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India's Streaming Space Battle to Intensify With Disney Entry
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India’s rapidly-expanding video streaming user base presents strong prospects for global video streaming service providers including Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) , Apple (AAPL - Free Report) , Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) , Disney (DIS - Free Report) , as well as local players including Zee5, Alt Balaji, Voot and MX Player among others.
Per a TechRadar report, India has a video streaming audience base of more than 300 million, which is expected to increase by over 550 million in the next four years. Currently, 39 companies offer streaming services in the country, up from nine in 2012.
Let’s delve deep to find out the various initiatives these aforesaid streaming providers are taking to gain a footprint in India’s growing streaming space.
Hotstar’s Content Strength: A Key Differentiator for Disney
Disney has been focusing on expanding its footprint in India’s video streaming market, which is set to grow at a CAGR of 21.82% to reach INR 11,977 crore by 2023, per a PricewaterhouseCoopers report.
One-Year Performance
Disney+ streaming service is set to debut in India on Mar 29 and will enjoy an advantage with the company’s leading local streaming platform, Hotstar.
Hotstar has an impressive 100 million daily active users and 300 million monthly active users base. While Hotstar Specials showcases its original programming content, Hotstar VIP is one of the cheapest OTT service showcasing live sports, local content from Star India and web originals.
The platform is set to be relaunched as Hotstar Disney+, wherein Disney+’ benefits and content will be bundled with Hotstar’s premium plans that are priced at INR 365 and INR 999 annually.
This implies that the entire library of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star War and National Geographic content, along with Disney+ originals such as The Mandalorian and Hotstar’s local original series such as Hostages Season 2 and Special Ops will be available to consumers in India on a single platform.
Netflix’s Local Content Push
Rising competition is expected to push investments in original content to $1.4 billion by 2024, at a 13% CAGR from 2019, per a Business Standard report.
Reportedly, Netflix will spend $420 million this year and next on producing original content for the audience in India.
Per The Statesman report, the streaming giant has a pipeline of around 24 feature films and 16 web series in India in various genres such as young adult, drama, thriller, horror and comedy.
Ghost Stories, which is a sequel to last year’s Lust Stories, Tribhanga, Freedom, Class of ’83 produced by Red Chillies, Bulbul produced by Anushka Sharma, What The Love! With Karan Johar, The White Tiger starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Rajkummar Rao, Jamtara - Sabka Number Aayega are few of the shows to be showcased on Netflix India in 2020.
However, Hotstar has set aside INR 120 crore to make seven original shows in different local languages in India, while Zee5 intends to release 72 new originals in six languages till March 2020, per a report from KPMG.
Zee5’s original series A State Of Siege 26/11 is set to release soon. Shows like Rangbaaz Phirse and The Final Call have gained popularity along with Auto Shankar, a Tamil-language show so far.
The show lineup from Alt Balaji for 2020 include Code M, Mentalhood, It happened in Calcutta, Dil Hi Toh Hai Season 3 and Class of 2020. Amazon Prime’s slate of local content including The Forgotten Army, Breathe 2, Bandish Bandits, Mirzapur Season 2 and Made in Heaven 2 among others is expected to intensify competition for Netflix and Disney in 2020.
Pricing War Intensifies
The entry of Apple TV+ at INR 99 per month and the upcoming launch of Disney+ are expected to intensify the streaming war in India.
Hotstar Disney+’s streaming subscription services is set for launch in a market with 46.15 million subscriptions for streaming premium services, which is likely to increase to 92.32 million by 2024, per a Financial Express report.
Notably, local companies like Eros Now, Zee5 and ALTBalaji with 6.27 million, 4.64 million and 3.7 million subscribers, respectively are among the top five service providers so far.
Amazon’s prime video has a monthly plan of INR 129 and an annual membership of INR 999 that includes mobile access with 6.75 million total subscribers in 2019.
Additionally, Zee5 has begun offering some region-specific packages at INR 49 a month or INR 499 a year to attract more viewers. This compares with standard packages at INR 99 a month or INR 999 a year.
Meanwhile, Netflix continues to be more expensive than other streaming providers in India. The company’s monthly subscriptions start at INR 500, which does not allow simultaneous viewing. Higher priced plans of INR 650 and INR 800 allow multiple users and simultaneous viewing, respectively.
Recently, Netflix India introduced a test plan, which allows new subscribers to enjoy their first month of subscription for just INR 5 after revoking the offer that allowed new users to enjoy a free first month.
Nonetheless, Netflix has lured mobile phone users with cheaper subscription of INR 199 per month and continuous original regional content expansion to boost declining subscriber growth.
Experts extracted 7 stocks from the list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys that has beaten the market more than 2X over with a stunning average gain of +24.7% per year.
