Binge watching OTT movies new normal

Hyderabad: During the last one month, the Over-The-Top (OTT) entertainment service has gained popularity.

Popular OTT services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar are releasing new series every week to woo the audience. Regional OTT platforms viz., Aha and others are also making good profit, thanks to the lockdown.

According to a KPMG report, the average time spent by Indian subscribers on various OTT platforms is 20-50 minutes. This has risen multi-fold since the beginning of lockdown. Regional filmmakers assume that at least one movie is being watched by an individual per day in any of the OTT platforms.

"In this lockdown season, OTT platforms like Alt Balaji, Aha application reached out to the Telugu audience with the regional content.

Sundirect is in the race but as the Jio Cinemas are made available for free, the bulk of audience has switched over to Jio as entertainment plays a great role only if it's within budget," said Sunil Kumar Pattu, a filmmaker and OTT content curator.

Interestingly, an OTT platform, Ullu, which was launched only a day after the imposition of lockdown has observed a 180 per cent surge in subscription rate and has released at least 15 new series in this lockdown, Pattu added.

"Undoubtedly people switched to OTT platforms to check on entertainment content as they have no other option in this lockdown.

The rise in this OTT consumption and video streaming platforms should make us think how we can get back audiences to the theatres and other traditional media.

However, we believe there will also be an excess demand for movies once the lockdown is lifted. There could be a shifting of priorities as we progress to a new normal," said Rakesh Vanka, another content curator for OTT.