Primed for new AUDIENCES

Amazon Prime Video's new line-up speaks of a streaming service sure of where it is and where it wants to go

- VANITA KOHLI-KHANDEKAR

Two hundred years after the Apocalypse, people who live in luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind. They are shocked to discover a complex and violent universe.

Fallout, a show based on a post-apocalyptic role-playing video game, will premiere worldwide on Amazon Prime Video this April. It is one among the 69 series and films ― original and licensed announced last week at a star-studded event in Mumbai by Amazon Prime Video, India. That is up from 40 titles in 2022.

"India has the largest slate of local original content outside the US," says Kelly Day, vice president, international, Amazon Prime Video.

Prime Video, part of the $575 billion online retail giant Amazon, has more than 200 million members in 210 countries. At an estimated 22 million users, India is the largest Prime Video-using country outside of the United States (78 million). Not all of them are users of the video service; they are essentially shoppers who sign on for free shipping and get a lot of other goodies, such as video and music.

Though the company does not share revenue or subscriber breakups, Media Partners Asia (MPA) estimates Prime Video's India revenues at ₹2,500 crore in 2023 (see table). The pay and ad revenue for the entire Indian streaming market is estimated at $25,000 crore.

Swelling kitty

According to Ormax Media data, some of the most watched shows of 2023 (Farzi, Dahaad) and films (Bawaal) came from the Prime Video kitty.

"Our biggest success has been driving Indian content internationally. Indian programming trended in the Top 10 on Prime Video worldwide for 43 out of the 52 weeks of 2023," says Gaurav Gandhi, vice president, APAC and MENA.