We have moved from the times when every Indian household would gather around a bright luminous black and white box and wait eagerly for the program to start. Having a TV antenna on one’s terrace was considered to be a matter of pride.
With rapid globalization over the last decade, there has been a remarkable rise in newer Indian viewership who wants the best. From NGC, Discovery, Star, Zee, Sony all these are part of a huge market that is home to the one of the most number of viewers in the world.A popular YouTube satirical channel TVF said about media, “Television was more of limited meals back in those days, but today it has become a buffet of all sorts “. We have over 55 million users visiting Youtube every month. India has approximately over 270 million TV households, of which over 240 million are cable and satellite households and about 60 million are DTH.
There are currently 1148 permitted private satellite television stations in India and the number will grow further. As newer channels start seeping in, the viewer is obsessed with the relatively new shows. But people now want to watch it at their time and not get tied down to a particular showtime. The viewership has thus started changing to video-on-demand online and offline.
Video on Demand (VOD) are systems which allow users the choice to watch/listen to video and audio content when they choose to, rather than having to watch at a specific time.
To cash in on this opportunity there are many big players who have realized the demand of this market.
Netflix
Netflix is a global provider of streaming movies and TV series, has over 75 million subscribers as of 2016. Netflix started as an American DVD-by-mail service in 1998, and began streaming in 2007. Netflix expanded with streaming to Canada in 2010and now serves over 190 countries with streaming. This service is now available in India and gaining popularity with each day. It is available in 3 options basic, standard and premium @ 500, 650 and 800 respectively.
ErosNow
ErosNow launched in 2012. The platform has a selection of over 1000 movies, over 6500 music videos, 6000 TV episodes and over 80,000 audio tracks. It offers Bollywood and regional Indian movies, TV shows, music and music videos anywhere on the go. It is available over internet enabled devices in 3 forms. Free service provides limited movies and shows. At 49 rupees per month you get unlimited movies, shows with no ads and the premium version at Rs. 99 gives you additional benefit of subtitles and HD steaming.
BIGFLIX
Started in 2008 with a purpose of making movie watching convenient, portable and affordable.There initial DVD distribution service was discontinued after a while and now they provide on Demand online streaming service in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and multiple regional languages. Unlimited viewing is available at just Rs. 249 per month.
Box TV
Owned by Times group, this service was launched in 2013. Box TV offers some free content supported by advertisement and rest is offered with monthly subscription charges. Like others this service too is accessible via web browsers, iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices,Kindle Fire, TV-connected platforms such as EvoTV, Roku and WoxiSmartPod. Their plans start at 49 rupees per month and premium pack at 199 per month.
Ditto TV
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited launched Ditto TV in 2012. It offers live breaking news, live sports, live daily soaps, top TV shows, music videos and your favorite blockbuster movies on the go. Monthly and yearly subscription is available from 150 per month to 1099 per annum.
Qwik Entertainment
Qwik Entertainment is promoted by the Valuable Group. Qwik Entertainment is a unique Video on Demand service which enables seamless streaming of HD VOD content on existing RF cable network. This service requires on internet bandwidth. It partners with cable operators to provide unlimited Hollywood, Bollywood, Regional Movies, Catchup TV.
TataSky
Catching up on your favourite shows without the need to record that is what Tatasky+ HD subscribers have now got along with Video on demand movies. The movie library is an assortment of old and new movies with a collection of 500 to 1000 titles across multiple genres and languages. Catch up TV offers top shows from all the popular channels.
Airtel DTH
Airtel provides 1600+ titles of latest movies, sitcoms through their HD, HD+ or HD-DVR through set top box. It also allows viewers to catch up on last 6 dayas of TV shows of top 35 channels. It charges 30 rupees for this service.
Voot
Viacom 18 will be launching Voot soon. This will be launched with over 17000 hours of content across languages and genres inclusive of TV shows, kids programming and films. Voot will also boost of original content which will be demarcated based on genres such as reality, comedy, drama etc. VOOT is free, ad supported, digital video on demand joint venture between Viacom Inc. and the Network 18 group.
This is just the tip of the iceberg with many other players like Videocon, Dish TV, Spuul, Ogle also running the race. Both existing DTH players and independent players are trying to entice as many subscribers to their platform as possible offering them better and newer content. With all this it just goes to prove that the Viewer was and always will be the King!!
