Amazon Prime Video took an aggressive stand in the Telugu OTT market. The OTT giant used to orchestrate a 4-week OTT release deal for most of its big-money acquisitions in Telugu cinema. Meaning, most of the highly anticipated Telugu films used to arrive on Amazon Prime Video 4 weeks post the theatrical release. This helped the OTT platform get closer to the Telugu OTT audience. Of course, the direct to OTT releases and early OTT releases like Vakeel Saab (3 weeks) helped the cause as well. The 4-week OTT release prospect worked really well for Amazon Prime Video and it helped them expand their footprint in the regional market. Now, Aha Video is doing something very similar.
Aha Video has amped up its content acquisition rate big time. More importantly, the Telugu-only OTT platform is making sure that all of its big-money signings arrive on the platform 4 weeks post the theatrical release. The same was evident in the case of Love Story. The Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi premiered on Aha Video just 4 weeks after its theatrical release. Other theatrical releases like Romantic and Manchi Rojulochaie are arriving on Aha exactly 4 weeks after the theatrical release. As for Most Eligible Bachelor, it arrived on Aha roughly 5 weeks post its theatrical release. Now, Pushpaka Vimanam is also set to be made available for streaming on Aha Video 4 weeks post its theatrical release.
The good thing about the 4-week release model is that the theatrical releases are still fresh in the minds of the audience and a section of them will be interested to watch the film on OTT regardless of the reviews. This will ultimately add to the viewership tally. This is exactly what helped Amazon Prime Video get a big reach amongst the Telugu audience. Now, Aha Video is emulating a very similar feat.