NEW DELHI: The Indian video streaming industry is increasingly polarized. Only three of the top 50 originals released in 2025 crossed 25 million viewers, according to media consulting firm Ormax, while more than half drew fewer than 15 million.
Entertainment industry experts say the OTT market is beginning to resemble the theatrical ecosystem, where a handful of hits capture most of the audience and viewership drops sharply beyond the top few titles. Viewers are spread across too many platforms and shows, marketing budgets are concentrated on a small number of flagship releases, and much of the remaining programming struggles to generate word-of-mouth.
According to Ormax, titles such as Special Ops season two, Criminal Justice: A Family Matter and Ek Badnaam Aashram, topped the list of Indian OTT originals in 2025 with viewership above 25 million. Around 30 shows in the top 50 logged fewer than 15 million viewers, underscoring how a small number of breakout titles account for a disproportionate share of audience attention.
The attention economy
“When OTT platforms started in India, people believed every show would get a fair chance…But the reality turned out to be different. Today, a few big shows hog most of the audience, just like big films do at the box office. Once you go beyond the top three or four titles, viewership drops sharply. Many shows are watched by far fewer people, even if they are well made,” said Pratap Jain, founder and chief executive officer (CEO), ChanaJor, an OTT platform.
Jain said the reason for this is simple: viewers don’t have unlimited time. With so much content available, audiences gravitate towards titles that feel popular, familiar or widely talked about.
Shows with earlier seasons also have a natural advantage, he said, as viewers return to characters and storylines they already know. New shows lack that familiarity. At the same time, aggressive promotion, through trailers, social media reels, interviews and memes, can significantly boost visibility. Titles that lack strong marketing often go unnoticed, even if they are well made.
“Part of this is attention economics," said Munish Vaid, vice-president, Primus Partners, a management consultancy firm. "With thousands of titles available on dozens of platforms, the viewer’s time is scarcer than ever. Most people swarm to only a couple of big shows each year—the ones with buzz, big stars or strong word-of-mouth. Everything else competes for the scraps.”
Since viewers tend to stick with familiar genres, formats and creators, many new shows end up being sampled rather than fully watched, he pointed out.
Regional content, however, behaves somewhat differently. In some languages, localized hits can draw large viewership within that ecosystem, partly because they reflect cultural context more directly and because regional audiences are less fragmented across languages. But even within these markets, the same pattern persists—a few big hits and a large number of mid-tier titles.
That said, platforms are aware of this problem, and are trying smarter recommendations, personalized sections and curated lists that push lesser-known titles to relevant audiences instead of just showing the most popular ones, industry experts say.
Instead of dropping 8-10 episodes at once, where only the buzziest shows get traction, platforms sometimes release weekly to build appointment viewing and sustained conversation. Trailers, social media snippets, creator interviews, micro-content, are all designed to give smaller shows more chance to catch eyeballs.
“Platforms are actively trying to reduce this polarization. We’re seeing a shift away from volume-led commissioning toward more disciplined bets on repeatable IP, stronger packaging, and formats that drive completion and retention rather than just launches,” said Bhushan Kadam, senior vice-president—creative and strategic initiatives, White Rivers Media, a digital agency.
“Discovery is also evolving. Recommendation systems are increasingly optimised for watch-time depth, not just clicks, which helps surface mid-tier titles more effectively. There’s also a sharper push on regional programming, improved dubbing, and connected-TV targeting to broaden reach beyond metros. While hits will always dominate, platforms are clearly working to make the ‘middle’ more visible and sustainable,” Kadam added.