After years of building large subscriber bases through aggressive pricing and bundled offerings, video streaming platforms are recalibrating their strategies to align revenue growth with rising content and acquisition costs. In many cases, this means charging users more for the same content — but in subtler ways.
Late last month, JioHotstar and Warner Bros. Discovery expanded their partnership with the launch of HBO Max in India. The service is now available as a separate hub on the platform for an add-on pack starting at ₹49 per month. Earlier, the HBO library was included within the JioHotstar subscription.
Last year, Amazon Prime Video announced that movies and shows on the streaming service would carry ads. A new ad-free add-on option would be available, but at an additional ₹699 per year or ₹129 per month — effectively requiring users to pay more to continue watching the same content ad-free.
Industry experts say the broader strategy is to maximize revenue from existing content without explicitly raising subscription prices. This approach helps OTT platforms boost ARPU (average revenue per user), monetise popular content in new ways and offer differentiated plans such as ad-supported versus ad-free, high-definition versus standard-definition, and so on.
Layered monetization
“The shift in the monetization model reflects a natural evolution of India’s OTT landscape as platforms transition from a pure scale game to sustainable unit economics. Instead of opting for abrupt price hikes, which risk consumer pushback, they are introducing layered monetization structures that protect the base while unlocking higher value from premium-seeking cohorts,” said Rajesh Sethi, partner and leader - media, entertainment and sports, PwC India.
What may be perceived by some price-sensitive users as paying more for the same content is, in reality, a strategic segmentation play, Sethi added. Mature OTT users and franchise loyal audiences typically absorb such shifts, especially when higher tiers deliver differentiated value.
“Going forward, we can expect more platforms to adopt hybrid pricing, episodic paywalls, genre-specific add-ons and other diversified monetization levers. This phased transition will allow platforms to protect affordability at entry levels while steadily improving overall ARPU and creating a more resilient revenue model for the ecosystem,” Sethi added.
Earlier, Gaurav Gandhi, vice-president, Amazon Prime Video, Asia-Pacific & Middle East-North Africa, had explained the company’s move: “The way we think about this is that we’re giving people the choice. We have programmed the same content across both (lower and higher subscription tiers). Customers can choose how they want to consume the content, and we shall adjust and learn as we go along.”
Beyond subscriptions
According to Nitin Burman, chief revenue officer, Balaji Telefilms, every OTT platform is experimenting with a mix of monetisation strategies.
The first is the base subscription model. The second offers a lower subscription fee with ads. If users want to skip ads, they pay for an add-on. Further, there is transactional video-on-demand (TVoD), where viewers can access a film 15 to 30 days earlier than other audiences. Services are also clubbing certain content into additional packs, similar to bundled packages offered by DTH (direct-to-home) operators.
“At the end of the day, content production and running a platform need deep pockets and hence we would see such monetization strategies growing in the future as well,” Burman said.
Ujjwal Mahajan, co-founder of Chaupal, which specialises in Punjabi, Haryanvi and Bhojpuri content, said platforms are also innovating on advertising formats.
Chaupal has placed ads on the app interface to avoid interrupting content while engaging brands and users effectively. “We have also implemented direct price hikes in several markets. This is in line with the broader market trend, where OTT platform prices have increased in recent times. We’ve seen customers accept these changes, with no measurable decline in sales volumes after such hikes,” Mahajan said.
“Additionally, we have recently introduced TVoD, which is rental-based movie purchases. This allows users who are only interested in a particular title to pay for that, instead of opting for a full subscription. This model has also worked well for us, and we are seeing strong uptake in usage and rentals from customers,” he added.
Who pays more
To be sure, many observers note that value-conscious users who prioritize affordability — and those who have already paid for a service — may feel shortchanged if they receive less value or more ads.
Casual users who do not consume premium content may not see the point in paying extra, said Rajat Agrawal, chief operating officer, Ultra Media & Entertainment Group. Segments more likely to absorb hikes include premium users who value high-quality content and are willing to upgrade, fans of specific sports or events such as the IPL, and users deeply invested in a particular ecosystem, Agrawal added.
Partho Dasgupta, managing partner of Thoth Advisors and former CEO of BARC India, said the shift was inevitable given that a large share of digital advertising flows to Meta and Google. Platforms must therefore maximise direct consumer revenue.
“As the streaming market matures, we expect to see significant innovation across OTT pricing and packaging. Products will be created for different levels of fandom and affluence, in effect increasing packaging options and complexity. It is all about audience segmentation - different packages for different cohorts,” said Ashish Pherwani, M&E sector leader, EY India.