Streaming major Netflix now counts India as its second-largest market in the world in terms of subscriber additions and third-largest market in terms of revenue percent growth thanks to a strong content line-up. The company however did not disclose any specific subscriber or revenue numbers for the Indian market, focusing instead on some of its best shows in the April-June period.
During its June quarter earnings call on Friday morning, Netflix said that growth in India was driven by shows such as Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar and Imtiaz Ali’s Amar Singh Chamkila, which drew 15 million views, the highest-ever for the platform, and 8.3 million views respectively. Netflix defines a view as the total hours watched for a title divided by its runtime.
“I think India’s growth is a story that we see around the world playing out similarly. So you look at the content, the product market fit is what drives our ability to attract members and retain members and monetise with them as well. There’s certainly plenty of room to grow in India as long as we keep thrilling our audiences there,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said.
Netflix added 8.05 million subscribers across the world during the second quarter of 2024, out of which 2.83 million users came from the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. The APAC region, which includes India, was Netflix’s biggest geography in terms of member additions.
The region’s revenue grew to $1.05 billion, up 14.5% from the same quarter last year. Netflix’s overall revenue rose to $9.56 billion for the quarter, a 16.8% growth over last year.
“If we pick them (content) well, we programme well, we improve the product market fit, we improve engagement, we grow members, we grow revenue,” Sarandos added.
India has emerged as a key market for Netflix’s growth, driven by rising smartphone penetration, cheap data plans and an appetite for digital video content.
India’s price-sensitive nature, however, has meant that Netflix has had to cut its prices by 20-60 percent in India (done in December 2021) to stay competitive.
The streaming major is also set to face competition from Reliance Industries’ joint venture with Disney, which combines the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India. The deal includes JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar, two of India’s top streaming services.
In April 2023, Sarandos had said that India was a “big prize” because it had a huge population of entertainment-loving people.
In February this year, Netflix unveiled its 2024 content slate for the India market to strengthen its offerings. This included 22 titles, including 8 films and 14 series. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi was renewed for a second season in June.
Among the new titles is a docu-series that chronicles the cricket rivalry between India and Pakistan on-and off-the-field, called The Greatest Rivalry – India vs Pakistan; a limited series on the 1999 Kandahar hijack called IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack; and a documentary on the life of the hip hop artist and rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh called Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous.