Why OTTs pose a bigger threat to serials in Hindi than those in regional languages

Ten years ago, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai used to garner TRPs of 9-10. Now, it’s a big [achievement] even if you touch 2-3,” says Hindi and Marathi TV serial producer Rajan Shahi, who is known for the show that has been airing on Star Plus since 2009, as well as hits like Anupamaa (Hindi, 2020) and Aai Kuthe Kay Karte (Marathi, 2019). 

ALSO READ: Soaps in a soup: Once-famous Indian soap operas are losing to the OTT onslaught

Things are especially bleak for the Hindi TV serial industry—the largest among Indian languages—as the success rate and shelf lives of shows are shrinking. Eight years ago, 80 per cent of shows used to complete a year, say producers. Several, like Kumkum Bhagya and Pavitra Rishta, ran for over 1,000 episodes, while Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai has been on air for more than 10 years now, minting money for both the producer and TV network. “Now 60-70 per cent of Hindi shows don’t make it past the one-year mark, and many get shut down in four to five months,” says Shahi, Founder of Director’s Kut Productions. 

In the South, where India’s second- and third-most thriving TV soap industries of Tamil and Telugu are housed, the scenario is slightly different. Shows continue to garner double-digit primetime TRPs. “The southern markets (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala) have a higher TV penetration of around 95 per cent compared to states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, where it is only about 42 per cent,” says media and entertainment industry expert Rajib Basu, who is Partner at professional services firm PwC. Besides, he adds, channels such as Star Plus, Colors and Zee TV have a higher share in the urban areas of Hindi-speaking markets, while the rural space has a higher penetration of free-to-air channels like Dangal, Star Utsav, and Goldmines. 

Plus, southern audiences simply love to watch more television. Prime time in the south is between 6 pm and 11 pm, while it starts at 7.30 pm in the Hindi belt and ends at 11 pm, says Jai Lala CEO of Zenith, the media buying agency under French ad major Publicis Groupe. “The loss of viewership time is happening in regional markets as well, but the pace is much slower [than] Hindi.” 

It’s not that regional markets are insulated from the OTT onslaught, but producers of TV serials in regional languages are unanimous that tighter budgets give them a longer runway. All of them agree that serials get Rs 2-3 lakh to shoot an episode in Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu. In Hindi, however, the budgets are Rs 7-10 lakh an episode, going up to Rs 20-30 lakh even 10 years ago. “We never had and still don’t have those kinds of budgets. So, the OTT impact on Hindi serials is much more than...[on] regional languages,” says leading Telugu serial producer Shobu Yarlagadda, Co-Founder and CEO of Arka Media Works, famous for producing the Baahubali films. 

The broadcasting machinery functions on advertiser revenue. A 30-minute episode has 22 to 24 minutes of content and six to eight minutes of ads. Despite the higher TRPs of regional channels, Hindi channels command much higher ad rates. “A 10-second ad on a leading channel in a top Hindi show with a TRP of 2–3 may get Rs 1.5 lakh, while a regional show with 10-12 TRP will get only Rs 30,000–40,000 simply because Hindi caters to a larger viewership base,” says Zenith’s Lala. Hindi is still the largest TV market, points out PwC’s Basu. “The language covers 70 per cent of the addressable market. It is about 2.31 times the size of all the southern markets.” But three to four top Hindi channels compete for ad money compared to regional languages, where one or two occupy the top slot.