It’s showtime: OTT players bet big on original content

Big four broadcaster-owned over the top (OTT) platforms Disney+ Hotstar, Voot, SonyLIV and ZEE5 have lined up an extensive original content line-up in 2021 to grow their user base and increase time spent by building stickiness. Apart from entertainment, Disney+ Hotstar and SonyLIV also have a heavy live sports content on offer.

According to a recent report by London-based technology research and consulting firm Omdia, the Indian OTT market will see content spends of Rs 4905 crore ($665 million) in 2021 led by Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The three are projected to spend approximately Rs 2824.9 crore ($383 million) on original content while the home-grown OTT platforms are expected to incur expenditure of Rs 2080 crore ($282 million).

Disney+ Hotstar

According to Disney+ Hotstar sales deck sourced from the industry, the platform's content catalgoue is divided in four parts, including movie premieres, and GEC content. Disney+ catalogue is available in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Hotstar Specials.

Recently, the platform had launched a property called Quix which offers original short-form content for AVOD audience. The titles included ‘Mukesh Jasoos’, ‘Bamini and Boys’, ‘Murder Meri Jaan’, ‘Teen Do Paanch’, ‘Six’, ‘Shit, Yaar’!’, ‘Bhopal to Vegas’, ‘Hamara Bar Happy Hour’, ‘Crime Next Door’, ‘Chattis Aur Maina’ and ‘Ankahi Ansuni: Jhaagi Files’ across genres such as crime, thriller, comedy, and romance.

The Hotstar Specials line-up includes India's first ever digital magnum opus 'The Empire' besides recently launched shows like Grahan (24 June), November Story (20th May), and Out of Love 2 (30 April). The Hotstar Specials catalogue includes 21 shows and documentaries.

The platform's line-up also includes high-impact broadcast properties like Comedy Stars Malayalam, Star Singer, Ranna Banna, Super Singer Bangla, MasterChef Australia (Hindi, Tamil and Telugu), Bigg Boss Telugu, Super Jodi Kannada, Start Music Malayalam, Bigg Boss Malayalam, Super Star Paribar, Comedy Bimedy, Bigg Boss Tamil, Bombattu Bhojana, and Taare Zameen Par.

As per information provided in the sales deck, Disney+ Hotstar's GEC viewership grew 25% post the IPL 2020 in September-October. The drama genre and Hindi language are the biggest draw for AVOD users and VIP subscribers. The platform also stated that top Hindi GEC shows have 10 million monthly reach/show with 20 minutes daily watch time. 67% of Hindi GEC viewers come daily to watch the shows on Hotstar. The top shows of regional GECs and free movies have 35+ million viewers each.

The platform also claimed that high-impact properties like MasterChef Australia, Dance+, and Bigg Boss (Tamil & Telugu) continue to grow with 20% viewers coming to Disney+ Hotstar for exclusively watching these kind of properties.

Disney+ Hotstar also has marquee sports properties lined up including the remaining half of IPL 2021 and ICC T20 World Cup.

SonyLIV

SonyLIV has 18 original shows and feature films lined up in the coming months. Besides Hindi markets, the platform will also focus on engaging audiences in South India. The shows include 'Chutzpah', 'Potluck', 'Chalo Koi Baat Nahi', 'Rocket Boys', 'Scam 2', 'Cancer Bitch' (tentative title), 'Faadu', 'Garmi', 'Whistle Blower - Truth Behind the Lies', 'Kathmandu Connection 2', 'Avrodh 2', 'Undekhi 2', 'Maharani 2', 'Leak', 'Dadi Ki Shaadi', 'Tamil Stalkers', 'Your Honor 2', and 'A show by Imtiaz Ali' title WIP.

Ashish Golwalkar, Head, Content, SET and Digital Business, said that the platform has launched 17 originals and streamed six movies since its revamp in June 2020. "Across our originals and feature films, we are consciously delving deep and highlighting stories that are intrinsically Indian, those that can offer insights from the lesser-known pages of history that need to be told and one must know. A great amount of research goes into every story that we bring to life. We believe in bringing and showcasing the great work of creative geniuses of the industry who go the extra mile for us when it comes to storytelling," he stated.

SonyLIV is also expanding its reach in the south as well as in the international markets. The platform is now available in many more countries including the UK, US, MENA, Asia Pacific, Europe among others. "We have observed that viewers prefer content that is differentiated, well researched and of course, entertaining. We are also the preferred platform when it comes to global sporting events," Golwalkar said.

The sports content line-up comprises Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, India tour of Sri Lanka– 3 ODIs 3 T20is, India Tour of England, and Australian Open 2022 among others.

Manish Aggarwal, Head - Growth and Monetization, Digital Business, SonyLIV, said live sports provide a surge in both subscriptions and advertising revenue besides providing an opportunity for more users to sample our Originals.

