The COVID-19 cases in India are on a decline for the past few months. Most of the states are recording very few cases. Normal life is almost here. The theatrical business also resumed in various film industries. The Government of India has allowed 100% occupancy in the theaters from February 1st.
On the other side, OTT Platforms are interestingly observing these developments. Theaters have shut down in India towards the end of March last year. It is then the OTT wave took off and all the OTT platforms have increased their subscriber base since then.
The platforms have sold new subscriptions in the Summer and most of the annual subscriptions which were sold them will get due for renewal when the theatrical business will be up and running. So, the OTT industry as a whole will be observing how the subscribers react and how many can be retained. Only then, the net gains can be assessed. The OTT platforms may have to go further aggressive in generating Original content and also, in the bidding of post-theatrical digital rights of the film to retain the subscribers. Major OTT platforms will be on a better side but it has to be seen how the relatively smaller ones respond to this challenge.