Indian streaming viewers rushed to U.S. and UK content like never before during the Covid-19 pandemic, a study shows.
There was a staggering 124% uptick in viewing of shows such as HBO’s House of the Dragon on subscription streaming services during the period, according to Indian ratings analyst Ormax Media.
Nearly two-thirds (66%) of urban Indian SVoD viewers aged 15 or above now watch what the research house calls ‘English’ content, or watches English content dubbed in a local language. We’ll call them Western shows here for ease of understanding.
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Half a decade ago, just 9% of viewers watched Western content. That number grew to 40% during the Covid crisis. The number has fallen back post-pandemic but Ormax is predicting a brighter future for content created in English, with the figure still almost double the 2017/18 figure.
A boom in the availability of Western shows has driven the consumption, with titles such as Netflix’s Money Heist, Dark, The Crown and The Gray Man and Prime Video’s The Boys and The Wheel of Time as key shows for the important ‘Lockdown Millennials’ sub-set.
House of the Dragon, the biggest driver, has been playing on Disney+ Hotstar. However, as we revealed earlier this year, HBO content is set to drop off the streamer. Hotstar confirmed our scoop a month ago and the content fell off on March 31.
‘Lockdown Millennials’
Ormax’s English Content in India: No Longer Niche report, created in partnership with Sony Pictures Television, estimated there are a total of 85.2 million urban Indian streaming viewers (15+) watching Western content. The split between SVoD (42.7 million) and AVoD (42.5 million) was almost exactly half.
According to Ormax, ‘Lockdown Millennials’ started watching Western content through streamers in the past three years, and are going beyond tentpole franchises to consumer a variety of formats.
The research also revealed that nine Western SVoD originals secured more than 10 million viewers in 2022, compared with five in 2021.
Leading the way on content launched since 2021 was House of the Dragon with 28.2 million viewers, followed by Moon Knight on 23.4 million. Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was Prime Video’s top title (22 million), with Hawkeye (19.3 million) next and Ms. Marvel (15.1 million) rounding out the top five. The Boys Season 3, Money Heist Season 5 and Stranger Things Season 4 also scored highly.
Ormax’s research was based on in-depth interviews and focus groups from across Indian, and an online study that built on findings of the conversations. The analyst is predicting further growth in the ‘English’ SVoD audience in India this year.
“Over the last two decades, there has been a popular perception in the Indian media and entertainment industry that English content is niche, and targets only a segment of the audience within the upper echelons of the socio-economic spectrum,” said Ormax founder and CEO Shailesh Kapoor. “Until about 3-4 years ago, this perception was indeed a reflection of reality.
“However, the last few years, especially the pandemic, has changed it all. The growth of dubbed content consumption has made the ‘language factor’ virtually non-existent. Signs of this are evident in both theatrical and streaming industries, where content is traveling far and wide, including within Indian languages.
“The language barrier was the biggest hurdle towards consumption of English — and other foreign language — content in India. The growth of the Indian streaming market has taken that factor out of the equation. It’s now time for good content to prosper.”
“There has been a significant evolution of the English content category in India, from the days of solely being available on linear television, to the current rise of streaming platforms,” added Sonika Bhasin, SPT Vice President, Distribution. “We wanted to understand this evolution, so that we can engage in more informed conversations with our business partners. We believe there is tremendous opportunity to further grow this market given the appeal English content has in the OTT space.”
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