Now Streaming: The Battle For Ott Dominance: Audio Transcript

NOW STREAMING:
THE BATTLE FOR

OTT DOMINANCE
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
It’s 6.30 a.m. on April 15, 2019. While some So, what will differentiate successful OTT
people in India are getting out of bed or getting players from unsuccessful ones?
their kids ready for school, thousands of others
are turning to their mobile phones and smart In this article, we delve into the key questions
TVs. Why? To live stream the first episode of the industry leaders are thinking about while
eighth and final season of the epic fantasy evaluating the role of the digital video sector in
drama series, Game of Thrones. the overall media landscape. We’ll also look at
how players can prepare themselves for the
With the rise of Over the Top (OTT) video future.
streaming players in India, people no longer
have to wait several days or weeks to watch PRIMETIME FOR OTT
their favourite shows. They can watch them in
real time, uncut and uncensored, simultaneously The launch of Reliance Jio in September 2016
with millions of other fans worldwide. triggered a revolution in the domestic telecom
sector. Data consumption skyrocketed.
It’s no surprise then that pay-TV is showing Competition intensified. Tariff wars began. With
strong signs of slowing down globally, both in the average price of a smartphone being INR
terms of subscriptions (total number of pay-TV 10,000 and a quarter of mobile user base
subscribers dropped 4.1 percent in 2018)1 and already owning smartphones, OTT streaming
viewing time. While the trend will take time to players brought in content accessibility to
catch on in India, its onset is inevitable. At the ensure that anyone with a smartphone could
same time, buoyed by the convergence of low stream videos, most of them for free. OTT
data prices, accessible handsets, a wide streaming services allowed content creators to
ecosystem of content creators and an absence create hyper-segmentation, which allowed them
of sharply segmented content options on to target youth with niche and specialty content.
mainstream TV, India is well on its way to Broadcasters had a lot of intellectual property—
becoming the second-largest digital video their own content— which they could use to
viewing market by 2020. power their own OTT platforms. With more than
600 million people in India below the age of 25
Although TV and video streaming in India are in 2018, this enabling ecosystem led to a surge
expected to co-exist in the near to midterm in OTT services uptake.
future, adoption of OTT technologies is
outpacing, and will continue to outpace, the THE BIG PICTURE
growth of TV, especially among the younger
audiences. With more than 30 active OTT Now that the dust on the initial burst has settled,
players and counting, competition for eyeballs stakeholders in the value chain, such as content
and share of wallet in the growing OTT creators and aggregators, have turned their
streaming pie is also intensifying. attention to matters other than customer
acquisition. Here are three pertinent questions
India’s data usage per smartphone is the highest they need to ask to push for revenue growth.
in the world at 10 gigabits per month. This figure
can double by 2025, fueled by video streaming.
1. Is OTT streaming additive to the category of reassure the consumer base that the currency of
video viewership or is it growing in lieu of other trust is being safeguarded and will not become a
segments? deterrent to usage and growth in the times to
come.
Cord-cutting—the process of cutting expensive
cable connections and switching to a low-cost FORMULA FOR A SUPERHIT
TV channel subscription through OTT
broadcast—as a phenomenon is showing signs So, how can players of this delicately poised
of growth in urban markets. But it is nowhere sector go on to become leaders of new-age
near as pronounced as it is in the US or entertainment services? Through a combination
European markets. Almost all data sources point of insights from Accenture research and
to OTT growth being strongly additive to the discussions with industry leaders, we have
overall video growth. With an estimated base of narrowed down to five key tenets for OTT
250 million users, OTT as a sector is no longer providers to make a wise pivot and succeed over
playing at the fringes but is a mainstream media the next 18–24 months.
segment in its own right. Strictly viewed from this
lens, it has been a resounding success and has 1. HYPER-SEGMENT YOUR CONTENT OR
led to the overall growth of the media sector. GO MASS
2. What is the tipping point for the OTT sector OTT players will need to choose which side they
where the scale of viewership translates into want to lean on—create ultra-niche, super-
revenues? specialty content or create content for the
While the current user base statistic of masses. Any muddled thinking on this will lead
approximately 250 million is impressive, it is to a subpar product. In the future, consumer
