Company insiders say that the programming budget for JioCinema for this year is ₹3,500-4,000 crores. Such a sizeable number is bound to shake up competition.
After a rapid rise in online video viewership and a big spike in content budgets during Covid lockdown, digital platforms were planning to rationalize costs but then JioCinema happened. After first giving the audience a taste of watching the Indian Premier League (IPL) for free on its platform, Jio began strengthening its premium English language content. It struck deals with Warner Bros’ Discovery for HBO’s acclaimed series, for Max Originals’ shows, and also some current and future Warner Bros. blockbuster films and also with NBC Universal for films and TV series, and then put all this premium content behind a paywall for affluent customers.
JioCinema turns up the heat in the OTT battle
At the same time, it continues to lure the masses with free shows and films like Shahid Kapoor-starrer Bloody Daddy which it also produced. Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan’s Zara Hatke Zara Bachke too is expected to come on the platform soon. Company insiders say that the programming budget for JioCinema for this year alone is in the range of ₹3,500-4,000 crores. Such a sizeable number is bound to shake up competition. In 2022, the total online video content investment in India stood at ₹8,200 crore, according to the Ficci-EY report on India’s media and entertainment sector released in April.
Clearly, this figure is set to climb. “There is no way the pressure on any of the platforms will ease. Don’t forget that BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) auction for domestic and international matches played in India will happen soon. Since sports is an important piece of content for streaming, expect a dog-fight for the rights,” says Anuj Gandhi, a media industry expert who is preparing to launch a media tech business.
With JioCinema’s aggressive play, the streaming wars have only hot up, says Mrinalini Khanna, vice president, Originals, Lionsgate India. She believes sports and live events will change OTT consumption. “IPL’s transit from one platform (Hotstar) to another (JioCinema) shows that the audience is brand agnostic in case of an event like the IPL,” Khanna says. That sports will continue to drive consumption is evident from Disney+Hotstar’s recent move to allow mobile phone users to watch the Asia Cup and the Men’s ICC Cricket World Cup free on the app later this year.
A Disney Star executive, however, doesn’t see content budgets rising for the entire industry. “It is JioCinema which has to play catch up, all the others have been building their libraries for long,” he says.
JioCinema will not have it easy either. As expected, post IPL, the platform has seen a dip in its daily active user (DAU) numbers from 65 million DAUs during IPL to about 15-18 million now. While this may sound low, it is a big improvement on the 4 million that Voot (which is now merged with JioCinema) used to clock.
Viacom18 executives say they are expecting a big jump in viewership once its popular reality show Bigg Boss launches on the service. “JioCinema is venturing into the market as a new app and not as a rebranded service. We are looking at content that will be habit-forming to keep the consumer hooked,” says a Viacom18 executive.
Other OTT services such as Netflix and Prime Video have also announced their big content slates for the year. Evidently, in the fight for the Indian market, no one is likely to backdown early. For Netflix, streaming is the core business. It may not be the core business for Amazon, but Prime Video has no dearth of funds. The big broadcaster-backed services such as SonyLiv, JioCinema or Disney+Hotstar, too, are serious about the business since digital is the future even if their television empires continue to do well.
Obviously, each one will pump in more money to capture the market.
It may be too early in this race to declare the frontrunners and the also-rans, but the real winners here are the content producers, actors, directors and writers. Sarita Patil, partner at Matchbox Shots, which made Scoop and Monica, O My Darling for Netflix, agrees: “I cannot comment on platform strategies or budgets, but, yes, we have been continuously developing content on our own for the last 3-4 years since we set up shop.”
Patil says the OTT platforms give production houses the freedom to make content without worrying about box office collections. “Theatres did not allow us that liberty,” she says. Clearly, competition is good if it raises the bar.
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