Voot Select envisions to be the leader of the Indian premium OTT space by FY21

• Apart from running a pure SVOD model right now, Voot Select is also looking at partnering with telcos to provide combined offers for their consumers.
• After seeing 335 million interactions on Voot in 2019, Gourav Rakshit, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures is eyeing to triple it to 1 billion by the end of this fiscal and he believes that this approach will keep Voot ahead of its competition.
• Rakshit further shares the content lineup for Voot Select, what encouraged them to launch SVOD-led model, its target audience and a few things that will drive its future.

After becoming the first successful AVOD platform in India, Viacom18 is expanding its digital portfolio by launching Voot Select. Its latest SVOD platform envisions to be the leader of Indian premium OTT space by FY21.

Talking about Voot Select’s vision, Gourav Rakshit, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures said, "Just like Voot is the leader in the Indian OTT space and Voot Kids is definite a leader, I would like Voot Select to be the leader in the Indian premium OTT content space. I don’t know if we would be able to make a huge dent among the global majors that have set shops in India, but if we can achieve that, then I think it will be a well-spent year.”

Content Plan for Voot Select

Launched on March 3, Voot Select promises to deliver 30 originals in 12 months, offer over 1500 blockbuster movies, and have over 35 24-hours live TV channels.

With the advent of Over-the-Top platforms, Indians have developed an insatiable need for watching content. Leveraging this opportunity, Viacom18 aims to transform into a digital-first network. As its first step in this direction, Voot Select will bring all fictional content from Viacom18’s portfolio on its platform, 24 hours before the episodes premiere on TV. All the non-fiction content can be accessed on the platform 15-30 minutes before its airing time.

Voot Select will also provide a wide array of global content experiences through a few exclusive and unique content partnerships with CBS, CBS All Access, Showtime, Sony Pictures, Fremantle, BBC, Endemol Shine and more. 24/7 LGBTQ channel, Revry TV will make its debut in India on Voot Select.

Apart from running a pure SVOD model right now, Voot Select is also looking at partnering with telcos to provide combined offers.

Explaining its subscription and revenue model, Rakshit said, “There will be a very compelling direct-to-consumer business that will result in them paying the fees, but we will also partner with other providers in the market like the telcos or people who own the consumers, who have either reach-relationship or billing-relationship with the consumers. They would want to offer our service as a benefit to their consumers, so those partnerships will also emerge. But for now, SVOD will be the large part of the proposition.”

A smooth 2019 that led to the launch of Voot Select

Voot reached 100 million MAUs with 100 billion minutes of watch time in 2019. The platform witnessed 4X growth in the number of views from Tier II, Tier III and regional markets. It saw 335 million interactions in 2019, making it India's most engaged OTT platform.

It took another leap last year by launching Voot Kids. Within the first two months of the launch, it saw 2.5 million downloads and 55 plus minutes were spent by per viewer.

Speaking about Voot’s growth trajectory, Rakshit said, “Voot’s AVOD became unit-economics-positive in 2019 and that was a significant achievement because it also gave us the ability to try and invest in newer business and Voot Kids and Voot Select are a product of that success. A 100 million MAUs is also a testimony that a large number of people already exist on Voot and we will now primarily aim to bring that to Voot Select.”

When asked what factors led to this success, Rakshit credited it to Voot’s investment on engagement and user loyalty.

He said, “I think one of the big turning points that we had for Voot was that we really over-invested on interactivity. Rather than being a broadcasting or curating platform, we started engaging a lot more with our consumers. Our consumers started sharing their voices with us and that created a habit that made us number one in terms of engagement in the Indian OTT space. The frequency of people that come to our platform is also higher than everyone else and that helps to make your unit economy stronger because you are not spending as much money to bring in newer people onto the platform.”

What lies in the future

After seeing 335 million interactions on Voot in 2019, Rakshit eyes to triple it to 1 billion by the end of this fiscal and he believes that this approach will keep Voot ahead of its competition.