AltBalaji gears up to double revenue to Rs 1.5 bn, break even by FY22

With 2.3 million active monthly users at present, Balaji Telefilms-owned over-the-top (OTT) platform AltBalaji is expecting a revenue of Rs 1.5 billion in the next two and a half years, when it aims to break-even.

The subscription-led platform, which has a subscription base currently at 8.9 million, had a revenue of Rs 70 million  last year, while it made an additional Rs 70 million in the first three months of this financial year and Rs 140 million during the September 2018 quarter.

"We will break-even roughly two and a half years from now against total cost base of Rs 15 million, which means we have to hit the Rs 150-crore revenue mark in about two and a half years from now and that's where we are geared to," Balaji Telefilms chief operating officer and AltBalaji chief executive Nachiket Pantvaidya told PTI here.

"We are doubling our revenues, and nearly doubling our subscribers every quarter. We are not very sure when this kind of pace will go down because doubling every quarter will not be possible, but our outlook is very positive. With the faster growth internet use telcos are offering internet at unbelievably low rates now and we are likely to see an explosion going ahead," he added.

He said the challenge going ahead would be to create meaningful content that can resonate with its expanding base.

The company is using its experience, a bit of research and own data to decide how much they should scale up when it comes to content.

"If you scale up too much and the amount of content you are putting out is no longer relevant say to a rural area where the internet is likely to grow in the next four to five years, then that investment may not be so useful. So that's the real challenge," he explained.

AltBalaji aims to end the fiscal year with 32 shows on its app from 24 shows at present, and is also increasing the length of each episode.

The annual average revenue per user at present is Rs 140 and the company will look at the price increase only when it hits 50 shows.

Pantvaidya believes there will be an explosion of content in the next 12 months and competition will not be fought on the basis of technology or probably on marketing dollars but the quality, nature and volume of the scaled up content that comes out on the OTT platform.