CHAPTER ONE
How to capture up to US$6billion in unrealised value from the Indian entertainment business through strategic global positioning, technology adoption and content portfolio rebalancing
By Jamie Crick
MD of APAC
Allied Global Marketing
There could be a US$10bn gap in the potential for growth in the Indian entertainment business.
Maintaining its course might grow India’s OTT market to US$5bn – respectable but still underperforming relative to its potential.
With local optimisation focusing on audience needs and wider inclusion, it might reach US$9bn. But through strategic global positioning, technology adoption and content portfolio rebalancing, India could build a US$15bn-plus OTT market with significant export success…
India has the world’s second largest entertainment audience but punches below its weight in global influence and revenue capture.
Chart courtesy of Allied Global Marketing
It has 551 million OTT viewers as of 2024, a number that should make executives around the world salivate, and yet its OTT market generates just US$2.1bn in revenue.
Meanwhile, countries like South Korea have transformed their entertainment industries into global export powerhouses, aided by its Hallyu policy. And although recent data shows even South Korea’s industry faces significant challenges, its success offers valuable lessons for how a nation can build global impact.
This is not just about bragging rights. It’s about billions in unrealised value. It’s about India’s cultural influence, and it’s about whether we’re positioning ourselves correctly for the next decade of entertainment.
The data highlights three critical disconnects in the industry; gaps between perception and reality that, if addressed, could unlock extraordinary growth. The data might challenge some deeply held assumptions, but it also reveals unprecedented opportunities.
Let’s start with perhaps the most glaring disconnect: a significant gap between what audiences want to watch and what we’re producing.
Chart courtesy of Allied Global Marketing
GAP 1
WHAT AUDIENCES WANT TO WATCH AND WHAT THE INDIAN ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS IS PRODUCING
The data is striking. Comedy is consistently the most preferred genre in surveys. It represents nearly 30% of audience preference, followed by sports and thrillers.
Yet when we look at what’s being commissioned and produced, particularly in the premium original content space, drama, crime and thrillers dominate, accounting for 60% of new releases.
Comedy, the most-wanted genre – and incidentally, the one with arguably the most re-watchability – represents just 10% of production slates.
Why this disconnect? Are we perhaps prioritising what we think is prestigious over what audiences actually want?
Have we equated ‘edgy’ with ‘quality’ when the data suggests there might be a substantial unmet demand for humour and light entertainment?
Eighty-six percent of premium OTT viewership is for local Indian content. Despite the global content now available, Indian audiences overwhelmingly prefer stories that reflect their own cultures and experiences.
This has significant implications for Indian creators. It emphasises that doubling down on authentic, high-quality local content remains the primary market opportunity for international platforms investing in India.
It suggests that success depends on strong local content strategies, rather than simply importing global libraries. When discussing global success stories like RRR, the most successful Indian content exports maintain their cultural authenticity, rather than diluting it.
The strongest foundation for both domestic success and potential international crossover appears to be stories that are confidently and authentically Indian.
Chart courtesy of Allied Global Marketing
GAP 2
VIEWERS WATCH ON CONNECTED TVs NOT MOBILE FIRST
India’s viewing patterns reveal another interesting disconnect. While we often think of OTT as a mobile-first individual experience, the data shows a large proportion of viewers prefer watching on connected TVs when available.
A case in point: YouTube’s connected TV views in India quadrupled between August 2022 and August 2024, further reinforcing the importance of family-suitable content. And peak usage consistently occurs during family dinner time, indicating co-viewing is the norm, not the exception. Yet we’re increasingly producing content that’s designed for individual consumption: dark, explicit material that often isn’t suitable for family viewing.
This raises questions about whether we’re fully servicing how Indians actually watch.
Another disconnect is that while the top six metros represent just 10% of OTT users, they account for 33% of all paid subscriptions. Meanwhile, in rural India, where 40% of all internet subscribers now live, only 18% of people use streaming platforms at all, compared to 80% in major cities – the gap is stark, but so is the opportunity.
Rural internet subscriptions have surged to more than two-thirds of urban levels, with adoption accelerating rapidly. Yet the industry remains fixated on urban markets.
Are we fighting over metro subscribers while ignoring what could be the world’s largest untapped streaming audience?
This is perhaps the most sobering statistic of all: 92% of all online video minutes in India are spent on YouTube, not premium OTT platforms. The premium streaming war that occupies so much of our industry’s attention represents just 8% of actual viewing time.
Affordability explains only part of the phenomenon. The real drivers are relevance, connection and format.
YouTube’s model differs from traditional OTT in three fundamental ways. First, it’s primarily driven by individual creators, rather than production houses. These creators build devoted followings through authentic personalities and direct audience engagement.
Second, the formats are radically different – shortform, snackable content designed for mobile, rather than longform narratives requiring sustained attention. These formats align perfectly with how many consumers, particularly younger audiences – of which we have a great deal – prefer to consume content in brief moments throughout their day.
