iWorld
India streams ahead with 601 million OTT users in Ormax 2025 report
MUMBAI: When it comes to streaming, India is no longer buffering, it’s booming. Ormax Media has unveiled the fifth edition of The Ormax OTT Audience Report: 2025, pegging the country’s OTT universe at a staggering 601.2 million viewers (60.12 crore), or 41.1 per cent of India’s population.
The report, based on a robust survey of 15,600 respondents across urban and rural India in June and July 2025, defines an OTT audience as anyone who has watched at least one online video free or paid in the past month. While the audience base grew by 10 per cent year-on-year, the rate is slightly slower than the 13–14 per cent surge in 2023 and 2024.
Paid subscriptions are also gaining ground, with 148.2 million active subscriptions (including telecom bundles and aggregator deals) recorded in the report. Meanwhile, the most dramatic growth has come from the living room: India’s Connected TV user base now stands at 129.2 million, translating to 35–40 million homes, marking a jaw-dropping 87 per cent jump in just a year.
Ormax Media Founder & CEO Shailesh Kapoor said the Connected TV surge was a turning point: “India has long been regarded as mobile-first, but this sharp rise in CTV usage signals a paradigm shift in viewing behaviour.”
Since its launch in 2021, the Ormax OTT Audience Report has become the industry’s go-to yardstick. This year’s edition goes further, adding fresh parameters on time spent, preferred languages, content formats, and media habits. Ormax head of business development (streaming, Tv & brands) Keerat Grewal said these updates were driven by industry feedback: “The 2025 edition widens the scope, complementing business and monetisation insights with a richer picture of content consumption.”
The full report, available on subscription, is aimed at streaming platforms, advertisers, media agencies, investors, and production houses, offering a data-backed lens on the ever-expanding OTT ecosystem.
iWorld
Bluesky’s CEO Jay Graber steps down, Toni Schneider takes the helm
Graber moves to innovation role as interim CEO Schneider steers platform of 40m users
SEATTLE: Jay Graber, the driving force behind Bluesky, is stepping down as CEO and moving into the newly created role of chief innovation officer. Graber, who has been at the forefront of building the open social platform since 2019, leaves the day-to-day running to focus on new ideas and innovation.
Stepping in as interim CEO is Toni Schneider, former boss of Automattic and partner at True Ventures, who has been an advisor to Bluesky for the past two years. Schneider brings a wealth of experience in open platforms, having worked with WordPress, Yahoo’s developer network, and supported companies like Bandcamp.
Bluesky, created by Jack Dorsey as an alternative to Twitter, has grown into a thriving social network with over 40 million users. Its open AT Protocol allows users to own their data and identity, while developers can build apps on top of the platform. Schneider described Bluesky as “a real, scalable foundation for a different kind of internet.”
Graber praised the team she assembled, saying the platform’s success stems from matching people’s passions with their strengths. “Scaling up this company has been a learning experience unlike anything else,” she wrote in a blog post, adding that she is “excited to dig into the next frontier of what decentralized social can be.”
The board has begun a search for a permanent CEO, but for now, Schneider will guide Bluesky through its next chapter of growth, supporting the team, users, and developers alike.
Bluesky’s rise gained attention during the November 2024 exodus from X, formerly Twitter, when changes to the platform prompted users to look for alternatives. With Schneider now at the helm, the platform looks set to continue its journey as a user-focused, open social network.
