Netflix, Amazon, Hotstar long way from making profits in India
Live MintNew Delhi: India may be hoping to double its 250 million online video audience by 2020 but the close to 30 video streaming platforms in the country have a long way to go before any of them makes any real profit. Like Netflix, the road ahead is long for every other video streaming platform in India that is looking at cashing in on the country’s rapidly growing online video audience and is investing aggressively in original content. That explains why industry experts estimate the viewership of Sacred Games, Netflix’s first India original, to be a fraction of the 250 million large online video audience base in the country. “Roughly 70% of our audience is male, which mirrors the current online video audience in India to a great extent,” Roy said. “The advent of Reliance Jio hit the supply side of the OTT market, increasing the inventory but the advertising market did not grow to the extent to be able to balance the rates,” said Ali Hussein, chief operating officer, Eros Now, referring to the cheap data packs made available by players like Jio that have allowed a lot more online content to be created and consumed.