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Tag: Ormax Media

  • India streams ahead with 601 million OTT users in Ormax 2025 report

    India streams ahead with 601 million OTT users in Ormax 2025 report

    MUMBAI: When it comes to streaming, India is no longer buffering, it’s booming. Ormax Media has unveiled the fifth edition of The Ormax OTT Audience Report: 2025, pegging the country’s OTT universe at a staggering 601.2 million viewers (60.12 crore), or 41.1 per cent of India’s population.

    The report, based on a robust survey of 15,600 respondents across urban and rural India in June and July 2025, defines an OTT audience as anyone who has watched at least one online video free or paid in the past month. While the audience base grew by 10 per cent year-on-year, the rate is slightly slower than the 13–14 per cent surge in 2023 and 2024.

    Paid subscriptions are also gaining ground, with 148.2 million active subscriptions (including telecom bundles and aggregator deals) recorded in the report. Meanwhile, the most dramatic growth has come from the living room: India’s Connected TV user base now stands at 129.2 million, translating to 35–40 million homes, marking a jaw-dropping 87 per cent jump in just a year.

    Ormax Media Founder & CEO Shailesh Kapoor said the Connected TV surge was a turning point: “India has long been regarded as mobile-first, but this sharp rise in CTV usage signals a paradigm shift in viewing behaviour.”

    Since its launch in 2021, the Ormax OTT Audience Report has become the industry’s go-to yardstick. This year’s edition goes further, adding fresh parameters on time spent, preferred languages, content formats, and media habits. Ormax head of business development (streaming, Tv & brands) Keerat Grewal said these updates were driven by industry feedback: “The 2025 edition widens the scope, complementing business and monetisation insights with a richer picture of content consumption.”

    The full report, available on subscription, is aimed at streaming platforms, advertisers, media agencies, investors, and production houses, offering a data-backed lens on the ever-expanding OTT ecosystem.
     

  • Amazon MX Player, Sony TV team up to stream and beam ‘Rise and Fall’

    Amazon MX Player, Sony TV team up to stream and beam ‘Rise and Fall’

    MUMBAI: Streaming is going prime time. Amazon MX Player, Amazon’s free video service, has joined hands with Sony Entertainment Television to take its buzzy new reality series Rise and Fall to a wider audience.

    In a first-of-its-kind distribution pact, episodes of the show will drop daily at noon on Amazon MX Player before hitting Sony TV at 10:30 pm, giving viewers the choice of mobile-first streaming or traditional appointment viewing.

    The gamble seems to be paying off. According to Ormax Media, Rise and Fall was the most-watched show in its launch week. Hosted by Ashneer Grover, the show packs 15 celebrities from across entertainment, sports and music into a towering set split between extremes: a penthouse for the “Rulers” and a spartan basement for the “Workers.” Contestants shuffle between privilege and hardship, testing their wits in a battle of ambition, survival and strategy.

    Amazon MX Player, director & head of content, Amogh Dusad called the partnership “a cultural moment,” adding that the bold and disruptive format deserved the widest possible reach. Akshay Agrawal of Sony Pictures Networks India said the tie-up reflects Sony TV’s mission to bring “unique and compelling” formats to millions of households.

    The show has also lined up big-brand backers, with Lux Cozi, Orient Electric, Haier, Pintola and Avvatar Whey Protein among its sponsors.

    New episodes of Rise and Fall stream daily for free at 12 pm on Amazon MX Player, available via the MX app, Amazon shopping app, Prime Video, Fire TV and Airtel Xstream and air at 10:30 pm on Sony Entertainment Television.

  • What has made Saiyaara a Rs 300 crore box office wonder?

    What has made Saiyaara a Rs 300 crore box office wonder?

    MUMBAI: The box office success of Saiyaara has been a topic of wide discussion over the past month. The film has performed exceptionally well, crossing Rs 300 Cr at the domestic box office, and becoming the second-highest grosser of 2025 in India, behind Chhaava, at the time of writing this report. A popular theory attributes this success to the influence of Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012, currently aged 13-28). It’s an easy conclusion to draw, given the film’s genre and debutant cast. But is it really true? Can one audience segment alone propel a film with no franchise or star value to cross the Rs 300 Cr mark? This analysis explores that question.

