Prime Video’s Strategy in India Highlights How Important the Market Has Become for Streamers
Companies like Disney have had a tough time achieving streaming success in India, but Prime Video has announced a slate of 69 originals to be produced there.
The Indian streaming market has been a tough nut to crack for many United States-based media companies. The nation has a huge potential subscriber base, but the lower average income in the country, as compared to other global territories, makes the economics of owning a streaming service in India challenging. However, Amazon seems completely unbothered by these issues; according to Deadline, more Amazon Prime subscriptions have originated in India than any other country besides the United States in recent years, and Indian Prime subscribers were also most likely to use Prime Video than any other Prime benefit.
- At its “Prime Video Presents India” showcase, Amazon’s head of Prime Video Mike Hopkins detailed his company’s success in the country.
- Prime Video announced 40 series and 29 movies that will be produced in India going forward in the near future, in order to super-serve local audiences.
- Amazon’s success in India stands in contrast to Disney, which recently sold a majority stake in its Indian operations.
Amazon is so bullish about its prospects in India that it held a “Prime Video Presents India” showcase this week. Speaking at the showcase, Amazon’s Prime Video chief Mike Hopkins told audiences that the country was one of the most important in Prime Video’s global strategy.
“For the last several years, outside of the U.S. more people have signed up for Prime in India than anywhere else in the world, and in India more people sign up for Prime Video than any other benefit,” Hopkins revealed. “Last year, India had the highest percentage of Prime Members stream Prime Video than any country in the world.”
Content produced in India also does well in other territories for Prime Video. At the showcase, the streamer told audiences that Indian programming was trending in Prime Video’s global Top 10 list in 43 of the last 52 weeks. The “Prime Video Presents India” event was mainly intended to allow Amazon to unveil its slate of 40 shows and 29 movies which will be produced in India in the coming years.
“At Prime Video, it has been our focus to super-serve Indian customers with the best of entertainment across formats,” Prime Video’s Indian director Sushant Sreeram said. “From clutter-breaking Original series and movies, direct-to-service premieres to post-theatrical launches of some of the biggest hits across languages, our goal is to be the first choice of entertainment for every customer.”
How Does Success of Prime Video in India Compare to Other Streamers?
Prime Video may be all smiles when discussing its Indian business these days, but other media companies have had less success in the country of late. Paramount recently moved forward on a sale of its stake in India-based Viacom18 to a local media conglomerate, but the real loser in India in recent months has been Disney.
Disney agreed to sell a 60% stake in its Star India operations in early February, giving up control of its linear networks and the Disney+ Hotstar streaming service. Disney had high hopes for its Indian customer base, but its decision to not re-secure streaming rights to Indian Premier League cricket in 2022 caused massive net subscriber losses for Disney+. The company eventually decided to wash its hands of the affair rather than trying to start over with its Indian streaming subscribers.
India is not the only country that Amazon has its sights set on nowadays. Prime Video is also the leading commissioner of new titles in Latin America, as it tries to build its global reputation not just as an e-commerce platform, but as a streaming service as well.
The biggest reason that Amazon is able to continue expanding into more territories with large slates of originals aimed at local audiences is its e-commerce power. In the fourth quarter of 2023 alone, Amazon brought in nearly $170 billion in revenue from global sales, which means the economics of streaming at the company are different than those of a company like Disney. Simply put, Amazon makes enough profit from other segments of its company that it doesn’t have to pursue streaming profitability as fanatically as Disney or other legacy media companies do. It can afford to build loyal customer bases in many global territories, and figure out how to make those customers profitable later.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Boys,” and more. Subscribers can also add third-party services like Max, Showtime, STARZ, and dozens more with Amazon Prime Video Channels. Prime Video also offers exclusive live access to NFL Thursday Night Football.