Over-the-top media service in India

There are currently about 40 providers of over–the–top media services (OTT) in India, which distribute streaming media over the Internet. In fiscal year 2018, the OTT market in India was worth ₹2,150 crore (₹21.5 billion, US$303 million as of 2018), and its value grew to ₹35 billion in 2019.

History and growth

The first dependent Indian OTT platform was BIGFlix, launched by Reliance Entertainment in 2008.[1]

In 2010, Digivive launched India's first OTT mobile app called nexGTv, which provides access to both live TV and on–demand content. nexGTV is the first app to live–stream Indian Premier League matches on smart phones and did so during 2013 and 2014.

OTT gained significant momentum in India when both DittoTV (Zee) and Sony Liv were launched in the Indian market around 2013. DittoTV was an aggregator platform containing shows across all media channels including Star, Sony, Viacom, Zee, etc.

Rise of Hotstar

Hotstar, (now Disney+Hotstar), is the most subscribed–to OTT platform in India, owned by Star India as of July 2020, with around 300 million active users and over 350 million downloads.[2] According to Hotstar's India Watch Report 2018, 96% of watch time on Hotstar comes from videos longer than 20 minutes, while one–third of Hotstar subscribers watch television shows.[3] In 2019, Hotstar began investing ₹120 crore in generating original content such as "Hotstar Specials." 80% of the viewership on Hotstar comes from drama, movies and sports programs.[2]

Netflix in India

American streaming service Netflix entered India in January 2016. In April 2017, it was registered as a limited liability partnership (LLP) and started commissioning content. It earned a net profit of ₹2020,000 (₹2.02 million) for fiscal year 2017. In fiscal year 2018, Netflix earned revenues of ₹580 million.[4] According to Morgan Stanley Research, Netflix had the highest average watch time of more than 120 minutes but viewer counts of around 20 million in July 2018.[3] As of 2018, Netflix has six million subscribers, of which 5–6% are paid members.[5]

India was not affected by Netflix's July 2018 increase in subscription rates for the US and Latin America. Netflix has stated its intent to invest ₹600 Crore in the production of Indian original programming.[6] In late 2018, Netflix bought 150,000 square feet (14,000 m2) of office space in Bandra–Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai as their head office. As of December 2018, Netflix has more than 40 employees in India.[4]

Netflix faces tough competition with other OTT platforms in India such as Amazon Prime and Disney+ Hotstar, each of which charge lower subscription rates than Netflix.[5]

Other OTT providers

nexGTv is the flagship product of Digivive Services Pvt Ltd. Its app offers users entertainment across multiple devices. It streams over 200 live TV channels and on-demand content, including movies, TV Shows and videos. In 2015, nexGTv launched India's first mobile talent discovery platform, called "SPOTLight", with director Imtiaz Ali. In 2016 nexGTV, launched its first original series ‘’Ïn My City" with Priyanka Chopra making her mobile series debut.

Amazon Prime Video was launched in 2016. The platform has 2,300 titles available including 2,000 movies and about 400 shows. It has announced that it will invest ₹20 billion in creating original content in India. Besides English, Prime Video is available in six Indian languages as of December 2018.[7] Amazon India launched Amazon Prime Music in February 2018.[8]

Olly Plus', Was launched in 2020, By Sk Line Production Olly Plus is Odisha's new online Odia OTT platform where you can enjoy unlimited Odia Videos, Albums, Movies, Comedy Videos, Short Films, Web series, Audio Storys and Romantic videos on the go. Olly Plus has passionate plans to make the Cinema of Odisha touch a new height. Hope it will make its dearest dream of making cinema & Short Films globalized come true!

Eros Now, an OTT platform launched by Eros International, has the most content among the OTT providers in India, including over 12,000 films, 100,000 music albums & tracks, and 100 TV shows. Eros Now was named as 'Best OTT Platform of the Year 2019' at the British Asian Media Awards. It has 211.5 million registered users and 36.2 million paying subscribers as of September 2020.[9]

Apart from these, Balaji Telefilms–owned ALTBalaji and Viacom 18–owned Voot and some very popular because of unique content they provide. Reliance Jio–owned JioCinema and JioTV, and Times Group–owned MX Player, Asianet Satellite Communications- owned Asianet Mobile TV are other OTT service providers in India.

