Urban India’s youth has relied on OTT platforms to kill monotony. Amid other options, the streaming services have emerged as the most popular source of entertainment as 70 per cent of the youth have turned towards OTT platforms in their spare time. Along with existing subscribers, new OTT subscription purchases during the lockdown period spiked throughout the country across demographics.
According to a report from The Data Sciences Division of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) India, 65 per cent of millennials (25-39 years) and Gen Z (5-25 years) prefer consuming video content on an OTT platform over TV. The younger the audience is, the habit of consuming OTT is higher. The report also shows that daily OTT content consumption among Gen Z is higher than millennials.
While before lockdown 95 per cent of the respondents used to consume only two-three hours of daily content, during lockdown on average each millennial has consumed 1.66 hours of additional content and GenZ is consuming two-three hours of additional content too. As a result of having more time at hand, binge-watching is becoming a prime trait of popular culture. The average daily consumption hours have remained around four hours.
The international platforms with expanding local content library are becoming popular choices. 60 per cent of the sample has a subscription to either Amazon Prime Video or Netflix. Disney+Hotstar also has been able to attract nearly 19 per cent of the urban youth. Homegrown platforms like ZEE5, Voot are creating a buzz gradually. Comedy, thriller and action-based entertainment were the top three preferences of GenZ audiences while millennials were more inclined towards consuming a lot more Sci-Fi over thrillers.
The OTT industry is anticipated to grow 45.5 per cent during the forecast period 2019 to 2026. Along with the humongous growth, increased collaborations between OTT platforms and pay up TV, further hybridization and evolution of OTT monetization models could be more noticed going forward. India is expected to emerge as the second-largest OTT market with 500 million users by 2020 itself. Though there is no immediate threat to cable industry in terms of connections, it is advisable for them to provide broadband to achieve higher revenues.
