Bharat is all ears | Unusual Suspects

In the world of entertainment, where video and music streaming have long held the spotlight, there's a not-so-silent revolution happening in spoken word streaming on OTT platforms. In 2022, Indians spent over Rs 1,000 crore on audio content, including books, drama series, and political discussions, as per data from research firm Omdia. This amount accounts for roughly half of the Rs 2,200 crore earned by the music industry in both advertising and subscription revenue during the same year, according to the FICCI-EY report. Of the 510-plus million Indians online, approximately 200 million are actively engaged in streaming music and are potential users of spoken word content on OTT platforms.

The vernacular language revolution in India's content streaming industry is a response to the changing demographics of digital consumers. Earlier, most of the content was produced in English or Hindi, catering primarily to the urban population. However, the majority of India's population resides in smaller towns and rural areas where English proficiency is limited. Therefore, to capture this untapped audience, streaming platforms have started focusing on regional languages, colloquially known as 'vernacular' languages.