Who clicked, who watched — OTTs eye real engagement metrics

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. On a video platform, every click may seem like a view. But not every view means that the content was really ‘watched’.

Even as they invest widely in original and acquired content, video streaming platforms in India are operating with disparate measurement models when it comes to whether a viewer is considered as having ‘completed’ a show or movie that they may have started watching. Completion rates are a key factor for platforms to understand what to invest in, going forward. As subscriptions plateau and the digital advertising environment remains challenging, all services are trying to figure out what has worked best with audiences to identify patterns and commission similar programming or ask creators to follow relatively safe models.

While some say covering 60-70% of a show is considered as having watched it, others point out even one episode of a long-format series is enough. Many others are tracking user interaction, including pausing, rewinding or completion of important story arcs, as a metric to determine to what extent users are completing what they start or whether they are engaging with content they consume in order to make future greenlighting decisions. “There is no single fixed metric, because the definition of ‘watched’ depends entirely on the purpose for which the data is being used.

If we want to understand how much a user liked a movie or show, we look at higher numbers, usually 60-70% and above. That level of completion indicates genuine engagement," says Ujjwal Mahajan, co-founder of Chaupal, a platform specializing in Punjabi, Haryanvi and Bhojpuri content. For recommendation algorithms, the threshold is lower, Mahajan says.