Last month Netflix India decided to bring the OG Indian detective show ‘C.I.D.’ on the platform and now one of the most popular crime shows ‘Crime Patrol’ is set to launch on the platform on 17th March, 2025.
Both these shows have been long running on Indian television and have a huge viewer base residing mostly in tier 2 and 3 cities and towns of the country. With Netflix India bringing them on the platform we can see quite clearly where they are headed.
Netflix has often been targeted for being too urban in approach for the Indian audience given its content slate. With CID and Crime Patrol they are trying to be more inclusive while also reaching far, wide and deeper in the Indian streaming market.
But is this the only way this could have been done? Doesn’t it affect the quality parameter which has always been amongst the top priorities for Netflix?
Under the given scenario, Netflix India is trying to play a safer gamble by taking up such shows to extend its reach. Firstly, there’s a nostalgic factor attached to them that makes them likeable and secondly, since they aren’t its original content nobody can say much about the quality issue either.
On the other hand we have seen Jio Hotstar (former Disney+ Hotstar) adopting a different approach for this. The platform makes shows specially curated for viewers from smaller cities and towns and despite whatever criticism it attracts for this, these shows do great in bringing the numbers for the platform. But then it does raise questions on their content’s quality.
Netflix India’s stance rather is to try avoid any backlash on quality original content. Moreover, this may just be the start of a new strategy by Netflix India wherein it gains the confidence and trust of this newfound subscriber base first and then retain their loyalty with more targeted content.
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