After years of explosive development and content material overload, it looks as if India’s OTT platforms are urgent pause. A sector as soon as outlined by its race to scale is now slowing down, strategically rethinking its method, and specializing in content material that delivers demonstrable outcomes slightly than merely churning out extra. Amid tightening margins, intensifying competitors, and plateauing income, OTT gamers have begun prioritising profitability over sheer quantity.
The FICCI-EY Media and Leisure report 2025 underscores this recalibration, revealing a 12 % drop in OTT content material quantity prior to now 12 months. Content material launch hours fell to 2,620 in 2024, a notable lower from 2,986 in 2023. This marks the primary decline because the pandemic-induced surge, the place releases climbed from 1,187 hours in 2020 to 2,512 hours in 2021 and a couple of,956 hours in 2022. Correspondingly, manufacturing prices additionally noticed a downward development, falling from INR 29.7 billion in 2023 to INR 26.7 billion in 2024.
Business consultants concur that this OTT slowdown in 2024 isn’t a step backward however a vital strategic recalibration. With profitability a key concern, platforms are transitioning from high-volume output to extra focused, ROI-focused investments—emphasising high quality, deeper regional engagement, and codecs that resonate with a broader Indian viewers.
Profitability pressures
The extraordinary funding that fueled the OTT growth from 2020–2022—pushed by world gamers and pandemic lockdowns—led to a saturated content material setting. Nonetheless, monetisation hasn’t caught up with scale.
Ashish Pherwani, M&E sector chief at EY India shared that because the pandemic, content material manufacturing has surged, however income—each from adverts and subscriptions—hasn’t stored up. In consequence, many OTT platforms are re-evaluating their technique. “With most nonetheless working at a loss, there’s a shift towards specializing in content material that delivers actual returns, slightly than endlessly rising quantity. It is now not about producing extra—it is about creating content material that delivers. The method now could be to pause, reduce, and prioritise what really works,” stated Pherwani.
In keeping with Devyani Ozarde, MD and Lead – Media & Leisure, Accenture in India, OTT platforms face profitability pressures as they navigate the rising demand for high-quality, multi-genre, multi-lingual content material, together with regional language choices. She stated, “Shoppers’ expectations and the affect of social media trendsetters have created an ‘impatience financial system,’ with content material creators dominating watch-time.”
Whereas profitability pressures contributed to the 2024 decline in content material quantity, Mautik Tolia, MD of Bodhitree Multimedia, additionally highlighted the impression of platform consolidation. “Mergers like Hotstar-JioCinema and the sooner ZEE-Sony integration led to lowered commissioning throughout these transitions, turning into a major motive for the lower.” Nonetheless, Tolia anticipates a rebound in content material quantity within the coming 12 months, significantly within the AVOD house, as platforms like MX Participant, which had been additionally present process consolidation, are anticipated to ramp up their choices. Tolia additionally added that this consolidation development affected general content material manufacturing, together with regional content material, which, regardless of being in a nascent stage, noticed a slight dip. Tolia views this discount in regional content material as a short-term impact, anticipating its quantity to rise once more, pushed by the AVOD methods of the newly fashioned entities.
The report additionally highlighted the impression of profitability administration on regional content material, noting a lower in its share of the general OTT content material quantity. Regional content material accounted for 48 % of the entire in 2024, down from 52 % in 2023, indicating a strategic adjustment by platforms to optimise their investments on this section as nicely.
New strategic path
In keeping with Abundantia Leisure founder, Vikram Malhotra, the 12 months 2024 marked a big rationalisation throughout the media and leisure trade, a brand new strategic path pushed not simply by price discount however by elementary shifts in income patterns and evolving client behaviour, together with altering tastes, display preferences, time spent, and content material consumption habits.
Malhotra stated, “Within the OTT sector, a discount in content material manufacturing or funding shouldn’t be seen as an absolute damaging. As a substitute, it signifies a real strategic realignment. Main OTT gamers purpose for broader and deeper penetration into the Indian market, focusing on the highest 100 cities, with a transparent concentrate on a number of languages and elevated funding in regional content material. From my perspective, this is not a trigger for fear however slightly the early phases of forming a strong technique for key OTT gamers.”
In the meantime, Pherwani shared that except there are vital surges in subscriptions, the fast development in content material quantity is unlikely to renew. “As a substitute, we’ll probably see a marginal enhance alongside an increase in lower-cost content material. This new content material, whereas being produced at a decrease price than premium originals, will probably be positioned as an improve from conventional tv, costing barely extra. The amount will once more develop in 2025 however the worth will come down as a result of loads will convert into this ‘TV plus plus pricing’,” stated Pherwani. As per the report, content material quantity is predicted to go up by 2 % to 2,672 hours in 2025 whereas manufacturing price is predicted to say no additional to INR 25.9 billion.
Subsequent part for OTT?
Ozarde believes that to stay aggressive, OTT platforms should strategically stability user-generated content material (UGC) with premium unique content material to cater to numerous viewers preferences whereas guaranteeing profitability.
She stated, “Embracing UGC options has opened new income alternatives by driving retention and engagement, however sustaining high-quality unique productions is crucial for differentiation and long-term success. The following part of development will depend on aligning content material and platform methods to optimize content material catalogues, mixing the strengths of UGC with premium choices to satisfy evolving client calls for.”
This evolving technique is rooted in a shift in viewers behaviour and platform maturity. As OTT gamers transfer past fast enlargement, Malhotra sees 2025 as a 12 months of consolidation and deeper market penetration. “Platforms should broaden past the highest 20 cities to achieve 200 with lively consumption,” he stated. He additionally pressured the rising significance of regional content material and multilingual accessibility, coupled with a sharper concentrate on return on funding. “Exorbitant manufacturing prices and illogical actor charges will want re-evaluation throughout the worth chain,” he added.
A key enabler of this shift would be the rise of extra inexpensive, accessible codecs. Pherwani pointed to the emergence of —TV plus plus content material—mid-tier productions that supply a step-up from conventional tv however stay cost-effective. “As OTT penetration crosses 100–150 million subscriptions, the number of content material will broaden considerably,” he stated. At the moment, drama and crime dominate with a 60 % share of viewership, adopted by comedy at 10 %, however that blend is about to broaden.
Including to this future-facing view, Tolia anticipated a powerful push for experimentation in content material codecs. He expects an increase in longer-form narratives, micro-dramas, and creator-led exhibits—particularly on platforms like YouTube. “With India’s digital content material market projected to achieve INR 1 lakh crore this 12 months, general funding in content material is predicted to extend,” Tolia famous.
