Comment
May be news channels also need a disaster management plan
Sad but true. Moving from the regular mundane breaking news; it is natural calamities, war and violence that make for classic ‘live news’ TV drama. No, I am not saying news channels exactly look forward to deluge and devastation but they definitely thrive on tragedies for viewership and reach.
Also, what better opportunity for hungry and adrenaline charged TV crews to prove themselves. A real testing time to showcase their skills, be first with the news, get the best footage, look for human interest stories and of course provide the real link between the junta and the government.
Last week’s ‘Terrible Tuesday’ provided exactly this opportunity for news channels. As the God’s went crazy and the monsoon fury brought life to a standstill in Mumbai, channels tried their best to be first off the block. And since then, till yesterday perhaps, there hasn’t been anything else to watch for on news channels.
So, coming to the moot point, how did the channels fare last week; as they went about covering the floods, death and destruction?
Though I missed the initial part of the coverage on Tuesday night (I was also stuck on the roads), going by the next day’s footage it looked as if just like the ‘aam junta’, the channels and reporters too were caught unawares and panic struck. One got to see the same footage almost on all the channels, with people braving the weather and chest deep water desperately trying to get home, upturned vehicles, etc.
Then there were the regular stories, of course, which brought out the plight of people across the city and the total breakdown of the administrative machinery. Most of the channels had stories revolving around people stranded at airports, flights being cancelled, trains not working and how the government was doing nothing to help the citizens. At this stage, the real job was dissemination of the right information to viewers; of which a clutch of channels did do a fairly good job. There were phone-ins, studio based anchor shows and some over-excited reporters doing their PTCs.
The differentiators in the reportage were mostly in terms of presentation and scripting really to break the clutter and conformity. So, while Aaj Tak had a plasma screen explaining the `dehsat’ the Mumbai rains had caused, NDTV had Baarish ka kahar, Zee Marathi Nako Nako Re Paaus.
Though, one didn’t really get to see too many of the reporters braving the weather or taking risks to get on to some different stuff. But, then this could also be because of the geographical constraints. The geographical reach of the disaster, coupled with lack of road access to some of the worst-hit areas, made it one of the most challenging assignments to be undertaken.
But one expected the stories to move on by Thursday and Friday. More of human interest stories, point to point coverage of different areas, more matured and in-depth stories; but instead what one got was the old footage being recyled with studio news. Harried reporters thrusting microphones at wailing people and trying to get their comments. There were repeats of old footage and sound bytes which sort of gave a slightly skewed picture of the whole situation. So, while you had a reporter actually saying that the situation was getting under control the picture that went with the story gave a different picture.
Regional channels score
Here somehow the regional channels ETV Marathi, Zee Marathi, and Sahara Samay Mumbai (in that order) scored above the others. There were reports from places like Panel, Raigad, Thane, which most of the national networks didn’t devote much attention to. This probably could also be because of the fact that most of the channel offices are on the Western lines. From the mainline news channels what one got to see as far as panoramic coverage was concerned were aerial shots.
At times, the basic dictum followed by most channels seemed to be to give the stories and be finished with it. To point out a few glitches, not a single channel got down to really explaining the real geographical structure of Mumbai to the outside world. Now, what sense would places like Sion, Thane, Kalina or Dahisar make to the outside world? Here, perhaps channels need to take cues from the likes of BBC World and CNN.
As the story moved on over to the weekend, when most of us thought things were coming to normal; channels focused on creating sensitivity across the country and to undertake the right relief measures to help those who were affected by the disaster.
But then the rain gods unleashed their fury one more time on Sunday and Monday. And this time around, most of the channels stayed on with the old news and carried it forward with the newer events. But it was unfortunate that over the whole of last week there were rare instances of reportage that really rose above the predictable.
So, does the coverage of the calamity show a tale of progression for the news channels or for the television industry? I think this is really the second phase of the industry where the channels have increased in numbers and so have the stories. But, the depth and the quality of news leave much to be desired. There’s definitely a need for more trained broadcast journalists who can get on with their jobs when a calamity strikes.
So, as the Maharashtra government gears up for a disaster management plan, it’s also time perhaps for news channels to get their act together; considering in the coming years they could well be setting the agenda for the nation.
MUMBAI: 2025 will be remembered as the year India’s OTT industry stopped chasing scale for its own sake and began reckoning with how audiences actually consume content. Completion rates fell, patience wore thin and the limits of long-form excess became impossible to ignore. In this guest column, Pratap Jain, founder and CEO of ChanaJor, traces how micro-drama moved from the fringes to the centre of viewing behaviour, why short-form fiction emerged as a retention engine rather than a trend, and how platforms that respected time, habit and emotional payoff were the ones that truly grew up in 2025.
If there is one thing 2025 will be remembered for in the Indian OTT industry, it’s this: the industry finally stopped pretending.
Stopped pretending that bigger automatically meant better.
Stopped pretending that viewers had endless time.
Stopped pretending that scale without retention was success.
What began as a quiet reset in 2023 and a cautious correction in 2024 turned into a very visible shift in 2025. Business models matured. Content strategies tightened. And most importantly, platforms started aligning themselves with how Indians actually watch content, not how the industry wished they would.
At the centre of this shift was micro-drama—not as a trend, but as a behavioural inevitability.
