OTT platforms gain ground in India, but YouTube’s dominance endures

YouTube continues to dominate India’s online video market. Despite a proliferation of premium streaming services, the Google-owned platform commanded a staggering 92% of all video consumption in 2024, leaving subscription and ad-supported (AVoD, or advertising video-on-demand) rivals to jostle for the remainder, according to the latest Ficci-EY report.

Industry experts say user-generated content is now easier to create than ever before, thanks, of course, to the availability of cheap data and smartphones. As a result, creators have mushroomed across the tiniest of Indian towns, producing quality content and sharing on YouTube for the world to see.

By contrast, streaming platforms spend a lot of money and time to create content, only to be pegged back by their limited reach and viewership, hurting their monetization potential.

Also read | Where comedians fear to tread: Backlash worries prompt self-censorship, legal vetting of content

“YouTube continues to dominate online video viewership because it’s not just a platform—it’s a cultural engine. It earned its position by being early, but more importantly, by being everywhere. For other premium platforms trying to carve out meaningful share in the video content space, the answer won’t be copying YouTube—it’ll be about leaning into what makes them different,” said Preranaa Khatri, chief business officer at Only Much Louder (OML), a media and entertainment company.

Driving content

What really sets YouTube apart is how it balances scale with personalization, Khatri added. Its recommendation algorithm, constantly learning from user behaviour—searches, watch time, engagement—ensures people find what they didn’t even know they were looking for. Further, it constantly introduces new monetization streams to incentivize creators, letting them earn not just from ads, but also from YouTube Shopping, Memberships, Super Chats, Super Stickers and YouTube Premium revenue.

YouTube Shopping allows creators to promote products from their own stores or other brands within their content, enabling viewers to browse and purchase items directly from YouTube. Memberships allow for benefits like exclusive or premium content, live streams and other perks. YouTube Super Chat is a feature that allows viewers to purchase highlighted chat messages during live streams, which can sometimes appear at the top of the chat feed. Super Stickers are also a way for creators to connect with fans. Premium is a paid feature that does away with ads.

At the same time, tools like YouTube Create have made video production much easier than ever—be it filters, effects, transitions, all from one’s phone. Meanwhile, features like the Copyright Match Tool and YouTube Studio’s AI enhancements (including auto-dubbing and the new Inspiration Tab) have helped creators manage content and scale creatively across languages and geographies.

Also read | Opportunity for Indian films as China curbs Hollywood imports amid tariff war

The disproportionately high share of YouTube in India’s streaming industry is not surprising at all, according to Girish Dwibhashyam, a streaming industry expert. Creators in tier-2 and tier-3 towns are today able to edit and curate better content at far lower prices than professionals. “For OTT platforms, on the other hand, there is hardly any incentive to keep pumping in money since the economics are challenging because of low CPMs (cost per mille—a paid advertising option where companies pay a price for every 1,000 impressions an ad receives),” Dwibhashyam said.

To be sure, user-generated content is of inferior quality compared to that on streaming platforms, but the latter’s limited reach means their monetization potential is restricted, as brands keep away.

“The dominance of YouTube over OTT platforms in India presents significant challenges for the media industry. While YouTube benefits from its ad-supported model and user-generated content, OTT platforms rely on high-budget, professionally shot content, which demands more time, money and effort. This creates monetization struggles and higher user acquisition costs for OTTs, as they also face content discovery challenges and competition for brand partnerships,” said Yogesh Saini, marketing head at Civic Studios, a media production company.

Also read | These small towns are turning into growth engines for live events 

Additionally, YouTube’s AI-driven recommendations and regional content capture wider audiences, while OTTs must invest heavily in marketing and localized content. To compete, OTT platforms need to reduce friction in app downloads, innovate quickly, and improve content accessibility for users, Saini added.