Mumbai: Media consulting firm Ormax Media has released the latest edition of India’s largest audience research to size the OTT universe in the country, titled The Ormax OTT Audience Report: 2024. Based on a sample size of 12,000 across urban and rural India, the research was conducted in June and July of 2024.
Select findings of the report released by Ormax Media reveal that the Indian OTT audience universe is currently pegged at 547.3 Million (or 54.73 Crore) people. This translates to a penetration of 38.4 per cent. The 13.8 per cent growth in the universe vis-à-vis 2023 is entirely driven by the AVOD audience, which grew by 21 per cent, while the SVOD segment witnessed a degrowth of 2 per cent. The report defines an OTT audience who watched at least one online video (free or paid) in the last one month. The report breaks down this universe by gender, age, NCCS, pop strata, states, and cities.
Speaking about the findings of the report, Ormax Media head of business development (streaming, TV & brands) Keerat Grewal said: “While the overall expansion rate of the OTT universe has stably been around the 13 per cent 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 new entrants into the category watching video content only on YouTube and social media. The stagnation in SVOD audience size also reflects the trend whereby free content is driving OTT growth in small towns and rural India”.
The report reveals that India has 99.6 Million active paid (B2C) OTT subscriptions, a number very similar to last year. The average number of platforms subscribed to per paying audience member decreased from 2.8 to 2.5 in 2024, highlighting the waning need among audiences to subscribe to too many platforms.
This year’s report also elaborates on various devices used by the OTT audience in India to watch online video content. Smartphones have emerged as the most preferred device to watch online video content with 97 per cent of the Indian OTT audience using it, and a sizeable 81 per cent audience watching OTT content only on their smartphone. The connected TV audience base 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 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.”
The full report is available by subscription for streaming platforms, production companies, media agencies and other companies associated with the OTT category in India.
