Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at feedback@livemint.com.
The rise of the micro-drama is the definitive trend for India’s streaming industry in 2025, as tight budgets and slowing subscription growth mean over-the-top (OTT) players remain selective about content and still rely on big-budget films. Yet, some industry experts fear that a potential mega-merger in the global media industry, with both Netflix and Paramount making bids for Warner Bros. Discovery, could further shrink the space for small and independent content creators.
Micro-dramas and short episodic storytelling will continue to explode in 2026 as well, according to Deepak Dhar, founder and Group chief executive officer (CEO), Banijay Asia & EndemolShine India. “With audiences consuming content across screens and time pockets, premium short-form will emerge as a powerful complement to long-format series. We expect a stronger shift toward creator-led storytelling.”
Dhar said audiences are gravitating toward authentic, personality-driven voices, and platforms are increasingly building slates around creators, showrunners and signature tonalities “Regional content—across languages and genres—will continue its upward surge. The South market, in particular, will shape a significant part of the next wave of hit originals.”
With Aamir Khan’s Sitaare Zameen Par experiment, YouTube has emerged as an alternative. The rise of individual YouTube channels and content creation for social media, both by celebrities and production houses, has emerged as another key trend, even as streaming platforms struggle to balance the advertising and subscription game, with a player like Prime Video introducing ads this year.
That reflects how India is still a low average revenue per user (Arpu) market across both AVoD (advertising video-on-demand) and SVoD (subscription video-on-demand), so monetization continues to be a balancing act for platforms.
“Challenges in terms of monetisation continue where the share of advertising garnered by OTTs as compared to the total advertising in the digital medium doesn’t grow. I will not be surprised to see some smaller OTTs getting acquired for survival,” said Partho Dasgupta, managing partner, Thoth Advisors Pvt Ltd, and ex CEO, BARC India. “Going into 2026, the biggest challenges will remain monetisation, profitability, quality of stories and formats.”
Saurabh Srivastava, chief operating officer, digital business at Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd, also attributed it to a crowded market. “Subscriptions are growing, but the market is fragmented: too many platforms, too many pricing models, and households deciding what they can justify.”
That has turned OTT players even more selective on content.
Demanding narrative
“Platforms are looking for stories that have impact, purpose and an emotional connection and at the same time, have the ability to connect with a wider audience. But the set of criteria is sharper today,” said Vikram Malhotra, founder and CEO, Abundantia Entertainment, known for titles like Chhorii 2. “A show or film must deliver on creative ambition and resonance, while also being positioned to stand out in a crowded content environment.”
Raghavendra Hunsur, chief content officer at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, which operates ZEE5, said viewers across regions are choosing narratives that mirror their emotional worlds, whether through local dialects, family structures or everyday social realities.
“Our first filter is cultural authenticity, and whether the concept carries a voice that feels native to the community it aims to serve,” said Hunsur. Originals and direct-to-digital premieres remain a strong priority for the platform because they allow them to build the library content with rooted, differentiated storytelling and deepen long-term relationships with viewers, he said. However, acquired films still play an important role in expanding reach and bringing new audiences into the platform, he said.
Viewers are becoming increasingly selective, even within short-form content, according to Malhotra of Abundantia Entertainment. “As attention spans shorten and time is at a premium, we’re seeing a rise in shorter duration episodes, tighter seasons, and formats that allow for quick, immersive viewing without compromising narrative depth.”
Indian culture and mythology have seen a resurgence, cutting across age groups because it blends cultural familiarity with cinematic scale, he said. “Thrillers continue to be a perennial favourite, and horror has found a strong foothold as well. Second-screen distraction is real, so content must lean on strong characters, urgency in storytelling and high narrative velocity. The focus is not just on length but on how consistently a story can hold attention.”
Consolidation risk
Dasgupta of Thoth Advisors, however, expects the ongoing consolidation in the industry to stifle some of the content freedom.
“OTTs this year started with a big corporate action with Jio and Hotstar coming together and have ended with the mega merger of Netflix-Discovery-Warner-HBO brands,” he said. “These mega mergers are good and bad for the industry. It brings scale and hence associated cost benefits while stifling innovation and diversity in storytelling by indie storytelling.”
Monisha Advani, producer at Emmay Entertainment, also fears organized content becoming very prescriptive.
“The major platforms are today functioning not just as platforms but also as studios, and as a consequence of that, you are automatically seeing them define what the content and its colour literally and figuratively needs to be,” she said. “In such a scenario, creators are pretty much working within lines that are predefined. In a way, that's great because that's predictive television, but the fact is that there is a lot more democratic freedom to create content, whether on social media or via micro-dramas today than for the producer of a formal show.”
Not everyone agrees. There are multiple options to consume content of different kinds, from short form to reels to long form, according to Saugata Mukerjee, head of content, SonyLIV.
“The viewer today is spoilt for choice, which I think is great. This will ensure that the makers of long-form will need to work harder to ensure that the storytelling is unique and there are fewer drop-offs,” he said. “In 2026, there would be more light-hearted shows that the regular audience is able to relate to–there is a paucity of those. There would also be more stories that appeal to women, with issues that are relevant to them. The other underserved genre is young adults, we should expect more in this genre.”
Srivastava of Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd expects the growth of digital advertising to allow experimentation.
“Digital advertising will likely grow at high double digits over the next five years, driven by consumer shifts that advertisers have acknowledged. The digital advertising pie is expanding, with noticeable movement away from traditional media,” he said. “As more consumption moves behind paywalls, to connect with audiences, brands will also experiment more with storytelling formats, like storytelling embedded within content, especially on connected TVs.”