When OTT finally understood the time problem
For years, long episodes were treated as a marker of seriousness. A 45–60 minute runtime was almost a badge of credibility. Shorter formats were pushed to the margins, labelled as “snack content” or “mobile-only.”
That belief quietly collapsed in 2025.
What platform data showed very clearly was not a drop in interest—but a drop in patience. Viewers weren’t rejecting stories. They were rejecting commitment.
Across platforms, the same patterns appeared:
* First-episode drop-offs on long-form shows kept increasing
* Completion rates continued to slide
* Viewers were sampling more titles but finishing fewer
At the same time, shows with episodes in the six to 10 minute range started showing the opposite behaviour: higher completion, higher repeat viewing, and stronger daily habit formation.
Micro-drama didn’t win because it was short. It won because it respected time.
Micro-Drama didn’t arrive loudly. It took over quietly.
There was no single moment when micro-drama “launched” in India. It crept in through dashboards and retention charts.
By mid-2025, it was clear that viewers were happy watching four, five, sometimes six short episodes in one sitting—even when they wouldn’t finish a single long episode. Romance, relationship drama, slice-of-life conflict, and grounded comedy worked especially well.
This wasn’t disposable content. It was compressed storytelling.
In shorter formats, there was no room for indulgence. Every episode had to move the story forward. Weak writing was punished faster. Strong writing was rewarded immediately.
Micro-drama raised the bar instead of lowering it.
Where ChanaJor naturally fit into this shift
ChanaJor didn’t pivot to micro-drama in 2025 because the market demanded it. In many ways, the platform was already built around the same viewing behaviour.
From the beginning, ChanaJor focused on short-to-mid-length fictional stories that felt close to everyday Indian life—hostels, rented flats, office romances, small-town relationships, young people figuring things out. Stories that didn’t need heavy context or cinematic scale to connect.
What worked in ChanaJor’s favour in 2025 was clarity:
* A clearly defined audience
* Tight episode lengths
* Storytelling that prioritised emotion and pace over spectacle
While several platforms rushed to copy global micro-drama formats, ChanaJor stayed rooted in familiar Indian settings and conflicts. That familiarity mattered. Viewers didn’t have to “enter” the world of the show—it already felt like theirs.
Why audiences started responding differently
One of the biggest misconceptions going into 2025 was that audiences wanted shorter content because their attention spans had reduced. That wasn’t entirely true.
What viewers actually wanted was meaningful payoff per minute.
On platforms like ChanaJor, episodes didn’t waste time setting the mood for ten minutes. Conflicts arrived early. Characters were recognisable within moments. Emotional hooks landed fast.
A typical consumption pattern looked like real life:
* One episode during a break
* Two more before sleeping
* A few the next day
This is how viewing habits are built—not through marketing spends, but through comfort and consistency.
Viewers came back not because every show was a blockbuster, but because they knew what kind of experience to expect.
2025 was also the year OTT faced business reality
The other big change in 2025 was on the business side. Subscriber growth slowed. Discounts stopped hiding churn. Customer acquisition costs rose.
Platforms were forced to ask harder questions:
* Are viewers finishing what they start?
* Are they returning without reminders?
* Is this content worth what we’re spending on it?
This is where micro-drama began outperforming expectations. A well-written short series could deliver sustained engagement without massive budgets. It didn’t peak for one weekend and disappear—it stayed alive through repeat viewing.
Platforms like ChanaJor benefited because they weren’t chasing inflated launch numbers. The focus was on consistency and retention, not noise.
Failures Became Visible Faster
2025 also exposed weaknesses brutally.
Several platforms assumed micro-drama was a shortcut—short episodes, quick shoots, instant traction. What they discovered was that bad writing fails faster in short formats than in long ones.
Viewers dropped off within minutes. Episodes were abandoned mid-way. Weak stories had nowhere to hide.
Micro-drama didn’t forgive laziness. It amplified it.
The platforms that survived were the ones that treated short storytelling with the same seriousness as long-form—sometimes more.
OTT Stopped Chasing Prestige and Started Chasing Habit
Perhaps the most important shift in 2025 wasn’t technical or creative—it was psychological.
OTT stopped trying to look like cinema. It stopped chasing validation through scale and awards alone. It began behaving like what it actually is in people’s lives: a daily companion.
Platforms like ChanaJor found their space here because that mindset was already baked in. The goal wasn’t to dominate a weekend launch. It was to quietly become part of someone’s everyday viewing routine.
That shift changed everything—from release strategies to how success was measured.
What 2025 Ultimately Taught the Industry
By the end of the year, three truths were impossible to ignore:
* Time is the most valuable thing a viewer gives you
* Retention matters more than reach
* Format must follow behaviour, not ego
Micro-drama didn’t take over because it was fashionable. It took over because it fit real life.
Looking Ahead
Micro-drama is not replacing long-form storytelling. It is redefining the baseline of engagement.
Longer shows will survive—but only when they earn their length. Short-form fiction will continue to evolve, becoming sharper, more emotionally confident, and better written.
Platforms like ChanaJor have shown that it’s possible to grow without shouting—by understanding the audience, respecting their time, and telling stories that feel real.
2025 wasn’t the year OTT became smaller. It was the year it became smarter.
Note: The views expressed in this article are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect our own.
