Sport Dominates as India’s Premium Streaming Market Recovers to Reach $1 Billion Half-Year Revenues, Says Report

As a long-time resident of India and avid consumer of digital content, I can confidently say that the Indian streaming sector is experiencing nothing short of a revolution! With revenues surging by 38%, it’s clear that the demand for premium video-on-demand content is skyrocketing.


The earnings from India’s high-tier video-on-demand industry saw an impressive jump of 38%, amounting to approximately $1.04 billion in the first part of the current year. This is a significant increase from the $760 million generated during the same period in 2023. The report, released recently, indicates that local content, particularly live sports, has been the primary focus across the nation’s advertising-supported (AVOD), freemium, and subscription-based (SVOD) services.

According to Media Partners Asia, a consultancy firm, data from the AMPD passive measurement system shows that a staggering 8 trillion minutes of content were streamed in India between January and June. YouTube reigned supreme in the Indian streaming market, accounting for an impressive 92% of all online video consumption. The rest, amounting to 8%, was handled by premium platforms. Within the premium video segment, which clocked 645 billion minutes, freemium platforms held the lion’s share with a 92% viewing time percentage.

Despite having a small customer base in the large and budget-conscious Indian market, premium and Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) platforms are well-known because they generate significantly more income compared to their market share.

As a passionate cinema-goer, I can’t help but share some intriguing insights about what really caught viewers’ attention this year. Sports content, it seems, was the clear winner, claiming the highest number of unique viewers! Remarkably, an impressive nine out of the top 15 titles fell under the sports genre. Among these, cricket stood out as a crowd favorite. The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 were undeniably the stars that drew massive viewership, making a significant impact on the overall ratings.

The significance is clear in the ongoing disagreement between Disney India and Zee Entertainment Enterprises regarding their failed cricket rights agreement. Moreover, there’s regulatory attention focused on the potential merge between the media ventures of Reliance Industries Limited and those belonging to Disney India.

In the premium Video on Demand (VOD) market segment, Reliance’s Jio Cinema, Netflix, and Disney+ Hotstar accounted for approximately 70% of the total earnings. In the first half of 2024, Jio Cinema held the top position with a revenue share of around 36%, while Netflix dominated the standalone SVOD (Streaming Video on Demand) market with a 38% share, according to Media Partners Asia’s recent report.

Following a challenging year in 2023, Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) subscriptions surged from 110 million to 120 million during the first half of 2024. The Indian market for affluent audiences is growing, and Netflix and Prime Video are leveraging this expansion by investing in local productions. These two platforms combined made up almost 70% of SVOD earnings in the first half of 2024. Additionally, Jio Cinema’s introduction of an affordable subscription plan has increased the diversity of SVOD viewers, encouraging more individuals to pay for streaming content, as reported by Media Partners Asia.

A recent report from a different consulting firm revealed that the Indian streaming market experienced a 14% rise in streaming subscribers over the past year, reaching an impressive 547 million users. Notably, this expansion was solely attributed to the growth of the Ad-Supported Video on Demand (AVOD) segment.

The pace of subscriber growth is expected to persist in the second half of 2024, fueled by collaborations and stronger ties with telecommunications companies, pay-TV service providers, and original equipment manufacturers. Furthermore, during the holiday quarter, advertising expenditure should be strong due to the festive season. Although there are no major sports events scheduled, spending will instead focus on notable non-fiction series on premium video-on-demand platforms. A substantial share of this spending will return to popular user-generated content platforms with wide reach,” commented Mihir Shah, Vice President of MPA India.

During the second half of 2024, Netflix and Prime Video have a lot of content lined up. For platforms that offer free services with premium features, spending on entertainment is returning, now focusing on formats such as TV++. These formats resemble daily soap operas, with anywhere from 40 to over 120 episodes per season. Interestingly, these cost-effective options have shown success in attracting new users and boosting engagement.

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2024-09-19 08:48