Rise of Indian Regional Content on Video Streaming Platforms: A Study of Audience Consumption and Perception of Indian Regional Content on OTT Platforms

Abstract

While globalization has led to the opening of many avenues in every field possible, the pertinent question of who is breaking these walls remains, whether there is a fair space for both parties involved in the globalization process to exchange their ideas and respective cultures, or does it just mean that there is a space advantage only for the one who is dominant and wearing the garb of 'opening the avenues, ' and being the harbinger of change. The oldest form of imposing one's ideology on someone else has been through cultural imposition, which has led to the extinction of many cultures, languages, and art forms globally. Since the ushering of new forms of entertainment, including the inception of movies, there has been a global imbalance between the number of countries producing the content and the ones consuming them, which has often led to the increased attraction towards these cultures and also the type of entertainment offered as compared to the regional content. However, this scenario seems to be changing due to several OTT's inceptions and growth (Over the Top) video streaming platforms, both indigenous and foreign. The need for original content and subtitled/adapted/dubbed international content is a sign for these platforms to up the game and bring in more content in these categories. The interviews conducted for the research purpose helped to understand how Indian regional language content is making its own space, how it is received by the audiences, the challenges in front of it, the need for evolution of the content, and how it will lead to the widening of avenues for regional content creators, despite the plethora of international content on OTT platforms.