As OTTs tighten purse strings, top stars may feel the pinch

As video streaming platforms in India tighten their spending to improve profitability, top OTT stars, who often lead original web content across services, may also feel the pinch.

The challenge in these negotiations arises from the lack of shared data on viewership or performance of shows or movies, making it hard to convince actors and their teams of a previous season's success.

“There will definitely be a market-based correction of payouts to top actors,” said Ujjwal Mahajan, co-founder, Chaupal, a platform specializing in Punjabi, Haryanvi and Bhojpuri content. “This is also because most OTT apps have only come up in the last few years and were all making huge investments to gain more customers. Good apps now have certain numbers and won't spend beyond a point for blind customer acquisition. Both these factors might contribute to a slight correction in actor prices,” he added.

Popular OTT stars such as Manoj Bajpayee, Pankaj Tripathi, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui earn ₹8-10 crore per show, according to industry estimates.

Some top-tier names are aware of their standing and might choose to stay firm on the pricing front, but since platforms have a high degree of control over original content, they can manage more favourable rates. 

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“Artistes may demand more, but they would need platforms as much as the platform would need them,” Mahajan said. Other than star fee, services are also making sure that the project is fully defined before shoots begin to avoid delays due to last-minute changes. Platforms are becoming increasingly more careful about their marketing spends as well.

Shows on hold

A senior producer working on OTT shows said it is common for upcoming seasons of successful web franchises to be delayed as platforms negotiate fees with lead stars.

“It’s the same scenario as for feature films. Nobody is signing new projects in a hurry and fewer titles are going on floors,” the person said adding that a 10-12% escalation in actor prices is common once a season has fared well. “One way to work around this is to cast non-familiar faces that anyway doesn’t make much of a difference on OTT to be able to mount the project.”

However, several stars were demanding nearly twice the remuneration that they may have received in the previous season. “That kind of absurd pricing is not happening anymore,” the producer said.

With pressure on top OTT platforms to control costs, it is only logical that star fee will be impacted as fewer shows starring these big names are brought out in the first place, several industry experts agree. 

“It’s not like platforms can lower production values or technical finesse. So at least some of the talent that may have hiked prices tremendously earlier, will get impacted,” said Partho Dasgupta, managing partner, Thoth Advisors and ex-CEO, BARC India.

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