With viewers more and more given to scrolling on smartphones even whereas they watch OTT content material, creators and platforms concede they’re battling a stiff competitors from smaller, second screens that distract and interact customers away from the long-format content material that they have been watching. Because of this, exhibits and movies must hook the viewer throughout the first jiffy, and likewise veer in the direction of gentle programming that may be adopted whereas scrolling. No surprise then that darkish mysteries and dystopian tales are step by step getting junked, giving option to extra slice-of-life dramas or immediately relatable, compelling tales.
“We’ve noticed a rising development of audiences participating with second screens, scrolling by way of Reels or short-form content material on cell gadgets, whereas consuming OTT content material. This phenomenon displays the shifting consideration spans of viewers and their choice for multi-tasking,” stated Kaushik Das, founder and CEO of AAO NXT, an Odia language platform.
To adapt, the platform has targeted on creating content material that hooks the viewers throughout the first jiffy, guaranteeing they continue to be engaged. “We additionally prioritize immersive storytelling with compelling visuals and concise narratives, as these usually tend to maintain viewers invested, even in a multi-screen atmosphere,” Das added.
Shift in content material preferences
Content material creators need to consistently maintain the Reels era in thoughts and account for the truth that consideration and persistence ranges are down, director and producer Siddharth P. Malhotra stated. “No one has time for slow-burn sort of exhibits anymore. Episodes need to be stored tight, and seem binge-worthy proper from the beginning. A viewer who finishes the primary episode is extra more likely to strive the second, after which full the season,” Malhotra defined.
This development is extra pronounced amongst youthful viewers who toggle between streaming platforms and social media apps like Instagram, YouTube, and WhatsApp, Neena Dasgupta – founder and CEO, The Salt Inc, an unbiased content material and design company, stated. “This behavioural perception has been essential in shaping content material methods. It’s now not nearly telling a compelling story however about telling it in a method that connects even in a distracted atmosphere. Key moments—be it a suspenseful twist, a punchline, or a robust visible are crafted to chop by way of the noise and draw the viewer again to the display screen,” Dasgupta stated.
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Leveraging native expertise, genuine areas, and culturally-resonant themes—one thing regional hits have mastered, is one option to obtain this. It not solely retains budgets in examine but additionally makes the content material really feel extra private and related to viewers, Dasgupta stated. Shorter episode lengths are one other sensible option to align with shrinking consideration spans, providing participating experiences that match seamlessly into busy schedules.
Chandrashekhar Mantha, accomplice, media and leisure sector chief, Deloitte India, stated that over 75% of Indian digital customers interact in second display screen viewing, pushed by the rising affordability of smartphones and higher web penetration.
“The typical Indian family now owns two to 3 linked gadgets, enabling extra simultaneous second-screen utilization. Second-screen viewing is a quite common phenomenon globally. Consuming content material on the cell phone whereas watching tv and switching from OTT to another social media content material the place notifications are enabled by the customers can also be frequent. Extremely participating content material, after all, has decrease probabilities of switching. As platforms begin to monitor viewership traits on a extra real-time foundation, they may improve viewers engagement by way of second-screen improvements to scale back switching,” Mantha added.
To make sure, audiences more and more scrolling by way of their telephones and consuming short-form content material, whereas concurrently watching longer-form content material on OTTs, signify a shift in the direction of a extra fragmented viewing expertise the place folks readily swap between totally different content material codecs based mostly on their speedy wants and a focus span.
Rajat Agrawal, chief working officer, Extremely Media & Leisure Group, stated the rise of short-form content material is essentially attributed to shorter consideration spans, significantly amongst youthful generations, preferring fast, bite-sized leisure available on their telephones.
In accordance with Samar Khan, CEO of Juggernaut Productions, the content-creation hub owned by IN10 Media Community, it’s a problem to have interaction audiences who are sometimes distracted by second screens. Whereas immersive storytelling remains to be essential for long-form, first-screen content material, the panorama for short-form content material remains to be evolving. Although it’s too early to make definitive predictions about the way forward for short-form content material in India, genres like high-impact dramas and younger grownup love tales present potential to resonate with audiences, he added.
“We’ve been monitoring viewers who use a second display screen whereas watching OTT content material—this development has been rising for fairly a while. In response, we produce short-form content material throughout a number of platforms and codecs, together with unique behind-the-scenes footage, story parts not seen within the episodes, chat present segments, podcasts, and debate battles. Our objective is to supply a extra immersive expertise for individuals who wish to delve deeper into the present’s world,” stated Sai Abishek, head of factual and way of life cluster, South Asia, Warner Bros. Discovery.
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