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Streaming platform Amazon Prime Video is betting big on the Indian market to tap into the next set of subscribers the platform is looking to acquire.
The platform's target is acquiring the next 250 million subscribers.
"As we look at the next 250 million subscribers that we're going to acquire, they are definitely going to come from outside of the United States. And we're not going to be able to achieve that unless we do a really good job for customers in India as well," said Mike Hopkins, Head of Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios who is in India for the content slate launch.
He said that India is a key geographic area for the company.
"We also believe in the story of India and the growth that's been happening here over the last several years. You know, when I think about streaming television and I think of India, what's remarkable is that I've heard many people say this week that more people are streaming TV and film than they're watching it on linear television on satellite cable. And what's remarkable about that is that streaming has only really existed for seven or eight years. So this is all happening remarkably fast."
Hopkins said they have been making a lot of progress in India for the last several years. "In the last several years outside of the US, more people have signed up for Prime in India than anywhere else in the world. More people sign up for Prime Video in India than any other benefit. So, Prime Video is the number one reason they sign up in India. The third thing is that India had the highest percentage of Prime members who streamed Prime Video than any other country in the world."
Indian orginals going global
While India awaits its content going global like popular titles including Game of Thrones, and Squid Games, Hopkins said that the country has already made some strides in that direction.
"In any given week in 2023, Indian content was watched in over 210 countries and territories worldwide on Prime Video. So that's a lot of places watching Indian content. The second thing is that Indian programming trended in the top 10 on Prime Video worldwide for 43 out of the 52 weeks of 2023," he said.
Farzi, Indian Police Force, Poacher, The Family Man, and Made in Heaven are the shows that are working the best for the platform, both in India and internationally.
Prime Video unveiled its content slate of 40 original series and movies, and 29 movies on March 19, calling it the most ambitious slate by the platform which will stream over the next two years.
Take on technology
Hopkins, who will be travelling from Mumbai to Bengaluru next to take a look at the tech side of things, said that the India team is working hard to improve technology.
"I'm going down to Bangalore, and I can't wait to get down there and see all the innovations, they're planning for our servers and our product because the programming is super important. And no one will open up an application just for the product and the tech behind it. But it sure makes it a lot better when the service is easy to use and responsive. And so teams are working hard on that," he said.
Prime Video has been focusing on putting together all content in one application by bringing different streamers onto its platform and becoming a content aggregator.
Hopkins said they have built a large transaction video-on-demand (TVOD) store for buying and renting content, then they have advertising video-on-demand content for those who don't want to subscribe.
"In India, we have Mini TV (AVOD), which is available on Prime Video and on our retail site. For Mini TV, our business is doing well, where we've grown four times in overall watch time since 2023," he said.
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