusivity with formats and the USP
attached to it. Both of them, though serve the same type of content, but the purpose and
consumer variables are different. I might look for theatre experience for 3D animation or
much-awaited releases, but I would fall for OTT platforms more On-The-Go with more like
documentaries, interviews, podcasts, special interest content, history, or web series. It is more
likely to say OTT has impacted ongoing TV viewership rather than theatrical experience.

One can foresee the co-existence of both theatres and OTT platforms in the long -run owing
to their relevance to a particular format of content. Most people watch OTTs on weekdays
and watch movies over the weekend. However, it cannot be denied that the technological
revolution will redefine theatre for a type of content such as genre movies. The audience is
likely to visit the theatre to seek an overall movie experience with a high amount of VFX and
3D, spend time with family and friends. With Cinema halls shut and film releases suspended
amid the nation-wide lockdown, theatre owners battle fears that the digital platforms might
end up changing the collective movie watching experience, resulting in a dent in the footfalls
whenever the screens open up again. Theatrical viewing is fixed at a particular time, a
location, which isn't the case with OTT. You can watch unlimited content online using free
data. This is a huge crisis we will face. It's not like the gates will open and people will throng
our premises

New age audiences are increasingly looking for fresh, relatable, and engaging content and are
willing to shed an extra penny to seek a completely transformative experience. This customer
experience will continue to occupy the centre stage of the entertainment industry. Hence it is
grossly incorrect to exaggerate the impact of OTT platforms and equate it to the death of
movie theatre viewing. Clearly, consumers continue to prefer foreign players over the
indigenous streaming platforms. Established players like Netflix and Amazon Prime continue
to have a stronghold over the Indian market with Disney+Hotstar giving them a reasonably
good competition. Digital platforms are catching up, with so many people now at home
enjoying their favourite shows and films. People have so much fear right now, why will they
come to a theatre? They're now getting content for free at home. So the fear is real. But the
rest of the platforms still seem to have their task cut out and seem to be far behind the other
three. But there are people who believe theatrical experience will always trump home
viewing as it is about marking a memory, like a date or an anniversary.

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 CHAPTER 02- THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Communication and entertainment are imperative to human existence and even the most
primitive humans had their ways of communication, however crude or unstandardized those
may have been. Communication is primordial in nature and has existed since the beginning of
time. One cannot imagine a human society without communication. Similarly, entertainment
forms a great part of our everyday lives. Different people have different modes of
entertaining themselves but the gratification that it offers the human mind cannot be
overruled. With time, various media evolved. In the pre-historic times, people used
methodologies such as smoke signals, signs and symbols, and storytelling. Then came the
more standardized manuscripts, documents written by hand. It was with the advent of
printing press that written or more aptly printed communication was spurred into the masses.
Replication of documents became less cumbersome and time-efficient, thereby leading to
decentralization of knowledge, social and economic revolutions across the world and a
revamping of the social order.
Once science and knowledge became abound, there was no dearth of technologies and
discoversies. Technological advancements gave birth to glorious media of communication
such as newspapers, letters, telegram, telephone and some more cutting-edge mass media
such as radio, Television and lately the Internet. The advent of Internet encompassed the
entire globe in an all-inclusive wave of information and the world was but a village, where
everything was within reach without much difficulty. Internet is, unequivocally, by far the
invention that has made the world seem most shrunk and connected. Internet changed the
way we communicated, the way we mingled or socialized, our economies, our polities and
societies, nothing was to of the influence of this grand virtual space that engulfed the world
and brought forth a wave of information like never seen before. Internet has changed the
consumption patterns of the audience leading the producers to come up with inventive
programs and content distribution platforms that were previously unheard of. One such
invention was OTT platforms that made direct to consumer chain possible.
OTT or Over-the-top content platforms are the media platforms that according to Tata
Consultancy Services are “the platforms that deliver film and television content, bypassing
the conventional distribution streams of cable and satellite TV, from producer to consumer
directly, an exchange driven by Internet.” Some of the commonest OTT platforms in India
and elsewhere include Netflix, Disney Hotstar, Eros Now, Amazon Prime Video, Voot, etc.
Much like the global trends that indicate a rise in the use of tablets, smartphones, laptops and
other internet enabled devices for content consumption by the audiences, India too has seen a
steep growth in the number of internet users. India currently has the second largest users of
internet after China and with a rapid growth rate, the market promises a huge potential. As a
report by Deloitte states “Online entertainment services lead by audio and video content is the
cusp of inflection point in India.” With the audience focussed on infotainment and and that
makes it a tough choice for Indian viewers and so is habits and preferences for TV as a
medium. The popularity of OTT is on the rise owing to increasing smartphone penetration,
competitive internet data plans offered by Indian telecom service providers, the abundance
and quality of content on these platforms and the global media industry dynamics that have a
sizable impact on the economic and policy matters of OTT service providers. To add to this is

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the personalized nature of smartphone media and the availability of content from around the
globe. Also instrumental is the preference of youth for free and unlimited access to content as
opposed to complete content ownership in a limited manner.

While the world stayed quarantined in their homes during the COVID-19 lockdown period,
the one thing a majority of the population claimed was a godsend during the confined times
was their access to the OTT world. These ‘Over-the-Top’ platforms are arguably among the
primary reasons behind how people of all ages and demographics could maintain their sense
of sanity & live in harmony with those stuck together inside the four walls.
As OTT platforms flourished, the state of Indian cinemas went from struggling to rock
bottom. Unable to withstand the long closure and with no government aid, at least 1,500-
2,000 single-screen cinemas across India are expected to shut. It hasn’t helped that the past
eight months have seen over 90 films across languages skip a theatrical release for a digital
one, thereby limiting new offerings available for cinema owners.
India OTT video services market is projected to grow at an aggressive CAGR of more
than 30% during 2021 - 2025 due to the growing number of smartphones users, higher
proliferation of smart devices, cheaper internet plans, consumer preference for good
quality content, increasing urban population and rising innovation in OTT platforms in the
country’s OTT video services market. Rising disposable income and increasing demand for
OTT video services from young population are other factors contributing to growth in OTT
video services market in India. Moreover, changing lifestyle of consumers and COVID-19
restrictions are also expected to boost OTT Video Services market in India. 

Pandemic acted as a catalyst

The seeds of growth for OTT were sowed well in advance with the growth in broadband and
increased smartphone penetration. With people, especially the working sector, spending more
time on their phones and laptops, these OTT platforms have become a more engraved part of
our lives. The ease of anywhere and anytime viewing suits the need of fast paced life of a
digital consumer. The market has shown steady growth from a two-player market in 2012 to a
more versatile market with more than 40 players currently, and with an unending scope for
many more. The bundling of OTT content with data plans by the telecom companies have
tremendously helped in expanding the reach and awareness of OTT platforms.
Shift from linear to OTT is permanent
The growth in the OTT industry could bring a degrowth in the DTH industry. With more to
offer, OTT is a better choice for a DTH subscriber. The OTT industry may also negatively
impact the broadcasting industry. Even those who prefer the big television screen over their
smartphones and tablets have taken to these OTT platforms. Even after the return of fresh
content on General Entertainment channels (GEC) channels, it’s quite expected that the
consumption of OTT platforms will continue in the form of catch-up TV. For a consumer,
OTT brings in many perks, right from the choice of content, multi-screen play, any time –
anywhere content, and a lot of personalisation. In this fast-paced world, which has the ‘right
now’ attitude, OTT has come around as a blessing. The only roadblock to the growth of such
platforms has been the adoption or the digital migration of the consumer. However, the
pandemic has acted as a catalyst.

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Non-metro markets, regional and localised youth-driven content to drive growth
At present, the subscribers are evenly spread between the metros and rest of the markets, and
the future would be driven by the non-metros, semi urban, and rural markets. With the boom
in almost every consumer-based industry, players here have understood the importance of
personalising and catering to the consumer base in Tier-II and Tier-III cities of India. It has
become a matter of growing importance to understand how to enter these markets as these
segments have different user behaviours as compared to the metropolitans in India.
Digital first trend to continue, big production houses might refrain
Ever since March 23, 2020, when the lockdown was first imposed in the country, cinema
halls around the country were asked to shut. While the single-screen owners and multiplex
owners were then struggling hard to open their shutters, Over The Top (OTT) players sported
a big smile on their face with every second film coming their way for streaming. Moreover,
the absence of fresh content on GEC further pushed consumption on OTT channels.
Prominent OTT channels were seen thanking their stars for giving them the opportunity to
make good business by attracting good viewership on OTT and acquiring the ready for
release big ticket films at attractive price points. Over the Top (OTT) platforms have redefined
their purpose and need for the consumers over the years. The growing popularity of on demand
content have given a push to language content creators with more prolific and relatable content . India
has a variety of OTT players operational.

However, these were special times and OTT players might not find Big ticket releases so
easily for a digital first release at the price point they could acquire these assets. For a
production house which can expect a big box office collection through a theatrical release,
digital first doesn’t seem attractive for them. The South Indian film industry refrained from
digital first and delayed their release. Nevertheless, in future, the need for differentiated
content might push the platforms commission Digital Only/Digital first content and the trend
might continue. In a nutshell, the future of OTT viewing looks bright and shining, more than
ever.
Rise in capacity of spend for Video Streaming Apps for the consumers.
App store consumer spending through subscription spending grew 285% worldwide in the
top 5 video streaming. Netflix was the top app by annual consumer spend in nearly every
country where it has its presence and nearly every time period from 2016 to 2018.The launch
of Disney’s streaming service Disney+ is set to disrupt the market in 2019 across the globe.
As compared to the other countries the capacity of spending for Indians have been the
highest. For India 2018-19 has been an exciting year as far as OTT content industry is
concerned. The previous year saw an influx of content with various kinds of content offerings
across platforms. For the first time Indian OTT markets looks promising and ever booming.
The past year also welcomed new platforms like Ullu, Shemaroome, MXPlayer and more.
This is the best time for OTT platforms as there is a sudden growth of platforms, with more
investments, more content, more consumers and more revenue. Television content has been
the biggest category of consumption over the past one year. The viewers appreciated Indian
soap operas and long form narratives. There is no negative growth in television viewing over
the last year, thus catch up viewing is one of the strongest promises of OTT offerings. Live
has been a strong promise in the past year. Cricketing seasons, news content or shows like

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‘Game of Thrones’ streamed live was a strong attraction for consumers. Broadcasters have a
new weapon for linear television called live content streamed on OTT platforms. The live
promise is expected to push the consumption for informative, newsworthy, timely content
ideas. Events like elections and terrorists attacks created a lot of content which did rounds on
various OTT platforms. Consumption of video content on News OTT platforms has
increasingly been substituting the need for text content consumption. The domain promise for
OTT content, it being a personal medium has also been sex and violence; something that the
mainstream is unable to provide in the mainstream Indian television. Indian platforms like
ALTBalaji and Ullu played to the promise and attracted eyeballs. International platforms like
Netflix and Amazon also kept attracting Indian viewers with their promise of ‘non-family
viewing content’.
Another striking thing that was observed was that platforms that came into being recently or
are trying to strengthen their library are dependent on already existing library of content that
was first aired on Indian television. India has hundreds of channels, contributing hundreds of
thousands of hours of content every year. Content has proved its worth on one platform, is
syndicated to another platform, thus rehashed content is still in demand. Content is flowing
like water across the platforms, and consumers are sampling it across platforms. There has
been a dearth of freshly created content with strong fandom. Thus audio-visual content is
rapidly proving to be platform agnostic. As against this, there will be a strong demand of
freshly created content specific to OTT platform. The originally produced content for the
platform will define the growth of a particular OTT platform. Following the availability of
internet through mobile phones at a massive scale and low rates, the internet dark zones,
especially the semi urban and rural areas have got access to content. Many of these users are
first generation OTT content consumers. Since these areas are non urban areas, which are
supposed to have an inflow of mainstream content, the new consumers have been attracted to
regional content. A combination of regional promise on an AVOD platform works very well
for such regional markets. India is also about narratives, there are far more untold stories in
these regional markets, compared to those in the mainstream Indian content markets. Once
these will be told, the Indian content market will become truly dynamic in the years to come.
The content ecosystem for OTT platforms continued to grow in the last year with co-
existence of crowdsourced content, independent content, studio produced content, film
content, TV content to acquired content. The market is ripe and is waiting for a big push with
new entrants waiting to crack the Indian territories. The consumer on OTT platforms is a
global Indian consumer. There is a complex mix of glocal socio cultural insights that the OTT
players have been following, which is a reflection of the consumer of today. Radio brought in
the promise of music on the go. It delivered the promise of music content consumption for
decades. The emerging OTT platforms were observed engaging the younger consumers with
a high consumption. The content market is awaiting a big transition. The linearity of
consumption is getting redefined. The narratives are getting shorter. The series seasons were
seen getting realigned to international standards of one hour and ten episodes. While many
different content ideas were tried, content like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch with interactive
narrative was a true innovation for viewers. This may attract more and more Indian content
creators to redefine their narrative style. Looking at how the gaming and live content streams
are growing, emerging tech driven content like nonlinear content, interactive narratives,
multiple platform narratives, immersive content will be explored by the content creators in

