How Web Series all of a sudden become so popular in India?
Expansion to the online universe, social networks and interactive platforms in India has seen a progressive increase in the number of advertisers that use branded in their communicative strategy. Over 82% of the respondents use for which goes to show the drastic change in the preference of platform used over the years. This change can be attributed to the fact that the internet has become cheaper and more available. This has also led to an increase in online streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar etc. Innovation and creativity will play a pivotal role in creating recall and transmission of the brand values. Web series has the ability to be an innovative, subtle, minimalist and effective medium to create and maintain close bonds with their audiences especially those that tend to reject the presence of traditional and conventional advertisement based television.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on the progress made by the online streaming firm in India since it entered the market almost two years ago, and the challenges ahead Television is a medium that has entertained us for decades. But with the evolution of the internet and growing social media’s existence, we’ve seen a thing called Web-Series emerging, creating its place and taking over the digital space by storm, in a short span of time.
The lack of good and relatable content on television has pushed the few filmmaker’s to explore the episodic form called Web-Series and create content that is fresh, relatable and remarkable. “Youth” is one such specific TG (Target audience) which the entertainment industry is trying to capture and television has miserably failed in that sector. From setting posh apartments occupied with bean bags, funky costumes and unnecessary dialect, television tried real hard to interpret youth and their lifestyle. The concern was more about what they wear, how they eat, whom they meet, what they watch and less about how they feel.
Web-Series is a breakthrough in many ways. It strikes the right chord and opens up the conversation which the youth would like to take part in and relate them to the characters they might associate with.
We have shortlisted some reasons why Web-Series is the next big thing and how they grow all of sudden in India.
1. Impact and contribute of TVF and free YouTube series
In 2014 TVF(The Viral Fever) introduce the first Indian web series "Permanent Roommate" on YouTube for free has no censoring of words and scenes the content was relatable and the language was colloquial. It was like watching my own friends online.
After this series Indian audience sense taste of web series after this big Bollywood film producing brand entered the scene- Yash Raj Films they release "Men's World" in 2015 on their subsidiary brand's YouTube channel Yfilms for free due to its whole difference and a new type of concept this series also get attention.
But for this web series industry, it was not enough
In 2015 scene change when TVF release "TVF Pitcher" and "Band Baja Barat" of Yash Raj Films for Free which received attention from the Indian Audience with Million-plus hits and countless shares on social media — the web-series formula made its big success in India in 2015.
Year 2015: When the web series formula arrived in India - Indian Express(2015)
Due to the success of the web series in 2015 TVF released many episodic form web series in 2016 free of cost and received millions of views. The reason was if we notice at this time in 2016 Jio Era was started and as these series were freely available it reached a big chunk of the Audience become famous between Urban or South Delhi South Mumbai audience.
2. Entry of big OTT companies' original series
Netflix focused on a few great shows for India, says CEO Reed Hastings
Netflix, Hotstar, Amazon, Voot these big players start investing huge money to make their own original web series content for the audience has levelled up the stander and quality of the series and start now giving competition to big-budget Bollywood movies with their web series like Sacred Game, Mirzapur, Breath etc.
It was a very good sign for the web series industry.
3. Uniqueness of Web Series
Television is a writer’s medium and the film is a director’s medium, which we kept on hearing from past many decades and the fact is that it is true. But where the Web-Series are concerned it’s the blend of these two. The Web-Series scores high on its writing but it also has a cinematic touch to it which makes it stand out from the rest. Television is still stuck with those mid shots and close-ups. Web-Series tries to set up and captures things in a bit different way. Most of the directors are breaking rules and approaching Web-Series in a more cinematic manner and making it a visual treat for the audience. Web-Series is a short format and it hardly consists of 5-6 episodes or moreover to 10 episodes. The writer’s job here is to structure the screenplay in such a way where it unfolds and executes the story within those 5 to 6 episodes. Web-Series has managed to touch the concepts of the uncensored scene which television can't air.
4. RUNS ON NO FACE VALUE.
We have often seen that a film or television show is sold at face value. You either need a star or a known face to run your show. In the past few years, television had successfully launched new faces but then they used those faces more often in daily soaps and reality shows. Web-Series have a different take on this, as you may see a whole new lot of actors playing parts whom we’ve hardly seen before. Web-Series performs on its content so it merely needs any star power to grab eyeballs.
5. NO MORE ADS.
The perception among people is that a particular ad runs because of a particular show but it’s the exact opposite. Ads and sponsors are the prime reason why a particular show goes on air. People nowadays like to watch things without any break. They like to finish things in one go. So the switch from TV to the Internet was bound to happen, as Web-Series gives you the opportunity to skip ads and there are hardly any ads shown during the episode. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t see ads at all. They make their product a part of the script and place it smartly within a scene. “Sarabhai vs Sarabhai Take 2” is a recent example of it. They smartly advertised Vivo smartphones and Vodafone red plan in a scene. Television shows are time-bounded if you missed it, you missed it. In the case of Web-Series, you can watch it anytime anywhere as it streams on the internet, you can also download it or take it offline. You can finish half of it and catch up from where you left last time. Watch it on any device that has internet connectivity. Web-Series is more of a personal viewing experience whereas we consider television a sort of group activity.
6. The Youth Demands Mature Content Influenced by the West
The current scene of the Web TV shows would never have taken place if the digital providers didn’t study the consuming behaviour pattern of the people from the age group of 16-35. These providers noticed that a huge chunk of data of these consumers would go into viewing TV shows like Friends, Game of Thrones and other shows from the west. This, in turn, led to the reformation of the entire Indian TV Shows setting, and thus we were provided with different forms of digital platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime, ALT Balaji with mature TV content that aired on it. While the Indian TV Soap Dramas still exist and we see no clear sign of mainstream content’s decline, it’s important to note that this TV content is consumed daily by households and families, thus it will continue to air. However, we’ve finally walked into an age where different TV show platforms can co-exist without harming each other and one can enjoy content according to his/her preference.
7. Impact & Hype of Scared Game vs Mirzapur
There are many web shows on the ott on which audiences have gone crazy.
But these two shows which have driven the viewers crazy and had an amazing impact on the audiences are Netflix Original web series "Sacred Games" and the hit Amazon Prime web series "Mirzapur".
Viewers of these two series eagerly waited for the next season of both shows.
And these two web series have created a lot of hype between the audiences, talked among the teenagers and youngsters a lot and also due memes creation these 2 web series get lot more attention than any other series. Actually, these two series are the main reason of boost on web series consumption and ott
8. FROM BEING CONSUMER TO CREATOR.
Films and television is a large industry. Thousands of people struggle to make something big into this world of glamour. Few succeed and many fail. Dozens of scripts and tons of ideas rest on the rack waiting to see the light of day. Making films or creating a show for television is a humongous task and not everyone is able to do it. But there are creators in every corner waiting to tell their stories from amateur college kids, aspiring filmmakers, Industry insiders etc., who are willing to build something on their own. Web-Series is such a platform where you can create your content and put it out there. YouTube is one such platform where you upload things for free. Good content always finds its audience and many creators have proved it. Web-Series is definitely the next big thing. It enhances the craft of film-making. It will showcase the new talent. A variety of content will be out there, new business can flourish and allow many to start their own big thing.
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