The existence of tent pole sports and entertainment franchises, along with aggressive spending by advertisers and marketers, has resulted in a better-than-anticipated Christmas season for over-the-top (OTT) platforms like Disney+ Hotstar, ZEE5, and MX Player in 2021 than projected.
According to OTT industry leaders, the month of October, November, and December (OND) is shaping up to be a record-breaking quarter for ad growth for the category. While October was the busiest month for advertising, advertisers continued to spend heavily in November and are anticipated to do so again in December. According to market predictions, OTT platforms’ ad income would increase by 20% to 30% during the holiday season.
According to Chirag Bhatia, Account Management, OTT ad spending over the festival season of 2021 is expected to be between Rs 1200 and Rs 1300 crore. “Yes, the OTT phenomenon did happen this festive season, with more brands than ever lapping up the online video upsurge trend, especially post-pandemic, which got people hungry for new content when TV had almost run out of it, with these platforms bringing a whole array of new global content leading to people getting hooked,” he said.
“We saw a 25-30% increase in 2020 during the holiday season.” This year, though, growth is predicted to be much higher, at around 30-35 percent. The main reason for this is that both the IPL and the World Cup were broadcast throughout the festive season, beginning in September. In addition, a lot of reality series have been airing in the recent quarter. Above all, we’ve witnessed a significant increase in new advertisers and non-traditional sectors. To top it off, firms that were not advertising earlier in the year are now back in full force. Favourable consumer and advertiser sentiments are resulting in positive income for OTT providers.
