Discussion General Discussions, News & Updates On Indian TV Channels

[Shantanu]

IPL does make sense to let go. They can't even recoup the amount through TV.

Big loss is HBO. Earlier they used to be considered as premium OTT service like prime, Netflix but now they'll feel like Desi OTT service working only basis of serials.

 

[ab666]

Is HBO Overvaluing Its Content For The Indian OTT Market?

There are just a few days left when the deal between OTT giant Disney+ Hotstar and Warner Bros Discovery will come to an end.

www.binged.com

According to the author of this article, hbo is over valuing it's content. But ott subscribers are growing every year. Netflix, prime, sony liv have grown in last 3 years in India. So 80 crore asking price is not much regarding the expected growth in next 5 years in ott industry. Star can spend 100 crore on a remake web series starring some Bollywood star but can't buy hbo shows

 

[dino29]

IPL does make sense to let go. They can't even recoup the amount through TV.

Big loss is HBO. Earlier they used to be considered as premium OTT service like prime, Netflix but now they'll feel like Desi OTT service working only basis of serials.

Disney+Hotstar still has lot of premium content. HBO asked for a price which would have been a loss making proposition for Disney+Hotstar hence it is wise of them to not renew the agreement just like they opted out of buying Digital Rights of IPL as the economic viability of it just did not seem to make for a good business decision

 

[Prithi Deb]

but now they'll feel like Desi OTT service working only basis of serials.

Yeah. It will be like Zee5.

 

[dino29]

Is HBO Overvaluing Its Content For The Indian OTT Market?

There are just a few days left when the deal between OTT giant Disney+ Hotstar and Warner Bros Discovery will come to an end.

www.binged.com

According to the author of this article, hbo is over valuing it's content. But ott subscribers are growing every year. Netflix, prime, sony liv have grown in last 3 years in India. So 80 crore asking price is not much regarding the expected growth in next 5 years in ott industry. Star can spend 100 crore on a remake web series starring some Bollywood star but can't buy hbo shows

OTT space is surely growing but there is a fatigue factor too but anyways here the price asked by HBO for renewing agreement was not at all a financially suitable offer for Disney+Hotstar. There r very few people watching HBO content on their platform and as u can read in the article they cannot even recover the investment made even if we assume that all of them have opted for their highest Rs. 1499 premium plan

Why would any platform want to unnecessarily incur losses for niche content and absorb the losses seeking it to recover it thru other options....more so in today's worldover economic situation all companies r cautious & cutting down on investment in unproductive areas.

If Any OTT platform invests high amount on say IPL or a web series featuring a big bollywood or south indian film star then they r sure to get viewership from large section of audience thus adding up in growing subscriber base, revenue and even create huge buzz about the platform. For niche content same is not the case hence overspending is not what OTT platforms will be interested for such cases.

If an OTT platform is trying to build upon & looking to have huge subscriber base then it may go the extra mile to invest very high amount for mass and maybe even niche content like what Jio Cinema paid for digital rights of IPL will most likely not be recovered thru the revenue they earn in current IPL cycle but as their aim is not to focus on revenue / profit at the moment but to scale up Jio Cinema platform hence financial viability angle does not get count as prime criteria for the same

 

[dino29]

Yeah. It will be like Zee5.

Zee5 and Disney+Hotstar cannot be compared....latter is far better in all aspects

 

[iDJ]

Disney+Hotstar still has lot of premium content. HBO asked for a price which would have been a loss making proposition for Disney+Hotstar hence it is wise of them to not renew the agreement just like they opted out of buying Digital Rights of IPL as the economic viability of it just did not seem to make for a good business decision

80 crore is nothing. They have spent way more on movies that have bombed on the platform.

 

[iDJ]

Also Dino lives in delusional world. I don't. I have seen people wake up at 6:30 am to watch HBO shows like Succession and Game of the Thronesbon Hotstar along with US. People were happily paying ₹899 and ₹1499. That is when they got their highest social engagement. Hotstar has given the premium feel. Now unless you are a hard-core Disney or 21st Century Studios fan. Than only you will stick to Hotstar. I am talking about paying audience here. Otherwise youtube got better content. Even Showtime has moved to it's own platform Voot.

 

[dino29]

Also Dino lives in delusional world. I don't. I have seen people wake up at 6:30 am to watch HBO shows like Succession and Game of the Thronesbon Hotstar along with US. People were happily paying ₹899 and ₹1499. That is when they got their highest social engagement. Hotstar has given the premium feel. Now unless you are a hard-core Disney or 21st Century Studios fan. Than only you will stick to Hotstar. I am talking about paying audience here. Otherwise youtube got better content. Even Showtime has moved to it's own platform Voot.

Buddy, did u read properly what i stated? Where did i say that HBO content do not have a loyal audience base or its content is not important? I clearly explained the financial reason why OTT platforms won't be willing to sign agreement for HBO content, price demanded is just not a viable option for platforms to agree for the same.

Anyways i have already given out detailed explanation so will not repeat the same.

I am living in real world and sharing practical / logical reasoning which u aren't willing to accept. Anyways let is hope HBO content finds a new OTT platform soon but at current price being quoted it highly seems unlikely....maybe Jio Cinema or Voot can go for it discarding the financial viability of the same else i do not see other OTT platforms agreeing to renew agreement with HBO with their current price demand.

Lastly long before the OTT/ Internet revolution when TV is sole medium to consume niche content still HBO Premium Channels failed to get desired viewership/ subscription for it to be financially viable business model for Warner/Turner....apart from censorship the other important reason was that most people did not want to pay a premium fee to watch such content....similarly on OTT platforms too there is very minute base who r willing to pay for premium plans to watch Niche Content and the overall viewer base for such content is also vert small hence none of the OTT platforms will renew agreement with any company/studio at extremely high pricing

 

[Shantanu]

Disney+Hotstar still has lot of premium content. HBO asked for a price which would have been a loss making proposition for Disney+Hotstar hence it is wise of them to not renew the agreement just like they opted out of buying Digital Rights of IPL as the economic viability of it just did not seem to make for a good business decision

Okay.

You need to stop justifying everything blindly. If this was a vice versa case, you would've said D+H already lost IPL so it made sense for them retain HBO titles with what they say is a big price.

And I agree with iDh bro, 80 cr for 5 years is nothing. They spend way more on movies, web series.

HBO content is in par with Netflix and hence it was worth it. ABC studios, FX shows will remain on platform only for namesake English category. They can't retain premium audience only basis of Disney or Marvel movies. Nobody watches movies again and again.

Apart from this, they could've just got HBO add-on plan along with other content if they wanted to recoup the investment.