India is among the fastest growing markets for Amazon Prime Video (APV) worldwide, and the content streaming platform is targeting its investments to bring in more content and expand the service to a larger audience in the country, a company chief executive said.
APV, which has recently partnered with Airtel to deliver a mobile-only (first-world) plan to Indian consumers, is competing with platforms like Netflix, Disney + Hotstar, Zee5 and others in the country.
“We’ve been in the country for the last four years and growing steadily … APV is being looked at in over 4,300 cities and towns in the country, and India is Among the fastest growing markets for Prime and APV, content across 10 languages, both originals and movies, has helped us, “Amazon Prime Video India Director General and Country General Manager Gaurav Gandhi told PTI.
He also said that with more customers choosing to watch content online, there would be as many people watching video online as there would be on TV over the next three to four years.
The company does not publish country-specific membership numbers. While previously, the APV service was packaged with the e-commerce giant’s flagship offering, Airtel’s latest partnership will allow prepaid users to view the large telecom APV content as a standalone offering.
Streaming services that have grown in India over the last few years have had many tails. Factors such as affordable data, access to mobile phones and attractive content have driven the uptake of these services, especially among millennials.
Even though living room TV consumption continues to grow strongly, mobile phones remain a key medium for people to access content with around 85 percent of India’s internet-driven internet access. mobile.
Gandhi said APV has invested deeply across Indian language films and shows. He cited examples of exhibitions such as Four more shots please, Lok Paatal, Bandish Bandits and Breathe introduced last year, followed by films such as Shakuntala Devi, Situlao Gulabo no Coolie No. 1 at the end of the year.
APV included content in other Indian languages CU Short (Malayalam), V. (Telugu), Soorarai Pottru (Tamil), CD AB Aani (Marathi), Vandhal Ponmagal (Tamil), Law (Kannada), Comedy Semma Comicstaan Pa (Tamil original series) and Putham Pudhu Kaalai (Collection of five Tamil films).
“As we get in early 2021, we have our first major original version of the year with Tandav. So we have a consistent drum of content, not just in Hindi but across languages, which is continue to receive new messages for us and engage with our existing ones, “he said.
Gandhi noted that there is a strong demand for international shows also in India, and Indian shows are finding an audience in global markets.
“Our Indian exhibitions are consumed all over the world, one in five customers of our India is outside India. Our international exhibitions are get coverage – with the dubs and subs – across the country, so we are very proud to be able to offer all kinds of options and will continue to invest behind it on all sides. off, “he said.
Gandhi said APV has more than 30 performances in production and more than 50 in development, and continues to bring films across languages to the stage within weeks of theater release .
“We really feel very good about our content investments as well as marketing, and we have invested heavily in our product to make it local. You can add the UI as a local language, we are available on almost every possible device, we have partnerships with telcos and TV distributors … So we feel good about our lineup, investments and growth going on forward, “he said.
Adoption of these across the most advanced platforms (OTT) such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney + Hotstar has further accelerated the time of lockout with pandemic among limited social activities such as visiting movie theaters.
When asked if consumption could fall as the situation surrounding the pandemic improves, Gandhi responded in the negative.
“I don’t think changing the behavior of people who come online and experience high-quality content is interactive, it’s for good. As soon as you get used to watching online content at a time, place and device of your choice and you get access to the high-quality, high-quality cinematic.value content or early window movies, then you usually don’t say I’m not to watch more videos online. I think the move to experience online video is more lasting, “he explained.
He said APV continues to see massive customer purchases and high communication on the platform.
“There is so much room for overall growth in this industry and we are all just starting out with customers watching more and more videos online,” he said.
On the issue of content management on OTT platforms, Gandhi said: “I think the key aspect about finding the right balance between what the customer chooses to look at, is what what our creators can create and what the laws of the land are, and we are very much aiming at finding that balance. “
“We have always done that and will continue to do so as we go along,” he said.