Fighting fatigue with friction? Missing pieces of the Indian OTT aggregator puzzle

New Delhi: India’s OTT ecosystem is on the rise. With 130 million subscriptions by the end of 2024, it is evident that the OTT space is maturing. In the labyrinth of this OTT boom, where consumers are witnessing a deluge of options, a new player is trying to simplify chaos with its abilities still simmering. 

With dozens of streaming platforms offering siloed libraries and premium price tags, consumers are exhausted, not just financially, but cognitively.

OTT aggregators are aiming to become the stalwarts of bundling. Promising a one-stop destination for consumers’ content needs, OTT aggregators want to emerge as the panacea for the industry’s most persistent ailment - fatigue. 

But the road to relevance is still far from frictionless. 

OTT aggregation is trying to solve the fragmented streaming space, which often acts as a quicksand for users sinking into myriad content, subscriptions, and bill cycles. But the actuality showcases a tale of rapidly evolving consumer behaviour, unresolved tech infrastructures, and a battle between content control and distribution dominance. 

The landing page dilemma

According to the FICCI-EY report, the paid OTT audience could be estimated at between 95 and 118 million individuals. Moreover, the report also mentioned that the subscribing households will grow from 47 million to over 65 million by 2027. 

As smart TVs dominate Indian households, content discovery is being dictated by TV operating systems. One of the biggest hurdles for OTT aggregators, according to Anuj Gandhi, founder and CEO, Streambox Media, is the landing page on connected TVs. 

Gandhi argued that if a user subscribes to an aggregator and gets access to an OTT platform, the user may land on the aggregator platform the first time. But the next time the user wants to watch the same content, they have the option to go to the OTT platform directly. 

This is the core of the landing page dilemma. “The real challenge for aggregators is to attract the user to their platform,” Gandhi said. 

The importance of having control or dominance over the landing page ensures that users engage with the aggregator’s ecosystem, in one way or the other. 

Chiming in, Abhijeet Rajpurohit, COO and co-founder, CloudTV, said, “If a user has to take three extra steps just to open your aggregation app, you've already lost the core purpose of being an aggregator. 

The value lies in seamless convenience—if that’s missing, users won’t return. It’s not always about price or discounts; it’s about building a habit loop where the user finds consistent ease and efficiency in your product. That’s what drives retention.”

DishTV’s aggregator application, Watcho, has already started putting efforts in this direction. Watcho recently collaborated with CloudTV to make the user experience seamless, and getting some control of the screen is part of the collaboration. 

Explaining their collaboration, Rajpurohit said, “What we’ve done with this integration is simplify the experience for DishTV and Watcho subscribers to access their content directly on the television. So, when a user logs into the TV, we trigger an automated check against their subscription. 

If they are identified as a DishTV subscriber, the landing page on their TV is transformed into a DishTV-branded interface. This creates a seamless, personalised viewing experience, making it much easier for them to access all their subscribed content in one place.” 

Speaking on the subject matter, Sukhpreet Singh, Chief Revenue Officer, DishTV, said, “We are not concerned with which screen the user accesses our platform through. What truly matters to us right now is presence. We want to ensure we’re available across every screen — whether it's a mobile device, a smart TV, or even a non-smart television.”

Singh further elaborated, saying that there are different grades of integration for their aggregator platform. “With some TV OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), we have a basic level of integration — our app is simply available on their platform. With CloudTV, it is a notch deeper. In some TVs, there may be a Dish TV-owned OS. But that is for the future to see.” 

Balancing between D2C and B2B

Aggregation, while working towards a multi-faceted solution, may emerge as a double-edged sword for the OTT platforms. The situation requires a heightened acumen where OTT players have to make tough calls on pricing, content exclusivity, and revenue sharing. 

Saurabh Srivastava, Chief Operating Officer – Digital Business, Shemaroo Entertainment, decoded the situation. Shemaroo has been a notable player in the linear television space and has now forayed into the OTT space with ShemarooMe. 

Srivastava drew parallels with the television ecosystem. “Traditionally, if you had cable or satellite, you subscribed to a bundle from the provider. Bundling helped streamline distribution and reduce costs while maintaining the distinct identity of individual channels in consumers’ minds.”  

In the OTT space, Srivastava continued, I need to strike the right balance between being part of a bundle and also offering direct consumption value to my users. “I don't give consumers enough reasons to come to my app, subscribe directly, and engage with me as a D2C brand; then over time, what’s my real value in a bundled ecosystem?” he questioned. 

ShemarooMe, to maintain exclusivity for its regional users, avoids sharing its premium Gujarati content with aggregators, reserving it for its D2C app. 

Speaking from the aggregator’s side, DishTV’s Singh shared how OTT platforms and aggregators fundamentally differ in terms of content strategy. 

“An OTT platform typically wants its hero content — the tentpole shows or movies — to be front and centre. It’s about showcasing what defines their brand and draws viewers in.

Aggregators, on the other hand, are focused on broader discovery. Our aim is to help users explore content across platforms, including titles they may not initially consider.” 

Singh argued that if a viewer already knows about a blockbuster show, they will see it in the promotions or search for it directly. But if they’re looking for more nuanced or lesser-known content, they need help discovering it. 

“That’s where we step in — surfacing content from platforms that may not have massive marketing budgets but offer high-quality programming,” Singh said. 

The loop effect

Abhijeet Rajpurohit highlighted an interesting loop effect growing in the OTT aggregation space. Rajpurohit pointed at a highly fragmented ecosystem, even within the bundling or the aggregation space. 

“Telcos are solving the problem for their subscribers. MSOs and ISPs are doing it for their base. Then there are independent players or standalone apps trying to address it for direct-to-consumer markets.” 

The fragmented ecosystem might fuel the rise of subscription fatigue in subscription services. Ironically, the very problem aggregators were meant to solve is now emerging within the aggregation space itself. As telcos, DTH players, and ISPs all create their own bundles, confusion may once again linger in the minds of the consumers. 

Addressing this phenomenon, Rajpurohit said, “This kind of fragmentation is natural in a nascent market. Everyone is jumping in to solve the problem in their own way. But over time, I believe we’ll start seeing consolidation.” 

Road ahead: Experience over economics

While figuring out the challenges aggregators face, one thing that was common to all the minds speaking on the subject was consumer convenience. 

While experts may say that aggregation is solving a pricing issue more than it is solving the fatigue issue, the players in the aggregation space address convenience as their primary objective. 

Pricing matters, but only after experience. If navigating an OTT ecosystem feels like work, consumers will opt out—even if it’s cheap. 

According to Gandhi, aggregators need to focus on bringing the consumer to their platform as seamlessly and effortlessly as possible. The landing page issue is one big area that needs to be resolved. Then comes the content pool and the discovery. 

“If none of these issues can be resolved, OTT aggregators need to push hard in the direction of technology and user experience,” Gandhi said. 

It is only fair and logical what Gandhi mentioned. While the issues discussed are areas of work, the world doesn’t end if they are not solved. OTT aggregators need to have a highly robust interface that users are allured to automatically. The technology aspect needs to be so refined that content discovery is competitive, if not better than the global streaming giants.

Running parallel with Gandhi, Avinash Mudaliar, Founder and CEO, OTTPlay, said, “The future of aggregation lies in delivering delight by reducing the time that users search for content and thus improving engagement and time spent watching it.

The future of OTT aggregation lies not just in bundling but in creating intuitive and immersive experiences across all screens. Whether through AI-led recommendations, deeper TV OS integrations, or hybrid content models, aggregation needs to evolve from being a utility into becoming an enabler of fun, entertainment, and joy.“