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<ul><li>TV production has been curtailed and the networks can’t go out on programming pitches without their pilots for news shows. There is a limited newspaper printing and distribution, OOH has also become irrelevant in absence of traffic. </li><li>On the other hand, OTT is seeing an uptick in viewership, content consumption, and consumer engagement. So will this force advertisers to re-evaluate their ad spends and marketing strategy? </li><li>We speak to OTT players and digital experts to find out if the current lockdown could lead to a gain for the digital streaming industry. </li></ul>As Maxwell Maltz’s research suggests, 21 days are enough to mold someone’s behaviour and form a habit. And from buying groceries to ordering a paracetamol, the lockdown has forced the entire nation to avail digital services. It has opened up an opportunity for Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms to rise to the situation and curate a seamless streaming experience for their consumers as they are quarantined 24x7. To meet this increasing demand and reduce internet congestion, OTT players moved from HD (1080p &amp; 720p) bitrate to SD (480p) last week until April 14. Apart from that, they are constantly renewing their homepage, trying to curate a wide content palette for their consumers and have launched advertising campaigns to create a buzz around their bundles. According to Neilsen, OTT streaming is set to spike by 60% as consumers continue to stay put. And this shift of viewers in OTT has sprung up an amazing opportunity for advertisers to reallocate ad spends to reach their target audiences and fulfill campaign goals. SpotX, a global video ad serving platform, revealed that increased OTT viewing has resulted in a 16% increase in OTT video ad inventory. Over the last 7-10 days, MX Player has witnessed a 7X increase in time spent and engagement across genres. Its Daily Active Users (DAUs) have increased by over 40%. MX Player’s Head of Revenue, Viraj Jit Singh's quarantine time hasn’t been smooth at all; he has been swamped with work and client calls. Singh said, “Over the last week, we have been flooded with inquiries from clients and agencies on opportunities to advertise on our platform. While speaking with key decision makers across Brand and Advertising agencies, there has been a conscious effort to increase traction and evaluate OTT as a preferred platform to advertise on over the next 8 weeks. Budgets are being reallocated from Outdoors, Radio, Print and even TV as and when there is a drop in fresh content on channels soon.” This increase in time-spent on MX Player is driven by both, old and new users. This change is true for all cities, towns and non-metros. A large pool of its users are between 18-24 years, which is a bait for clients. The streaming platform has seen old clients returning and is also attracting new ones. “Brands have quickly understood this (change in viewership pattern), and we have seen multiple first-time advertisers from across client categories on our platform. Additionally, there are certain brands/categories that have increased their current budgets as well,” said Singh. For Viacom18’s <keyword id="3113913" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="VOOT">VOOT</keyword>, the story isn’t much different, too. In the last 7-9 days, it has seen over a 20% rise in the average daily sessions that each user spends. The users are also frequenting the app at least five times a day and spending 60 to 70 minutes. The streaming giant has seen this growth in Maharashtra (25%), NCR (20%), and Uttar Pradesh (30%); which mirrored the sequence of lock down regions. On the back of these strong data points, Akash Banerji, Business Head – VOOT, Advertising Video Platform (AVoD) says OTT is the platform to be for advertisers amidst the lockdown. Banerji said, “If there is a platform where advertisers can find their audiences today and reach out to them at scale and on a consistent basis, OTT video platforms are the only option available in the country. Everything else right now has pretty much no use because advertisers spending money on e-commerce platforms or display platforms have no value. People sitting at home, they have taken to OTT videos literally like a fish takes the water. It is the only place where the audiences are coming at scale and spending enough time. Having said that, we might see some upside for a short-time basis, but I truly pray that this scenario changes radically.” Referring to App Annie’s latest release, Ali Hussein, CEO, <keyword id="2480506" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Eros-Now">Eros Now</keyword> says the platform has seen upto 80% increase in daily traffic whilst other platforms have seen about 20% hike. Its daily subscriptions have also gone up by 200% in the last two weeks, as it has turned free for the next two months. While Eros Now is a subscription-driven platform, drawing from his past experience of working with YouTube and Viacom18, Hussein said, “I think this is an interesting time that certain segments of brands that are otherwise using certain physical forms of advertising, especially outdoor and print, will look at ways of identifying the admission online because a lot of the consumption of infotainment, education and entertainment has moved to online forums. So this social distancing has kind of caused a potential change in consumer behaviour, which I believe at some level will become permanent over a certain period of time. This is the natural progression in terms of where the universe is headed. So I think a lot of brands will also look at altering the larger strategies in terms of what is the consumer cohort they want a message to and what's the right kind of platform, how to even use content as a means for messaging and communication.” As an advertiser himself, who recently supervised an ad campaign during the outbreak of <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">Coronavirus</keyword> for its brand Rio, Kartik Johari, VP - Marketing &amp; Commerce at Nobel Hygiene saw the performance of their advertisement going down as the situation worsened. He said that there is a need for brands to evolve with the situation and digital will definitely take prominence. However, he said blogs are likely to perform better than OTT. To sail through these rough waters, he advises to be in touch with a brand's media partners every day. Sharing the reason why, Johari said, “Blogs are underrated. People do like to consume quality information and now that people are trapped at home, that's the need of the hour. If you can write entertaining content for them, I think there is a large consumer base which can consume all of it. Traditionally, if I were to divert money on OTT and digital, I think the company has refrained from doing that because a lot of new <keyword id="8983502" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott-viewership">OTT viewership</keyword> also comes during commute, which has taken a hit; day-time OTT and in-home OTT usage has gone up so yeah, it's a mixed bag. So, you have to keep talking with all your agencies as well as your media partners every day. Keep a check on how the situation is evolving everyday.” The viewership on OTT platforms is further bound to increase as the nationwide lockdown will continue until April 15.

OTT players see an uptick in viewership but are advertisers going where the eyeballs are?

