Manish Kalra highlights key OTT industry trends in 2023

It’s time to review the most significant industry developments as the year 2023 draws to a close. Adgully is reviewing the year 2023 for M&E, Advertising, Digital, Marketing, PR, and communications, along with leading names in the industry as part of its annual Rewind series.

Recapping the year 2023, Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India, speaks at length about ZEE5 India’s performance in 2023, key trends observed in the OTT industry, ZEE5 India’s outlook and expectations for 2024, and more.

Key OTT industry trends in 2023

Speaking on the key trends and developments that dominated the OTT industry in 2023, Manish Kalra noted that there was continued growth in consumption from the connected devices ecosystem, with growing demand for quality storytelling and premium viewing experiences, along with better audio-visual qualities. Additionally, while younger audiences propelled co-viewing, the momentum on family watch time was sustained strongly as well, highlighting further the importance of tech integrations.

He further said, “The popularity of the AVOD model has been impressive owing to increased smartphone accessibility, affordable high-speed internet, localisation of content, free streaming of sports tournaments, big ticket releases in Hindi across languages, and catch-up TV content. This growth has also played a pivotal role in on-boarding digital marketers from multiple markets, both big and small.”

ZEE5’s performance in 2023

“2023 has been an exciting year for us with multiple milestones and unprecedented successes through the year. We started with big ticket originals and streaming of ILT20 S1, followed by the fifth anniversary celebrations and the launch of 111+ SVOD titles in 9 languages. We published over half a million assets and witnessed a staggering 100 billion streaming minutes in FY23. We made significant investments in content and technological innovations for over a year to enable an enhanced platform experience for our viewers,” informed Kalra.

This year showcased remarkable diversity in releases. He spoke about the outstanding response for D2Ds like ‘Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hain’, ‘Mrs. Undercover’, ‘Lost’, ‘Haddi’ ‘Tarla’, and added that 2023 also witnessed the colossal success of post-theatricals like ‘Gadar 2’, ‘Ghoomer’, ‘Uunchai’, and ‘Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan’. “On the other hand, our originals have been key growth drivers with multiple superhits like ‘Taj’, ‘Jaanbaaz Hindustan Ke’, ‘Duranga S2’, ‘TVF Pitchers S2’, to name a few,” he added. The year 2023 has also seen ZEE5 bring to life stories that highlight social issues with authenticity and creativity. Projects like ‘Lost’, ‘ Haddi’, ‘Chhatriwali’ in Hindi, ‘Ayali’ in Tamil, ‘Abar Proloy’ in Bangla have been appreciated by critics and viewers alike, which signals evolving audience choices.

Adding further, Kalra said, “We expanded our presence in the regional markets by bolstering our catalogue in vernacular languages. At the very beginning of the year, we released ZEE5’s exclusive Bangla slate and every quarter we had around 3-4 new releases which drove visibility and engagement from the Eastern parts of India. Titles like ‘Abar Proloy’, ‘Shabash Feluda’, ‘Chhotolok’ theatricals like ‘Projapoti’ and ‘Boudi Canteen’ have yielded us good output with unique stories that resonated well with the viewers. Our growth in the South has continued to be on an upward swing with titles like ‘Ayali’, ‘Oru Kodai Murder Mystery’ ‘DD Returns’ in Tamil, ‘Mayabazaar For Sale’, ‘Puli Meka’ in Telugu, and ‘Hostel Hudugaru Bekagiddare’, ‘Ghost’ in Kannada, to name a few.”

Simultaneously on innovations, ZEE5 has maintained its focus on technological advancements in line with the platform’s digital pivot for a seamless experience across devices. Identifying the demand for premium viewing experiences, ZEE5 has introduced titles with superior audio and video exposures. “We have also consciously spent on localising content through dubbing and subtitling to enable viewers to consume in their preferred language, reaching a wider audience base,” he added.

On the AVOD front, ZEE5 released multiple movies and web shows, Korean drama series and exclusive films like ‘Country Mafia’, ‘Am I Next’ with Anushka Sen, Anshuman Jha's ‘Lakadbaggha’, and Priyamani’s ‘Sarvam Shakti Mayam’. “We forayed into sports with Season1 of ILT20, followed by streaming of e-sports tournaments like IESF Big Bang Asia. Increased the number of brand campaigns to keep the slate riveting with more choice of content. With brand properties like ZEE5 World Hits and ZEE5 Spark, we released premium international titles dubbed in local languages for the young cinephiles. We expanded the slate of kids content across formats with educational and entertaining titles. Additionally, our festive campaigns for Independence Day, Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Durga Pujo have also seen resounding success. On TVOD, we released premium English titles like ‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Fast X’, ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’, ‘The Equalizer 3’, to name a few and the response has been positive,” Kalra said.

Outlook and expectations for 2024

Kalra said, “We are ending the year with titles like Pankaj Tripathi’s ‘Kadak Singh’ in Hindi, and the much-anticipated docu-series, ‘Koose Munisamy Veerappan’, in Tamil.” Currently, ‘ZEE5 Kids festival’ is running on the platform, streaming nostalgic classics and family entertainers.

In terms of 2024, ZEE5’s focus will be on the top key languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali. There is a good mix of Originals and movies spanning across genres thrillers, comedy, romance, etc. “We are equally bolstering our AVOD catalogue with beyond TV content bringing exclusive titles, devotional content, sports tournaments to make further inroads into the smaller markets,” Kalra added.