Viewership of premium videos up in India, Disney+ Hotstar most dominant

In April, the consumption of videos on Jio Cinema saw an uptick of 20x on the back of the ongoing season of men's IPL: Report

Out of the total online video consumption of 6.1 trillion minutes between January 2022 and March 2023, the share of the premium category rose 12 per cent as compared to 10 per cent in 2021, according to a report released by Media Partners Asia (MPA).

With this, India's premium video consumption is comparable to Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines where the share is around 10 per cent. However, it still has some catching up to do when it comes to Australia where the share stands at 35 per cent. In Japan and South Korea, the share of premium videos lies in the range of 15-20 per cent.

YouTube grabbed the lion's share in the online video category with 88 per cent of the total watch time coming from its platform. In the premium video category, Disney+ Hotstar had the highest market share at 38 per cent, mainly due to sports as well as the depth of its Hindi and regional entertainment. It was followed by MX Player (23 per cent) and Jio TV (8 per cent).

Prime Video and Netflix had an aggregate share of 10 per cent in the premium category. More than 60 per cent of consumption on Prime Video was of local content. On Netflix, however, this content had a share of a lower 24 per cent. It saw more viewership of American shows and movies.

"Netflix's Indian originals have not been able to sustain their buzz for a long period of time. In contrast, various seasons of Netflix's major US titles have achieved sustained viewership," the company said.

In April, the consumption of videos on Jio Cinema also saw an uptick. "In April 2023, in spite of several tech glitches impacting user experience, the free live streaming of the men's Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket ensured that Jio Cinema consumption grew more than 20x in April 2023 to ensure that it dominated the premium category", the company said.

The current edition kicked off on March 31 and is being streamed for free on Jio Cinema. The platform has also bought rights to show the HBO shows in India which were earlier available on Disney+ Hotstar. Jio has launched an annual plan of Rs 999 for viewers if they want to stream shows like Game of Thrones and Euphoria. It also showed the Fifa World Cup last year for free in India.

"However, sustained viewership levels will remain critical in the absence of IPL cricket during the second half of 2023 especially as the platform has increased its investment in local content and premium international content, setting the stage for the growth of its premium tier", said Mihir Shah, vice president of MPA India.

"The next 6-12 months will remain critical for the OTT sector as platforms strive to balance monetization and profitability against content investment", he said.