The 16-minute problem: Too much OTT content, too little discovery

Entertainment industry experts say many viewers now spend over 16 minutes just scrolling, as basic recommendation engines and star-driven marketing push the same big-ticket titles to the top.

Compared to global markets, there is an urgent need to develop better AI-driven tools and allow for language-based decision-making among other features because discoverability issues can easily lead to subscription failure.

The 16-minute problem

“The browsing window before someone hits play often stretches beyond 16 minutes per session. That is a long pause in an experience that is supposed to feel effortless. And there is a high possibility of this spilling into renewal behaviour. When a viewer feels like they are doing work before every session, the value of the subscription starts to drop in their mind," said Saurabh Srivastava, chief operating officer, digital business at Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd.

For its streaming platform ShemarooMe, the company has introduced the Split UI feature with clean, category-led entry points that let viewers start watching instead of scrolling.

Discoverability has emerged as one of the biggest pain points in the OTT journey, agreed Salankara Biswas, general manager – content discovery at Bengali streaming platform Hoichoi.

With content exploding across platforms, users increasingly browse more than they watch, she said. “This extended browsing time becomes a drop-off point, leading many to abandon a session before playback even starts. When repeated over time, poor discovery leads to lower engagement, which is one of the strongest indicators of churn. Subscription fatigue often begins not with content shortage but with content mismatch," Biswas said.

Why India lags global tools

“The lack of universal search aggregators forces users to jump between the OTT platforms, while poor metadata and limited mood or context filters make discovery even harder. Compared to global markets with advanced AI-driven tools, India is falling behind," said Rajesh Sethi, partner and leader—media, entertainment and sports, PwC India.

He said platforms need stronger AI and ML-led personalization, better language-based discovery filters and cross-platform partnerships, most of which remain limited to a handful of leading services.

Choice fatigue drives churn

Industry experts note that India’s OTT landscape is unusually complex—multiple languages, diverse tastes, and an unending stream of new releases. A recent shift back to co-viewing has driven platforms to push family-friendly releases, further crowding interfaces. In contrast, mature global markets have fewer platforms, less linguistic diversity, and a steadier flow of content, making discovery feel smoother.

This “choice fatigue" is now a central threat to engagement, experts warn. When audiences cannot quickly find what they want, viewing sessions are abandoned and subscriptions get reassessed. While streaming remains the preferred viewing mode across demographics, improving personalization and simplifying pathways to content are critical to sustaining long-term retention.

Platforms race to fix the gap

Rajat Agrawal, chief operating officer and director of Ultra Media & Entertainment Group agreed users are juggling multiple platforms and can easily switch if content isn't up to par. To address this, platforms are focusing on original content and unique shows that hook subscribers, offering flexible pricing plans and bundles for diverse budgets, smarter recommendations and tailored content through AI-powered personalization.

According to Phanimohan Kalagara, chief technology officer, Gracenote, the content data business unit of market research firm Nielsen, meaningful improvement requires more unified experiences.

Enriched program metadata and availability information, standardized content identifiers, and contextual personalization are keys to these unification efforts, he noted.

“Most OTT platforms, including Chaupal, are working towards solving this through hyper-personalization. The idea is to understand user preferences in depth, segment the audience more effectively, and recommend content that feels personally relevant," said Ujjwal Mahajan, co-founder, Chaupal, a platform specializing in Punjabi, Haryanvi and Bhojpuri content.

It’s not just about suggesting a genre, Majahan said, personalization now goes down to the smallest details. For instance, if a movie features two lead actors and the platform knows that one user prefers Actor A while another prefers Actor B, it might even show them different thumbnails highlighting the actor they connect with more. These subtle changes help users find content faster and feel like the platform truly understands their taste.