expected to grow dramatically to half a billion by technology companies will increasingly focus on
the coming year. But more importantly, almost all original content to retain their hold over a loyal
global and domestic operators are finding it consumer base.
challenging to monetize this ever-growing base
of consumers. Fiber-to-the-home is the big hope Hence, it is imperative for current OTT players to
the industry is banking on to help scale up understand their consumers and create content
monetization through increased at-home based on their needs.
consumption. However, this challenge is not
unique to India. 2. PARTNER TO ONBOARD, NOT TO
SYNDICATE
Globally, digital video viewing has 45 percent of
the overall viewing share but only 23 percent of Partnerships will continue to be a key avenue for
the proportionate revenue share. growth for OTT players. This construct provides
a win-win opportunity for both players as well as
How players in India bridge this divide through consumers. But it is crucial for the players to
inventive pricing and product disruptions will be leverage these partnerships strategically.
the key factor in determining whether this sector Partnerships should be used to enable sampling,
can elbow its way to the top in the media not for short-term syndication gains. Ensuring
industry revenue sweepstakes. that the service owns the consumer should be
the initial objective, with an intent to monetize
3. How will the sector deal with the trust this acquired user base in the long run.
dilemma?
3. SELF-REGULATE TO BUILD TRUST
Though not in the same boat as the social media
bigwigs struggling to retain user trust, the OTT streaming services in India have a low
absence of formal regulation is increasingly barrier to entry, and that has led to a perception
becoming a hotly debated topic for OTT problem regarding data misuse and unsuitability
providers. Whether it’s about personal data or of content.
just the nature of unregulated content available
on these services, there is a need to do more to
Families are wary of unsupervised access, Every initiative focused on content, engagement,
fearing exposure to inappropriate content or growth and monetization must be based on
advertisements. In such a scenario, self- consumer and business needs. OTT providers
regulation is the best way forward for OTT that create and sustain consumer relevance in
players even as the government mulls bringing this dynamic, hyper-competitive market will be
in some form of regulation. This will enable the the winners of this exciting shake-out.
sector, as a whole, to build trust with consumers.
This article is written by
4. BE INNOVATION-LED
ADITYA CHAUDHURI
OTT streaming services have grown significantly Managing Director and Lead - Communications,
on the back of an enabling environment, but the Media and Technology, Accenture in India
next spurt of growth will need to be innovation-
led. Companies will need to come up with new AND
engagement innovations using experiential
technologies such as Extended Reality and MATTEO MAGA, Managing Director and Lead –
human-computer interactions such as gesture Communications & Media, AAPAC Accenture
recognition and multi-persona
recommendations. Also, pricing innovations
such as sachet pricing and Transaction Video on
Demand can extend the experience and
enhance interaction with consumers. The key
challenge will be to cross-engage the new
generation viewers with traditional viewers to
build a monetizable base for subscription or
advertising-led models.
5. FOCUS ON THE NOW, AND THE NEW
While OTT streaming services focus on planning

for the next wave of growth, they also need to
invest strategically in their current set of
services. This will enable them to improve and
build upon their core capabilities, while
accelerating investments and embracing new
technologies. This approach will assure
continued revenue generation from the core
business, which can be reinvested in the future
of the business. It is important to strike a balance
between the Now and the New. Often, while
organizations are busy racing to get to the New,
the core business may falter, depriving them of
the revenue and resources needed to compete
while attempting to transform.
TUNE INTO NEW POSSIBILITIES
The prioritization and delivery of these five

tenets will require bold vision and intense focus.
When done right, it will prepare OTT players to
thrive in the New. The transformation will begin Copyright © 2019 Accenture
with adapting to new technologies and new ways All rights reserved.
of doing business, and then moving on to Accenture, its logo, and High
building capabilities to deliver services at speed Performance Delivered are
and scale. trademarks of Accenture.

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NOW STREAMING:

THE BATTLE FOR

5. FOCUS ON THE NOW, AND THE NEW

While OTT streaming services focus on planning

TUNE INTO NEW POSSIBILITIES

The prioritization and delivery of these five

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