    According to Ormax Media analysis, the remarkable box office success of Saiyaara is less about a single generation’s love affair with a fresh romance and more about how different cohorts engage with emotion on screen. On paper, the culprit seemed obvious. Gen Z—those aged 13 to 28—looked tailor-made for the film’s youthful leads, moody soundtrack, and breakneck visuals. Social chatter, sneaker fashion and music streams all suggested the movie was “their” moment. But Ormax Media’s data complicates the narrative.

    The firm’s proprietary OPR (Ormax Power Rating), a 0–100 index that tracks likeability and advocacy, is a trusted predictor of word-of-mouth and sustained collections. A score above 60 typically signals robust engagement, translating into strong box office legs beyond opening weekend. Over four weeks of tracking, Saiyaara notched a sturdy OPR, with Gen Z audiences scoring it at 68 and those aged 29+ close behind at 63. A respectable gap, but not wide enough to explain the runaway commercial phenomenon.

    Saiyaara

    The real story, says Ormax Media, emerges when the data is split by gender. Women across generations responded almost identically strongly, suggesting that themes of love, empathy and sacrifice cut across age barriers. Among men, however, the divergence was stark. Gen Z men mirrored women’s enthusiasm, while older men slipped sharply, delivering an OPR of just 56.

    Why does this gap matter? For Ormax analysts, it reflects shifting life priorities. Gen Z men—many still students, young professionals or in early relationships—saw in Krish Kapoor, the protagonist, an avatar of their own anxieties and aspirations. At 22, Krish is all swagger and style: racing bikes across Mumbai flyovers, flaunting Air Jordans, and smoking defiantly. But when his girlfriend Vaani is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he doesn’t flee. Instead, he pauses his rising music career to stay by her side. The arc resonated with younger men who are wrestling with questions of identity, love and loyalty in their own lives.

    “Cinema becomes a tool of self-discovery for this cohort,” Ormax Media notes. “It validates emotions that are difficult to articulate, reassuring them that ‘forever’ love is not entirely a myth.”

    Older men, by contrast, appear to want films to serve as escape hatches from the daily grind of careers, mortgages, and parenting. For them, Saiyaara may be admirable cinema, but not essential viewing. As Ormax points out, this explains the 10-point OPR gap between the two male groups.

    For women, the generational divide all but vanishes. Ormax’s data highlights how relationship-driven storytelling continues to resonate across age brackets, aligned with academic research suggesting women are both socialised, and to some extent biologically primed, to prioritise empathy and relational bonds in narrative consumption. Saiyaara capitalised on this, shaping Krish’s trajectory not as a melodramatic sacrifice but as a nuanced portrait of resilience and commitment.

    The outcome: a Rs 300 cr-plus blockbuster that defied industry cynicism around non-franchise, debutant-led films. Saiyaara’s triumph is not solely Gen Z’s doing. Rather, it is the uncharacteristic enthusiasm of young men—an audience often elusive for romantic dramas—that Ormax Media credits with tipping the film from respectable hit to cultural juggernaut.

  • Gautam Jain takes charge as lead of content development at Sony Sab

    Gautam Jain takes charge as lead of content development at Sony Sab

    MUMBAI – Gautam Jain has been appointed lead, content development, at Sony SAB, part of Sony Pictures Networks India. A media and entertainment hand with more than 17 years in the trade, Jain has built his career across content strategy, marketing, consumer insights and business growth.

    He has previously helmed consulting projects at Amenic Entertainment and spent over a decade at Ormax Media, where he rose to partner and business head of film. Earlier, he worked with Mirchi Movies on production, marketing and distribution.

    Armed with a PGDM from Mica and an engineering degree from Walchand Institute of Technology, Jain is known for driving innovation and expansion—delivering a 25 per cent compound annual growth rate in revenue on past mandates. 

    At Sony SAB, he is expected to channel that experience into shaping new stories for the general entertainment channel.

  • Ormax launches sports tracker to measure marketing punch

    Ormax launches sports tracker to measure marketing punch

    MUMBAI: Ormax Media has unveiled Ormax Sports Track, a syndicated research tool that measures how well sports tournaments perform among India’s digital audience. The Mumbai-based media research firm already tracks theatrical films, streaming originals and television launches—now it is turning its attention to the lucrative world of sports content.

    The timing is shrewd. Streaming platforms are splashing serious cash on sports rights, treating them as tentpole content to drive subscriptions and advertising revenue. With 678.2m sports fans in India, the prize is substantial. At any given moment, 25-30 sports properties are either live or preparing to launch across various over-the-top (OTT) platforms, spanning cricket, football, kabaddi, tennis and wrestling.

