The Insights Summit in Mumbai: Key Takeaways

With the second largest population in the world, and ever-increasing internet penetration, the content streaming market in India offers massive potential for growth. According to analysis, the video market in the country was valued at $2.92 billion in 2022 and is expected to more than double by 2027, to reach just over $7 billion. With the aim of finding out more about the challenges and opportunities within this dynamic OTT video market, and to explore the pivotal roles UX Design, consumer engagement and innovation can play in strengthening existing offerings, we headed to Mumbai for the second event in our Insights Summit series.

Industry leaders Kanika Mohan Saxena of Vodafone Idea and Abhishek Joshi of Shemaroo Entertainment shared their extensive knowledge of India's media industry, and were joined by Accedo’s resident XR guru, Jose Somolinos in a panel discussion moderated by Chris McNair, Accedo’s Head of New Business & Strategy in APAC. Here are 3 key takeaways from the Mumbai event.

Many consumers are still consuming content on mobile devices

The video market in India is relatively young and many consumers are still mobile first, thanks in part to the affordability of smartphones and low cost of mobile data. It’s true that the number of households that consume content on a big screen is increasing, as smart TVs become more affordable. But crucially, viewers are streaming content on both big screens, and on smartphones, so video services need to ensure they are servicing both key consumer mediums when designing their platforms.

We know that internationally, many content and video services are designed for the big screen first, so unless it has been prioritized, the UX on mobile devices is often inherited and may result in an inferior user experience. Naturally, this only serves to repel users, so UX design, usability testing and creating dedicated user flows really needs to be prioritised across all devices, to ensure a seamless user experience.

Services need to innovate to engage consumers

India has a rapidly increasing population, and a particularly young demographic. Recent analysis found that 40% of Indians are under the age of 25. Naturally, this young demographic presents a challenge because it tends to be the older generation who has more disposable income. Services need to be designed with UX at their core, so that content can be effectively marketed and delivered, or they will not appeal to the younger generation. There is also a reluctance among Indian consumers to pay for content, because so much content has become available for free or for less amount. This makes it challenging for subscription video services to attract users. 

If we take a look back in time, Indian consumers were willing to pay for DTH services, willing to pay for cinema tickets to watch the latest movie, so the access and exposure to free content over recent years has changed consumer behavior, and media companies are finding it increasingly difficult to reverse this. Simply increasing prices is not the answer, so the media industry needs to find new innovative ways to monetize content. One example could be through enabling shopping transactions within content, so viewers can purchase items that they like directly from the content. This works with the Freemium model: consumers can continue to consume content in the way that they have grown used to, while at the same time, broadcasters and content owners can monetize content. Adopting XR technologies is another strategy that video providers can adopt to engage with the younger generation. 

 Emerging technologies

While we are starting to see investment in emerging technologies such as XR in some markets, the Indian market is watching these carefully to understand the potential for improving user engagement in the longterm. With the arrival of Apple Vision Pro anticipated for early next year, it will certainly be interesting to see the impact that will have on consumer adoption of these technologies. Media companies should be looking at experimenting with XR to be ahead of the curve and tap into the anticipated excitement. 

Despite the challenges that the OTT video market faces in India, the future prospects for growth remain incredibly promising. As internet infrastructure improves, Smart TV adoption increases, and disposable incomes rise, the demand for quality video entertainment will continue to surge. This, coupled with innovation, will help ensure that the OTT industry will continue to thrive.

To find out more about how Accedo can support you to build video-centric solutions that inspire and empower the next generation, get in touch.