11/23/2020 South Atlantic Partners Mail - Video Killing The Audio Star?

Dhruv Oberoi <dhruv.oberoi@southatlanticpartners.com>

Video Killing The Audio Star?

1 message

Anil Kumar <anil.kumar@redseerconsulting.com> Fri, Oct 30, 2020 at 7:00 AM

Reply-To: Anil Kumar <anil.kumar@redseerconsulting.com>
To: dhruv.oberoi@southatlanticpartners.com

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Hi Dhruv,

Hoping you are doing well and staying safe. Also ready to wrap up the major tasks by noon today and
slowly get into the weekend mood. At least I am planning that way and ready to watch some of the
movies and series I had shortlisted last week.

I am sure binge watching has become a weekend norm for all of us. I bet, it is almost everyone’s
favourite indoor recreational activity these days. When I go back (at least virtually) every week and ask
my colleague Nikhil, "How was the weekend?" we have the same response every time. By the way Nikhil
has been leading the Content vertical at RedSeer.(Do connect with him on LinkedIn)

This weekend I was watching "Bad Boy Billionaires: India". Obviously, not to understand how these guys
tricked the banks though. I would seriously recommend you to watch this, in case you haven't.

The next morning I started discussing with Nikhil how my screen time has increased during this
pandemic. Nikhil, as always started to share a lot of really interesting insights, connecting our video and
music usage over apps.

1. Nikhil says he has been seeing a continuous growth

for OTT Video in terms of the paid user base

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=35c9b86060&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1681938358010695984%7Cmsg-f%3A1681938358010695984&simpl=msg-f%3A1681938358010695984&… 1/8
11/23/2020 South Atlantic Partners Mail - Video Killing The Audio Star?

# of paid accounts, Prime vs Industry growth, Apr – Aug 2020

Note: Data and Analysis excluding YouTube

Highlights:

Pre- Lockdown, an Indian user used to spend roughly ~ INR 1200 per month on offline entertainment, but
this scenario has changed now with user directing almost 30-40% of his offline expenses to online
platforms and out of the online expenses, a user spends ~ INR 175 per month on OTT Video

What is working for players?

Hotstar

Disney Launch enabled users to come to the platform to stream international content from Disney,
Marvel, Pixar & Star Wars. Adding 200+ movies, 100+ shows & 30+ originals to the list.

Netflix

New releases of both originals & licensed content before & during the lockdown
Improvement in product ( UI & Recommendations, Hindi interface) & pricing ( mobile-only plan @
INR 199 per month ) have propelled growth

Prime Video

Increase in last couple of months owing to Prime day sale and Digital releases of mainstream
movies as well higher vernacular content streaming

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=35c9b86060&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1681938358010695984%7Cmsg-f%3A1681938358010695984&simpl=msg-f%3A1681938358010695984&… 2/8
11/23/2020 South Atlantic Partners Mail - Video Killing The Audio Star?

Zee5

Have relied heavily on partnerships with OEM.

Partnered with smart TV & phone manufacturers ( First OTT player to offer UPI payments on
Samsung smart TVs)
Times & Airtel to offer free subscriptions to consumers

Voot

New launch of Voot Select attracted users to get access to originals and live content
Able to grow and reach to 1Mn users in just 5 months

2. These paid users contributed USD 43 Million in

revenue during August 2020 alone

Subscription Revenue, OTT Video industry, Aug’20

Reasons for increase in paid users:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=35c9b86060&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1681938358010695984%7Cmsg-f%3A1681938358010695984&simpl=msg-f%3A1681938358010695984&… 3/8
11/23/2020 South Atlantic Partners Mail - Video Killing The Audio Star?

New Launches in Video and shift to online

Users shifting spend to online

Launch of Hotstar+Disney
Launch of Voot Select
Rise in Smart TV users

Bundling Plans

Telecom Post Paid Users – Cross platforms and Telecom bundlings

Broadband bundling – Free Prime Video subscriptions for JioFibre users

Higher users opting for annual packs

Most of the users are moving towards annual packs compared to monthly ones , even in T2+
cities

3. However on the OTT audio side, churn of users is

supplanting the new user addition

New Paid Users vs Churn, Top 6 players – OTT Audio

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=35c9b86060&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1681938358010695984%7Cmsg-f%3A1681938358010695984&simpl=msg-f%3A1681938358010695984&… 4/8
11/23/2020 South Atlantic Partners Mail - Video Killing The Audio Star?

Note: Excluding YouTube and some smaller players

Highlights:

On the back of Diverse monthly packs there was more acceptance for the monthly packs
compared to annual packs
65% of the respondents (N=200) we interacted with, don’t mind Ads on the platform and are okay
with not having unlimited downloads for offline streaming.
A lot of them feel YouTube, a free platform, is a better alternative

However, the OTT audio industry has a different story altogether. The industry is facing a stagnated
growth in terms of new subscribers mostly due to the lockdown and work from home led model which has
cut down travel time for the users during which they would mostly engage in audio.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=35c9b86060&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1681938358010695984%7Cmsg-f%3A1681938358010695984&simpl=msg-f%3A1681938358010695984&… 5/8
11/23/2020 South Atlantic Partners Mail - Video Killing The Audio Star?

4. The platforms have however understood this trend well

and have been able to grow now on the back of Ad
revenues

Total Revenues, Top 5 players ( in Mn USD )

Insights:

Ad revenues have gone up

Brands/advertisers are flocking to audio platforms for advertising during both music & podcast
streaming

Increased Ad frequency without affecting CX

Platforms (Gaana, Spotify) are changing their ad experience by playing multiple ads in a stretch
but giving longer ad free music.
While, this has increased the ad frequency (more ads), it has improved the free user`s listening
experience
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=35c9b86060&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1681938358010695984%7Cmsg-f%3A1681938358010695984&simpl=msg-f%3A1681938358010695984&… 6/8
11/23/2020 South Atlantic Partners Mail - Video Killing The Audio Star?

Essentially the answer to my original question i.e. Is Video Killing the Audio Star? is negative. Really
admiring to see how agile is our Internet Industry and how the depth of our knowledge across these
sectors enables our client to win even in not so conducive environment.

Thanks

Anil

You can access some of our high quality, well researched and in-depth reports on internet sectors here,
we are listing some of the most relevant and recent ones for you below :

1. Festive Report – 2020 - link

2. Ground Zero || 3rd edition || Re-e-tail : Reimagining new retail - link

3. Online Grocery: What Brands Need To Know - link

4. Online Higher Education & Lifelong Learning - link

5. India – Stay: Market Size & Landscape - link

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