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the time to come. Since many new platforms are dependent on syndicated content for their
volume, the original content with pave the way for new engagement tactics.
The Big OTT Market
The OTT sector in India witnessed a 30% rise in the number of paid subscribers, from 22.2
million to 29.0 million between March and July 2020.
As per a recent study, most Indian viewers prefer watching regional language content,
especially in Hindi, on the OTT platforms. Hindi language content accounted for >50% of the
overall streaming in April–July 2020.
Overall, the top five metro cities accounted for 46% of the total OTT video platform users,
while Tier I cities accounted for another 35% users in July 2020.
Another study revealed that ~90% consumers prefer watching video content in regional
languages, and that only 7% of the total time spent on OTT platforms in India is on English
content. 
As the coronavirus-led lockdown affected the consumer theatre experience, moviemakers are
adding new releases to the OTT platforms.
According to a report, the Indian OTT market is set to reach Rs 237.86 billion (US$3.22
billion) by FY25, from Rs 42.50 billion (US$576.73 million) in FY19.
India will have 500+ million online video subscribers by FY23 and this number is likely to
grow with increased smartphone and internet penetration. Going by the current trends, a
diversified content portfolio and various pricing plans would help OTT players gain more
paid subscribers.
Business Model and Strategies
The OTT market is segmented into advertising video on demand (AVOD), subscription video
on demand (SVOD) and freemium & transactional video on demand (TVOD).
The market remains highly focussed on ad-based model (AVOD), where advertisements
drive revenues; however, subscription-based market (SVOD) continues to grow significantly
In 2019, Netflix announced a mobile and tablet-only plan for just INR199 per month to
capture new subscribers; however, despite this new plan, Netflix is quite expensive for the
price-sensitive users. 
In May 2020, Amazon Prime Video announced the direct-to-digital release of a few Indian
movies and ZEE5 also announced that it has lined up 15 direct-to-digital releases for FY21.
These pricing and direct-to-digital releases strategies will help the OTT platforms to increase
their customer base. Also, to get more paid subscribers, OTT players need to offer affordable
plans, customised language packs, along with mainstream plans.
Though streaming English content has been limited to popular international TV series and
movies, most platforms are focussing on sharing original content in local/native languages. 
OTT platforms such as Disney and AT&T are focussing on OTT content delivery to provide
customers with exclusive services, while key national players such as Zee, ALT Balaji and
Reliance Bigflix are taking efforts to move from conventional media to OTT-based services.

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This has facilitated cut-throat competition among OTT providers, who are offering
subscription fees at all-time low costs and striving to provide more, high-quality content to
increase their share in the market.
Key SVOD players are introducing pack durations and sachet pricing as part of their strategic
initiatives to boost subscription rates and ensure that consumers can access the preference
shows at a reasonable cost. This move can help OTT platforms gain acceptance among the
price-sensitive Indian consumers.
Also, these SVOD platforms are emphasising on creating a repository of regional content,
including movies and web series, as a strategic move to target niche regional audience across
the country.
Traditional broadcasters, such as ZEE5, Voot and Disney+ Hotstar, and other independent
streaming platforms, such as ALTBalaji and Eros Now, are heavily investing in creating
original regional content to engage their subscribers.
In order to create engaging experiences for viewers, OTT players are experimenting with
various forms of in-app interactive activities such as contests or games that can be parallelly
played while watching live video content. For example, Disney+ Hotstar introduced the
‘Watch N Play’ social feed during the 2019 IPL season, wherein a viewer could predict
scores and win prizes during a live match.
Growth and Facts:
In the coming years, as the internet penetration and digital maturity will rise, a major proportion
of the OTT subscribers will be from Tier II+ cities.
The OTT landscape is expected to get hyper competitive in next 4–5 years and the OTT service
providers will strive to emerge as the preferred platform among consumers.
It will be interesting to observe the different business strategies that will be adopted by the OTT
service providers to attract more customers.
These platforms will also need to ensure diversity in the content as consumers in Tier II+
markets prefer TV soaps, reality shows, local language movies and mainstream Bollywood
movies. 
OTT offers powerful benefits for institutions of higher education. It expands your ability to
retarget audiences because their viewing information becomes part of their digital footprint. It
also helps you to reach audiences where they are, which is increasingly on their mobile
phones. Millennials spend an average of 7.2 hours per day on their phones and spend more
time watching video on their phones than on their televisions. 

Aside from these general advantages, OTT brings some specific benefits that are especially
useful for institutions of higher education. 

1. Geotargeting. Target audiences in specific areas or regions. Since most adult students

prefer to attend schools within 50 miles of their home you can use OTT to spend ad
dollars where they’ll be most impactful.
2. Dynamic creative. Serve ads based on interests if the platform supports such granular
targeting. Many already do, and most OTT platforms are continuing to improve their
targeting capabilities. You may be able to highlight different majors or support
offerings based on audience interest.

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 3. Self-Selecting Audience. Your online learning program is more likely to enroll
students who are already comfortable in an online environment. OTT media is digital
by definition. Those who use it most frequently are likely comfortable in this space,
which may make them better candidates for online learning. 

Initially, there might be discomfort among the big players of the film industry regarding the
new normalcy, but research shows that, even in a post-COVID19 world, OTT services will
continue to dominate. Therefore, the need of the hour is for the key investors to think about
the integration of technologies. OTT can help content reach millions of potential consumers
at the fraction of the cost of a formal release and traditional ad promotions. The launch of a
new movie on DTH and OTT simultaneously can garner over billions of viewers across the
globe. The production house could potentially make millions within the first weekend of
release by monetizing their online ads. Release via OTT channels can eliminate the threat of
piracy production houses currently face in India. In fact, the mass availability of content can
eliminate the necessity of piracy altogether.

Right now, the emerging trend of OTT streaming of content puts forth the following trends –

 The demand for high-quality content is increasing every day as the common person is
able to access OTT platforms from their home.
 The OTTs will find newer ways to make advertising profitable as movie watching
becomes more common and cheaper for everyone with a subscription.
 Already, several production houses have a collection of their content available for
platforms like YouTube, but soon they will reach out to other rising OTT platforms of
preference in India including Hotstar, Sony LIV, Hoichoi, Eros Now and Sun NXT.
 Theatres will soon become an exclusive or luxury experience as audiences can watch
the hot new releases as well as the classics on a combination of OTT and DTH from
the comfort of their own homes at the fraction of the price.
 More movies will hit the popular OTT platforms like Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+
and Eros Now after their initial release in their theatres.
 Many movies and TV shows will rake more profit on the digital platforms following
the footsteps of Trolls World Tour and some might release exclusively for OTT
platforms like Manhunt, Ghost Stories and Guilty.

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The OTT ecosystem and advertising options are complex and continuously evolving. In our
second article on OTT advertising for higher education, we’ll explore some of the current
best practices in OTT marketing, which the Education Dynamics Marketing Services team
expertly employs as part of our marketing mix. In recent years, OTT's subscriber base has
experienced exponential growth. Much can be attributed to technological advances which
contribute to the Internet bringing high-quality content to our screens. OTT players not only rely
on their repository but invest a great deal of money in the production of their own content. Many
factors, such as new technologies, the decline of data charges, better Internet speeds both at
home and on mobile devices (4G), universalizing entertainment, easier access and accessibility
of OTT devices (smartphones, smart TVs and other OTT devices), contributed to catalyzing OTT
popularity and are shifting our way of consuming content. 

It’s no secret that content generation, distribution, and consumption are disrupting television.
In fact, by the end of 2017, there were 120 million aggregate over-the-top (OTT)
subscriptions in the United States alone, indicating that the Internet is gradually overtaking
TV as the standard way people consume media. 

Mushrooming partnerships and acquisitions are quickly reshaping the video media landscape.
Potential partners, particularly among OTT video providers and traditional mobile network
operators (MNOs), are vying for collaboration to capture the greatest market share, creating
business alliances and product offerings that are constantly evolving. The ultimate challenge
lies in knowing what offerings to create and whom to partner with to maximize revenue while
gaining customers. 

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Four trends are transforming the global landscape and will play a crucial role in informing the
strategy that ecosystem players must adopt to succeed. 

1. Companies are experimenting with new models for content monetization 

The digital on-demand content market is still evolving, and an array of companies are
experimenting with alternate monetization models—the most popular being subscription
video on demand (SVOD) and advertising (or ad-based) video on demand (AVOD).
Consumers are spending more on SVOD such as Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video than
ever before, making it the single largest video services payment method at 51 percent of
global spend. As subscribers show a willingness to pay for premium content, OTT players are
coming up with “fremium” models that provide free access to a selected content catalog to
acquire new subscribers along with premium content and services for paying subscribers to drive
up average revenue per user. The business model for free content that is supported through an ad-
supported revenue is a tough proposition, as seen by the global leaders in digital online music:
Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Pandora. Spotify and iHeartRadio have adopted a “fremium” model.
Spotify derives more than 90 percent of its revenue from subscription fees, touting 75 million
paying subscribers out of its 170 million monthly users. Pandora, on the other hand, generates
most of its revenue through ads, with its user base primarily using the free service. Today,
Pandora is losing money and is making a big push for Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium
services, which have nearly 6 million paid subscriptions. 
With growth in subscription-based services, transaction-based services will also increase in the
long run and are the best means to sell content for a high average selling price. For example,
TVOD players such as Amazon Video, Google Play, and iTunes largely offer similar content but
justify a higher price with new-release and blockbuster content and easy-to-use content-discovery
tools. 

2. Consolidations and strategic partnerships are changing the ecosystem.

With competition intensifying and greenfield growth becoming more challenging, the
market is ripe with M&A talks and partnerships with companies seeking to expand into
new markets or otherwise differentiate themselves. Notable examples include Verizon’s
purchase of Yahoo, T-Mobile and Netflix’s streaming partnership, and Amazon’s Prime
Video featuring content from HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime. Also, illustrative of
consolidation trends are Disney’s bid to acquire Fox and the T-Mobile–Sprint merger
dialogs. 
Between 2011 and 2017, telecoms and pay-TV operators struck 332 deals with OTT
service partners. Partnerships tend to focus on three strategies: marketing simply as a
brand and sales tool, service integrations into tariff plans or technical integrations into the
user interface, and commercial agreements with revenue sharing, carrier billing
arrangements, and white-labeled or cobranded offerings.
A growing regional focus is also developing through partnerships and acquisitions to
deliver custom content. HBO is creating distribution alliances globally on its OTT

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 platforms: HBO Now, HBO España, and HBO Nordic. Disney acquired all of Star India’s
assets, including Hotstar, its OTT offering. Regional OTT video players are penetrating
local markets by entering into strategic partnerships with MNOs. Examples of these
partnerships are Vodafone’s endless data offerings in the United Kingdom for SVOD
services, such as Prime Video and Netflix, and Shaw Communications in Canada offering
its TV and Internet customers an integrated platform to watch Netflix. 
Moving in the opposite direction to increase revenue via linear channels, OTT players are
launching lite pay-TV services to offer linear channels at prices lower than those of
traditional players. Hulu, an entirely online video service, launched its live-TV streaming
services with more than 40 channels, including major networks CBS, Fox, ABC, and NBC as
well as select sports and entertainment channels, such as ESPN, Food Network, and Cartoon
Network. We expect consolidation to continue, driven by the need for scale and resulting in
three distinct clusters of content players: mainstream content, sports programing, and niche
localized content. 