<ul><li>As we enter a new year, we wanted to understand what to expect from the Over-the-top (<keyword id="1245953" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott" source="Orion">OTT</keyword>) industry in 2022.</li><li>In today's feature, we speak to industry experts who share their thoughts on what this year has in store for us.</li></ul>After 2020 we had hoped that 2021 would bring us some respite from the pandemic. However, things were challenging for a large part of the year. With many of us stuck within the four walls of our house for the most part of the year, OTT platforms sometimes became the only source of entertainment in our lives. Not only did 2021 see the launch of a lot of big-budget originals on various OTT platforms, a lot of movies like Sardar Udham Singh, Mimi and Shershaah launched on these platforms. Content producing companies put their best foot forward and created award-winning shows that won both commercial and critical acclaim. There has been a visible increase in investments in content production, a trend that is here to stay in 2022 as well. A recent joint report by industry body CII and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) stated that the Indian OTT sector is currently in the scaling stage with strong subscription growth and high investment in premium as well as original content. The Indian OTT sector is one of the most competitive amongst emerging markets with over 40 players. While there have been debates about more and more people moving away from TV, Mandeep Kohli, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group India states that we are still some time away from that happening at a large scale in India. “The share of traditional media is slowly declining with increased digital adoption but there is still high headroom for penetration with only 54% of Indian households having a pay TV connection compared to more than 70% in China. For many households, TV continues to be the center of the home and a significant part of family time,” said Kohli, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group India. The report further stated that the industry is at a scaling stage currently and has the potential to become a $13-15 billion industry by 2030. To understand what the new year has in store for us, we spoke to a few of the most important voices from India’s OTT industry, along with some of the biggest content production houses. Here is what they had to say about what lies ahead: Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, <keyword id="6245082" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zee5" source="Orion">ZEE5</keyword> India The already-growing online media and entertainment business received a major boost with the black swan event that the Covid-19 pandemic was, setting a new growth trajectory in the last year. The audience adopted a more digitally advanced way of entertainment, something that went beyond the conventional mediums, leading to mass adoption of OTT platforms which resulted in a surge in both viewership and watch-time. This pandemic-induced growth in demand for quality content led to an increased focus on storytelling across languages leading to the creation of extensive and expansive content libraries. People also became more open to sampling diverse content from different languages and were keener to opt for the living room experience thanks to the increased adoption of connected devices. This growth of the connected devices ecosystem has made OTT a preferred choice not only for personal but also for family consumption. At ZEE5, we have seen a 3X growth in the viewership on connected devices. The rise in power-packed dynamic storytelling and the rise of connected devices has led to the advent of the ‘Home Box Office’ which is a trend that is here to stay. While we grew 200% this year at the back of an aggressive slate of content line-up and hyper-personalization, we aim to make deeper inroads into Indian homes going into 2022. Sameer Nair, CEO, <keyword id="1322450" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="applause-entertainment" source="Orion">Applause Entertainment</keyword> <div type="image" title="IMG_8153 (1)" msid="88694220" hostid="261"></div> I believe the biggest emerging trend for the streaming industry in 2022 and beyond is the increasing flattening of the Earth, with both geographical borders and language barriers breaking down as internet connectivity reaches the remotest audiences. Our audiences, both local and global, have become smarter, more perceptive and way more critical; this requires us as Content Creators and Distributors to significantly improve the quality of our storytelling, of our productions and of the consumer experience we offer. Authentic, rooted stories that have a universal appeal can and will breakout to reach audiences globally. The more we collaborate with talent from diverse cultures and geographies, the richer we will become as storytellers. The ‘One Planet One Species Shared Cultures’ is an idea whose time is truly upon us. Divya Dixit, SVP, Marketing &amp; Revenue, <keyword id="4241922" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="altbalaji" source="Orion">ALTBalaji</keyword> With the traditional marketing budgets on a decline and digital and influencer marketing taking center stage, there are many trends, however interrelated, that we will see emerging in 2022. The digital audiovisual industry will explode; according to Bain and Company, India's online video user base has increased to more than 350 million people, growing 24% in the last three years. Influencer marketing will rapidly move to include micro-influencers and not just be dependent on Celebrity influencers, thereby also promoting UGC. Video marketing, live streaming will give rise to Social commerce and tier 2 and 3 cities will claim the growth chart curve. With all these interrelated events/trends triggering off, Users will expect personalized experiences which will be offset by deeper integration of ML, which will give rise to AI usage; however, the world of marketers will also see a more focused emerging curve towards Organic retention – CRM, surveys, retention tools, recommendation cycles, SEO, UI/UX as Google continues the stance of stopping 3rd party cookies by end of 2023. Manjit Sachdev- Head – Originals, Voot and Voot Select, Viacom18 Digital Ventures <div type="image" title="Manjit Sachdev _Head Content at VOOT AND VOOT Select" msid="88694240" hostid="261"></div> After an unprecedented 2020, with an acceleration in the growth of OTT platforms, 2021 was a year for creating milestones in curating unique and enthralling stories for the audience. Now as we step into 2022 with hope and resilience, the OTT sector will witness an increase in the demand for personalized and purpose-driven content. Given the increasing competition in the OTT space, staying relevant and purposeful is most critical. Considering the changing realities in today's times, having a purpose-driven story telling approach is the way to go. Content with purpose has the power to travel beyond boundaries, spread values, knowledge and positivity and build deeper engagement with subscribers. This trend will act as a key differentiator in changing behaviours. Megha Tata, Managing Director, South Asia, Discovery, Inc As SVOD continues to grow aggressively, we are seeing an increasing number of audiences now willing to pay for good content. I believe a right combination of compelling content and pricing would be the key in attracting a bigger share of consumers into the SVOD world next year. Also, differentiated programming will add to a player’s competitive advantage in the midst of most mainstream players offering similar content. This is a trend familiar to what we saw even broadcast channels go through. I believe some players will be able to carve out a niche for themselves, while most streaming catalogs will end up resembling each other. Rishi Negi, COO, Banijay Asia 2020 was a game changer for the whole world, we strategized a smooth transition to the streaming era and the year 2021 was about sustaining the positive change and envisioning the prospects of growth. With changing narratives and experimental content taking a lead, along with the fact that the data &amp; streaming charges have dropped, has resulted in the content reaching a much bigger audience. I anticipate the year 2022 to be vibrant with original productions, compelling storytelling and some path-breaking performances. Fighting the content inflation with a wide variety of exceptional chronicles intertwined with existing catalog shows in this post-pandemic world, viewers are streaming more than ever. With nominal data plan and streaming charges, content is reaching even the darkest corner of the world. Considering the pace of content transmission, at Banijay Asia, we have become more aggressive towards producing content that delights the heartland of India. We see a hike in demand for stories which are untold, female centric and with CTV on the rise, we anticipate growing interest in regional unscripted content in 2022. While we have seen this trend kickstart already with our Tamil unscripted show The Survivors as it received unparalleled response from the audience and our hinterland drama Matsya Kaand recently crossed a 100M views on <keyword id="2214311" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mx-player" source="Orion">MX Player</keyword> within a month. These numbers affirm that the trendsmap that we're following leads to a sustainable future. Given these past two years have been a real tester, we have pushed through every possible challenge posed by the virus this year and successfully produced shows for the streaming giants and kept the show running. While we have covered grounds with our scripted, non-scripted, international format adaptation, book adaptations, in the upcoming year, we aim to keep up with our pace and keep reinventing our ways. To sum it up, we are thoroughly looking forward to 2022 to be a year full of exciting and enthralling projects to keep our audiences engaged and invested. Rohit Jain, Managing Director, <keyword id="193261" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lionsgate" source="Orion">Lionsgate</keyword> South Asia and Networks, Emerging Markets Asia 2022 is going to be an exciting year for OTT players as the content pipeline will be stronger than ever. While the pandemic has leapfrogged growth in terms of viewers and subscription we expect 2022 to further amplify the reach and will witness growth not only in the metros but also in tier II &amp; tier III cities. Today’s viewers are constantly looking for edgy and unique stories. We have always said premium content is the ultimate winner. The OTT industry will have to concentrate on quality content over quantity of content. Siddhartha Roy, COO, Hungama Digital Media The media and entertainment industry has been making rapid strides in the interior of India. Regional markets are becoming the industry’s point of convergence as the digital infrastructure expands across the length and breadth of the country. Content houses and creators are going vocal through local, thereby, making homegrown, high-quality content available at the click of a button. Going further, consumption of entertainment, in addition to audio and video, will be extended to varied mediums, such as gaming. As the Indian online gaming sector is witnessing tremendous growth in 2020 it sets a tone that gaming will be the next big thing. The industry will witness a rapid rise in the use of AI and ML to create a customised and personalised experience for audiences. This makes industry consumer friendly; not just that, it helps in massive consumption and double consumer engagement. Hiren Gada, CEO-Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd <div type="image" title="Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd." msid="88726664" hostid="261"></div> With regional internet penetration growing at a rapid pace, localization of content and OTT apps are going to be one of the emerging trends to look out for. Content that was earlier restricted to just Bollywood and Hollywood is getting extended to other native languages and it is going to play a key role in attracting new consumers and in supporting other industries such as dubbing and subtitling that will further boost the content bank. Other than localization, we will also see content being offered across other segments that include devotional, and kids’ categories. As we see new OTT apps being launched almost every month with multiple paying models, the consumers will have more flexibility and power to make their own choices. With increased smartphone adoption along with affordable data, mobile penetration of the OTT will see more focus. Mobile-centric plans have been introduced by most OTTs today to cater to the Millennials and GenZs who have the hunger to consume content but not the deep pockets to pay. This space will continue to grow with the increased bundling of OTT by telecos. Additionally, the arrival of 5G which is most likely to take off this year will be a game-changer not just for the OTTs but also for the consumers. It will enable faster connectivity, accessibility to content and further enhance the viewing experience with reduced buffering issues, and an uninterrupted real-time streaming experience. Shailesh Kapoor, The Founder &amp; CEO, Ormax Media The last two years have been exceptional for the OTT market in India, aided in no small measure by the lockdowns. As things begin to get back to normal, the question that we will hear a lot more in 2022 is: Where is the next level of OTT growth in India going to come from? The category has grown at an estimated 30-35% in its user base and more than 50% in paid subscriptions over the last two years. But these growth rates are not sustainable in the long run. Platforms will have to look for offerings that are both compelling and distinctive, to get new subscribers in a category that will continue to grow, but at more modest levels of 15-20% per annum. Crossover content, be it Indian (such as Jai Bhim) or foreign (such as Squid Game or Money Heist), will play an important role in this regard. The language barrier has been broken considerably by the OTT medium, and with dubbing and subtitles available in many languages for all major shows and films now, platforms cannot stick to single-language, homogenous offerings anymore. We can expect more language-led experimentation, both in content acquisition and presentation."