Hoichoi is the first dedicated regional–language OTT service in India. It has launched 30 new shows and 12 original films in Bengali and has acquired about 200 Bengali films and dubbed content from English, Hindi and Arabic. In 2018 it entered Bangladesh as well as the United Arab Emirates, adding a prospective customer base of 180 million.[7]

In June 2017, Sun TV Network launched their Sun NXT regional OTT service in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali and Kannada.[10]

In February 2020, Aha OTT platform is launched, which broadcasts exclusively Telugu content.[11]

Future predictions

According to KPMG Media and Entertainment Report 2018, the Indian OTT market is expected to grow 45 percent to reach ₹138 billion by the end of fiscal 2023.[3] According to a report by Ernst & Young, the number of OTT users in the country will reach 500 million by 2020, making India the second–biggest market after the US.[7]

List of OTT platforms in India
NameParentActive years LanguagesNotes/Ref.
Asianet Mobile TV Asianet mobile TV2015–Present Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi
YuppTV YuppTV2007–present Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada[12]
BIGFlix Reliance Entertainment2008–present Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, BengaliIndia's first movie on demand service[1]
Vuclip PCCW2008–present Hindi, Telugu, Tamil[13]
Digivive Digivive Services Pvt Ltd2010–present Hindi
dittoTV Zee Entertainment Enterprises 2012–2018 English, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bangla Dissolved and Integrated into Zee5
Joy Tv Joy Infotainment Media Private Limited 2018–present English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, Odia, Punjabi, Gujarati
Spuul Independent2012–present Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, English
SonyLIV Sony Pictures Networks India2013–present Hindi, English, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi [14][15]
TVFPlay Independent2015–present Hindi,Telugu,Tamil[16]
Netflix Netflix Inc.2015–present English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada [17]
Viu HK Television Entertainment2015–present Hindi, Telugu, Tamil[18][19]
Arre UDigital2015– present Hindi, English[20]
Disney+ Hotstar Star India (The Walt Disney Company India)2015–present Hindi, English, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Kannada, Marathi India's most subscribed OTT platform[21][22]
Eros Now Eros International2015–present Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, PunjabiTitled as 'Best OTT Platform of the Year 2019' at the British Asian Media Awards[23]
Hooq Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and Singtel2015–2020 EnglishDissolved in 2020[24]
Hungama Play Hungama Digital Media Entertainment 2015–present Hindi, English, Telugu, Tamil [25]
Amazon Prime Video Amazon2016–present Marathi, English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali

Malayalam, Kannada, Odia, Punjabi, Gujarati

 [26][27]
Voot Viacom 182016–present English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali,

Malayalam, Kannada, Odia, Punjabi, Gujarati

 [28]
JioCinema Jio Platforms 2016–present English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, Odia, Punjabi, Gujarati [29]
Sun NXTSun TV Network 2017–present Tamil,Telugu,Kannada, malayalam, Bengali,(Marathi coming soon)One best regional OTT[30][31]
ALTBalaji Balaji Telefilms2017–present Hindi, Telugu, Tamil[32]
Hoichoi Shree Venkatesh Films2017–present Bengali, HindiBengali OTT
MX Player Times Internet2018–present Marathi,Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali,

Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Odia, Gujarati, English

 [33]
Zee5 Zee Entertainment Enterprises2018–present Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali,

Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Odia, Gujarati, English

 [34]
Ullu App Ullu App2018–present Hindi, Telugu[35]
Mubi Mubi Inc.2019–present English[36]
Manorama Max Malayala Manorama 2019–present Malayalam Malayalam content[37]
ShemarooMe Shemaroo Entertainment 2019–present Hindi, Telugu, Gujarati [38]
Namma Flix Namma Flix Pvt. Ltd.2020–present Kannada[39]
Aha Arha Media & Broadcasting Pvt. Ltd. 2020–present Telugu
Quibi Independent 2020–2020 English Mobile only
BS Value Black Sheep 2020–present Tamil
Neestream Neestream creations Pvt. Ltd. 2019–present Malayalam First Global streaming service in Malayalam
Prime Reels Independent 2020-present Malayalam First ever OTT platform only for movies
Niri 9 Independent 2021-present Assamese First streaming service in Assamese
IndieShorts WinterSun Studios Pvt. Ltd. 2019 - Present English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Spanish, Portuguese, French

List of podcast platforms in India
Name Free access Selective streaming Lossless (Hi-Fi) Track download Tracks (millions) Active users (millions) Paying users (millions) First launched Login required
Amazon Music Yes Yes Yes[40] Yes[41] 50 (Unlimited), 2 (Prime Music)[42] 16[43] Yes
Apple Music No Yes No Yes 60 60[44] 60[45] June 2015 Yes
Gaana Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Google Play Music No Yes No Yes[46] 40[47] November 2011 Yes
Hungama Yes Yes No Yes Yes
JioSaavn Yes Yes No Yes 30[48] 20[48] Yes
SoundCloud Yes Yes Partial Limited 200+[49] 175[50] No
Spotify Yes Yes No Yes 50[51] 289[52] 130 October 2008 Yes
Wynk Yes Yes No Yes Yes
YouTube Music Yes Yes No Yes 50[53] November 2015 No
Sochcast Yes Yes Yes No August 2020 No

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