Farzi, The Night Manager record highest viewership on OTT in 2023: Ormax report

In the unscripted shows category, Bigg Boss OTT S2 was the leader with 19.5 mn viewers, followed by Koffee With Karan with 15.4 mn viewers

by e4m Staff
Published: Jan 16, 2024 8:49 AM | 5 min read

While 2023 was a pivotal comeback year for the big screen, the OTT space didn’t lose its hold. With platforms like Amazon Prime Video and Disney+Hotstar being on constant run of releasing originals, OTT viewership was at its peak.

Ormax Media has released its report on ‘Streaming Originals in India: The 2023 Story’, that provides data on the performance of streaming content, based on Buzz, OPR, and viewership. It looks at the top original shows and films released in 2023, in Hindi & International languages, on three parameters: Viewership, Marketing Buzz & Content Strength.

In the Hindi Web Series category, Prime Video’s Farzi raked in the highest viewership (37.1 mn) followed by Disney+Hotstar’s The Night Manager that caught the eyes of 28.6 mn viewers. Farzi is the only show to cross the 30 Mn viewership mark in 2023, and is now the most-watched SVOD series in India of all time. Both Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar have 6 shows in the top 15 list. Two AVOD shows from JioCinema, i.e., Asur 2 & Taali, feature in the top 5 most-watched shows of the year.

In the unscripted shows category, Bigg Boss OTT S2 was the leader with 19.5 mn viewers, followed by Koffee With Karan with 15.4 mn viewers.

Prime Video’s Bawaal is the most-watched direct-to-OTT Hindi film of 2023, followed by JioCinema’s Bloody Daddy. Netflix features strongly on this list, with six films on the platform crossing the 9 Mn viewership mark.

As for the International shows, Citadel, aided by Priyanka Chopra’s presence, is the most-watched International show of 2023, ahead of the rest of the pack by more than 50%. Every other entry in this list, except Citadel, is a franchise show or brand extension. Extraction 2 and Heart Of Stone, both on Netflix, are the only two International films to cross the 8 Mn viewership mark.

Marketing Buzz

Buzz is a strong indicator of the talk value of the property, i.e., the degree and effectiveness of conversations around it among regular OTT audiences.

Farzi (Prime Video) generated the maximum Buzz, followed by S2 of Asur (JioCinema). Only 3 out of the top 15 ‘buzzing’ shows are franchise shows in 2023 (unlike 9 shows in 2022).

‘Bloody Daddy’ was the most buzzing Hindi film. Films featuring theatrical stars dominate the list. 7 out the top 10 films of 2023 on Buzz are from Netflix.Only four International properties managed to touch the 15% mark on Buzz in 2023. 7 properties on this list are from Netflix, indicating the strength of their international slate compared to other platforms.

Content Strength (based on Ormax Power Rating or OPR)

Higher OPR leads to higher conversion of initial sampling to total sampling, as well as higher completion rates.

Asur 2 (JioCinema) is the most-liked Hindi series of 2023. Farzi (Prime Video) and The Railway Men (Netflix) are the only other shows to cross the 70-mark on OPR in 2023. Mission Majnu (Netflix), followed closely by Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (ZEE5), is the most-liked direct-to-OTT film of 2023.

With the exception of Money Heist (S4 & S5), Loki S2 is the second most-liked International show till date (since the start of tracking in 2020). The top 10 list features shows from a variety of genres and languages. Extraction 2 emerged as a break-out success in terms of its audience likeability, being the only International direct-to-OTT film to cross the 75-mark, 10 points higher than the 2nd position on the list.

Top 5 from each category

Viewership (in millions)

Most-Watched Hindi Web-series