India’s OTT market is growing aggressively with more players entering the market. In a fiercely competitive market of 30 existing players, Netflix is going to test discounted plans in India for some long-term subscribers. The plans are only available to selected new subscribers and not existing ones.
While signing up, new users may be offered a 20 per cent discount on a three-month subscription, a 30 per cent discount on a six-month term and a 50 per cent discount on a 12-month contract. These will be available only in India. Netflix currently offers mobile, basic, standard and premium plans in India.
Netflix has three or four plans operational in India- one is the basic plan at Rs 499 per month, a standard subscription at Rs 649 and a premium one at Rs 799 per month. Apart from this, there is the mobile only plan for Rs 199 per month.
“We believe that our members may value the flexibility that comes from being able to pay for a few months at once. This is a test and we will only introduce it more broadly if people find it useful,” a Netflix spokesperson told Reuters.
Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings who was in India last week, revealed that the streamer is investing $400 million in Indian content in 2020. Since its launch in April, Indian animated kids show Mighty Little Bheem has been watched by 27 million households worldwide, including in Latin America and Australia.
Time will tell how far this offer will help Netflix scale up its customer base in the country. Currently, the dominant players include Disney’s Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Zee5, Alt Balaji, MX Player, Eros Now, Viacom18’s Voot and Sony LIV. A recent PwC report projects the Indian OTT market value to reach $1.6 billion by 2023.