Where the Indian OTT industry is headed in 2022

<ul><li>Even after the record growth witnessed by streaming services in India, the question remains whether these platforms can retain the massive lockdown gains </li><li>With streaming services under pressure to provide new content frequently and producers trying to not lose money in films, web premiers might be another new normal. </li><li>Moreover, a KPMG report suggested that OTT platforms should look at gaming as an extension to their ecosystem offerings. </li></ul>Streaming services are the only bright spot for the millions who are isolating at home during lockdown. With ample leisure time and fewer options, usage of streaming platforms surged. Most of the 35 streaming giants in India — <keyword id="3960758" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-Prime-Videos">Amazon Prime Videos</keyword>, <keyword id="6245082" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ZEE5">Zee5</keyword>. Voot, Hungama, AltBalaji, MX Player — witnessed a record growth fueled by quarantine. The Big Boost During the lockdown, there was a 265% increase in OTT traffic since February last week — in spite of the drop from HD to SD, according to Internet Exchange operator DE-CIX. The five services that gained the most are Amazon Prime Videos, Netflix, Youtube, Zee5 and Hotstar. Disney+ — which was launched soon after India locked itself down —<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/08/disney-has-more-than-50m-subscribers/"> added 8 million users </a>within a week. Whereas, Netflix India — which was earlier losing to the homegrown market — too <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/exclusive-app-tracking-data-for-netflix-reveals-the-countries-where-usage-spiked-in-march-and-suggests-strong-viewership-heading-into-q1-earnings/articleshow/75162782.cms">saw at least an 8% growth in Q1FY20 driven</a> by its cheapest mobile online plan at ₹199. Zee5, a homegrown OTT platform, saw 36% growth during the lockdown. Whereas its foreign arm, <keyword id="7124509" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ZEE5-Global">Zee5 Global</keyword> saw a 60% surge in users across the world including the Middle East and Canada. Alt Balaji, yet another homegrown platform, saw a 60% growth in its subscription. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">OTT services </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Change in viewership due to Covid-19 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Netflix India </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">+8% in Q1 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Zee5 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">+36% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Hungama Play </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">+20% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Eros Now </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">+70-100% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">MX Player</td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">130% surge on engagement </td></tr></tbody></table> A short-term spike or a long-term gain A<a href="https://rollingstoneindia.com/how-the-coronavirus-is-impacting-audio-and-video-streaming-in-india/"> Nielsen report</a> predicted that lockdown can trigger a 60% rise in content consumption in India. Even after the record growth witnessed by streaming services in India, the question remains whether these platforms can retain the massive gains post lockdown. Hence, when Netflix recently said it added a record 15.8 million paid subscribers globally, it also added that it is treating it as “<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/21/neflix-q1-earnings/">a short-term spike” and the growth will gradually decline. </a> A KPMG report, however, believes that OTTs are likely to see continued accelerated growth. "While the same levels of consumption may not be achieved once we overcome this pandemic, there is definitely a new and higher normal that is likely to be established when it comes to time spent on OTT platforms," Girish Menon, Partner and Head, Media and Entertainment, KPMG in India told Business Insider. Moreover, Menon believes consumers are likely to develop a habit of consuming video online during lockdown which would later drive subscription growth. However, According to Karan Bedi, MX Player, OTT platforms might witness some immediate dip post lockdown, but the overall base and average time spent would continue the rise. With shooting of new TV series being delayed and movie theatres closed, services with large, legacy libraries and fresh content, have an inherent advantage. “A new normal has been witnessed as consumers adapt to the evolving situation of the pandemic. We feel this pattern will stay as it is in the post-COVID-19 era as well and perhaps there will be some incremental change in the overall user growth,” Aparna Acharekar, programming head of ZEE5 India. Ferzad Palia, who heads Voot Select in India too thinks the same. Rohit Paranjpe who heads SugarBox Networks believes new content will continue to enthuse people. The pressure on OTT services to release new content more frequently may also go up. Also, OTT players too should not be happy just retaining users and will have to engage them more. Apart from films, KPMG in a report suggested OTT platforms look at gaming as an extension to ecosystem offerings. “OTT will look to bring their consumer’s value in other areas: from aggregating other third party content providers who are not competing with them to promoting and pushing other adjacent services, like fitness and food delivery apps, and education platforms,” said Lior Friedman, VP - global partnerships and strategy at Amdocs Media. Directly onto OTT platforms With streaming services under pressure to provide new content frequently and producers trying to not lose money in films products, web premiers might be a new normal. Lakshmi Bomb featuring Akshay Kumar might release on Disney+Hotstar. MUBI is premiering Pablo Larrain’s film ‘Ema’ in India, UK and Ireland on May 2. Whereas, Zee5 is also considering premiering movies directly on its platform in the near future. AB Anni CD will be yet another film to be released directly on Amazon Prime Videos. Akshay Bardapur, the producer of the movie that stars Amitabh Bachchan said, “We didn’t want to keep audiences from watching two megastars. Also, it made sense to recover losses by selling content to the OTT.” But big-budget movies are preferring to hold back. Recently, the makers of Ranvir Singh starrer movie ‘83 said they will release the film in theatres first even <a href="https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/ranveer-singhs-83-to-not-release-on-ott-platforms-makers-aim-for-theatrical-release/articleshow/75401861.cms">if they had to wait for six or nine months. </a> “While producers of movies that have a reasonable budget may experiment with releasing movies directly on OTT platforms or opt for a pay-per-view model, bigger films are unlikely to be released until later this year or next year,” says Neeraj Roy, founder and CEO of Hungama Digital Media. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/cinema-halls-may-not-open-in-india-until-june-end/articleshow/75407053.cms">Cinema halls may not open in India until June end</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/lockdown-watchlist-want-to-binge-watch-a-show-that-lasts-a-week-try-these-long-running-shows-on-netflix-amazon-prime-disney-hotstar-and-others/articleshow/75173116.cms">Lockdown Watchlist: Want to binge-watch a show that lasts a week? Try these long-running shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ Hotstar and others</a>

Streaming platforms who are on a new high — are hosting web premiers and might even expand to gaming

<ul><li>In our latest series, we look at different industries to understand what was 2020 like for them and to crystal gaze into the upcoming year, and identify some of the trends that will set the tone for 2021.</li><li>During the past few months of the global pandemic, people staying at home around the world have turned to various streaming services for entertainment. </li><li>With the coronavirus still around, we speak to OTT players to find out what would 2021 look like for the industry. </li></ul>Better connectivity, cheaper devices and even cheaper data plans have been aiding the growth of India’s over-the-top (OTT) industry over the past few years. However, 2020 became a year when more and more people came onto the digital ecosystem, thanks to being stuck at home during the lockdown. With people barely moving out of their houses, they turned to the digital world for their daily fix of entertainment. Also, people were more open with experimenting with different platforms. If an IBEF report is to be believed, the OTT sector in India saw a 30% rise in the number of paid subscribers, from 22.2 million to 29.0 million between March and July 2020. There was a visible increase in the time people were spending on most platforms. It therefore became important for platforms to come up with differentiated, fresh content that would help them stand apart. Owing to the fact that multiplexes were shut for months, many platforms also started launching movies directly on digital. Consumers have been happy for the most part. As we enter 2021, expectations from the sector are high. With the coronavirus still around, many people will continue staying in. So what will this mean for the OTT sector in 2021? Will more and more people continue coming onto platforms, and prefer to pay for the content that they like? How will OTT platforms be able to ensure consumer stickiness? What are a few trends that will stand out in 2021? We reached out to a few experts from the industry and here’s what they had to say. Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global: <div type="image" title="Archana Anand zee5" msid="79998579" hostid="261"></div> I see two key themes that swung into prominence in 2020 emerging as key drivers of the <keyword id="9056838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott-industry">OTT industry</keyword>’s skyrocketing growth in 2021. With the lockdown, we’ve seen a trend of people across the globe warming up to the idea of paying for quality content, and also being willing to commit to annual subscription packs where they see value. I see this trend only accelerating in 2021, leading to strong SVOD growth. This has also been a year where international content has gained massive traction across markets. With ZEE5 and other OTT platforms offering dubbed and subtitled content, enabling people in one geography to seamlessly access stories from any other, content is now truly democratized. Storytelling is increasingly blurring boundaries and storytellers are finding newer audiences beyond their own borders. I think 2021 is going to be the year that international content comes into even greater prominence as online audiences literally discover a world of new content via their OTT platforms. Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited: <div type="image" title="Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited" msid="79995505" hostid="261"></div> 2021 is going to be an exciting year as OTT is already riding the wave of increased data consumption and internet penetration in the small towns and rural India. The year gone by also saw some great innovations and developments in the OTT space. From direct-to-digital releases to the increasing growth in the regional content, this year has bolstered the growing popularity of OTT to an all-time high. One trend that is expected to take centre stage is highly localised and regional content. The key to ace the trend is to have an in-depth understanding of the traditions and culture of the viewers. Understanding the deep-rooted connections our viewers have with their mother tongue, we have developed a strong regional strategy for Shemaroo across all our platforms. We have a huge content bank that ranges from Bollywood, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Kids, Devotional, and various specialised trays. Content companies saw a huge change and spike in the content viewing pattern of the audiences during the lockdown. Our regional offerings saw an impressive surge in viewership especially in the Gujarati category with viewership as high as 102% in the peak months of the lockdown. While Bollywood is our mainstay, our teams have been constantly acquiring and upgrading our regional offerings, so our audiences have something new every time they tune in. We aim to make it a more robust and comprehensive pick for any consumer who wishes to enjoy varied regional content. Ferzad Palia, Head, Voot Select, Youth, Music and English Entertainment, Viacom18: <div type="image" title="Ferzad Palia." msid="79995514" hostid="261"></div> Year 2020 saw the OTT category driven by groundbreaking storytelling and macro factors resulting in significant growth for SVOD services. Viewers’ willingness to pay for quality content is now well established. However, around 65% of subscribers are still from Top 10 metros. 2021 will buck this trend and see the Premium OTT Category in India expand its footprint outside of the top 10 metros, heralding the next phase of growth for the category. Karan Bedi, CEO - MX Player: <div type="image" title="Karan Bedia Mx player" msid="79998628" hostid="261"></div> Video streaming has become the primary mode of entertainment for most digital consumers across India this year. With this backdrop, India is set to become a key market for growth in OTT video in 2021. This will lead to an avalanche of new unique original content for these audiences as they have very little to watch on TV. In this situation, marketers are also increasingly aware of where their money works best, and would like to focus on those mediums, namely digital and OTT. Divya Dixit, SVP, Marketing, Analytics and Direct Revenue, ALTBalaji <div type="image" title="Divya, altbalaji" msid="79995519" hostid="261"></div> Digital is an ever-evolving medium and when it comes to OTT players, competition across the industry is soaring high with everyone at their toes trying to secure their places in the minds of consumers. While the pandemic of 2020 redefined content consumption, the year 2021 will chart new business alliances and revenue models for platforms to acquire direct subscriptions. The report from FICCI and E&amp;Y predicted 30-35 million paying subscribers on OTT platforms alone in the year 2021, and we are excited about carving a substantial pie out of the same. Our objective has always been content massification and with the next billion internet users set to hail from the Hindi heartlands, India’s digital industry promises a host of fresh avenues to explore and expand. The soon-to-arrive 5G networks will only work as an important factor for OTT platforms to scale further heights. Prime Video India spokesperson: “2020 has been a very exciting year for us at Prime Video India – at a time when a large section of customers, looking for high quality entertainment, are turning to streaming video - we launched 18 direct-to-digital movies (across 5 Indian languages) and 8 Indian Amazon Original Series, in addition to several Global Originals and hundreds of licensed and exclusive titles. One of the most consistent trends we observed in 2020 is that great content transcends geographical barriers. Indian stories are traveling across the globe - 1 out of 5 viewers of Indian Originals are from outside India. Both Four More Shots Please! and Made in Heaven were nominated for the International Emmy Awards, a testimony to local, authentic stories finding a global audience. Our first slate of DTS movies received close to 50% (and sometimes more) viewership for titles in Indian languages from customers outside the home states. Our Bollywood direct-to-service movies were block-buster hits - Gulabo Sitabo and Shakuntala Devi have been our most-watched movies on Prime Video in India as well as the most-watched Hindi/ Bollywood Movie outside India. Localized content not only helps us remain relevant, relatable but eventually also helps in widening audience reach - we also see global shows going deeper in India. We released Parasite with Hindi subs in India and that opened viewership to a whole new audience. We also dubbed some of our popular Global Amazon Originals like Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and more recently, the second season of the The Boys in Indian languages, leading to more people discovering and watching these titles. This gives us an insight that customers are ready to watch content that has originated from any part of the world, if the story and the characters resonate with them.”

