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What the Netflix launch means for India

Krishna Bahirwani explores how the streaming provider will affect the market

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Netflix announced this week that it would simultaneously bring its Internet TV network to more than 130 new countries around the world, including India.The entry of the world's most popular streaming service in India is set to change both the television and OTT or the over-the-top content Industry in India.

"Today you are witnessing the birth of a new global Internet TV network," said Hastings. "With this launch, consumers around the world, from Singapore to St. Petersburg, from San Francisco to Sao Paulo, will be able to enjoy

TV shows and movies simultaneously, no more waiting. With the help of the Internet, we are putting power in consumers' hands to watch whenever, wherever and on whatever device." said Reed Hastings, co-founder and chief executive, Netflix during his keynote at CES 2016.

"From today onwards, we will listen and we will learn, gradually adding more languages, more content and more ways for people to engage with Netflix," added Hastings. "We're looking forward to bringing great stories from all over the world to people all over the world."

The launch will have significant implications in India because of the multiple segments it affects.

"The OTT wars will play out in the next 2-3 years. Internet infrastructure will improve and the next wave of innovation in content as well content distribution will finally play out for India. The last time this happened was in the 90s when the Indian consumer got cable. It is a similar atmosphere now and there are multiple platforms because a lot of people see the opportunity. The OTT opportunity requires a deep understanding of technology, a keen sense for content, and a thorough understanding of customer behavior. This is a difficult mix to get right and those who do will win, with sizable rewards to be reaped on the other side of the war. It goes without saying that it requires a massive capital outlay in technology, content acquisition, and marketing costs. We will see the next generation of media giants rise during this time, much like you did at the beginning of cable with the rise of companies like Zee TV" said Ashwin Suresh, co-founder, Pocket Aces.

The coming of Netflix is also likely to affect consumer behaviour and reduce piracy, because of the ease of use, variety and price points that come it."India is a broad market with multiple segments. Remember the time where majority of the music around you was pirated mp3s. Well lots of people pay for music now and they do it using apps of various forms. It will take time but we will see that folks will pay for content. People use torrents because they had no option, now they do! The pricing and adoption etc. will need to evolve but the platforms will find a way. What if Netflix allowed you to download full shows on its app and watch it at your own time? Would you still torrent?" said Anirudh Pandita, co-founder, Pocket Aces.

"I think we'll see that Netflix and other OTT platforms will find interesting ways of engaging customers here and adapting to their special needs. People still pay to go watch films here and eventually, the variety of content (and the quality of their originals) will find many takers. Lot of people will eventually say that why should I pay for channels I don't watch (90% of cable channels) when what I want is available from a single provider. Similar to the situation where there are 100 restaurants in a food court and you have to pay for each one, when in reality all you really want is a good kebab from a particular store!" added Anirudh.

Others in the OTT industry are also welcoming the entry of Netflix into the Indian market as it can bring more awareness and growth to the segment."The incredible growth of smartphones in India has made the market big enough for multiple video streaming services to thrive simultaneously. We are glad that global players like Netflix are keen on entering the Indian market, since this will contribute in raising awareness about the streaming services as well as grow the market as a whole." said Mr. Siddhartha Roy, CEO, Hungama

Commenting on how big international players like Netflix will affect homegrown companies and if they will be able to keep up to the challenges, Siddhartha added " Over the last few years, the OTT and video on demand market has picked up pace and has been growing substantially. Going by the current market scenario, it can be seen that the market is large enough, offering scope to all the players to thrive simultaneously. We are a natural market for movie consumption. We produce nearly 1800 films each year, 6 times that of Hollywood in 12 Indian languages. Within a short span of five months, Hungama Play has seen aggressive growth in consumption of video, driven on the back of the largest movie library of over 7500 titles on offer. Hence, with the right product, right offer and the right price plan that is out forward we see massive adoption and thus, overcome the challenge."

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