Netflix is huge in the overseas market. But it has recently been evoked in the Indian market. The subscription-based streaming channel/app/service has built a name for itself for its bold and original content such as House of Cards and Stranger Things.
By adding to the list of its original content it has invested about $6 millions in 2017. It has a deal with Walt Disney to directly slate the movies from the theaters to directly into Netflix. And it also has a special place for the comedy special of the standup comedy stars including Jerry Seinfeld, Amy Schumer, and Chris Rock. Variety reports that each special costs about $20 million, or about Rs. 134 crores. The Netflix concepts are all happening in the USA
In India, though the story is completely different. The competitors seemed to be picking tricks from Netflix itself. Last year as Netflix arrived in India, Hotstar owned by 21st Century Fox through Star India bought the rights to HBO. Which gives rights to own every little content from HBO minutes after it airs in the USA. From Game of Thrones to Silicon Valley all these shows air on HBO which is the ultimate advantage to Hotstar. Hotstar has also added ties with Disney India which includes movies like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, to The Jungle Book, and The Avengers.
Not just this, Hotstar also airs shows from all its local channels which comes under the Star network. Star Plus, Star Vijay, Asianet, and National Geographic come under the network. Also, the one thing Netflix seemed to be missing is the Live sports feature. In a country where each one of them is a die hard cricket fan. You can’t miss out this chance. Star also holds the rights to some of the biggest sporting leagues and tournaments, be it the Premier League, Bundesliga, and Wimbledon.
So recently to the competitors, Amazon Prime Video has joined. They have a whole different strategy. They made a quite buzz at the launch when original content is going to be launched from Farhan and Zoya Akhtar, Vikramaditya Motwane, and All India Bakchod.
Amazon Prime Video has also given focus to the regional contents by adding movies to their service in six different languages including Bengali, and Tamil. Whereas Netflix rarely adds Hindi movies to its bunch.
So with the link of Netflix with the USA standup comedy scene. Amazon Prime video have announced a deal for 14 hour-long shows involving comedians such as Sapan Verma, Kanan Gill, Sorabh Pant, Adhar Malik, Varun Thakur, Kenny Sebastian ,Naveen Richard, Zakir Khan, Azeem Banatwalla, Biswa Kalyan Rath and Neville Shah.
Netflix also has a high rate. In the US, Netflix and Amazon Prime are similarly priced, but that’s not the case in India. Where Amazon’s service is combined with its other Prime benefits for just Rs. 499 a year, and Hotstar charges Rs. 190 a month, Netflix comes in at the expensive cost of Rs. 650 a month. (The basic package at Rs 500.)
Amazon and Hotstar may have a low cost but they are lacking at one place. Amazon doesn’t sell its Fire line-up of devices in the country. Hotstar, on the other hand, has no support for HDR.
There are only technology differences in these companies. But there is tough competitions between these companies.
