This article has been contributed by Chandra Mani, Founder, Useful Garbage Creations.
The way we consume entertainment has changed forever, and Indian OTT platforms are riding the wave in style. With binge-worthy web series, global blockbusters and homegrown dramas that resonate across cultures, India’s streaming services are making their mark. What’s exciting is how they blend local stories with global accessibility, appealing to audiences in India and beyond. But what’s behind this success? Let’s explore how these platforms are competing — and thriving — in the ever-evolving streaming wars.
India’s Storytelling Power: Bigger Than Ever
India’s media and entertainment industry is on a roll, growing 8% last year despite tough global conditions. What’s driving this? A knack for producing stories that connect. The numbers speak for themselves — 200,000 hours of content every year, including 1,700 films, 20,000 songs, and 3,000 hours of premium OTT programming.
Whether it’s a blockbuster film or a heartfelt regional drama, these tales are travelling to more than 160 countries, topping charts, and winning hearts. Even within India, the lines between regional and national content are blurring. People are just as likely to watch a Malayalam thriller as they are a Hindi rom-com, showing how diverse and relatable Indian content has become.
The OTT Boom: Coming to Every Household
Streaming isn’t just a trend in India — it’s becoming a way of life. With digital platforms now reaching 600 million people, the demand for OTT content is skyrocketing. By 2026, video OTT is expected to hit 65 million households, and the hours of premium content are projected to rise from 3,000 to 4,000. That’s a lot of binge-watching!
But it’s not just about volume — it’s about accessibility and innovation. Platforms are finding clever ways to cater to everyone. BookMyShow Stream’s partnership with VROTT Studios, for instance, brings global content in Indian languages, while Amazon miniTV launched miniTV Imported, offering international shows dubbed in Hindi. Netflix, too, dubs its top shows in up to seven languages and subtitles them in 33, ensuring nobody misses out.
These efforts are paying off. OTT revenue in India surged to $1.8 billion in 2022 — a whopping sixfold increase since 2018—and it’s set to hit $3.5 billion by 2027. Streaming isn’t just entertainment anymore; it’s big business.
Local Stories, Global Audiences
What sets Indian OTT platforms apart is their ability to cater to both local and global tastes. Prime Video is a “prime” example — 60% of its viewership comes from local Indian content, with regional titles accounting for a third of that. This strategy not only draws in domestic audiences but also attracts viewers from around the world. It’s not just the shows and movies, either. India’s creator economy is thriving, with web series, kids’ content, and even sports events reaching global audiences. Some platforms report that 60-90% of their audiences—and over 40% of their revenues—come from outside India.
The Battle for Eyeballs: Challenges and Opportunities
Of course, it’s not all smooth sailing. The competition is intense, with global giants like Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar constantly raising the bar. Their innovative offerings, such as Netflix’s pay-lite/mobile-only plans, make premium content more accessible to cost-conscious viewers. To stay in the game, Indian platforms are doubling down on local content and finding creative ways to keep audiences hooked.
This is where the magic happens. Platforms like Zee5 and SonyLIV are tapping into regional stories while also embracing international formats. Shows like Delhi Crime on Netflix, Gullak Season-4 on Sony LIV and Made in Heaven on Prime Video prove that Indian storytelling can hold its own on the world stage. The third season of Panchayat alone garnered 28.2 million viewers earlier this year, while top titles like Heeramandi (20.3 million) and Indian Police Force (19.5 million) showcased the growing appetite for Hindi-language content. This represents a balancing act, one that Indian platforms are mastering.
Streaming Ahead: What’s Next?
The future of Indian OTT looks bright. With the market set to grow at an impressive 14.3% annually, the opportunities are endless. The subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) segment, which has driven the streaming boom so far, is expected to lead the charge, reaching $2.6 billion by 2027.
But more than the numbers, it’s the stories that matter. Indian platforms are proving that local narratives have global appeal, breaking cultural barriers and redefining entertainment for a diverse audience. As more people tune in to Indian content, one thing is clear: the future of streaming is here, and it’s as vibrant and diverse as the stories India has to offer.
According to a media report, Reliance Industries (RIL), the parent company of Star-Viacom18, is considering limiting itself to JioCinema as its only over-the-top (OTT) platform following the merger, subject to regulatory approvals.
RIL is considering over a combination between Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema, even though the former has more downloads.
Star India’s streaming service, Disney+ Hotstar, is owned by Walt Disney, whilst Viacom 18, which is controlled by RIL, owns JioCinema.
The Future Strategy
With the acquisition of Star and Viacom18, RIL and Walt Disney planned to construct a $8.5 billion media conglomerate in the coming months. The giant would have had more than 100 channels and two streaming platforms.
The business is reportedly prepared to shut down channels in Hindi and regional markets in order to appease the Competition Commission of India (CCI) over worries about the market dominance of the projected Star-Viacom18 merger. Pending clearance from CCI and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the businesses are in a holding pattern.
Market Dominance
The average monthly reach of JioCinema was 225 million consumers, as indicated in RIL’s annual report. According to Sensor Tower, 333 million people used Disney+ Hotstar at least once a month in the fourth quarter of 2023.
When it was at its highest point, with entertainment like HBO and the Indian Premier League (IPL), Disney+ Hotstar had 61 million paid customers. In June, that number dropped to 35.5 million, a substantial decline.
Why This Merger Will Change the Entire Market Dynamics?
Viacom18, which is owned by RIL, had previously integrated its Voot brand over-the-top (OTT) platforms with JioCinema. As of now, Viacom18’s OTT offerings included Voot, Voot Select, and Voot Kids.
The transfer of JioCinema to Viacom18 was previously approved by the NCLT and included investments of INR 15,145 crore in Viacom18 from RIL and Bodhi Tree Systems.
When JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar combine, it will become the leading streaming app in India with more than 125,000 hours of Hollywood, sports, and entertainment content.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) and other major cricket rights will also be held by it. Disney, HBO, NBCUniversal, and Paramount Global will also have content available.
“Record viewership of the Indian Premier League on JioCinema underscored our ability to scale up audiences on our digital platform in a short time,” RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani had stated in the company’s annual report.
Disney+, JioCinema, and Hotstar have reportedly been valued higher than the linear TV businesses of their parent firms, according to a recent media report. The valuation of Disney+ Hotstar was INR 16,040 crore, and a Viacom 18 affiliate received INR 24,186 crore for the transfer of JioCinema.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Amagi.
Amagi is a next-generation media technology company. It provides end-to-end cloud-managed live and on-demand video infrastructure to content owners, broadcast and cable TV networks, and OTT platforms. Its core expertise lies in broadcast-grade 24×7 linear channel creation, channel distribution to Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV platforms, live orchestration for sports and news, OTT server-side ad insertion, and analytics for monetization, cost-effective disaster recovery, among others.
Amagi supports 500+ content brands, 800+ playout chains, and over 2000 channel deliveries on its platform in over 40 countries. The company generated approximately 2 billion ad opportunities every month supporting OTT ad-insertion for 1000+ channels. Its clientele includes ABS-CBN, Fox Networks, Fremantle, NBCUniversal, Tastemade, Tegna, USA Today, and Warner Media, among others.
StartupTalky interviewed Mr. Baskar Subramanian (Co-founder & CEO, Amagi) to get insights into the startup story and roadmap of the organization. In this article you’ll discover how Amagi company was conceptualized, its business model, customer acquisition strategies, Amagi competitors, Amagi technologies revenue, Amagi logo, future plans, and more.
Amagi – Company Highlights
Startup Name
Amagi
Founders
Baskar Subramanian (CEO), Srividhya Srinivasan, Srinivasan KA
Amagi is a next-generation media technology company. It provides end-to-end cloud-managed live and on-demand video infrastructure to content owners, broadcast and cable TV networks, and OTT platforms.
Amagi’s core expertise lies in broadcast-grade 24×7 linear channel creation, channel distribution to Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV platforms, live orchestration for sports and news, OTT server-side ad insertion, and analytics for monetization, cost-effective disaster recovery, among others.
Amagi’s clients include top-tier broadcast TV networks, digital-first networks, content owners, Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST), and OTT platforms in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions. The company has grown 100 percent over the last two years and is profitable. Amagi has a presence in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Paris, and Singapore, broadcast operations in New Delhi, and an innovation center in Bangalore. Amagi has 350+ employees and continues to hire and expand operations across all regions.
Amagi Live
Vision
Amagi’s long-term vision is to transform the media and entertainment industry by virtualizing the whole broadcasting operation. The flexibility of cloud-built solutions for broadcasting outpaces the capabilities of traditional hardware-intensive operating systems. Its goal is to be the global leader in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV.
The startup is currently amidst a global ‘cord-cutting phase with more and more viewers choosing streaming TV over traditional Pay TV services. And within streaming, Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV or FAST (the streaming version of the free TV network) is becoming immensely popular among viewers keen to revisit the simplicity of linear TV-like experience.
Amagi is playing an instrumental role in the transformation taking place in the streaming industry. In fact, it is at the front and center of it. Amagi had already established early leadership in the domain, enabling content brands to spin up linear channels on the go, distribute them to leading FAST platforms and generate ad revenues for themselves.
300+ content brands have so far chosen to engage Amagi’s services to amplify their distribution across FAST. Its short-term goal is to be able to emerge as the undisputed leader in providing the complete technology stack in streaming distribution, especially in the FAST space.
Amagi’s core belief is that technology has the power to transform an industry, making it more nimble and more competitive, and providing options to both service providers as well as end-users.