OTT: The trends to watch out for in 2021

<ul><li>Last month, <keyword id="3820" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mukesh-ambani" source="Orion">Mukesh Ambani</keyword>’s Viacom18 won the digital rights of the <keyword id="6354831" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-premier-league" source="Orion">Indian Premier League</keyword> for the next five years, beating Disney Star to the punch.</li><li>Reliance will now have to foot a hefty bill for content production, media acquisition, marketing costs, and other hosting expenses.</li><li>On top of that, viewership of the recently concluded <keyword id="6354312" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ipl" source="Orion">IPL</keyword> season 15 fell by 30-35% in the first four weeks compared to last year’s figures.</li><li>With decreasing viewership numbers and television taking the bigger piece of the viewership pie, experts tell us if Reliance will get its bang for the buck.</li></ul>India’s richest man <a href="https://track.sendpal.in/link/track/62abe73e4cfb1f6f0a1d3647/mail/62abe4d38b0f05df4598bb56/feature?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.in%2Fbusiness%2Fcorporates%2Fnews%2Fipl-value-jumps-3x-to-48000-crore-heres-how-much-mukesh-ambani-disney-and-times-internet-are-spending%2Farticleshow%2F92209726.cms%3Futm_source%3Dbi%26utm_medium%3Demail_newsletter%26utm_campaign%3DBusiness_Insider_Newsletter">Mukesh Ambani</a> is banking on India’s most valuable sporting property, IPL, to build his content and telecom empire. But, IPL’s fallen victim to a 15-year itch and suffering from consumption fatigue. As per a recent survey conducted by consumer data intelligence company Axis My India, only 25% of Indians watched IPL this year, and even among those who watched it, 65% watched it on TV. Only 29% said that they have watched it on digital platforms. Less than a third of the smaller part of a shrinking pie is what Ambani is left with as the days of people taking sick leaves on IPL days are long behind it. On the contrary, Viacom18 paid a record <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/how-ipl-franchises-make-money/articleshow/92273299.cms">₹23,750 crore</a> last month to bag two and a half bundles of IPL’s media rights. It beat Disney Star to win the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/will-mukesh-ambanis-viacom18-and-star-make-a-profit-out-of-ipl-in-the-next-5-years/articleshow/92278191.cms">package </a>that includes digital, non-exclusive digital rights and a few international countries. It sounds like a lot of money has been paid for something that’s not a hot property anymore. Even those who watched IPL, watched one or more matches this season. IPL season 15’s television <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/podcast/current-affairs/will-the-fall-in-ipl-viewership-impact-the-big-media-rights-auction-122053100078_1.html">viewership </a>fell by 30-35% in the first four weeks compared to last year’s figures. “One can witness respondents suffering from consumption fatigue which could be related to the innumerable choice of content, ease in mobility and the availability of experiencing ‘cinema’ etc. The craze around IPL persists across platforms but whether this excitement justifies its high media rights, time will tell,” said Pradeep Gupta, chairman and MD of Axis My India. A TV every home but a mobile on every hand Girish Upadhyay, the CMO of Axis My India however is more hopeful as rural consumers are watching IPL on mobile because of cheaper data and power cuts. “There is a bigger play that Reliance’s Viacom is looking at,” he told Business Insider India. He believes that IPL will give new users to Viacom + Jio combination, giving them a significant edge as they scale up their platforms. “These new viewers can help build the subscription revenue for the GEC, movies, and original content library they have, hence IPL can’t just be looked at in isolation. IPL has never been just about numbers in terms of ratings, the kind of impact, engagement it gives brands is unprecedented,” said Upadhyay. But a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/will-mukesh-ambanis-viacom18-and-star-make-a-profit-out-of-ipl-in-the-next-5-years/articleshow/92278191.cms">CLSA report</a> calculates that for Ambani’s Viacom18 to break even and equate to their bidding cost, its advertising revenue will have to grow by 57%. However, experts are banking on Reliance’s spectacular strategies to push forward in a game where it is a laggard. N Chandramouli, CEO of research firm TRA said that if television has reached every home, a mobile phone has reached every hand. “That’s what makes the digital rights of IPL so exciting for Reliance. We must remember that today, viewing has become a personal experience and not a family experience. While the young children may be watching IPL on their phones or laptops, the parents may be watching the news on TV,” said Chandramouli. Voot to become a bigger fish in the sea? In the landscape of digital streaming, MX Player, Disney+Hotstar, Amazon Prime occupy the largest share of the market and Viacom18’s Voot is at a distant 2%. <div type="image" title="ott" msid="92653181" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;BI India&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Chandramouli said that Reliance is more likely to get its ‘bang for the buck,’ since it will grow the Voot paid subscriber audience significantly. This is the same price game that Reliance played when they entered the telecom market as the fourth player. They gave their mobile subscriptions for free for three months to grow into the largest player in the market. Six years on, it’s still the operator which provides the cheapest data. The same thing is happening to the OTT offering as well. It’s the cheapest OTT in the market which is about to get a blockbuster property – even if its popularity is waning. The digital rights acquired by Reliance is for five years and experts estimate it will start paying off from the third year onwards. “Whether the competition likes it or not, Reliance does tend to change the rules of the game in the sectors it operates in. Since Jio subscribers will also have viewing rights to IPL, the win is also likely to grow Jio customers. No other OTT player has such synergies, which gives Reliance an advantage at multiple fronts to gain from the IPL win,” said Chandramouli.

Mukesh Ambani has to change the rules of the IPL game - which is losing eyeballs

<ul><li>Netflix is the most popular streaming service to watch Korean dramas and movies.</li><li>But there are other apps like Prime Video and Viki where you can watch Korean content.</li><li>You can also watch Korean dramas and movies dubbed in Hindi and other Indian languages.</li></ul>It’s no secret that Indians love <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/amazon-prime-video-to-take-on-netflix-with-10-new-k-dramas/articleshow/87869220.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Korean dramas and movies</a> especially since the start of the pandemic last year. According to Netflix, K-Drama viewership in India increased more than 370% in 2020 from 2019. The K-Drama and K-Movie craze actually started around a decade back in the northeastern states of India during the days of CDs and DVDs. But now there are so many platforms where you can easily watch the latest Korean content. Netflix is the most popular streaming service for Korean movies and drama in India. But there are other apps and services available where you can watch Korean content. If you’re bored or looking for some new Korean content then you can try out these streaming services. Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video is the latest entrant in this segment. It recently started streaming Korean dramas including popular ones like True Beauty, The Penthouse, and Mr. Queen. There are new and old Korean dramas that you can watch on Prime Video, and some of which aren’t available on Netflix. Prime Video is available with Amazon Prime membership priced at ₹179 per month, and ₹1,499 per year. Viki Viki is a popular streaming service for not just Korean dramas but Asian dramas and movies in general. If you want to watch the latest Korean dramas then Viki is one of the best apps you’ll get. The app is available for free but with ads. You can also subscribe to Viki at ₹299 per month or ₹3,099 per year. MX Player MX Player is another great destination for Korean dramas and it also offers dubbed audio in Hindi and regional languages Tamil and Telugu. MX Player streams over 50 Korean dramas including Pinocchio, Heirs, Kill Me Heal Me, The Penthouse and more. MX Player is also available as an ad-based free service or you can get it for ₹199 per year. IQIYI IQIYI is primarily for Chinese dramas and shows but it also streams Korean dramas. You can also watch popular anime like Jujutsu Kaisen and Haikyu on IQIYI. The app has a lot of content to stream and popular Korean dramas. You can watch shows for free with ads or subscribe to IQIYI starting at ₹159 per month. SEE ALSO: <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="73666376" title="How to restore deleted contacts on Android" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

