KOLKATA: From the beginning of its journey, the Bengali OTT platform Hoichoi has relied on a subscription-based model to run its business. While naysayers used to say Indian audience would not pay for content, the faith on people’s will to pay for good content has paid off the streaming service. With an impressive subscriber base of 13 million, it aims to double its size and revenue for the next few years as every year the addressable market will increase.
The platform has always talked about leveraging the diaspora audience. It appears to be a perfect strategy for it as 40 per cent of its revenue coming from international markets. Bangladesh has obviously a very big market for it but what is more interesting is it has seen many subscribers coming from Japan, Sweden, as Hoichoi co-founder Vishnu Mohta shared.
It is now experimenting with other business models like sachet pricing. The ‘Carrier Billing’ will make it easier to buy a weekly or monthly subscription by paying with mobile balance. While it will be launched soon in the Middle East and Bangladesh, Mohta said it would open up access to blue-collar workers. He also added that the platform is making some free content available soon.
According to Mohta, Hoichoi’s subscribers come from both urban and rural areas. However, he mentioned that the latter holds the next big opportunity for Hoichoi. A number of new users have come to the internet for the first time during this lockdown who are now consuming free content on platforms like YouTube. He is of the belief that they will convert to premium content at some point of time and the lockdown has made that process faster.
Read more news on OTT business in India
Hoichoi entered the market in 2017 with very witty campaign #Hoyejak. As it has unveiled a stellar content line up on its third anniversary, it will again launch a campaign during Durga Puja. From October to March, the platform plans to launch at least three originals every month including one marquee content.
It is not only taking its content game one step ahead but investing in technology as well. The platform has also revealed today its new UI/UX design. Mohta said they have incorporated user feedback as well as an internal assessment as technology has updated rapidly in the last three years. They are also planning to launch a windows 10 application soon.
“We are still at a very nascent stage. We have not been able to scratch the surface of how many people we may get to pay. That market will grow organically. I think we will be able to encash that growth,” Mohta stated.
