OTT Media Streaming in COVID-19 Lockdown: The Indian Experience

Covid-19 has immensely impacted every walks of life worldwide, including in India. Various dimensions like the socio-economic, employment, consumers’ media consumption habits, and the like have been radically changed and still counting. In the context of Covid-19, consumers’ media consumption habits in India have witnessed sea changes because of massive technological interventions and penetrations. Consumers prefer to devote their leisure time before digital screens are connected through the Internet, where they have an abundance of possibilities to choose from a pool of media content. As a result, the OTT video platforms, formerly considered a luxury, have become necessary. Uses and gratification derived out of these platforms to the viewers have been the broad talking points. The current study attempts to explore the emergence, advantage, and future of OTT platforms. To meet the research objectives, the study relied on both quantitative and qualitative methods. For data collection, an online survey and in-depth interviews were carried out. Data analysis reveals a growing acceptance of OTT media streaming content among the viewers and its uses, and gratifications are the critical factors behind the changes in media consumption.