The once-thriving OTT market is now facing a downturn, as subscribers express increasing frustration with the platforms' business models. The honeymoon period is well and truly over, as users grapple with rising costs, intrusive ads, and limited content availability.
One major point of contention is the growing prevalence of ads on OTT platforms. Subscribers, who initially turned to these services to escape the constant barrage of commercials on traditional television, are now finding themselves bombarded with ads once again. As one social media user put it, "Hotstar with ads, Jio Cinema with ads, SonyLiv with ads and now Amazon Prime with ads. If one has to watch ads, he can just pirate it and watch it for free."
The rising cost of content production has also contributed to the challenges faced by OTT platforms. Despite the increasing expenses, subscription fees have remained relatively stagnant, forcing platforms to adopt measures like paywalls and ads to generate revenue. This has led to a growing divide between those who can afford premium subscriptions and those who are forced to share accounts or resort to piracy.
The quality of the OTT experience has also come under scrutiny. "SonyLIV and JioCinema app quality is so bad it's frustrating," one user lamented. "And then you pay for premium subscriptions and still have to tolerate ads."
Netflix, however, has managed to maintain its position as a leading OTT platform by offering a premium, ad-free experience. As one user noted, "Netflix is the real OTT with its good content without ads."