3. The OTT model is changing the value chain of content creation and distribution
Streaming television is touching every corner of media, disrupting not only how content is
distributed, but also how it is created and by whom. Today, about 50 million households have
OTT video, and according to comScore, they consume it in the same time-of-day pattern as
traditional TV viewers. Even through more TV viewers are adopting Internet-based
distribution, the clear majority of US households are still consuming TV programming
through traditional bundles—often in addition to OTT offerings. In fact, consumers are
spending more on at-home entertainment, a trend which is expected to grow. 

Based on current viewing habits and untapped video segments, a big growth opportunity
exists in live and linear OTT services, which are expected to be an integral part of the next
generation of OTT video. Pay-TV providers are in the best position to develop live streaming
services that exploit content that is best experienced in real time, such as news, weather, talk
shows, and sports. But this could change as the content owners begin to develop their own
platform and OTT partnerships. 

In an effort to optimize reach and maximize revenue, sports properties are exploring
developing their own OTT services and partnerships with leading online video providers.
Formula 1’s new owner, Liberty Media Corporation, plans to show races on its OTT platform
in almost two dozen markets this season with unique feeds and multi-level personalization
that is not available on any other platform. Meanwhile, Wimbledon Tennis Championships
not only has an incredible spread of TV-broadcast rights but also has a social media presence
with 157 million viewers on Facebook alone as of 2017. On the online video provider
partnership side, Amazon signed deals to show the National Football League’s Thursday
night games and the Association of Tennis Professionals tour highlights. Facebook has signed
contracts with multiple sport properties, including Major League Soccer, the World Surf
League, Major League Baseball, US college football, the UEFA Champions League for
European football, and many more. While the traditional cable model focused on content
unbundling, we expect content to eventually re-bundle in an OTT construct. Eventually, we
expect more consumers to migrate most of their TV consumption to Internet-based
distribution. 

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4. Mobile is surpassing TV to become the main growth channel for content delivery;
MNOs are playing a central role in distribution as cord cutting accelerates
The mobile channel has become a widely accepted medium for video delivery, overtaking
traditional TV as the leading growth channel. Even with TV billing arrangements and fixed
broadband bundling, mobile is quickly growing to become the dominant growth channel for
service distribution. As MNOs accelerate mobile broadband and LTE deployment, access to
high-quality mobile streaming is growing, particularly in the emerging markets of Asia
Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East. At the same time, the surge in MNO partnerships and
bundling deals is incentivizing viewers to consume more content on their mobile devices.
While 79 percent of households still pay for traditional cable or satellite service, cord-cutting
rates are continuing to accelerate in the United States. Total pay-TV subscribers declined 3.4
percent in 2017, and “cord-never” households that did not pay for any traditional form of TV
service in the first place are at 13.5 million and growing.
 

MNOs are quickly realizing their growing importance as a vital sales and marketing channel
for premium OTT video and other content services. As MNOs support growth in OTT video
consumption over the next decade, they aim to encourage the use of mobile data plans and
uptake of mobile-first consumption by offering higher-margin visual entertainment offerings.
Mobile partnerships have surged to more than half of all recent OTT video bundling deals,
validating the growing trend of consumers’ mobile adoption. This trend is expected to

16
continue as more MNOs subsidize or bundle content at no additional charge to drive upsell
and retention. 

Racing toward the future

Taken as a whole, these four trends affect the media ecosystem’s participants in different
ways. Where some see maturing markets, others see fresh opportunities to evolve their
businesses to a new industry standard for product and service delivery. And yet all OTT
providers are in a hurry to exploit the best opportunities, and agile ecosystem partners will
join them in this pursuit. 
The production houses will soon realize that OTT is not the adversary, but a dedicated ally.
Only by integrating with new technology can the film industry survive and thrive in the
upcoming new normal, where everyone with a mobile phone, iPad, laptop, desktop or smart
TV will want to watch the latest movies or binge-watch TV shows at their will.

Personalization of content and recommendation based on watching history is what makes the
OTT experience especially rewarding for the common man. Therefore, we expect the
industry to find new scopes for expansion into newer markets. Which will lead to newer jobs
or responsibilities over time. In short, the film industry market will expand to new levels.
More jobs will be created over time. More users will have access to good content very early.
More content will be watched. Movie watching experiences will be redefined in new ways.
There will be regular weekly or even daily movie releases across OTT.
Thanks to OTT viewers may not have to wait for the fateful Friday, as is the tradition in
Bollywood, but production houses can release new content almost every day across one or
more platforms.

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The OTT landscape in India is punctuated by the following key enablers, around which both
the growth of the segment as well as potential success of platforms are woven.

Digital infrastructure
The mass launch of 4G services by Reliance Jio in H2, 2016 and subsequent launches by
incumbents was an inflection point in India’s data story. This disruption led to a rapid surge
in data usage on the back of promotional offers by all leading telecom operators.

OTT content consumption and evolving trends

The OTT content consumption is evolving from niche to mass based content and long form
content is gathering traction. The increased popularity of large screens and investments in
original content creation is further driving the consumption. Live streaming has emerged as a
focus area for OTT players, with the sports genre especially attractive from a viewership and
monetisation point of view.

OTT distribution
The OTT distribution landscape is dominated by own platform players, although social media
platforms YouTube and Facebook still constitute a major chunk of video viewership in India.
With telcos betting big on data, partnerships with telcos is also emerging as an important
medium to reach a fairly large, and a mass user base.

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The pillars of an OTT platform
Content strategy
• Niche vs. mass content
• Original content strategy
• Regional content focus
• Live content
Distribution
• Build own platform
• YouTube/Facebook presence
• Third party licensing/ syndication
• Partnerships with telecom operators
Monetisation
• Advertisement based

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• Subscription based
• Freemium
• Sponsored content

From niche to mass

Historically, OTT could not capture eyeballs in the mass consumer segments, and thus the
content was being produced keeping in mind the niche target audience. Global players such
as Netflix are largely restricted to English speaking audiences located in urban areas and even
Amazon Prime Video’s and Hotstar’s content play is currently largely urban focused.
However, the next 200 to 250 million VOD users are likely to come from the middle class,
the masses and regional languages. Once known for niche content such as select movies and
catch-up TV, the OTT market is now creating content for the mainstream audience, with
shows such as ‘The Timeliners’ (a new YouTube channel) the ‘Aam Aadmi Family’ which is
aimed at appealing to the average middle-class Indian household. OTT players are
recognising the importance of the well-tried Indian formula of family drama with comedy
and clean language to attract the masses. The content strategy of ALT Digital media, by
Balaji Telefilms, a platform providing original Indian, family content targeting the masses, a
positioning somewhere between Netflix and prime time Hindi soaps. Major platforms such as
Hotstar, Netflix, and Amazon are also investing heavily in building local movie libraries and
original content designed with a wider and more mass appeal. The recent high levels of
bidding for IPL digital rights also follows the same trend.
Long form content seeing traction
The VOD content was initially seen as being consumed largely during transit/travel, and thus
short form content traditionally gained immense popularity. Short comedy clips (5 to 10
minutes) from producers such as AIB and webisodes (15-20 minutes) from the likes of TVF
were the mainstays of OTT platforms. With the continual improvements in internet data
speeds and technology enabling quality streaming with low data consumption, long form
content has started to see greater traction. One of the most popular global series, ‘Game of
Thrones’, has each episode greater than 50 minutes, and resulted in Hotstar gaining immense
popularity amongst viewers. ‘Big Boss’, with an average episode size of around 50 minutes,
is one of the biggest draws on Voot, with the platform also airing extra, unedited content to
attract viewer interest. Heavy spends by Amazon Prime Video and Netflix for acquisition of
Bollywood movie rights also points to the potential of long form content viewing on OTT
platforms.
Growing popularity of large screens
The device ecosystem has also helped long form content consumption, with the likes of
Amazon Fire Stick and Smart Televisions helping video streaming on large television
screens. Sale of Smart TVs has increased to 18- 20 per cent from 12 -14 per cent of the entire
TV market owing to strong urban demand (65 to 70 per cent of the entire market). Further,
‘High Definition’ (HD) content on large screens provides a much better viewing experience
than the smartphone screen. In the long run, the success of OTT platforms would be a direct
function of increasing user stickiness, which in turn would be helped by adoption of long
form content on bigger TV screens.

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Investments in original content
The significance of content for an OTT player has led to the blurring of lines between
content creators and platforms. Players such as Netflix and Amazon, which started out by
licensing content, branched out to commission their own original programming with ‘House
of Cards’, ‘Orange is the New Black’, ‘Mozart in the Jungle’, ‘Transparent’ etc.; the success
of which has been a major factor in driving consumer adoption and stickiness on their
respective platforms.25 Original content primarily enables platforms to create differentiation
and drive user engagement and stickiness. Additionally, for broadcast networks, original
content enables cross platform user engagement and retention. For instance, Voot offers
extended ‘Bigg Boss’ clips which include content that is not otherwise aired on TV, though at
no extra cost. On the back of this exclusive content, Voot generated more than hundred
million views for ‘Big Boss’ in the first two months of its launch in 201626 . Additionally,
with original content, the platform owns all the essential intellectual property rights from the
outset. In addition to granting exclusivity, owning the underlying IP rights gives access to the
potential for future licencing revenue opportunities.

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‘Live’ streaming – Emerging genre
Live streaming over digital platforms is on the rise. Major sports events, news, high-profile
entertainment events, concerts and product launches are beginning to see traction in terms of
being streamed live. Social networking websites like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and
YouTube have activated live streams where users can share their real life experiences. Live
streaming helps event organisers get access to a larger audience and incremental However,
the Sports segment has a significant value for the consumer when viewed live and lends itself
well to potential monetisation. Live sport broadcasts garner high advertiser interest and ad
rates both on linear television broadcast as well as live streaming, case in point being ad rates
on OTT platforms, which have nearly doubled y-o-y for the IPL and Champions Trophy. The
potential of this sub-segment could also be gauged by the recent IPL auctions where
Facebook bid a substantial INR39 billion for digital video rights for five years.

Regional language content emerges as a key focus area for OTT platforms.
The growth drivers
For a nation with 1,600 dialects, 30 languages and over 234 million language internet users,
content in their own language holds significant value for consumers. Regional language
users, usually face difficulties in accessing English keyboards and have not had too much of a
choice when it comes to accessing local language content online.

22
However, with the continued increase in regional language user base, this is one segment that
digital companies cannot afford to ignore. The Indian internet language user base is expected
to grow steadily at a CAGR of 18 per cent to reach 536 million by 2021. Roughly 9 out of 10
new internet users in India are likely to language users over the next five years. By 2021,
Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, and Telugu internet users are expected to form ~30 per cent of the
total Indian language internet user base and the number of Hindi internet users is expected to
surpass the number of English users.

