India: 400m+ unreachable digital homes
October 11, 2022
By Chris Forrester
India’s population is huge and its current 1.4 billion is expected to boom to 1.5 billion by 2030 and 1.66 billion by 2050 according to UN data. But of today’s population some one-third do not own a TV set. Nevertheless, the scope and potential for growth is huge.
Data from the authoritative FICCI-E&Y 2022 analysis suggests that India’s online audience is below 500 million (and perhaps well below) and thus there’s a 400+ million audience that cannot be reached by digital video platforms.
Assorted data from India confirms this disparity. For example, India’s biggest video platform is YouTube and the App Annie report in August suggests India’s YouTube audience is about 360 million. Ormax Media’s OTT audience report 2021 estimates India’s OTT audience universe stands at 353 million. Ormax further adds that those paying for OTT content measure – at most – 109 million, and thus digital access is reaching only about 30 percent of the overall 350-360 million potential audience.
However, FICCI-E&Y states that India’s exclusive audience for digital video is miniscule at only 12 million.
There’s one considerable difference, however, and it concerns India’s enthusiasm for smartphone usage and its user base of more than 500 million users.
Nevertheless, FICCI-E&Y suggests that this year’s Media & Entertainment sector in India will grow by 17 percent, and over the next few years further expand at a CAGR of some 11 percent.
FICCI also reminds readers that India’s entertainment output is prodigious.
“India is amongst the largest content producers in the world – with 150,000 hours of TV content, 2,500 hours of premium OTT content and 2,000 hours of filmed content produced last year. Animation, VFX, and post-production was the fastest-growing category as content production resumed for television, OTT, and film. Compared to 2019, 52 per cent of consumers spent more-time streaming entertainment content in 2021, making this growth the third highest in the world,” notes FICCI’s analysis.