In 2018, then Netflix CEO Reed Hastings planted India with an exclamation mark as one of the most desirable untapped media markets when he said the streamer’s next 100 million subscribers could come from the country. India’s robust film industry, significant population and growing internet capabilities positioned it as a powerful expansion target across the industry.
With hindsight, it’s easy to see how many media companies underestimated the rich cultural diversity of Indian programming and the timetable for average revenue per user development. Netflix has been forced to drop its India plan prices several times, experiment with mobile only packages, and stands behind Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar in market share. Yet it remains a key market for future success and the market-leading streamer has begun to find some more consistent advantages.
Leo, an Indian Tamil-language action thriller, and Jawan, a Bollywood action thriller, are currently enjoying massively successful box office runs in the region and have also peaked as the most in-demand movies worldwide at various points over the past several weeks, according to Parrot Analytics. It just so happens that Netflix holds the streaming rights to both films.
Leo debuted in theaters as one of the most in-demand movies worldwide, and is the highest-grossing Tamil-language movie of the year. Since its theatrical debut, Leo has been the second most in-demand movie worldwide and peaked as the number one movie worldwide for a day on October 27. It is expected to come to Netflix in the near future.
Since October 19, Jawan has been the third most in-demand movie worldwide on average, and peaked at number one shortly after its Netflix debut. Jawan debuted at No. 4 on Netflix’s own global Non-English film charts in its first week and moved up to No. 3 in its second week. Leo is still in its theatrical run, but Netflix has exclusive streaming rights for two of the three most in-demand movies over the past three weeks. Given that 70% of Netflix’s total subscriber base is international and around 80% of quarterly additions come from overseas as well, that’s a nice short-term advantage to boost over competitors such as Amazon Prime Video, particularly coming off the worldwide success of RRR last year.
Hollywood has been slow to carve out a foothold in the Indian market, but a symbiotic relationship is finally beginning to take shape. The country’s established entertainment industry helps funnel popular fare to various streaming audiences, introducing viewers all across the globe to the region’s celebrated storytelling capabilities, while platforms with the scale of Netflix can help drive newfound worldwide interest and demand to Indian productions that might have previously remained more regional in reach. At a time when Disney is considering selling off its operations in the region. Creating that bridge is an integral long-term step in India becoming a consistent money making market.