As OTT players gain popularity, advertisers want a spot in their screen

With more than 30 over-the-top players, the country has the second-highest per capita consumption of online video in the world, says KPMG

In a country that boasts of the cheapest mobile data in the world, over-the-top or video-streaming platforms are no longer niche or premium, but are instead turning into a magnet for the masses according to a report by KPMG. Released on Thursday, the report (Unravelling the digital video consumer) notes that the OTT platforms are attracting viewers across age, income and locational sub sets.

“While the customer sets are fairly heterogeneous, there is a trend of homogeneity that was observed in terms of consumption frequency and duration across consumer categories,” the report said.  And this is what is making it an attractive mass medium for advertisers, who are particularly buoyed by the sharp growth in rural internet penetration that is up to 24 per cent in 2018 from 13 per cent in 2016.

Girish Menon, partner and head Media & Entertainment, KPMG in India, said, “We see a homogenous pattern of consumption emerging cutting across age groups, income levels and professions.”

OTT platforms are bringing about a shift in perception when it comes to mass general entertainment. Instead of the traditional soap that drew the mass viewer to TV, the report said movies and sport are likely to be ‘driver content’ with original series, likely to be an important part of the toolbox. In terms of business models, the OTT era will resemble the cable TV universe at least in the near future. There will be ‘bundled’ and ‘the a-la-carte’ models, with telecom/internet service provider (ISP)/ network partners, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), broadcasters, movie studios, tech aggregator platforms all playing a key role.

Interestingly, viewers come from all parts of the country but exhibit a common viewership pattern. People in metros spent around 9.8 hours a week while those in tier 1 and 2 markets spent not much less, 7.5 hours and 7.9 hours a week respectively. 

Viewership is also age agnostic. Users between 15 and 24 years consumed 8.2 hours of OTT content a week, at par with the 8.1 hours per week consumed by those in the 50 years and above age bracket, the report found. 

The young want variety however, with up to 2.5 platforms per user against 2 per user in the older bracket that demonstrates a greater propensity to pay. 

Women also download more OTT apps than men, but spend less time on them, 7.3 hours as against 8.7 hours in males. 

The ‘massification’ of OTT as the report calls it, has led to the platforms adopting various ways and means to capture the consumers’ attention, and in some cases, share of wallet. 

Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO, Eros Digital, said, “As data and digital infrastructure have become accessible, the market has widened. We strive to constantly engage existing consumers and expand our reach by offering new and innovative services.” Content differentiation will be key as 87 per cent respondents said that freshness of content and its uniqueness are the main reasons for subscription.