Sports, local content drive video-on-demand revenues to $1.04 billion in first half of 2024

The premium video-on-demand (VoD) market, driven by advertising and subscriptions, generated $1.04 billion in revenues in the first half of 2024, up 38% from $760 million in the same period last year, according to an analysis by Ampd, the digital measurement platform of Media Partners Asia (MPA), which offers research, advisory and consulting services across the media and telecoms sectors in Asia-Pacific. 

Local content accounted for 86% of premium VoD engagement during this period, with live sports and local drama and romance leading demand, the analysis showed. Sports content attracted the highest number of unique viewers, with 9 of the top 15 titles belonging to this genre. Cricket was the standout, with IPL 2024 and the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 comprising the top two sports properties, driving significant viewership.

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In the first half of 2024, a total of eight trillion minutes of content was streamed across online video platforms in India. YouTube dominated the landscape, capturing 92% of all online video consumption, while premium platforms—comprising advertising video-on-demand (AVoD), freemium, and subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) services—accounted for the remaining 8%. Within the premium video segment, freemium platforms led with 92% of the 645 billion minutes streamed during that period.

Monetisation leaders

JioCinema, Netflix, and Disney+ Hotstar led on premium VoD monetisation, contributing 70% of the total revenue garnered by the category, the report said. JioCinema was the category leader in the first half of 2024 with a 36% revenue share, while Netflix led pure-play SVoD monetisation with a 38% share. 

Premium VoD ad revenue during this period was driven by JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar, thanks to marquee cricket tournaments such as the IPL and T20 World Cup. After a turbulent 2023, total SVoD subscriptions rebounded from 110 million to 120 million in the first half of 2024. 

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India’s base of affluent viewers continues to expand, with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video capitalising on this trend through investments in local originals and films. Together, these platforms accounted for nearly 70% of SVoD revenue in the first six months of 2024. Meanwhile, JioCinema’s launch of an affordable plan further broadened the paying-subscriber audience. 

“Subscriber growth momentum will continue in the second half of 2024, driven by aggregation and deeper partnerships with telcos, pay-TV operators, and OEMs (original equipment manufacturers). In addition, with the onset of the festive season, advertising spending should be robust in Q4 2024,” MPA India vice president Mihir Shah said in a statement.

“However, with no major sports events, spending will shift toward tentpole non-fiction shows on premium VoD platforms, with a significant portion moving back to high-reach UGC (user-generated content) platforms,” Shah added.

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