Video streaming revenue in India expected to triple by 2024

According to market research by e-commerce service Statista, the total revenue gained by video streaming services in India is expected to triple by 2024. Generating US$465 million in 2020, this growth would mean a total of $1,392 billion, or a growth of $927 million in just four years.

The largest contributors to this revenue are expected to be, in order, Disney+ Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, SonyLIV, Netflix, and Voot. This runs contrary to much of the rest of the world, where Netflix is usually the clear leader. With Disney+ Hotstar currently finding more than 400 million active monthly users, compared to less than five million on Netflix within India, this fight is an unusual one.

The Potential for Growth

Given over 400 million users on the most popular service alone, predicting growth on a threefold scale might seem unlikely, but it is not without supporting evidence. Fundamentally, the reason for this expected growth ties into a combination of on-demand appeal and improving online connectivity.

As a replacement for traditional broadcast or physical media for movies and television, streaming services have their basis in convenience. For broadcast media, this means no longer having to track times, manage the reception, or set a recording if you want to watch something again. For physical media, streaming offers advantages in not having to manage physical disks, or deal with storage degradation.

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New systems give people what they want when they want, and, just like in other mediums, this has proven too much to ignore. In traditional video games, physical sales from stores like Games the Shop accounted for 80% of revenue in 2009. In 2018, digital sales like those from Steam were worth 83% of overall revenue, demonstrating a complete flip.

Other industries, like online casinos, for example, have gone down a more cooperative route. For this sector, online and mobile casino games operate alongside their physical cousins, yet have still seen significant growth through strengths of digital integration. Here, the range of hundreds of games like slots, table, and live titles have expanded rapidly, in no short part, due to on-demand related elements.

The other side of this coin, expanding online connectivity, is a similarly important element that will drive ongoing streaming growth. The two parts of this equation come from India’s rising total connected population, and increases in average connection speeds.

From 2015-2020, India saw its percentage of population online rise from 25% to 43%. Alongside this, the average internet speed rose from 5.1 Mbps to 12.9 Mbps. Combined, these two components mean that future users will have better access to the ability to stream, and more users will be able to take advantage of streaming to its full potential.

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Given the trajectory of the modern streaming market within India, continuing development is all but a guarantee. What is less known is the effect that this might have on India’s television and movie scene. While it could serve to bring India’s existing video success to more markets, it might also create issues through a more international focus. While only time will tell how this works out, until then, at least customers will all be spoiled for choice.