I briefly remember turning on my cable TV and tuning on to live sports Sony Pictures Networks India. When Sachin scored a century, the entire colony would shout with joyous fervor and the chaos that ensued would be massive.
Or the time when mom used to watch daily soap operas. Shows like KBC and Crime patrol \have created many shared cultural experiences which we live through thousands of times.
Cut to today when the audience is shifting from traditional cable channels to the OTT platform. In an era that pays heed to on-demand content, the popularity of legacy media seems to be dwindling.
Star India’s Hotstar (now backed by Disney) and international OTT platforms like Amazon Prime and Netflix have garnered a major monopoly over online streaming.
Image Credit : SonyLIV
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So, where does Sony come into play?
After the massive success of Hotstar, Sony decided to come up with SonyLiv. The OTT platform was launched in 2013. With the streaming of already popular shows like SonyLiv KBC, SonyLIV Crime patrol & Kapil Sharma shows, SonyLIV quickly surpassed every other OTT player in India with over 300 million monthly users.
SonyLIV subscription plan
SonyLIV subscription free of cost plan is now available on the platform with the purchase of Paytm First. The Paytm First membership comes with a price tag of Rs 899 for 6 months. Under this, you will get a Sony LIV Premium subscription for 6 months for free that is worth Rs 699.
The platform also offers SonyLiv Premium monthly membership is priced at Rs 299.
Tussle between SonyLIV & Hotstar
If you look at the statistics, SonyLIV subscription grew between 2x-3x over the last year, still has a considerable distance to go if it wants to match Hotstar’s pace. Hotstar currently has a concurrent viewership of 18.6 million viewers; most of them are the viewers that come from IPL & sport’s mania.
Hotstar has bigger MaUs with 300 million monthly active users as well. But the thing to consider is that Hotstar has accumulated twice as monthly active users within a year.
So, how does SonyLIV plan to defeat Hotstar in this OTT battle?
Uday Sodhi, business head of digital at Sony Pictures Networks India explains, “From a size and scale perspective India is unique and hence anything we do here is unique. There are very few solutions in the world that can fit into the Indian context. You have to create local solutions.”
And true to his words, the Indian palette and preferences work differently. Even Netflix had to introduce a unique and cheaper subscription plan to lure the Indian audience.
However, SonyLIV cannot survive with that model, simply because they aren’t a global company like Netflix that can leverage such marketing choices. Evidently, SonlyLIV had come up with a better plan.
Quality of content as the king
The main reason why people are shifting their interest to OTT platforms is that the content in cable TVs has become redundant. People are frustrated and require fresher content. That is where SonyLIV has aimed to attack.
Recently the series Scam 1992 had connected to the Indian audience on a personal level. Everyone, literally everyone, was raving about the thriller series. It was undoubtedly the biggest Indian release of 2021.
The strangest part of the phenomenon was that it wasn’t driven by any popular Bollywood actor. It didn’t have any Bollywood masala drama. But it still managed to top the charts simply because of its content.
The show efficiently managed to target the financial population and converted them into show advocates. It leveraged the strength of powerful content through organic reviews and word of mouth. And most of all it appealed to a “woke urban audience”.
The Popular show of SonyLIV
The popularity of the show spread like wildfire and drew a loyal follower base for the OTT platform. And that was just the beginning.
After the release of Scam 1992, many content-driven shows were also produced and streamed by SonyLIV namely
Rocket Boys,
Shark Tank India,
Tabbar &
Undekhi.
Conclusion
Looking for original content through the lens of average Indian taste is tricky. But when done correctly, it can garner huge success. I believe strong content is the future of entertainment in India. And given the track record SonyLIV has in terms of virality and quality of content, nothing can beat them domestically. Within years to come, SonyLIV is a guaranteed winner among OTT platforms and that’s a given- concludes business strategist Hirav Shah.
About Hirav Shah
Hirav Shah is an eminent Business Astrologer and Entrepreneur, who can help you reach new levels of success in the coming year. Shah’s unique practice mixes the fundamentals of Astrology with Business Principles, thereby introducing you to a whole new dimension of affluence.
Hirav Shah has an astounding global presence with clients based across various business sectors. He is a big believer in taking massive action, has formulated strategies and made the right strategic bets based on the certainty of outcome to help some of the world’s most renowned brands.
From business setup and expansion to crisis and exit, he can give you a strong Astro based analysis on where to apply leverage and where to cut losses.
