Over-the-top media services in India explained

There are currently about 57 providers of over-the-top media services (OTT) in India, which distribute streaming media or video on demand over the Internet.

History and growth

The first dependent Indian OTT platform was BIGFlix, launched by Reliance Entertainment in 2008.^[1] In 2010 Digivive launched India's first OTT mobile app called nexGTv, which provides access to both live TV and on–demand content. nexGTV was the first app to live–stream Indian Premier League matches on smart phones and did so during 2013 and 2014. The livestream of the IPL since 2015, when rights were won,^[2] played an important role in the growth of another OTT platform, Hotstar (now Disney+ Hotstar) in India.^[3] OTT gained significant momentum in India when both DittoTV (Zee) and Sony Liv were launched in the Indian market around 2013. Ditto TV was an aggregator platform containing shows across all media channels including Star, Sony, Viacom, Zee, etc.

Hotstar

Hotstar (now Disney+ Hotstar) is the most subscribed–to OTT platform in India, owned by Star India as of July 2020, with around 300 million active users and over 350 million downloads.^[4] According to Hotstar's India Watch Report 2018, 96% of watch time on Hotstar comes from videos longer than 20 minutes, while one–third of Hotstar subscribers watch television shows.^[5] In 2019, Hotstar began investing crore in generating original content such as "Hotstar Specials." 80% of the viewership on Hotstar comes from drama, movies and sports programs. Hotstar has the exclusive streaming rights of IPL in India.^[6]

Netflix

American streaming service Netflix entered India in January 2016. In April 2017, it was registered as a limited liability partnership (LLP) and started commissioning content. It earned a net profit of ₹2020,000 (₹2.02 million) for fiscal year 2017. In fiscal year 2018, Netflix earned revenues of ₹580 million.^[7] According to Morgan Stanley Research, Netflix had the highest average watch time of more than 120 minutes but viewer counts of around 20 million in July 2018. As of 2018, Netflix has six million subscribers, of which 5–6% are paid members.^[8]

India was not affected by Netflix's July 2018 increase in subscription rates for the US and Latin America. Netflix has stated its intent to invest ₹600 crore in the production of Indian original programming.^[9] In late 2018, Netflix bought 150000square feet of office space in Bandra–Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai as their head office. As of December 2018, Netflix has more than 40 employees in India.

Other OTT providers

Sun NXT is an Indian video on demand service run by Sun TV Network. It was launched in June 2017, streaming in the Tamil language and six other languages. The platform has more than 4,000 Tamil movies and 200 Tamil shows, as well as regional movies and shows.^[10] ^[11] Sun NXT also streams a large library of its own Sun TV shows and movies.

Amazon Prime Video was launched in 2016. The platform has 2,300 titles available including 2,000 movies and about 400 shows. It has announced that it will invest ₹20 billion in creating original content in India. Besides English, Prime Video is available in six Indian languages as of December 2018.^[12] Amazon India launched Amazon Prime Music in February 2018.^[13]

Eros Now, an OTT platform launched by Eros International, has the most content among the OTT providers in India, including over 12,000 films, 100,000 music tracks and albums, and 100 TV shows. Eros Now was named the Best OTT Platform of the Year 2019 at the British Asian Media Awards. It has 211.5 million registered users and 36.2 million paying subscribers as of September 2020.^[14]

In February 2020, Aha OTT platform was launched, broadcasting exclusively Telugu content.^[15]

In 2021, Planet Marathi became the first OTT platform dedicated to Marathi content in India, including web-series, films, music, theater, fiction and non-fiction reality shows. It is available for both Android and iOS mobile devices along with Android TV and Amazon Fire TV devices. Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit helped launch the platform.^[16] ^[17]

With rising interest for Korean dramas, Rakuten Viki saw its biggest jump of web traffic from India in 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown, which led to ad localization on the platform.^[18] ^[19] ^[20]

The OTT market in fiscal year 2020 was estimated to be worth $1.7 billion.^[21] ^[22]

SonyLIV and ZEE5

In December 2021, Sony and Zee announced their merger, and announced plans to merge their OTT platforms.^[23] The merger was called off.^[24]

OTT services launched as Amazon Prime video channels

The list is by alphabetical order, not by rank or popularity.

