Consumption of OTT based content has increased rapidly, and with the lockdown that has been called nationally and internationally, online platforms have garnered more audience than usual.
During an exclusive chat with International Business Times, India, founder of LetsOTT.com, Dr Sunita Kumar explained to us how OTT based content (especially in the middle of a pandemic) has the potential to grow even more while coexisting with the theatres.
When did you start the website LetsOtt.com?
LetsOTT.com started in February 2019 and the website was officially launched on May 13th 2019. LetsOTT.com celebrates its first-year official launch this May 13th. It is a digital media company, dedicated to covering the world of web and OTT entertainment.
The website is the pioneer in OTT aggregation in India and has very quickly established itself as a leader in the coverage of OTT entertainment, leveraging data and technology to deliver world-class content, engaging articles, engrossing features and agile breaking-news coverage to thousands of readers across the globe.
What do you think will be the future of OTT based content?
The future of over-the-top content (OTT) will see the rise of local regional content production by regional OTT players, driven by the need for storytelling and creating customized offerings for the different market segments. OTT platforms cater to the needs of an individual customer with an understanding of the experience each one is looking for.
The boom in content is drawing more people into watching movies and shows on OTT platforms. The nature of OTT means that consumers can potentially get access to content from the four corners of the globe. Hence the growth will be phenomenal in the coming years. Especially in the times of this unbelievable pandemic, the consumption of OTT has multiplied by many folds and the OTT platforms have realised the need for more family-based genres, more moral based and kids and women-centric storylines.
The release of movies directly on OTT without theatrical release would impact exhibitors. What is your opinion on it?
There's no doubt that the exhibitor chain would be affected by the pandemic. However, given the fact that it is the medium and small budget films that will prefer to release directly through OTT, there's not much the exhibitors are going to lose in this trend change.
Big Stars & massive visual effects films will eventually prefer a theatrical release before they come to OTT, which will give them an opportunity to make up for the minimal loss. But big-screen experiences will favour star projects more than small budget films. OTT and theatre experience can and will coexist.
But do you think OTT can beat theatrical releases
Every sector whether living theatre, cinema and OTT all gives a person a different experience altogether. It's not rocket science to understand that OTT is not an alternative to theatrical releases. They coexist.
In very simple terms, just because we cook at home that does not mean we would stop going to eat at the restaurants, right? We can soon see a change in audience viewing pattern, OTT becomes a weekday entertainment medium and theatres on weekends. We are all one big entertainment family and I believe we need to work and respect each other.
How is LetsOtt different from other platforms?
Well, LetsOTT is known the world over to deliver honest, in-depth reviews of shows, series and movies released on streaming platforms, as well as up today trending OTT based news and celebrity interviews and much more. We are also known as a platform who does not like or carry controversial articles.
These are some of our strengths. This is the time when consumption of online content has grown rapidly on every screen, users are increasingly going online to watch the content they want, be it the YouTube videos, Zee5, Amazon Prime, ALT Balaji, Voot Select, Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar etc.
Nowadays, content is being created especially for consumption over the net- for screens as small as the smartphones. And with the buzz generated by online content, it has become crucial to recognize and cover the tremendous amount of creativity being unleashed by online content drivers. LetsOTT.com has therefore stepped in to do the needful.