Where to watch Korean dramas and movies in India

<ul><li>After the pandemic, many of us were stuck within the four walls of our houses and OTT platforms like <keyword id="128682" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="netflix" source="Orion">Netflix</keyword>, Amazon Prime and <keyword id="2739840" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hotstar" source="Orion">Hotstar</keyword> sometimes became the only source of entertainment in our lives.</li><li>The pandemic also gave a push to the regional <keyword id="9056838" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott-industry" source="Orion">OTT industry</keyword> and saw the birth of native language streaming players like Hoichoi, aha, Sun NXT, Planet Marathi, Koode, and City Short TV.</li><li>As per experts, the regional OTT players have already captured 50% of the OTT market in less than 3-4 years.</li></ul>Kaiser, the homicide detective who tries to deal with double murders and his own demons side by side; then there is Three Roses – with young girls who are in the middle of to-be-married mess in the complex Indian juxtaposition of tradition and independence. Yes, you have guessed it right. They are all topics of superhit web series but you can’t find them on Netflix, Prime or even Disney Hotstar – they are from Hoichoi, Bengali OTT and aha, a Telugu and Tamil OTT, respectively. Apart from regional cinema taking over <keyword id="143" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bollywood" source="Orion">Bollywood</keyword>, a silent revolution is underway where regional OTTs are taking away the eyeballs of Indians – by offering them quality content in their mother tongue. And, there are a lot of these. Of the total <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/a-cred-like-platform-is-what-indian-ott-users-want-to-juggle-multiple-subscriptions/articleshow/92570894.cms">60 OTT </a>platforms in India, around 12 of them are exclusively regional across languages like — Sun NXT, Planet Marathi, Koode, and City Short TV, which is a hyperlocal content OTT. One movie, every week According to a FICCI-EY <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/brandwagon/regional-ott-on-the-rise-as-subscribers-choose-native-language-over-hindi/2272860/">report</a>, the share of regional language consumption on OTT platforms will cross 50% by 2025 from the 30% share it held in 2019. As per FICCI-EY though, regional consumption is expected to surpass Hindi, which is predicted to touch a 45% consumption rate. But a few players are confident that it has already hit this number. “The regional OTT market today probably is 50% already of the total OTT market size in India, including all regional languages. It is set to grow faster than Hindi for sure,” Ajit Thakur, CEO of Telugu and Tamil OTT platform aha told Business Insider India. The OTT, which is adding one movie every week, has touched 10 million monthly active users (Maus) in two years. Its app saw 30 million downloads. It has also generated $2 million in non-subscription <a href="https://www.afaqs.com/news/media/telugu-ott-platform-aha-to-rely-on-avod-to-break-even">revenue </a>in the last six months and is considering adding gaming onto its platform and becoming a super app. Aha also intends to target Tamil-speaking viewers as well after winning the hearts of the people who speak the fourth most spoken <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-45902204">language </a>in India and also one of the top 10 fastest-growing <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-45902204">languages </a>in America. The magic price point Apart from the content, the price points of these OTTs are attractive too — as it’s akin to subscribing for a regional TV channel pack as opposed to the full range with all genres and offerings across languages – like Netflix, Prime, Disney Hotstar or even Zee. Hoichoi however has ‘eased’ its subscription with a syndication deal with mainstream OTT players such as MX Player and Amazon Prime. Hoichoi, one of the earliest regional OTT platforms to launch in India, is trying to capture the 250 million Bengali speakers across the world. “The generic OTT market has grown at least 30-50% over the year and we've all outpaced that industry by a fair margin. We've got about 120 odd shows, in addition to about 600-700 movies. In fact, April, May and June were bigger than COVID months for us,” Vishnu Mohta, co-founder of the Bengali streaming platform told Business Insider India. Its extensive content library remains unmatched in the OTT universe. But Mohta says that it’s just ‘getting started’. “I see a stable growth trajectory for the next five years,” he said – which is much higher than the growth in ‘national’ OTTs. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">OTT platform </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Plan </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Price </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Netflix </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Annual mobile </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1788 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Amazon Prime Video </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Annual </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1499 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">aha </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Annual </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹299 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Hoichoi </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Annual </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹999 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Planet Marathi </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Annual </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹365 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> Trending across 7 countries Planet Marathi was a pandemic baby as it was launched during the lockdown. As the name suggests it caters to Marathi-speaking audiences India and abroad. <div type="image" title="Planet marathi" msid="92795598" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Planet Marathi&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> It already has a superhit web show to its name – Raanbaazaar, which delves into the murky world of politics and two escorts and the mindgame involved. The show became the most-watched Marathi series on OTT and trended across seven countries – thanks to the state’s extensive expat population. “We launched 13 Planet Marathi originals and have another 24 planned out over the next year. Our viewership comes from India and across the world. There has been an increase in the stickiness of the content, with time spent by users increasing almost 350% after Raanbaazaar’s release,” said Akshay Bardapurkar, founder of Planet Marathi. In the meanwhile, top OTTs haven’t been ignoring these viewers either. In fact most of them release regional movies and shows with audio and subtitle options – thereby ‘extending’ the reach of regional content to non-regional players as well. The best example in this list is the recently launched Modern Love Hyderabad which has an original Telugu show dubbed across five languages including Hindi and English, for those who want to catch the flavour of the show in their own language. ZEE5 too has <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/zee5-plans-to-triple-investment-in-tamil-telugu-content-in-2022-328762-2022-04-05">tripled </a>its investment into regional content this year and international player <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/netflix-on-the-lookout-for-regional-language-content-in-2022/article37835172.ece">Netflix </a>is also looking to deeper inroads in India by zooming in on regional market — but whether they would be able to win the war in every regional turf across India is left to be seen – as India has 121 official <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/more-than-19500-mother-tongues-spoken-in-india-census-5241056/">languages </a>and 19,500 mother tongues.

Hoichoi, aha and Planet Marathi - regional OTTs challenging Netflix, Prime and Hotstar

<ul><li>In the recently concluded Indian Premier League media auctions, Star bagged the television rights and <keyword id="3820" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mukesh-ambani" source="Orion">Mukesh Ambani</keyword>’s <keyword id="187712" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="viacom18" source="Orion">Viacom18</keyword> won the digital rights.</li><li>Now that Disney+ <keyword id="2739840" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hotstar" source="Orion">Hotstar</keyword> has lost one of its flagship properties – the IPL – to Viacom18, it will have to come up with a strong, fool-proof counter-strategy to sustain its subscriber growth in the OTT landscape.</li><li>As per Elara Capital’s estimates, 70% of Star India’s advertising-based revenue is IPL-led, with subscription-based revenue largely following suit.</li><li>We try to decode how big of a dent losing IPL could make in Hotstar’s business operations.</li></ul>When Disney-Star bought the digital streaming rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2018 for ₹<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/mukesh-ambanis-viacom18-bags-digital-rights-of-ipl-while-star-grabs-tv-rights/articleshow/92181172.cms">16,300 crore</a> from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), it had hit a gold mine. Star had the most sought-after cricketing property in its lap for five years. However, it put all its eggs in one basket. Now, after losing the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/ipl-value-jumps-3x-to-48000-crore-heres-how-much-mukesh-ambani-disney-and-times-internet-are-spending/articleshow/92209726.cms">mandate</a> to Mukesh Ambani’s media giant Viacom18, Disney+ Hotstar will have to pull up its socks to sustain its growth. Why losing IPL will make a dent in Hotstar’s business Disney+ Hotstar has been one of India's top OTT platforms in terms of subscribers and market share, thanks to IPL. Now the tables have turned and Viacom18’s Voot, which currently has a share of 2% of the OTT landscape as per asset management firm CLSA, is likely to jump ahead. <div type="image" title="ott" msid="92254395" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;BI India&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> As per a Kotak Institutional Equities report, Hotstar garnered ad revenues of ₹1,100 crore (₹15 crore per match) and subscription revenues of ₹1,200 crore (₹16 crore per match) for IPL 2022 season. It currently has a total of 50 million paid subscribers. Considering that Hotstar’s crown jewel generated 70% of Star India’s advertising-based revenue, as per financial advisory firm Elara Capital, the streaming platform will likely face the crunch come 2023. Hotstar’s plan B after losing IPL media rights In a statement sent to the media, the chairman of international content and operations at The Walt Disney Co, Rebecca Campbell explained why Disney+ Hotstar chose to let go of the digital mandate. “We made disciplined bids with a focus on long-term value. We chose not to proceed with the digital rights given the price required to secure that package,” she said. Now the platform has started working on its Plan B, which, surprise-surprise, revolves around cricket and other sports. "We will be exploring other multiplatform cricket rights, including future rights for International Cricket Council (ICC) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which we currently hold through the 2023 and 2024 seasons, respectively,” she underlined. “Additionally, we hold Pro Kabaddi League rights, Indian Super League football rights, as well as various international sports rights, including the Wimbledon Championships and the English Premier League,” Campbell shared in a media statement. Campbell also shared that Hotstar currently has more than 100 local original titles in its content pipeline – with over 80 local originals slated to premiere this fiscal year. Sports bring the subscribers, say experts Brand expert and founder of Trust Research Advisory (TRA), N Chandramouli, said, “Sports viewership is known to increase OTT subscribers and Disney-Hotstar, having lost the digital rights of IPL to Viacom should be using their investments in other sporting franchises to build their global subscriber base.” Chandramouli also said that while Disney+ Hotstar had bet big on the <keyword id="2035339" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ipl-digital-rights" source="Orion">IPL digital rights</keyword>, it was "not big enough". “It is likely that they [Hotstar] have losers' remorse and will try harder to get rights of other global sports franchises. The question of whether IPL media rights will make profits is still out there,” he added. A silver lining in losing IPL rights While Hotstar did win the lottery ticket with IPL’s digital mandate for the previous cycle of 2018-2022, it did not have a material impact on its profits. Despite adding new subscribers and reporting incredible growth in advertising revenues, Disney+ Hotstar’s overall revenue of ₹1,500 crore was less than Netflix's at ₹1,700 crore. As per industry estimates, Netflix’s subscribers in FY21 were nearly 7x less than Disney+ Hotstar's. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Platform </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Model </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Plan </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Subscribers </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Revenue </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">YouTube </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Free or Ad </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">NA </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Not relevant </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹4,000 cr </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">MX Player </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Free or Ad </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">NA </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Not relevant </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹500 cr </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Disney+ Hotstar </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Free, Ad and SVOD </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">VIP: ₹399 (Yearly) Premium: ₹1499 (Yearly) Premium: ₹299 (Monthly) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">42.7 mn </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1500 cr </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">SonyLIV </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Paid </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹299/ month, ₹699 - 6 months ₹999 - annual </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">18.2 mn </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,200 cr </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Amazon Prime Video </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Paid </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Monthly: ₹129 Yearly: ₹999 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">14 mn </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,300 cr </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Netflix </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Paid </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Mobile: ₹149 Basic: ₹199 Standard: ₹499 Premium: ₹649 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">5.9 mn </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,700 cr </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> Source: Elara Capital, Comscore, Media Partners Asia According to another report by Elara Capital, the winner of the media rights has to foot hefty content production and marketing costs. The report says, “Star and Hotstar financials suggest that winning the broadcast rights in the previous cycle does not seem to have had a material positive impact on profitability.” So, not winning the IPL streaming rights might actually turn out to be a boon in some ways for Hotstar as it did not make any profits in the previous cycle.

