Market Insight
Cracking the English News OTT Code
India’s media landscape has undergone a tectonic shift. While news portals thrive, English News OTT platforms find themselves at a critical crossroads.
India’s media landscape has undergone a tectonic shift. While news portals thrive, English News OTT platforms find themselves at a critical crossroads.
In the last decade, India’s media landscape has undergone a tectonic shift. As data costs plummet and smartphone penetration reached the farthest corners of the subcontinent, Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms emerged as the new gatekeepers of information and entertainment. However, while entertainment giants and regional language news portals have thrived, English News OTT platforms in India find themselves at a critical crossroads.
Despite the prestige associated with the English-speaking demographic - often perceived as the "affluent, decision-making class" - these platforms are grappling with stagnant growth, poor user retention, and a fundamental failure to adapt to the digital-first era.
One of the most glaring reasons for the struggle of English News OTTs is the lack of sophisticated personalization. In an era where Netflix, YouTube, and TikTok have trained users to expect a hyper-tailored experience, most news apps still offer a "one-size-fits-all" broadcast model. When a user opens an English news app, they are often greeted with a chronological or editorially curated feed that may have little relevance to their specific interests.
This lack of personalization leads directly to poor user retention. For the modern viewer, the value proposition of a news OTT isn't just "what happened," but "what happened that matters to me." Without machine learning algorithms that understand a user’s affinity for specific topics - be it geopolitical analysis, tech innovation, or environmental policy - the platform remains a utility rather than a habit. Consequently, the Lifetime Value (LTV) of a user remains abysmally low. If a user only visits once a week for five minutes because the content discovery feels like a chore, the opportunity to monetize that user through subscriptions or premium advertising evaporates.
For years, English news rooms in India have chased "reach" above all else. This has led to an over-reliance on search engines (SEO) and social media platforms for traffic. While this strategy yields impressive "page views" or "impressions" for quarterly reports, it is fundamentally a short-term monetization tactic that cannibalizes long-term brand equity.
When content is designed to "go viral" on Facebook or rank on Google Trends, the editorial focus shifts toward sensationalism, clickbait, and commoditized news. Users who click on a link from a social feed are rarely loyal to the brand; they are consumers of a single piece of information. They enter the OTT ecosystem through a side door and leave just as quickly.
This short-term monetization mindset prioritizes ad-revenue from fleeting clicks over the long-term loyalty necessary for a sustainable OTT model. By outsourcing their discovery to Big Tech, news platforms lose control of their relationship with the audience. They become content suppliers rather than destinations. To survive, English news OTTs must transition from being "search-dependent" to "destination-brands," where the user navigates directly to the app because they trust the curation and the experience, not because an algorithm happened to show them a trending link.
Perhaps the most significant oversight in the current strategy of Indian news OTTs is the underestimation of Connected TV (CTV). While the mobile screen is great for quick updates, the television remains the hearth of the Indian household. The "English News" consumer is increasingly a cord-cutter or a "cord-shifter" who prefers streaming on a large screen via smart TVs, Firesticks, or gaming consoles.
Currently, many news OTTs treat their CTV apps as an afterthought - often featuring clunky interfaces and non-linear video feeds that are difficult to navigate. Yet, CTV offers a unique advantage: high-intent, lean-back viewing. A user watching news on a 55-inch screen is more likely to engage with long-form documentaries, deep-dive analyses, and high-production-value debates than someone scrolling on a bus. By neglecting the CTV experience, English news platforms are missing out on the highest-quality ad inventory and the best opportunity to build a "appointment viewing" habit in a digital format.
English news in India has largely become a commodity. When every channel is reporting on the same political rally or celebrity event with the same footage, there is no incentive for a user to choose one OTT platform over another. The struggle lies in the lack of original, high-moat content. To command retention, OTT platforms need to invest in intellectual property that cannot be found elsewhere - investigative series, data-driven storytelling, and niche expertise.
Instead, many platforms have doubled down on the "shouting match" format of linear TV, which performs poorly in a digital, on-demand environment. Digital users seek nuance and clarity, not noise. The failure to pivot the content strategy to match the digital medium’s strengths is a primary driver of the current slump.
To reverse the decline, English News OTTs must undergo a structural and philosophical shift. This includes:
The struggles of English news OTT in India are not a sign of a lack of interest in news, but rather a sign of a mismatch between consumer expectations and platform delivery. The transition from a "broadcast" mindset to a "personalization" mindset is painful but necessary. By moving away from the dopamine-chasing cycles of social media and investing in robust discovery, brand-building, and the burgeoning CTV market, English news OTTs can finally turn their high-profile demographic into a loyal, sustainable, and profitable audience. The future belongs to those who view the user not as a "click" to be sold, but as a relationship to be nurtured.