Take the Media and Entertainment industry for example. For several years, the industry had not undergone any major transformations until Cloud came into the picture. Cloud-led technology solutions challenged the status quo in the industry, creating radical changes in content consumption patterns (the OTT boom is a prime example). Due to the technology disruption, users have more choices and more flexibility and control over what they want to watch. Content creators, likewise, have the option of scaling their business on the cloud at lower opex compared to traditional broadcasting models.
As the front runners of next-gen media tech solutions for broadcasting, Amagi takes pride in having played an instrumental role in this transformation. Amagi has successfully introduced a flexible ‘pay-as-you-go’ model for launching and operating 24/7 linear channels by eliminating the need for traditional, hardware-driven, large expensive physical operations. The company essentially put the entire broadcast operations on the cloud.
Rise of connected TV: In the fourth quarter of 2020, CTV devices accounted for 49% of the time people spent streaming video globally
Smart TVs’ viewership time increased by 157% in the quarter to represent 17% of overall viewership time
Global audience for FAST TV: 200 million and still growing
The connected TV market is currently generating $250 billion in ad revenues
Amagi’s Market Share:
Overall, Amagi has 500+ content brands, 800+ playout chains, and over 2000 channel deliveries on its platform in over 40 countries. Amagi has already established early leadership in the FAST domain, with 50+ FAST platforms and 100 other platform partnerships globally. 300+ content brands chose to engage Amagi’s services to amplify their distribution across FAST. This includes Fremantle, beIN Sports, Yahoo! Finance, Tastemade, Qwest TV, Shout! Factory, Cinedigm, USA TODAY, VICE UK, and more.
Industry growth in the next 5 years:
The team at Amagi believes that streaming is the future of TV with millions of viewers around the world making it their favored entertainment destination. In 2020 alone, nearly 68 million US homes had made the switch from cable to OTT, and around 300 streaming players were vying for their attention in the market. In India too, studies predict that the OTT content market is at an inflection point and is likely to reach $5 bn in size by the end of 2022.
There are shifts taking place within the OTT ecosystem too. While subscription-based streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon Prime continue to be popular among viewers, the sheer volume of options in the Subscription-Video-On-Demand space has caused ‘decision fatigue’, giving rise to a new phenomenon – Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST), a subset of Advertising Video-On-Demand (AVOD).
With FAST, viewers can go back to the simplicity of linear TV-like experience, with ad breaks that are shorter and tailored to their interest, without having to incur any Pay TV expenses. The rise of FAST in the US and other markets such as Europe, LatAm, and Asia is opening new vistas for content brands for channel creation, distribution, and monetization. The growing demand for connected TVs and the popularity of linear TV-like experiences imply that good quality content is going to become freely available to viewers, and monetization of content will be largely through advertising.
Amagi was founded in 2008 by Baskar Subramanian, Srividhya Srinivasan, and Srinivasan KA to pioneer cloud-based broadcast and advertising technology solutions. The company originally started in India providing targeted TV advertising solutions.
The founders often tell a story of how they were approached by a young palmist offering to predict their future as they were sitting in a park and brainstorming ideas for their next entrepreneurial venture, on a Monday morning in early 2008. The palmist, rightly assuming that the founders were currently in between ventures, chose to target them as they seemed the likeliest candidates for needing their futures told. This ‘targeting’ on the part of the palmist put them in mind of ‘targeting’ as a solution. They chose ‘targeted advertising’ on traditional TV as a business model, as there was a real need for technology intervention in this area, to democratize TV advertising and make it accessible to small-time advertisers.
As part of their research into the viability of this technology, the founders went to the United States and other countries to examine what was already available in this space. They found that the tech that existed was very expensive and not scalable. For it to be a success in India, the tech had to be low cost and easy to scale.
They decided to build this technology from scratch and scale it to 3000 cities at a time, which was the start of Amagi.
In the late 2000s, billions of dollars worth of advertising money were being spent by large corporations on national TV– a luxury that small-time regional advertisers could not afford. Amagi’s founders took ad democratization as their problem statement. They believed that targeted advertising technologies could have a transformational impact in this area.
They wanted to see if they could build a network of local advertisers and offer them geo-targeted advertising on traditional TV (narrow the target down to a street, if needed) as a solution to their visibility requirements on TV. They decided to build targeted advertising infrastructure in the country by splitting the satellite signals at specific locations and inserting new ads.
Advertisers loved the idea. They could now choose to target multiple locations (individually), and yet, end up spending less than a national TV ad slot (the cost of the sum of the individual locations was less than the whole national ad spot), thus gaining more visibility, at a fraction of the cost.
That was the genesis of Amagi’s foray into the TV advertising arena, which eventually led to bigger innovations at larger scales.
The company quickly pivoted from targeted advertising to lead cloud adoption and evangelize cloud technologies for broadcast.
Baskar Subramanian, Srividhya Srinivasan, and Srinivasan KA are the founders of Amagi.
Baskar, Srini, and Vidhya met and befriended one another during their graduate years at Government College of Technology, Coimbatore. They are software engineers who co-founded the company in 2008 after their previous entrepreneurial venture, Impulsesoft, was acquired by Nasdaq listed SiRF.
About the founders –
Baskar Subramanian | Co-founder & CEO, Amagi
Baskar Subramanian – Co-founder, Amagi
Baskar is a serial entrepreneur with many patents to his name. As CEO, Baskar drives Amagi’s vision, growth strategy, and execution, enabling the transformation of the global media and entertainment industry through technology innovation. Baskar has been instrumental in developing several of Amagi’s path-defining technologies on cloud broadcast and frame-accurate ad splicing for both TV and OTT. Under Baskar’s leadership, Amagi has demonstrated strong growth, becoming an industry leader in SaaS-based solutions for broadcast.
Prior to Amagi, Baskar co-founded ImpulseSoft, a wireless technology company, which was later acquired by NASDAQ-listed SiRF. He started his career as a software engineer at Texas Instruments before embarking on his entrepreneurial journey. To foster a culture of entrepreneurship in society, Baskar regularly shares his insights and expertise with startups and small businesses. He is a well-known speaker at technology and industry events, evangelizing the use of the cloud for broadcast industry transformation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Technology from the Government College of Technology (GCT), Coimbatore, India.
KA Srinivasan (Srini) | Co-founder & Chief Revenue Officer, Amagi
KA Srinivasan – Co-founder, Amagi
Srini is a technology entrepreneur with 23+ years of experience in establishing and successfully scaling businesses. Srini co-founded Amagi in 2008 and established it as a global leader in SaaS for broadcast and streaming TV on the cloud. As Chief Revenue Officer, Srini is responsible for revenue growth inclusive of sales & marketing.
Before Amagi, Srini co-founded the wireless audio company, ImpulseSoft, which went on to become a market leader and was later acquired by the American semiconductor company, SiRF. Earlier, he started his career at Texas Instruments as a software engineer. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the Government College of Technology (GCT), Coimbatore, India. Srini regularly speaks at global industry events, evangelizing the use of the cloud for channel creation and monetization. In his free time, Srini loves to travel and read, and play arbitrator for his kids in their friendly sibling conquests.
Srividhya is one of the few women entrepreneurs in the broadcast technology industry to have successfully conceptualized and introduced pioneering products for global markets. She loves to create innovative product solutions to tackle complex engineering problems. At Amagi, Srividhya plays the critical role of advising global clients on suitable cloud deployment architecture, designing custom solutions, and ensuring that clients transition to cloud broadcast models smoothly.
Srividhya started her career as a software engineer at Texas Instruments. She spent most of her 23 years of professional experience as a technology entrepreneur. Before Amagi, she had co-founded ImpulseSoft, a wireless audio technology company that was later acquired by NASDAQ-listed SiRF.
She graduated from the Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. Engineering is her first love, and she firmly believes that engineering is her reason to be.
Founders’ Task
Task divided among founders: Baskar Subramanian is the CEO of the company. He leads technology innovation, business strategy, and overall execution at Amagi. Srinivasan KA is the Chief Revenue Officer. He is responsible for revenue growth inclusive of sales and marketing. Srividhya is the Chief Customer Success Officer. She plays the critical role of advising global clients on suitable cloud deployment architecture, designing custom solutions, and ensuring that clients transition to cloud broadcast models smoothly.
Company Size & Hiring funda
The company has 400+ employees at present and is growing rapidly. Over the past two years, the company has expanded to more locations, including Latin America, Canada, and different parts of Europe. The founders are looking to onboard premium tech talent across Engineering, Product Management, and Global Sales roles in India and its international locations.
Work Culture
Amagi is a company that prides itself on being outrageously ambitious. The founders encourage their employees to think like ‘there’s no box at all.’ By asking employees to bring never-thought-before ideas to the table, they deliver breakthrough results, driving exceptional outcomes for their customers.
Amagi’s early products and solutions were conceptualized and built with the purpose of offering advertisers greater freedom through technology. Amagi in Sumerian means “freedom” and the name seemed a fitting choice for what the company intended to do – which was to offer local advertisers the freedom to do more and achieve more despite having limited resources.
Amagi Logo
The company’s logo has undergone several changes over the years. The first version of the logo had a small TV screen as a brand mnemonic to clearly demonstrate the company’s core market and expertise. As the company grew and became more international in its operations, the logo was likewise upgraded to have a global appeal. Amagi’s logo is font-based and minimalistic. It is easily replicable across all formats and surfaces.
