Film studios seek to unlock value of old titles on YouTube

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Reliance Entertainment, and Shemaroo Entertainment are now unlocking a treasure trove on YouTube despite the platform yielding 30% lower revenues compared to SVoD services. The strategy proves beneficial by offering monetization opportunities for older titles that may not find buyers, and also offer viewers a chance to revisit classics. For instance, titles such as Ready and Bhool Bhulaiyaa are on the T-Series YouTube channel, and Johnny Gaddaar is on Reliance Entertainment’s channel.

“Once a movie has completed its theatrical, overseas, OTT, satellite and other digital platform run, studios tend to release the title on their YouTube channels. This is primarily done to extend the shelf-life of the film and brand equity of the production house besides monetising it in the last leg," Rajat Agrawal, director, Ultra Media and Entertainment, said. “Moreover, SVoD platforms have a different approach and YouTube isn’t seen as competition," Agrawal added.

Ultra runs 85 YouTube channels in languages like Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Gujarati, and genres across comedy, kids, cookery, devotional and superhero. Besides extending the shelf life of a film, this strategy also allows regular visits by viewers on a company’s YouTube platform, ensuring good recall for the brand and the film, industry experts said. That said, usually non-premium films not streaming on OTTs are available.

“YouTube brings nostalgic value along with mass appeal. Old songs and classic content libraries work best there," Shreyans Hirawat, director, NH Studioz, a copyright management firm, said. However, SVoD and YouTube will co-exist, along the lines of the survival of Pay TV and Free TV, he added.