"However, originals continue to be the biggest subscription driver on the platform and helps build audience stickiness. Originals have a longer shelf life and they help in attracting new subscribers even years after the launch date. Some of our shows like Scam 1992- The Harshad Mehta Story, JL50, Maharani etc. continue to be the top subscription drivers for us."

SonyLIV recently expanded its footprints across many countries globally including Singapore, Australia, New Zeeland, SAARC, APAC, MENA, EUROPE & North America. "With an intent to expand our market share in India & international markets we will be starting our premium original shows in regional languages of Tamil, Telugu within this fiscal. Along with regional Marathi content, we will continue to spread our offerings by launching localized content for our southern users as well. We are constantly expanding our presence in other countries and deeply penetrating in existing ones through direct to consumer and partnerships routes," Aggarwal added.

ZEE5

The ZEEL-owned OTT platform plans to release 40+ Originals and 50+ theatricals in FY22. The line-up is headlined by shows like 'Laugh OK Please' with Navjot Singh Sidhu, celebrity adventure reality show 'Survivor' in Tamil market, music reality show for Tamil market 'Rockstar', SaReGaMaPa L'il Champs (Marathi, Kannada and Malayalam), and Dance Bangla Dance. Other original shows include 'Safari India', 'Ghar Sa Yummy 2', 'Game On 2', 'Deep Jale', 'Laal Ishq 2.0', 'State of Siege: Temple Attack', 'Cooking Khiladigalu' (Kannada), and 'Contract Marriage' (Marathi).

"FY22 has been great for us so far with Radhe, Friends Reunion, Sunflower and Dhoop Ki Deewar winning hearts of our consumers. We have a very exciting content line up for rest of the year as well with SOS: Temple Attack which marks Akshaye Khanna’s digital debut, 14 Phere with Vikrant Massey & Kriti Kharbanda, our iconic show Pavitra Rishta coming back for OTT, new seasons of our successful shows like Abhay, Code M and Rangbaaz, some very awaited content from TVF – so it is going to be an entertainment packed year at ZEE5 and that’s is empathetically in line with our brand campaign ‘Dekhtey Reh Jaaoge'," said ZEE5 Head - Hindi Originals Nimisha Pandey.

At present, ZEE5 has a library of over 2 lakh+ hours of content spanning catch-up TV, 150+ original shows spread across 12 Indian languages, web series, movies (Original and theatricals), TVF shows, Live TV, Alt Balaji shows, Ad-free Catch-up TV, Zindagi TV shows, kids’ content, and much more. "With 40+ Originals and 50+ theatricals lined up for this year on ZEE5, the idea is to bring to the table a wide array of entertainment options for the audience to choose from, based on their preferences," Pandey said.

As part of its strategy to understand content preferences better, the platform has identified 100+ taste clusters, tapping into different languages and geographies. "Moving forward, we will focus on family entertainment content, while regional content will continue to be the growth driver. In addition to Hindi, we will continue to invest in churning out original content in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Bangla on a regular basis."

"We are partnering with passionate creators and remarkable content powerhouses to create a robust pipeline so that we can continue entertaining our viewers. This consumer-first strategy has helped us grow a staggering 200% in the past year and a half and our 2021 content line-up will only help us drive the momentum further, strengthening ZEE5’s position as the platform of choice for entertainment enthusiasts across the country," she stated.

Voot

The Viacom18-owned OTT platform has four content buckets. These include network content (12,000+ hours new content per year), Voot Exclusives (50,000+ content clips created), Voot Originals (17+ series), and News (16+ live feeds in 13 languages).

According to Voot sales deck, the platform's 2021 content calendar has shows like Dance Deewane, The Big Picture, Khatron Ke Khiladi, Bigg Boss, Bharat Got Talent, and Khatra Khatra Khatra on the GEC side. The MTV content calendar includes shows like Splitsvilla, Supermodel of the year 2, Hussle 2, and Roadies Revolution.

The Voot Originals line-up includes NRI Haadsa, Spotlight S1, Sansanikhez Kahaniya, Khwabon Ke Parindey, and Feet Up With The Stars S3. The regional content calendar comprises of shows like Bigg Boss Kannada 8, Bigg Boss Bangla 3, and Sur Nava Dhyas Nava 4 (Marathi).

In terms of consumption trends, GEC content contributes one-third of viewership followed by regional at 30%. Reality shows had garnered 4 billion+ views between September 2019-2020. Voot sees cross genre consumption with reality and drama being the biggest categories. According to the platform, the consumption on Voot is similar to TV with 1 in 3 people consuming shows on Voot daily.

As per information in the sales deck, Bigg Boss is the biggest show on the platform with 1.2 billion views and 40+ million viewers. Roadies has 150+ million views and 32 mins average TSV (time spent by viewers). Khatron Ke Khiladi garnered 80+ million views with 8 million viewers. Splitsvilla notched 180+ million views across 16+ million viewers. Naagin amassed 550+ million views with 30+ million viewers. Bigg Boss Kannada had 135+ million views and 50 minutes average TSV.