Amagi – Business model & Revenue model
Amagi offers three business models for customers to choose from –
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
‘Bring your own license’, and
Fully Managed Service
It also offers a revenue share model with content owners and platforms based on ad insertions enabled.
Amagi Cloudport UI
Amagi – Launch & Customer Acquisition Strategy
In the Indian ad business as well as the global cloud broadcast business, Amagi engages with customers both on-demand and supply side. Demonstrating the value-add its solutions could give them was a crucial part of the startup’s customer acquisition strategy.
In the ad business, it had to convince broadcasters to support localization of ads on their national channels, and local/regional advertisers to buy targeted ad spots on these channels. Oftentimes, the team had to buy ad inventories at its expense on a premium and then sell them to local advertisers at a fraction of the cost, to convince them that its solution worked. Amagi’s business model was that it could sell the same ad spot through as many regional advertisers as possible with the view that the sum of the parts will eventually be greater than the whole. Based on the success of this approach, Amagi was able to sell a million ad seconds per month.
In the cloud broadcast business too, Amagi was working with forward-thinking customers who were willing to place their bets on cloud technologies, which is a low-cost, low risk, pay-as-you-go infrastructure model. As these companies discovered the inherent advantages of the cloud and were willing to future-proof their business using cloud solutions, Amagi’s business saw the momentum and its list of customers grew steadily.
The OTT revolution, lockdown-imposed restrictions, and the growth of Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV were other factors that led to the increased adoption of cloud-based solutions as the de-facto infrastructure for broadcasting. From 2018 onward, Amagi’s business momentum was on a rapid incline. By 2021, it had 500+ content brands, 2000+ channel deliveries, 50+ FAST platforms, and 100 other OTT platforms in its customer portfolio.
The comprehensiveness of Amagi’s solutions: The breadth and depth of services it offers its customers are exhaustive. From broadcast-grade 24/7 linear channel creation to distribution across satellite, cable, and IP, to OTT server-side ad insertion and analytics for monetization, it provides end-to-end infrastructure for broadcast operations on the cloud.
The flexibility of the working model: Amagi’s customers can manage hundreds of channel feeds and scale up at will from any remote corner of the world using its solutions.
Comprehensive distribution network: Amagi enables its customers to distribute their content across satellite, cable, and IP. Its strongest value proposition to its customers is the FAST platform distribution network. With 50+ FAST platform partnerships globally, content owners can share their content across any platform in any part of the world.
Amagi has been able to provide tremendous value to its customers with the immense capability and agility of its solutions, which has, in turn, giving the startup a high customer retention rate (127% net retention as of July 2021).
To kickstart its targeted advertising business, Amagi had to collaborate with cable operators from around the country, from big cities to tier 2 cities. There were around 20,000 cable operators in the country at the time.
One of the earliest challenges it faced was in collaborating with the operators who had a limited understanding of the technologies that they were building. Making them aware of its potential and bringing them on board was a herculean task.
The second challenge it experienced was in convincing channels to let it insert ads in between their content. From a technology provider standpoint, Amagi was unaware of the ad content and could not give channels the reassurance that it would be inoffensive to its viewers. Having never done local advertising before, they were also unsure of the business model and unwilling to experiment with it. To counter this challenge, Amagi had to build an in-house ad sales team, buy ad inventories and then sell it to local advertisers, at considerable risk to itself. Amagi also built an in-house ad creative team to tackle the challenge of ad content ambiguity.
It started off as a tech provider and pivoted to add multiple other capabilities into its service offerings to meet the demands of the customers. Furthermore, another challenging task that Amagi successfully pulled off was when the company pivoted to a Saas-based monetisation platform for TV networks and content owners. Amagi, which started off strictly as an advertising solution provider to offer advertising solution to local businesses TV channels dropped the same model and began afresh with a Saas-based approach in 2018. This pivot was painful indeed when the company had to bid adieu to around half of the workforce it had. However, Amagi made it out strong. The successful story of Amagi’s growth had not been discovered until the company revealed that it skyrocketed its revenues, which neared the Rs 200 crore mark along with churning significant profit in the fiscal that ended in March 2021
Amagi – Funding and Investors
Amagi has been successful in raising $240.2 million in over 6 funding rounds that it has seen to date. The last funding round for Amagi came in on March 16, 2022, where the company was successful in raising $95 million worth of funds in a funding round led by Accel, and eventually joined in by other existing investors including Norwest Ventures, Avataar Ventures, and more. This funding round helped the company gain a unicorn valuation, thereby making it the 12th Indian startup to join the unicorn club of companies in 2022.
Amagi earlier raised $100 million last in September 2021, from a bunch of investors. The lead investors of Amai include Emerald Media, Mayfield Fund, and more.
Funding Date
Name of the Funding Round
Amount
Lead Investors
March 16, 2022
Private Equity Round
$95 mn
Accel, Norwest Venture, Avataar Ventures
September 10, 2021
Private Equity Round
$100 mn
–
December 15, 2016
Series D
$35 mn
Emerald Media
January 19, 2015
Series C
–
Premji Invest
June 1, 2014
Series B
$4.7 mn
–
June 17, 2013
Series A
$5.5 mn
Mayfield Fund
Amagi has recently organized a buyback of shares worth $12 mn from its founding team and employees. The Amagi board has approved a buyback of 76,533 equity shares at Rs 11,998.63 per share, which would amount to $12 million (Rs 91.8 crore), as per the regulatory filings of the company. As a result of the buyback, only two of the company’s co-founders, Baskar Subramanian and Srividhya Srinivasan, could offload their shares that were worth $8 million (Rs 61.2 crore).
Amagi – Growth and Revenue
Amagi supports 650+ content brands, 800+ playout chains, and over 2000 channel deliveries on its platform in over 40 countries. The company generated approximately 2 billion ad opportunities every month supporting OTT ad-insertion for 1000+ channels. Furthermore, the total audience of Amagi is calculated at somewhere around 2 bn+ and is growing each quarter. The company currently has a valuation of $1 bn+ and is hailed as one of the highest valued mediatech companies worldwide.
Amagi has a presence in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Paris, Singapore, broadcast operations in New Delhi, and an innovation center in Bangalore.
Amagi clients include ABS-CBN, A+E Networks UK, beIN Sports, CuriosityStream, Discovery Networks, Fox Networks, Fremantle, NBCUniversal, Tastemade, Tegna, USA Today, Vice Media, and Warner Media, among others.
Amagi is a profitable company. In the fiscal year ending March 2021, Amagi announced a 136% increase in annual revenue and a sequential growth of 18% in revenue in the quarter ending June 2021.
Looking at the Amagi revenue, the company has seen quite a growth (2.3X) in its revenues from operations, which stood at Rs 96.1 cr in FY20 and became Rs 219.3 cr in FY21. The total revenue it earned from the US ballooned 3.3X YoY to become Rs 143.7 cr during FY21 and making up for 65.5% of the total company’s revenues. Furthermore, the revenue earned by Amagi from the rest of the world also increased by 99.4% to become Rs 31.5 cr.
Amagi Financials
Amagi Financials
FY21
FY20
Operating Revenue
Rs 219.30 cr
Rs 96.1 cr
Total Expenses
Rs 197.94 cr
Rs 115.15 cr
Profit/Loss
Profit of Rs 20.71 cr
Loss of Rs 18.70 cr
EBITDA Margin
12.7%
-11.7%
Amagi Expenses Breakdown
Amagi expenses were recorded at Rs 115.2 cr in FY20, which increased by 72% to stand at Rs 198 during FY21. Cloud hosting and other expenses associated with the server and the hosting shot up 2.4X YoY and is deemed to be the largest expense for Amagi in FY21, making up for 38.1% of the total annual costs of the company. The second largest expense for Amagi was the employee benefit expenses. Here’s a quick look at all the expenses of Amagi in FY21 and a comparison with the previous year’s expense verticals.
Amagi Expense Verticals
FY21
FY20
Server Hosting Expenses
Rs 75.50 cr
Rs 31.60 cr
Employee Benefit Expenses
Rs 66.93 cr
Rs 45.80 cr
Other Operating and Admin Expenses
Rs 26.19 cr
Rs 25.44
Broadcasting Charges
Rs 8.70 cr
Rs 3.10 cr
Subscription Membership Fees
Rs 10.17 cr
Rs 5.41 cr
Legal Professional Charges
Rs 10.45 cr
Rs 3.80 cr
Coming to the unit economics, Amagi had to spend Rs 0.9 to earn a single rupee of revenue. The company focused on growth this year after its pivot and has managed to grow by 2.4X.
Amagi – ESOPs
Amagi rolled out an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) scheme and a stock appreciation rights scheme (SARs IV), which would cumulatively be worth $24 mn.
Amagi – Competitors
Amagi has a whole bunch of rivals that are competing in the same industry. Here are some of the prominent Amagi competitors:
Front & Sullivan’s Global Product Innovation Award 2018 for Amagi CLOUDPORT
IBC Innovation Awards Winner 2015
CNBC 10 Hottest Startups in India
Deloitte 2nd Fastest-Growing Tech Firm in India, 2012
Stevie Gold Award for Medium-Sized Company of the Year (Media & Entertainment)
Stevie Bronze Award for Cloud Application / Service of the Year
Amagi – Future Plans
In the fiscal year ending March 2021, Amagi hit a revenue milestone of 136% and a sequential growth of 18% in the quarter ending June 2021. Its plan is to keep this business momentum going by offering newer cloud-innovated product capabilities and services to support new-age content providers and platforms in their growth journey.