The government is also undertaking several initiatives to promote digital literacy with the aim
of reaching 60 million rural households with an investment of INR23 billion by March
2019.36 The government’s ‘Digital Saksharta Abhiyan’ (Disha) mandates handset
manufacturers to add support Hindi text support in addition to at least one more official
Indian language.
The regional potential
Nearly 60 per cent of regional language based internet users prefer to consume regional news,
with 32 million language users consuming news exclusively on digital media. Further, the
video viewership in India is dominated by the regional language user base which is gradually
increasing. Consumers today spend time about 50 to 60 per cent of the average time on Hindi
videos, followed closely by 35 to 43 per cent on regional content videos with only 5 to 7 per
cent on English. The OTT players are recognising the regional opportunity and thus are
planning investments in creating original regional content. Hotstar has a large regional
content library with more than 50,000 hours of content in 8 languages39 and has now
launched an original Tamil web series. Voot envisages offering content in Kannada followed
by Marathi and Tamil in the latter half of 2017. Sun TV also recently launched its OTT
platform Sun Nxt which offers 4,000+ movies, live TV channels and TV shows in four South
Indian languages namely Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.
Digital is the new normal and requires a fundamental mind shift
With online video consumption gaining traction and becoming ‘mass’, traditional value
chains and business models are facing widespread disruption. Players across the value chain
are exploring the digital universe with some players embracing the shift while the others are
still testing the waters. Major operators in the OTT domain in India are traditional companies
ranging from broadcast networks, telcos and content producers. However, operating and
business models in the digital environment is very different to what traditional businesses are
used to with continuously evolving technology, unclear business models, customer
experience centric approach, evolving consumption patterns and rapid response time.
As a result, organisations need to be flexible, nimble and develop strategies to predict,
influence and respond to customer behaviour to be able to optimise the digital opportunity
and combat ever evolving challenges. This requires organisations to modify their DNA from
their business and operating strategy to internal structures, processes and also the way
employees think and perform their jobs across the front, middle and back offices.

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Digital transformational journey requires a digital first mind-set
The road to digital transformation is an ongoing journey with iterative processes and
evolving goal posts. However, we have attempted below to categorise the transformation
process into four broad phases i.e. defining a digital vision and strategy, building customer
proposition, developing business design and planning execution.
‘Digital vision and strategy’ phase is the backbone on which digital transformation projects are born.
The same encompasses

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Strategic context – what is happening around you
While digital and OTT is at the top of the mind for many media organisations, it is critical to
gain an in-depth understanding of the real digital opportunity and the role/positioning that is
best suited for each organisation. This would require a thorough assessment of various
elements such as:
• Evolution of digital infrastructure, digital penetration and access
• User demographics and evolution of consumption patterns
• Content trends and evolution
• Monetisation trends and potential
• Distribution models
• Technology evolution and
• Competitive landscape and strategies

25
 CHAPTER 03 - COMPANY PROFILE

Hotstar is India’s largest streaming platform, and it currently contributes 18 million

subscribers to Disney+’s 73 million, meaning that one in four Disney+ subscribers is from
Hotstar.

Hotstar entered the streaming market long before Disney. Star India, an Indian media
conglomerate owned by 21st Century Fox, launched the streaming platform in 2015. Up until
then, the over-the-top streaming market, in which streaming content is directly offered to
viewers via the internet rather than through cable and television companies, was unexplored in
India. Within six days from launch, the Hotstar mobile app hit one million downloads faster
than any other entertainment app in history, heralding the digital era that others have now
populated. Then in 2016,  brought, telecom giant JIO tens of millions of Indians online for the
first time by offering dirt-cheap data plans and nationwide coverage, helping to turn Hotstar
into a household name in the process.

When Disney bought 21st Century Fox in 2019, Hotstar came under Disney’s wing. And since
April 2020, Hotstar has been rebranded as Disney+ Hotstar and its subscribers counted among

26
those of Disney+. Thus, technically, Disney+’s 73 million subscribers were not all acquired
over the last year.

Disney+ Hotstar, which is only available in India, is starkly different from the standalone
Disney+ to which subscribers in the U.S. and other countries have access. To start, Hotstar has
a free tier that hosts a trove of Indian films and shows after their initial broadcast on the Star
television network, which comprises over 60 channels in nine different languages. This hugely
popular free tier is ad-supported and has over 300 million active users. Disney+ in the other
markets is only available as a paid service; Disney+’s U.S. users cannot access Hotstar content
without separately paying for it, but Indian Hotstar users can access Disney+.

In addition to the free tier, Hotstar also has two subscription-based plans: VIP and premium.
Meanwhile, Disney+ users in other countries have a simple, single-tier plan. The VIP plan
gives members access to more content as well as tons of live sports events ranging from
cricket and soccer to Formula 1 and e-sports. Most notably, it includes access to the Indian
Premier League (IPL) and English Premier League (EPL), the most-watched cricket and
soccer tournaments in the world. The Premium tier further gives access to a collection of
international movies and TV shows. This includes access to Disney+ originals, HBO originals,
and shows from ABC, Showtime, and Fox — a content catalog that far exceeds what the
standard Disney+ subscriber can access. These perks make Hotstar the most popular streaming
platform in India with over 18 million paying subscribers. The platform reached this figure by
adding a staggering 10 million subscribers to the eight million it had in April this year,
contributing the lion’s share to Disney+’s recent additions. The pandemic-forced shutdowns,
the 2020 edition of the IPL, a series of new movie releases, and Hotstar’s launch in populous
Indonesia are thought to be the biggest drivers of this growth.

27
Hotstar was launched in February 2015 in India with the aim to transform the consumption of
the content on mobile devices. During the year 2015, Indian audiences were highly active on
Youtube, a massive source of entertainment at that point of time. Star recognized the
opportunity of growth for a platform which can offer latest movies, TV Shows and Live
Sports events for viewers’ entertainment and interests.
The best digital marketing company in Gurgaon found that Hotstar was recognized as the
fastest app to cross the 1 Million download mark within 6 days of launch, and the credit was
given to the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup and the wide range of daily soaps produced and
run by Star.

Interesting Facts about Hotstar

 Disney + Hotstar provides access to over 1,00,000 hours of TV Shows and

Movies in 8 languages, Regional and National News, and Coverage of Major
Global Sporting Events, including the IPL.

 During 2016 IPL, Hotstar encountered a massive following of 100 million

users.

 Hotstar has partnered with some of the world’s best creators like Disney India,
Nat Geo, Marvel Studios, HBO and many more to deliver the best content,
which has earned the brand its position as one of the best entertainment
platforms of India.

What were the Challenges faced by Hotstar :

1.  User Retention: Clearly, the major selling point for Hotstar was the most
loved sports event in India, but in order to grow altogether as a video-
streaming app, the brand needed to retain the viewers beyond the sports
season.

2.  Monetization of the Platform: Monetization is the key to the success of any

OTT player, but the audience was not interested to pay for a streaming app.

28
 3.  Offer a Personalized Experience: To create an impeccable influence of the
consumers, Hotstar needs to deliver an exceptional experience to the users, not
just on-platform but even otherwise.

Strategies to Face these Challenges:

1.  Since sports events brought in maximum user engagement for the platform,
Hotstar was successfully able to achieve over 10.3 million concurrent users for
the live events during the IPL season. Thus, the brand was able to leverage the
opportunity and delivered over 100 million messages to retain the users.

2.  The best digital agency in Gurgaon found that Hotstar follows two revenue

models to successfully monetize the application:

3.
 a) Advertisement Video on Demand for the unsubscribed users
availing the free content available on the platform.

 b) Subscription Video on Demand for the subscribing audience,

who are given access to the complete content on the platform,
without any ads.

4.  To face the challenge, Hotstar’s product, marketing and data science teams
worked together and opted for an automated segmentation system based on the
user’s geolocation, subscription history, and activity status to offer more
personalized experience to the users.

29
Hotstar opts for Multilingual typography for movie posters:

Since the targeted audience for the video streaming application consisted of a huge
population base divided by languages, it was very crucial to offer a customized and
engaging experience in their respective languages.
Hotstar went an extra mile to become the most loved home-grown streaming
platforms of India. Without losing the video genre of the movies, Hotstar created
brand new film posters in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu of some of the most trending
English movies. This effort worked as a connection between the regional audience
and Hotstar and successfully increased the number of the viewers for Disney +
Hotstar.

30
Hotstar’s Social Media Strategies:

#BahutHuaSamman:
With the release of the latest show, Hotstar has been promoting the show on a
large scale with the same hashtag on social media and sharing multiple creatives
to interact with its audience.

31
Because of such a quirky approach on social media, Hotstar has been successful
in creating an active fanbase of 527K followers on Instagram and 64K+ followers
on Twitter.

Search Engine Optimization for Hotstar:

Although Hotstar’s online presence is very impactful, for the brand it has been a rollercoaster
ride to establish that. The streaming giant has faced multiple challenges during its SEO
journey but the brand surely made its way through and here are some of the best examples of
Hotstar’s SEO practices to learn from:

32
#Challenge No 1: The team needed an extraordinary strategy in order to attract maximum
traffic on the variety of content they were delivering on the platform. The brand needed to
enhance the performance of their website while creating their way on the top of the search
engine result page.

Solution: The best SEO company in Gurgaon found that to face this challenge on hand,
The Hotstar team created dedicated pages built around their targeted search queries such as
“IPL Players”, “match teams”. Producing such customized content helped the brand to offer
an amazing experience to the users and earned the top rankings for the brand as well.

#Challenge No 2: This is a rather common challenge faced by every brand trying to take
advantage of search engine optimization, and the challenge was the immense competition by
other brands.

Solution: The video streaming platform stood strong against the constant competition from
the other players of the market. Best-in-class schema tags were applied such as rating, date of
publication and more.

LIST OF COMPETITORS

33
34
Netflix is a company operating an online television network and engaged in the internet
delivery of TV shows and movies directly on TVs, computers, and mobile devices. It offers
TV series, documentaries, and feature films across a variety of genres and languages. The
company also offers DVDs-by-mail membership services. Since starting its video streaming
services in 2007, Netflix has successfully grown its business. By the end of 2016, it had nearly
94 million members globally — expected to reach 100 million mark during the frst half of
2017. Netflix video streaming consumes 37% of downstream internet bandwidth during
primetime hours in the USA — far ahead of YouTube, Amazon and Facebook.

Netflix has become the defacto primetime entertainment on the web. It can be streamed on
computers, mobile phones, tablets, smart televisions and video game consoles.
 It is a rare company that could abandon its traditional successful business model — DVD-by-
Mail distribution — and embrace a new business model with video streaming and become a
leader. Past success is not guarantee of future success. Transformational leadership is about
“preserving the core while creating the new” and Reed Hastings at Netflix has shown that
perfectly thus far.

Netflix has been able to take its information advantage with big data and analytics one step
further. Their bet on licensing House of Cards was not a blind bet but based on the analysis of
their data. Kevin Spacey remarked, “Netflix was the only company that said, ‘We believe in
you. We’ve run our data, and it tells us our audience would watch this series.” Other studios
were handicapped because they did not have the required data and analytics capability. They
continue to rely on outmoded models of pilot shows and sampling to decide the likelihood of
success.

Netflix has data that suggests there is different viewing behavior depending on the day of the
week, the time of day, the device, and sometimes even the location. They have not yet
implemented contextual recommendations but could well do that in the near future.The
innovation — disruption — transformation journey for Netflix 2.0 shows mastery of different
competencies than what we saw with DVD-by-Mail business model.

35
Every industry — including your own — will face digital future — where past rules no longer
apply. Your future competitors will be those with digital capabilities much as what Netflix has
mastered over the last two decades to redefine entertainment. Netflix could well have withered
away if it had focused on DVD-distribution and logistics. But, it focused on compelling
customer experience around entertainment.

36
 Tammah is a company developing a web-based sharing platform that allows
creators and users to find, watch, and share content. The content includes video
clips, TV clips, music videos, video blogging, short original videos, educational
videos, etc.

