Consider this: By the end of March this year, India had 97 million over the top (OTT) video subscribers, according to a report by Media Partners Asia. The OTT streaming video market in India is now in its second growth phase with $3-billion revenue in 2022 and is set to reach the $7-billion-mark by 2027. It is estimated each paying customer in India today has, on an average, 2.4 subscriptions. However, given the consumer’s price sensitivity, it is unlikely customers will continue to pay for multiple OTT streaming services or subscribe to new ones.
So what would you do if you are among the top three streaming services in a market that is expecting to add 92 million subscribers over the next five years to reach 176 million in 2027? You would pull out all stops.
Prime Video, the subscription video on-demand (SVOD) streaming service from Amazon, and the number two streaming service in India after Disney+ Hotstar (according to Media Partners Asia) is doing just that. The focus areas are content, reach and consumer connect.
Content is king
Much has been said about how OTT platforms witnessed an explosion during the pandemic years; what is also a fact is they are under tremendous pressure now to keep their content compelling enough to drive subscriptions.
In 2021, Prime Video launched 11 originals and 50 direct-to-service movies. While the platform has already built a strong base in the Hindi original content domain, it is also dialling up local language content in Tamil and Telugu. It has leveraged tools like subbing and dubbing to overcome the language barrier in the country, and according to the company, almost 50% of the audience for local language films come from outside the home state. Earlier this year, it added NammaFlix, a Kannada video streaming service as an add-on subscription available on Prime Video Channels, thus making its focus on regional language content abundantly clear.
“We have customers streaming on Prime Video from across the length and breadth of the country, nearly 99% of the pincodes,” says Sushant Sreeram, director, SVOD business, Prime Video India.
In April this year, Prime Video announ-ced its biggest slate of content in the country to date, with over 40 new titles in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, including original series, movies and co-productions to be released over the next two years. It has also doubled its investments in the Indian market for the next five years, a move that Sreeram says is testament to how seriously it takes its entertainment mission. “The idea is to deliver new, cool things in unexpected ways,” he says.
The platform is also leveraging new talent to tell stories with a fresh perspective. “We want to have the best possible stories, told by the best talent. We have about 70-odd local shows in various stages of development currently, and nearly 70% of this talent is new,” Sreeram adds.
Value for money proposition
An annual Amazon Prime Video membership today costs Rs 1,499, up from Rs 999 last year. Sreeram asserts the Indian consumer is not really price-conscious but rather seeks value for money. “Over the last five and half years in India, we have launched over 40 original local shows. We have content across six languages and multiple genres
and we expect that when a viewer is on Prime Video, she will immediately find something she will enjoy.
The pricing therefore needs to be viewed in terms of how compelling the Amazon Prime proposition is.
As long as we demonstrate this value, customers will continue to subscribe and appreciate what we offer,” he notes.
Most OTT players have undertaken similar price hikes last year and despite other entertainment options such as cinema making a comeback with a vengeance, growth in SVOD subscriptions in India has remained buoyant. The market is expected to close the 2022 calendar year with 122 million subscriptions, clocking $1 billion in revenue, according to reports quoting Media Partners Asia.
Amazon Prime also introduced a mobile edition last year, and enabled multiple payment options. Since a Prime membership also includes exclusive shopping deals, free shipping, music streaming and gaming, Sreeram observes that consumers gain a whole world of benefits, making it definite value for money.
The OTT platform recently named actor Varun Dhawan its Prime Bae as it seeks to build a deeper, personal connect with viewers. The Prime Bae is more than your average brand ambassador. Besides putting a human face to the streaming platform, Dhawan’s task is to help viewers discover more about Prime’s content. Says Sreeram, “At the end of the day, we’re about entertaining our viewers. So we wanted to share news about our shows and movies in an entertaining way.”
The platform has released three films with its Prime Bae so far, playing on Prime Video’s and Dhawan’s digital and social media platforms.
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