What does OTT mean?

An OTT (Over-the-Top)platform, is the new delivery method of films as well as TV over the internet without the traditional need of cable or satellite pay TV-services. These platforms are popular for video on demand(VoD) and live streaming services. It also covers audio streaming, messaging services and online voice-calling services. OTT Television- Apple TV, Amazon Fire Stick, Android TV, Google Chromecast OTT Video- Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Voot OTT Messaging- Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger OTT Voice Calling- Skype, Whatsapp, WeChat According to ComScore, around 50 million households across the world have OTT video, which they consume at the same time as the day pattern as the traditional TV audience.

 

OTT  Platforms around the World

Brazil	Canada	China	France	Germany	India	Japan	South Korea	UK	US
Netflix	Netflix	Tencent Video	Netflix	Netflix	Netflix	YouTube	YouTube	Netflix	Netflix
YouTubeKids	YouTube	iQIYI	myCanal	Amazon Prime	Hotstar	Niconico	Afreeca TV	YouTube	YouTube
Globo Play	BIGO Live	Youku	YouTube	BILD	Amazon Prime Video	Amazon Prime Video	Twitch	Amazon Prime Video	Twitch
HBO GO	DAZN	Bilbili	Molotov	YouTube	JIO TV	Abema TV	Pooq	BBC Sport	YouTube Kids
Twitch	Amazon Prime Video	Imgo TV	Twitch	Twitch	Voot	dTV	oksusu	BBC I-player	Hulu

Credits- AppAnnie, The state of Mobile 2019 Globally, players are realizing the importance of creating curated content, which should be in line with the audience' preferences. The average money spent on OTT platforms is higher than the average cost for television.

Credit-Indian OTT Platform 2019 Report by MICA Time spent on video streaming Apps globally went up to 140% in 2018 v.s. 2016 in countries like Australia, India, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand. It shows the consumption habits shifting from desktop, television to mobile. (AppAnnie, The state of Mobile,2019) YouTube was the #1 app by the time spent in video streaming apps all around the world except for in China for the year 2016,2017,2018. Globally, YouTube accounts for 9 out of every 10 minutes spent in the top 5 video streaming apps in 2018.

OTT Platforms in India

Here are some of the top ott audio and visual platforms in India.

	Type
Apple TV	Device
Amazon Fire Stick	Device
Android TV	Device
Google Chromecast	Device
Hotstar+	Video
Amazon Prime	Video
Netflix	Video
Voot	Video
Zee5	Video
SonyLiv	Video
Jio Saavn	Audio
Spotify	Audio
Gaana	Audio
Wynk	Audio

  With above 40 OTT platforms in India and having a high competition between them, people have now got used to the idea of including audio as well as video OTT platforms in their daily entertainment routine. YouTube leads the Indian OTT market, followed by Disney+Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, SonyLiv, Voot, Zee5, AltBalaji.

Regional OTT platforms

The rise in mobile data consumption per capita has contributed to more time spent watching online. Rural as well as semi-urban areas have come out of the internet dark zones and with affordable data plans, there is a rise in regional content on OTT platforms. New players within the regional content include Hoichoi, MX player, SunNXT, ShemarooMe, ErosNow amongst the more established players such as YouTube, Hotstar, Amazon Prime, and Netflix.

According to Google,97 per cent of content consumed on YouTube is within the regional languages. Many OTT players are investing in building their regional content libraries to match the demand of the audience.

Growth in regional Content Libraries of OTT players

	ZEE5	SonyLiv	Hotstar	Voot	AltBalaji	Amazon Prime Video	Hoichoi	ErosNow	Netflix
Tamil	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Telugu	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Marathi	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Malayalam	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Bangla	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kannada	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Bhojpuri	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Gujarati	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes

Source:KPMG in India analysis,2019

User-base of OTT platforms in India

According to Counterpoint Research’s “India OTT Video Content Market Survey’,  89% of users include from the age group of 16-35 years. It is consumer groups of salaried employees, followed by business owners, students, housewives. Among young users, in addition to 16-24, 25-35 contributed equally to the overall market. Male users account to 79 per cent of total users. Overall, the five metro-cities account to 55 per cent of total OTT platform users, while Tier-I cities account for another  36 per cent of users.

