20 NEWS & VIEWS
April 2017
Rise of OTT redefining media landscape
SINGAPORE – Consumers ’ appetite for content is being unleashed on mobile , said Ajit Mohan , CEO of Hotstar .
Kicking off the CASBAA OTT Summit held in Singapore last month , Mohan described how he choreographed the success of Hotstar , a digital and mobile entertainment platform launched in February 2015 .
Owned by Star India , a 21st Century Fox company , the Hotstar app , which now has more than 50 million downloads , garnered 340 million views during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 .
As the service continues to evolve , the key metric has moved beyond just the number of downloads ; instead , it is all about “ watch time ”, or how much time is spent on the app , or how many times viewers come back on a daily or monthly basis , Mohan explained .
Hotstar also strives to offer the best mix of local and international content , although “ original content has to live up to its billing ”, he cautioned , adding : “ We invest in original content only when we can tell a story , or introduce a format that has not been done before .”
The next milestone for Hotstar is to go global , Mohan concluded , asking : “ How can we make people continue to come to us even if they have access to traditional TV services ?”
Another over-the-top ( OTT ) service that has gone some way to dispelling the notion that India is not ready for streaming services is Spuul , founded in 2012 . By early 2016 , Spuul was offering a catalogue of more than 1,000 films and TV shows in various Indian regional languages .
The OTT space has “ changed dramatically ” over the past 24 months , observed S Mohan , cofounder and COO of Spuul . “ We advocate a ‘ hyper-local , hyperfocus ’ strategy , and it really is about finding the next person who is willing to pay for content that makes sense to them .”
Mohan was part of a panel session comprising representatives from Netflix , PCCW Global and
A success story : Ajit Mohan , CEO of Hotstar , shared how in the space of two years , Hotstar has grown to be one of the most successful online media platforms in India .
HOOQ , who all acknowledged the sheer diversity of Asia-Pacific , and the need to cater to the needs of different groups of consumers .
Moreover , much like India , many parts of the region do not yet enjoy widespread or stable broadband connectivity . That , perhaps , goes a long way to explain why many operators , including global titan Netflix , has introduced a ‘ download and watch later ’ function , which eliminates the need for instantaneous access to broadband connectivity .
One of the key issues facing operators in Asia-Pacific , lamented Ravi Vora , CMO of HOOQ , an OTT service launched in 2015 to serve the Asian market , is how online
Christopher Slaughter , CEO of CASBAA : “ We will see more announcements over the course of 2017 , and there will be a lot more activity where OTT is concerned as operators continue to formulate their strategies .”
content continues to be perceived as free .
Like many of its counterparts , HOOQ plans to expand beyond Asia . As a common strategy , regardless of the market it serves , HOOQ is working to “ get the business model right ”, because “ the race for content is on ”, Vora declared .
Once considered the exclusive domain of the pay-TV industry , is live sports about to make a huge OTT splash ? “ Sports is at the heart of what we do ,” proclaimed Maya Hari , managing director , Southeast Asia and India , Twitter .
For a social media platform that started out as a pure texting service limited to 140 characters per “ tweet ”, that is some statement .
According to Hari , Twitter began to offer large-scale live streaming by Q4 2016 , with 52 % of this being sports content , including American football and hockey action .
The growth of OTT providers will continue to pick up , and within this sphere , sports aggregators will emerge , predicted Michael Greco , VP APAC , Vindicia , a subscription billing solutions provider .
In particular , he sees a real demand for niche sports , where specific events , such as the Olympics and FIFA World Cup , can be delivered over OTT . If rights negotiations and buying models can be re-looked into , what , he asked , is there to stop OTT service providers from entering into tie-ups , for example , with individual football clubs in the future ?
OTT represents part of the future — it is only a question of how to launch services , and what to do with the services once they are launched , said Christopher Slaughter , CEO , CASBAA .
Speaking with APB after the successful conclusion of the fourth edition of CASBAA ’ s OTT Summit , he said : “ We are moving away from the stage where people were worried and fearful of OTT services to an active phase where they say , ‘ This is interesting and we need to learn more .’”
Nobody can deny the importance of OTT anymore , Slaughter stressed , although he acknowledged that not everyone is necessarily — by choice or otherwise — allocating the right proportion of funds to support OTT .
Still , OTT will continue to dominate , said Slaughter , as he concluded : “ We will see more announcements over the course of 2017 , and there will be a lot more activity where OTT is concerned as operators continue to formulate their strategies .”
Delegates attending the CASBAA Summit 2017 took in the various discussions with contemplation and delight in equal measure , as a spotlight was thrown on how evolving trends in viewership is driving the growth of OTT .