Third, the content is often hyper-relevant, responding to trends and audience feedback in near real-time.
This raises profound strategic questions:
- How can traditional content companies compete with the agility, authenticity and connection of individual creators?
- Should premium platforms be experimenting more with shorter formats and creator-driven models?
Or is there a middle ground that combines professional production values with creator authenticity and format?
As we consider content strategies, understanding this creator-driven revolution – in both business model and format – may be just as important as analysing genre preferences or pricing models.
Chart courtesy of Allied Global Marketing
GAP 3
THE GLOBAL OPPORTUNITY GAP
Korean entertainment – as an example – has become a global cultural force, with hits like Squid Game generating 1.7 billion viewing hours worldwide.
Parasite earned US$258m globally on a US$11m budget. And K-pop acts like BTS create an estimated US$5bn in economic impact annually.
We’ve also seen Spanish-language content achieve remarkable international success.
Money Heist from Spain generated 619 million viewing hours worldwide. Colombia-set Narcos broke viewing records across continents, while Spanish teen drama Elite reached top 10 status in 91 countries.
Within India, we’re witnessing this phenomenon domestically with pan-Indian cinema. Films like KGF: Chapter Two, Kantara and Pathaan have successfully crossed regional and linguistic boundaries to become national phenomena.
This demonstrates that the principles of cultural authenticity combined with universal storytelling can work at scale.
India has had international success stories too. RRR broke through internationally with 73 million viewing hours on Netflix globally and significant theatrical business. Pathaan grossed US$130m worldwide. T-Series dominates YouTube globally with 240 billion views. But these have been exceptions rather than the rule.
What made RRR succeed where others failed? It maintained authentic Indian cultural elements while delivering universal emotional experiences.
- Its production quality met global standards without sacrificing Indian storytelling. The filmmakers conducted a strategic international marketing campaign, including festivals, special screenings and an Oscars campaign.
- And critically, it leveraged Netflix for global reach beyond theatrical.
This wasn’t accidental, it was deliberate.
Chart courtesy of Allied Global Marketing
This strategy is now being replicated across more productions, with pan-Indian films increasingly breaking regional barriers. South Indian films regained their leadership at the box office last year, demonstrating how regional content can achieve national and international success when properly positioned.
Meanwhile, international players are spending billions without perhaps fully understanding what works here.
This isn’t sustainable. The global streamers entered India with a ‘growth at all costs’ mindset, but, as in other markets worldwide, they’ve pivoted to a profitability focus.
If we don’t help them succeed financially, they’ll keep scaling back investments.
OTT content volumes fell 12% in 2024 due to these profitability pressures, though premium OTT content volume is expected to grow 2% this year, indicating a shift towards more sustainable content investment models.
Chart courtesy of Allied Global Marketing
THE VFX AND POST OPPORTUNITY
Here’s where India has an extraordinary opportunity.
India has a long-standing outsourcing role in VFX and animation, and its production costs remain a fraction of global rates while its technical capabilities have reached world-class levels. An Indian premium series costs US$1m-2m per episode, versus US$5m-15m in the US or UK.
And while South Korea’s entertainment industry once exemplified global success, it’s now facing severe contraction, with TV networks cutting production by 50% and studios struggling as international platforms scale back investment.
This market correction creates a timely opportunity for India to step into the gap as global production budgets tighten. As AI costs plummet – Open AI’s API costs have dropped 80% in two years – and accessible generative AI is predicted to cost as little as ₹120 per hour, India’s cost advantages become even more strategic. This opportunity could manifest through developing more globally appealing Indian content and positioning India as an attractive production partner for international studios seeking high quality at sustainable costs.
THE INTERNATIONAL INDIAN AUDIENCE OPPORTUNITY
We also have a natural advantage that perhaps we’re underutilising: the world’s largest diaspora. Around 35 million Indians live abroad. They’re typically more affluent than audiences in India and often influential in their local markets. This community represents a significant untapped opportunity. While our diaspora content strategy has historically focused on nostalgic and traditional themes, there may be unrealised opportunities to experiment with broader genre diversity that could both appeal to evolving diaspora tastes and potentially serve as a bridge to wider global audiences.
The most recent data shows we’re making progress here, with more Indian films releasing in more international theatres, and international theatrical revenues growing 5% in 2024, but our diaspora strategy can still be significantly expanded.
THE TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION GAP OPPORTUNITY
While 76% of US studios use AI tools in production, only 24% of Indian studios do the same.
The gap is striking, given India’s national INDIAai mission, with ₹10,000 crore allocated to building an AI ecosystem.
Of course, real adoption barriers exist: capital expenditure requirements, skills gaps and IP protection concerns. Yet companies like Digikore Studios are successfully integrating AI into their VFX workflow, reducing post-production time by 40% while preparing to launch a marketplace with 250 virtual production sets.