    Ormax Sports Track measures four key parameters on a 0-100 scale. “Buzz” captures unaided recall—how many viewers spontaneously remember a tournament when asked about current or upcoming sports events. “Reach” tracks aided awareness—the percentage who recognise a tournament’s name when prompted. “Appeal” measures definite viewing intent among those aware of the property. “Potency” gauges how many would subscribe to a paid platform specifically to watch the tournament.

    The tool is powered by weekly online surveys of 600-plus regular OTT sports viewers. The sample mirrors demographics from Ormax’s Sports Audience Report 2024, split equally between metros (Mumbai, Delhi NCR, southern metros and Kolkata) and non-metros (west-central, north and south regions).

    Subscribers receive reports twice weekly: a mid-week update every Tuesday and an end-of-week summary every Friday, complete with target group trends for properties on their platforms. Each tournament is tracked from launch announcement through to the final whistle.

    For sports marketers and streaming executives, the service promises to decode which campaigns cut through the noise in India’s crowded digital sports arena. With millions riding on rights deals, knowing what resonates with audiences could prove invaluable.

  • Ormax Media plays a data masterstroke with OTT sports tracking tool

    Ormax Media plays a data masterstroke with OTT sports tracking tool

    MUMBAI: In a country where 678.2 million people tune into everything from cricket to kabaddi, Ormax Media has decided it’s time the scoreboard reflected more than just runs and goals. The media insights powerhouse has launched Ormax Sports Track, a syndicated audience research tool built to measure the engagement and marketing impact of sports tournaments on OTT platforms right from the announcement press release to the final whistle. Designed for both streaming platforms and sports leagues, it tracks four key parameters Buzz, Reach, Appeal and Potency giving stakeholders a 360° view of audience sentiment over a tournament’s entire run.

    The methodology is as rigorous as a DRS review. Every week, 600 regular OTT sports viewers split evenly between metro and non-metro markets are surveyed online, with the sample aligned to The Ormax Sports Audience Report 2024. Subscribers receive two data deliveries a week, a Tuesday mid-week report and a Friday wrap-up to act fast on shifting trends, test marketing muscle, and tweak strategies in real time.

    “OTT platforms now have a powerful subscription-based tool to benchmark the impact of their sports campaigns against industry-wide trends,” said Ormax Media head of business development for streaming, television & brands Keerat Grewal. “It’s about integrating audience tracking with strategic insights to drive subscriptions, optimise spend, and stand out in a crowded sports landscape.”

    With OTT players investing heavily in sports properties from cricket and football to tennis, wrestling and beyond Ormax Sports Track could be the independent, data-backed umpire brands need to call the big shots, measure ROI, and ensure their campaigns hit the sweet spot every time.

  • Streaming to the top: Karan Bedi named OTT Leader of the Year

    Streaming to the top: Karan Bedi named OTT Leader of the Year

    MUMBAI: When it comes to India’s streaming wars, Karan Bedi is clearly playing in the big league. The head of Amazon MX Player has been crowned ‘Leader of the Year OTT’ at the 12th IAA Leadership Awards, held on 7 August 2025 at Taj Lands End, Mumbai. Instituted in 2013 by the International Advertising Association India Chapter, the awards celebrate excellence in business, marketing, and corporate leadership. This year’s jury, chaired by Colgate-Palmolive India MD & CEO Prabha Narasimhan, recognised Bedi’s role in steering Amazon MX Player to the forefront of India’s digital entertainment.

    Under his watch, the free streaming service has delivered a buffet of genres from cult thrillers like Aashram to emotionally charged dramas such as Mitti – Ek Nayi Pehchaan, high-octane action with Hunter S2 – Tootega Nahi Todega, and reality hits like Realme Hip Hop India Season 2. As per Ormax Media, 8 of India’s Top 50 digital shows in H1 2025 were from MX Player’s stable.

    The platform also boasts MX Vdesi India’s largest localised international content library, featuring dubbed global shows, anime, and films. It’s a strategy that has kept the service on advertisers’ radars while winning over audiences nationwide.

    “This recognition is for our entire team,” said Bedi. “Our mission is to deliver high-quality, free entertainment rooted in local stories, while enabling advertisers to reach audiences across India. Seeing our content resonate with millions is the most rewarding part of the journey.”

    With audience loyalty, advertiser trust, and an expanding content portfolio, Bedi’s leadership shows that in OTT, it’s not just about playing the game, it’s about changing it.
     

  • Cinema: Getting the business model, right?

