Celebrating the year of OTT

Towards the end of 2019 Saugata Mukherjee then with Hotstar switched job to head original content for rival Sony LIV Except Sony LIV as a streaming app wasnrsquot quite Hotstars competitor in a real senseBecause they had yet to develop a single webonly original show or series Which is strange if you consider that Sony LIV is probably Indiarsquos first OTT platform theyrsquove been around since 2013What was Sony LIV playing up until early 2020 Catchup TV basically Sony broadcasting networkrsquos shows downloaded on the appAnd then the pandemic struck Production came to a halt There was no new TV episode only audiences with an insatiable visual appetite sitting at home staring at a screen when not out of the windowMukherjee recalls ldquoSony LIV relaunched right in the middle of the pandemic with original web content One couldnrsquot have planned for the frenetic pace at which we had to recalibrate from technology business and content development point of view lead time on all of which had to be crunched dramaticallyrdquoLikewise for Ferzad Palia Voot as an app was also simply an advertisingled digital arm for Viacom as a TV broadcaster ldquoWersquod been meaning to play the subscription game for sometime We had to bring all the plans forward by about a year Voot Select is a COVID baby We launched on March 3 2020 By March 16 we were working from home To get tech like that so early in the game It was chaotic as well of courserdquoBut it paid off as Palia points out with audience numbers outgrowing estimates theyrsquod made for both Year One and Two and viewers from beyond top 10 Indian cities willing to pay for online entertainment even post unlockMonika Shergill from Netflix the nascent OTT industryrsquos firstmover in India calls 2020 the year of ldquointense connection with an acceleration in adoption of streaming services a whole new set of audiences coming inrdquoThe thriller Asur was the flagship show for Voot Select Like Scam 1992 was for SonyLIV Both of which have earned nominations at the midday and Radio Cityrsquos Hitlist OTT Awards that this discussion is a heads up for Netflix has totally dominated the films and nonfiction nominations They had 28 Indian original releases last year anyway besides international productions making Netflix an entertainment industry of its own Rather than just a streamerappThe best instance of an independent producer inadvertently benefitting from COVID19 might well be Sameer Nair from Applause Entertainment who delivered 11 shows in 2020 alone across platforms including the nominated Criminal Justice Behind Closed Doors on DisneyHotstarHungry eyeballs were all there Library shelves on OTTs needed constant replenishment While Nair denies there was a hardsell on among platforms to pick up shows rumours suggest the big Bollywood films were indeed up for top dollars at astronomical rates over a fierce bidding war since theatres had shut downShergill clarifies ldquoThere is in fact a lot more juicy speculation around this very little truth What really happened is that with most services there is already a pipeline of films you look at for a post theatrical premiere Barring a couple of mainstream titles most platforms that premiered Bollywood films during pandemic had already been signed up from beforerdquoWhich doesnrsquot take away from the bad blood between the OTT and cinematheatre industry as we speak with the latter accusing top Bollywood producers of leaving the traditional exhibition sector in a lurch Having sold off their major releases directly to webTo a point that in a chickenegg situation theatre owners argue that sure cinemas have reopened and people arenrsquot still coming in But even if they did whatrsquos there to watchSome of this drought was of course unavoidable For example the Tamil event pic Soorarai Pottru that Guneet Monga coproduced ldquoWe had a big music launch on a plane in February 2020 And then with the lockdown and pandemic we just kept sending out press releases for updates We didnrsquot know how long this would continuerdquoFrom top left Ferzad Palia Voot Select Rangita Nandy Pritish Nandy Communications Sameer Nair Applause Entertainment Saugata Mukherjee SonyLIV Guneet Monga CEO Sikhya Entertainment and Monica Sheirgill NetflixNair reasons ldquoYou really canrsquot fault anyone Cinema is a heavily cashflow business And itrsquos not like movies will stop getting made You can fight another day once you surviverdquo Shergill is glad that Netflix and other OTTs stepped in to partner with Bollywood at this hour of needRangita Pritish Nandy admits ldquoSurely there was jobloss in cinema business even theatres that have shut down may never open again But for a producer investment on a film is a financial ticking bomb until the point of releaserdquo Nandy should know having been a film producer for almost a couple of decades Her nominated show Four More Shots Please 2 was declared the most watched Indian content on Amazon Prime Video during the early part of pandemicWhile much is made of the current fracas between OTTs and cinemas the impact of the pandemic on the television industry mdash a more direct competitor with peoplersquos changed viewing habits mdash isnrsquot perhaps highlighted enough Also given that traditional TV is dependent on advertising which in turn relies on the health of the economyNair says the ratio between earnings from subscription and advertising had already reached 5050 ratio by 2020 As for advertising revenue Palia Voot Select and Mukherjee SonyLIV both broadcasters in the OTT space contend the numbers have nearly returned to prepandemic levels alreadyThis is no time for media obituaries whatsoever Whether TV cinema web broad consensus at the Sit with Hitlist huddle is that they will all coexist Both audiences and their options are potentially limitlessRight down to an app like Mubi that shows only world cinema and arthouse titles and that Monga helped launch in India in 2019 ldquoThat library has completely captured the imagination of cinephilesrdquoAnd why even Netflix could become network TV no Shergill says ldquoTaking our shows back to a linear feed on TV in France is something new for us Either way choice and ease for consumers will determine audience behaviour Linear TV versus streaming versus cinema are all slightly different spacesrdquoHardly five years old the Indian OTT industry has clearly outdone itself in terms of globally competitive content Rare happy news of 2020 was Delhi Crime Netflix winning an Emmy where Four More Shots Please Amazon Prime Video was also nominated Some of this has to do with how unlike cinema and TV web platforms in India like with other democracies have so far grown without the restrictive shadow of external controlsuppressioneditingPanelists donrsquot deny that this might just change for the worse who knows with cloud of COVID19 receding and the darkness of state censorship looming instead OTT content bosses I suspect would prefer to sit out this part of the discussionNair says ldquoWersquove grown up watching flowers kissing instead of humans but we grew up rightrdquo Palia says ldquoTake heart from the fact that wersquore still better than a lot of countriesrdquo Monga says ldquoIranian cinema is so beautiful and then you see Korean content thatrsquos travelling across the worldrdquo ldquoShersquos just drawn those parallels straight and given you the best quoterdquo Nandy suggests Well