‘There’s a lot of work that is being done in creating original content'

The third edition of the e4m Streaming Summit, held in Mumbai on May 11, was themed around ‘Storytelling through OTT’, with addresses, one-on-one conversations and panel discussions centered round the evolution of the OTT industry in India. One such discussion was on ‘Variety: the key component’ and the need for OTT content to appeal to a broad cross-section of society.

Chaired by Raj Nayak, Founder, House of Cheer, the session featured Nikhil Madhok, EVP, Disney+ Hotstar; Nimisha Pandey, Chief Content Officer, Zee5; Abhik Santara, Director & CEO at Atom Network; Deepak Segal, Chief Creative Officer, Applause Entertainment; Ashish Golwalkar, Head of Content, SonyLIV; and Sameer Gogate, GM, BBC Studios.

Talking about the volume of original content being produced in the country, Gowalkar said the numbers were showing only an upward trend in the hours of content being uploaded on to different streaming services. “After the third wave especially, the numbers are rising across the board. It’s not just limited to Hindi or particular geography, but regional and localized content is on the upswing”, he said.

Gowalkar further added that this is evident from the lack of studio spaces as well as directors, writers, and other industry mainstays, adding, “Clearly, they’re all occupied with something, unless they’ve decided to go on vanvas to the Himalayas. There’s a lot of work that is being done across the industry, and that’s a good thing.”

Pandey attributes this to the efforts of the streaming platforms, saying, “The thing is that we've gotten audiences addicted and now we have to supply content for that addiction. This is just a warm-up.” The panelists agreed that this uptick in the number and very different backgrounds of viewers meant that services have to provide as diverse a range of content for them, which also presented its own set of challenges.

Madhok said, “I think the biggest thing (and I’m sure my fellow panelists will agree) is how do we continuously find great stories? Consumers are exposed to content not only in their own languages but multiple ones. Then there's content from India as well as from abroad, all of which is driving demand for viewers for more and more kinds of high-quality content.”

He added, “The second thing is that from a subscription point of view, this is still very early days for the industry and the overall number of paying audiences in the country is relatively small, and we need to change that mindset. More than being able to afford it, there's a mentality that quality content should be shared with me free of cost. I think with great storytelling and quality products, this payment challenge is one we can overcome. The last two years have seen a positive shift towards subscription viewing, but there’s still a long way to go.”

The panelists also agreed that digital streaming had led to a democratization of both content as well as talent. Addressing whether companies and studios still felt a need to have a big star associated with a project so as to attract audiences, Segal said, “It has to be a mix of both, as viewers gravitate towards magnets like big stars and big setups. But you can't churn out six of those in a year, so you need to have other great shows also. So what things like web series have done is give opportunities to the people who used to stand next to the hero or heroine, like the character actors, and they have proved they're also capable of leading roles and great performances.”

Gogate said that the numbers of views were also proof of this. “You’ve got a Rudra and an Out of Love. The former is driven by the star power of Ajay Devgn being on the poster, whereas the numbers from Out of Love are high because of great performances by Rasika (Dugal), who may be a relatively smaller star but is still pulling in audiences because of top quality content. The stickiness they get from some of these smaller shows can sometimes be higher than bigger shows and star vehicles, but I think for larger tent pole properties, there’s still a demand for a big name.”

Speaking from an advertising perspective, Santara said that for brands, it was important to get a star associated with new campaigns. He said, “I think there is a nice learning we can get: while great creativity can always get you the cut-through for a brand to succeed, getting a celebrity on board provides you an immediate cut-through. Similarly, because there are so many different kinds of content, from different regions and in different languages, I think that to get the initial sampling done, and have word of mouth spreading, having a celebrity for that first stage can be really helpful.”