Amagi plans to offer its customers a self-service portal – a single platform – on which they can access all its products. The platform will enable customers to leverage the benefits of all the products in its technology stack – its channel playout solution, Amagi CLOUDPORT, its server-side ad insertion solution, Amagi THUNDERSTORM, its live orchestration, and lightweight content scheduling platform, Amagi LIVE and AMAGI PLANNER, and more – on a single browser window.
The streaming TV revolution has created more opportunities for content owners to create, distribute and monetize channels. While viewers enjoy having more choices, they also expect the content to be of broadcast-grade quality standards. Amagi is offering low-cost playout options to smaller, new-age content owners to help them create compelling viewing experiences for their audiences, thereby, placing them on a level playing field with large deep-pocketed broadcasters.
FAQs
What is Amagi company?
Amagi is a next-generation media technology company. It provides end-to-end cloud-managed live and on-demand video infrastructure to content owners, broadcast and cable TV networks, and OTT platforms.
Who founded Amagi?
If you are wondering about the Amagi founders, then Baskar Subramanian, Srividhya Srinivasan, and Srinivasan KA are the persons behind the foundation of the profitable advertising solution turned SaaS-based monetisation platform for TV networks and content owners, Amagi.
How much is the Amagi technologies revenue?
Amagi Technologies marked its revenue from operations at Rs 96.1 cr in FY20. This grew by 2.3X to become Rs 219.3 cr in FY21.
Is Amagi an Indian company?
Yes. Amagi’s headquarters is situated in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The company is also having its headquarters abroad in New York, USA.
What does Amagi’s client base look like?
Amagi clients include Fox Networks, Fremantle, NBCUniversal, Tastemade, Tegna, Vice Media, and Warner Media, among others. Amagi supports 500+ content brands, 800+ playout chains, and over 2000 channel deliveries on its platform in over 40 countries.
What is the meaning of the word ‘Amagi’?
Amagi in Sumerian means “freedom” and the name seemed a fitting choice for what the company intended to do – which was to offer local advertisers the freedom to do more and achieve more despite having limited resources.
How in the world does a mobile TV app make money out of televised Indian cricket? Hotstar, that’s how. Hotstar, the online streaming service owned by Star India, has become the official broadcaster of IPL matches in India. The sports content distribution giant’s leap into the IPL broadcasting business is a big step toward Hotstar’s quest to create a digital cricket viewing experience beyond anything available in the market today. To understand how Hotstar is making money out of the Indian Premier League, we shall look closely at their business model, especially their growth story in such a short period.
The Hotstar business model revolves around three main revenue streams: ads, subscriptions, and other revenue streams.
Advertising on Hotstar
Hotstar generates the bulk of its revenues through advertising. The company has been improving its advertising capabilities to attract more advertisers and increase ad spending. The company recently launched Hotstar Premium, allowing advertisers to run ads during live broadcasts such as cricket matches or other sports events at specific times.
70% of the revenue comes from advertisers wanting to advertise on a cricket platform during IPL.
Subscription Model
Hotstar offers two types of subscriptions – monthly or annual – both priced at Rs 199 per month (approximately $2). Hotstar competes directly with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video with this subscription model. They offer similar pricing for their services in India (although both companies have yet to launch here). This means that Hotstar needs to ensure its content offering is sufficiently attractive for consumers to choose it over competitors.
Reason For the Huge Success of Hotstar
Hotstar Unique Viewers Growth
Hotstar Viewer Engagement
Hotstar is experimenting with viewer engagement options that let you predict the next scores and win prizes.
Hotstar, India’s premier destination for cricket, is experimenting with viewer engagement options that let you predict the next scores and win prizes.
The idea is simple: if you’re watching a match and want to get involved in predicting what happens next, now you can. You’ll be given a chance to predict the outcome of certain events within a match, like the next batsman to score or the next bowler to bowl. If your prediction is correct, you’ll earn points that can then be redeemed for cash prizes!
In some cases, viewers can even select their prize: one lucky winner will get a free subscription to their favorite channel on Hotstar! It’s an exciting new way for viewers to interact with their favorite content—and we’re excited to see how it goes.
The Rise in Mobile Internet Usage
The rise in mobile internet usage has boosted Hotstar.
The recent IPL season was the most-watched ever, with Hotstar’s live and catch-up viewing contributing to a total of 2.3 billion minutes consumed during the tournament. The platform also saw a whopping 300% growth in time spent on its app during the league compared to the previous year.
More than 269 million viewers spent around 60.6 billion minutes of live IPL streaming in the first week of 2020-21 IPL edition.
IPL is just one part of what makes up Hotstar’s programming slate; it also hosts content from other leagues like La Liga, Bundesliga and Premier League as well as live sports events like Wimbledon.
Hotstar Subscription Services
Hotstar Subscribers Worldwide
Hotstar has done a great job converting viewers to subscribers by focusing on India’s unique viewing patterns (viewers consume content on their phones).
They have also made it pretty easy for viewers to explore the offerings of its subscription services. The site’s homepage is a huge curated list of popular shows, which is an easy way to find something new.
Users can also browse the site by genre, which helps them narrow down their options further. The user interface (UI) is simple and clean, making it easy to navigate the website. It also loads quickly and does not overwhelm users with too many options.
IPL has a global audience, so the stakes are high here.
Hotstar, owned by the same parent company as IPL, had to work hard to keep up with demand during this cricket season. But they did it! As a result, Hotstar saw an 82% increase in signups over the 2020-2021 IPL season. They also saw an average of 40 million viewers per match (a 63% increase over the 2020-2021 IPL edition).
It’s not surprising that Hotstar was able to handle the increased traffic—they’ve been working on their infrastructure since 2016 when they launched their streaming app and platform. Since then, they’ve focused on building out their capabilities and improving their delivery mechanism to ensure that they can continue to deliver high-quality content at scale.
Recently Hotstar expand its reach into new territories such as Sri Lanka and Afghanistan—it now offers 12 languages across 159 countries!
Hotstar Advertising on Traditional Media
Traditional media has also started using Hotstar advertising media like Print, Outdoor, and Radio.
Hotstar has generated better returns for advertisers than traditional media by providing them with a platform that can be tracked with precision. The focus is on building brands rather than just promoting products.
This move was widely criticized by traditional media outlets, who felt that they were losing out on revenue due to the switch to digital platforms. However, this move has proven to be very beneficial for Hotstar: they have seen an increase in their user base by over 30% since they won the IPL streaming rights. They are also now able to provide advertisers with a more diverse range of options when it comes to advertising on their platform.
Hotstar is looking at making the most of its fan base by offering them more than just cricket. They want to make it easy for fans to watch what they want to catch up on the latest shows and movies.
Conclusion
Trillion-dollar opportunity lies in cricket in India, and Hotstar is a frontrunner when it comes to grabbing these opportunities.
A cricket-crazy country like India has a massive market for cricket-related content. Hotstar, who has partnered with one of the best teams in the world ( Indian Cricket Team) and IPL (Indian Premier League), is enjoying this benefit. A smart combination of live streaming, cricket highlights, post-game match commentaries, star interviews, and an online cricket merchandise shop has propelled it to be the most downloaded app from the play store in India.
FAQs
How much did Hotstar earn from IPL 2022?
Hotstar is speculated to have generated ad revenue of around $128 Million from IPL 2022.
What is the revenue of Hotstar?
The Revenue of Hotstar was recorded at $215 in December 2021.
How much Hotstar subscribers increased during IPL?
Disney+Hotstar paid subscribers crossed over 50 Million during IPL.
How much Hotstar paid for IPL broadcasting rights?
BCCI has given IPL Media rights to Hotstar for $4234 million.
As humans, our main source of entertainment has always been movies and series. Two decades ago, television was the main form through which we used to get our daily dose of entertainment. Flash Forward to two decades later, Streaming services have taken the place of television. People are now more into OTT platforms for their dose of entertainment and these streaming services are also serving them with regular movies, series, reality shows and everything that can entertain them.
Topping the list of streaming platforms is Netflix. Netflix was founded in the year 1997 by Ted Sarados and Reed Hastings. It started offering streaming services in 2007 and since then it hasn’t looked back. There is hardly anyone who doesn’t know about Netflix and hasn’t used it to watch a movie or a series at least once. According to Netflix, they have over 222 million subscribers from all over the world. Therefore, it is not wrong to say that it is the most popular streaming service.
However, recently the biggest streaming platform has encountered some pretty big roadblocks and somehow they are the only one who is responsible for this. Netflix was eyeing to add 2.5 million new subscribers in the first quarter. However, the opposite happened, Netflix has lost over 200k subscribers in a couple of months and 37% of its shares plummeted in a single day. In this article, we will talk about what has gone wrong with Netflix, why it is losing its subscribers and why its shares dropped for the first time in a decade. So, without any further ado, let’s get started.
Netflix Share Drop
“There is a revolution happening, and within two years I think that Wi-Fi and Netflix will be built into all the televisions.” -Reed Hastings
What Reasons Is Netflix Giving for Share Price Fall?
After the drop in the share prices, Netflix has given three reasons for the loss of its subscribers and they are:
Increase in Price
Netflix Subscription Plans
Netflix has increased their monthly subscription price in recent times. UK subscribers are said to be paying three times more for what they used to pay two years ago for the same service. This has created quite a stir amongst the subscribers. Although Netflix said that the increase of the price is to provide more quality content and experience to their customers, the sudden hike in the prices in the UK and Ireland was frowned upon by the public.