data-sort-type="alphabet"	Name !	Parent	Active years	Languages	Notes/Ref.
	RLJ Entertainment, Inc.	2011–present	English	^[25]
	AMC Networks	2020–present	English
	Shorts International Ltd	2006–present	English	^[26]

Content regulation

Due to the absence of any rules and regulation regarding OTT content, many OTT providers were accused of showing nudity, vulgarity and obscenity and hurting Hindu religious sentiments in their shows.^[27] ^[28] ^[29] ^[30] Series which were the focus of controversy include Four More Shots Please!,^[31] Tandav,^[32] Paatal Lok,^[33] Sacred Games,^[34] Mirzapur^[35] Lust stories franchise,^[36] Rana Naidu.^[37] Thank You for Coming,^[38] and Annapoorani (2023).^[39]

According to media reports, between 2018 and 2024, some OTT platforms emerged which started showing porn in the form of web series. Both the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court say that OTT regulation is necessary.^[40] ^[41] ^[42] ^[43]

OTT regulation

On 25 Feb 2021, Indian govt introduced self-regulation rules for OTT platforms to stop obscene content and abusive language.
On 19 March 2023, I&B minister Anurag Thakur said that self regulation does not mean that OTT should show obscenity and nudity.^[44] ^[45]
On 15 April 2023, I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra has said because of the government's soft-touch regulations on OTT industry have led to the creation of content that is undesirable and vulgar.^[46]
On 26 April 2023, MIB India said that if nudity and obscenity is seen on any OTT platform, strict action will be taken against it.^[47]
On 16 May 2023, Don't show obscene content, parliamentary panel told to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.^[48] ^[49]
On 20 June 2023, the government told Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar and all other streaming services that their content should be independently reviewed for obscenity and violence before being shown online.^[50]
On 18 July 2023, Anarug Thakur said in a meeting with all OTT stakeholders that demeaning Indian culture will not be tolerated. ^[51] ^[52]
On 22 August 2023, Indian government assured that it will bring rules and regulation to regulate vulgar and obscene content on social media and OTT platforms.^[53] ^[54]
On 10 November 2023, MIB India introduces the 'Broadcasting Service Regulation Bill', which included Programme code with Content Evaluation Committee(CEC) for every OTT platforms. Currently public consultation is ongoing till 15 January 2024.^[55]
The draft bill mandates that all OTT streaming platforms can only broadcast those web series or content, which will be duly certified by Content Evaluation Committee(CEC).^[56]

Legal action

Currently OTT is regulated under the IT Rules 2021, which clearly stated that 'No content that is prohibited by law at the time being force can be published or transmitted'. MIB has continuously taking action on OTT platform, who has violating the IT Act 67A, which prevent Publishing and transmitting obscene materials.^[57]

Pornography in India is restricted and illegal in all form including print media, electronic media, and digital media (OTT).
Several websites and OTT Platforms has been banned by the Cyber Crime Branch for streaming Pornographic and obscene content on their platform.^[58] ^[59]
The owners of several OTT platforms on which obscene content was streamed were arrested and all their bank accounts were also frozen.^[60] ^[61] ^[62]
On 27 June 2023, DPCGC took punitive action against Ullu for streaming obscene content and asked them to remove all their explicit shows or remove all adult scenes within 15 days.^[63] ^[64]

Judicial opinion

Supreme Court of India said that, OTT regulations is a necessity as some even showing nudity and pornography.^[65] ^[66]
In March 2023, the Delhi High Court had said framing rules and regulations to regulate the content on social media and OTT platforms needs urgent attention.^[67]

Criticism

IAMAI again pledges self-regulation for OTT platforms. Content creators and producers in India, as mentioned in the report, already face many challenges, including the multiplicity of legislation and forums for filing complaints. The study paper by The Dialogue Internet and IAMAI found that these challenges lead to compliance uncertainties, self-censorship, and unwarranted economic burden. A private association of current affairs and news television broadcasters has expressed strong reservations against the Draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023, which it warned would have a “chilling effect" on the freedom of speech and expression, News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA) said in a submission to the information and broadcasting ministry.^[68] ^[69] ^[70] ^[71]

List of OTT platforms in India