Ormax: Indian OTT universe rose 14% to 547 million in 2024

According to Ormax OTT Audience Report 2024, which is based on a sample size of 12,000 throughout urban and rural India, the Indian OTT audience universe has expanded 14% year on year to 547.3 million users, resulting in a 38.4% market penetration.

The universe's rise is entirely driven by the advertising video-on-demand (AVOD) audience, which increased by 21%, while the SVOD sector declined by 2%. The research defines an OTT audience as everyone who has seen at least one online video (free or paid) within the last month. The paper categorizes this universe by gender, age, NCCS, population strata, states, and cities.

Keerat Grewal, Head of Business Development (Streaming, TV & Brands), Ormax Media, commented on the report's findings, saying: "While the overall expansion rate of the OTT universe has stably been around the 13% mark post-pandemic, this year's report highlights the significant role of the AVOD segment in expanding the universe. The rise is being driven by AVOD audiences, with the majority of newcomers to the category watching video content exclusively on YouTube and social media. The stalemate in SVOD audience numbers reflects a trend in which free content drives OTT development in small towns and rural India."

According to the survey, India has 99.6 million active paid (B2C) OTT subscriptions, which is similar to the amount reported last year. The average number of platforms subscribed to every paying audience member has decreased from 2.8 to 2.5 by 2024, indicating that audiences are less inclined to subscribe to too many platforms.

This year's research also discusses the various devices utilized by India's OTT population to access online video content. Smartphones emerged as the most popular device for accessing online video content, with 97% of the Indian OTT population utilizing them and an impressive 81% watching OTT content exclusively on their smartphones. The total connected TV audience is anticipated to be 69.7 million.

Grewal elaborated on the report's significance, saying: "This year's report provides an in-depth look at the dynamic growth and future trajectory of the Indian OTT landscape, which can assist OTT platforms and agencies with growth strategy, acquisition and retention decisions, revenue planning, and content strategy. We have also broadened the scope of this year's report to include information about consumer gadgets, which will aid in the development of distribution strategies. This research demonstrates Ormax Media's continuous commitment to offering insights that enable platforms, production firms, and agencies to increase profitability using data and analytics."