As IPL 2023 came to a thrilling end with Chennai Super Kings winning the title for a record fifth time, JioCinema also logged record-breaking numbers.
Now that the excitement around India’s biggest cricketing festival has died down, it will be interesting to see how JioCinema cashes in on the IPL momentum and keeps viewers hooked. Disney+ Hotstar, which currently leads the SVOD (subscriber video on demand) market in India and which held the overall media rights for IPL till 2022, would typically see huge downloads and subscriptions during the cricketing season, followed by a dip in subscriber numbers right after the tournament.
Looking ahead
Without wasting time JioCinema has got down to brass tacks. After signing an exclusive deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, JioCinema recently announced its content streaming partnership with NBC Universal, making its ambition in the OTT space clear to global competitors Netflix and Prime Video.
Noting that the platform has a focused vision of the big game, business strategy and growth advisor Divya Dixit says, “Through collaborations and other ventures, the platform is aiming for a deeper and wider entertainment experience.”
Its recent partnership with Warner Bros offers Indian audiences eclectic American content, and the brand is working on launching originals across multiple Indian languages as well as on acquiring movies and sports properties. “It is certainly ramping up with a deep content pipeline to cement consumer attention to the platform,” adds Dixit.
Observing that winning the IPL digital broadcast rights was a big step for JioCinema in the competitive OTT market, Lloyd Mathias, independent director and former HP Asia marketing head, says it is now time for the platform to work on content and monetisation to drive growth. “Its best monetisation opportunity is through advertising revenue, which will accrue as long as viewers flock to JioCinema. For now, it clearly seems like an ad-supported model will be the only way forward,” says Mathias.
He notes that the platform did well in getting many advertisers on board by targeting niche segments through personalisation. “Of course, the parent entity (Network18) will use its considerable distribution muscle and other content platforms to cross-sell JioCinema to viewers and advertisers alike,” adds Mathias.
For JioCinema to become a top contender in its category it must appeal to regional audiences, say experts. To do that, it must invest in creating a robust bank of content in collaboration with local production houses or even regional platforms.
JioCinema, during the IPL, would have definitely amassed a good deal of data on its existing users. Manik Bambha, president and co-founder at ViewLift, a digital content distribution platform, reckons that the platform must be working at using this data to personalise or customise offerings to encourage continued use of the platform. Adding that the platform could take a lesson or two from the success of local platforms, Bambha says, “Hoichoi is a great example of how to crack and lead the regional language OTT space. Its strengths lie in consistently growing its content inventory, user personalisation, a tech-stack that is scalable and offering viewers a great viewing experience.”
He adds that the platform could also take a leaf out of Prime Video’s book. Just like an Amazon Prime (shopping) membership gives you Prime Video access, Jio can offer premium content for free to its mobile subscribers, luring more users to the platform.
Pricing strategy
As per JioCinema, this season of the IPL saw participation from 26 sponsors and over 800 advertisers. The platform has so far announced its premium plan, including a range of international content, at `999 a year for Android and iOS devices. It will also allow users to take a seven-day free trial before signing up for the annual plan, and permits cancellation of subscriptions at any time during the year.
Keeping in mind how price sensitive Indian audiences are, JioCinema would do well to adopt the subscriber video on demand or SVOD model with ads playing on low subscription plans. Dixit suggests, “Since the consumer acquisition cost remains the same, instead of monthly plans, platforms could shift to 2-3 month plans as an entry strategy. This way, there is a certain consumer lock-in period.” Dixit also states that the platform could explore bundling options with other Jio-owned platforms like JioSaavn (music streaming) or even other aggregated OTT platforms.
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