netflix: OTTs may spend less on entertainment shows amid focus on margins

Over-the-top (OTT) platforms are likely to ease spending on entertainment content due to hectic merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the media sector, impacting commissioning of fresh content amid stagnation in subscriber growth and a renewed focus on profitability after years of unbridled investment, say experts.

Experts believe that OTT entertainment content spending will continue to be driven by streaming giants Netflix and Amazon Prime Video as Indian media companies are either recalibrating their content strategy or going slow on greenlighting new shows due to M&A activities.

According to Media Partners Asia (MPA) research, online video contribution to total content investments including TV and films has nearly tripled since the pandemic with total video content investments touching $5.8 billion in 2023. “We estimate a slight fall of 5% in 2024. Some of the key factors are the sluggishness in the SVOD (subscription video on demand) market, move towards profitability, and attempt at TV plus content cost models,” said Ashish Pherwani, media & entertainment leader, EY India.

According to the latest FICCI-EY report on the entertainment sector, online video content investment in 2023 stood at ₹12,500 crore ($1.4 billion), with live sports comprising nearly 51% of the spending and the remaining 49% on originals and films. SonyLIV content head Saugata Mukherjee said there will be a correction on the number of Hindi originals produced by OTT platforms. “There was a sudden glut of shows all across; I feel that will come down. And more of the same will no longer work,” he added.

The Sony Pictures Networks India-owned streaming platform is scaling up original content offerings in non-Hindi languages such as Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, and Bangla. “We will also continue to expand our unscripted and premium television content pipeline,” Mukherjee said. The FICCI-EY report said that 48% of all OTT titles produced were in Hindi, compared to 52% in other Indian languages. In 2023, streaming platforms produced a staggering 3,000 hours of original content. “Given the flurry of M&A activities among major networks, the commissioning of new projects has taken a backseat over the last 4-6 months,” noted MPA VP Mihir Shah.