    Cinema: Getting the business model, right?

    MUMBAI: Mumbai’s cinema moguls gathered at the 9th Edition of The Content Hub Summit 2025, the industry attempted to hit “rewind” on declining traditional media consumption and combat digital fatigue.

    Chaired by acclaimed film critic, journalist & author Mayank Shekhar, the panel boasted a stellar cast of industry heavyweights, including Abhishek Pathak, managing director, Panorama Studios; Aashish Singh, producer, Red Chillies Entertainment; Shailesh Kapoor, CEO, Ormax Media; Devendra Deshpande, CEO, Friday Filmworks; and Pragati Deshmukh, head of content, Zee Studios.

    Ormax Media’s Shailesh Kapoor, often the industry’s truth-sayer, kicked off with a candid confession: “Nobody knows for sure.” Yet, his numbers paint a clear picture. Despite the seismic shifts, the core metrics total box office, total footfall, and the number of unique theatre-goers (a consistent 15 crore annually) remain stubbornly unchanged since 2013-14.

    Kapoor pointed out that the pandemic’s real plot twist was its coincidental overlap with the streaming boom. “If the pandemic had happened in 2015, this wouldn’t even be a discussion,” he quipped. The lockdown fast-tracked the audience’s discernment between “OTT films” and “theatrical films,” a process that would have otherwise taken years. While star power might dim on OTT, it still shines bright in cinemas, and language barriers are slowly, but surely, dissolving. “Fundamentally, nothing really has changed,” Kapoor concluded, suggesting that content choices, rather than audience habits, are the evolving variables.

    Devendra Deshpande of Friday Filmworks, a science fiction writer in the realm of film production, firmly believes in leading with the narrative. “You start with the story because you believe in that story,” he asserted, dismissing hindsight analysis in a business where a film’s journey from conception to screen takes at least two years.

    The panel then tackled the curious case of remakes. While Abhishek Pathak’s Drishyam 2 was a massive hit despite the Malayalam original being widely available on OTT, Vikram Vedha (a remake of a Tamil hit) stumbled. Pathak, who directed Drishyam 2, revealed his unwavering confidence: “I always had a feeling that it would do a 150 crore number, this film will surprise the audience.” His logic was that audiences are smarter than we give them credit for, and a strong brand, like Drishyam, transcends language and prior viewing. “People come to the theatre, they give us a formula,” he declared, suggesting that the “mystery to the presentation” and local flavour are key ingredients for a successful remake.

    Red Chillies Entertainment’s Aashish Singh weighed in on Jawan’s phenomenal success, attributing it to meticulous planning. The film, directed by a renowned South Indian filmmaker, was conceived as a pan-Indian spectacle from the get-go. With Shah Rukh Khan’s unparalleled star power and a clever blend of North and South Indian talent, Jawan struck a chord across all tiers of Indian audiences. “It’s not about North and South, honestly. But, yes, we have to be conscious about our audience and what they like across the board,” Singh elaborated, highlighting the importance of tailoring content for a diverse national palate.

    Pragati Deshmukh of Zee Studios echoed the sentiment, emphasising that for studios, the story’s relevance for the next few years, irrespective of language, is paramount. She revealed that Zee Studios is actively seeking out stories that would travel across languages, indicating a strategic shift towards pan-Indian narratives. The success of films like Gadar 2, which evoked sheer emotion across linguistic divides, underscores this trend.

    The conversation then shifted to the nitty-gritty of film finance. Shailesh Kapoor noted the rise of re-releases, a desperate measure by exhibitors to fill empty screens as fewer films are being made. He revealed a staggering 60 per cent drop in the number of films releasing per year, from 45 to a mere 33-34. This “crisis of confidence” is pushing studios to greenlight only certain genres, primarily action. Re-releases, he believes, are a temporary fix and will fade once the release calendar becomes busy again.

    Pragati Deshmukh offered insights into the studio’s risk-mitigation strategies. Beyond big-budget spectacles, studios are exploring innovative models for smaller films. She cited examples like securing partnerships with brands or even shooting two films simultaneously to offset costs. The perennial strength of sequels and franchises remains a constant in a volatile market.

    Lastly, the discussion also touched upon the vexing issue of ticket pricing. While audiences are still willing to visit cinemas, the average ticket price of Rs 99-100 for new releases, making a night out prohibitively expensive for many, remains a significant hurdle. In contrast, re-releases often come at a much more palatable Rs 75-80.

