While the U.S. is the most developed market where the battle is being fiercely fought, India has recently kick started the OTT game. DTH and telecom operators have shown high adoption of OTT Live TV and VoD technology, however OTT subscriber growth is very slow.
Aimed at decoding the current situation of India OTT and Mobile TV industry, IndianMediaBook gets in conversation with Dushyant Kohli, Head Growth, NexGTv.
Edited Excerpts.
What are the changing trends witnessed in OTT and VOD segment in India?
As more and more content consumption shifts to mobile devices including smartphones and tablets, the biggest and most prominent trend is the growth in both production as well as consumption of premium original video content. Given the rising consumer proclivity towards exploring innovative genres and content formats, a large number of content producers, aggregators and publishers have entered this domain in an attempt to produce fresh and unique content for the discerning Indian and global audience who is in the midst of shifting from appointment viewing to an on-demand viewing.
Couple of other factors include reducing time gap between availability of fresh content such as latest movie releases on larger screens as well as digital platforms together with the undisputed growth in the concept and adoption of digital content snacking compared to traditional TV viewing, across all OTT and VOD platforms.
What are the major challenges OTT players are facing at the moment?
While there are a host of challenges being faced by OTT players, the principle one pertains to the lack of stable mobile broadband connectivity throughout the country which ensures that for now, a seamless streaming experience for customers remains a distant dream. Growth in 3G & 4G penetration is expected to however bridge that gap over time.
Others include the choice of a viable business model (AVOD vs. SVOD) as well as operating in a non-existing regulatory framework that can help govern access to content in the OTT space and ensure a fair-n-level playing field for players.
With over ten players in the space, creating sustainable brand and product differentiation using parameters such as Original content, innovative formats, easy content discovery as well as payments and an end-to-end engagement experience (UI/UX) – are forthcoming challenges that are expected to become credible influencers and eventually define consumer connect, stickiness as well as the ultimate category winner, since it will be impossible for consumers to download and juggle between 10 different video apps.
Broadcasters and production houses are coming out with their own OTT platforms. How it’s affecting the performance of OTT players?
Competition is positive for consumers as well as the category, as it gives them a wide choice of entertainment options and keeps everyone’s innovation hungry and on their toes.
In the emerging scenario where viewers are increasingly foraging for hi-quality engaging content as well the rise in subscription models such as ours, being broadcaster-agnostic is actually an advantage, as it’ll be extremely unrealistic to expect subscribers to retain Apps for each and every OTT platform on their devices.
Users increasingly prefer watering holes or content hubs such as nexGTv to enjoy the variety of content most broadcasters offer, mixed with original content. Examples of such innovation include SpotLight – India’s first mobile-based talent discovery video platform together with master director and ace storyteller Imtiaz Ali as well as India’s first ever mobi-sode It’s My City, with none other than Bollywood actor and global style icon Priyanka Chopra.
Who do you see as competition both nationally and internationally? How do you plan to compete with them?
As mentioned above, competition – national or international is extremely positive for consumers as well as the category as it drives choice and innovation. In fact, the scale of competition and the entry of foreign players only ratify our presence in this sector together with the validation of our subscription-led business model.
We feel there is adequate room for everyone to grow and craft their respective value propositions in this growing sector. As an OTT/ Mobile TV pioneer, our rich experience of the last 5 years provides us a host of insights about consumers and their consumption patterns, helping us define and strengthen our positioning as a creator of premium, original content.
We envision a bright future for OTT services in India. The market is expanding at a furious pace and the entry of global players in this sector is evidence of its attractiveness. With growth in broadband (3G & 4G), affordable data plans together with growing smartphone penetration, the sector is fast approaching an inflection point, and increasingly, apart from content – which forms the backbone for most players, other allied parameters such as fresh and interesting content, innovative formats, ease of content discovery, data saving initiatives as well as immersive viewing experiences (UI/UX) are expected to become powerful influencers that define consumer connect, platform stickiness will eventually decide the winner.
What are the challenges that you foresee from Netflix in India?
