The Story of Amazon Prime Video and Netflix Video Streaming Service in India

“Attack me bhi gun, defense me bhi gun, hum banayenge Mirzapur ko Amirica”

“Kabhi kabhi lagta hai apun hi bhagwan hai”

Today hardly there may be Internet nerd from India who hasn’t seen the trailers of Sacred Games and Mirzapur. The people of Mirzapur, near to Varanasi would have never thought that their city on world map today by the viewers viewing these web series.
Web series have become part of the life of many people. And why not they are unlike the daily Indian soaps and melodramas which has the same concept of Ekta Kapoor's stories and taking the torch of women empowerment through their stories. God damn how these people can repeat the same concepts. Even the top coders have never used iterations for any sort of operation like these TV-based serials can conduct their shows.

Also read: 8 Must Watch Indian Web Series

Changing the Gear:

Just like most readers stay in the corner that matches their tastes, the video streaming giant has developed content for specific subscriber interests.

Competition over video streaming content has exponentially increased over the past few years; the number of cord-cutters has continuously risen while data storage, processing, connectivity, and bandwidth have gotten better and faster. That has allowed video streaming technologies to steadily improve, lessening the need for people to purchase expensive bundle cable subscription plans to receive their video entertainment.

Outside of living events — when an immediate result is awarded in a game or competition — people do not necessarily need to view video programming the moment it airs or is available. With digital video streaming, people can watch any pre-produced programming whenever and wherever they choose. Nowadays, people can watch full-length TV shows, documentaries, live events, stand-up comedy, and movies on smart TV’s, game consoles, web browsers, smartphones, tablets, blue ray players, home cinema systems, media streamers (like Roku/Apple TV), and set-top boxes. With so many viewing options available, a larger premium is placed on producing content that people are willing to continuously subscribe for and watch. Two video platforms have separated themselves in this industry.

Also read: Alexa! OK Google! Hey Siri! How these work?

How Netflix and Amazon Started?

How did Netflix go from a tiny, obscure DVD rental start-up in the late 1990s to the world’s biggest internet TV network? The company has come a long way since its start as an online DVD rental company in 1998. Back then you could subscribe and have access to unlimited DVDs which would be sent to your house. It was the main rival to Blockbuster - a major chain that rented films, games and TV box sets.

From 700,000 Netflix subscribers in 2002 to 3.6m in 2005, there was clearly a demand for DVD rental. Two years later, in 2007, America saw the launch of the feature Netflix is best known for - streaming. That year also saw the beginnings of a move away from the traditional DVD rental format. The company's founders are said to have had the idea of streaming much earlier, but slow internet speeds mean it wouldn't have worked.

In 2005, Amazon announced the creation of Amazon Prime, a membership service offering free two-day shipping within the contiguous United States on all eligible purchases for a flat annual fee of $79 (equivalent to $101 in 2018),and discounted one-day shipping rates. Amazon launched the program in Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom in 2007; in France (as "Amazon Premium") in 2008, in Italy in 2011, in Canada in 2013, in India in July 2016and in Mexico in March 2017.

Also read: Netflix stops support for in-app purchase for iOS users.

The service debuted on September 7, 2006, as Amazon Unbox in the United States. On September 4, 2008, the service was renamed Amazon Video on Demand. The Unbox name still refers to the local program, which as of August 2014 is no longer available for downloading purchased instant videos. On February 22, 2011, the service rebranded as Amazon Instant Video and added access to 5,000 movies and TV shows for Amazon Prime members.

How Netflix and Amazon Prime Video became such big?

Content creation has seemingly become ubiquitous, with several U.S. TV networks including CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC, Turner, AMC, HBO, Showtime, and Starz all producing their own TV shows. In this era, people can find ways to stream all kinds of content without having to pay for the service. The only true way for video streaming platforms to truly thrive and survive is to consistently produce quality original content; shows like Game of Thrones, which regularly draw at least 23 million viewers per episode, keep HBO thriving amidst the competition. HBO has 134 million users worldwide and about 2 million subscribers on its stand-alone platform HBO Now.