What is OTT Advertising

OTT ads are the abbreviation of Over the Top ads. It is so much similar to ads on TV, but with a difference that it is delivered through streaming media on the audio, video-driven platform through the internet on OTT platform.

VIDEO OTT PLATFORMS

1. YouTube

YouTube was launched in the year 2008 in India. YouTube originals are available to subscribers of YouTube account.YouTube Originals offers programs across multiple genres such as music documentaries, reality series, talk shows and scripted series. 60% of watch time on YouTube is happening outside the metro cities. Consumer Demographics Youtube is more viewed by the male audience, with the male-female ratio being 66:33.Males between 15-34 drive up to approximately 47% of the overall consumption of Youtube. Why advertise on YouTube? -YouTube has 274M unique users in India. -It allows you to target your audience through demographics, topic, keywords, category, placement. -The best option for people who want to target the masses as approximately 60% of the audience stay outside the metro cities. -The advertiser can track the ad performance in real-time. Advertising Types -Non-Skippable advertisements -Skippable advertisements -Video discovery advertisements -Overlays -Banners

2. Disney+Hotstar

Disney+Hotstar, India’s largest OTT streaming platform streams a wide range of subjects including sports, international and vernacular TV shows, movies and web series. It is owned by Novi Digital Entertainment, a subsidiary of Star India, which itself is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walt Disney Company. It is India's largest premium streaming platform with more than 100000 hours of drama, entertainment, movies in 17 languages, with a coverage of every major global sports event as well.Disney+Hotsar has content from Star India channels in both Hindi and regional languages. Market and Users

Market	Approximate Users
AP+Telangana	16-17 Mn
Jharkhand	4-5 Mn
Jammu and Kashmir	1-2 Mn
Himachal Pradesh	4-5 Mn
North East	7-8 Mn
Tamil Nadu	11-12 Mn
Karnataka	10-11Mn
Kerala	3-4 Mn
Maharashtra	30-32Mn
Madhya Pradesh	10-11Mn
Chattisgarh	6-7Mn
UP	15-16Mn
Haryana+Punjab	9-10Mn
Rajasthan	7-8Mn
Bihar	12-13Mn
Odisha	4-5Mn

Consumer Demographics Hotstar’s demography shows 69% are the male audience as of March 2019. One major contributing factors are likely the sports-driven content, which is generally men’s interest genre. The age group between 15-24 remains the largest viewers amongst both males, females.

Credit-Indian OTT Platform 2019 Report by MICA Why advertise on Disney+Hotstar? -Hotstar has an audience base ranging from 6-35+ years old. -Affordable premium subscription rates draw more audience. -Has over 300 million monthly active audiences, 8.6 million concurrent audiences over its platform, turning it into a global entertainment competitor as of 2020. Advertising Formats Advertising format of Disney+Hotstar is of two types Non-Skippable, Display advertising Non-Skippable advertising 1.Pre-Roll -It is 6-10 second ad that automatically plays before the video starts, on both phone and desktop.

1. Mid-Roll

-10-60 second ad that plays during the video content. Display advertising

1. In-Stream Display

-High-performance display ad played within the video stream in pre-rolls, mod-rolls.

2. Native Frames

-Placed on Disney+Hotstar home page to capture your customers' attention as they browse.

3. Amazon Prime Video

Amazon Prime video was launched in 2016, owned by Amazon.It has genres ranging from horror,action,documentary,drama,comedy,reality,romance, kids,science fiction,fantasy.It has 23.1M, unique users, as of March 2019. The local subject accounts for 70% overall of Prime video Programming in India.

4. Netflix

Netflix was launched in 2016 in India. Netflix India includes a 1000+ Netflix Originals of films, series with 15.5M users as of March 2019.

5. Sony Liv

Sony Liv was launched in January 2013 which is owned by Sony Pictures Networks India with 24.5 million unique users. Sony Liv’s base is primarily in the Asia-Pacific region. The library of Sony Liv consists of more than 18 years of content from channels of Sony Entertainment Network. Consumer Demographics Due to the sports content, the SonyLiv continues to be male-driven, with a male-female ratio of 68:32 in March 2019. The youth comprising the 15-24 age group in both genders contributed to 45% of viewership, followed by the 35+ age group.

