OTT, VOD transforming the future of India’s entertainment sector

Gone are the days when we had to wait for a whole week to catch the new episode of our favourite TV show. Thanks to on-demand streaming services, we can now watch multiple episodes at once from the comfort of our homes. Subscription-based, on-demand OTT (Over-the-top) platforms have witnessed a rapid rise in popularity over the last couple of years. According to a recent report by the Boston Consulting Group, the Indian OTT industry (currently standing at $0.5 billion) has the potential to reach a whopping $5 billion by 2023.

The report titled ‘Entertainment Goes Online’, further reveals that a number of factors will collectively contribute to the growth of India’s OTT content market. Dushyant Kohli, Head Growth at NexGTv says that while the market is mainly advertising-led at present, the number of paying subscribers is increasing by the day. Moreover, the report says that many consumers will be OTT first – those who have never consumed content on TV. Not only metro cities, tier III, IV and rural areas will also play a major role in increased OTT consumption in the near future. The findings are surprising to say the least, and Kohli points at four factors that have paved the way for OTT platforms to explode on the entertainment scene in India.