Features.

 Creators can meet, collaborate and post content.

 Users can discover, enjoy and share focused content.

 Advertisers can reach these two sets of people and even have their own presence in our
community.

 Domain-level and password-protected video privacy.

 SEO visibility for your videos.

 Privacy controls.

 Social distribution.

 Advanced statistics.

37
TVF is the brainchild of Arunabh Kumar, an IIT Kharagpur’s alumnus, who tried but
couldn’t sell his ideas for ‘creating and distributing short humorous videos based on the
funny side of day-to-day life’ to several production houses including MTV India.

He was constantly told ‘Indian youth doesn’t want to watch this’. So, he was like ‘Okay,
screw it! I’ll prove them wrong.’ And that’s exactly what he did with the help of bunch of
fellow IITians, as he went on to create his own and India’s largest online entertainment
network – The Viral Fever Media Labs.

Today, TVF Media Labs has 5 functioning ventures under it featuring different categories of
humorous & drama videos and shows. Their YouTube channel has acquired more than 1
million subscribers in shortest time ever, and thousands of new users are subscribing to it
every single day. TVF was also the sole representative from India at the International
YouTube Fan Festival, 2013.

The idea behind creating the site was to make the popular TVF web series as easily available
to youths as typical TV series, which they barely watch. TVF team approached us with the
idea of building a website where youths can easily watch their favorite TVF videos or web
series episodes in just a couple of clicks.

FAT bit team undertook the project readily and developed exactly what they were looking for
and delivered it just in time before the release of their upcoming web series Pitchers, which
will be aired on the site on June 3, 2015 and on their YouTube channel a week later on June
10. So, if you are a fan, you might want to register on the site instead of waiting for an extra
week.

38
TVF Play Experience: Better Than That of TV
There is a dedicated webpage for each web series and each video. And to enhance the
experience of watching, following features are provided on the web series and video pages:

 Browse through other episodes quickly through a vertical slider

 Like or dislike a video
 Share video with friends on social media
 Navigate back quickly to main category
 Comment on a video through Facebook & Yahoo account
 Play all episodes with just one click

39
 Challenges faced by Hotstar

 User Activation & Retention.

 Product Monetization.

 Personalization at Scale.

Big ticket sports events are the biggest acquisition drivers for Hotstar, but to be successful,
Hotstar needed to retain these users beyond the sports season. For any OTT player,
monetization is key. Hotstar’s revenue comes from two models — AVOD (or Advertisement
Video on Demand) which comprises of free users, and SVOD (or Subscription Video on
Demand) which comprises of paying subscribers. As Hotstar scaled, moving people across
the funnel from freemium viewers to paid subscribers became increasingly important.

In order to scale successfully, Hotstar wanted to personalize the entire user experience — not
only on platform, but also off platform. With over 300 million user profiles to segment and
analyze, this was a major challenge for Hotstar’s product, marketing, and data science teams.

During IPL, the world’s largest cricketing event, Hotstar achieved world record of 10.3
million concurrent users for a live event. CleverTap’s push notifications supported Hotstar’s
tech stack to deliver 100 Million+ messages in a couple of minutes.

Using Flows, Hotstar is able to not only find friction points, but also identify the best spots in
a user’s journey to engage with them and increase conversions. Hotstar also localizes
notification campaigns for free users. These localized campaigns tailor content
recommendations for users in their native language, and helps Hotstar achieve higher
engagement. Hotstar uses Pivots to pinpoint which days and times of the week certain user
segments are most active. Hotstar is able to segment users in real time based on the actions or
inactions they undertake within the app, and send customized push notifications. By tracking
user cohorts, Hotstar can identify users on their browsing and viewing history, consumption
patterns, preferred genres, etc. on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

40
How Hotstar moves viewers from fremium to subscription
In an exclusive interview, Mihir Shah, VP of Product & Marketing Growth at Hotstar, distills
the company’s data-driven approach into the four fundamentals companies must get right to
turn casual users into committed fans.

1. Personalize the entire user experience

It’s important to look beyond demographics to gain a deeper understanding of who your user
is, what job your product solves in their lives, and how they use your product, Shah explains.
In this scenario, actions are just as important as inactions to develop relevant engagement and
re-engagement strategies. How many times has the user opened the app or viewed the
content? How long has it been since the last interaction? How quickly or slowly is the user
moving through the funnel, and what “nudges” might convince and—ultimately—convert
them? Shah says these are critical questions marketers can only answer if they get a firm
grasp of behavioral segmentation models aimed at understanding and predicting user attitudes
and outcomes. Once you establish a degree of predictability around how your users behave,
the way is clear to progress users through the funnel with the help of content that is packaged
and promoted based on a deep understanding of user personas and psychographics.

3. Recommend your content along the customer lifecycle

User acquisition burns money if audiences don’t stick around to explore and consume the
breadth of content available on the platform. This can be a major marketing challenge, and
why a big part of Shah’s job revolves around “converting the sports fans who come to our
platform—about 70 to 80 million daily for live events like IPL—to start watching more of the
entertainment we offer. And, ultimately, get them to commit to a subscription.”

Achieving this objective requires the ability to identify and segment users based on digital
details, including their browsing and viewing history, content consumption patterns and other
preferences. “Based on a collaborative filtering method, we recommend entertainment titles
that other sports viewers watch,” Shah says. “If the user is a free user on our platform, we
move them through the funnel by recommending content from our Premium library that they
are most likely to appreciate—content suggestions based on freemium viewership patterns.
The relevant recommendations are then delivered to users off-platform as part of an
omnichannel campaign strategy that spans push notifications, social and programmatic.

41
3. Messaging must be personal and perfectly timed
Keep up the momentum with campaigns that seek to influence user behaviors, not just move
metrics. Shah illustrates using the example of users who have streamed live cricket matches.
“We know that sending them push notifications based on the actual game event will
encourage them to relaunch the app and view the game in progress.” In practice, he says, this
means “delivering over 100 million push notifications tailored to the moment and timed
perfectly within a very small window of just a few minutes.”

It’s a critical timeline that Shah says Hotstar reaches with the help of CleverTap, a customer
lifecycle management and engagement platform that is capable of delivering more than 25
million push notifications a minute/ Shah says it was essential to reach Hotstar’s app install
base of over 250 million. Significantly, “event-centric” campaigns appear to resonate most
with audiences, boosting engagement and the average watch time per session by 12% and
more.

“As we cross-sell entertainment content, let’s say a movie, to our sports viewers, our
marketing creatives bring out a connection between the sport and the entertainment content,
thus making the content more appealing to a sports fan.” But making the connection is just
part of the strategy. Mr Shah stresses it’s also a good idea to pinpoint the days and times of
the week that different user segments are the most active and receptive to push notifications.
Hotstar used these insights to optimize send times, increasing click-through rates by 3x in the
process.

4. Engaging with users in real-time is a game-changer

RFM (Recency, Frequency Monetary) analysis is a behavioral segmentation model that

examines user activity to identify how recently and frequently they performed a key action.
To make sure the effort marketers invest in this model also drives returns, RFM also looks at
the monetary value of the action (such as purchasing an item or, in the case of Hotstar,
subscribing to programming). Shah is a huge proponent of RFM, a framework his company
has harnessed to bring context to user engagement campaigns and, more importantly, predict
churn. In both cases, Hotstar segments users in real-time based on certain actions or inactions
they undertake within the app.

42
Imagine a scenario where users who were watching a particular episode of a series simply
leave the app for some reason. “We see that as a trigger and send them a customized push
notification encouraging them to come back to finish viewing that particular episode at
precisely that moment.” Similarly, users who have seen previous episodes of a series but not
the latest one, are sent a contextual push notification as soon as the latest episode is released.
The outcome, he adds, is “more conversions and increased content consumption.”

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 Chapter – 04 - RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1.Preferred Media for infotainment?

Age

44
Prevalence of OTT content is registered by many respondents as OTT brings content to
the
home screen without having to step out, the precise condition laid down by lockdown due
to coronavirus pandemic. Of the various OTT players capturing Indian market, Netflix,
Amazon Prime and Hotstar remain top favourites followed by Voot, Tata Sky Binge, Zee
5 etc. The popularity varies from individual to individual depending upon the choice of
content. Some households were also accessing multiple platforms for gratifying different
content needs.
Both platforms provide different kinds of satisfaction to the viewers. For pure news
content and political debates etc., respondents preferred TV as it has more up-to-date and
timely content. Hard news content is mostly accessible on TV and the variety of news
shows can cater to diverse needs. For a softer informational content, sometimes coupled
with entertainment. both the media were indispensable for the audiences as their purposes
and contents tend to differ.

53.8% of people prefer OTT platform for media infotainment. 23.1% of people prefer
television for media infotainment. 46.2 % people prefer none for media infotainment. 7.7
% people prefer both platforms for media infotainment.

45
2. Why is web series becoming so popular in today's generation?

People can now watch shows anywhere, any time. Instead of having to record their shows
on TV or scheduling everything around to make time, web shows allow the convenience
to watch whenever and wherever on whatever device they find convenient. Plus, you get
to binge watch instead of waiting for a new episode every week.
 Television censorship is annoying, especially Indian censorship which treats adult
audiences like children by dictating what they should watch. Have you seen Game of
Thrones on TV? I can guarantee a majority of adult scenes would have been deleted.
Have you seen a horror movie on TV? A lot of the horror scenes are cut out. The benefit
of shows on the internet is you can have profanity, nudity, gore and even have stories
surrounding sensitive subjects that are too taboo for TV.
There’s a factor of creative freedom that TV studios don’t allow. This means web series
can be as creative as they want with their storytelling, Sacred Games is a great example
and there are many more. TV shows have a strict format and time slots which means
shows have to be constructed in a predetermined manner. This restricts the level detailing
a show can give. With the creative storytelling in web series, audiences get the best
quality and unique stories that they can truly enjoy.

46
Shows on TV have a lot of limitations, so a lot of genres don’t get screen time. Shows
like soap operas, kid shows and family entertainment shows mostly get most screen time.
Other genres don’t even figure in the schedule. How many historical fantasy fiction
shows or murder suspense supernatural or sci-fi romance shows can you name on TV?
Very few, if any.
A majority of people have mobiles and a lot of them have laptops and PCs. Internet
connectivity in India is now easy, reliable and cost friendly. Why would you pay monthly
for 100, 200, 500 channels of nothing of interest to watch, with time consuming
advertisements when you can explore a whole world shows and movies online? Don’t
enjoy Hindi shows? Watch something from a different region, nothing interesting in
Indian content? Switch to an English series, nothing there? How about Japanese anime?
Chinese action flick? A South Korean drama? A French noir? The world is your oyster.

47
3.What would you prefer movies or web series?

Cinema is the art of storytelling: from tears to laughter, from anger to empathy, from
music to romance, from narratives to stories, from legacies to classics, from cinema to
classics!
Courtesy to technology, the online media space has been revolutionised with the Over The
Top (OTT) media services.

The Indian biggies such as Hotstar, ALT Balaji, Zee5, Voot, Eros Now and the likes find
themselves in league with the global giants such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Apart from gaining streaming rights from Bollywood and regional industries, most of them
also produce their own originals.

Web-series and online content has surpassed the quality of the film format and keeps the
audience on the edge of their seats!

Cinema garners huge  popularity from both rural and urban areas leading to even nonsensical
content touching the 100-crore club, whereas quality content such as indie films, web-series,
documentaries or even non-mainstream Bollywood flicks don’t get their due.

Movies are a form of entertainment that typically tell stories between 90–180 minutes.
(Though obviously some are a bit shorter and some are a bit longer.) The advantage is that
the stories tend to be more concise and complete (outside of the occasional multi-part film),
and are more appealing to watch for many because of the lesser time commitment. There is
also the chance for sequels if a story is particularly appealing to audiences. The main
disadvantages is that they are inherently limited by the runtime… you can only fit so much
material into a movie. There’s also the chance the movie could just be bad all around.

