Amazon Prime Video to focus more on Indian market
NEW DELHI: Roy Price, head of global content for Amazon Prime Video, likes being in India.After a good lunch on Tuesday , he met with Bollywood director Kabir Khan to launch an Amazon Original series based on Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army. With rival Netflix tightening its grip on India, Price, 49, has his task cut out.“We talk about India a lot. It's very important as a market and an area of focus for us,“ he said.
While Netflix targets wellheeled consumers with premium subscription fees, Amazon is more focused on the mass market, which could have an impact on the selection of content that it makes available here. The e-tailer bundles Prime Video service with its Prime membership at a much lower cost than Netflix.
“We are a global service but there are only local customers,“ said Price. “Customers here lo ve Indian content. We are reaching out to top talent in films and television to come to us with their ambitious projects.Now that we have launched, we can respond to what Indian customers are looking at.“ He did not rule out a bid for the Indian Premier League (IPL).
During his visit here last month, streaming giant Netflix's founder Reed Hastings reiterated the importance of this market for companies that stream on-demand video over the internet to smart devices. Netflix's data revealed that Indians are the biggest binge watchers on the planet.
However, India poses unique challenges for video streaming companies. While the number of Indians watching online videos on connected de vices, rose from 66 million in 2015 to more than 80 million by the end of last year, according to Frost & Sullivan, most of them watch videos on sketchy mobile connections. Compare this with 53% American households that subscribe to at least one streaming player on fast Wi-Fi connections.
Amazon Prime Video's country head Nitesh Kripalani said Amazon uses proprietary technology to enable customers watch high quality videos with very little data. It has also created a data-saver mode for people who use Android devices. Price, whose roots trail back to Hollywood (his father ran movie studios), has managed to rope in ace Hollywood directors for Amazon, including Woody Allen, who he convinced to do a comedy series. “The important change is the unbridled ambition to create shows that everybody will talk about... It's a fantastic time to be a director, writer or an actor.“
While Netflix targets wellheeled consumers with premium subscription fees, Amazon is more focused on the mass market, which could have an impact on the selection of content that it makes available here. The e-tailer bundles Prime Video service with its Prime membership at a much lower cost than Netflix.
“We are a global service but there are only local customers,“ said Price. “Customers here lo ve Indian content. We are reaching out to top talent in films and television to come to us with their ambitious projects.Now that we have launched, we can respond to what Indian customers are looking at.“ He did not rule out a bid for the Indian Premier League (IPL).
During his visit here last month, streaming giant Netflix's founder Reed Hastings reiterated the importance of this market for companies that stream on-demand video over the internet to smart devices. Netflix's data revealed that Indians are the biggest binge watchers on the planet.
However, India poses unique challenges for video streaming companies. While the number of Indians watching online videos on connected de vices, rose from 66 million in 2015 to more than 80 million by the end of last year, according to Frost & Sullivan, most of them watch videos on sketchy mobile connections. Compare this with 53% American households that subscribe to at least one streaming player on fast Wi-Fi connections.
Amazon Prime Video's country head Nitesh Kripalani said Amazon uses proprietary technology to enable customers watch high quality videos with very little data. It has also created a data-saver mode for people who use Android devices. Price, whose roots trail back to Hollywood (his father ran movie studios), has managed to rope in ace Hollywood directors for Amazon, including Woody Allen, who he convinced to do a comedy series. “The important change is the unbridled ambition to create shows that everybody will talk about... It's a fantastic time to be a director, writer or an actor.“
