The transformation of digital content over the decade

Content has drastically evolved over the last decade, especially due to the arrival of digital platforms and video services. Initially, there were limited choices when it came to content style and display — broadcast or television. If a comparison is made in the present time, right from the narrative to the story to the production values, back then, it was slightly compromised to an extent as television/broadcast had its limitations too. With the advent of technology and changing times, consumers today are spoilt for choice when it comes to consuming content — be it on a linear TV set, or a mobile device or via OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hotstar. This also goes to show that the meaning of streaming content as we knew it has also metamorphosed with time to suit the growing demands of today’s consumers, who mainly fall under the age group of 22 to 34 years. Research has consistently proved that the preference for drama, crime and thriller-based stories and reality shows remains high among the target group.

The coming of age content has diversified extensively in order to cater to myriad preferences by the target demographic. In order to accomplish this better, broadcasters and not just OTT players are experimenting largely to re-establish ‘Limited Series’ as a concept, owing to its wide popularity in the West. The need for realistic and inspiring stories has seen an all-time rise as consumers have begun to relate to more purposeful content than before (eg. The Morning Show on Apple TV+ has been nominated at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards after its first season). Along these lines, linear stories based on true facts (eg. The Family Man on Amazon Prime, Queen on MX Player) also seem to be gaining quick favour among the masses. In order to maintain the level of interest, producers are investing more and more in the quality of content consumed in terms of researching the subject, tightening the scripts with relatable dialogues and visuals, irrespective of screen size.

Re-making franchisee-based shows — (fiction)

Moreover, a growing trend of bringing hugely successful stories of the world to the Indian consumer is catching on — Applause Entertainment has successfully remade and presented successful franchisee-based shows (fiction) shows such as Out of Love, The Office, Mind the Malhotras, etc.

The younger demography, 15-24 year olds, continue to binge on (non-fiction) shows such as Dating to Survival, Ace of Spades with high dosage of drama, romance, realism and voyeurism.

Bringing the comics back

After Movers & Shakers almost 15 years ago, Taarak Mehta continues to be only show in this genre that has stood the test of time. Unlike in the West where Saturday Night Live is on Season 45 and growing stronger, India continues to struggle and support the comic genre. Stand-up comedy and comedians have got a little opportunity to showcase their talent with the launch of the Comedy Club across a few metro cities. In spite of the existence of OTT/digital platforms, this genre has not found its footing yet. Some platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, however, decided to turn the tide and started experimenting with the comedy format. One Mic Stand, an Amazon Prime Video Original, teams up stand-up comics with well-known personalities (includes celebrities and politicians). One will be pleasantly surprised to see Shri Shashi Tharoor featured as a performer in one of the episodes.

The comedy genre is here to stay till the time the bigwigs continue to support and develop content along with the artists in the country — Netflix and Vir Das.

User-generated content — Tik tok/ Likee

The emergence of more user-generated platforms, TikTok, Likeee, Bigo, have enabled more and more people to showcase their talent (singing/mimicking/dancing/comic acting /entertaining). Traction on these platforms (video uploads/time spent on the platform) have been improving steadily. TikTok was the most downloaded app in the US and among the top three downloaded apps in India in 2019.

Another palpable shift can be witnessed in the social media content created by role models/ influencers. Such content has evolved from being from mere endorsements to serious advocacy.

Regional content

Regional content continues to make significant inroads and is gaining more and more importance in the content plans. For each and every publisher, the idea of reaching to Bharat seems more realistic and has the potential to yield better results for publishers. The learnings are not very different from the broadcaster/media houses that own and run channels/publications in multiple languages.

Short-format content

To break the myth around short-format content, premium content is only consumed with long-form content and considering consumers watch short-form content on mobiles — content created for mobile screens — shorter duration doesn’t need to be high on production values.

Snap Originals along with the soon-to-be-launched OTT platform Quibi, has aggressively taken to designing and curating short-form premium content. Snap Originals savoured considerable success today. Quibi is estimated to have spent more than $1 billion in its first year, creating short-form premium content for the fast-moving discerning consumer.

Films with interesting subjects

Filmmakers have found a massive opportunity to showcase and say stories they believe in as artists. More often than not, filmmakers make films to make money and a lot of times these filmmakers have drastically compromised on sharing their vision/stories with the fear of it being not accepted by the general public at large. With the fast gaining popularity of OTT platforms, the filmmakers have the freedom and the opportunity to develop content formats and stories they believe in.

Brands embracing the publisher status

Brands realising soon enough they are publishers now have started creating content formats that will get the consumers to engage with them. These consumers are audiences and will stay engaged only when they find the story/narrative relevant, real and interesting. With this new environment, brands have started developing long-format original shows with a significant focus on content peg and production values, Coke Studio, MG Motors – An Indian Abroad, to name a few.

Audio-based content players joining the party (non-radio)

‘Audio Podcasts’ have notched up their game by several scores since they utilise interesting content by using audio as a platform, and have the capacity to offer more than 60 originals in multiple formats. This caters to audiences who are passengers on-the-go, work professionals or consumers who prefer listening and imbibing audio content.

By 2020, there will be nearly 1 million minutes of video crossing the internet per second. (Cisco).

The time of making merry while the sun shines is upon us. This is true for not only for content creators but for anyone who believes has a story that he/she wants to share it with the world.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of www.buzzincontent.com and we do not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)