Age	Percentage(%)
18-25	29
25-34	41
35-45	24
45+	6

Top-Reach Cities

City	Approx Reach
Ahmedabad	43 lacs
Bengaluru	24 lacs
Delhi	40 lacs
Indore	26 lacs
Jaipur	26 lacs
Kolkata	21 lacs
Mumbai	38 lacs
Pune	44 lacs

Why advertise on SonyLIV? -It has about 24.5 million users. -Sports accounts for around 35-40% of SonyLIV’s content. -The majority users comprises the youth of 15-35 years of men, women. Advertising Formats -Sponsorships advertising -Roadblocks -Video campaigns -Native advertising -Targeted campaigns

6. Voot

Voot is an ott platform, part of Viacom 18 Digital Ventures, the digital arm of Viacom 18. Launched in 2016, it is available as an app for iOS, KaiOS and android users and a website for desktop. Voot has content from MTV India, Colors TV, Nickelodeon India and other regional languages. Consumer Demographics The youth are the major viewers.

Age	Percentage
Less than 20	27
20-30	51
31-45	16
More than 45	6

Gender Demographic Female viewers are more when compared to the males.

Gender	Percentage(%)
Male	45
Female	55

Top-State Reach

State	Percentage(%)
Delhi	12
Gujarat	5
Karnataka	14
Madhya Pradesh	5
Maharashtra	17
Tamil Nadu	4
Uttar Pradesh	9
West Bengal	6

Why advertise on Voot? Voot is one amongst the top 5 OTT platforms in India. This contributes to being the best choice for advertisements. Some more reasons are as follow: -Voot has a range of original series and a huge collection of shows produced by Viacom-18. The most popular show in this platform is Big Boss. -Voot has an audience mainly the youth aged between 16-30. -The fastest growing online streaming app. Advertising Format

1. Video advertising

There are 2 types of video ads being: -Pre-Roll -Mid-Roll

2. Native Display advertising

The display of ad that matches the look, feel and functions of the app.

3. Banner advertising

They are placed in the browsing section of the Voot app.

4. Interstitial Ads

They are full-screen interactive advertising that appear between the video.

7. Zee 5 

Zee-5 launched in 2018 with content in 12 languages. It is an OTT platform run by Essel Group via its subsidiary Zee Entertainment Private Limited. Consumer Demographics The platform Zee-5 is mostly viewed by the age group 15-35.

Gender	Percentage(%)
Male	56
Female	44

TIER Reach

Cities	Percentage(%)
TIER ONE	56
TIER TWO	35
TIER THREE	8

Why advertise on Zee5? Zee5 is one of India’s top over the top platforms. -Home to 125,000+ hours of On-Demand Content with 90+ live TV channels. -The company has entered into strategic partnerships with tech giants across the world to deliver world-class user experience, content in a brand-safe environment while strengthening the reach and customer engagement for advertisers. Advertising Formats -Video advertising -Display advertising -Masterhead -Native -Companion

8. Alt Balaji

AltBalaji was launched in 2017, owned by Balaji Telefilms Limited.AltBalaji is India’s leading OTT platforms focusing on delivering original content with 4.4 M, unique users, as of March 2019. It has released comedy shows in 5 languages. Consumer Demographics The ratio of male-female visitors on ALTBalaji was 7:3 in March 2019. The largest demographics were males between 15-34 and Females above 35.

9. MX Player

MX-Player was launched in the year 2011 as an offline music app and 2019 as a video-on-demand platform. The coverage is available in 10 different languages Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, English, Tamil, Bengali, Punjabi and Malayalam. Consumer Demographics

Gender	Percentage(%)
Male	81
Female	19

Languages Consumed

Language	Percentage(%)
Hindi	64
Tamil	13
Telugu	12
Malayalam	4
Marathi	2
Kannada	2
Others	3

Why advertise on MX-Player? -Almost 172+ active monthly users. -Available in 10 languages which can target audience of different dialects and groups. -Made its presence internationally in countries like United States, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Nepal, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Advertising Formats -Video advertising -Display advertising

10. Jio Cinema

JioCinema is is an India OTT platform which was launched in the year 2016, owned by Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited. Its content library includes films, TV shows, Web series, documentaries, and music videos. The subject is available in 15+ languages with 74.5 M unique user in the mobile app.

