Build, buy or bet: What drives content acquisitions on India's streaming platforms

The Indian OTT landscape in 2024 and 2025 has been a study in contrasts. ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’, Aryan Khan's directorial debut featuring an ensemble cast, highlighted how star power translates into brand magnets. The show attracted integrations from boAt, Mother Dairy, Evocus Black Water, and D'YAVOL, with brands vying for placement alongside Shah Rukh Khan's son's first directorial venture. Every frame offered an opportunity for brands to align with celebrity appeal and aspirational storytelling. The trailer alone drew 56 million views, and brand integrations ranged from boAt's comprehensive co-branded digital ad film to subtle environmental placements like Goibibo at airports and Senco Gold & Diamonds in lifestyle scenes.

Yet the same year also saw releases like ‘Mrs.’, featuring Sanya Malhotra in a nuanced performance that earned critical acclaim but struggled to generate the same advertiser frenzy. The disparity wasn't about quality but rather about predictability, scale, and the commercial mathematics that now govern streaming.

This dynamic has intensified as platforms compete not just for viewers but for sustainable monetisation. Netflix's reported interest in acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery's content library, which includes franchises like Harry Potter, DC Universe, Friends, and The Big Bang Theory, signals how aggressively platforms are willing to invest in proven IP. While Paramount may have outbid Netflix in that particular case, the intent reveals a broader strategy: acquired celebrity-heavy content can deliver immediate audience pull and brand-safe environments at scale.

India's OTT market has exploded, now commanding over 600 million users with projections suggesting it will cross 700 million by 2026. According to industry reports, the OTT revenue in India is projected to reach $3.5 billion by 2029. In terms of market share, JioHotstar and Prime Video reportedly lead in capturing user interest (around 23%) in Q325, followed by Netflix (around 19%). On the other hand, regional players like ZEE5 and SonyLiv at (10% and 5%) and newer entrants like Apple TV+ (growing to ~14-15%) also hold significant positions.

Regional players like ZEE5 and JioHotstar are capturing significant shares in language-specific markets. Content consumption patterns reveal that Indians spend an average of 70 minutes daily on OTT platforms, with regional language content now accounting for nearly 60-65% of total consumption. This fragmented, multilingual landscape means every platform must decide whether to invest in building original content or acquiring existing titles that fill immediate content gaps.

Strategic bets: When to build versus buy

The fundamental question facing platforms is whether to commission original productions that build long-term brand equity or acquire existing titles that fill catalogue gaps. With licensing costs for premium content rising annually, platforms have become far more selective.

"Our decisions are always rooted in audience insight and long-term value. The balance between acquisitions and originals depends on engagement depth, content gaps, and how a title contributes to the brand's distinctiveness," explains Raghavendra Hunsur, Chief Content Officer at ZEEL. He adds that originals enable ZEE5 to build distinctive IPs and strengthen brand equity, while acquisitions add width, filling genre and language gaps.

The platform has moved from volume-based acquisition to strategic relevance. "The key question is whether a title strengthens our regional verticals, complements our originals, or fulfils a specific audience demand," Hunsur elaborates. For ZEE5, culturally rooted storytelling in titles like Bhagwat: Chapter One – Raakshas and Janaawar has consistently delivered higher retention than celebrity-led acquisitions that promised visibility but underdelivered on watch time.

Every acquisition at ZEE5 is now assessed on qualitative and quantitative parameters. Hunsur notes that the platform uses predictive analytics and AI-led insights to gauge likely performance outcomes.

From a marketing perspective, Harikrishnan Pillai, CEO and Co-Founder of TheSmallBigIdea, sees the trade-off clearly. "High-profile originals have an early advantage; there's a big face involved. That face creates an immediate entry point, an opportunity for audiences to believe this is something exciting, something worth their time. It's pre-built awareness," he explains.

However, star power alone doesn't guarantee hits. Pillai observes that if the content delivers, the star power amplifies success. However, if the content is weak, even the biggest names can't save it, despite driving initial viewership.

Acquired titles represent experimental bets with high upside potential. "Out of a hundred acquired titles without big names, maybe two or three become breakout hits. But when they do, that success brings massive credibility and new subscribers to the platform at a fraction of the cost," he adds. Platforms need both: high-profile originals build premium brand perception, while acquired titles fill libraries cost-effectively.

Bhushan Kadam, Senior Vice President at White Rivers Media, emphasises that premium originals generally command first preference. 

“Recent studies show ads in premium environments can lift purchase intent by around 40%, which matters when a brand wants both credibility and outcomes. Acquired content can be efficient for reach, but when the brief is brand-building or a context-sensitive integration, marketers still pay a premium for originals that place the brand inside a story rather than beside it.”

