SonyLIV beats Netflix and Amazon

OTT (over-the-top) platform SonyLIV beats Netflix and Amazon. SonyLIV only had 0.7 million subscribers, and around 300cr revenue. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Hotstar which came after SonyLIV were way ahead until mid 2020 in terms of revenue and subscribers. In 2020 came Hansal Mehta's Scam 1992. Scam 1992 became one of the biggest hit of that year. SonyLIV estimated around 22 million subscribers at that time.

SonyLIV becomes India's second largest video-on -demand services after Disney Hotstar and Netflix. SonyLIV recorded a 65% jump in its revenue in 2022 and a 1200cr operating profit. It is also estimated that SonyLIV will hit a 30 million subscribers and continues to be profitable in the future. 

One of the main behind the success is that the Indian audience was that they were exposed to high quality international shows during late 2019 and lockdowns. The audience later started expecting high quality videos from Indian shows. Even though the size of the market wasn't so big, analysis says the propensity to spend remains high. SonyLIV found the sweet spot of the Indian audience by realizing that Indian subscribers were more interested in Indian stories, for which they were ready to spend 999rs a year to watch. This was something which other OTT platforms didn't notice.

In the coming 6 months, it will be rolling out Malayalam, Telegu and Tamil shows. A 55-60% subscribers can be from the Southern part of India if originals in those language are put up.