Netflix Exit From Russia
Just like many other companies Netflix also suspended their operation in the country because of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine The Russia-Ukraine war is another major cause of the subscriber’s loss of the platform. Netflix stopped all their services in Russia after the country declared war on Ukraine. Over this course, Netflix has lost over 700k subscribers because of the escalation of the war.
Sharing of Passwords
Netflix said that the sharing of passwords with other households is also the reason for the loss of subscribers. According to reports, 100 million households are enjoying the streaming service free of cost, with the help of password sharing. As mentioned above Netflix has over 222 million subscribers and these people are sharing their passwords with their friends, extended family and relatives.
Where Netflix Went Wrong?
While in this situation, some of the decision by Netflix has backfired and are constantly frowned upon by the customers. Those decisions are:
Advertisement on the Platform
From its very existence, Netflix as a platform never included ads in their services and the brand value has always been about improving the customer experience. Unlike other streaming services, Netflix avoided advertising and believed that it could do better business without it. In a sudden shift in the platform’s belief, the CEO of the streaming giant revealed that they are planning to introduce advertising on the platform in one or two years. Contrary to their previous statement where they said they will not use advertisement and. This is going opposite of their brand values as they have always focused on improving the customer experience. This decision came after Netflix was reported of losing over 2 Lakhs subscribers. According to them, it is to lower the price of the subscription.
Sharing Password Crackdown
This is probably the biggest blunder the streaming giant has done. As mentioned above, there are over 200 million subscribers of Netflix in the world but along with that 100 million households are sharing the passwords of their accounts with others. Password sharing was never a problem and one of the reasons the streaming platform was popular because of this and how consumer-friendly it was, until now. Netflix reasons that the increase in their price structure of the subscription is because of password sharing, so to decrease the subscription cost they have decided to stop password sharing.
Being Insensitive
The worst thing, a business can do is treat their customers as criminals. As mentioned above, Netflix is on the verge of banning password sharing among households in America. However, before that Netflix is reported to fine accounts in Costa Rica, Peru and Chile who share their password with others. This somehow is quite triggering and seems unfair to certain cultures of the world and is tarnishing the image of the brand.
Bad PR
It takes a lot of time to build the reputation of a brand but it takes a second to get it crumbled. Netflix as a brand always focused on customer experience and entertainment. However, the recent news of cracking down on passwords, increasing the subscription price and introducing ads on the platform shows that they have become money-hungry and are not that consumer-friendly anymore. This way, the damage has already been done and the PR of the company hasn’t even done their job properly, which has resulted in such a stir. As they are now changing their core strategy, customers are finding it infuriating.
Cease to Innovate
Netflix has been famous for its great and unique content. However, in recent times, people believe that the streaming service has stopped making unique and innovative content. They are creating content that are mundane and repetitive. This way they are forgetting the basic thing that made them successful.
What Will Netflix Do Now?
Netflix is right now in deep trouble. There is still no definite answer as to when Netflix will stop losing subscribers. It is the first time in a decade that the streaming giant has received such a blow. In fact, the worse is still not over as Netflix has already said that it will lose more subscribers with the current scenario. By the next quarter, it is predicted to lose 2 million more subscribers. Netflix is currently gearing up to follow its decision of introducing ads on the platform and banning password sharing. However, it is not clear if these two decisions will be able to revive Netflix or it will make it fall more into the abyss.
Conclusion
Netflix is submitting itself to the current Global financial situation and thus it has seen a drop in its shares and such a big one for the first time in a decade. Their way of handling the situation and lack of proper PR seems like they are only thinking about their revenue. So their decision of introducing ads and password crackdown make them look like they are shifting from being a customer-centric company to just a money-hungry organization. If proper steps are not taken any sooner, Netflix will lose more subscribers and maybe its USP as well.
FAQs
Why did Netflix lose 200k Subscribers?
Netflix is losing its subscribers because it recently has decided to put a ban on sharing the account passwords by consumers.
Who is the founder of Netflix?
Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph are the founders of Netflix.
When was Netflix founded?
Netflix was founded in the year 1997 and started its streaming service in 2007.
OTT platforms or Over-The-Top platforms have gained popularity across the globe, especially since the pandemic. OTT services allow access to all the contents including movies, TV shows and other forms of entertainment through the help of the internet.
The advent of OTT platforms has bypassed the requirement of cable and satellite systems for streaming. Today these services can be accessed through any electronic devices that are connected to the internet including computers, set-top boxes, smart TVs etc.
For a long period of time, content creation through OTT platforms has been largely out of the ambit of any form of censorship. Therefore these platforms have been able to showcase content that was controversial and groundbreaking.
As the popularity of these OTT platforms increased and the inflow of content in them increased, the government decided to step in. In February 2021, the government of India notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 so as to control the contents of these online platforms.
The regulations have a self-regulatory architecture with a three-tier grievance redressal system. In the first level, it is their self-regulation by their expected entities followed by the self-regulation that is exercised by the regulating bodies of these entities and then an oversight mechanism carried out by the central government.
One of the main reasons why the IT rules were introduced was because of the immense impact that various OTT platforms and social media had on the citizens of India. According to the government, these regulations are to keep an accountable control over the spread of dissent material, pornographic and other immoral and illegal activities as represented through these platforms. Moreover, it is also an attempt to reduce the menace of fake news.
As far as the OTT platforms in the light of the new IT rules are concerned, they were supposed to bring in a lot of changes including self-regulation into their ambit.
One of the changes that they ought to bring is the age verification mechanism that has to be done for content that is classified as ‘A’. These platforms have to follow a prescribed code of ethics, classify their content as universal, adult et cetera and develop an oversight mechanism that functions under the supervision of the information and broadcasting ministry.
One of the major reasons that OTT platforms and social media have got popular in the last few years is because of the fearless, safe space for the consumers. It has become a site for prolific content creation and self-expression. It cannot be denied that such freedom has had its own negative impact on the consumers of this content. However, blanket control over these mediums in itself cannot be healthy.
When there is government supervision over what is being done, it was only inevitable that there will be an ideological bias at different levels. It can have an adverse impact on the creative freedom of the respective creators directly and indirectly.
Subsequently, those daring contents that used to reflect the realities of society will have to take a back seat. One cannot ignore the extent of control that these regulations exercise the right to dissent.
Although the government has deemed these rules as progress and liberal, the rules also insist that the Significant Social Media (SSM) should remove the ‘unlawful’ contents within 36 hours of raising the issue. These rules are not only applicable to social media like WhatsApp and Twitter but also the OTT platforms.
Decreasing Charm of OTT Platforms
As far as the OTT platforms are concerned, one needs to look at the future of their USP. A thing that made these platforms stand apart was the variety and nature of the contents. They were not available through the general cable TV channels nor in theatres.
These platforms have become conduits of bringing quality content into the living rooms of interested audiences. They were developing as a democratic platform wherein people without a well-established fan base can pitch in their content in an efficient manner. However, with the imposition of ethical moral codes on the OTT platforms, these distinct features are going to be blurred.
A Popular Web series on Netflix – Sacred Games
There will be only one-sided, supervised and biased content that won’t have anything much to offer. Over time, we can witness the OTT platforms becoming just another replica of all the censored contents that were available before the advent of these platforms.
According to Sidharth Anand Kumar, the Vice President of Saregama Films and Events, “OTT is getting more popular and becoming a mass medium, there needs to be an onus placed upon makers and businesses to adhere to certain norms of civility but it is a slippery slope. Stories are a reflection of our life and times, and excessive censorship makes them seem fake and unreal, which drives audiences away due to a lack of authenticity. I’ve always felt that proper certification and even “trigger warnings” are a much better way to protect the interests of the business as well as the creative community and audiences”. However, these opinions become a feeble cry as long as the word ‘censorship’ is loosely defined.
Revenue generation is the most important part of a company’s sustenance, the OTT platforms will have to rely more on the advertisements than on content curation in itself.
Censorship v\s Quelling Dissent
The Information and Broadcasting ministry has made their rationale very clear to the citizens/ They believe that “All media must have the same justice system”.
It was when the idea of self-regulation by digital platforms failed that the government decided to step in to develop an institutional mechanism for the newly sprouted media. However, the ways in which the authenticity and freedom of content creation will be put in a tough spot is very evident with the extent of banned shows and series that had good viewership earlier.
One of the major examples is the pulling down of the popular series called ‘Bad Boy Billionaires’ from Netflix. The idea of censorship should be differentiated from the right to dissent. If not used categorically the OTT regulations can be misused as a way to water down opposing opinions in the name of censorship.
It is true that all media platforms should be under some control and oversight mechanism to prevent the spread of xenophobic and anti-national content. However, it should be clearly negotiated through very relevant aspects like freedom of expression and creative independence.
FAQs
What are OTT rules?
OTT rules are IT Rules introduced by the Indian government to regulate the content on ott platfomrs.
Is there any censorship on the OTT platform in India?
Yes, IT rules were introduced in 2021 to regulate OTT platforms.
Why should OTT not be censored?
OTT platfomrs should not be censored as it will end the creative freedom of ott platfomrs and will interfere with the content that viewers will consume.
In 2021, Data AI company data.ai came out with an interesting report. As per the report, around the world, people spend around 38 hours per month watching videos on mobile apps. The trend is similar in India. Ormax Media’s report published in 2021 shows that there are 353 million OTT users in India, of which there are 96 million active paid subscriptions. There are about 40 OTT service providers in the country today, and among them, one of the most popular ones is MX player.