11. Hungama App

Hungama is one of the largest digital destinations for a huge range of music from Bollywood, regional movies, music bands and other audio entertainment from India and around the world. It was launched in July 2007. In addition to music, the platform also offers movies and series in various languages with 7 million unique users. Consumer Demographics Men are the major viewers in comparison to women. The major viewers are people from the age group 18-34. There are 22M monthly users.

Gender	Percentage
Male	68
Female	32

Why advertise on Hungama App -22M visits every month with over 50M users. -Accessible via computers, tablets, mobile phone, smart TVs and other connected devices, users can download the content of their choice. Advertising Formats -Pre-roll video advertising -Standard Banner advertising

12. Yupp TV

Yupp Tv was launched in 2015 in India. Yupp Tv(India) has close to 240+ LiveTV channels,2000 movies and 180+ TV shows in more than 13 languages with 3.7 M, unique users, as of March 2019. Consumer Demographics Male audiences, who made up nearly 79% of total viewers in March 2019, are primary viewers of YuppTV. Over 40% of males are aged above 35. Meanwhile, females between 15-24 showed greater activity on the platform. Advertising Formats Video advertising -Pre Rolls -Mid Rolls -Bumpers Display Ads -Billboard(Home page) advertising -Banner advertising

13. TVF

TVFPlay was launched in 2012, owned by The Viral Fever(TVF) with 1.7M, unique users, as of March 2019. Consumer Demographics Males comprised 3/4th of traffic on TVFPlay in March 2019. TVFPlay struck a chord with younger audiences, with the 15-24 age group comprising 53% and 75% of male and female audiences respectively. Why advertise on TVF website? -It attracts an audience of age group 15-24. -You can reach out to a specific audience. Advertising Formats -Video advertising -Banner advertising

14. SunNXT

It was launched in 2017 and owned by Sun TV Network Limited with contents in 5 languages-Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Bengali.SunNXT is available in android, iOS devices, Smart TVs and other devices. Consumer Demographics Sun NXT had a male: female ratio of 60:40 in March 2019, with 15-24 age group comprising 50% of demographic in both genders. Why advertise on Sun NXT? -It attracts an audience of age group 15-24. -You can reach out to a specific audience of regional level. Advertising Formats -Video advertising -Banner advertising Audio OTT Platforms

Credit-OTT Audience Measurement Insights Report A recent study OTT Audience Measurement Insight report by Kantar and VTON, Times Internet owned music streaming app Gaana emerged as the market leader with 30 per cent market share in over-the-top(OTT)audio streaming space. Gaana is followed by Jio Saavn, Wynk and Spotify.

Credit-OTT Audience Measurement Insights Report The report also revealed that Delhi and Mumbai are the largest audio streaming markets with 25 per cent share followed by Kolkata and Bangalore standing at 11 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

1. Gaana

Gaana App is a free music streaming website with access to a huge collection of licensed Indian & International music. Gaana.com is the largest Indian commercial music streaming service with over 150 million monthly users. It was launched in April 2010 by Times Internet and provides both Indian and international music content. The entire Indian music catalogue is available to users worldwide. Consumer Demographics

Gender	Percentage(%)
Male	65
Female	35

Top-Reach Cities

Cities	Listeners (M)
Ahmedabad	7
Agra	3
Bengaluru	6
Chennai	4
Delhi	8
Guwahati	3
Indore	6
Jaipur	5
Kochi	1
Lucknow	6
Mumbai	6
Patna	5
Pune	9
Siliguri	2
Durgapur	1
Bhubneshwar	2

Why advertise on Gaana? -Gaana’s monthly listenership is approximately 78M. -Gaana targets a young and actively engaged target group. -45M songs stream across the platform. Advertising Formats -Audio advertising -Audio with a Companion banner -Voice-activated advertising -Video advertising -Display advertising

2. Jio Saavn

JioSaavn is an online music streaming and a digital distributor of Bollywood, English and other regional Indian music across the globe. Since it was founded in 2007 as Saavn, the company has acquired rights to over 5 crore music tracks in 15 languages. Consumer Demographics The users are mostly the youth of age group 15-35 years.

