Analysis of market for OTT platforms and impact on future trends

Abstract

The Indian media and entertainment industry grew at a CAGR of 10.9% from 2014-2018. Even despite the pandemic the industry is expected to grow at the rate of 3.24% in 2019-20 and 2020-21. Further projection for 2019-2024 suggest a growth rate of 8.8%. However, this growth is predicted to be nonuniform across sectors, with Cinema expected to contract by 2.6% and OTT expected to grow by 29.6%. A major factor in this growth story has been internet penetration and the forced closure of cinema halls due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The entry of Reliance Jio in the telecom sector has made data packs more affordable. This has led to widespread consumption of OTT content through mobile internet. Companies like Amazon and Netflix have responded to this trend by providing mobile only subscriptions. The market has expanded from nine players in 2012 to over 40 players in 2021. Despite an expanding market this has meant increased competition for the players. Though Hastings claims sleep as Netflix’s biggest competitor he does agree that Youtube is its biggest rival in the Indian market. As per App Annie, an app analytics platform, in 2020 Youtube garnered 26.4 average hours per month, followed by MX-Player at 7.8 hours and Netflix at 7.4 hours. Other players like Disney+ Hotstar and Amazon Prime were close to 4.5 hours.