OTTs continue to expand, but at smaller scale

Most Indian media and entertainment companies have got a hang of how over-the-top (OTT) model works and they have been taking steps to cut extra flab to push their streaming businesses towards profitability from the earlier cash-burn mode.

- ROSHNI SHEKHAR

Mumbai, 2 July

Major players which have pan-Indian audiences, like Zee Entertainment Enterprises' ZEE5 and Ekta Kapoor-backed Balaji Telefilms' ALTT, have cut operational costs over the years and have also gone through the process of rebranding their OTT segments.

While the OTT industry as a whole has been focused on cutting costs, media analysts and executives said that this trend has been more prominent towards the OTT platforms started by Indian companies, as they cannot afford to spend as much as their established global counterparts like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

The only exception in this case is Reliance Industries-backed JioHotstar.

"OTT platforms have been present in India for the last 10 to 15 years... Even the most lenient investors would like to see some return right now," said a media analyst, on the condition of anonymity.

In the financial year 2024-2025 (FY25), ZEE5 had an Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) loss of ₹550 crore compared with ₹1,110 crore in FY24. One of the major ways through which the company achieved this goal was through cost-cutting.