There’s a silver lining for Hotstar in losing IPL digital rights – here is how it can strengthen its counter-strategy

<ul><li>Amazon last month started streaming Korean dramas including popular titles like Mr. Queen and The Penthouse.</li><li>It is now one of the few global platforms offering access to Korean content.</li><li>Here’s a look at what Amazon is offering, and how it can be the closest rival to Netflix.</li></ul>Netflix has a new Korean drama (K-Drama) rival in town — Amazon Prime Video. The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/upcoming-movies-and-web-series-to-binge-watch-on-netflix-amazon-prime-video-disney-plus-hotstar-and-sony-liv/slidelist/87781193.cms">streaming service</a> last month announced ten Korean shows including popular titles like True Beauty, The Penthouse, and Mr. Queen, which are not available on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/beware-of-these-popular-netflix-scams-and-phishing-attacks/articleshow/87843343.cms">Netflix</a>. With these Korean shows, Amazon Prime Video becomes another popular global platform other than Netflix cashing in on the Korean wave in India. Amazon has also been aggressively pushing its K-drama offering by partnering with the most popular influencers in the country. Netflix is now almost synonymous with Korean shows and movies for the global audience especially owing to the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/squid-game-masks-in-india-and-fans-around-the-world/articleshow/86939519.cms">Squid Game craze</a> that took over the internet. It even became the most popular Netflix show. There’s a plethora of Korean series and movies that you can watch on Netflix. It has also been regularly producing originals like Crash Landing on You, Nevertheless, The King: Eternal Monarch, and Something in the Rain. Netflix hopped on the early K-wave in India Before streaming services, K-Drama fans resorted to pirated copies on websites and the good old days of CDs to watch their favourite shows and movies. But Netflix slowly started bringing in more Korean content to its platform and one particular show that really hit it in India was Crash Landing on You. It was released in December 2019 but it gained wide popularity around March when the lockdown started in India. Crash Landing on You even made it to Netflix India’s top 10 list. In South Korea, it’s the highest-rated tvN drama (television network) and also the third highest-rated South Korean TV drama in cable television history. Netflix also<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/the-k-magic-is-taking-over-india-people-find-comfort-in-korean-dramas-music-and-food/articleshow/86836620.cms?from=mdr"> said </a>that K-Drama viewership in India increased more than 370% in 2020 over 2019. Even television networks jumped on the K-Drama bandwagon with Zee Cafe started airing fan-favourite Boys Over Flowers and also Descendants Of The Sun. Dish TV also started a dedicated channel called “Korean Drama Active” for Korean shows dubbed in Hindi. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Amazon Prime Video is inching closer to rival Netflix" comment="subhead" text="Amazon Prime Video is inching closer to rival Netflix">Amazon Prime Video is inching closer to rival Netflix</cmsannotation> Other than Netflix, Amazon Prime Video is the biggest streaming platform to offer Korean content. Last month, the streaming service launched ten Korean titles, and it plans to release a new series every week. But this isn’t Amazon’s first encounter with Korean movies. It’s the only OTT platform in India to stream Oscar-winning movie Parasite, and also Minari which had six Oscar nominations. The K-Dramas streaming on Amazon aren’t originals or new shows but old ones that aired recently or a couple of years ago. It is also worth noting that some of these titles aren’t available on Netflix but are otherwise very popular. Take The Penthouse for example, which became the most-watched program on any channel on Friday, and also the <a href="https://www.soompi.com/article/1488140wpp/the-penthouse-ends-on-no-1-ratings-after-3-seasons">most-watched miniseries</a> of the entire week when it ended. Another popular title Mr. Queen also bagged the fifth-highest ratings in South Korea’s television network tvN’s history. It’s also important to highlight that Amazon can have an upper hand here with these titles or future ones that are not available on Netflix. There are unofficial websites to watch these shows but it's always a safer option to access it from verified platforms. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Amazon vs Netflix" comment="subhead" text="Amazon vs Netflix">Amazon vs Netflix</cmsannotation> Amazon doesn’t have a catalogue as big as Netflix but its plan to release a new series every week could soon make it a go-to hub for Korean content. Then there’s the pricing too. Netflix does offer multiple subscriptions, even low-priced ones for mobile users starting at ₹199 per month. Amazon on the other hand bundles Prime Video, Music with the e-commerce <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/amazon-prime-subscription-will-soon-cost-you-up-to-50-more/articleshow/87175961.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Prime membership</a> which costs ₹179 per month. If we compare the two, Amazon is much cheaper and also offers more benefits with its subscription. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Not only Netflix" comment="subhead" text="Not only Netflix">Not only Netflix</cmsannotation> It’s not only Netflix that offers access to Korean content. Other OTT apps like Rakuten’s Viki and Viu are also dedicated platforms for Korean and Asian movies, TV shows. Viki, for example, already streams some of the shows like Mr. Queen and The Penthouse. The app is available for free as an ad-based service. MX Player also offers K-Dramas dubbed in Hindi and regional languages Tamil and Telugu. Disney+ Hotstar is another global platform that pushed its entry into this genre with the launch of five new Korean series - Moving, Grid, Snowdrop, Rookies and “Sixth Sense Kiss”. The streaming service will also release an exclusive documentary titled “Blackpink: The Movie” on Disney+ and, it also announced a spinoff of the popular Korean TV show “Running Man” exclusively for Disney+. Apple also launched its first Korean-language series “Dr. Brain” globally on the same day the service debuted in South Korea. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/amazon-prime-subscription-will-soon-cost-you-up-to-50-more/articleshow/87175961.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Amazon Prime subscription will soon cost you up to 50% more from December 14</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/beware-of-these-popular-netflix-scams-and-phishing-attacks/articleshow/87843343.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Love binge watching? Beware of these Netflix scams and phishing attacks</a>

Amazon Prime Video may not be the early bird, but it still wants to catch the K-wave in India

<ul><li>Apple’s new video streaming service, Apple TV Plus, will launch on November 1 at a price of ₹99 per month. </li><li>Apple TV Plus monthly subscription in India is 72% cheaper than the US subscription that costs $4.99.</li><li>Non-Apple device users can also access the service via Amazon’s Fire TV Stick. </li></ul>Apple TV Plus is going to launch on November 1 and the company has a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/netflix-disney-and-roku-tumble-after-apple-announces-its-streaming-service-will-be-cheaper-than-rivals/articleshow/71072368.cms">new found sensitivity for prices</a> in India. In the US, a monthly subscription to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/apples-streaming-service-apple-tv-plus-will-cost-just-5-a-month-when-it-launches-november-1/articleshow/71071470.cms">Apple TV Plus</a> will cost $4.99 (₹358) but in India it will only cost ₹99 ($1.38) — that’s 72% cheaper. 
 
