OTT, TV revenue may rise to $2.6 billion by 2025: Report

Revenue generated by India’s online broadcast and video sector will touch a record $2.6 billion by 2025, a new report released on Friday said.

Speaking at the Ficci Knowledge series on Friday where the report was released, Vikram Sahay, joint secretary in the ministry of information and broadcasting, said that the government has always favoured a light-touch regulation, rather than stalling the system of decision-making, investment and employment opportunities.

“The industry has taken the Digital Media Ethics Code positively and has incorporated the spirit of the ethics code diligently in its decision-making process. The grievances received by the government have drastically come down and it shows that the regulatory mechanism with the self-certification process is working well,” Sahay said.

The popularity of OTT services has been growing in the country, with 148 million Indians subscribing to these platforms in 2020.

Among internet users in India, 88% use OTT platforms at least once a week, spending 56% of their time watching local content, the report said.

A KPMG report in September 2020 had estimated that online streaming platforms would make around ₹3,100 crore in subscription revenue by 2021.

While rising internet penetration has benefited OTT services, these platforms also boost internet usage.

Since 2012, the proportion of Indians using the internet has almost trebled from 12.5% to 34%.

Of late, streaming platforms are focusing significantly on local content. Netflix invested $405 million to develop original and licensed Indian content through 2019 and 2020. In 2021, ALTBalaji planned to invest in 35 pieces of original content for launch, setting aside $21 million to invest in the Indian creative economy.

The Indian media & entertainment sector recorded a revenue of ₹1.75 trillion in 2019, with the digital and OTT sector creating ₹21,800 crore worth of revenue. Live Mint