Mumbai: India is in the grips of seismic changes as far as video and broadband consumption is concerned. Pay TV cord-cutting is rampant even as free TV subscriptions are on the rise and OTT buy-ins are churning with the signs up for certain platforms stagnating even as others are seeing rapid increases and some are seeing cataclysmic drops. Aggregators of OTTs are popping up on the horizon promising cheap bundles along with value-added services for cable TV and DTH. There's a rush to set up free advertising-supported TV channels by TV set manufacturers and smart TV device makers. There's the Jio factor where it is seeking to convert most pay TV customers to free streaming of video content by offering access to consumers at no cost. The consumer continues to demand bandwidths higher than ever imagined even as prices are dropping. Margins are under pressure as every player goes one-up on each other to acquire and retain customers.

Clearly, the video and broadband distribution landscape has not been as vibrant as it is now... How long will this pot-boiling continue? What will the magic potion of video and broadband look and taste like? And what's the end game? Indiantelevision.com held its 20th edition of Video and Broadband Summit better known as VBS at Sahara Star Hotel, Mumbai.

The fireside chat on the topic: ‘OTT Aggregation And Beyond’ had HT Media Ltd chief revenue officer (HT Labs) Anil Dua in conversation with Indian Television.com group founder, chairman & editor-in-chief Anil NM Wanvari.

Beginning the conversation, Wanvari asked, “How is OTTplay overcoming the challenge faced by consumers who seek ease of use?”

Dua replied, “Now you don't need to go to different apps. we have possibly the largest OTT aggregator platform in India called OTTplay, which covers more than 35 apps containing live TV channels. Gone are the days when you have to worry about the hassle of going from one platform to another to check what exactly you want to watch. So we have solved the problem of what to watch, through our recommendation engine, and also the proper way to stream it because in one app, you will get all the apps together. So that’s OTTplay. Maybe this is a good time for us to show you what our platform looks like.”

After an AV of OTTplay was played on the screen, Wanvari asked, “You’re aggregating and you’re serving to telcos, you’re servicing to ISPs, cable. So what’s the percentage distribution between them?”

To which, Dua replied saying, “So we have a very good mix of the internet service providers with whom we do the bundling with the broadband plans. We also have cable operators, through whom we reach out to our customers. We also have a direct-to-customer channel through our digital landscape, which helps us reach out to our clients.”

He added, “If you look at our content, we have a very good balance across regions. That's one of the big USPs that we bring to the table. Let's start with the South. If you go to Coimbatore, their number one OTT Sun NXT is with us. If you come to AP or Telangana, their number one and two OTT and TV, aha are with us. When you go to a Hindi heartland, we have Bhojpuri, for Ludiana we have Punjabi, We have, of course, the large Hindi OTTs, i.e., ZEE, Sony, Lionsgate, etc. We have most of these OTTs. So we are relevant across a spectrum of customers. I believe we are relevant to everyone”

Wanvari interjected, “I’m not talking about relevance. I’m talking about penetration so far. My understanding is, that you’ll have been pushed so aggressively in the west. You’ll have been more aggressive up north, and possibly down south, rather than the west and the east.”

Dua answered, “You’re right! So far, south is obviously the leading market for us, followed by the north, west, and then the east.”

Wanvari then asked, “What's the kind of watch time that people are spending across your apps?”

Dua replied, “By DNA, we are a tech company. We have customers at the middle of everything that we do. We track watch hours, average time per user, and average time that each user spends. I won't be able to share the exact numbers, but it’s pretty good. We have seen that in tier two and three cities, our average time per user goes up significantly. So that's one of the insights that we have got with focus on the regional content that we have done.”

Wanvari said, “What is that? Are those areas TV dark?”

Dua answered, “Things are changing in this pandemic industry. I believe that so far the OTT penetration has largely happened in the larger towns, and there's a lot of scope in tier two and tier three for both OTT platforms as well as aggregators like us.”

Moving on to the next question, Wanvari asked, “Are the other lower tier of society picking up your app because of your long package with all 35 plus all the 400-500 TV channels? That's pretty affordable at Rs 3000/year. But people can pick up regional packs at 100 rupees, etc. So what is finding the most takers and where is it finding, in tier two, and tier three? Is it the upscaled customers or is it the lower ones? Is it mobile or is it Smart TV?