 <div type="image" title="appletv4_edited" msid="71074731" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Apple CEO Tim Cook announces the launch date for Apple TV Plus&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





 Apple TV’s aggressive pricing is also mindful of the fact that Disney+ is slated to go live the same month on November 12 at $6.99 per month. In India, Disney’s content will be available through Hotstar at no extra charge since Hotstar is a subsidiary of Star India, which, in turn, is owned by Disney. It’s emulates <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/spotify-vs-apple-music-vs-netflix-vs-amazon-prime-prices/articleshow/68297160.cms">Spotify’s strategy</a> when it launched in India earlier this year. A monthly subscription to the music streaming service costs ₹199 versus $9.99 (₹700) in the US. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/apple-music-spotify-jiosaavn-gaana-subscription-price-in-india/articleshow/68737328.cms">Apple Music</a> undercut that as well with a monthly subscription pegged at ₹99. Apple TV Plus’ monthly subscription is cheaper than other players already present and popular in the market like Hotstar Premium, Amazon Prime and Netflix. Amazon Prime, the cheapest of the three, costs ₹129 per month. But it’s unlikely to lose its popularity since it comes bundled with a subscription to Amazon Music. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/hotstar-vip-subscription-plan-price-features-original-content/articleshow/68532179.cms">Hotstar</a>, who recently increased its subscription prices, costs ₹299 month — thrice the price of Apple TV Plus. The fact that Apple’s streaming service is cheaper than Netflix should come as no surprise though. Netflix is currently the most expensive streaming service in India prices that start at ₹499 per month for single screen viewership. Netflix does offer a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/netflixs-cheapest-ever-subscription-announced-at-199-for-mobile-users-in-india/articleshow/70359879.cms">mobile only plan</a> at ₹129 but that — again — is restricted to a single screen and exclusively for smartphones. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Service </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Subscription per month </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Apple TV Plus </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">₹ 99 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Zee5 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">₹ 99 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Sony LIV </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">₹ 99 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Eros Now Premium </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">₹ 99 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Eros Now Plus </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">₹ 49 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Amazon Prime </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">₹ 129 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Hotstar Premium </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">₹ 299 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Netflix </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Starting at ₹ 499 per month </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">ALTBalaji </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">₹ 34 (at a quarterly subscription of ₹100) </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">MX Player </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Free </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Voot </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;">Free </td></tr></tbody></table> You don't necessarily need an iPhone or an Apple device for Apple TV Plus One of the main barriers for Apple, in any market, has been that its services are usually restricted to within the Apple universe. You normally need an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/this-is-the-iphone-11/articleshow/71071731.cms">iPhone</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/apple-just-unveiled-a-new-10-inch-ipad-launching-later-this-month-for-329/articleshow/71071358.cms">iPad</a>, or <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/i-tried-apples-recently-updated-mini-mac-and-its-the-way-to-go-if-youre-looking-for-macos-desktop-on-a-budget/articleshow/68473050.cms">Mac</a> to fully enjoy what Apple has to offer. But, when it comes to Apple TV Plus, users will also have access to the service via the Amazon Fire TV Stick thanks to the partnership between the two companies. And, if you are thinking about picking up any new Apple device in the coming months — the company is offering one year of free subscription with every new purchase of an iPad, iPhone, Mac or Apple TV. Apple TV Plus Shows A few of the trailers of Apple’s new TV shows like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-creator-of-the-battlestar-galactica-reboot-is-back-with-an-apple-exclusive-show-about-a-world-where-america-never-quit-the-space-race/articleshow/69641035.cms">For All Mankind</a>, Dickinson and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/apple-just-released-a-cryptic-new-teaser-for-its-upcoming-tv-show-starring-jennifer-aniston-and-steve-carell-and-people-are-completely-bewildered/articleshow/70649975.cms">The Morning Show</a> were released during the WWDC event. According to the company, they have cumulatively been viewed over 100 million times. 
 
 <div type="image" title="appletv3_edited" msid="71074753" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;List of shows available exclusively on Apple TV Plus&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





 Apple also debuted the trailer for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/miscellaneous/apple-just-announced-a-slew-of-original-tv-shows-check-them-out/slidelist/68570117.cms">See</a> during the event starring the Game of Thrones star, Jason Mamosa. 
 
 <div type="image" title="appletv2_edited" msid="71074767" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Apple CEO Tim Cook debuts the trailer for See, an upcoming TV show on Apple TV Plus starring Jason Mamosa&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





 "Our mission for Apple TV Plus is to bring you the best original stores from the most creative minds in television and film," said CEO of Apple Tim Cook during the launch event. Apple isn’t afraid to spend Apple had earlier set aside $1 billion for original content. But, according to the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/4f7f4326-c2bf-11e9-a8e9-296ca66511c9">Financial Times</a>, that budget has now ballooned to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/apple-is-reportedly-dropping-billions-of-dollars-on-its-big-push-into-tv-which-is-expected-to-launch-in-november/articleshow/70757228.cms">$6 billion</a>. Services has been a big revenue generator for Apple this past year. During the June quarter, Apple hit a new record will all-time high revenue of $11.5 billion from services alone — a yearly growth of 13%. "Our strong services performance was broad-based; we set new all-time records for AppleCare, music, cloud services and our app store search ad business and achieved a new third quarter revenue record for the App Store," said Cook during the earnings call. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/netflix-disney-and-roku-tumble-after-apple-announces-its-streaming-service-will-be-cheaper-than-rivals/articleshow/71072368.cms">Netflix, Disney, and Roku tumble after Apple announces its streaming service will be cheaper than rivals</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/Apple-has-unveiled-its-long-awaited-streaming-TV-service-Apple-TV-Plus-Heres-how-it-compares-to-the-other-big-streaming-services-from-Netflix-to-Prime-Video-/articleshow/68583699.cms">Apple has unveiled its long-awaited streaming TV service, Apple TV Plus. Here's how it compares to the other big streaming services, from Netflix to Prime Video.</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/These-are-Apples-new-iPhones-the-iPhone-11-iPhone-11-Pro-and-iPhone-11-Pro-Max/articleshow/71071793.cms">These are Apple's new iPhones: the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max</a>

Apple TV Plus will be cheaper than Amazon Prime, Hotstar, and Netflix in India

<ul><li>According to a meta analysis of 100+ MMMs conducted by Nielsen across multiple categories, it was concluded that YouTube now delivers 4.8X greater <keyword id="564674" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Effectiveness">effectiveness</keyword> than TV and impacts incremental sales.</li><li>YouTube in India now reaches over 325 million 18+ unique viewers month on month.</li><li>There's a fundamental shift in viewing habits with 2 out of 3 Indians saying that they would rather give up TV than YouTube for a month. </li></ul>At its annual event Brandcast, YouTube announced that the platform now delivers 4.8X greater effectiveness than TV and directly impacts sales according to Nielsen's analysis. YouTube in India now reaches over 325 million 18+ unique viewers month on month, as per Comscore (May 2020). Underlining the content revolution that is unfolding in the country, YouTube shared that authentic and personable creators are churning out rich and even more diverse content categories like learning and education, platform gaming, food recipes, farming and beauty across regional Indian languages. In his keynote, <keyword id="7694" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sanjay-Gupta">Sanjay Gupta</keyword>, Country Head &amp; Vice President, Google India, said, “India is seeing its biggest content revolution and there is a fundamental shift in viewing habits with 2 out of 3 Indians saying that they would rather give up TV than YouTube for a month. Online video today is not just about entertainment but also experiences and learning and YouTube is playing the role of a catalyst in bringing this change. Everyday, millions of Indians are coming to YouTube to express their unique passions and create content that is more personal, helpful and accessible. YouTube today caters to the personal interest of a billion Indians across genres, languages, geographies and age groups, making YouTube the #1 platform for accessing videos in regional languages with Hindi leading the charts followed by Tamil, Telugu, Kannada &amp; Bengali and others.” With over 2,500 creator channels now reaching over one million subscribers, YouTube has seen over 45% growth in overall watchtime in July compared to last year for the same period (Comscore). YouTube shared that watchtime of Platform gaming videos in India grew by 2x as compared to Q2 2019 and baking videos grew by 3x during the same duration. And with YouTube becoming an everyday destination for learning and education in India, Wifistudy with over 12 million subscribers and over 1.5 billion views is now amongst the most popular education channels in Asia Pacific by subscribers. YouTube also shared how this content revolution has just not resulted in growth for creators, but today both large and small advertisers are leveraging the platform to drive business results and create unique collaborations with YouTube creators helping brands get better returns over TV. According to a meta analysis of 100+ MMMs conducted by Nielsen across multiple categories, it was concluded that YouTube now delivers 4.8X greater effectiveness than TV and impacts incremental sales. Talking about it’s recent campaign on YouTube, Rashi Goel, Director Marketing and Consumer Communications, Nestle India Ltd. shared how they tapped into consumer interest in recipes that were easy to cook at home during the lockdown. “We worked with the Google team to combine the power of brand Maggi, the trust and engagement enjoyed by YouTube creators and the reach of YouTube. We did a channel takeover of the top 106 food channels on YouTube in India and the results exceeded expectations, reaching over 120mn unique users at the precise moment when food was top of mind for them.” Speaking about how <keyword id="51757" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="TIMES-INTERNET">Times Internet</keyword> leverages YouTube, <keyword id="419256" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Satyan-Gajwani">Satyan Gajwani</keyword>, Vice Chairman of Times Internet, said, “We have gone from using YouTube as a digital equivalent of TV to drive brand awareness in the past to now using YouTube’s growing reach to serve our marketing goals across the funnel - s from driving customer awareness to building brands, and even moving the needle on key conversion metrics across our businesses Last year, we used YouTube to drive viewership of our new show called “Queen” on MX Player, we reached over 78 Mn unique viewers who ended up spending 600 Mn minutes watching the showWe have also tapped into the learning focused audiences on YouTube for live classes on Gradeup, our test preparation platform. For ETMoney, we collaborated with YouTube creators to drive interest in personal finance and as a result reached over 22 million people using the content created with YouTube creators, and our brand searches grew by over 160% after the campaign.” Concluding his remarks, Sanjay Gupta, added, “We are thrilled to see that with our strong reach across the country and high levels of engagement across an unparalleled variety of content, along with the ability to personalize at scale, YouTube today delivers more value to businesses than ever before.” Source: <ul><li>2 out of 3 Indians saying that they would rather give up TV than YouTube for a month - Google/Insight Strategy Group, Consumers &amp; Video Consumption Research, IN, Aug 2019, n=1000 Online video viewers</li><li>YouTube the #1 platform for accessing videos in regional languages with Hindi leading the charts followed by Tamil, Telugu, Kannada &amp; Bengali and others - Google/Kantar, Video Landscape Research, IN, Sep 2019, n=6278 Online video viewers</li><li>YouTube delivers 4.8X greater effectiveness than TV - Commissioned Nielsen MMM meta-analysis, 2016-2018. YouTube effectiveness was 9.87 compared to TV effectiveness of 2.06. Base: A list of studies selected and compiled by Nielsen, consisting of all available CPG studies completed in 2016-2018 that contain YouTube, Other Digital and TV results. This list includes 108 studies for India Brands across the Total CPG category.Incremental offline retail sales measured for TV represents average across all TV broadcasters. Effectiveness is defined as total incremental sales per 1,000 impressions. Studies were excluded if either channel had fewer than 500 impressions. The Effectiveness numbers in the claim are impression-weighted averages across all studies for each channel.</li><li>YouTube had greater incremental sales per impression than TV in 93% of MMMs that measured YouTube, Other Digital and TV in 2016-2018. Commissioned Nielsen MMM meta-analysis, 2016-2018. Base: A list of studies selected and compiled by Nielsen, consisting of all available CPG studies completed in 2016-2018 that contain YouTube, Other Digital and TV results. This list includes 103 studies for India Brands across the Total CPG category.Incremental offline retail sales measured for TV represents average across all TV broadcasters. Effectiveness is defined as total incremental sales per 1,000 impressions. Studies were excluded if either channel had fewer than 500 impressions.</li></ul>

