There has been a whopping 124% growth in English content SVOD (subscription video on demand) audience in the country since the pandemic began, according to a report released by Ormax Media on Tuesday. At least 65% of the 85.2 million urban Indian SVOD audiences aged over 15 years are watching English content either in English or in a language of their choice, according to the report. What has fuelled the growing consumption trend is the availability of English content in Indian languages, with 46% of English SVOD content consumers watching in their own language. Dubbing in Hindi and local languages has unlocked a huge market for English content beyond the key metros, say observers.
The Ormax report estimates that at 42.7 million SVOD viewers constitute about half of the total English adult content viewers in urban India; 42.5 million are consumers of AVOD (advertising-based video on demand) content. This number was just about 19.1 million pre-pandemic, indicating preferences to sample content beyond native languages. The pandemic saw the emergence of what the report refers to as ‘lockdown millennials’ who have begun watching English content on OTT in the last two-three years, and are sampling a wide variety of formats and genres, beyond just tentpole properties (which include popular Marvel series and global successes like The Game of Thrones). As many as14 English language originals have crossed the 10 million viewership mark in India since January 2021, of which nine were in 2022 while five were in 2021, indicating that this trend will only grow. English content also features high on the list of subscription drivers, highlighting its ability to drive SVOD subscriptions and retention.
According to the Ormax OTT Audience Sizing Report released last year, the Indian OTT audience universe stands at 424 million. Of these, 119 million are active paid OTT subscribers.
While there isn’t much difference between mini-metros and small towns in terms of their preferred language, metros show higher preference towards English, on account of higher exposure to the English language, as well as an outcome of three of the six metros being in the South, where Hindi is not the language of choice. About 60% of these viewers are male and the overall median age of these audiences is around 30 years.
Talking about this changing content consumption trend, Shailesh Kapoor, founder and CEO of Ormax Media, said, “Over the last two decades, there has been a popular perception in the Indian media and entertainment industry that English content is niche, and targets only a segment of the audience. Till about three-four years ago, this perception was a reflection of reality. The language barrier was the biggest hurdle towards consumption of English and other foreign language content in India. The growth of dubbed content consumption has made the language factor virtually non-existent.” He observed that there is still a need for the industry to change its perception about English content being niche.
The growth in English OTT content consumption is in stark contrast to TV consumption. Several English general entertainment channels like Star World and AXN have shut down. Only three English GECs operate in India at the moment — Zee Café, Comedy Channel and Colors Infinity.
Among the most watched English shows on OTT are House of the Dragon, Moon Knight, Hawkeye, Ms Marvel, The Boys (Season 3) and Money Heist: Part 5.