India Nears 500 Million OTT Users

The COVID period became a strong launchpad for OTT services, and its future in India moved from cable services to the most comfortable place – streaming content on phones, laptops, and later on Android TV.

The world witnessed a steep rise in usage, with charts reaching new heights. Data indicates that India now hosts 48.11 crore OTT users, which accounts for a staggering 34% of the entire population. This represents the count of individuals who have at least watched one content on OTT (whether paid or free).

The Indian OTT audience experienced a 20% growth in the period of 2021-2022. However, in comparison to the previous year, the growth rate slowed down a bit, rising by only 13.5%.

Furthermore, the data reveals that in terms of paid users, India now boasts 101.8 million paid subscriptions (sVOD) among 36.4 million paying users.

Now, when you scrutinize the growth of the platforms, you’ll notice a decline. There was a 6.5% drop in the graph despite the large user base, which raises concerns. So the question arises: is OTT becoming saturated?

One of the most basic reasons could be that OTT is now inundated with an increasing amount of ‘average to subpar’ content as people start to lose hope. Additionally, the continuous price hikes from platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and Hotstar aiming to maximize their revenue also contribute to the concern.