Indians spend 188 bn minutes on OTT amid free telco bundling

In February 2021, Indians spent 188 billion minutes on various OTT platforms, with daily soaps accounting for 69 billion minutes and movies accounting for 31 billion minutes, according to a report released on Tuesday. Free telecom bundling supported boost the amount of OTT subscriptions via smartphone users.

In terms of key players, Voot dominated the daily soaps genre, with 'others' accounting for 31% of the total market share.

According to Bengaluru-based market research company RedSeer, Hotstar dominated the movies genre with a 33% share to the total market.

Mr. Nikhil Dalal and Mr. Ujjwal Chadhury from RedSeer said, “Since users were unwilling to move out of their homes, mainstream movie studios and OTT platforms began releasing new content online, as well as making more originals, to meet the growing demand in India.”

Many post-paid customers choose their telecom operator's bundling options as it supports them in a number of ways.

The analysts stated in the report that broadband providers such as JioFibre offer free Prime and Netflix subscriptions as part of a bundle. Furthermore, with discounts and rewards on a range of players, users are encouraged to select annual subscription packs.

Subscriptions increased by 8% during the same time, while the unique paying user growth rate was estimated at 35% in February 2021 (compared to April 2020). In February, subscription sales increased by 42% YoY.

Engagement is expected to expand as more launches are added to the pipeline, as well as product enhancements.

Consumer behavior has shifted dramatically in the last year, and they now mainly depend on OTT channels for new content.

The acceleration has been fuelled by the launch of Hotstar+Disney, Voot Select, and multiple regional SVoD platforms such as HoiChoi and SunNXT, as well as an increase in Smart TV users.

As per the report, “This would significantly boost the industry's growth trajectory.”

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.