ZEE5's hybrid monetisation model influences these decisions. Its hybrid model is meant to optimise returns across both subscriber and advertiser audiences, Hunsur explains. SVOD is anchored in premium storytelling and prioritises quality, binge-worthiness, and depth, while AVOD thrives on scale with catch-up TV and popular library content by prioritising reach and familiarity. He notes that 64% of ZEE5's premium watch time now comes from connected devices.

In fact, language-specific content sits at the very heart of the platform’s strategy. “Over 65% of our total consumption comes from non-Hindi languages, and each language vertical functions as an independent content engine," Hunsur explains. When stories are deeply rooted in regional emotion, ZEE5 prioritises developing them as originals, while acquisitions strengthen the ecosystem with complementary titles.

Fragmentation: Following audiences, not platforms

India's viewing habits have become increasingly fragmented. Data shows the average Indian household now subscribes to 2.5 OTT platforms simultaneously. This multi-platform behaviour has changed how brands and agencies evaluate partnerships.

"As audiences spread across different OTT platforms, our media planning approach has become more flexible and data-driven. Each OTT platform has its own content style, audience DNA, and brand identity. This means a one-size-fits-all strategy no longer works," explains Prachi Narayan, Managing Partner at Havas Play.

Agencies now assess platforms based on content pipeline, upcoming originals, and regional strengths. "We evaluate platforms based on their content pipeline, upcoming originals, regional strengths, and audience growth patterns. If a platform launches a big original series, our investment may increase there," Narayan notes. The goal has shifted to anticipating where audiences are going rather than chasing where they currently are.

From a brand perspective, this fragmentation demands audience-first thinking. Sanjana Desai, Executive Director at Mother's Recipe, describes the fundamental shift. "The fragmentation of rights has forced all of us to stop thinking in terms of favourite shows and start thinking in terms of real people. Planning has moved from a title-first mindset to an audience-first mindset," she explains.

This means designing campaigns that follow households across different screens and times of day. "Practically, this means looking at overlap and incremental reach across services and designing media that follows the same household across different screens," Desai notes. The shift has also pushed the industry toward outcome-based buying, where both sides agree upfront on success metrics.

Shashwat Vatsa, AVP-Brand at Olyv - a lending platform, notes that evaluation criteria differ between originals and acquired content. "As a brand, the first thing we evaluate is how closely a piece of content aligns with the audience we want to reach. What matters is the kind of emotional or cultural attention it commands," he explains.

"Originals typically come with stronger platform-led marketing and well-defined audience profiles, which makes it easier for us to gauge expected engagement," Vatsa observes. “High-equity acquired titles, especially those with a strong legacy or a loyal fan base, can sometimes deliver more predictable viewership. Instead of classifying content by its origin, we evaluate how deeply it connects with our target audience and whether the viewing behaviour around it is consistent enough for us to anchor our brand message.”

The celebrity premium: Visibility versus viability

Celebrity-driven content carries an inherent paradox. While it guarantees visibility, it does not necessarily guarantee engagement or ROI. Shows like Stranger Things, Bridgerton, The Family Man, and Farzi have become cultural phenomena, generating massive brand attention and spawning merchandise ecosystems. Their fan bases are commercially valuable, enabling integrated campaigns from co-branded merchandise to experiential activations.

Yet not every celebrity-led title delivers proportional returns. Netflix's The Archies, despite featuring star kids including Suhana Khan, Khushi Kapoor, and Agastya Nanda, and securing collaborations with Maybelline India, Starbucks India, Skybags, boAt, and Flipkart's Spoyl, struggled to translate buzz into sustained viewership. 

While Netflix doesn't release official numbers, analytics suggested the film garnered approximately 2.2 million views in its opening weekend in India, modest compared to the marketing investment. The film's cultural impact remained limited, raising questions about whether star lineage alone justifies heavy spending when content doesn't resonate authentically.

Desai acknowledges this reality in how Mother's Recipe evaluates high-profile opportunities. "The industry has learned that a famous face or a big property does not automatically guarantee big engagement. That is why it is important to stress test every such opportunity before we commit," she says.

The brand applies a three-layer assessment framework. "The first layer is content predictability and audience fit. We look at how similar genres have performed, what completion rates look like, and whether the tone sits comfortably with our consumer. A show can be popular and still be wrong for the brand if the context is off," Desai explains.

Before committing, Mother's Recipe examines early engagement signals. "Before launch, we watch trailer traction, search interest, and social chatter to understand whether there is real organic pull. If a property is already struggling to create curiosity, it is unlikely to deliver the kind of engagement we are promised," she notes. The final consideration balances commercial efficiency against brand equity impact.

Vatsa uses a similar lens focused on predictability. "We look at viability through a lens of predictability and contextual fit. We study whether its audience overlaps meaningfully with our core users, whether similar titles have shown stable retention patterns, and whether the tone of the content aligns with the kind of narratives we want to be associated with. If the content demonstrates consistency across engagement metrics, it becomes a more viable environment for brand integration, even if the headline acquisition cost is high," he explains. 

