iWorld
How Digital India will foster VoD growth: Spuul Global CEO
MUMBAI: India is a market with enormous potential for digital services, and it is expected to continue to grow with a very rapid speed and much higher than many other markets in the world, as far as data traffic is concerned. In fact, some estimates suggest while the rest of the world will grow 10-12 times maximum when it comes to data traffic, India will grow 17 times.
In the West, people went from a single TV to multiple TVs and then to the mobile, but India seems to be jumping directly from TVs to watching content on their smartphones, leaning on improving mobile internet to consume digital content. TV is becoming a static screen in your living room, while consumers are looking forcustomized viewing experiences.
With a number of video on demand platforms coming together the Indian consumer is all set to enjoy a wide variety of video content as each VOD platform has something unique to offer to its viewers.
Having said that,the online video space provides a fantastic platform for experimenting with various content formats. It isn’t constrained by the economics of satellite television. A show prepared for the web, doesn’t necessarily need to be in ~30 minute slots. It could be a few minutes or a few hours. This has allowed content creators to experiment with multiple formats.
At the same time there is a clutch of factors that could play spoilsport in the near future. Despite falling costs of technology and production, producing content is prohibitive and added to that distribution costs too are significant. The state of the broadband speed remainsspotty.
A July report by Akamai, a US-based content delivery and cloud services provider, suggests that India had an average 3.5 Mbps Internet speed. Yet, it was the lowest average Internet speed in the Asia Pacific region.
On consumption of data, the report said the country is on the cusp of significant growth in data traffic driven by rising data users as well as growing data usage per user.For 2016, the number of smartphone users in India is estimated to reach 204.1 million, with the number of smartphone users worldwide forecast to exceed 2 billion users by that time.
Watching a movie of 2-3 hours could take up about 200-250 MB of data, which costs around INR 40-50. For VOD platforms to succeed in India costs of 4G have to come down drastically.The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that there are 1.06 billion wireless telecom subscribers in the country. The Cellular Operators Association of India, said, the number of 3G users in India is expected to more than double (to 330 million) and 4G to grow by over 10 times (to 42 million) from 2015 base till 2017. 4G will be a game changer in the way video is being consumed in the country.
The way consumers consume information and entertainment will change from TV to video on demand over multiple devices, but one thing that won’t is that content will continue to be king. Because how the content is consumed depends on ease, convenience of the video on demand platforms and ultimately technology will decide who gets the most viewership. India though has room for many video on demand services to survive and thrive because preferences and tastes of viewers vary from region to region.
 The writer of this article is Subin Subaiah. The views expressed here are personal, and Indiantelevision.com need not necessarily subscribe to them |
iWorld
Micro-Dramas Surge in India, Redefining Mobile Content Habits
Meta-Ormax study maps rapid rise of short-form storytelling among 18–44 audiences.
MUMBAI: Micro-dramas aren’t just short, they’re the snack that ate Indian entertainment, and now everyone’s bingeing between the sofa cushions. Meta, in partnership with Ormax Media, has released ‘Micro Dramas: The India Story’, a comprehensive study unveiled at the inaugural Meta Marketing Summit: Micro-Drama Edition. The report maps how the vertical, bite-sized format is reshaping content consumption for mobile-first audiences aged 18–44 across 14 states.
Conducted between November 2025 and January 2026 through 50 in-depth interviews and 2,000 personal surveys, the research reveals that 65 per cent of viewers discovered micro-dramas within the last year proof of explosive adoption. Nearly 89 per cent encounter the format through social feeds and recommendations, making algorithm-driven discovery the primary engine rather than active search.
Key viewing patterns show a median of 3.5 hours per week (about 30 minutes daily) spread across 7–8 short sessions. Consumption peaks between 8 pm and midnight, with additional spikes during commutes and work breaks classic “in-between moments” that the format fills perfectly. Around 57 per cent of viewing happens in ambient mode (while doing something else), and 90 per cent is solo, enabling more intimate, personal storytelling.
Romance, family drama and comedy lead genre preferences. Audiences show growing openness to AI-generated content, 47 per cent find it unique and creative, while only 6 per cent say they would avoid it entirely. Regional languages are surging after Hindi and English, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada dominate consumption.
Meta, director, media & entertainment (India) Shweta Bajpai said, “Micro-drama isn’t a passing trend, it’s rewriting the rules of Indian entertainment. In under a year, an entirely new category of platforms has emerged, built audience habits from scratch, and created a business vertical that is scaling fast.”
Ormax Media founder-CEO Shailesh Kapoor added, “Micro-dramas are beginning to show the early signs of becoming a distinct content category in India’s digital entertainment landscape. When a format aligns closely with how audiences naturally engage with their devices, it has the potential to scale very quickly.”
The study proposes ecosystem-wide responsibility, universal signposting of commercial intent, shared accountability among advertisers, platforms, creators, schools and parents, built-in safeguards, and formal media literacy in schools.
In a feed that never sleeps and a day that never stops, micro-dramas have slipped into the cracks of every spare minute turning 30-second stories into the new national pastime, one vertical swipe at a time.
