OTT services woo viewers with free premium content

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₹30 lakh per episode. Around 70% of talks are geared towards that kind of content," the person added. Queries to Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+Hotstar did not elicit any response.

Considering that OTT is still in its nascent stages in a vast untapped market like India companies must identify, explore, and capitalize on this considerable appetite for the streaming services, , said Manish Kalra, chief business officer, ZEE5 India. “Our ad-supported model drives viewership and revenue as audience appetite for quality content is growing. AVoD content drives the top funnel with a nudge to upgrade to an SVoD pack for a better experience.

And, exclusive content enables us to have a healthy funnel from AVoD to SVoD," Kalra added. The platform that has dubbed versions of over 200 international films, has also launched Korean dramas dubbed in Hindi and other languages, besides readying a line-up of films and web series like Lakadbaggha and Sarvam Shakti Mayam, to be launched over the coming months. To be sure, there isn’t enough advertising money to sustain the kind of spends that platforms like JioCinema and Amazon miniTV are allocating to acquire or create free content.

Media and entertainment industry experts point out that platforms like MX Player have already struggled with the model in the past. Further, there is even greater need to market and promote free content to grab eyeballs. “Unlike TV, where pay channels garner maximum viewership and advertising, companies like Google and Facebook take up 60-70% of all digital advertising.