Indian Consumer Prefer To Watch OTT Content For Free

According to a new report, 25 percent of Indian consumers want to pay nothing and watch ads while consuming content.

As per the 2019 Asia OTT Research Report 25 percent elected to pay a lower fee with limited ads, 14 percent would like to pay a higher fee to be free from ads, and 14 percent would like an option where they can customize their price and ad packages.

Overall, 35 percent of the consumer population might be open to a reduced monthly subscription OTT package that serves ads -- depending on the price, whereas 44 percent said they would definitely sign up for this option.

The report, conducted with online market research and data analytics firm YouGov.

The study polled 9,000 participants across nine countries in Asia, including 1,000 consumers in India. The survey was designed to uncover insights into consumer preferences towards OTT services, including subscription tiers and motivators driving subscriptions; how much consumers are willing to pay; their tolerance to advertising and ad-supported subscriptions; and openness to shoppable TV experience.

Indian consumers do not mind seeing ads as part of their shows, especially if they are getting a deal (value for money). OTT service providers should take advantage of this preference and make the advertising experience engaging while limiting ad loads per break," Janvi Morzaria, sales director, India, at Brightcove, said in a statement.

OTT Consumers In India

The report said overall 48 percent of total OTT consumers in India have adopted subscription models, 33 percent have never used subscription services, while 67 percent have subscribed to one at some point in their life.

Furthermore, 22 percent of Indian respondents found two ads as an acceptable advertising load per ad break and 13 percent were open to three ads per break.

When asked how much respondents would be willing to pay for OTT services, 37 percent of respondents stated less than $1 per month, 27 percent would pay $1-$4 per month, and 16 percent would pay $5-$9 per month.

The report also pointed out that offline downloads (42 percent), access on mobile (42 percent), and using less data on mobile while streaming (40 percent) were the top three OTT service features most Indian consumers wanted.