MAM
OTT or not OTT: Streaming takes a starry U-turn in India
MUMBAI: OTT promised to disrupt, democratise and decentralise content.
But as of 2025, that promise is looking increasingly like a nostalgic trailer.
In the latest firecracker of an episode from the podcast What India Needs!, host and media entrepreneur Shutapa Paul sat down with content maven Sidharth Jain to lift the lid on Indian streaming’s messy midlife crisis.
Jain, the guy behind hit shows and sleepless nights for scriptwriters everywhere, joined Paul for a raw and revealing chat on what’s working, what’s worrisome, and what’s getting washed out in India’s $4.5 billion OTT pool – a figure projected to cannonball to $27.2 billion by 2033.
“The beauty of OTT is that there’s something for everyone,” Jain said, though he noted that grim, gritty narratives are slowly being benched in favour of feel-good, lighter content. Apparently, viewers want dopamine, not depression. And that shift is forcing creators to think pastel instead of pitch-black.
Paul took aim at censorship, calling out platforms for self-censoring and dodging anything remotely political. “Streaming platforms don’t want to commission or carry content which can be political or controversial,” she said. Jain didn’t disagree. “Why create something that could lead to legal battles and unnecessary trouble?” he added.
Under India’s IT Rules of 2021, platforms now navigate a vague maze of self-regulation, which has led to more red tape than revolution. Ambiguity is the enemy, and it’s pushing creators to pull punches before they’ve even picked up the pen.
So, is streaming still a playground for the underdog? Not quite. Jain threw shade on the idea of democratisation, noting how star-driven content and legacy studios have once again taken centre stage. “OTT was always about convenience… The real democratisation is happening on platforms like Youtube and social media, where anyone can create and share content,” he said.
In fact, OTT has started borrowing a page from the FMCG playbook. Star power is the new sugar, slick campaigns are the packaging, and your attention is the shelf space everyone wants. Jain pointed out that platforms now prefer faces that can light up billboards—and bring built-in followers to boot.
For those looking to break in, Jain offered a reality check, not a rose-tinted filter: “I would never recommend someone to enter this industry for an easy career. It’s easier to become a pilot or climb a mountain peak than find a sustainable career here.”
His advice?
Start scrappy.
Use Youtube.
Make short films.
Be consistent.
Be authentic.
And, above all, be ready to get punched in the creative gut before anything clicks.
The episode isn’t just a chinwag – it’s a crash course in surviving India’s streaming jungle. Jain and Paul unpack the evolution of OTT from a scrappy disruptor to a polished, star-backed machine that’s still figuring out where to go next. In a market with over 480 million OTT users and growing, the stakes – and expectations – are sky-high.
Watch link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5yVct5K2dKP0VoMmtYtIBF?si=DEwz-r8xTwudBkrhqa7BHg
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Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
