In recent days, homegrown streaming platform SonyLIV has made its intentions loud and clear. News that it plans to get into streaming regional content has been creating a buzz since long. But SonyLIV has demonstrated exactly how serious it is about those plans. SonyLIV has hired two well-established, extremely knowledgeable honchos to lead its Tamil and Telugu content divisions. It has hired Dr. G. Dhananjayan As its Tamil Content Head, and Sreedhar Reddy Komalla as its Telugu Content Head.
The move is unprecedented in the Indian streaming space. Not even biggies like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix or ZEE5 have separate dedicated heads for Tamil and Telugu content. By hiring big guns for its Tamil and Telugu content divisions, SonyLIV has sounded the bugle of competition for leading regional content players, Amazon Prime Video, Aha Video and ZEE5. SonyLIV has shown that it will be as aggressive in its pursuit of Tamil and Telugu streaming leadership as it has been for Hindi language streaming.
Ever since the launch of its revamped avatar, SonyLIV has delivered hit after hit in Hindi. Scam 1992, Undekhi, Your Honour, A Simple Murder, The Gone Game, Gullak and now Maharani, have dominated the charts. The occasional Tamil hit, such as Iru Dhuruvam, has added to its allure.
SonyLIV has already acquired a bunch of Tamil films to strengthen its Tamil content. Naragasooran, Laabam, Kadaisi Vivasayi, Thaen, among others, are some of the film names being speculated about on social media. There’s no word on its Telugu slate yet, but given its serious intentions and deep pockets, it won’t be long before SonyLIV picks up the best of Telugu content on offer.
In the last two years, Amazon Prime Video has established itself as the undisputed leader in regional content. It hasn’t created much of Telugu or Tamil content, but has acquired the most plum regional movies with big names attached. Soorarai Pottru, Karnan, Drishyam 2, Master, Jathi Ratnalu, Ponmagal Vandhal, Kala, Ek Mini Katha have been blockbuster hits for the platform. Similarly, Aha Video has established itself as the leader in Telugu content. It has not only created engaging Telugu content in-house, but has been at the forefront of getting Telugu dubbed versions of popular Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam films for Telugu viewers. ZEE5 was the first OTT platform to have dedicated Telugu, Tamil and Bengali divisions on its platform. But the offerings have been sporadic at best. A show and movie or two every few months is all that they bring for their regional viewers.
SonyLIV’s Tamil and Telugu foray will most certainly eat into the viewership of Amazon Prime Video, ZEE5 and Aha Video. With dedicated Tamil and Telugu divisions on its platform, SonyLIV will be better placed to focus solely on delivering value to its regional subscribers. The move is great news for regional content creators too. They have more platforms willing to pay good money for their new and stuck content.
Ultimately, though, it is the regional viewers that are the big winners. Until now a neglected category, they will soon be spoilt for choice with the wide variety of content being made available for them.
If you ask us, we believe that Amazon Prime Video has become too big a player in the regional content space to be dislodged by SonyLIV. Add to it, Amazon Prime Video has big moolah and resources to spend, to shore up its regional position. Aha Video too should be able to maintain its leading Telugu platform position.
That said, Amazon Prime Video, Aha Video and ZEE5 need to pull up their socks, and soon, if they want to fight off the new competition from SonyLIV. Let’s see what the future holds for regional content leadership in the Indian OTT space.
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