SWOT Analysis: Netflix India Original Series Portfolio

Netflix was the first international streaming service to come to India way back in January 2016. Since the year 2018, Netflix has been home to a number of original Indian series. Some of them clicked with the audiences while some others didn’t receive as much acclaim.

Until recently, Netflix has released 30 Indian series titles spanning multiple genres in various Indian languages. Here is the full list of Netflix India original series titles released until now since 2018 along with the series’ current IMDb rating.

The above information may seem to be random data on a casual viewing. However, if we analyze it from a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) perspective by using the IMDb rating aspect, it might give us a more concrete viewpoint of Netflix India original series portfolio.

 STRENGTHS

It is evident from the above data that similar to its films’ portfolio, Netflix has primarily concentrated on Hindi language series for its Indian original series portfolio. However, the Hindi series IMDb rating average comes out to be a decent yet not-so-impressive 6.7/10.

Albeit Netflix’s strength lies in its intermittent selection of content-oriented titles. For instance, the selection of titles such as the star-studded ‘Sacred Games’ and International Emmy winner ‘Delhi Crime’ alone makes the Netflix top brass worthy of applause.

Another of Netflix’s strengths is the way OTT giant has a knack for picking out good titles that were originally streaming somewhere else. The selection of series like TVF’s critically acclaimed show ‘Kota Factory’ and ‘Little Things’ are examples in the Indian context. While Netflix also became home to the globally popular show ‘Cobra Kai’ that was previously streaming on YouTube. The selection of the aforementioned series makes us think that Netflix is going in the right direction in this aspect and should further capitalize on such titles.

 WEAKNESSES

For any series in general, an IMDb rating of more than 7 implies that the series has a certain quality to it and its watchability factor. If we carefully observe, then a significant 18 out of 30 titles, that is, precisely 60% of the Netflix series were unable to cross the 7/10 IMDb threshold score, which is what we think is the portfolio’s weakness. Netflix would want to improve on this percentage by acquiring the right mix of series titles for its reputed platform. Moreover, the overall series titles average comes out to be 6.5/10, which can also be improved by filtering out unexciting titles.

 OPPORTUNITIES

Diversifying into regional cinema including a greater number of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Marathi series could do the trick. We say so because the Netflix Tamil language anthology namely ‘Paava Kadhaigal’ garnered immense acclaim from Indian OTT audiences for its brilliantly executed and hard-hitting stories.

Moreover, the selection of more non-fiction shows of the likes of ‘Crime Stories: India Detectives’ and ‘Bad Boys Billionaires: India’ might give Netflix another dimension to its series portfolio. Currently, Netflix comprises merely 4 regional series titles (excluding English) out of a total of 30 titles (about 13%). This percentage is where a massive opportunity lies.

 THREATS

Amazon Prime Video is the most likely threat to Netflix and vice-versa, particularly with respect to the quality of their Indian original series portfolios. Both these OTT giants have been consistently churning out an interesting mix of original titles for the past few years. Like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video also boasts of some premium series titles such as ‘Mirzapur’, ‘Paatal Lok’ and, of course, ‘The Family Man’.

We’re hiring!

We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.