OTT players will be as big as the Indian film industry

Over-the-top (OTT) platforms have seen a glut in the last few years with 2018 being the inflection point where subscribers reached a meaningful mass, thanks to higher speed connectivity and falling data prices in India. 

In fact, a recent study showed that India is the cheapest country for mobile data in the world and that has played a key part in generating somewhat a mass appeal for online video streaming companies like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hotstar etc, at least in Tier 1 cities.  

The last couple of years have witnessed a massive explosion in the number of video streaming services, both domestic and from overseas. Earlier, YouTube was the only name Indians could think of when they wanted to watch videos online. Otherwise, users would mainly visit Torrent Sites to watch pirated movies and TV shows. 

Over time, dedicated players came in, but failed to mark their presence. The arrival of video streaming behemoths like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in the Indian market was the real game changer.

These streaming services introduced a new hobby into the lives of the television-crazy Indian audience: binge watching. 

Now, people can be seen glued to their smart phones and other devices, determined to finish their favourite movies series or TV show season as fast as they can.

We are also witnessing these tech companies using more and more artificial intelligence (AI) from the tremendous data they are generating from their subscribers. 

OTT gathers precise data about individual viewers and their choices and gives recommendations on them. For example in India, cricket-related content is on a high demand, which has led to Amazon making an original series, Inside Edge.  

The data gathered by OTT operators is much more accurate than the viewer data collected from other sources, as it can be tracked accurately and for all subscribers, not just a sample size. 

Moreover, the scope of OTT players in India is to play a bigger role in the next 2-3 years, and we have already seen the beginning of it with grade A Bollywood stars like Saif Ali Khan, Radhika Apte, Vivek Oberoi and now big superstars like Akshay Kumar being part of the original content by Amazon, Netflix, Hotstar and AltBalaji, among others. 

Right now, the whole Indian film industry is like $2 billion in box office collections. Recently Netflix announced that they will spend sizable chunk of their billions of dollars of overall investments in India to acquire, expand and create content. 

Their vision is to have 100 million subscribers in India, which will lead big data-based analytics driving business decisions and original production as well. 

India’s online video market is expected to grow from $700 million in 2018 to $2.4 billion by 2023, according to Media Partners Asia. So eventually OTT players will be as big or bigger than the Indian film industry in a short span of time. 

Now, with so much of monies to be made, AI ensures advertisers get bang for their buck for ad-funded content. 

As AI and machine learning can be accurate with the complete universe of the subscribers, there can be targeted advertising and also charging premium for ad-free content, which can be afforded by certain viewers and for giving some content free for masses, which can be funded by advertising. 

Going ahead, we will see a lot more interactive content. It can also get viewers to be hooked for hours and hours watching interactive programming. 

Netflix’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch was a great example of it with multiple endings depending on viewer’s choices. 

AI is the true representation of viewer’s preferences, which will continue to learn and evolve. 

Author is Founder and CEO of MoMagic Technologies, an AI and Big Data-driven mobile tech organisation