There was a time when people had to wait months to watch a movie, either in theaters first or much later when it premiered on television. But the rise of OTT platforms, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, completely changed that pattern.
It was during the lockdowns that streaming services truly became popular. They offered easy access to movies and shows in multiple languages. This vast availability of content drew movie lovers in and changed their viewing habits forever.
Since then, a large section of the audience has preferred OTT over theaters. Many casual viewers and even some die-hard movie fans have stopped going to cinemas regularly. No matter how big a hit a film becomes, these viewers prefer waiting for its OTT release instead of watching it on the big screen.
Small and medium-budget films have suffered the most because people now prefer streaming them at home rather than spending on tickets. OTT platforms have smartly taken advantage of this trend and built strategies around audience impatience and digital convenience.
Earlier, the streaming date of a film used to depend on its box office performance. If a movie failed or got mixed reviews, it would arrive on OTT quickly, sometimes within the same month. Successful films, on the other hand, took longer to stream as they continued to earn well in theaters.
But now, even hit movies are premiering online within four weeks of their theatrical release. The reason is simple. OTT viewers eagerly wait for blockbuster content, and early streaming guarantees huge viewership and revenue.
Recent releases like Little Hearts, Mirai, and OG have all proven this formula right. Each of these films received massive viewership within just a few days of their OTT debut. Next in line is Kantara Chapter 1, which is set to stream from October 31 on Amazon Prime Video.
What is surprising is that Kantara Chapter 1 is still performing decently at the box office, yet it is arriving on OTT in less than four weeks. Many people are shocked that such premium, big-screen content is being released on streaming platforms so soon for free for its subscribers, even while it continues to attract theater audiences.
This four-week theatrical-to-OTT window seems like a poor strategy from a business point of view. It completely sets bad example for the theatrical run. Producers are, in a way, shooting themselves in the foot and leaving box-office revenue on the table.
If this trend continues, the number of people visiting theaters could drop even more sharply in the coming years. That would gradually destroy India’s theater-going culture, as the excitement of the big screen could slowly fade away.
