OTT players may invest ₹250 crore in content, distribution: Report

With the growing audience in India for over-the-top (OTT) platforms, OTT players are likely to invest around ₹250 crore for content creation and distribution, said a report by the Mobile Marketing Association India and GroupM, a media investment group.

With more than 30 OTT players and 10 music streaming apps in existence catering to various entertainment and media demands, Indians are prone to consuming content across an array of digital formats and platforms. At this rate, soon the focus is bound to shift towards the monetisation of content, it said.

"Identifying an immense potential for original content, OTT players are estimated to make hefty investments of approximately ₹2.5 billion for content creation as well as distribution," said the report titled "Mobile Marketing Ecosystem Report 2020".

Globally, video and audio content have been dominating internet consumption. Capitalising on this, OTT played have created a stir in the market with original content across genres, it said.

Incorporating innovative business models to increase the network of distribution through retail, e-commerce, OEM partnerships, and much more, OTT players, international and domestic alike, have imbibed product and service offerings that allow consumers to experience a premium value package of consuming content on the go with mobile device proliferation, according to the report.

"Pioneered by YouTube, original content creation and programming for the space of digital media has come a long way. The journey began with independent 'Youtubers' engaging their followers with User Generated Content, further giving birth to large-scale content creators such as Dice Media and TVF that introduced original webisodes, specifically catering to the taste of the Indian consumer," it said.

"To balance out the above capital investments, OTT players have further strategically introduced basic affordable packs, for example the 'Hotstar VIP' low-cost subscription pack and Netflix powered 'mobile only' plans introduced at 50 per cent cheaper rate. Amazon Prime and Netflix have even tied up with multiple renowned film production companies to produce cutting-edge original content," it said.

The latest entrant in the industry that has meticulously targeted regional content is ZEE5 by ZEE Entertainment, providing 1 lakh hours of content at the time of launch, the report added.