Their entry only ratifies our presence in this sector together with the validation of our subscription-led business model. In fact, together with others, they will help in broadening and deepening the market for original, subscription-led content, spur innovation, improve quality benchmarks, making the entire industry seasoned and mature. The digital/ mobile video market is evolving every day and even with over 10 players, there is adequate room for everyone to grow and define their unique value proposition.
How would you define your core TG and what are your strategies to take NexGTv’s services to its TG?
NexGTv’s target audience is the digitally-savvy, internet-enabled device owner, looking for on-the-go quality entertainment options while residing in Tier 1/ Tier 2 cities. While our content appeals to both men and women, we have a higher proportion of male subscribers, reflective of India’s internet demographics.
Age is no barrier for entertainment and we employ a host of measures to not just reach and attract our pan-India consumer base to the platform but to also improve their engagement with our service via weekly, fortnightly and monthly subscription packs.
One of the biggest assets is our unique, one-click integration with all leading Indian telcos such as Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, BSNL which ensures that we’re always accessible to both customers as well as prospects. Other measures to improve traction include a well-defined engagement strategy comprising targeted Push notifications or mobile alerts sent to app owners complemented with interactions on social channels (owned platforms) and business alliances to amplify our access.
We’re also available at all leading e-tailing platforms including Amazon, Flipkart and ShopClues.com with our longer term validity packs of 3, 6 and 12-months to ensure we cover all possible footprints of our customers. Our unique 24×7 customer service desk ensures round the clock usage, installation and billing support for all our subscribers.
We’re also constantly investing in bringing about continuous improvements in NexGTv’s user experience to promote customer engagement, usage and advocacy. In order to maximize customer satisfaction and ensure minimum churn, we also employ a host of initiatives that are focused on driving re-engagement and re-targeting.
How dense is your user base is? Please share the popular demographics.
With over 25million profiles, NexGTv is India’s biggest subscription-led video entertainment app. We typically get close to 1.5 million unique consumers every month on our platform and that figure recently grew to become almost double, when we premiered India’s first ever mobisode – It’s My City – a 14-episode bi-weekly series about the lives and challenges of four girls in a city far from home, together with Priyanka Chopra.
Our platform appeal extends to both men and women from 15 – 45 years – the same segments who make up 75 per cent or three-quarters of India’s internet users, a majority of whom belong to the top 10 metros and mini-metros having good quality mobile broadband available.
Which are your biggest markets? How much transaction is coming from non-tier I cities?
We get strong traction from the top 10 metros and mini-metros together with substantial hours of usage from Tier 2 towns, which is on an upswing, as network connectivity and smartphone revolution starts to penetrate the country’s hinterland. We estimate traffic from tier 2 cities to further increase with time.
How big is the opportunity for the regional content? What kind of response NexGTv is receiving of its regional offerings?
Needless to say, the regional content and market opportunity is substantial and growing. For the moment however, we’ve decided against going deep in this market and instead will continue to maintain our broad-based approach that includes maintaining a judicious mix of content in 10-12 major languages with some regional ones. Our focus this year will be to take the nexGTv App global and into the international market while simultaneously fine-tuning our offerings for certain key segments.
What are the marketing spends planned for 2016? What is the portion allotted to social media?
We intend to spend about 20 per cent of our budgets for marketing during the year from which a significant portion is expected to be allotted to social media given the digital nature of our business and the efficacies of the medium.
Please share your digital mix?
Our digital strategy consists of a well-defined and robust marketing mix comprising paid, earned and owned media deployed for acquisition, engagement as well as retention. This is undertaken via affiliate and subscription campaigns as well as re-targeting initiatives for user acquisition, emails and in-app messaging for engagement and re-engagement aside from amplification activities on social channels. We also receive a fair mix of coverage via earned channels such as proactive marketing and PR.
What are your future plans? What new to expect from NexGTv in coming days?
These are exciting times both for the OTT/ Mobile TV industry as well as for NexGTv. There are just so many possibilities for growth and expansion and despite the presence of multiple players there is enough room for everyone.
We intend to not only expand the proportion of premium content on our platform but also ensure we leverage the insights gleaned from our 25 million plus users to create new offerings and fine-tune the appeal and adoption of existing ones. There are a range of surprises in store as we enter FY 2016.