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  • India’s box office collects Rs 5723 crore in blockbuster first half of 2025

    India’s box office collects Rs 5723 crore in blockbuster first half of 2025

    MUMBAI: India’s cinemas have found their groove and the numbers are singing. The first half of 2025 has grossed Rs 5,723 crore at the domestic box office, marking a 14 per cent jump over the same period last year, according to the newly released India Box Office Report by Ormax Media. That puts it just Rs 12 crore short of the 2022 January–June record, signalling a cinema resurgence powered not by a few blockbusters, but a wide net of Rs 100 crore-plus earners.

    A total of 17 films crossed the Rs 100 crore threshold in the January–June window up from just 10 in the first half of 2024. Topping the charts by a wide margin was Chhaava, clocking in at a whopping Rs 693 crore, followed by the Telugu release Sankranthiki Vasthunam. Notably, only one film breached the ₹250 crore mark in this period, suggesting a shift from reliance on tentpole spectacles to consistent mid-sized performers.

    June wrapped up on a strong note, with monthly grosses topping ₹900 crore, thanks to titles like Sitaare Zameen Par and Housefull 5, both touching the ₹200 crore mark. Tamil-Telugu title Kuberaa and Hollywood’s F1: The Movie also revved up the box office engines.

    Hindi cinema continues to rule with 40 per cent of the total gross, mirroring its 2024 share. Telugu and Tamil films followed with 20 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. In a welcome plot twist, Hollywood returned to double digits, breaching the 10 per cent mark for the first time since 2022.

    If the current pattern holds, 2025 is poised to close at Rs 13,500 crore, making it potentially the biggest box office year in Indian history. This hinges, of course, on the performance of the star-studded second half, which includes biggies like Kantara: Chapter 1, Avatar: Fire and Ash, War 2, Coolie, Akhanda 2, Thama, and OG.

    What’s especially noteworthy is the spread of success, this year is less about outlier mega-hits and more about a healthy, steady churn of solid performers. This could signal a structural rebound for Indian exhibition circuits, driven by a slate-first strategy instead of pinning hopes on a few blockbusters.

    Whether you’re team multiplex or mass single-screen, 2025’s box office is scripting a hit—and there’s plenty more showtime left.

  • Balaji Digital breaks the stream ceiling with two chartbusters in Ormax Top 50

    Balaji Digital breaks the stream ceiling with two chartbusters in Ormax Top 50

    MUMBAI: Balaji Digital has pulled off a streaming stunner. In just over a year since its OTT rebirth, two of the studio’s three original shows have stormed into Ormax Media’s Top 50 Streaming Originals in India (Jan–June 2025), cementing its digital street cred.

    Kull: The Legacy of the Raisingghs, a regal potboiler dripping in dynastic drama and betrayal, grabbed the #17 spot with 10.4 million viewers. Not far behind, Power of Paanch, a coming-of-age campus saga with a fantastical edge, clocked 9.4 million views to land at #23. Both shows are streaming on JioHotstar, a platform rapidly becoming Balaji’s preferred playground.

    “At Balaji, storytelling has always been our lifeblood, and digital is just another canvas, albeit a thrilling one,” said Balaji Telefilms Head of Digital Originals, Aparna Ramachandran. “It’s incredibly encouraging to see both Kull and Power of Paanch in the Ormax Top 50. Each of these shows was built with a deep belief in the audience’s appetite for emotionally intelligent, narratively bold content. This kind of validation tells us we’re on the right path.”

    It all began in 2024 with Dus June Ki Raat, a quirky comedy-thriller that laid the foundation for Balaji’s emotionally rich, character-forward narratives. But it’s in 2025 that the brand truly hit its stride. Power of Paanch brought spunk and sorcery to college corridors, while Kull unleashed a Game of Thrones-style royal rumble, desi edition.

    Reflecting on the digital landscape, Ramachandran noted, “There’s no captive audience anymore. Today’s viewer curates content based on mood, taste, and emotional relevance. We are happy to have struck a chord with specific segments and look forward to building more powerful stories from here.”

    Under Ekta Kapoor’s watchful eye and Ramachandran’s digital leadership, Balaji Digital is now eyeing bigger games, genre-benders, deeper platform partnerships, and stories that slice through the clutter.

    “The pressure on creators today is real, but it’s also an opportunity,” added Ramachandran. “We’re building a space where fresh voices, morally complex characters, and unconventional genres can thrive. The aim is simple: break moulds and stir conversation.” 

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