VOOT forays into subscription VoD service, to focus on original content

The Advertising Video on Demand (AVoD) platform VOOT on March 3 launched its subscription VoD service VOOT Select, which is priced at Rs 99 per month and at Rs 999 per year.

Under Select, VOOT will air Viacom18’s shows on the digital platform 24 hours before the episode's debut on TV.

It will also offer exclusive global content through partnerships with CBS, CBS All Access, Showtime, Fremantle, Endemol Shine, Chelsea TV, Arsenal TV, Real Madrid TV, BBC and Sony Pictures, among others.

VOOT is also focusing on original content and will be launching over 30 original shows for VOOT Select.

Both originals and the subscription model are ways every over-the-top (OTT) video platform is trying in India to ace the game.

Talking to Moneycontrol, Gourav Rakshit, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures, said, “We are an underpenetrated market in terms of subscription. You compare with the US where 40 percent of the households have paid subscription for OTT, we are about three to four percent. So, in that sense, the opportunity is very large.”

He added that the subscription market is of scale and it has the potential to become a sizable market.

“The growth is coming from the subscription market in terms of revenue. Hence, it is a significant and attractive market to be a part of,” he said further.

According to a PwC 2019 report, the subscription video on demand is expected to grow at 21.8 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from Rs 3,756 crore in 2018 to Rs 10,708 crore in 2023.

The report had pointed out that in 2018, SVOD in India showed 64 percent growth.

While advertising is the bigger market in India in terms of revenues, subscription market is picking up pace. The report said the subscription video on demand growth is at a higher rate, which is 23 percent.

VOOT currently has 100 million monthly active users and 100 billion watch minutes.