Considering its slow growth in the Indian market, the OTT platform Netflix has decided to revamp the entire content of the India web series and movies scheduled to be released in the near future. A report in Bollywood Life states that the steaming giant may be looking at a massive content overhaul, bringing in a more commercial approach.
According to the exclusive report in Bollywood Life, Netflix India has been struggling to please the Indian market and is worried about its declining number of subscriptions from the country. The company has hardly seen profits since its inception in India. Netflix India has decided to study the taste of the Indian audiences and expand the market accordingly in the future. It has also decided to do away with its serious, dark content and try new ideas with a more commercial approach for the Indian viewers.
The report stated that while Netflix may no scrap the projects that are already under different stages of development, they may space out their release, bringing in newer content to give their platform a mix of different genres targeted at a wider audience reach.
The company plans to take drastic steps to fix the problem with the upcoming season of the web series named ‘Delhi Crime’. Delhi Crime was an award-winning series based on the real incidents of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case that took place in the neighbourhood of Munirka, in South Delhi. While the first season of the web series was a massive hit, Netflix India is reportedly making some changes in the second season.
In a major step recently, the company partnered with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and launched the first set of short video series named ‘Azadi Ki Amrit Kahaniya’ bringing out inspiring stories of seven Indian women as a part of the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. Netflix in partnership with the Ministry also plans to organize training workshops and masterclasses to encourage filmmakers in India to create inspiring content on various topics under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
It is important to note that on January 20, Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings had expressed his ‘frustration’ during an investor call over the slow growth of the video streaming company in the Indian market. “In our experience in Brazil, it was brutal for the first couple of years. We thought we’d never break even. I know we’ve got this great business. The great news is that in every single other major market, we’ve got the flywheel spinning. The thing that frustrates us is why haven’t we been more successful in India”, he had said.
Also, in December last year, the OTT platform had slashed the subscription prices of Netflix in India with a view to expand the market. It had also started its special operation to learn more about the Indian consumers’ tastes and had decided to include similar content on the platform.
Update: An earlier version of the report stated that Netflix India may drop up to 90% of its upcoming content because of a massive loss in subscriptions. The report has been updated after the source Bollywood Life changed its story.
