Telugu OTT aha is another feather in the cap of language-specific streaming platforms

As many as one crore Indians shifted to OTTs last year.

The video streaming space has a new trend--platforms offering content in just one language. Interestingly, these platforms also have many takers.

Take the example of Telugu over the top (OTT) aha which completed one year of launch on February 8. In a year, the platform got on board as many as 10 lakh paid subscribers.

"Digital media is all about personalisation and language is one sharp edge," Ajit Thakur, CEO, aha, told Moneycontrol.

Despite being priced at par with other platforms that are offering more languages and catchup content, aha which is offering content in just one language has got strong traction, he said.

"Every parameter we thought of we are 2-3x of that. It's telling us the power of extreme localisation when it comes to content," added Thakur.

It's not just aha's success that shows the growth of platforms offering content in one language. Hoichoi, a Bengali OTT which was launched in 2017 is doing wonders in this space.

In three years of its launch, the platform has amassed a subscriber base of 1.3 crore.

Compare this with other national players, Disney+Hotstar has around 86.3 lakh paid subscribers, Amazon Prime Video is estimated to have 44 lakh paid users and Netflix has around 40 lakh subscribers in India.

Be it Hoichoi or aha, users have shown interest because of the content these platforms are offering. Aha for example has plans to add more than 50 originals this year.

"We have launched three original films in December, two films in January. We have big shows from Tamannaah (Bhatia), Rana Daggubati coming soon on the platform. We plan to lunch one original film or show every week," said Thakur.

Last year, aha had also launched a talk show hosted by actress Samantha Akkineni which received a lot of traction among viewers.

"Sam Jam recorded 100 million minutes plus viewing and 10 million play," pointed out Thakur.

In addition to shows, the platform will focus on acquiring films.

"Focus on acquisition will not go away. What changes here is that we were earlier saying that we were getting small to medium size films now we will get big films as well. We can afford to buy bigger films. There are three big announcements which are expected soon. One such announcement is the release of Sai Pallavi's Love Story is coming on aha after theatrical release," shared Thakur.

Aha has also acquired Ravi Teja's Krack.

Along with viewers in India, both Hoichoi and aha are finding strong traction in international markets.

For Hoichoi, big markets include Bangladesh, the UK, the US and even the Middle East, Australia and Canada.

Even aha, which is available in more than 90 countries, is seeing good growth internationally especially in the US market.

"We started focusing on the US since last Diwali. From 1,000 subscribers, we are now seeing 15,000 subscribers in three months since we launched in the US. After that we are now focusing on Canada, Australia and the UK," said. Thakur.

Aha and Hoichoi's growth is setting the stage for OTTs that are offering content in a single language like Planet Marathi, a Marathi OTT.