Three of 10 Indians watch online videos at least once a month: Ormax Report

OTT market now embraces 30% of Indian population, YoY growth is 20%

India has 423.8 million over-the-top (OTT) viewers, which is 30 per cent of India's population, a report released by Mumbai-based Ormax Media said on Wednesday.

This means that three out of ten Indians watch online videos at least once a month, the report said, adding that the number of paid OTT subscriptions in India is only 119 million. Also, India’s OTT universe in 2022 has grown by 20 per cent over 2021, when it stood at 353.2 million.

The sample size for the study included 13,500 respondents across urban and rural India. It was conducted between July and September 2022, Ormax Media said.

Further, 65 per cent of the paid OTT subscriptions are with male audiences. And, the top six metros account for only 10 per cent to India’s total OTT universe. However, when compared with paid OTT subscriptions, the top six metros' contribution is a third, Ormax Media said.

Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru are the top three cities, with more than 8.5 million active paid subscriptions each. Also, about 19.2 per cent of the OTT audience is watching content on subscription-based or SVoD platforms, but have not paid for any direct subscription themselves.

About 11.6 per cent are currently paid members of at least one streaming service or have paid directly (not via a telecom bundle) for at least one subscription themselves. Some 43.5 per cent watch videos only on free streaming platforms, including at least one apart from YouTube and 25.8 per cent watch videos only on YouTube or social media platforms.

“A large share of the 20 per cent growth in audience base has come from rural India and small towns. The metro cities have reached saturation levels, with more than 79 per cent OTT penetration. Platforms will have to rely on the smaller markets for the next phase of growth," Shailesh Kapoor, founder and CEO, Ormax Media, said.