India has potential to be the largest OTT market in the world: Gaurav Gandhi

Addressing the Valedictory Session, titled ‘The Big Pitch: Is the Industry ready, What’s Next?’, of the 10th edition of the CII Big Picture Summit 2021, held virtually on November 17-18, 2021, Gaurav Gandhi, Country Head, Amazon Prime Video, India, said, “India is the fastest growing OTT market in the world and has the potential to be the largest as it builds scale, having established a strong foundation.”

Explaining the three reasons why, he said, “One, OTT segment in India has a huge base of consumers with an insatiable appetite for entertainment and disposable income to pursue the best experiences; two, a very rich pool of creators who have the power to create world-class entertainment experience and third the deep penetration of connectivity via affordable broadband available ubiquitously across multiple devices.”

Responding to a question on the contribution of OTT players in fueling this growth, he explained the role that Prime Video is playing in contributing to a prolific creative economy. Gandhi said, “We are contributing by addressing some of the most significant challenges that currently exist in fueling the growth of the M&E industry. To begin with, we broke the barrier of geographies, addressing the challenge of reach or distribution. For example, today, Prime Video serves 99% of Pin Codes of the nation and reaches 240 countries and territories around the world.”

He further said, “Another barrier that we have broken is the limitation of viewership imposed by language. Good content travels across boundaries with subs and dubs. For example, movies in Malayalam, Telugu, and Tamil are being viewed by mainstream audiences, which is evident from the fact that 50% of the viewing of different language movies in India comes from outside the home state. All of this has been made possible by enabling creators to get their stories to reach the customers through the power of video streaming.”

He thanked the observation of Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur about the role of the OTT industry as a ‘force of good’ in creating jobs across the M&E ecosystem and fueling its growth.

Responding to a question on the ‘soft power’ of the OTT industry, he said, “As high caliber content from India is viewed by international audiences, we are not just presenting India to the rest of the world, we are showcasing our rich heritage and diverse culture to the rest of the world. We are also bringing India closer to itself as consumers view regional content outside its home state and gain a deeper appreciation of the rich diversity of our nation.”

Conversations at the 10th edition of the CII Big Picture Summit 2021 focused on the tailwinds that are driving the growth of the OTT segment growth in connectivity due 4G enabled devices, growing diversity in the tastes of the audience and the wide range of content that OTT brings to the customers. Most participants believed that the pandemic has brought an inconspicuous reset for the entertainment industry. Confined at homes, consumers have turned to the Internet, social media, and OTT platforms for their varied entertainment needs, catalysing the growth of new platforms, formats, and genres of content. As the viewer tastes and preferences have evolved, the industry has found itself in the midst of a content renaissance, where new age platforms have given greater opportunities to local Indian talent to produce diverse stories across cultures, languages and regions which can then be showcased globally. This is set to power unprecedented growth in the OTT industry in the coming years.