Modern Over The Top (OTT) platforms are what streaming services are called in India. India has some of the lowest mobile rates, which has fueled growth in the OTT market. Indian consumers have a voracious appetite for online video content. As a result, an entire industry has cropped up to serve those needs, offering enough contentmovies, TV series, documentaries, reality TV, and short-formto last you till your deathbed, and beyond. By one report, a new OTT platform seems to emerge about every three months.

Although there are dozens of OTT platforms in India, a few stand out. Amazon Prime Video offers a wide selection of Hollywood movies and TV series, as well as Indian movies and TV shows. In 2021, Amazon Prime Video was the most popular streaming service in India. Another big contender, Disney + Hotstar is the third most popular streaming service in India. Disney + Hotstar is owned by Star India, which is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. It has two plans: Premium includes international movies and TV series and Super focuses on sports content and domestic programs in a wide variety of languages. The number four position belongs to JioTV, owned by Jio Platforms, which is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries LTD. It is the only one of the top four services that offers a dedicated app for live TV. JioTV doesnt offer any original programming, but it provides a very wide selection of entertainment options.

Indian companies offering OTT platforms also include Aha, owned by a joint venture between Geetha Arts and My Home Group. Aha only provides Telugu (Indian) content, without advertisements. Although one of the more recent additions to the OTT platform market, it already has 2.5 million users. Voot is another Indian OTT platform that provides content in Hindi, English, Tamil, Gujrati, Bengali, Marathi, and Kannada. All this competition from Indian and international companies has pushed pricing down to very low levels, only a fraction of what streaming services charge in most other countries.

What about Netflix? Although it ranked as the second most popular streaming service in India in 2021, according to one source, the company is not doing well by its own standards. When Netflix enters a new country, its strategy is to target wealthy, young consumers in big cities first. Then, to reach progressively larger audiences, the company hires a local team to commission projects from the countrys biggest producers, offering them creative freedom they wouldnt get elsewhere. CEO Reed Hastings told investors that he expected Netflix to sign up 100 million customers in India. To date, Netflix hasnt come anywhere near that number. Netflix underestimated the immense complexity and challenges India brings.

In India, pay TV costs a lot less than it does in the rest of the world, with prices in the U.S. dollar equivalent of $2 to $3 per month. Netflix entered India with a price of about $7.50 per month. A while later, the company realized its error, and began lowering the price. Initially, the lower prices were only available for mobile devices, but eventually, Netflix brought its pricing down to levels in line with the competition. Because Indian laws require customers to approve a payment each month, cancellation rates are much higher in India than other countries. Also, India is a diverse nation where over 20 languages are spoken, making programming difficult.

Netflix has deals with some of Indias biggest production companies. It released a popular series in 2020 called Bad Boy Billionaires, an investigative docuseries that explores the greed, fraud and corruption that built upand ultimately brought downIndias most infamous tycoons. Mai: A Mothers Rage is about a grieving mother who transforms from meek to merciless as she tracks down her daughters murderer. The Fame Game is a series about the search for Indias most famous actress. Nonetheless, Netflix customers are still more interested in international content than Indian content. One problem is that the production companies with which Netflix is working are accustomed to making big movies and not series. Also, the pandemic slowed down production of original programs. Nonetheless, Netflix is plowing ahead, and many of the shows it planned to make in 2021 are going into production in 2022.

When asked about competition in India, Pratiksha Rao, Netflix Indias director of films and licensing, said, Competition is always great, it pushes us to do better. It also widens the market, widens the supply. Its great for the creative community. After listing several Netflix projects in a variety of languages, she said, Our aim is always to be more reflective of the market that were in. So while we are doing originals in those languages, were also licensing a lot from those languages. Whether its Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam. In fact, its very heartwarming when we premiere these films on digital after the theatrical release.

Q1) What types of challenges did Netflix have to overcome to successfully implement its international strategy?

Q2) Identify other firms that have reached or could reach the saturation point in the United States (technology firms come to mind) and are responding by adopting an international strategy.

Q3) Using one of those examples, identify some challenges the firm has faced or will face.