Dua answered, “So first of all, by design, we are a TV-first app. We want more and more customers to be watching us on television., When I say, TV, it is TV and mobile by default. That's the first thing. The second thing as you talked about the packs. We have packs ranging from, as high but like you rightly said you said, as affordable as 250 rupees a month for 32 OTTs and 350 plus five TV channels a month. If you come to the regional packs like the Hindi heartland pack or a north pack or an east pack, that starts from as low as Rs 100 a month. So they’re very affordable. The high-income strata in tier two are the most takers. The metros are more around the larger packs.”

Wanvari further asked, “Do you have specials coming up from time to time, special promotions? Secondly, do you also have special price promotions for the content that has been put out there by your partners?”

Dua said, “We belong to the HT Media group. We are a media company ourselves. We have our reach through our newspapers, through our digital landscape that we have. One is that we use our own media to reach out to the customers. And we have the content nudges that go to the customers who subscribe to us.”

He added, “The answer to both your question is yes! If you look at our digital reach across our basic platforms, hindustantimes.com or live mint or live Hindustan, we have 300 million plus, on a monthly basis and use. So we use that, to reach out to our prospective customers to start with and to the subscribers who are already with us. There are time-to-time content nudges that go to them, the new arrivals coming in and reaching out to them to not only continue to be with us but also watch and use us, so that we can offer value to our customers.”

Wanvari immediately asked, “ Are you EBIDTA positive or are you bleeding?”

Dua answered, “We are right now in the start-up mode. We are in our third year running. We are now very close to coming to a place where we can start generating revenue.”

Wanveri further asked, “Is the capacity full or do you see more partners coming in? How do OTT players partner with you all?”

Dua replied, “Today, we are 32 OTTs. Very soon, by June, we should roughly be at about 43 to 45 and we clearly see that in the short term. In the short to medium term we should be at 50 plus OTTs. So there is no limitation with respect to the capacity. Partnering is simple. If the content is relevant to our customers, we are willing to discuss and partner. There is obviously a different discussion with each of our content partners that we have.”

Wanvari quickly asked, “So, how long does it take to come up with a partner, to conclude a partnership? Is the process quick or prolonged?”

Dua answered “My experience has been that gently the closure of the commercial discussion in this kind of business takes about 30 days and then another about 30 to 45 days. In about two and a half months we are GTM ready.”

Asking a question about their subscriber base, Wanvari asked, “Where do you all see yourselves two to three years down the line? Do you think the appetite will continue in the space when it gets competitive?”

Dua replied saying, “If you look at the growth of broadband, today we have roughly 50 per cent plus penetration in rural India. The smartphone penetration itself is growing into tier two and tier three by more than 25 per cent every year. So growth is not going to be an issue. Talking about the large telcos, remember that still one-third of the market is with non-telco broadband providers. That market is not only there today but it is also growing. We clearly see that as the market for us. And with bundling with their proposition is how to we want to reach out to the customers. On top of that, we have our D2C channel, which caters to the first two-thirds part of the customer base. A lot of customers of large telcos who have not used the content that is provided by them. So they keep looking for the right platform, and the right value proposition. So that's how we're building this whole mix.”

Wanvari then asked, “You said discoverability is very easy for your customer. How different are you all from Netflix, which is supposed to be the gold standard, in terms of recommendation, search, discovery, and all of that?”

Dua answered, “We talk about the four pillars of our business. The first pillar of our business clearly is the user experience and the user interface that we bring in. We have single sign-on for most of the apps. If you have, for example, OTTplay with you, and you want to watch Scam 2003 on Sony LIV, because you don't need to have a Sony LIV app. So it's deep integration. You can just move from one platform to another within OTTplay without having those apps. That's the first thing. The second thing that we bring to the table. You talked about Netflix recommendations. If you are a customer or a subscriber of OTTplay, you get AI-based recommendations from all 32 platforms and not just one. So if you’ve watched an action movie or content on one of the platform, the next time you come to OTTplay player you will get recommendations across. The third thing is we are extremely regional in the content that we bring in. Fourthly, of course, is the affordability. We want to reach out, we want to be affordable to the masses of India.”