- ALTBalaji has gained more than 20 million paid subscribers at the end of the first quarter of 2019.
- A recent PwC report projects the Indian OTT market to grow 22.6% annually, more than double the global rate.
Homegrown OTT platform owned by Balaji Telefilms, ALTBalaji has gained more than 20 million paid subscribers at the end of the first quarter of 2019. It has built a customer base by keeping prices low and tapping the viewers outside the big cities.
55 percent of India’s OTT users are of top five Metropolitan areas, according to a study released by Counterpoint Research.
ALTBalaji was launched in 2017. Since then, it has managed to stay with the top segment in the cluttered market of OTT with more than 30 players including Netflix, Disney’s Hotstar, Amazon’s Prime Video, Eros Now, Zee5, Viacom 18’s Voot, Sony Liv and many more.
One of the reasons behind the popularity of ALTBalaji comes from its pricing, in a market that is extremely sensitive to it. Annual package of the platform costs INR 300 ($4.25), compared to Hotstar and Amazon’s $14. Netflix’s cheapest plan is $2.88 per month.
Currently, ALTBalaji has 41 originals on its rooster and more than 60 Hindi-language shows being co-created with Zee5 in a recently announced partnership. 76 million monthly active users will get access to the content of ALTBalaji. The platform aspires to reach a critical mass of 100 shows.
79 percent users of all the OTT platforms in India are men, as their interest beyond news and sports are not catered to as much on regular television especially in serial entertainment, said Counterpoint Research in its report. Parent Company of ALT, Balaji Telefilms has the monopoly on the female-based Hindi-language soap opera market for 25 years with top channels such as Colors, Star Plus, and Zee.
Some of the content for the male market captured the users for the platform. Like wildly popular ‘Gandii Baat’ which is now in its third season catered to the male audience with its realistic taste of sexual environment of smaller cities.
Other famous shows are ‘Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain’ and based on gay lifestyle ‘Romil and Jugal’.
The production budget of the platform ranges between $14 million to $21 million. They have a powerful ally in the form of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries which owns a 24.9 percent stake in Balaji Telefilms.
A recent PwC report projects the Indian OTT market to grow 22.6% annually, more than double the global rate.
With Indian OTT market growing at a rapid pace and a lot of new entrants entering the race, simple and relatable content is the key of cracking the audience.
