SVOD subscribers: India has 130.2 million direct, indirect SVOD subscribers: Ormax

The Indian over-the-top (OTT) market has 130.2 million paying (SVOD) (subscription video on demand) audiences compared to 110.5 million in 2021, media consulting firm Ormax Media has said in its latest study titled The Ormax OTT Audience Sizing Report 2022. The total SVOD base has expanded by 18%.

The direct SVOD subscriber base stood at 49 million while the indirect SVOD subscriber base came in at 81.2 million. The direct and in-direct SVOD subscribers have grown by 19% and 16% respectively over 2021.

The study also reveals that there are currently 119 million active paid OTT subscriptions in India which translate to an average of 2.4 subscriptions per paying audience member.

It also noted that 65% of the paid subscriptions are with male audiences. The top 6 metros contribute only 10% to India’s OTT universe but 33% to total paid subscriptions in India. Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai are the top 3, with more than 8.5 Million active paid subscriptions each.
The Indian OTT audience universe currently stands at 423.8 million (or 42.38 Crore) people which is a 20% growth from 353.2 million in 2021. This translated into a penetration of 30% of the total population universe.

This means that 3 out of 10 Indians watched online videos at least once in the last month, the study said. The research, based on a sample size of 13,500 across urban and rural India, was conducted from July to September 2022.

Speaking about the need for the report, Shailesh Kapoor, Founder & CEO – Ormax Media, said: “India’s OTT audience universe has grown rapidly since 2018, with a boost during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. Now that we are in a more settled, post-pandemic period, this annual report is an important reckoner for the OTT industry to understand how their audience base is growing, and where this growth is coming from. Unlike other reports that rely on desk research, this report is based on primary audience research across India”

Speaking about the findings, Kapoor said: “A large share of the 20% growth in audience base has come from rural India and small towns. The metro cities have reached saturation levels, with more than 79% OTT penetration. Platforms will have to rely on the smaller markets for the next phase of growth. From an SVOD perspective, the most significant finding has been that the average number of subscriptions has remained static at 2.4 per paying user. This data point holds immense strategic value, as it suggests that subscriptions growth will come from more people paying for subscriptions, than the same people paying for more subscriptions”.

The ‘YouTube + Social Media only’ segment has grown by 25 Mn in size, witnessing the highest percentage growth too, because of a higher share of overall universe growth coming from NCCS CDE and Rural markets. AVOD’s share (both segments combined) of the total OTT universe has increased from 68% to 69% as a result, the study said.