Domestic streaming market poised for growth

The local entrepreneurs of Over-the-Top (OTT) media services that stream movies and entertainmental videos online are looking ahead for bright days as smartphones and internet penetration have become very handy.

Riding on the digital revolution in the country, they have already created a strong buzz among the filmaholicks, and thus have become commercially sounder than the traditional movie theatre owners.

With the blessings of OTT Platform (Over-the-Top media service) the movie world is now everyone’s oyster.

The OTT is a media service offered directly to viewers via the internet. It bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms.

The youngsters get quality content with ease just by spending data on it.

In the country, a total of 74 per cent of viewers watch movies on their mobile phones using internet.

OTT entrepreneurs say around 50 per cent of their viewers are aged between 18 and 24 years and 22 per cent 25 and 34 years.

They hope that the number of viewers will rise rapidly because a large number of the population are young.

The market size of video streaming platforms is Tk 300 crore a year in Bangladesh and its annual growth is 20 per cent. Within the next 10 years, the market size will reach Tk 1,000 crore by 2030.

Mobile phone operators and tech giants are turning to the virtual marketplaces because in this sector their investments return without the distributors’ hassle as evident in the movie business by the cinema hall owners.

Banglalink presents the ultimate streaming app “Toffee” having a wide range of 10 million+ subscribers for drama series, movies and music videos.

BanglaFlix is another platform of Banglalink having 1 lakh+ subscribers.

The Grameenphone-owned Bioscope is another popular video streaming app wit 5 million+ subscribers.

Mobile phone operator RobiAxiata Limited presents the digital entertainment platform “Binge”. Its target is to release at least two new pieces of content per month.

“Our priority is quality content and then make profit,” Ahmed Arman Siddiqui, executive vice-president at RobiAxiata Limited, told The Business Post.

Mr Siddiqui believes the Bangladesh market will be in a better position within 4 to 5 years, but it is necessary to compete with foreign platforms through quality contents.

“Bongo” is the first Bangladeshi OTT start-up belonged to Mohammadi Group. Its Managing Director is Navidul Huq -- son of late Dhaka North City Corporation mayor Annisul Huq.

Chorki is a Bangladesh-based Over-the-Top media service that presents original programming and is a sister concern of daily Prothom Alo, a subsidiary of Media Star Limited owned by Transcom Group.

Chorki will release 25 golden age contents on Uttam Kumar–Suchitra Sen by Satyajit Ray.

“Storytelling reflects the image of a country; it may be a political story, or about children, music or entertainment. But we have to maintain self-censorship and standard content,” said Redoan Rony, chief operating officer of Chorki.

He said the cinema hall provides a kind of experience friends and families gather in a club-like environment, but OTT is a new media that does not have any time barrier.

“Everyone is free to watch online. Now we are trying to introduce viewers’ choice,” added Rony.

Chief Content Officer of Bongo Mushfiqur Rahman said the OTT platform provides a highly facilitated service to watch anyone, from anywhere and by any supportable devices.

“Data insight creates another possibility. Those who can create standard content will be able to make gain in this new media platform,” he maintained.

With this new idea, OTT has grown around the world over the years. NETFLIX, IFLIX, ZEE5, Hoichoi, Amazon are the top foreign live-streaming platforms.

Statista, a German company specialised in market and consumer data analysis, said the global OTT market size was $ 178 billion in 2021, which will exceed an estimated $ 275 billion by 2027.

According to the report of Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) issued in June 2021, mobile internet users increased by 3.64 million from 120.95 million to 117.31 million between May and June in Bangladesh.

Besides, the number of ISP or broadband internet users also increased at the same time from 9.81 million to 10.05 million.

With the expansion of internet connection, the video streaming platforms are rising along with the rise of smartphones, android or smart TV.