Streaming platforms switch channels to South India, small-town viewers

To attract these new subscribers, platforms like JioHotstar are expected to double its original programming hours in the next 12 to 18 months in southern languages

Streaming platforms in India are zeroing in on Tier-II and Tier-III cities and the Southern region to attract new subscribers. They’re expanding their content slate and rolling out more bundled offers to counter slower growth compared to the 2023–24 period.

 

JioHotstar, for instance, plans to double its original programming hours in southern languages over the next 12-18 months, with the region serving as both a core base and a growth engine. ZEE5, the over-the-top (OTT) platform of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, aims to expand reach in the South through language-specific subscription packs. In Hindi-speaking markets (HSMs), its strategy revolves around small-town, culturally rooted stories, with a strong push for direct-to-digital films. Netflix India and Prime Video did not respond to email queries from Business Standard.

 

“The South today is more than a high-consumption market — it’s a creative engine shaping the future of Indian entertainment. Stories rooted here are breaking out nationally, making the South portfolio a cornerstone of our strategy. We’re doubling down with an expanded slate across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada, and will double our original programming hours in the next 12 to 18 months,” a spokesperson for JioStar said.

 

ZEE5 is also betting on cultural authenticity, said Kaveri Das, business head of ZEE5 Hindi. “Our recent pivot to becoming a language-first platform drives a sharp focus on seven Indian languages across content, personalisation, and affordability. For Hindi, we’re ramping up new subscribers from key HSMs like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh,” she explained.

 

Hindi content remains a major growth driver for ZEE5, with its Hindi segment growing 1.5x in subscriptions between April and August 2025. Mumbai and Delhi remain key markets, with Bengaluru and Hyderabad also contributing strongly, thanks to their information technology and migrant populations.

 

Southern India still maintains a strong pay television (TV) base. Executives from both JioStar and Zee say this hasn’t posed a hurdle to streaming. For JioHotstar, Bigg Boss South across four languages has racked up over 4 billion hours of watch time on both TV and OTT. For ZEE5, non-Hindi content accounts for more than half of total consumption.

 

“Pay TV still commands strong loyalty in the South, but digital is complementing, not replacing, linear television,” said Raghavendra Hunsur, chief content officer, Zee. “Our strategy is to widen access through language-specific packs while investing in premium originals in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. In parallel, we’re deepening telecommunications (telecom) and device partnerships to lower entry barriers and offer bundled value.”

 

The OTT sector is entering a slower growth phase. User growth slipped to around 10 per cent this year, down from 13-14 per cent in 2023–24, according to Ormax Media. India’s OTT user base stands at roughly 601.2 million in 2025. A Ficci–EY report projects that the video OTT segment will grow from 47 million households in 2024 to 65 million by 2027.

 

Film producer Shariq Patel observed that the industry is nearing a saturation point, pushing many platforms toward advertising-supported models. Over time, streaming may resemble linear TV more closely.

 

Ashish Pherwani, EY’s media and entertainment sector leader, said: “Around half of all streaming content is in regional languages, with the rest mostly in Hindi. National platforms typically have a four to eight original language strategy and dub content across languages. This helps them reach language audiences across metros and smaller towns. Bundled offers via telecom partners drive both data pack and content pack sales — over 40 per cent of broadband sales in India now include bundled content.”

 

The Ficci–EY report also flagged artificial intelligence-assisted localisation as a key lever for OTT expansion into Tier-II and Tier-III towns, helping unlock large untapped audiences through authentic, regional content.

 

Netflix India has diversified its slate with crowd-pullers like CID Season 2 and The Great Indian Kapil Show. Amazon Prime Video’s Panchayat Season 4 ranked third among the top 50 streaming originals in the first half of 2025 with 23.8 million viewers, while Paatal Lok Season 2 came in fourth with 16.8 million viewers, according to Ormax Media.

 

Amazon’s Prime Video has also introduced advertising in India. JioHotstar, ZEE5, and MX Player already follow an advertising-based video on demand model. Patel believes it’s only a matter of time before Netflix brings ads to India too, given its global strategy. 

 

 

• The video OTT segment is expected to grow from 47 million households in 2024 to 65 million in 2027, as per FICCI and EY report.
• JioHotstar considers the southern region as a core base and a growth engine for the platform.
• ZEE5 is looking to ramp up new subscribers in key Hindi-speaking markets, like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and others.
• JioHotstar plans to double its original programming hours in the next 12 to 18 months for Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada languages.
• ZEE5’s Hindi segment grew by 1.5 times in terms of subscriptions from April to August in 2025.
• Bigg Boss South across four languages, recorded over four billion hours of watchtime on both TV and OTT platform for JioStar.
• Non-Hindi content accounts for over 50 per cent of ZEE5’s total consumption.