Gender	Percentage(%)
Males	60
Females	40

Top-Tier Cities

Cities	Percentage
Ahmedabad	8
Agra	3
Bengaluru	7
Chennai	5
Delhi	15
Guwahati	4
Indore	6
Jaipur	5
Kochi	1
Lucknow	6
Mumbai	8
Patna	7
Pune	11
Siliguri	3
Durgapur	2
Bhubneshwar	3

Why advertise on Saavn? -It has 19M active users monthly -The youth streams music for around 25hrs/week. -Jio Saavn uses analytics to improve listening. Advertising Types -Video advertising -Audio advertising -Companion Banner -Rest of Site Banne 3. Wynk Music Popular music online streaming app that was launched in 2014 by Airtel, which is India’s efficient telecom platform. It hosts both audio and visual content across its digital services with access to a huge music library covering all genres.IT is available in 12 languages. Consumer Demographics The users are mostly youth of age group 18-34.

Gender	Percentage(%)
Male	75
Female	25

Top Reach Cities

City	Active Users(M)
Ahmedabad	0.8
Agra	0.5
Bangalore	4
Bhopal	0.3
Bhubaneswar	0.3
Chandigarh	1
Chennai	1.5
Guwahati	0.5
Hyderabad	3
Indore	0.8
Jaipur	1.5
Kochi	0.3
Kolkata	1
Lucknow	0.8
Mumbai	2
New Delhi	2
Patna	0.8
Pune	1.5
Thane	0.3

Why advertise in Wynk Music? -The platform brings an array of music choices that are categorized according to the genre, latest music, top artists, old songs, languages, top songs, top searched music. It lets you customize a playlist of your own that caters to your choices and mood. -It is favoured by the young population of 18-34 years. -About 4 million daily active users and engages for at least 41 minutes. Advertising Formats -Audio advertising -Banner advertising

4. Spotify

Spotify is an audio streaming platform that provides audio and podcast from various licensed Indian and International music. It is the largest Indian commercial music streaming service with over 15 million monthly users. It was launched in March 2018 and provides both Indian and International content. Consumer Demographics Majority of users are mostly youth of the age group 18-34.

Age	Percentage(%)
Under 18	15
18-24	47
25-34	24
35-44	8
45+	6

Why advertise on Spotify? -286 million monthly active users, including 130 million paying subscribers. -Become one of the most favourite audio streaming apps for the youth in a very short time. -15 million monthly active users. Advertising Formats -Audio advertising -Video advertising -Display advertising -Sponsored sessions -Lead board advertising

Advantages of OTT Advertisement

- Brands can reach the target audience in a more refined way by delivering advertisements of products and services based on their personal interests and needs. -OTT Advertising reaches a wider audience via smartphones through the internet. -Advertisements can be targeted to a different section of the audience based on their geographical location,age-group, ethnicity, demographics and their search history. -With all the data obtained about your audience, you can use it to find which ads are working for you and which ones are not to optimize further with insights you obtained. -Since the OTT platform uses the internet, the viewers can watch the content on smart-phones, laptops, tablets, HDMI supported devices, streaming boxes, video game consoles. The ability to stream on multiple devices increases the amount of time individuals spend in watching. This increases exposure to advertisement.

How to do OTT Advertisements

The delivery method depends on the streaming platforms and how they interact with OTT devices. It could be through the Video Ad Serving Template(VSAT), client-side(CSAI), server-side(SSA). The entire process is as follows:

1. Firstly an OTT audience is created. The composition of this audience will be based on the data obtained from the platform.
2. Launching of the campaign.
3. Advertising will be channelled to the audience through the OTT streaming devices. Various tags will be used to tell the media player how a particular ad should appear to the viewer. At this point, all the information is received and processed by the player.
4. The final stage involves sending a report back to the advertiser which contains all types of statistics and metrics about the ad which is the key to determine whether the ad campaign was successful or not.