Home » Press & News » News » Rise of vernacular OTT: How Hoichoi became the go-to video-on-demand platform for Bengali content Read more at: https://yourstory.com/2020/10/vernacular-ott-hoichoi-video-platform-bengali-content
Vernacular OTT platform Hoichoi caters to 250 million native Bengali speakers in the world. With 600-odd titles, 3,000 hours of programming, and 13 million cumulative users, it is eyeing leadership position in the segment.
Read more at: https://yourstory.com/2020/10/vernacular-ott-hoichoi-video-platform-bengali-content
When Hoichoi launched in 2017, it envisioned itself as the one-stop entertainment destination for more than 250 million native Bengali speakers around the world. Three years, 600-odd titles and 3,000 hours of programming later, it is the leading Bengali OTT platform not only in India, but also in Bangladesh, the UAE, and 100 other countries. Hoichoi reaches 13 million cumulative subscribers (including via telco partners), which may be higher than most Indian OTT apps. The platform also houses 1,000 music videos and several hours of non-fiction content. The Kolkata-headquartered OTT operator claims to be doubling its revenue every year, with 40 percent of its direct revenue coming from international customers. The platform also witnessed a 3X-4X increase in viewership since the lockdown in March. “The lockdown has been a huge tailwind. It has accelerated digital and people’s willingness to pay for content by two years. It has also expanded the base of users who can be monetised,” Vishnu Mohta, Co-founder, Hoichoi, tells YourStory. In September, Hoichoi unveiled its grand content slate for its fourth year. This included 25 original series, including literary adaptations, thrillers, romance, comedy, horror, ‘First Day First Show’ films, and a bunch of exclusive digital premiers. Vishnu Mohta, Co-founder, Hoichoi TV
Read more at: https://yourstory.com/2020/10/vernacular-ott-hoichoi-video-platform-bengali-content
Besides content, the platform rests on two other pillars — distribution and tech — that are also being expanded and revamped. (more on that later) Summarising Hoichoi’s three-year journey, Vishnu says, “In 30 years of SVF [Hoichoi’s parent company], the last three have only been about Hoichoi. We were a B2B company dealing with distributors, broadcasters, multiplexes… We didn’t know B2C where you directly interact with the customer, understand their tech issues, or solve their payment problems. With Hoichoi, we have transitioned into a global company from a content reach point of view. And that is the power of the internet. Without it, we would never have been able to reach customers in Japan, Sweden, Iceland, and Argentina.” Si
Read more at: https://yourstory.com/2020/10/vernacular-ott-hoichoi-video-platform-bengali-content
When Hoichoi launched in 2017, after being in development for a year, it set off a string of firsts in India’s OTT industry — first vernacular video-on-demand platform; first to launch subscription top-up cards; first to enable pay-per-view (which it discarded due to piracy issues); and first to offer content dubbed in other languages. It was also among the handful of homegrown OTT services (along with Eros Now and ALTBalaji) to be born out of a traditional film studio. Its parent company SVF Entertainment had been making Bengali films for over 30 years until then. In an earlier conversation, Vishnu told YourStory, “With our depth of content, IP, and the experience of making so many movies and shows, it was the right time to transition into the third form of storytelling – digital. With Reliance Jio bringing a tectonic transformation in the internet speeds, people could stream an entire movie on their smartphones. 3G was a pain, but 4G fixed it. It was clear that everyone’s entertainment viewing was moving towards the internet.” Hoic
Read more at: https://yourstory.com/2020/10/vernacular-ott-hoichoi-video-platform-bengali-content
Even during the pandemic, when all other M&E segments tanked due to a slowing economy, KPMG data revealed that OTT revenues climbed 26 percent and subscriptions grew 47 percent. “Consumers are rebalancing rather than reducing expenditure away from outdoor entertainment, cinema, and concerts to OTT and gaming,” it stated. Hoichoi, along with 40-odd other OTT platforms that operate in India today, has gained immeasurably from the pandemic-induced habit transformation in viewers. However, the winds of change had started blowing even before that. As India’s smartphone penetration increased and 4G became widely available post-Jio, the Next Billion Users started taking to the internet, with 73 percent of them consuming online video regularly. In the last one year, smartphone OTT viewership has grown from 5 percent to 19 percent, as per KPMG.
Read more at: https://yourstory.com/2020/10/vernacular-ott-hoichoi-video-platform-bengali-content
With the Indian internet becoming more rural and vernacular, the demand for content in native languages also peaked almost organically. Google estimates that 500 million Indian language users would “need access to great content in their native tongues on their smartphones” by 2021. Hoichoi not only fulfils this native need, but also does it at a lower price point vis-a-vis general OTT platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, among others. An annual Hoichoi subscription costs Rs 499, which is 50 percent more affordable than Amazon Prime Video’s annual plan. Vishnu elaborates, “People’s willingness to pay for content has grown exponentially. Earlier they paid for data, and had nothing left to pay for content. Now because of Jio, they don’t think that they are paying for data. So, most OTTs have been able to have a strong subscription strategy. They know that subscription is the only route to create a profitable balance sheet. Now, everyone wants to have a regional strategy because the new audience that will come out of Tier-II and III towns will be non-Hindi and non-English. And the depth of content will be a very important factor for them to subscribe.”
Read more at: https://yourstory.com/2020/10/vernacular-ott-hoichoi-video-platform-bengali-content
Besides Hoichoi, a bunch of vernacular OTT services have mushroomed lately. These include Addatimes (Bengali), Simply South (Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam), Sun NXT (four South Indian languages), Aha Video (Telugu), and Planet Marathi (Marathi). Putting the phenomenon in perspective, Girish Menon, Partner and Head, Media and Entertainment, KPMG in India tells YourStory, “With deepening digital infrastructure across Tier-II and III cities and beyond, and further helped by the spike in digital consumption on account of COVID-19, pureplay regional OTT platforms are seeing significant traction. These have the advantage of a single-minded focus on a particular language, and staying close to the cultural nuances of that language. They are relatively more affordable compared to multi-lingual platforms, and provide regular and culturally relevant content to their target markets.” However, regional OTTs might face challenges in achieving scale, which international OTTs have been able to because of “higher resources” at their disposal. Hoichoi, on the other hand, believes that its first-mover advantage in Bengali OTT content, a huge untapped market in Bangladesh, and a wide range of distribution partnerships can solve challenges of scale.
Read more at: https://yourstory.com/2020/10/vernacular-ott-hoichoi-video-platform-bengali-content
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