Virtual production could transform the economics. For a typical series, the traditional approach might cost US$3m in location fees alone and require 120 shooting days. Using LED volume technology, the same series could be shot in 80 days, reducing costs by 30% while increasing creative control.
South Korea already has multiple permanent virtual production facilities. India has only two small-scale setups as of last year, despite having world-class VFX talent that works on Hollywood blockbusters.
The talent exists; what’s missing is a systemic application aligned with our national AI strategy to transform content production.
But here’s the irony: India does have world-class technical capabilities when we choose to deploy them. The 2024 IPL offers a perfect example of this innovation capability, reaching 525 million viewers on TV and up to 600 million on streaming, with features like Hype Feed watched by 123 million viewers, over four million fans participating in watch parties, and the predictive game played by 50 million viewers, generating 1.2 billion participations.
The talent and the capacity exist. What’s missing is systemic application of these capabilities to transform our content production and delivery.
The data also highlights how technology, tools and advanced workflows can reduce production time by 110 days for a typical series – a 30% efficiency gain with a corresponding 25-30% cost reduction.
Rather than replacing creative talent, these technologies empower creators to produce more, iterate faster and achieve higher quality within constrained budgets. When global productions face budget pressures, India’s technology integration could position it advantageously in the international marketplace.
So, what might the data suggest for strategic thinking?
AI is projected to boost productivity in India’s media sector by 15-20% by 2030, primarily through content strategy optimisation.
This framework maps genres based on local demand and global appeal potential, offering a way to consider prioritisation.
One of the most interesting implications is how this framework might leverage India’s unique strength in regional cinema diversity The distinct approaches of different industries – Malayalam cinema’s realistic storytelling, Tamil cinema’s technical innovation and Telugu cinema’s grand spectacles – could be strategically combined to target different quadrants of this matrix.
Consider how this applies to genre strategy. While comedy shows strong local demand, placing it firmly in our local audience focus quadrant, it often faces challenges crossing cultural and language borders.
Action-adventure storytelling, as demonstrated by RRR, and well-crafted family dramas may offer better potential for both local and global success, positioning them in the high-priority consideration quadrant.
Regional dramas and devotional content may have lower global appeal but serve important local audience segments.
Science-fiction or fantasy genres might not have proven local demand yet, but offer global experimentation opportunities
Each quadrant serves different strategic purposes – the data simply suggests being intentional about which objectives different content investments are meant to serve.
Chart courtesy of Allied Global Marketing
The data also points towards multiple models for international collaboration that have proven successful.
Firstly, the creative-led model maintains Indian creative vision, but adopts international production standards with a global distribution partner. Delhi Crime exemplifies this, winning an International Emmy while remaining authentically Indian.
The adaptation model takes universal stories, places them in Indian context with local talent, and employs shared risk structures. Criminal Justice demonstrated how this approach can work both critically and commercially.
And finally, the service production model leverages India’s cost advantages and technical capabilities to attract international productions. Apple TV+’s Foundation series was partially shot in India, proving high-end sci-fi can be produced here at scale.
Different projects suit different models, suggesting a portfolio approach might be worth considering.
Looking forward, the data suggests different possible trajectories for Indian entertainment. Maintaining our current course might grow India’s OTT market to US$5bn – respectable, but still underperforming relative to our potential.
With local optimisation focusing on audience needs and wider inclusion, we might reach US$9bn. But through strategic global positioning, technology adoption and content portfolio rebalancing, India could build a US$15bn-plus OTT market with significant export success.
We need to act with urgency as macro headwinds intensify. Global streamer consolidation, as we’re also seeing here, will reshape competitive dynamics.
Rising capital costs are making investors increasingly selective about where they deploy funds. These challenges make strategic clarity more critical than ever. Drift is not an option if we want to capture the full value of our market potential.
The question isn’t whether India will be a major entertainment player; it already is. The question is whether it will capture the full economic and cultural value of its position or leave billions on the table through missed opportunities.
To conclude, the data reveals three key insights:
First, significant gaps exist between what audiences demonstrably want and what we’re producing. These gaps potentially represent billions in unrealised value.
Second, global success stories from South Korea to Latin America offer proven pathways for taking locally authentic content to worldwide audiences. We have the creative talent, cultural richness and now the platforms to do the same.
Third, technology adoption presents a major opportunity to transform production economics while enhancing creative possibilities – particularly important as global entertainment budgets face continued pressure.
The data points to extraordinary possibilities for India’s entertainment industry.
The technological foundations are rapidly forming, with gen AI startups in India surging from 66 to over 240 within a year, and initiatives like BharatGen developing India-specific language models. This growing technical capability, combined with our tremendous domestic market and global audiences increasingly seeking authentic cultural stories, creates a unique moment of opportunity.
The question this summit needs to address is how we’ll respond to these opportunities. What new approaches might we consider? What experiments should we undertake? What partnerships could we forge?
The data has shown us where India stands today.
But it is only by embracing change that will determine where it goes tomorrow.
Content India 2026 will address this opportunity.
