iWorld
Regional to prevail as 2020 buzzword for OTT
MUMBAI: All major streaming services in India are keeping regional markets at the heart of their expansion strategy. In the last two years, regional has persistently guided the contenders in the over-the-top (OTT) ecosystem and 2020 is not going to be an exception. Some of the major platforms have already tasted success in the regional markets while others are looking at those markets as the next growth frontier. South Indian languages are undoubtedly the ones getting higher priority but other markets like Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi are also emerging gradually.
Since its grand entry in the crowded OTT space, ZEE5 has emphasised on three ‘Vs , one of those is vernacular. In 2019, ZEE5 had at least one original web series come out in six different languages each month on an average in regional languages including Marathi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil. The parent company also mentioned in its third quarter result – Kaale Dhande in Marathi, God of Dharmapuri in Telugu and Karoline Kamakshi in Tamil received positive reviews.
ZEE5 India programming head Aparna Acharekar also explained while talking about the regional strategy that it definitely differs across the markets. Factors like penetration of data or adoption of OTT services, that particular language consumer’s affinities for his language, openness to other languages, etc., influence the strategy widely.
“I cannot have a one size fit approach for everyone. I am looking at the show that has to cut across say largely Hindi speaking audiences, then my themes will be different because they are exposed to a whole lot of that. Today other competition also, who has entered the OTT space, is largely first creating Hindi content. So whatever I create as a benchmark starts getting compared in Hindi to another benchmark created by another OTT. But we are leaders in other languages and no one has actually come closer, the smaller players have tried little, local players are there. But there is no national-level player who can say let me try to take on the regional market. So, each market has to be looked at differently,” she added.
Moreover, ZEE5 provides an option to change the display language of the app. If a consumer is not comfortable navigating in English, he can change the display language to Hindi or other regional languages. The platform has seen an uptake in that alternative display adaptation. “In fact with every passing month, we see more uptake of this and we see the relative share of English as a display language is going down and regional language is actually going up,” Aparna said in an earlier interview.
The young player on the block which already has created a buzz with its Hindi shows, MX Player also has “a very clear regional strategy”. MX Player chief content officer Gautam Talwar stated that a big show is coming up in Marathi including big names Swapnil Joshi, Satish Rajwade along with two other big shows in pipeline. The platform is focusing highly on south-Indian languages, as Talwar shared.
“We have some shows in Punjabi, which are in the pipeline. And we have two interesting shows in Bhojpuri coming up. I am so sure that if these two shows are so interesting that if we dub them in other languages, we will get the extraordinary viewership in other regional languages as well. Regional is a big strategy for us moving forward,” Talwar added.
As per a recent report unveiled by Hotstar, 63 per cent of total online entertainment consumption happens in the non-metro centres of India, and Lucknow, Pune and Patna rank above Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata in consumption of content. YouTube also reported over 95 of its users watched videos in a regional language.
Other than home-grown players, international streaming services that are keen on Indian expansion are also looking at regional content. According to media reports, a robust content licensing both in Hindi and other regional languages is in Netflix’s pipeline. Amazon Prime Video has a robust catalogue of blockbuster movies across languages. Amazon Prime Video India content director and head Vijay Subramaniam said that the platform will ramp up its language catalogue in Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati and Punjabi while they want to take up Tamil, Telugu further a few notches. While it tasted the water with one Telugu show, he added that Tamil and Telugu shows are in development.
Smaller players like The Viral Fever (TVF) are not ignoring the promising sector. “We are actually looking at regional shows in 2020. We are working on Marathi shows. We want to line up shows in Tamil and Telugu. In 2020, we will get into regional space and we will later expand into other languages,” TVF chief content officer Sameer Saxena commented.
iWorld
JioHotstar to launch micro dramas during IPL
Streaming giant plans free, ad-supported bite-sized stories during IPL to engage mobile-first audiences
JioHotstar is gearing up to launch a wave of micro dramas, eyeing India’s fast-growing appetite for bite-sized storytelling and new revenue opportunities. According to sources close to the matter, the streaming platform is expected to go live with the content during the Indian Premier League, which runs from 28 March to 31 May.
The move comes as the micro-drama market in India surges, with Redseer Strategy Consultants projecting the overall interactive media segment could reach $3.1–3.4 billion by FY2030, with micro dramas leading the growth. The format has already proven commercially viable abroad — China’s micro-drama sector generated $360 million in 2023, up 267 per cent year-on-year.
Micro dramas are designed for rapid consumption on mobile devices. Episodes typically run 60–90 seconds, shot in vertical 9:16 format, and rely on fast-paced plots and cliffhangers to keep viewers glued. Stories tend to revolve around high-stakes drama, from romance and revenge to corporate intrigue, blending social-media immediacy with professional production values.
Sources said the IPL provides the perfect launchpad, with millions tuning in to the platform for live cricket, creating a ready audience for short-form narrative experiments. The content will initially be free and accessible to all.
JioHotstar, which already boasts over 300 million subscribers, plans to roll out more than 100 micro dramas across multiple genres and languages, including Hindi and South Indian languages. The move is expected to strengthen its regional content strategy and appeal to mobile-first viewers, particularly in metro and Tier-1 cities where the format is currently most popular.
“The timing is perfect,” said a source close to the project, requesting anonymity. “With micro dramas on the rise, this is a chance for JioHotstar to experiment with new formats and engage audiences in a way traditional series cannot.”
The platform is not the first in India to test the format. ALTBalaji, StoryTV and Zee Bullet have all dabbled in short episodic storytelling. But JioHotstar’s scale — and its ability to pair content with one of the country’s biggest sporting events — could make it a defining moment for micro dramas in India.
With mobile consumption and vernacular content on the rise, the gamble seems clear: capture attention fast, keep it longer, and turn bite-sized narratives into a robust revenue engine.
Note: The cover image used is AI-generated.
