Game of Thrones is an American project by HBO. Needless to say, it received a wide global acceptance and people all over the world showered it with love. But, did the massive budget of the series force it to rely on the non-USA regions?
Absolutely no. It was a self-reliant project and every view coming out of the USA after a small threshold was a bonus. American digital projects depend on the reception of American audiences.
But what about India? At Binged you might have read us often talking about the international appeal or reception of a particular series. Why so?
Primarily because the Indian series can’t really depend solely on the Indian market, especially when it comes to big-budget things like Heeramandi or Farzi, the matter becomes more intense and we can’t help but depend upon the foreign audience.
There are several reasons behind it. Firstly, Indians don’t want to pay. Non-serious laws promote the usage of piracy and many people end up pirating a particular show of their choice instead of buying a subscription. This acts as a burden on OTT platforms as they can’t really grow in India.
Secondly, the audience of the OTT platforms comes from the urban areas who are more interested in a plethora of Western content than the monthly Indian series.
Thirdly, a platform releases at max one or two Indian series a month which is nowhere near what American shows provide.
So, there is a long way for Indian OTT to be self-reliant. But, efforts must be made.