OTT (Over the Top) is the technology which has recently hit the Indian market and this has been possible due to digitization and availability of economical internet data packs to the large Indian population. The Top 2 international OTT players are Netflix and Amazon; Indian OTT Players are Zee5, Hotstar, Alt Balaji, Voot, Viu etc.

On an average these OTT platforms require a new show every fortnight of the month in order to cater to the audience of every genre quenching their viewing thirst and keeping them engaged and holding on to the respective content available on the OTT platform. Content produced and distributed on OTT platforms is much easier than content produced for television, since showcasing TV content in India is governed by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (‘TRAI’). Thus, before exhibiting any content on TV the producers have to obtain licenses and approval from these respective Government bodies. Also, the television content distribution arm is quite unorganized due to presence of numerous MSOs and LCOs in the country.

The cinematographic films produced for theatrical release are governed by the certification norms laid by Censor Board of Film Certification (India), thus at times the creative elements and film duration has to be as per these norms. In case if the film is not as per the CBFC standards then the censor board recommends modifications, re-shooting etc. to suit their requirements and for the producer to obtain a U or U/A certification from CBFC. Further in order to theatrically release a film worldwide it requires huge amounts of monies to be expended towards the print, publicity, marketing and distribution, then only it will reach the target audience on the date of release.

On the other hand, producing content (web-series/short films/originals) for the OTT platform is economical as compared to a big budget feature film and the risks involved in the same are relatively less.

There is no need to exhibit the content only on Friday, the OTT can place the content with either one or all episodes on its platform. The costs to be incurred towards marketing and publicity are not very high. The most important advantage of producing content for OTT platform is that there are no time duration restrictions on showcasing the content. Further if the content has a strong story line then even a small actor can pull of the role very well to make it famous, thus there is no requirement to have a huge starcast to be attached to the content.

Once OTT uploads the content it is available globally, thus it reaches out to maximum worldwide population in comparison to the population available to watch the theatrical film at a particular time and place. Each individual can view the content at its convenient time slot, thus there is no need for such individual to be available at a particular time to watch the content. Since every person has a choice of watching content existing in different genres like romance, thriller, horror, travel shows, cookery, family shows, comedy etc. Thus, OTT platforms provides each type of such content wherein the audience can watch their favorite web-series/shows/films.

Further OTT content can be played with a touch on the screen since it can be downloaded, paused, fast forwarded and replayed infinite times, unlike the content on TV or a film in a theatre which cannot be tampered with at all. Each episode of the content on OTT is relatively short in duration rather than a feature film and has an element of continuity (in terms of suspense) which keeps the audience engrossed in watching the next episodes. In case if the content has crime or a thriller genre then some people spend approx. 8 -10 hours and watch all the episodes of the web-series in one go this is called Binge watching.

It is very interesting to know how does the OTT platform produce this content for the audience. Most of the OTT players prefer to have content which is based either on the books, real life stories, old TV shows etc. So, the OTT platforms acquires the requisite rights for developing these web-shows from the book publishers, real persons on whom the show is being made or from the satellite companies with whom the old TV show rights are vested accordingly. Usually, the OTT platform follows a process to green light the content which they commission to a content production company to develop, produce and deliver it to the OTT platform at an agreed consideration and terms and conditions which shall be signed off under a Production Service Agreement which shall be executed between OTT platform and the content producer.

Before pitching the content to the OTT platform, the content producer shall internally finalize the genre and subject of the content. Once the content is approved by the OTT platform then the content producer shall commence the process of packaging the content to be finally produced and delivered to the OTT platform.

During this packaging process the content producer shall scout in the market and engage all the above the line talent i.e. the writer, director, actor and the show runner. Then content producer shall prepare the budget, wait for the writer to finish the scripting, writing the screenplay, dialogues of the content and engage the cast and crew on the content. Once this process is completed by the content producer it shall present the Bible containing the story arc, pilot episode, script, screen play, dialogues, budget etc. to the OTT platform and await their inputs and confirmation on the same.

Once the OTT platform is convinced with the package the OTT platform shall green light the content wherein the content producer shall commence the pre-production, production and post production of the show. The OTT platform shall be engaged with the content producer on mutual creative and production level and shall timely keep funding the content production for the content producer to complete the production and deliver the same in a timely manner to the OTT platform.

Lastly once the content is delivered to the OTT platform in totality, the OTT platform shall market the content and finally release the content on its platform on the best available day and date.

Most of these OTT platforms are now producing original content in English, Hindi, German, Spanish and Mexican languages as well which attracts worldwide population. Thus, with the growing globalization and with India using 4G technology there shall be more and more consumers to the content on the OTT platform across the country wherein more employment shall be generated in these OTT platform companies and content production houses which shall in return benefit the GDP of our country.