Mumbai: India has 353 million OTT users and 96 active paid subscriptions, according to Ormax OTT Audience Report 2021.

The research is based on a sample size of 12,000 across urban and rural India, was conducted from May to July 2021. The report breaks the universe by gender, age, NCCS, pop strata, states, and cities.

The findings revealed that one in four Indians watched online videos at least once in the last one month. Apart from 96 million active paid OTT subscriptions, there are 40.7 million paying (SVOD) audiences, that is, an average of 2.4 subscriptions per paying audience member. 66 per cent of these paid subscriptions are with the male audience. The top six metros contribute only 11 per cent to India’s OTT universe but 35 per cent of total paid subscriptions. Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai are the top three cities in this regard, with more than eight million active paid subscriptions each.

“India’s OTT audience universe is rapidly growing, and an accurate estimation of market size is a crucial strategic component in a growing category," said Ormax Media, founder and chief executive officer, Shailesh Kapoor. "While streaming companies have data on usage and subscription of their own platforms, there is no industry-level audience research available to size and profile the Indian OTT market at large. This research, which will be conducted in the same period every year, aims to plug this significant data gap in the streaming industry in India."

Kapoor further said OTT is no longer a niche category, but at 25 per cent penetration, there is still a huge potential to grow the market, especially outside the top cities. "We have seen a rise in regional OTT platforms in India over the last year. This report provides market and demographic level data for platforms to take sound investment decisions on regional products, be it a stand-alone app or regional content within a national app," he added.