Rise Of Web series and OTT Platforms

The lockdown ensured that most people got bored at home as cinemas, clubs, malls, bars, restaurants and other luxuries were closed. While some people preferred to spend quality time with their family and loved ones, most people preferred to binge on web series.

Web series and OTT platforms allow the audience to view not just diverse content from around the world but also experience new genres. A contributing reason they are doing so well is because they are being targeted towards the busy schedules of working youth so there is no show timing. This is the main problem with television broadcasting due to which they are losing a lot of the audience to web series and ott platforms.

Most of the time writers, directors and producers like to play safe in order to get a green light from the censor board. But due to the freedom and liberalism of web series and ott platforms writers can write on genres like horror, crime or thriller which are highly lauded on social media. The success of series like “Mirzapur”, “Sacred games”, “the Family Man” and “Criminal justice” prove this. Since these shows are mainly viewed by the age group of 18-34 years so the shows are in Binge-watch format which helps to explore these genres in depth through multiple episodes.

LGBTQ+ culture, which was earlier a major taboo, is now being shown acceptance by the youth. Along with educating them, web series also play a major role in influencing the youth’s perspective by steering them in the positive direction as they learn to accept diversity with unwavering thoughts and find the futility of the definition of normalcy and stereotypical, conventional portrayals that mainstream movies portray.

Web series and OTT platforms are also serving a great purpose of fulfilling dreams of people who aspire to be writers and directors as it is a great way to be able to supply a constant stream of storytelling to a huge and diverse online audience. Many actors, who did not get opportunities in Bollywood, are given chances to act in them.

Lastly comes the major concern of the subscription fees. Although it might come off as a shock for many, they are more affordable than television subscription and most platforms even offer a one-month free trial before purchasing. Not to mention you can watch them anytime anywhere either on a phone or on a laptop or even existing TV screens. YouTube also started creating their own series which is a great marketing technique keeping in mind that within the next few years they will have taken over the entertainment industry. It is posing as a great competition to Bollywood and might even make it lose a huge part of business. Some renowned directors and producers are also trying their luck along with actors on OTT platform. But whatever the outcome will be, OTT platforms are looking quite promising.