iWorld
India to reach 66 million SVoD users in 2025, report says
KOLKATA: The rapid surge of OTT consumption in India is not anymore limited to free usage. A recent report has underlined that the subscription-based model is holding a potential future. India will reach 66 million paid subscribers in 2025, analyst firm Digital TV Research estimates.
While the Indian market is estimated to triple its subscriber base in 2019, the entire APAC region will also see a substantial increase. The region will have 467 million SVoD subscriptions by 2025, up from 267 million in 2019.
China will remain the largest contributor at 2025 too with 279 million subscribers. Japan will add 18 million subscribers to reach 40 million. Among other markets, South Korea will exceed 25 million and Australia will surpass the 18 million mark slightly.
“Although China dominates the region, there will be plenty of growth elsewhere. Netflix will have 44.4 million subscribers by 2025; closely followed by Disney+ [including Hotstar] with 43.6 million,” Digital TV Research principal analyst Simon Murray said.
This is not the only report which is indicating a huge subscriber growth in the next decade. To capture the opportunity, all the international players are ramping up their investment in premium content while local players are also rising to prominence on the back of consumer insights.
iWorld
Applause, Story TV team up to push microdrama content
Partnership to create premium short form shows for mobile first viewers
MUMBAI: Applause Entertainment and Story TV are betting on short attention spans with a long-term vision, joining forces to create a slate of premium microdramas for mobile-first audiences.
The partnership brings together Applause’s storytelling pedigree and Story TV’s fast-growing digital reach, with plans to co-produce and distribute bite-sized dramas across genres. As part of the deal, Story TV will also adapt the romantic thriller Hello Mini into a vertical microdrama format, signalling a shift in how stories are being reshaped for smaller screens.
Backed by the Aditya Birla Group, Applause Entertainment has built a reputation for high-quality content with titles like Scam 1992 and Criminal Justice. Story TV, launched in 2025, has quickly scaled up with a library of over 1,000 titles across languages and genres, riding the wave of mobile consumption.
Story TV founder and CEO Saurabh Pandey said, “Phones are now the primary screens for content consumption, and microdramas are evolving into a mainstream format. At Story TV, we are blending storytelling with technology to push this format further.”
He added that the collaboration with Applause Entertainment will help expand the reach of microdramas while introducing a layer of premium storytelling to the space.
Applause Entertainment chief business officer Prasoon Garg said, “At Applause, we have always focused on strong storytelling across formats. As microdramas gain momentum, this partnership allows us to explore the space with a platform that understands both the format and its audience.”
With mobile screens shrinking and content getting sharper, the collaboration hints at a future where storytelling is not just shorter, but smarter, designed to fit neatly into the scroll of everyday life.
