Trai Mandate Effect: OTT Apps Might Prove Damaging to DTH Viewership and Revenue

After the introduction of the new tariff regime by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) which changed a lot of parameters in the industry, many areas of the DTH and broadcasting sector were affected. However, owing to the rise in prices, and the tedious migration process which the subscribers had to face, the customers were attracted to the OTT apps and video-on-demand platforms. Applications like Netflix, ZEE5, Hotstar and more saw an increased affinity due to their low subscription prices and the range of content available. This increased attraction of the public towards these apps also poses the questions whether or not these apps will affect the viewership of DTH providers.

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Widespread Distribution of OTT Applications

Before Reliance Jio came into the telecom industry, people barely used to consume video content online. Watching a YouTube video on a smartphone was a great deal because data packs were expensive. However, times have changed now. We are getting to see a lot of very cheap data packs which have immensely boosted video consumption. Also, a lot of OTT applications like ZEE5, Hotstar and others are being offered with these data plans as freebies. The result is that now the users’ phones have doubled down as their TV screens, whereas in comparison there has been no revolutionary breakthrough in the TV industry and there has been no such drastic price reduction also. In fact, after the introduction of the new pricing regime, many subscribers have complained about rising monthly rentals.