Web-series tend to be told over a number of episodes and often over multiple seasons. The
advantages are that you can explore themes, stories and characters a lot more than you could
in a movie thanks to the multiple episodes, and you can also be a bit riskier with the material.

48
The disadvantages are that there is the danger for stories to be too drawn out with
unnecessary padding, or meandering episodes, which can weaken the series. There’s also the
real possibility that there could be multiple bad episodes or seasons as time goes on, which
can turn off audiences and potentially tarnish the legacy of the entire series. (In fact you see
that a lot… series that start out strong then completely fall apart after a few seasons.)

Ideally speaking,

- People who have more time will prefer to watch the Web Series

- People who have less time will prefer to watch Movies

And then there are people, who binge watch the Web Series or Movies(s) (trilogy,
quadrilogy, pentalogy, hexalogy) whether they have time or not.

Once things are sorted with time, then comes the taste whether to watch quality content or
simply waste your time.

49
5. Why is web series content better than movies & TV serials?

Clearly, while there may be anecdotal evidence of the shift from linear TV to online video-
on-demand (VOD) services, there’s absence of statistics on cord-cutting. Cord-cutting refers
to cancelling or forgoing a pay TV subscription in favour of an alternative internet-based
service. The young may be moving away from TV but there may not be cord-cutting yet, as
in a single TV household, these youngsters may still not be the decision makers.

Rise of video streaming

In the last three-four years, nearly 30 video streaming platforms have been launched in India.
This includes both the American services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video and local
brands like Balaji Telefilms’ ALTBalaji and those owned by broadcast networks like Star
India’s Hotstar and Sony Entertainment Television’s SonyLIV. In February this year, TV
broadcaster Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd launched a new video streaming platform
Zee5 which subsumed its existing video streaming platforms Ozee (advertising-based) and
Ditto TV (subscription-based). Zee5 comes with 1 lakh hours of content.

ALTBalaji claims that the platform has close to 16 million viewers across mobile phones and
other devices with majority of them coming via mobile phones. Ajit Mohan, outgoing CEO
of Star India’s digital platform Hotstar, meanwhile, says that Hotstar now serves nearly 150

50
million users a month in India. Advertising on digital media is all set to command 18% of the
overall advertising spends in 2018 (and will go up to 25% in three years), growing at a rate of
30%. Digital media advertising is expected to touch ₹ 12,337 crore in 2018, up from the
estimated ₹ 9,490 crore in 2017.
The money seems to be following younger viewers, who are increasingly turning to social
media, apps, gaming and on-demand TV. Marketers have even coined a term for the
Millennial and Gen Y viewers who spurn traditional TV: "the Unreachables".

51
6. Average time spent per day with major media by adults in India?

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, we have increased our 2020 forecast for TV time spent
growth by 4.5 percentage points to 7.5% growth. We also increased our estimate for time
spent with smartphones in 2020 to 7.2%.
Digital and traditional media (mainly TV) will grow through 2022, but digital will grow at a
faster rate. TV will still be the dominant media platform this year and remain so for the
foreseeable future. Next year, the average adult in India will watch 3:10 of TV per day,
compared with just 31 minutes of digital video. Among digital video users who watch at least
one digital video per month, time spent is skyrocketing. This year, that figure will rise 14% to
2:25 per day.

Internet users in India will spend 3:18 per day online this year. And 2:44 of that total will
come from time spent on mobile devices, 12 minutes more than last year. We estimate that
mobile internet time per user will pass the 3-hour mark by 2022.
TV remains an important part of adults’ media day in India, with time spent expected to total
2 hours, 11 minutes this year. Though growth will be relatively flat over the forecast period,
no other format will come close to challenging TV’s dominance in daily time.
Adults in India will spend 1 hour, 13 minutes each day with digital media (desktop/laptop and
nonvoice mobile) in 2017, an increase of 14.3% over 2016—nearly triple the 4.9% growth
rate of total media time. Much of this rise will come from nonvoice mobile use, which will
reach 53 minutes.
Total media ad spending in India will hit $7.94 billion this year, a 12.0% increase vs. 2016.
Double-digit gains in TV and digital outlays will largely be responsible for this growth.
Mobile advertising will be a small factor, but its spend will more than triple from $460.1
million in 2017 to $1.73 billion in 2021, driving digital growth.

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7. Popularity of OTT Platforms?

Currently, there are several OTT platforms that offer online video streaming. In the above
question, the respondents were asked about their favourite online platform for streaming video
content, where 84.6 % chose Netflix as their favourite online platform. 15.4% of respondents
chose Amazon Prime.

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Over–the–top media services (OTT) platforms have become quite popular in India since last
few years. An over-the-top (OTT) media service is a streaming media service offered directly
to viewers via the internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms,
the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributor of such content. Due to
COVID-19 outbreak in the country, many filmmakers are now releasing their movies on
major OTT platforms, instead of waiting for the theatres to re-open. India has lots of options
when we talk about OTT services. 
Amazon Prime Video is a very popular video streaming service or OTT service in India.
Amazon Prime Video was launched in 2016 in India. Besides English, Prime Video is
available in six Indian languages as of December 2018. Amazon India launched Amazon
Prime Music in February 2018. You can join Prime to watch the latest movies as well as
award-winning Amazon Originals at Rs 129/month or Rs 999/year. Prime subscription
presently also includes free Amazon music alongside unlimited free, quick delivery.

Netflix is one of the popular streaming services in India. The OTT platform offers three
subscription plans including Basic, Standard HD and Premium Ultra HD. The Basic plan
comes with a price tag of Rs 500, while the Standard HD pack is priced at Rs 650 and the
Premium Ultra HD plan is available for Rs 800 per month.

Netflix faces tough competition with other OTT platforms in India such as Amazon Prime,
Hotstar, Voot and Eros Now, each of which charge lower subscription rates than Netflix.
Disney+ Hotstar is an Indian over-the-top streaming service owned by Novi Digital
Entertainment, a subsidiary of Disney's Star India. It features two paid subscription plans—
"VIP", which focuses on domestic programmes and sports content (including Indian Premier
League cricket), and "Premium" featuring premium international films and television series
(including HBO, Showtime and other American original series).
As of July 2020, VIP Plan costs Rs 399 for a year and Premium Plan costs Rs 1,499 per year
or Rs 299 for a monthly plan. As of March 2020, Disney+ Hotstar has at least 300 million
active users
Voot is an Indian subscription video on demand (SVOD) service. Launched in March 2016, it
forms the online arm of Viacom 18. It is Viacom 18's advertising-led video-on-demand
platform that is available as an app for iOS, KaiOS (JioPhone) and Android users, and a
website for desktop consumption. Voot Select  will cost Rs. 99 a month after a three-day free
trial, or Rs. 499 for the full year after a 14-day free trial.

Voot is available only in India, and hosts over 40,000 hours of video content that includes
shows from channels like MTV, Nickelodeon and Colors. Content is also available in
multiple languages like Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Telugu and Tamil. Voot has
content from Colors TV, MTV India, Nickelodeon India and other Viacom 18 owned
television channels. It also hosts many Bollywood films for streaming. It has produced
several 'Voot Original' shows for streaming as well.
In February 2020, Voot introduced paid subscription service called Voot Select. Voot
Original series are made available only to paid subscribers. Some TV shows are being
streamed a day before TV for its paid subscribers.

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Why is this shift?

Although it doesn’t come as a surprise, a majority of OTT users are millennials and
Generation Z - also known as post-millennials. The demographic cohort following the
millennials is they are bigger consumers of technology especially in terms of smartphone
usage. As per Parks Associates’ OTT Video Market Tracker, over 85% of millennials in the
US broadband households subscribe to at least one OTT video service.

According to Business Wire, the total number of OTT users will reach 915 million by 2023,
most of whom will be subscribing to at least one SVoD (subscription-based video-on-
demand) service. The gradual surge in the consumption of over-the-top content can largely be
attributed to the following factors:

 Unlimited audio and video streaming content

 Affordable cost, flexible pricing models either based on pay-as-you-go,
freemium (limited access to free content) or subscription
 Delivered on-the-go over a vast spectrum of devices such as smartphones,
tablets, desktops, smart TVs, wearable devices, and set-top boxes
 OTT services can be easily subscribed and unsubscribed
 Access to original video content such as web series and latest movies
 Content-on-demand available rather than waiting for a show or movie to air
on TV.

55
OTT (Over the Top) media services which offer direct streaming services to viewers, have
been gaining popularity worldwide. Some of the frontrunners of such services are Netflix and
Amazon Prime, which remain popular worldwide. However, the scenario is quite different
when it comes to the Indian OTT industry. According to a report released by Counterpoint
Research in April 2018, the Indian streaming platform Hotstar is the most popular OTT
platform in India. Hotstar is closely followed by Amazon’s Prime Video and SonyLIV, while
Netflix ranks 4th.

The popularity of OTT platforms is s slowly rising with the increase of local OTT platforms
like ALTBalaji, Voot and SonyLIV, which are giving direct competition to foreign platforms
like Prime Video and Netflix. Recently, the popular food delivery app Zomato also joined the
OTT industry with the introduction of its Zomato Originals. The main reason behind so many
new OTT platforms coming to the market is the increasing profits generated by such
platforms in India.

The video OTT revenue in India was Rs. 2,019 crores in 2017. It is expected to reach Rs.
5,955 crores by 2022. With 500 million internet users, another number which is growing
steadily at the rate of 8 percent, India has become the number one market for media and
entertainment sector. It is also reported that the Indian OTT market is set to outperform the
global OTT market and will likely be ranked among the top 10 by 2022.

With so many options, the competition between the various platforms has also grown. The
platforms are investing in originals produced by the platform itself in order to attract
audiences. The success of Netflix’s Sacred Games and Ghoul, Prime Video’s The Family
Man and Hotstar’s AIB On Air and Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai proved original series are a
working formula. With Indian audiences looking for good original content, the platforms are
taking full advantage in order to increase their revenue.

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 Chapter – 07 – SUGGESTIONS

By and large, the Hindi film industry went into denial in the wake of the pandemic, much as
we did in our lives. So, even as film production around the world ground to a halt, big
releases were postponed. The hope remained that the worst phase of this lucrative industry
would soon blow over. That obviously did not happen and by the looks of it, 2020 effectively
turned the box office and the mass appeal of stars to zero.

Right from the first major Bollywood film, Gulabo Sitabo, which premiered on Amazon
Prime Video to big-budget commercial movies like Laxmii, we got to know the game had
changed. There is little success associated with a brand on a streaming platform. Gone are the
days when brand equity mattered and lured people into the cinema, to spend time and money
for hours. None of that works now.

The transition from movie-going to home-viewing was a long time coming. But it was a
slow-moving process with the growth of streaming services that the novel coronavirus
pandemic supercharged into an overnight revolution. The audience being spoiled for choices
on OTT, is no longer a captive the closed doors of cinema halls, to suffer through terrible
films just because the ticket and popcorn have been paid for. We understood that during the
lockdown.
The Covid-19 crisis has brought into sharper focus issues related to hyped movies because its
consequences fall hardest on films with poor content. With a plethora of streaming platforms
such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+Hotstar etc, not having to commit to the entire
film has been a welcome change.

The paradigm shift can possibly be understood in terms of how news and media have
changed. During the times of newspapers, readers had limited options and distractions. Now,
with the internet penetrating each and every aspect of our lives, grabbing and more
importantly, holding the attention of people is a hundred times harder. Similar is the case
with films. They are not just competing with content in their field and on the same spectrum,
but also with WhatsApp messages, Facebook pings and calls.