Pillai adds that celebrity-driven content fundamentally changes marketing strategy. "If it's celebrity-driven, the platform has a responsibility to ensure those faces are leveraged to drive platform usage and subscriber acquisition," he explains. The marketing advantages are clear: wider top-of-funnel reach and pre-built awareness. "You start with a massive built-in audience. Fans of the actor, director, franchise—they're already aware. Your marketing doesn't need to build awareness from scratch," Pillai notes. In contrast, acquired titles without celebrity backing require building awareness through story hooks and organic discovery, a longer and less certain process.

From a brand safety perspective, Vatsa notes originals generally offer more controlled environments. "Originals generally offer a more controlled environment because the creative parameters, themes, and tonality are established upfront. OTT platforms also tend to apply stricter oversight for their own productions. That naturally provides a higher sense of brand safety," he observes. However, licensed content with strong cultural equity can be equally dependable when editorial context is predictable.

Genre, monetisation, and advertiser priorities

India's OTT subscription landscape is diverse, with prices ranging from Rs 149-299 monthly for mobile-only plans to Rs 499-799 for premium multi-device plans. Average revenue per user remains among the lowest globally at $2-3 monthly, making hybrid monetisation models essential. 

From a genre perspective, certain categories consistently deliver strong returns. Vatsa points to purpose-led, documentary-style originals as particularly effective. "The OTT genres that deliver the strongest ROI today are the ones that allow for authentic, story-driven engagement—formats where viewers invest in real people and real problems," he explains.

Olyv's experience with HEROES on JioHotstar reinforced this insight. "The series gave us a format where the narrative could go beyond the product and speak to the larger mission of expanding fair and transparent credit access in India. Viewers respond strongly to content that mirrors their life experiences," Vatsa notes. While originality adds value through a clear point of view, the real ROI driver is depth of connection rather than the label of original versus acquired.

Desai notes that reality and non-fiction formats generate high engagement because audiences invest emotionally in real people. Drama and thrillers keep viewers hooked over multiple episodes, ideal for repeated exposure. Comedy cuts across demographics and works well with habitual viewing. Sports and live events create appointment viewing, valuable for family-linked categories. Regional content adds depth in specific markets, which matters enormously in India's diverse landscape.

"Originality matters, but not always in the way we think. It is powerful for perception, buzz, and a premium feel. Acquired content often wins on scale and cost efficiency. Both forms have a place in a serious marketer's toolkit," Desai explains.

For advertisers, the distinction between originals and acquired content often comes down to measurement approaches. 

Narayan explains, “We are a market where we go behind the audience, and the audience today is funnelled across multiple layers of targeting. We are agnostic about where we will go ahead with investments.”

She continues, “We like YouTube; we feel that it integrates well with the overall story of upper-funnel targeting. We are active on social media because it is an everyday consumption. We choose our OTT platforms very selectively. But effectiveness, when it comes to content, is measured purely on completion rates, VTR, primary objectives, and also if there are associated brand-lift studies that can be connected to the investment made on these platforms.”

Narayan also notes that advertisers benefit from creative placements within shows, movies, and original content. 

“These integrations feel natural and non-intrusive, yet they stand out more than traditional ads. Since OTT platforms are more affordable than TV and allow precise targeting based on user behaviour, they have become a strong, reliable option for brands in a fragmented media landscape.”

Given the audience fragmentation, agencies like WRM plan like curators now. 

Kadam mentions, “We go for mix flagship originals for cultural credibility, short-form catalogues for discovery, and targeted CTV buys for mass reach. India’s OTT universe is large and fragmenting, so frequency and context matter more than blanket reach; we lean into episode-level placements, creator tie-ins and tighter measurement so each rupee maps to a clearer outcome.”

Narayan adds that brands show a clear preference for premium originals when seeking contextual integrations. "Brands do show a leaning towards associating with premium originals rather than acquired titles. This is mostly because original content is fully controlled and produced by the platform, giving brands earlier access to scripts and creative plans.”

The ultimate goal transcends individual shows or platforms. It is objective-led. The decision depends on whether the task is brand building or wider reach and cost efficiency. The leaders note that marketers will often need both in the same year, but “for very different reasons”. 

As India's OTT universe continues to fragment, the strategic imperative has shifted from amassing content to curating the right mix. Platforms need high-profile originals to build a premium brand identity and attract subscribers. They also need acquired titles to fill libraries cost-effectively and occasionally deliver surprise wins. For brands and agencies, success lies not in chasing the biggest shows but in following real people across their viewing journeys, building campaigns that travel seamlessly across originals and acquired content, languages and devices, wherever families gather to watch together.