OTT Penetration In India Grows By 13.8%: Report

Ormax Media released the latest edition of its comprehensive OTT audience research, 'The Ormax OTT Audience Report: 2024'. Conducted in June and July 2024 with a sample size of 12,000 from urban and rural India, the report provides key insights into the OTT landscape.

The report finds that the Indian OTT audience now totals 547.3 million (54.73 crores) with a penetration rate of 38.4 per cent, marking a 13.8 per cent increase from 2023, driven by a 21 per cent rise in the AVOD segment while the SVOD segment declined by 2 per cent. The report defines OTT viewers as those who watched at least one online video (free or paid) in the past month and provides a breakdown by gender, age, NCCS, pop strata, states and cities.

Speaking about the findings of the report, Keerat Grewal, Head of Business Development (Streaming, TV & Brands), Ormax Media, said: “While the overall expansion rate of the OTT universe has stably been around the 13 per mark post-pandemic, this year’s report highlights the significant role of AVOD segment in expanding the universe. The growth is driven by AVOD audiences, with most of the new entrants into the category watching video content only on YouTube and social media. The stagnation in SVOD audience size is also reflective of the trend whereby free content is driving OTT growth in small town and rural India”. 

The report shows India has 99.6 million active paid OTT subscriptions, similar to last year. However, the average number of platforms subscribed to per paying user has decreased from 2.8 to 2.5, indicating a reduced preference for multiple subscriptions.

Smartphones are the preferred device for watching OTT content, with 97 per cent of the audience using them and 81 per cent exclusively watching on smartphones. The connected TV audience is estimated at 69.7 million.

Elaborating on the significance of the report, Grewal said, “This year’s report offers an in-depth look at the dynamic growth and future trajectory of the OTT landscape in India, that can help OTT platforms and agencies with growth strategy, acquisition and retention decisions, revenue planning and content strategy. We have also expanded the scope of this year’s report to provide an insight into devices of consumption, which will help in defining distribution strategy. This report stands as a testament to Ormax Media’s ongoing commitment to providing insights that empower platforms, production companies, and agencies to enhance profitability through data and analytics.”