ADJUSTING TO THE SMALL SCREEN

We all know that expensive and expansive films aren’t meant for the small screen. They
weren’t written, directed or made for that. For example, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet was
meant for IMAX, and with poor walk-ins, the movie became his worst performance till date.
So, as the likely blockbusters move from the theatre to the couch, they inevitably reshape
itself to the contours of that format. Greater emphasis is required on intricately plotted stories
that play out well even in homes. So, filmmakers now have to ideate and create films suitable
for the small screen, that can impress the audience even in the absence of sound effects and
the environment of cinema halls.

57
THE WAY FORWARD
While nothing beats the joy of the big screen, safety comes first. 2020 also upended all the
traditional ways of thinking about how films are released and perceived. We are in a world
with limitless digital possibilities and filmmakers have to devise a way to tell creative stories
so that the audiences will choose to watch at their leisure.
Certainly, theatres won’t disappear completely, even though many have shut down for good,
they are more likely to become once-in-a-while events rather than everyday experiences for
the masses. But for us cinephiles, who love the cinema experience, the worry is that when the
pandemic ends, the theatrical experience of yesteryear will be gone.
The television medium is far from fading away. No doubt, the time spent and the way we
consume television content is bound to see a change, but television will still be one of the
dominant mediums in the coming few years. India will witness both TV and digital grow
alongside each other. A defining trend emerging is a more significant number of families
opting for Smart TVs, which is an opportunity for the OTT platforms to attract the
consumers' eyeballs. Earlier OTTs were considered as a platform providing entertainment for
handset users wishing to consume content in their happy, confined space. But now, with its
growing popularity and acceptance, the TV set is going to be playing a massive amount of
content, be it cable TV, videos, internet or OTT offerings.  Till now, digital penetration has
been in urban areas. However, in the foreseeable future, the next wave of growth in OTT
consumption will come from the tier 2, 3 and 4 cities and towns.
Reasons for the popularity of OTT platforms A lot of factors have been at play in making
OTT immensely popular among the audiences. These include low data prices, variable
pricing models to suit different user budgets, the premium quality content on OTTs, and
currently, the pandemic that has spread all over the world. The youth of today seems to find
the content provided by traditional "TV channels" not to their liking. The shows aired do not
fit into their mould of entertainment, and for them, these channels have failed to deliver
quality content. 
The OTT platforms, on the other hand, provide shows and movies that are seemingly more
radical, thought-provoking and relatable for the current generation. Consequently, individuals
are beginning to change over to these streaming platforms with many unsubscribing from
their DTH suppliers. In the wake of this situation, some DTH suppliers have despatched their
devoted platforms, which empower clients to get all OTT platforms in a single spot.
Currently, a large share of content on OTT revolves around stories that resonate closer to
reality. About two decades ago, stories set abroad used to attract eyeballs. But if one looks at
the content being streamed for the past three to four years, it becomes evident that it is mostly
based out of small towns and cities of India. Stories written around places such as Kanpur,
Bhopal, Agra, and Kota have attracted viewers because they want to explore the characters'
actions that reflect reality. OTT emerged as personal viewing time, and it is this personal time
that the consumer wants to utilise to watch the real stuff, even if it is too dark. It is this art of
storytelling that has and will shape the content dynamics of the OTT world. Thus, the OTT
content lies somewhere between TV and films.

58
In the past few years, the online entertainment industry in India has marked a major growth.
This has all been possible because of the changing lifestyle of the Indian viewers, significant
change in the type of content consumed and the introduction of the various online video
streaming platforms on which the content is served to them. With the introduction of faster
and cheaper internet services in the form of mobile connection and wide availability of
broadband services, there has been a major growth in the access to online content, in terms of
the number of people visiting online for content, and the time they spend on watching online
videos.
A report suggested that on an average, Indian viewers spend approximately eight hours 29
minutes watching online video content, which is far more than the global trend of six hours
and 45 minutes. This clearly showcases the popularity of online video content, which mainly
consists of web series, episodes, short films, entertaining videos and more. A web series in
simpler words is a series of short video episodes, which are released over a certain period of
time in order to tell a story to the viewers. It is designed like a television daily soap or series,
except for the fact that it’s watched on the web platforms. Earlier, it was much popular in
western countries, but with globalization, the trend of online content streaming became
popular in India as well.
The introduction of Netflix, Amazon Prime, ALT Balaji, MX Player, TVF and a number of
other web and App based online video streaming platforms, together with faster internet
services have become very popular in the Indian entertainment industry. Even a large number
of viewership comes from YouTube – the famous video streaming platform owned by the
search engine giant, Google. With growing popularity, the online content streaming has
become a lucrative opportunity for the content producers, and it further has resulted in more
and more content being uploaded on the internet. The main target audience of the web series
and other online streaming content is the younger generation, which is mainly comprised of
teenagers, and the youth between 18 to 30 years of age. However, the audience comprises of
people of 30 to 50+ years of age as well.
These online video streaming platforms focus on the ‘binge-watch’ model. To understand this
better, suppose you have decided to sit and watch just one of the episodes of a web series for
a day, which’ll hardly take 30 minutes, and you find yourself tempted to watch more and
more episodes, even though you know you'll be killing several hours of the day on the same.
Streaming services introduced fans to entire TV catalogues, leading to “binge-watching”
where a viewer watches successive episodes of a single TV series in one sitting. Shows are
now catered specifically to binge-watchers. Working on this model helps these platforms to
attract the youth, who is looking for entertainment on their smartphone or laptop devices. As
the youth finds today’s television soap boring, meaningless, and lack of originality, they tend
to watch a lot of drama, comedy, action, love & romance, thrill and more, which comes to
them in the form of the web series or episodes.

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Which factors influence Generation Z’s content selection in OTT TV?
As digital technologies rapidly evolve, traditional television is being disrupted by the
development of more devices, screens, and content. Over-the-top television [OTT TV] is
replacing linear TV at a growing rate. A majority of consumers of over-the-top content are
found in the generational cohort, Generation Z. As true digital natives, this generation is
comfortable navigating a variety of online TV platforms and devices, while also being more
susceptible to short attention-span and information overload. It is therefore necessary to
understand how this emerging cohort makes choices in a TV landscape that is becoming
increasingly overloaded with new content. The purpose of this study is to understand which
user interface components Generation Z takes into consideration when selecting content in
OTT TV. Multiple methodologies were selected to investigate these media habits. Think-
aloud usability testing and interview determined Generation Z’s natural media behavior while
browsing OTT content. Online survey data was collected from a broader sample, comparing
Generation Z and Generation Y. It was discovered that both generations have similar
behaviors in which user interface components influence content choice. The research also
revealed trends in which components are important to Generation Z and why. This research is
the first step to making informed and data-driven decisions in the design and implementation
of OTT TV platforms for Generation Z, thus lessening cognitive overload and creating
optimal user experiences.
As more Indians shift to viewing movies and shows online, industry revenues from streaming
in the country are set to jump from $500 million (Dh1.83 billion) in 2018 to as much as $5
billion in 2023, according to Boston Consulting Group.

With many Western markets saturated and Asia’s top economy China effectively closed off
to foreign streamers, a nation of 1.3 billion where phone ownership is forecast to rocket
makes for a tantalising prize.

“India is super important, for both Netflix and Amazon,” Tony Gunnarsson, a streaming
analyst from consultancy Ovum, said at the recent Asia TV Forum in Singapore.

“Netflix... need to continue to generate new subscribers, and there is no better place than
India.”

But the US giants face tough competition in the vast, ethnically and religiously diverse
country where the streaming scene is rapidly evolving.

There are dozens of subscription streaming services in India, according to Ovum, and some
domestic outfits have more experience in producing content tailored for local audiences and
in the country’s myriad languages.

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A major player is Hotstar — originally a home-grown outfit which later became part of the
Disney empire — which has attracted an army of followers in part by streaming Indian
Premier League cricket matches live.

Other Indian rivals include ZEE5, run by major broadcaster Zee Entertainment, and
ALTBalaji, the video-streaming service of Bollywood producers Balaji Telefilms.

Web series are seen replacing movies and television nowadays. Web series is becoming the
heart of the young generation. Like Netflix, Amazon Prime, TVF, Hotstar and many more
apps are there which consist of web series. Nowadays people, especially the young generation
is completely bored with the daily melodrama of Saas-Bahu serials and melodramatic
situations. That’s why T.V serials are being replaced by the Internet web series, which are
gaining popularity in India.

Web series offers something that the T.V serials just don’t- mature content. Unlike television
dramas, web series has taken a different route. Melodrama has become a 90's thing. Content is
what the viewer is focused on or looking for. Content isn’t the main reason why web series has
been successful they have additionally made it a point to fulfill our thirst for diverse subject
and issues. Like Live in relationships, horror series, documentaries, stand-up comedies,
homosexual love stories, sci-fi thrillers, crime thrillers,… These web series content developers
are trying to bring us concepts that televisions wouldn’t dare to touch. Most of this content in
series or movies created by them work because the person viewing is able to relate the issues
they raise. These shows reflect our way of life and issues, which sometimes find their way to
the outlandish world of T.V serials, with honesty.

Web series are pushing our limits of imagination and leaving the weight of ethics behind.
Another main reason why we dislike T.V serials is the blast of advertisements which spoils
our viewing experience. The skip button catch alongside the shorter interruption during
program viewing sits agrees with the watchers.

The entry of Reliance Jio gave a big push to the approach of social and digital media and
single-handedly changed the video consumption scenario in India. Major web series players
like Netflix India, TVF, Hotstar, Amazon Prime, ALT Balaji have even begun creating
original web series content with the Indian audience in mind. The Internet has become the
trend of the young generation. The phase of the youngsters is seen to be social media addicts
and so web series are easily running and gaining popularity amongst India.
‘Golden age’
Netflix, the world’s biggest subscription streaming service, has made expanding in India a
priority and aims to attract 100 million subscribers in the country — an ambitious goal given
analysts estimate it will only reach about seven million this year.

The company made a mark with its first Indian original “Sacred Games”, a hugely popular
series about a troubled police officer starring top Bollywood actors, and has a slate of new
productions in the works.

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They plan to invest 30 billion rupees ($420 million) in Indian content in 2019 and 2020.

“This is India’s golden age of entertainment,” Srishti Arya, Netflix India’s director of
international original film, told AFP. “There are so many opportunities in streaming, creators
are not restricted by length, duration.”

Effects of Binge Watching Web Series

Several studies have proven direct or indirect effects of binge watching web series and online
streaming content on the youth. A research by Sung, et al (2005) suggested that binge
behaviours are thought to be closely related to negative feelings. Several studies provided
examples of research articles that provide correlation between binge watching, body
dissatisfaction, academic loss, depressive symptoms and low esteem, such as Stickney we al.
(1999), and Stice, Prensell and Spangler (2002). Peterson (2006) examined the effects of
binge-watching on social and academic lives of college students, where he stated, “For many
participants, the rhythm of their day was built around binge-watching. The scheduled a time
to binge-watch web series and awarded themselves after accomplishments. While the
participants downplayed or were unaware of the effects of this new watching experience,
their grades suffered, their social lives are ignored, and the schedule is determined to an
extent by their binge-watching habit.”
In addition, Sung et al. (2015) found that binge-watching was related to depression and
loneliness among 316 respondents between 18 and 20 years old. The studies prove that binge
watching web series and online video content on the OTT platforms have brought in several
changes in attitude, behaviour and social life as well. Statement of Problem India - world’s
biggest democracy has always been known for its diversity, tradition, culture, religious
sentiments, and values, across the globe. It is one such country, which celebrates people, their
religion and culture. People have always taken the example of India, when it comes to how
traditions and culture is being passed to the next generation. Television & Films have always
been a major source of entertainment for the people in India. And at the same time, they have
also been one of the biggest sources with a capability to influence thoughts, attitudes,
behaviour and belief of others. It is generally seen that the young generation, especially kids
and teens tend to learn the dialogues, songs or instances from movies or daily soaps, and later
it stays in their mind for a longer period. And as a result, parents and elders always preferred
streaming those channels, daily soap or movies, which have positivity, and don’t contain any
unfavourable content. However, the new era of web series and online video streaming, based
on an economical model to earn revenue and young audience, overlook the need of the value-
added content. Also, the thirst to adopt western culture has highly influenced the content, and
its type being shared on the various video streaming platforms. Today, the video streaming
platforms focus only on the ‘binge watching’ model, which generated more and more
numbers of viewers, and the viewing hours.
It won’t be wrong to call this model as an ‘addiction’ to spend long hours on streaming
online videos. It is very well known fact that more the number of viewers and playing hours,
more is the scope of revenue. As a result, we can see hundreds of web series, episodes and
videos available on these platforms, and several being uploaded every minute. Since they are
available on the internet, it is easily accessible to the youth via smartphones or laptops. The
content served here is mostly unregulated with a lot of factors which boost the number of
young, school and college going audience. These content contains too much of hatred,

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vulgarity, abusive language, sense of rebellion against parents, country, law or religion, and
other taboos of the society. It deals in originality and creativity, but at the same time, it has a
strong potential to attract the youth’s attention. In the end, it introduces a lot of topics,
subjects and ideas, which the Indian youth might be unaware of, or can be influenced from.

