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Amazon, Netflix strike deals in India for local video content

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Netflix, and Amazon are aggressively looking at Bollywood and local content for their video streaming services.

Netflix launched its service in India, along with over 100 other regions earlier this year. The company made its intentions with the Indian market clear very early on when it snapped rights for Quashik Mukherjee’s nerd comedy Brahman Naman at Sundance, and released it globally in July.

Earlier this year, Netflix also partnered with Phantom Films, an Indian film production and distribution company to make an English and Hindi adaptation of ‘Sacred Games’ by Indian author Vikram Chandra.

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Though Amazon’s Video movies and TV shows streaming service hasn’t launched in India yet, it is talking with Bollywood studios for licensing their content. It recently partnered with Vishesh Films, one of India’s largest film production houses in India, to acquire exclusive digital access to all of its 53 titles.

Amazon is aggressively expanding its e-commerce business in India, often trading tentpole position with Flipkart, India’s largest ecommerce company. Earlier this year, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced that his company will be investing an additional $3 billion in India, taking the company’s total investment in the country to more than $5 billion. The company is reportedly planning to invest as much as $300 million in producing original content for India.

India is one of the few large markets that is still growing at seven percent, so they have to look at India. There has always been a section of people with good broadband connectivity who have invested in online streaming services instead of waiting for their favorite movie or TV show to air on any particular TV channel. How large that section has grown remains to be seen, but a market certainly exists in India,” Ashish Pherwani, Partner and Head of Advisory, Media and Entertainment at EY told Mashable India.

(Source: Mashable Asia)