The most popular video streaming platform YouTube which is owned by Google is introducing its YouTube Originals to India in partnership with music maestro A.R. Rahman for its first such show in the country. After Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, YouTube is also bringing in ‘Originals’ for the Indian audience.
Meanwhile, the India originals will be on the company’s ad-supported platform. But it will, gradually, launch an ad-free subscription service called YouTube Premium.
“Affordable data costs are driving video consumption in India, data usage is about 8 GB a month per subscriber. This has pushed online video consumption as well, which is now about 75% of all mobile traffic as per industry reports,” said YouTube India Head of Entertainment Satya Raghavan.
Satya Raghavan also stated that the company is looking at multiple formats for original content in the country at a time when it is attracting 245 million unique users each month. These days people generally prefer online streaming platforms and therefore, with the use of Amazon, Hotstar and Netflix, the usage is expanding even more. These platforms offer a huge range of content to users online and now most of the people prefer the web over television.
This move will also help YouTube boost its business from online video ad-spends. The company stated that their goal is to further boost the ecosystem and supercharge the growth.
Raghavan said, “We feel this is the right time to bring Originals to India. It will boost the overall online video ad spends and drive more advertisers to connect with consumers through these shows. For instance, 60% of our watch time comes from outside of the six largest metro areas.”
However, the timeline for launching the YouTube Premium in India has not been disclosed. The top executives of YouTube have signified that the company is planning to take YouTube Originals to many more international markets as part of the expansion plan.