Anshul Trivedi on shifting viewership to OTT affecting television content: 'Consumption patterns have changed, ad revenues getting affected'

Anshul Trivedi

Actor Anshul Trivedi, a dynamic talent in Indian entertainment, continues to make his mark across Bollywood, Hindi television, and Gujarati cinema. Known for his versatile performances, the actor has steadily built a career that spans over a decade, earning both critical acclaim and audience appreciation. He is currently seen in the television show Pushpa Impossible airing on Son SAB.

From playing memorable roles in Ramaiya Vastavaiya and Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela to leading Gujarati films like Oxygen, Kesariya, Karma, and Daayro, Trivedi’s portfolio reflects a rich blend of mainstream and regional storytelling. His digital debut in Amazon Prime’s legal drama Guilty Minds added another feather to his cap.

In an exclusive conversation with Money Control, Trivedi opened up about the evolving content ecosystem. He acknowledged the seismic shift in viewing patterns, with OTT platforms transforming not just how audiences consume content, but also how creators and actors approach their craft.

Excerpts from the interview:

See, usually, what happens is, any format, is all dependent on the economics of the format. Okay? So every decision is taken, with regards to the economics of that format.

Television, the economics are completely different, because, the consumption pattern, the content consumption is very different, compared to OTT. So, it's a game of attention span. I would say every format is different because of different economics and different, pattern of consuming the content.

On television, the content consumption television becomes part of your daily life, becomes part of your daily routine. At times, it is created in a way where even if you miss out on something, You know, if you miss out on one episode and you can catch up later, then it won't be won't make a big difference. That's not the case with, OTT because they kind of crave for your attention. You will have to, given time and energy and consume the content according. You know, of course, films are very different kind of viewing, especially if you are going for theater and all. So that is, again, a very separate viewing. So viewing experience. So, yeah, that that is how it is.

You see, one industry has a lot of glamour attached to it. The other is trying to be more glamorous. Because regions have different budgets. The people who are gonna consume your content are different. They have different mindset.

You're trying to solve a very specific mindset and a very specific audience.And, obviously, the main theme is very different. There's, you're trying to cater to larger audiences and make sure that it's like a buffet, you know, where everyone has, everyone likes something or the other Right. That is served on the planet. So I think, see, there is no challenge, personally. But the fact is, I consider myself a good actor and, for me, I don't think it's a challenge. Maybe such complex characters are not done, in our industry.

I'll be very honest about it. They were very small minuscule parts. But for someone who is just starting out, who had just started his career. To work in setups where you were surrounded by, say Ranbir Kapoor, Sonu Sood, Poonam Dhillon,  Prabhu Deva and people like this. Or on the other side, to be on the sets of Mr. Sanjay Leela Bhansali. So what happens is, these setups that teach you a lot, especially at the beginning of your career where you you're quite raw. You don't really know, you don't really understand the craft. You're still trying to figure out things.

It's not that now I figured it all out, but, in the beginning, it's very different, there are those rough edges which you're trying to, correct and all. So there is so much to learn. There is so much to absorb. There is so much to, learn and evolve. So during, you know, and, during the in initial stages of the career, you're trying to grasp as much as you can about the world that you're trying to fit in.

Actually, the problem is that we we label content as regional content versus mainstream content, and that's absolutely fine. Like, in commercial sense, we understand. We get it.

But the thing is as Indians, the kind of stuff that we intrinsically like and get, attracted to or kind of lean to lean more towards is, culture history related commercial elements. But like something as recent as, say, Rocky or Rani. If you if you kind of, try and analyze the film, it's rooted in very modern, urban, flashy setup. But the core is, again, extremely traditional. The kind of stuff that they're dealing with is very different. So a balance of between both is kind of, widely appreciated and accepted by audience is what I feel. So regional content isliye kahin na kahin zyada consume hone laga hai I feel, zyada appreciate hone laga hai. Kyunki bohot saari kahaniyan mainstream mein choot ti jaarahi hain, mainstream mein woh formula base pe chala jaata hai. Regional ke paas aise koi chara nhi hota kyunki woh formula ko execute hi nhi karpayenge. So regional ko aapkeliye original kahaniyan nikalni padengi and that is the beauty of it and maybe that can be taken over by the mainstream industry also once it does good at the regional level.

Like big time, I can see it. I can feel it. Because, the, we are the ones who are part of, still mainstream television content. We know, how badly that television consumption is affected in terms of ad revenues, especially more than consumption, the ad revenues are affected from channels point of view. Because consumption patterns have changed. For example, Pehle agar Sony SAB pe 9 baje show aata hai toh 9 baje hi dekhna padta tha but ab kya hi ki main baad mein SonyLIV pe bhi jaake dekh sakta hun. So technically problem nhi hai lekin woh jo mainstream television ka woh jo TRP ke point of view se ad revenue jo hota hai na that massively gets affected. And also, because of the entire, social media, thing, what happens is a lot of these influencers and all. So a very targeted marketing has started happening.

Everyone wants to woo people so that they spend their time and money on their platform or their channel. So, this has massively affected television is what I'm personally seeing, and I feel it has affected television majorly. Because ad revenues are kind of affected is what I'm sensing and I'm feeling that again, it's a very personal view, point of view. But, because of the variety, and the thrill of watching a particular kind of content. Again, that the way you watch OTT content is very different. Like, you you're in this isolated space, maybe using your AirPods and watching it over your phone or iPad.

So it's very personal kind of viewing. Family viewing is very different. Television becomes a family viewing even if you like it or not. Like, if your family is present, then everyone at least is listening to what is going on television. So the content, there is there are limitations in terms of what kind of content you can solve. That personal viewing, censorship, viewing becomes very different. The content that you're viewing becomes very different. So you're both practical issues with the doing something related.