Both Tata Play and Airtel which are direct-to-home distributors have introduced Tata Play Binge+ and Xstream Premium set-top boxes to bring home several OTT channels on home TV.

The cost of acquiring a new customer for OTT channels individually is high. It is, therefore, necessary to aggregate the channels. India has 40 video streaming apps. OTTs occupy 7-9 per cent of India’s entertainment space. It has a healthy growth rate. The aggregation in distribution will improve the subscription revenue. Indians are averse to paying for multiple OTTs. It is inconvenient too to pay for OTTs individually. There is hassle of remembering the log-in ids and passwords. It takes time to move from one app to another to decide what to watch . The way out is aggregation.

This widens the reach of OTT channels. It brings down the cost for customers. The monthly subscription fee for Tata Play Binge + and Airtel’s Xstream Premium starts at Rs. 149 each. OTT channels also could collect customer data and mine this data. OTTs will receive mass adoption on account of affordability. Even tier-I and tier-II cities will switch from linear TV to OTT content consumption.