The Indian OTT space is one of the most cluttered in the world. Homegrown platforms such as SonyLIV, ZEE5, ALTBalaji and MX Player jostle for space with foreign streamers such as Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus and Lionsgate Play. Add to this, linguistically exclusive platforms such as Hoichoi, Aha Video, Oho Gujarati, Planet Marathi, and so many more. OTT subscribers in India are spoilt for choice, with over 40 top streamers enjoying patronage from digital viewers in India. On an average, an Indian OTT subscriber shells out anywhere between ₹5000 to ₹12000 per year to avail the top streaming services.
Into this volatile mix has landed a new OTT player this week. hayu, with the ‘h’ in lowercase, has just launched this week in India. The unique thing about hayu is that it offers only reality shows on its platform – over 8000 episodes of top notch reality TV content. The all-reality TV and ad-free subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming service from NBCUniversal has all the best reality shows in its wide library, from all seasons of ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians‘, to its spin-offs; ‘The Real Housewives’, ‘Top Chef’, ‘Million Dollar Listing’, ‘Family Karma’, and many more. This, at a cost of ₹349 for 3 months, and ₹999 for 12 months.
All that is good. But the question that needs answering is will this new platform survive in the saturated Indian OTT market? Will Indian OTT viewers welcome it with open arms? Or will it shut shop within a couple of years?
If you ask us, it is more likely to be the latter. Firstly, At a subscription cost Rs 999 per year, hayu is way too high for the average Indian subscriber who’s already spending a good amount of money on streaming services. Secondly, all the best reality shows are already available to stream on Netflix, Prime Video, Lionsgate Play and Voot Select. Thirdly, Indians are not very fond of watching reality shows in general, and foreign reality shows in particular. Give us a good season of Dance India Dance, Bigg Boss, Indian Idol, Saregamapa, and the like, and we’re happy AF.
Foreign reality shows with foreign participants don’t do a thing for us. We barely manage to get invested in their reality show journeys. Give us a Sidharth Shukla or an Arijit Singh or a Rahul Vaidya, and we’ll pour all our collective emotions into rooting for these guys. But ask any Indian the name of the winner of this year’s ‘The Bachelor’, and he’ll give you a look that says, “Have you lost your mind? Who the f**k even cares!”.
In all probability, hayu will end up spending truckloads of money to gain a foothold in the Indian streaming market. Eventually, it will wake up and smell the coffee, and realise that venturing into the competitive Indian market is a foolhardy move. So in all probability, all that money will go down the drain.
Still, we don’t want to play party-poopers. So we wish hayu the best of luck in its foray in the Indian online space. And for the sake of being politically correct, pray that our prophecy doesn’t come true.