• Netflix, though, has surpassed HBO’s annual revenue through its successful library of original series. Some of the popular shows on Netflix include House of Cards, Fuller House, Orange is the New Black, Luke Cage, Daredevil, The Ranch, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Even though these shows targeted different demographics of people, each of these shows amassed well over 5 million viewers and gained tremendous buzz all over social media. That alone has allowed Netflix to continuously grow its U.S. customer base in each of the past 20 quarters despite the constant change in the industry; the company added over 7 million subscribers internationally in the final quarter of 2016.
• Amazon has noticed Netflix’s success with original content and has decided to pour billions of dollars to ramp up its own video production around the globe. One of Amazon’s successful original series, Transparent has already received 20 different Emmy nominations and has won 10 different major awards (8 Emmy’s/2 Golden Globes). Another original The Grand Tour broke viewership records on Prime Video and is available to watch all over the globe. The $4–5 billion video content budget for Amazon last year allowed Prime Video users to double their total viewing hours from 2015 to 2016. With Amazon paying $50 million to stream live Thursday night NFL games for the 2017 season, the company is poised to reach an even larger audience by the end of the calendar year. In addition, Amazon has already released several new shows each month in 2017.

Just like Facebook and Google are using every bit of customer data possible to capitalize on targeted ads for display and search, Amazon and Netflix have several data systems in place to receive data analytics on their customers; with Prime, Amazon has seemingly mastered the e-commerce and e-books platforms by providing its customers with recommendation purchases based on what each consumer has bought. That has contributed to Prime account holders reportedly spending about 240% (~$1,200/subscriber) of what non-Prime members purchase on the platform. Amazon can similarly grab every piece of video data imaginable that would directly align with customer tastes and preferences.

With ad-blocker, social media sites, and illegal streams of shows and movies constantly available, people have shown their desires to watch as much content as possible online without watching commercials. The reasons are aplenty; many people want to watch a full show, movie, or program from start to finish without any interruptions.

The model of releasing everything at once (instead of the traditional once-a-week timeslot on TV) can only work with a subscription model; viewers do not get distracted from any commercial breaks. As soon as someone finishes a show that he or she likes, Netflix and Amazon can take full advantage of the viewer’s interest by recommending similar programming to that person. The larger the video library, the better recommendations that a company like Netflix and Amazon can provide to their users.

In the age of smartphones, literally, anybody can become a videographer and video editor. Memes and goofy short videos populate the internet on a daily basis. That’s what YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are designed to capture: short, quick moments of interesting stories and events. However, nobody really has any desire to pay for this content with its ubiquity and ease of producing. On the other hand, high-resolution photos and videos, along with added audio and visual effects, significantly enhance the entire video production and often make an average storyline a must-see watch.

Also read: How technology got better in 2018?

Different Model, Different Strategy:
Domestically, both companies have performed well and have effectively created a duopoly. Approximately half of U.S. households have access to Amazon and Netflix so both companies will have marginal room to grow here in America. Internationally, though, Amazon and Netflix can make significant leaps and bounds to their overall brands. Right now, the number of domestic subscribers in each platform outnumbers the total international users, but both companies see potential growth all over the world.

Take India, for instance, where about 1 out of every 6 people in the world live. Online users in this country can potentially double the ENTIRE U.S. population by 2020, so attracting a big audience in this rapidly growing nation can exponentially boost the product value. Thus, Amazon is willing to undersell its platform to the Indian market. While Netflix charges a starting rate 500 rupees per month, Amazon is charging 499 rupees for the ENTIRE YEAR; this fee includes the free delivery option on its e-commerce system. Jeff Bezos has invested multi-billion dollars to tap into the Indian market and is willing to take a major financial hit in the short-term to acquire a strong interest in the platform. The most popular video platform in India, Hotstar, has 63 million users (compared to 9.5 million for Amazon and 4.2 million for Netflix), so both Netflix and Amazon have their work cut out for them to tap into that market.

Indian Media Streaming Services:

Heard the name of Voot, Zee5, ALTBalaji and last but not the least Hotstar are some of the trending video streaming channels. The issue with Zee5 that it is taking this trend to web platform of what one views in the TV on daily basis. ALTBalaji came to the floor and got some words of talk from different mouths due to the web series based on book written by Anuj Dhar “India’s Biggest Cover Up” with the alias “BOSE: Dead or Alive” (Season-1) became the favourite for the corporate employees who used to see once they came from their firms and organizations. The sound of Bose had an impact which used to tell the mysteries hidden by the government contingents during that time to hide the actual verdict of Subhas Chandra Bose.

But all in all, in a nutshell, these are like ants roaming to get foods (viewers) in the market of elephants like Netflix and Amazon Prime. These hubs need to understand the tactics used by the delegates of Amazon and Netflix to take videos to another level apart from YouTube. They are not competing with YouTube which holds the biggest library of video in today’s world and they want to take the same footsteps because they know they cannot become the next YouTube. All they are trying to tap next consumers who need new series in the market which has the passion of compassionate sex, underrated 18+ norms, actions of new blasts and bang around the corner to show the stories to go to the next level of Viewing and appreciation.