A general day in a youth’s life should be filled with a lot of activities like playing outdoor
games, meeting with friends, exercise and other activities like exercise, doing homework and
being physically active. However, all of these are today replaced with online video streaming
and web shows. Being addicted to internet and online content, they have lesser time for
human interaction, which also harms their physical and mental development. It is already
understood that youths are more likely to imitate and adapts ones behaviour into their own
because they can easily relate to what is shown on online web shows and other video content.
As a result, it develops a lot of behavioral changes in youth today.
It not only makes them aggressive in both their behaviour and in their thoughts, but it is also
likely to influence them with what they have seen regularly like smoking, drinking, drugs,
nudity and vulgarity, which are shown frequently in these online web shows. This further
develops several unhealthy habits at an early age. Here are some of the points, which we
should think properly
1. An average Indian youth spends approximately eight hours 29 minutes watching online
video content, which is far more than the global trend of six hours and 45 minutes.
2. The relationship between watching violent web series and an increase in aggression and
violent behaviour in the youth.
3. Increase in number of insomnia, depression, obesity and eyes disorder cases amongst the
youth.
4. Deleterious effect on academic performance due to binge watching.
5. Nudity and Obscenity encourages irresponsible sexual behaviour, and the web shows
rarely mentions anything about sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy.
6. Alcohol, Smoking, Tobacco, Drugs and Weed are advertised directly on online web series,
which rarely mentions their adverse effects.

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 Chapter – 08 – CONCLUSION

After analysing several aspects, it can be clearly stated that web series and online streaming
content have a huge impact on the Indian youth. The content being produced and showcased
on the online platforms have been successful in grabbing youth’s attention, and moving them
away from the traditional television soap operas.
There is a discernible rise in the prevalence of OTT as a preferred medium, a habit solidified
by the formerly unheard of lockdown due to the highly virulent COVID-19 pandemic. The
main reasons for OTT popularity are availability of cross- cultural content, a subscription to
virtually unlimited content, accessibility of informative content of form of documentary/
docu-series format indicates a paradigm change in the way informational content is made,
distributed and consumed. Also vital are factors like increasing penetration of smartphones
and availability of internet data at competitive prices in India. While OTT is looking forward
to capturing a new horizon, the habitual preference for TV media cannot be ruled out. Web
series emerges as another favorite program format. Lockdown, is not merely is social or
political mandate, but also cues a looming economic crisis of global scale. The world as we
knew is will have changed, mostly for better hopefully, but how the media scenario pans out
will, besides consumer attitudes, be largely dependent on the economic situation post
lockdown.
TV has proven to be one of the most influential mediums for brands to build awareness and
drive sales. But over-the-top applications are better. OTT apps, or those that stream content
without a cable box, combine the reach and power of traditional pay-TV with the scale and
flexibility of the internet to create an unstoppable force for content creators, distributors, and
brands everywhere. While 70% of consumers have at least one major OTT subscription —
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Hulu — many look to other media outlets to fulfill their
content demands. And that’s where your brand can step up to fill in the gaps. Hundreds of
small and medium-sized businesses launch OTT apps every single day. What used to be a
strategy only million-dollar media companies could take advantage of is now entirely in your
budget and power to accomplish given the right team.

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The consumption of online content has been on the rapid rise in India. There are several
reasons for how are web series taking over Bollywood.

1. The easy availability of the internet with the launch of Reliance Jio has boosted several
online career paths in India. Online streaming platforms are one of them also.

2. Censorship laws for movies and web series are different. That is why web series can show
more real content. Directors like Anurag Kashyap who is critical of the way CBFC censors a
film have turned to web series because there they can express everything that they want as an
artist.

3. It is not easy for anyone to make a name in Bollywood. Nepotism and Bollywood's stupid
norms about a 'hero' or 'heroine' main reasons for that. But web series are giving chances to
some actors that are unconventional but very very talented. Actors like Vikrant Messey,
Sumit Vyas, Arjun Mathur have given outstanding performances in web series.

4. Also, as there is no censorship online platforms can handle sensitive but important topics
that Bollywood could never handle. Sacred Games is one of the best examples of this where
the story described issues from terrorism to government spreading religious propaganda to
mob lynching and homosexuality.

The audience of India is changing now and it demands better content. So most of them are
turning towards online streaming platforms.

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As of now most of the OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon prime video, Alt Balaji, Viu, Mx
player etc does not fall in censorship gambit that is why more and more people are drifting
towards these platform in comparison to traditional content.

Because of liberal censor policy norms of OTT platform more and more creative people are
associating themselves with these platform as they get more liberation for their content not
only this emerging talents got opportunities which are otherwise difficult for them to get in
our film and creative industry.

Technician can experiment with their skills and they are fully backed by big OTT platforms
which allows them to try something new and different which they normally would not be
allowed to do in movies, Television industry, creative industry or for that matter on Youtube.

With so much independence and a strong support and backing from Major players people
tend to work with good and open mindset and work for excellence and hence we able to see a
good quality content so often on these platforms then TV serials and movies.

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For a long time, movies were better than serials. By better I mean intellectually stimulating.
Serials were produced with the assumption that it has to be viewed on TVs at a particular slot,
in the evening by people who are tired from their work day or by people sitting idle all day
because they are unemployed. Hardly the correct audience, or rather the correct mind-frame,
to make intellectual challenges.

Movies on the other hand was being watched by people who are going out to watch it
particularly and in a dark room focused on the screen undisturbed by anything, could
challenge them to think out-of-the-box.

However, with streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, etc. the game has changed. Since the
director has 10–15 episodes (each of ~1 hour) atleast as contrasted to the maximum of 3hours
in the movies, he/she can expand the universe as much as needed. Pay attention to the details.
And since the audience can watch at any time over any device, they are more interested in it.
Now many serials are better than the movies.

Movies are cinematic experiences. They can be/must be enjoyed on big screens. You cannot
truly appreciate movies like Gravity or Avatar on a laptop screen. But not everybody wants to
go to cinema halls or can afford it. And they are a one-time thing.There are not many movies
which you can watch repeatedly but such is not the case with TV shows. You can enjoy
sitcoms hundreds of times.

Movies' runtime is usually between 1.5 hours to 3 hours. So, it revolves around 3-4 main
characters and lots of supporting characters. It leaves much less time for character growth and
more for plot growth. Most movies work with the idea of telling a story and moving it
forward with a pace that director/producer/studios decide. But TV shows can explore each
character. Each character can have his/her back story, depth and colors. Although few shows
can achieve this thing, in last 10-20 years, TV has changed a lot. Previously, it was mainly
focused on entertainment but nowadays, it is about diverse stories, crazy plots. 

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Impact of COVID-19 on movie theaters has accelerated two preexisting trends: More people
are staying home to enjoy movies and other entertainment, and more studios and media
distributors are developing their own direct-to-consumer streaming services. While theaters
have suffered heavily from stay-at-home norms, studios have also been deeply challenged.
Productions were halted, some of the most anticipated theatrical premieres were
postponed,1 and more top studios had to forgo theatrical releases altogether and go direct to
consumers to generate at least some income.2 After the pandemic is over, it is unclear what
role movie theaters will play in consumer entertainment or to what extent the existing system
of releases will have been disrupted.

Studios derive almost half of their revenues from theatrical releases. Although the average
number of movie tickets purchased by Americans each year has declined from 4.2 in 2009 to
3.4 in 2019, studio revenues are driven more by box office tickets now than they were 20
years ago. If theaters have a diminished role in the windowing system—the schedule of
exclusive exhibition periods across theaters, home video, cable and TV, and streaming—it
could force changes in how content deals are financed, what the terms for distribution look
like, and how studios make money from their productions.

Although streaming may look like the obvious path forward, studios can’t fully monetize all
their franchises and derivative content through streaming services, particularly if they don’t
control their own distribution channels. For those that do, deploying streaming services is
very costly. Many have yet to show much profit, despite their expanding market
valuations. Early experiments with premium video-on-demand (PVoD), where first-run
movies are offered directly to consumers on streaming services, have had mixed results
during the pandemic. At the same time, if the pandemic were over, 68% of consumers want
to watch at least some movies in theaters Clearly, it is not as simple as just shifting to
streaming.

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With more people opting for home entertainment experiences and more studios developing
their own distribution channels, studios have a chance to reconsider movie windowing and
revenue models. Is a movie only a “movie” if it is first released in a theater? Should some
movies skip the theater and go directly to consumers via streaming and PVoD? Are there
different forms of value that can be unlocked with direct-to-consumer services? These are
questions studios should be asking at this unprecedented moment.

Theatrical releases not only drive box office revenues; they also typically determine how
revenue from subsequent windows are negotiated. For example, the license fee for TV
windows is determined by the success of the theatrical release: the higher the box office
revenue, the higher the license fee paid to studios. If more movies skip theaters or shorten
theatrical windows in favor of digital platforms, fewer movies would likely be able to
generate required box office results or reach minimums for TV deals. Likewise, movies still
account for much of the daily scheduling on premium cable networks. Changes to the
theatrical window—such as releasing a movie on PVoD instead of in a theater—could create
a domino effect of change across other windows and put more pressure on the success of
streaming efforts to compensate.

In my opinion, web series will not kill movie industry fully. But definitely it will impact on
number of movies being made. Watching a movie on big screen will be preferred choice for
movies made with high end technology such as 3D.

Also web series gives entire gamut to play with while movies are under strict control of
sensor. So, it will be obvious for many filmmakers to choose web series due to freedom of
expression.

There will be definitely an impact on television industry. Most TV serials produced these
days lack quality. Web series has exposed this audience to quality content. In Fact many TV
channels are moving to web based apps and services and started promoting these as ‘Watch
shows anytime anywhere at your will’ Definitely there will be decline in traditional TV
audience and it will get converted to Smart TV or we can say TV content will be available
across various platforms and gadgets.

Future of movies will be more technically advanced movies having larger than life
experience that small screens cannot give.

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 REFERENCES - BIBLIOGRAPHY & WEBLIOGRAPHY

https://www.datamatics.com/resources/case-studies/ott-video-streaming-
app-for-a-leading-telecom-player-in-asia

https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/bollywood/story/2020-brought-big-
movies-from-theatres-to-your-living-room-did-the-ott-shift-work-1749458-
2020-12-14

https://gulfnews.com/photos/entertainment/special-screening-of-netflix-
film-guilty--in-pictures-1.1583397700225

https://www.livemint.com/

https://variety.com/2016/digital/news/millennials-prefer-netflix-series-
1201756677/

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