Regional OTT steps in to fill vernacular content gap in mainstream platforms

In the last three to four months since their launch, Koode has crossed 20,000 downloads across multiple platforms, including Android, iOS, and Android TV. Ramachandran believes in the long run, regional OTT players such as Koode can cater to a much wider audience.

“We are a creator-driven network. We analyse data to understand what sort of content genres our audience is looking at. We believe good content will always have takers and will experiment across multiple genres and not necessarily focus only on the most popular ones like movies,” he said.

With so many regional OTT platforms coming up, the space has now become cluttered and the audience has a wide plethora of choices.

Speaking on how Koode is standing out in this clutter, Ramachandran said, “We are trying to build a new content ecosystem by bringing together a bunch of fresh talent looking for an alternative independent platform. We are putting together a content creator network in Malayalam. While a lot of platforms are primarily focusing on movies, we would like to bet on a wider range – looking at data and analytics. In terms of content strategy, Koode will pursue a two-pronged approach — creating original programming with this bunch of creators and curating content from other social media platforms.”

Ramachandran believes transactional VoD is more likely to work compared to traditional subscription-based VoD. “We are launching our pay-per-view by the end of the month,” he said.

Meanwhile, Planet Marathi is looking at making their platform into a super app that not only provides web series and films, but also has music streaming services, live non-fiction shows, games, karaoke songs, nonfiction content such as folk music, travel and food shows, stage plays, in a combination of online and offline, and interactive web films.

Apart from that, they will have a pay-per-view model called Planet Marathi Digital Theatres for some of their exclusive movies. After a few weeks, the same movie will be available in the SVoD format.

CityShor.TV stands out from its competitors in the Gujarati market with its urbane, youth-centric content. “We bring one original content every month. We are bringing new-age, urban Gujarati content to the market. Our content is the kind that you see on Netflix, but ours is in Gujarati. Nobody made that kind of content in Gujarati before because it's not financially viable to release them in theatres. This is quite different from our competitors who are more into the traditional Gujarati market.”

This has helped them become a go-to option for brands that wish to connect with the Gujarati youth. “No big players are very active in the Gujarati market. The kind of content that we make is largely urban and youth-centric. So if a brand wants to get connected to Gujarati youth, we are the best platform,” he said.

With their rapid rise, the question arises if these regional platforms can provide tough competition to mainstream OTT platforms in the coming years. Ramachandran said, “Apart from a few big-budget movies of which they have picked up rights, none of these platforms are focusing on any original programming in Malayalam. We understand the pulse of the audience better and have a good rapport with young talented creators. While we may not have the budget that these platforms have, you will see a lot of interesting programming coming from Koode.”

CityShor.TV is witnessing a 30-40% increase in their user base month-on-month since their launch in November. They also create their own content. “All the big players are currently only licensing the regional content. But nobody is focussed on making originals in regional languages so far. For example, Amazon is big in the Gujarati market. But they do not make the original series. They only lease the license of good content. We, on the other hand, are producing our own content,” said Parikh.

The pandemic has greatly helped these platforms as people have very few alternatives for entertainment with theatres being shut. “While movie halls will always remain a medium of mass entertainment, especially for hard-core movie fans, the shift to OTT has already happened. The sheer joy of watching your favourite content in your private space is something people across all age barriers have started enjoying and is here to stay and grow manifold,” said Ramachandran.

Parikh said, “Earlier, we had to push the content. We had to run ads and convince people to visit the app or to watch a particular content. But now people themselves do the research and try to explore new content on their own. The push factor has reduced significantly.”

Most of these platforms collaborate with brands to generate branded content. With most of them having no ads on their platform, this forms a great source of revenue.

CityShor.TV also doesn’t carry ads as they do not wish to ruin the viewer’s experience. So they also bank on branded content. “If a brand wants to push their product or service to lakhs of people through a traditional mode or even through digital, it takes a huge effort. But in a good show, it gets placed very easily because people are looking for content. It's very easy for any SME or a business to push their product service through this form of marketing,” he said.

While Planet Marathi is considering having skippable ads, they are also considering in-film branding and branded content. “Branding is an integral part without which I don't think any platform can survive and we are dependent on other brands to show themselves on our platform,” said Bardapurkar.