Aha, which is also looking at entering a new language market, other than Telugu and Tamil, is banking on a mix of films acquired after theatrical release, limited series and long-format shows dropping weekly, to remain relevant in a market where it says all entertainment apps, and not just OTTs, are fighting for the limited time and attention span of users.
“2024 was a very interesting year for us, because we optimized our approach to content where we found the right mix of dishing out fiction originals, acquired content and non-fiction shows. In terms of fiction, we have begun experimenting with the longer show format which is a weekly episodic drop and we are quite happy with how it has been received by our subscriber base,” aha content head Vaasudev Koppineni said in an interview.
To be sure, streaming platforms have begun serialising their shows, instead of releasing all episodes of an entire season in one go, in a shift of strategy aimed at boosting subscriber retention. The traditional streaming model involved binge-watching that allowed viewers to consume an entire season of a show in one sitting. Some platforms are now experimenting with a more scheduled approach. This strategy involves setting specific hours and days for the release of the episodes, aimed at ensuring viewers return to the service regularly, helping retain subscribers at a time growth in paid memberships has plateaued. Koppineni said the platform adopted the strategy for its recent show Vere Level Office where the first nine of a total of 50 episodes have been released.
“After the pandemic, all of us have seen a threshold saturation, and have been staying at a certain number (of subscribers) for a period of time. We’ve tried to recognise this shift and take corrective measures to create new strategies based on our learnings from the year after the pandemic,” Koppineni added.
Expansion and content pipeline
Further, while the platform’s focus remains on Telugu and Tamil currently, it is actively exploring opportunities to enter a third language, he said. For now, while all of the programming is available with English subtitles, the service is also dubbing Korean series, English and Malayalam films into Telugu for its core audience base.
While there is much speculation about regional streaming platforms being acquired by bigger players given the fragmented nature of India’s OTT industry, Koppineni said it was early to comment on that front as far as the platform’s plans are concerned.
As far as the 2025 slate goes, aha shall premiere the fifth season of comedy game show Sarkaar, the second season of reality show Dance IKON Wildfire, the fourth season of Chef Mantra Project K, and the second season of web show Three Roses, among other titles. New IPs (intellectual properties) include a fantasy film titled Chiranjeeva, starring Raj Tarun and Kushitha Kallapu, and Hometown, a slice-of-life comedy.
Challenges and strategy
To be sure, after a pandemic-fuelled binge of original content, OTT platforms are pulling back investments. The number of Indian originals, once on a meteoric rise, has plateaued, raising questions about the sustainability of the streaming model in the country.
Moreover, the dominance of foreign giants such as Netflix and Prime Video, not to forget the merged JioHotstar entity, is proving to be a challenge for smaller platforms. However, Koppineni claimed the service has only turned cautious and smart about where to spend.
Besides offering paid subscription plans and benefits such as early access and superior audio and video to premium users, aha also has ad-supported packages, though the platform isn’t looking at creating separate AVoD (advertising-based video on demand) content.
“As an OTT, we haven’t reduced our spending, we’ve only become wiser in our choices. What has changed is that producers who used to commission films based on paper calculations of how much they would make from OTT, thinking of theatrical as an upside, are not able to sustain anymore,” Koppineni said.
“The challenge now is to retain the user and get new users, since all of us have only 24 hours in a day and attribute two to three hours to entertainment. Multiple platforms, not just OTT, are fighting among themselves for the time you spend on your phone. To maximise viewer share in those two to three hours is the biggest challenge we all face because the options are many,” he added.