With about 280 Million Monthly Active Users Worldwide, MX Player has established itself as a top player in the OTT segment. Here is more on the MX player Success Story.
Indian Video Streaming platform MX player is a one-stop entertainment junction, where users can stream web series, TV shows, Movies, Music, Games, News, and more. The platform contains video content across all genres, and in various Indian regional languages, other than Hindi and English.
MX Player was developed by South Korean Developer J2 interactive in 2011. During its launch, MX Player was just a video player, that could play video files of different formats stored locally on a phone. The app was designed to play videos smoothly even on inexpensive Android smartphones, which is the reason it gained popularity in developing countries including India. Indeed India was MX Player’s largest market. This is the reason why India’s leading digital products company Times Internet acquired MX player for $140 Million in 2018.
In 2019, Times Internet relaunched MX player as a video streaming platform. As for today, MX player lets its users play offline video, stream videos online, and also stream music via Ganna (Times Internet’s music streaming service). Besides producing original shows in Hindi and other regional languages, MX player has tied up with various national and international studios like Goldmine, Hungama, Shemaroo, Paramount pictures, etc for sourcing content.
Launched initially just in India, MX player extended its OTT services internationally to countries like the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal in 2020.
MX Player was created by South Korea-based company J2 Interactive, which later was acquired by Times Internet in 2018. Since the acquisition, Karan Bedi has been operating as the CEO of MX player. Karan was previously the COO of EROS Digital which is yet another popular OTT platform of India. A Stanford University grad Karan Bedi has founded several other startups. In 2012, he founded edtech startup Tutorific, which he exited in 2014. He is also the co-founder of ContentFlow Technologies a company focused on the creation of education and infotainment-related content.
MX Player – Mission & Vision
As per CEO Karan Bedi, MX player’s vision is to be one of the world’s largest entertainment platforms and serve its users across their online entertainment needs, over and above just video streaming. In line with this vision, MX player has introduced music streaming. In February 2020, MX Player also launched games.
MX Player is an advertisement-based video-on-demand platform. Though there is an MX Player pro app that lets users enjoy the content without ads, the main source of revenue for MX players is advertisements. The company is looking forward to new ways of monetization in near future.
MX Player – Growth & Revenue
MX player had a wide base of customers in India even when the platform was owned by J2 Interactive. Post takeover of the app by Times Internet, and the re-launch of MX Player as a video streaming platform, it has attracted even more users. As per reports, MX Player’s Monthly Active Users grew by more than 14 % within 18 months of its acquisition by Times Internet.
As per the CII-BCG report in 2021, MX Player has over 280 Million Monthly Active Users Worldwide. The app has approximately 175 monthly active users in India. As per recent reports by App Annie, a research firm based in San Francisco, MX Player is the 2nd most downloaded app in India. The app has also gained popularity in Indonesia and Russia. As per the said report, MX player has reserved its place among the top 10 most downloaded apps worldwide. In 2019, MX Player was named India’s Top Streaming App by App Annie. As reported in 2021, MX Player registered more than 1 billion Downloads in Google Play.
The data relating to the exact revenue of MX Player is not revealed. But, in the Financial Year Ending March 2020, MX Player’s parent company Times Internet’s revenue grew by 24% to reach Rs 1,625 crore, and a sizeable chunk of this revenue comes from MX Player.
It is an Indian OTT platform and a joint venture between Star India and the Walt Disney Company.
Amazon Prime Video
It is an American subscription-based OTT platform. Amazon Prime Video is available both as a part of Amazon’s Prime subscription or as a standalone service.
Netflix
American Subscription based streaming service provider Netflix is one of the most popular OTT platforms worldwide.
MX Player is working towards growing as the one stop platform to fulfill all the online entertainment needs of its users. In the bid to grow, the platform is introducing new original content across various Indian Regional languages. MX Player has also introduced ‘MX Vdesi’ in the platform. Under the MX Vdesi segment comes various international shows dubbed in various regional languages.
MX Player – FAQs
Is MX Player a Free App?
Yes, MX Player is free for users. Though, there is an ad-free version of the app that is available for a small fee.
What is the Business Model of MX Player?
MX Player runs on a Freemium Model. The content is free to watch for the users. However, users can buy a subscription for an ad-free experience. Also, subscribers get early access to new releases on MX Player
Gone are the days when TV or movie theatres were the only way to absorb video content. India has seen a tremendous rise in the consumption of video content on various online platforms in the last couple of years. The major reason behind this exponential growth is often attested to deeper internet penetration and ever-increasing smartphone usage. Today, there are many articles onOTT platforms which justify why such mediums are better than cable TV. OTT (over-the-top) platform subscription is pocket-friendly, and then there’s the comfort of using such platforms anytime, anywhere.
Low cost and efficient mobile recharge packages along with good internet connectivity have permitted both rural and urban populations to consume video content at an alarming rate.
OTT platforms provide online content in different genres. Netflix, Amazon Prime, and ALT Balaji are some extremely popular OTTs.
With so many streaming platforms to choose from these days, it can be difficult and tedious to choose the appropriate one. The one that not only broadcasts all of your favorite series and movies, but also all of the documentaries that are currently trending. However, with so many alternatives to pick from, it might become a little daunting.
Hundreds of streaming platforms flooded the Indian market during the pandemic. The market is becoming increasingly saturated as every corporation develops its own streaming platform. But which streaming services are most popular in India? What companies have unlocked the streaming market’s code of dominance? Now that you’re interested, we’ve compiled a list of the Top 10 Streaming Platforms in India, which are both popular and well-liked.
Reasons For Tremendous Growth In OTT Platform Usage
Freshly Brewed Content
OTT platforms provide brand new and freshly brewed content in different genres and languages. These OTT platforms consider unique and risky concepts to create video content. The topics are a breeze of fresh air for Indians and deviate significantly from the video content people are used to. And such content doesn’t fail to entice the audience. Language is no longer a barrier as there is video content for almost every language, making OTTs universally accessible.
Affordable And Cheap
Providers charge nominal rates thereby making video streaming affordable for most of the economic sections in India.
Screening Movies Before Television Screening
Movies are now being released on these platforms way before their television screening. Hence, people don’t need to wait for movie ticket bookings and stand in long queues. Moreover, the concept of first-day, first-show is slowly losing its charm due to OTT platforms.
Free Subscriptions on OTT Platforms
Top OTT platforms lure the audience through the freemium subscription policy or by providing a free trial for a month. For example, Disney+ Hotstar allows users to access some shows for free whereas the premium shows are paid. On the other hand, APV and Netflix allow users to try their services for free during the initial months of subscription.
No Interruptions
The shows on such platforms are usually ad-free, making it a pleasant experience for the viewers. Users don’t have to see the same advertisement again and again and can enjoy the show without any interruption.
Video On Demand
Unlike TV, you don’t have to carry a remote and set-top box to enjoy your favorite video content. With the help of these OTT services, you can watch your favorite shows anytime and anywhere.
Limited And Quality Video Content
Unlike the Indian video content, these OTT platform services have shows restricted to a limited number of episodes rather than going on for several years. The content keeps the youth addicted to such platforms. Also, the content is not based on cliche storylines and abstains from the repetition of themes, something that’s often witnessed in TV-based video content.
Download And Watch Later
OTT services don’t maintain any particular time slot for shows and series, unlike TV. This permits people to have their own schedule for watching on such platforms. The option of downloading from OTT providers allows the audience to not sit idle in case of poor internet connectivity.
Other smaller (yet expanding) OTT platforms in Indiaare Voot and TVF Play. YouTube is also planning to launch an original content platform.
Growth And Future Of OTT Platforms In India
OTT subscriber base in India
According to a recent PWC report, smartphone penetration in India is expected to reach around 99% by 2022. And at the same time, OTT platforms are expected to grow at a CAGR of 22% by 2022 to around INR 6000 crores. With such a huge user base comprising a large number of smartphone consumers under the age of 35, OTT platforms will focus more on youth-friendly content. Another factor helping in the tremendous growth of OTT platforms in India is the rising level of disposable incomes, i.e., an average Indian consumer can spend more amount on his enjoyment today as compared to a few years back. Shows and movies in local languages (Tamil and Telugu are some examples) have attracted people from various fronts to these platforms; the reason being unlimited movies and shows in their mother tongue at dirt cheap rates.
It’s not that such platforms have content only for the youth; they offer something for the kids, the elderly, and every other age group.
Internet data consumption per minute has also come down. Sometime back, streaming a two and a half hour movie required 1GB of data for 360p quality. Nowadays 800MB is sufficient for the same movie in 480p quality. Thus, the streaming quality has improved with the decrease in data consumption. People can now watch two movies by consuming just 1 GB or 1.5 GB of data.
Price also plays a dominant factor; Amazon Prime saw a larger user base than Netflix in 2016 because of this factor. Amazon Prime charges INR 129 per month for unlimited access while Netflix charges INR 800 for its premium quality content. So, OTT platforms must work on a framework to provide maximum benefits at minimum cost, a tough nut to crack but a necessary one to lure the Indian audience.
Top OTT Platforms In India
Disney+ Hotstar
Users Worldwide: 103.6 Million Users In India: 25 Million Price: Starts at Rs 399/Year
Disney Hotstar – Top OTT Platform In India
Disney+ Hotstar launched in India in April 2020. It’s a partnership between Disney and Hotstar, Star India’s streaming service. As a result, it includes all of the Disney+ content as well as the original Hotstar content. In India, it presently has 28.5 million members, making it the most popular streaming service. The exclusive Disney material and inexpensive pricing of Rs 399/year for the lower-tier subscription plan appeal to younger people looking for a less expensive source of entertainment, especially during the pandemic.