2 out of 3 Indians say they would rather give up TV than YouTube for a month: Sanjay Gupta, Google India

<ul><li>Apple’s new video streaming service, Apple TV Plus, launched today at a subscription ₹99 per month.</li><li>Apple TV Plus monthly subscription in India is 72% cheaper than the US subscription that costs $4.99.</li><li>While Apple TV’s subscription is cheaper than Amazon Prime, <keyword id="2739840" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hotstar">Hotstar</keyword> and Netflix — its library is currently limited to eight shows.</li></ul>Apple TV Plus launched in 100 countries today, including India. But unlike other countries, the subscription for Apple’s new OTT service is only ₹99 per month. The company has had a tough time breaking through to the Indian market when it comes to iPhones because the exuberant prices. But with Apple TV Plus, the company has a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/netflix-disney-and-roku-tumble-after-apple-announces-its-streaming-service-will-be-cheaper-than-rivals/articleshow/71072368.cms">new found sensitivity for prices</a> in India. At ₹99 ($1.38), Apple TV Plus’ monthly subscription is 72% cheaper in India as compared to in the US where its launching at $4.99 (₹358). The aggressive pricing is also mindful of Disney Plus’ upcoming launch that’s slated to go live on November 12 at $6.99 per month. In India, Disney’s shows will be available to users through Hotstar since it’s a subsidiary of Star India, which, in turn, is owned by Disney. Apple TV Plus is cheaper but limited At ₹99, Apple TV’s subscription undercuts most of its competition — Amazon Prime, Hotstar, and Netflix — in the country. But it’s not without its drawbacks. Instead of having a large library of shows, Apple TV Plus has only <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/even-at-only-5-per-month-apple-tv-plus-is-a-terrible-deal-compared-to-competitors-like-netflix-hulu-or-hbo/articleshow/71825569.cms">eight shows up for grabs right now and no licensed content</a>— a severe limitation. It doesn’t help that those shows aren’t getting the best response <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/apples-the-morning-show-is-being-called-brutally-dull-and-underwhelming-by-critics-despite-its-lavish-300-million-budget/articleshow/71794929.cms">from critics</a>. Initially, Apple had set aside $1 billion for original content. But according to the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/4f7f4326-c2bf-11e9-a8e9-296ca66511c9">Financial Times</a>, that budget has now ballooned to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/apple-is-reportedly-dropping-billions-of-dollars-on-its-big-push-into-tv-which-is-expected-to-launch-in-november/articleshow/70757228.cms">$6 billion</a>. The company has also promised to bring a host of new shows to its service in the near future. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Service </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Subscription per month </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Apple TV Plus </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 99 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Zee5 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 99 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Sony LIV </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 99 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Eros Now Premium </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 99 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Eros Now Plus </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 49 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Amazon Prime </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 129 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Hotstar Premium </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 299 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Netflix </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Starting at ₹ 499 per month </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">ALTBalaji </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 34 (at a quarterly subscription of ₹100) </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">MX Player </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.98958pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.98958pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#ffffff;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Free </td></tr></tbody></table> Apple’s approach to pricing emulates what <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/spotify-vs-apple-music-vs-netflix-vs-amazon-prime-prices/articleshow/68297160.cms">Spotify</a> already did earlier this year with its music streaming service. At ₹199 per month in India versus $9.99 in the US , the price for Spotify’s monthly subscription is 70% cheaper. In comparison, Netflix is currently the most expensive video streaming service in India at ₹499 per month for single-screen viewership. It offers a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/netflixs-cheapest-ever-subscription-announced-at-199-for-mobile-users-in-india/articleshow/70359879.cms">mobile-only plan</a> at ₹129 but that — again — is restricted to a single screen and exclusively for smartphones. On the other hand, it has a lot more content to offer as well — not just international but localised shows. Netflix’s original shows like Sacred Games, Delhi Crimes and Ghoul have been appreciated by audiences and critics alike. Amazon Prime, the cheapest of the lot, costs ₹129 per month and can also boast of localised and original content like Made in Heaven, Mirzapur and Breathe. In addition to the shows, Amazon Prime’s subscription also allows you to shop with special offers and gives users access to Amazon Music. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/hotstar-vip-subscription-plan-price-features-original-content/articleshow/68532179.cms">Hotstar</a>, who recently increased its subscription prices, costs ₹299 month — thrice the price of Apple TV Plus. You don't necessarily need an iPhone or an Apple device for Apple TV Plus There may be hope for Apple yet since its overcoming one of the primary barriers for most users — they don’t need an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/this-is-the-iphone-11/articleshow/71071731.cms">iPhone</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/apple-just-unveiled-a-new-10-inch-ipad-launching-later-this-month-for-329/articleshow/71071358.cms">iPad</a>, or <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/i-tried-apples-recently-updated-mini-mac-and-its-the-way-to-go-if-youre-looking-for-macos-desktop-on-a-budget/articleshow/68473050.cms">Mac</a> to access Apple TV Plus. Apple’s partnership with Amazon will allow owners of the Fire TV Stick to access the service on television sets. Otherwise users can always view content via the official site, tv.apple.com. Anyone who’s in the market for a new Apple device will get a one year of free subscription to Apple TV Plus bundled with their purchase. <keyword id="8086181" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="apple-tv-plus-shows">Apple TV Plus Shows</keyword> A few of the trailers of Apple’s new TV shows like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-creator-of-the-battlestar-galactica-reboot-is-back-with-an-apple-exclusive-show-about-a-world-where-america-never-quit-the-space-race/articleshow/69641035.cms">For All Mankind</a>, Dickinson and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/apple-just-released-a-cryptic-new-teaser-for-its-upcoming-tv-show-starring-jennifer-aniston-and-steve-carell-and-people-are-completely-bewildered/articleshow/70649975.cms">The Morning Show</a> were released during the WWDC event. According to the company, they have cumulatively been viewed over 100 million times. Apple also debuted the trailer for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/miscellaneous/apple-just-announced-a-slew-of-original-tv-shows-check-them-out/slidelist/68570117.cms">See</a> during the event starring the Game of Thrones star, Jason Mamosa. "Our mission for Apple TV Plus is to bring you the best original stores from the most creative minds in television and film," said CEO of Apple Tim Cook during the launch event. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/the-morning-show-director-pushes-back-on-reports-of-a-300-million-budget-for-the-apple-tv-series-calling-them-way-overblown/articleshow/71844196.cms">'The Morning Show' director pushes back on reports of a $300 million budget for the Apple TV series, calling them 'way overblown'</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/even-at-only-5-per-month-apple-tv-plus-is-a-terrible-deal-compared-to-competitors-like-netflix-hulu-or-hbo/articleshow/71825569.cms">Even at only $5 per month, Apple TV Plus is a terrible deal compared to competitors like Netflix, Hulu, or HBO</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/apples-the-morning-show-is-being-called-brutally-dull-and-underwhelming-by-critics-despite-its-lavish-300-million-budget/articleshow/71794929.cms">Apple's 'The Morning Show' is being called 'brutally dull' and 'underwhelming' by critics despite its lavish $300 million budget</a>

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