MUMBAI: Being a couch potato is passé. And the applauded producer from the television industry Yash A Patnaik, who has given us iconic shows like Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke Aise Bhi, Ek Veer Ka Ardaas Veera and Rang Badalti Odhani to name a few, and the web series Black Coffee, knows this. Here are the extracts of his interview:
Now and then
The youth in India are in the process of forming the habit of binge–watching. And this habit will make India among the top ten in OTT (over- the-top) global video players in the next four years.
India is growing at a CAGR of around 23 per cent, revealed data from PwC. If figures have to be believed, then India has been tabbed at Rs 2,000 crore in 2017, according to the PwC report. It is expected to reach Rs 5,595 crore by 2022.
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“Netflix, Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video have embarked upon disrupted technology and are creating deeper pockets by not restricting entertainment to living rooms,” says Patnaik. “The cheaper internet plans made the shift. The big bang happened in the entertainment industry as Reliance Jio disrupted the market by offering internet plans at attractive prices and other operators like Vodafone and Airtel had no option, but to follow the line and revise their data plans. Why not? The change has made internet viewing cheaper without using copious data.”
These players, after exhaustive research, have created content that can entice urban India, where the lacuna is huge. Also, the swelling economy of our country, along with our changing lifestyle, and simple technology, have favoured OTT platforms,” informs Patnaik.
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Proliferation of regional
More than 100 brands of smartphones, lucrative data plans and 200 million plus regional internet users, the markets are now ready to consume regional content and video consumption will rule the roost. Reputable players like Amazon Prime Video India, Sony LIV, Hotstar, Netflix, Viu India and AltBalaji are relentlessly making plans by introducing regional content in Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, and Gujarati.
“In the coming years, content is up for change and the players are already churning out content in local languages. Currently, content in south Indian languages is emerging in the digital space. But, looking at the forecast in the digital arena, the content will be the main hero, customized content with a flavor of originality,” he adds.
Patnaiik’s road ahead is clear. “At present I am looking forward to this change. We have already forayed into the digital space and yes, a lot will unfold in the coming months,” he concludes.