Image: Bigstock
India's Streaming Space Battle to Intensify With Disney Entry
India’s rapidly-expanding video streaming user base presents strong prospects for global video streaming service providers including Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) , Apple (AAPL - Free Report) , Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) , Disney (DIS - Free Report) , as well as local players including Zee5, Alt Balaji, Voot and MX Player among others.
Per a TechRadar report, India has a video streaming audience base of more than 300 million, which is expected to increase by over 550 million in the next four years. Currently, 39 companies offer streaming services in the country, up from nine in 2012.
Let’s delve deep to find out the various initiatives these aforesaid streaming providers are taking to gain a footprint in India’s growing streaming space.
Hotstar’s Content Strength: A Key Differentiator for Disney
Disney has been focusing on expanding its footprint in India’s video streaming market, which is set to grow at a CAGR of 21.82% to reach INR 11,977 crore by 2023, per a PricewaterhouseCoopers report.
One-Year Performance
Disney+ streaming service is set to debut in India on Mar 29 and will enjoy an advantage with the company’s leading local streaming platform, Hotstar.
Hotstar has an impressive 100 million daily active users and 300 million monthly active users base. While Hotstar Specials showcases its original programming content, Hotstar VIP is one of the cheapest OTT service showcasing live sports, local content from Star India and web originals.
The platform is set to be relaunched as Hotstar Disney+, wherein Disney+’ benefits and content will be bundled with Hotstar’s premium plans that are priced at INR 365 and INR 999 annually.
This implies that the entire library of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star War and National Geographic content, along with Disney+ originals such as The Mandalorian and Hotstar’s local original series such as Hostages Season 2 and Special Ops will be available to consumers in India on a single platform.
Netflix’s Local Content Push
Rising competition is expected to push investments in original content to $1.4 billion by 2024, at a 13% CAGR from 2019, per a Business Standard report.
Reportedly, Netflix will spend $420 million this year and next on producing original content for the audience in India.
Per The Statesman report, the streaming giant has a pipeline of around 24 feature films and 16 web series in India in various genres such as young adult, drama, thriller, horror and comedy.
Ghost Stories, which is a sequel to last year’s Lust Stories, Tribhanga, Freedom, Class of ’83 produced by Red Chillies, Bulbul produced by Anushka Sharma, What The Love! With Karan Johar, The White Tiger starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Rajkummar Rao, Jamtara - Sabka Number Aayega are few of the shows to be showcased on Netflix India in 2020.
However, Hotstar has set aside INR 120 crore to make seven original shows in different local languages in India, while Zee5 intends to release 72 new originals in six languages till March 2020, per a report from KPMG.
Zee5’s original series A State Of Siege 26/11 is set to release soon. Shows like Rangbaaz Phirse and The Final Call have gained popularity along with Auto Shankar, a Tamil-language show so far.
The show lineup from Alt Balaji for 2020 include Code M, Mentalhood, It happened in Calcutta, Dil Hi Toh Hai Season 3 and Class of 2020. Amazon Prime’s slate of local content including The Forgotten Army, Breathe 2, Bandish Bandits, Mirzapur Season 2 and Made in Heaven 2 among others is expected to intensify competition for Netflix and Disney in 2020.
Pricing War Intensifies
The entry of Apple TV+ at INR 99 per month and the upcoming launch of Disney+ are expected to intensify the streaming war in India.
Hotstar Disney+’s streaming subscription services is set for launch in a market with 46.15 million subscriptions for streaming premium services, which is likely to increase to 92.32 million by 2024, per a Financial Express report.
Notably, local companies like Eros Now, Zee5 and ALTBalaji with 6.27 million, 4.64 million and 3.7 million subscribers, respectively are among the top five service providers so far.
Amazon’s prime video has a monthly plan of INR 129 and an annual membership of INR 999 that includes mobile access with 6.75 million total subscribers in 2019.
Additionally, Zee5 has begun offering some region-specific packages at INR 49 a month or INR 499 a year to attract more viewers. This compares with standard packages at INR 99 a month or INR 999 a year.
Meanwhile, Netflix continues to be more expensive than other streaming providers in India. The company’s monthly subscriptions start at INR 500, which does not allow simultaneous viewing. Higher priced plans of INR 650 and INR 800 allow multiple users and simultaneous viewing, respectively.
Recently, Netflix India introduced a test plan, which allows new subscribers to enjoy their first month of subscription for just INR 5 after revoking the offer that allowed new users to enjoy a free first month.
Nonetheless, Netflix has lured mobile phone users with cheaper subscription of INR 199 per month and continuous original regional content expansion to boost declining subscriber growth.
Zacks Rank
Netflix, Disney, and Apple currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) while Amazon carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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