Disney+ Hotstar is another over-the-top media service in India. It is a Star Network product that was launched in February 2015. Disney+ Hotstar has swiftly become one of the largest video-on-demand platforms in the country. Disney+ Hotstar is the only platform where the best TV shows from around the world, movie premieres, live sports, and events are consolidated. It has several user-friendly features such as an adaptive video playback experience which automatically adjusts according to the available bandwidth, the creation of playlists, and the availability of content for download. Users can consume Disney+ Hotstar content on the go with the best viewing experience.
Amazon Prime
Users Worldwide: 200 Million Users In India: 38 Million Price: Starts at Rs 329 for Three Months
Amazon Prime Video – Top OTT Platform In India
Amazon Prime Video was first introduced in India in 2016. It now has over 38 million unique users in India, demonstrating its widespread popularity. The streaming service has a lot of great shows and movies, like The Boys, Mirzapur, The Family Man and so on. Around 200 million people use Amazon Prime Video worldwide, and the figure is growing every day. What makes it even better received is the low pricing of Rs 329 for a three-month subscription and Rs 164 for those aged 18 to 24.
A year after the launch of Netflix in India, Amazon Prime Video also made its entry in the country. According to the director of content at Amazon Prime Video (India), India accounts for the highest number of Prime members in the debut year, growing fastest among the 16 countries that the platform is present in. India is a price-sensitive country and at Amazon Prime’s low-priced subscription fee, it gives the users great value for money.
Users Worldwide: 203.66 Million Users In India: 3 Million Price: Starts at Rs 199/Month
Netflix – Top OTT Platform In India
When it comes to Netflix, there isn’t much that has to be said. It’s something that everyone has heard about. With over 203.66 million customers globally, it is one of the largest streaming platforms in the world. Netflix first arrived in India in 2016 and has since released several of the ‘Netflix India Originals.’ Sacred Games, Mismatched, Masaba Masaba, and many others are among the most popular. In India, Netflix now has over 3 million members, and this figure is steadily increasing.
It is a US-based video streaming company that is now available in India at a starting subscription price of INR 199 per month (goes up to INR 800 per month) after a free month of trial. While most of the OTT service platforms follow a mix of advertising-led and subscription fee-based business models, Netflix, in keeping with its global strategy, is free of advertising in India.
Voot
Users In India: 100 Million Price: Starts at Rs 99/Month
Voot – Top OTT Platform In India
Voot was introduced by Viacom 18 in 2016 to showcase all of its TV series as well as the most latest episodes. It was totally free, and there was no need to subscribe or pay to view the content. In March of last year, Viacom 18 launched Voot Select, an online service that, unlike the previous platform, Voot, required a membership. Some episodes and movies are still available for free, but some exclusive series and movies are only available to subscribers. Voot Select has around 1 million paying subscribers. It charges Rs 99 for a one-month subscription and Rs 999 for an annual subscription.
Voot is a video-on-demand platform that is a part of the digital arm of Viacom18. Viacom18 is one of India’s largest growing media networks. The platform provides its audience with a vast range of content choices and preferences. It has a pool of 45,000 hours of content which includes COLORS (Hindi), Viacom18 Motion Pictures, MTV, Nickelodeon, and MTV Indies. It offers the biggest TV Shows, Blockbuster movies, Toons, and VOOT originals.
Voot’s aim is to capture the digital video landscape with its fresh and new-age content without any premium cost. One of the major attractions of the platform is its original content while it covers a plethora of categories like dramas, comedies, spoofs, and everything else.
ZEE5
Users Worldwide: 310 Million Users In India: 100 Million Price: Starts at Rs 42/month
ZEE5 – Top OTT Platform In India
ZEE5 is an online streaming service owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It went into effect in February 2018. Although it is a free service, there is now a ZEE5 Premium option that allows you to watch many exclusive movies and series for Rs 299 for three months. ZEE5 has content in 12 different languages that make it worth the money. And it claims to have 32 million paid subscribers and around 100 million active users. ZEE5 has recently partnered with TVF for streaming movies and shows.
Users Worldwide: 98 Million Users In India: 80 Million Price: Starts at Rs 99/Month
SonyLIV- Top OTT Platform In India
Sony Pictures Networks India launched SonyLiv in January 2013. It is a free service but also has a premium version and the subscription starts at Rs 99 per month. It has a ton of shows and movies to choose from with no disturbance from ads. SonyLIV currently has around 5.5 million subscribers. It offers many popular shows, like Girls Hostel, Welcome Home, Maharani, and many others.
SonyLIV is bound to be present in the list of the top OTT media services. It has been developed by Multi-Screen Media. It has a mix of both free and premium content and has partnered with SPI International to showcase seven more international television channels across different genres (in addition to the existing five channels). SonyLIV’s premium content comes at a subscription cost of INR 99 per month. It offers viewers shows from the Sony stable – SONY, MAX, and SAB. Apart from enabling viewers to watch the latest shows, Sony LIV also allows subscribers to watch the re-runs of old episodes, movies, and special events.
ALTBalaji
Users In India: 76 Million Price: Starts at Rs 100 for Three Months
ALTBalaji – Top OTT Platform In India
ALTBalaji was launched in April 2017 and is owned by Balaji Telefilms Ltd. It is well-known for catering to an Indian audience in particular, with daily soaps and exclusive movies and series. It has around 76 million active monthly users and around 5 million paid subscribers. It is a paid service, but you can get a free trial of seven days and can watch all the content on the platform. And the subscription starts at Rs 100 for three months. That’s a great price if you are looking for a cheap service platform.
ALT Balaji is an ad-free subscription-based service which is the product of film and television production house, Balaji Telefilms Ltd. It provides 32 original shows in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, and Gujarati at a subscription price of INR 300 per year. With this platform, Balaji wants to venture into clutter-breaking content and offer something for everyone. It is offering entertaining video content to both Indian residents and those living abroad.
Top OTT Platforms in India
MX Player
Users Worldwide: 280 Million Users In India: 148.8 Million Price: Rs 370
MX Player- Top OTT Platform In India
The MX Player started in India as a video player. It was launched in 2011 but was re-launched in 2019 as the streaming platform. It began in India, but in 2020, it expanded its service and is now available in many countries, including New Zealand, Nepal, the United States, the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Canada, Australia, and Pakistan. It has around 280 million users worldwide. And it contains shows like Aashram, Bullets, Dangerous, and many others. It is a free service, but MX Player Pro is a paid version that offers exclusive content without any ads and is priced at Rs 370.
JioCinema
Users In India: 100 Million Price: Free
JioCinema- Top OTT Platform In India
JioCinema is a streaming service from Jio Platforms, which was launched in 2016. It is free for Jio sim users and contains a great number of shows, films, web series, and documentaries. It has about 100 million users in India and the number keeps growing every day.
Eros Now
Users Worldwide: 221.5 Million Users In India: 148 Million Price: Starts at Rs 49
EROS Now- Top OTT Platform In India
Eros Now is a streaming platform launched in 2012 and is owned by Eros Digital. It has plenty of Indian movies and web series for its viewers. And the best thing is that the streaming service begins at Rs 49 in India. Eros has about 180 million users worldwide and 30 million paid viewers.
Airtel Xstream
Users in India: Price: Rs 49/Month
Airtel- Xstream- Top OTT Platform In India
It is a streaming service provided by Bharti Airtel. It was released in September of 2020. It’s a free service for Airtel Sim users, but you need to sign up for a plan if you want to watch the content as a non-Airtel user. The price is Rs 49 per month for non-Airtel users.
Users Worldwide: 36 Million Users In India: 5 Million Price: Starts at Rs 99/Month
VIu- Top OTT Platform In India
Viu is a streaming service provided by Hong Kong-based Viu International Ltd. It features many films, shows, and series, mostly Korean and Indian. It is offered throughout Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. It has about 36 million users worldwide and 5 million users in India. The price starts at Rs 99 a month and is quite popular among the Indian audience.
TVFPlay
Users In India: 9.8 Million Price: Free
TVF- Top OTT Platform In India
‘The Viral Fever’ also known as TVF is an online streaming platform that provides tons of original content for free. Its shows like ‘Permanent Roommates’ and ‘TVF Pitchers’ have pushed a lot of fans towards the platform and are a big hit among the fans. And the best part is that it’s free.
In India, there is no scarcity of streaming options these days. There is something for everyone as more and more companies develop their streaming platforms. You can make your selection based on price and the type of series and movies you wish to watch.
Conclusion
India is a huge market for OTT platforms, so offering different plans to satisfy a diverse user base with different income levels is the only solution for faster absorption and growth. Focusing more on Indian-friendly content would be another plus point for OTT providers. For now, it can be said that Indians will continue to drift towards these platforms, though television would still remain an important commodity in India. There still exists a section of the population that doesn’t have access to smartphones and internet. Moreover, the older generation prefers the television over OTT platforms for entertainment.
FAQs
What is a Streaming Platform?
A streaming platform is an online entertainment service that provides on-demand access to TV series, movies, and other streaming material.
What is the meaning of OTT?
OTT stand for over-the-top. It is a means of providing television and film content over the internet on request.
What is an OTT Service?
Over the top, or OTT, refers to any streaming service that transmits content over the internet.
Is Netflix an OTT?
Netflix is a popular OTT (over-the-top) service that provides users with content such as movies and TV series.
