The OTT platforms have recently come under the regulation of the I & B ministry and there have been people who have both supported as well as criticised this decision. Things got heated up recently as a couple of web series have come under scrutiny and Tandav was the first title that underwent cuts.
As reported by ET Brand Equity the ASCI or Advertising Standard Council of India will from here on closely monitor the ads that are being shown on various OTT platforms. The biggies like Amazon Prime and Netflix survive on a subscription-based model however they are also looking at different avenues for revenue and are closely probing into the possibility of running advertisements on their site.
“Advertising on OTT was not part of ASCI guidelines earlier; we are now working with the ministry of information & broadcasting to form guidelines and processes, which will monitor advertising on these platforms,” ASCI chairman Subhash Kamath said.
Platforms like Voot and MX player are already using an advertising model for their revenue and many of the upcoming platforms will prefer that because the audience loves free stuff plus they would also be hesitant to pay for a digital platform that does not have a huge buzz.
The OTT Platforms had enjoyed a free reign till now as they were not bound by any stringent laws or explicit government bodies but the tide slowly seems to be changing as more and more restrictions are being put on the digital platforms.
While the regulation of ads is not as big an issue will it affect certain brands in the long run who are inclined towards a certain ideology is something that one must ponder over?