18 Jul , 2022 By : Monika Singh
From movies on rent on ‘Store’ to platforms such as Lionsgate, Hoichoi, Mubi being available to viewers under ‘Channels’ Amazon Prime Video has come a long way from just being an over-the-top (OTT) platform to a content aggregation platform, thereby replicating its e-commerce model. “At Prime Video, our vision is to be the first-choice entertainment hub globally. While we continue to work on our original and exclusive productions, and offer a vast catalogue of Prime content, our video entertainment marketplace model allows us to super-serve our customers in India by expanding selection, choice and convenience significantly, giving them the option to enjoy an even wider array of content,” Gaurav Gandhi, country head, Amazon Prime Video India, told BrandWagon Online.
For industry observers, the movie is in line with its international strategy, and is also allows to take on the battle against competitors. ‘Both Apple and Google follow the strategy of content aggregation and Amazon has joined the league in India. To be sure, the model is exactly what RokuTV follows,” Ajay Trigunayat, founder and director, AQT Network Private Limited, said. Currently the platform is home to 12 channel partners – AMC , Acorn TV, hayu, discovery , Lionsgate Play, Eros Now, Docubay, MUBI, hoichoi, Manorama Max, Shorts TV and Nammaflix, “We plan to launch many more by the end of the year,” Gandhi claimed. Likewise, through Store which allows its subscribers to purchase movies on rent it claims to provide early access to the latest Indian and international movies, in addition to titles beyond the ones available with Prime subscription. Since its launch in April this year, it claimed to have premiered some of the biggest and most anticipated movies in different languages including K.G.F: Chapter 2, Runway 34, Sarkaru Vaari Paat, among others. “We already have a significant line up of movies for Rentals for the rest of the year and we are very encouraged with the response we are getting from customers,” he added.
Up until March this year, Amazon.com has recorded 65.9 million unique visitors. This is a mere 12% increase when compared to the same period, where it posted 58.8 million unique visitors, as per data released by Comscore – a media measurement and analytics company. Similarly on mobile app the total number of unique visitors just rose two percent to 48.5 million this March to 47.2 million, during the same period last year. Interestingly, total monthly minutes (MM) declined to 2,659, March this year from 4,678 during the same period, last year, on the web. What’s more the trend remained the same on the app. Industry experts opined that the trend clearly projects towards the fact that while there is no doubt that users are coming on to the platform, but they are now doing so to watch other channels. For Uday Sodhi, senior partner, Kurate Digital Consulting, every platform from YouTube to Airtel, MX Player, among others, is using their strength to build its business. “What this also means is that at a time when the number of subscribers may not be increasing drastically month-on-month, this move has definitely allowed Amazon Prime to earn more from the existing userbase,” he explained.
Interestingly, Amazon Prime Video has an arrangement with Apple, for a 15% revenue-share deal, for the app being hosted on Apple Store. Google recently reduced service fee for all subscriptions on Play Store to 15%. It is believed that Amazon too has inked similar deals with OTT platforms listed on its platform. “Amazon Prime’s annual subscription has increased from Rs 999 to Rs 1,499. With India being a price sensitive market this can be a deterrent for many consumers to purchase the pack. Further, Amazon stayed away from bidding for the digital rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL), thereby also losing on a captive audience base,” a senior analyst said, on the condition of anonymity. The platform nonetheless, has the digital telecast rights for the upcoming series between the India and New Zealand men’s cricket.
When enquired, about the impact of revenue, the company declined to comment, with Gandhi stating that the upcoming slate takes its commitment to Indian content even further as in the next 5 years. “We are investing more than double of what we have invested in the last five years into growing Prime Video India. Local (Indian) Amazon Originals have been a key pillar of growth for us, and the upcoming slate for the next 18-24 months (announced recently) includes a wide range of content across genres – from drama, comedy and family to horror and supernatural, and targets a diverse audience set,” he noted.
Amazon Inc’s subscription revenue rose 26% to $31.8 billion for the full year of 2021. This includes annual and monthly subscription fees from Amazon Prime, as well as digital video, audiobook, digital music, ebooks and other subscription services (excluding AWS).
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