How many streaming platforms are there in India?
In India, there are around 40 suppliers of over–the–top media services (OTT).
What is the future of OTT in India?
Future of OTT in India: A rise of OTT platforms in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22% by 2022 to around INR 6000 crores. With such a huge user base comprising a large number of smartphone consumers under the age of 35, OTT platforms will focus more on youth-friendly content.
Audio editing software refers to software that lets editing and generation of audio data. It can be implemented as a library, computer application, web-application. It can edit music, effects, adjust channels, etc. Additionally, audio editing software also provides a multitrack editing feature that allows us to mix audio from different tracks and modify them using effects and filters in real-time. Many companies are providing customized software as per the requirement of customers for better consumer satisfaction.
The market size is directly proportional to the demand for products and services. Growing demand for advanced quality audio products across enterprises in the media and entertainment industry is the key market driver of audio editing software. Likewise, the increasing emphasis of entertainment industries for delivering noise cancellation and strong sounding audio content is increasing the market for audio editing software. Rising adoption of audio editing software across applications such as recording, playback, audio optimization, production, and audio is improving the income possibilities for merchants in the software market. Furthermore, a large number of newcomers and established podcasters actively using audio editing software to improve audio quality is also stimulating the growth of the market.
Multiple Functions of Audio Editing Software
Market Dynamics
Increase in the rate of content creation and grow in over-the-top platforms. The expanding adoption of smartphones and an increase in internet surfing speed has influenced the growth of social media content. The rising number of connected devices has boosted the growth of the Global OTT streaming market. This compelled the necessity for audio editing software among video streaming merchants, thus, driving the growth of the global audio editing software market. There is a lot of free editing software available in the market. The rise in the application of such editing software is expected to restrain the growth of the global audio editing software market.
Segments Of Audio Editing Software Market
Cloud-Based Delivery Models
The cloud-based delivery models are going to influence audio editing software market growth. Cloud-based delivery models are the models that allow users to edit music or audio anywhere in the Globe. These models provide cloud services and solutions, which include advanced uptime, enhance IT services, reliability, improved operational speed, and high data approachability. It can be accessed on both mobile and desktop devices. Cloud-based audio editing software offers various services to the end-users, such as easy import, secure sharing, storage, also editor collaboration. These benefits of the cloud-based audio editing software will increase end-users, thus increasing market growth.
Growth of The Market
Best Audio Editing Softwares In the Market
There are various software for editing and creating audio is available in the market. Some are free, while others are chargeable. Major Players in the Global Audio Editing Software Market are given below:
Adobe Audition CC(windows, macOS)
It is the most widespread audio editing software in the market. It is originally a song editing application.
The software has the best editing tools for editing and completing any audio project. When it is used with Windows, it provides users a complete recording studio experience. It allows multiple recordings at a time simultaneously.
Price of the software: Its price is $20.99/month. Customers can pay monthly or annually for the subscription.
Sound Quality: It produces good quality audio when used with MATLAB.
It has all the basic features, and also advanced features.
It also has a flex-time tool that allows users to edit the timing of a single note in a waveform individually. It automatically converts chords into arpeggios.
It has the availability to automatically match the timing of different tracks in a project using Smart Tempo.
Price: $199
Availability: macOS
AUDACITY
It is a free music editing software that supports both Mac and windows. It is considered as the most popular editor for windows.
It supports a VST plug-in. It has built-in tools that let customers edit pre-recorded files, record audio through microphones, and stream podcasts.
It can be used to create a shot, remove noise, apply effects for professional results.
Allows importing and exporting of MP3, WAV, and AIFF.
Price: Free
Avid Pro Tools
It provides a solution for professional audio editing work for music, film, games, and broadcast. Over 750 voice audio tracks are available to create mixes; without HDX hardware.
Price: $699. The subscription price is $74.99/month.
Pro tools comes with UVI Falcon 2 that allows users to create amazing sounds.
Multichannel support with 64 channels in each track.
It allows users to directly record mono, stereo, and multichannel audio with the ability to record multiple disks at the same time.
Price: $60
Availability: Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Ocenaudio
It is accessible on Windows, Linux, and Mac. It has a wide range of filters, a clear interface, and no stacking effect. It comes with built-in filters and supports VST to add more filters.
It is a cloud-based audio editing software.
Price: Free.
Availability: Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Wavepad
It enables the users to record and edit music as well as voice.
Users can cut, copy, and paste parts of the recordings under wavepad software.
Supports general audio formats- MP3, WAV, VOX, WMA, AU, etc.
Price: Free
Availability: Windows & macOS.
Growth Of The Market
36% Growth From North America
The audio editing software market is expected to grow by $2.5 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR rate of 11%. The rise in content creation will offer enormous growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market merchants should focus on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments.
FAQs
What is audio editing software?
Audio editing software is software which allows editing and generating of audio data.
What is audio editing used for?
Audio editing software allows users to edit and generate audio files. These tools are used by audio editors and engineers to mix or delete audio sections, edit and rearrange audio regions, and record and generate new audio components.
What are the types of audio editing techniques?
Amplification.
Compression.
Limiting.
Panning.
Equalization.
Normalization.
Stereo Imaging.
What audio editing software do professionals use?
Ableton, Adobe Audition, and Logic Pro X are among the most popular tools amongst professionals in the music, radio, podcast, etc. industries.
What are some free or open-source audio editing tools?
A popular, free audio editing program that is known for also being very robust and easy-to-use, is Audacity. Other popular free or open-source audio editing tools are Audiotool, Ocenaudio, and GoldWave.
What does audio editing software do?
Audio editing software enables users to edit or create audio files. Audio editing software has a variety of uses from the music industry to radio and podcasts.
OTT platforms have been growing in India at a fast pace. The OTT market in India is expected to emerge as the world’s sixth-largest by 2024. The OTT market is also expected to grow at a CAGR of 28.6% in the next four years. There are currently about 40 providers of over-the-top-platforms (OTT) in the country.
India saw a 30% rise in the paid subscribers on OTT platforms. The total number of subscribers is now at 29 Million (around INR 212 crores). The increasing viewership and the exponential growth of the OTT platforms in the country have led the government to put in new rules and regulations for the OTT platforms. The government wants OTT platforms to be accountable for their content.
The recent issues by certain communities on the web series released by the OTT platforms and considering various other reasons, so the government has come up with the new regulations and rules.
OTT platforms will have to formulate a grievance mechanism which will consist of three levels. The rules require two levels of self-regulation.
First level
First level is a self-regulation by the OTT platform by appointing a grievance redressal officer. The officer will be responsible for redressals from various individuals. This will be part of the OTT platform.
Second level
Second level is an institutional self-regulatory body. It will comprise the industry experts in the field of OTT. This self-regulatory body will be headed by a retired supreme court or high court judge. It can also be headed by other famous or respected personalities in the relevant industry.
Third level
Third level is a regulatory body which will be interdepartmental. The committee will be set up by the government. This committee will hear the appeals arising out of the decisions taken at the second level. This regulator body will also take up complaints referred by the Ministry of Information and Broadcast (MIB).
The Ratings
Last year the government had issued rules to provide ratings for the OTT contents proposed by IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India). They will be similar to the age-sensitive categorizations which are U/A, U/A7+, U/A13+, U/A16+, etc.
The OTT platforms are required to self-categorize the contents on these five age-based categories. It is an initiative by the government to bring in censorship to the OTT platforms.
The OTT platforms are required to differentiate all films, series, and other shows based on certain parameters.
First parameter
First Parameter would be the age of the viewers. The OTT platforms will have to classify their contents based on a different age. This is mainly to avoid children from watching A-rated films, series, or other shows.
This method is already part of the movies released in the theatres. An individual who is below the age of 18 will not be allowed to watch an A-rated movie in a theatre.
Second parameter
Second parameter would be according to the themes and messages. Again, it is a step by the government to ensure that the children are watching relevant content.
Third parameter
Third parameter would be to classify the OTT contents would include based on violence, nudity, sex, language, substance abuse, horror, content, tone, and impact the target audience
Fourth parameter
Fourth Parameter would be enabling of parental locks. Certain OTT platforms like Netflix already have parental lock enabling features. With the introduction of these new rules, it will be mandatory for all the OTT platforms to provide a parental lock for their contents. Parental locks are supposed to be activated for contents classified as U/A 13+ or above.
Dealing with complaints of the users will be a big challenge for the OTT platforms in India. India has a diverse culture and beliefs. A certain community would find an issue with a content while others would be fine with it. The demand will differ according to the communities.
It is not clear how OTT platforms are expected to practically address grievances from different users. While some content may be found offensive by a certain community, it would be popular among the other community.
FAQ
What is an OTT platform?
OTT (over-the-top) is a means of providing content over the internet at the request and to suit the requirements of the individual consumer.
How many OTT platforms are there in India?
There are currently over 40 providers of over–the–top media services (OTT) in India.
Is YouTube an OTT Platform?
Yes, YouTube comes under OTT Platform.
Conclusion
The oversight mechanism introduced by the government will increase the power of government in the overall operations of the OTT platforms in India. However, an institutional self-regulation mechanism will help the users to express their concerns. It will help them express it through a formal channel within certain time frames.
The fine print of the rules is yet to be made public. Some experts said that regulation of OTT is considered Unconstitutional. It is expected that India’s new rules on the OTT platforms will increase the content-related quarrels.
Until now the content on the OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, etc. was unregulated, it wouldn’t be the same moving forward.
Vibhavari Madki
