Chaupal OTT expects to touch 20 million users by end of 2023: Sandeep Bansal

Launched in 2021 video streaming platform Chaupal TV has been catering to the entertainment needs of Punjabi, Haryanvi, and Bhojpuri-speaking audiences. Since its launch, the OTT platform has witnessed incredible user engagement and, at present, enjoys user base of more than three million, says Sandeep Bansal, Managing Director, Chaupal TV.

He further affirms that Chaupal’s USP is that it is the world’s first multiregional OTT platform launched globally. “We take pride in the fact that Chaupal has released over 90 assets, including originals and exclusives within one year,” he adds.

In an interview with Adgully, Bansal dwells at length on the phenomenal growth of the OTT platform, the content strategy, growth of regional OTT, aspects of production, etc.

Excerpts:

How has the journey of Chaupal TV been since launch? How has the user engagement been?

Since its launch in 2021, Chaupal has witnessed incredible user engagement and, at present, enjoys user base of more than three million. As far as user engagement on social media is concerned, the platform has touched over 40 million users via video views post engagements and shares. It’s satisfying to know that Chaupal has appealed to customers through its original and exclusive content in three regional languages: Punjabi, Haryanvi, and Bhojpuri.

What is the USP that differentiates you from other regional OTT players in India?

Chaupal’s USP is that it is the world’s first multiregional OTT platform launched globally. It caters to the entertainment needs of Punjabi, Haryanvi, and Bhojpuri-speaking audiences by providing them content in the native languages. We take pride in the fact that Chaupal has released over 90 assets, including originals and exclusives within one year.

Chaupal TV had more than seven lakh downloads in the first few months. What is your target for this year and beyond? What are your plans for audience engagement?

We are extremely positive about Chaupal’s growth. By next year, we are expecting as many as 10 million downloads. Our focus is to cater to the regional entertainment needs of diverse audiences in India and abroad. We have released crime thrillers, romantic and realistic films, and web series, and now we are bringing women-centric content for audiences. Providing diverse and unique content on Chaupal is our tool for engaging our audience.

What is your content strategy to attract more audiences?

While we are producing our own original films for the audience, we are constantly buying theatre-released films, too. The only agenda is to buy content that the masses would want to watch.

What are your targets (growth projections, subscriber base, etc.) for 2023?

If things go the way they are going right now, we will most definitely touch 20 million users by the end of 2023. We will surely witness more investment, growth, and diversification of language-specific content providing more value to customers.

What are the key trends in areas like consumer behaviour?

The consumer behaviour has been more than satisfying. With our every release, we witnessed a hike in the number of consumers. The most amazing response was gathered when ‘Prapanch,’ the first-ever web series in Bhojpuri, was launched. It perfectly justified Chaupal’s tagline – ‘Entertainment Beyond Boundaries’.

Do you think linear TV should reinvent its content strategy in view of the offbeat and refreshing content being dished out by OTT platforms?

Yes, absolutely as the times are now changing. Today, to attract more audiences, television not only needs to change its content strategy, but also the distribution and marketing strategy. Content is the king and the shift of viewers from TV to video streaming platforms can be attributed to the quality content offered by these platforms to engage and entertain young minds.

The sense is that overall cost of producing local originals in the Indian OTT industry has gone up, especially over the past two years. How are regional, independent platforms coping with this?

We, at Chaupal, are also matching the standards of big OTT platforms, Chaupal OTT has given some great products with good production quality. Production always depends upon the demand of the story and the OTT is fulfilling these demands. Our recently released women-centric web series, ‘Shahi Majra’, is the perfect example wherein we have matched the best content and production standards.

How are you managing costs of talent, production, post-production, etc.? What are your average budgets? How do they compare to foreign services?

With the growing response of subscribers, Chaupal OTT is increasing its efforts in every aspect, whether it is pre-production or post-production. The OTT is trying to introduce some better work in the background music as it is the soul of any content piece. Like I said, costs are always as per the demand of the story and we are fulfilling those demands. Directors and story writers are always in sync during the whole production process.

How does talent respond to this? Are you wary of quality comparisons with bigger platforms? What will the strategy be to combat that and stand out?

Chaupal OTT has worked with big names like Raj Babbar, Poonam Dhillon, Mukesh Tiwari, and Jagjeet Sandhu. All these names have already worked on international OTT platforms and they are more than satisfied working with Chaupal OTT as it delivers unique stories with good production standards. Besides, Chaupal OTT is trying to introduce new concepts and some real stories of Punjab, Haryana, and Bhojpuri for the diverse audiences.

Will you, at any point, attempt large-scale productions?

Chaupal has always put its audience on the top and to entertain our audience, we will surely produce large-scale productions.