The medium has become the message. A combination of transformative technology and changing viewing patterns has spawned a new method and mode of entertainment that is taking India by storm.
The new paradigm is called OTT, tech jargon for over-the-top media streaming platforms that provide audio and video content over the internet. The young and the old, especially in cities, have so taken to platforms like Netflix and Hotstar that OTT itself has become urban slang, along with related phrases like binge-watching (watching multiple episodes of a programme in rapid succession) and ‘Netflix and chill’ (watching Netflix with a romantic prospect).
Another buzzphrase is ‘cutting the cord’, which refers to disconnecting cable and direct-to-home subscriptions and getting your fill of entertainment purely through OTT. “I have cut the cord; I now watch only OTT platforms,” said Mehak Joshi, who works with the ad agency FHO in Delhi. “I am a busy person. I want to watch short films or limited series—stuffthat I like—at my convenience.”
Mehak is in her twenties, but the OTT craze is not limited to Gen X, Y and Z. “My grandmother in Punjab has also quit watching TV,” she said. “She now watches the stuffshe wants to watch, on-the-go, on her smartphone.”
Jeetender Kumar, a housekeeper at a condo in Gurugram, asked his employer for an extra Diwali perk as he got his festival bonus and prepared to leave for his home in Uttar Pradesh. “I asked saab for his Amazon Prime Video password, so I could watch some of the Hindi shows [on the OTT platform]. They are quite slick and edgy!” Kumar said.
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