NEW DELHI : A number of emerging aggregator platforms have provided respite to smaller, niche streaming services that were struggling to stay afloat in India’s cluttered online video market.
Even though over-the-top video platforms have also been offered by telecom operators as a bundled service, the arrival of aggregators like Prime Video Channels, Tata Play and Airtel XStream Premium bode well for the reach and subscriber base of smaller firms like DocuBay, Eros Now, Lionsgate Play and ShemarooMe that are trying to find their feet.
Several of these OTT firms said they are focusing on content as aggregators take care of product and user experience.
“There is a funnel that they (such aggregators) provide. It opens up a sub-base which if the individual platform had to go on and acquire themselves, would have taken longer," said Amit Dhanuka, executive vice-president, Lionsgate India.
For the value-conscious consumer it is low-hanging fruit but the model will co-exist with direct-to-consumer offerings, Dhanuka said.
From a telco standpoint, while data is the new currency, that data utilization comes on the back of video so partnering with OTTs is a natural fit and given their massive mobile consumer base, a better value proposition for the streaming platform too. “Any aggregated offering cannot work unless it’s a win-win," he added.
Aggregation helps both partners to reach out to a wider audience by breaking into new markets, besides increasing revenue and engagement, said Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd which runs streaming service ShemarooMe showcasing old films, web originals and devotional videos. ShemarooMe recently expanded into Gujarati language content.
Sourjya Mohanty, chief operating officer at EPIC ON, a VoD service owned by IN10 Media Network said the platform has seen more than 35% increase in revenue and user growth during the covid-19 pandemic and the endeavour is to maintain the audience cohort in the domestic and international market.
“With millennials contributing to the consumption spike with an average of four to six hours of watch-time daily, it’s imperative for OTTs to be part of the bundling proposition which is the way forward for all the stakeholders -- streaming platforms, telcos, and other smart devices - to cajole audiences and maintain sustainable revenues and user acquisition," said Mohanty. His company is looking at expanding to 10 countries including key African nations and others like Iraq, Palestine, and Israel.
The aggregation trend will grow due to changing consumer preferences and tough economics, said Neeraj Sharma, managing director, communications, media and technology, Accenture India. “For consumers, bundling makes content discovery simpler as they can get more recommendations across platforms on a single service. They can create combined watchlists and reduce costs along with an option to turn-on or turn-off individual OTT apps within the same subscription," Sharma said.
For OTT platforms, bundling offers greater reach and assured revenues through minimum guarantee. “Presence on aggregators can provide viewers more options to discover and consume relevant content. As the incremental cost of customer acquisition is high, aggregators provide OTT platforms a faster monetization opportunity at scale. In the future, aggregators will emerge and grow more prominent as they are crucial to resolving customer frustration around the broken viewing experience and helping to realize the payoff on the cord cutting vision," Sharma added.
Bundling and aggregation were major reasons for linear television to reach nearly 240 million households in India, said Ali Hussein, chief executive officer at streaming service Eros Now. “The next six to 12 months will see the emergence of super aggregators that may be able to connect shows (across platforms) and target customers at scale at different price points across the country," Hussein said.
