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I'm speculating here, but maybe it has to do with the disposable nature of shows in India. Indian shows usually don't get sold as DVDs by the season. The same e

I'm speculating here, but maybe it has to do with the disposable nature of shows in India. Indian shows usually don't get sold as DVDs by the season. The same episode will often be re-run later the same day and into the next week until a new episode comes up. The sheer number of episodes being churned out means extremely high competition and the more the exposure to the show, the more the interest in it. I'm guessing this is just their way of locking in user interest so that they do tune in to the new episode that gets broadcast. Also, the Youtube India ad revenue could be significant given the sheer number of eyeballs.

magic_haze 14y ago
But the thing is, all the points you make are equally applicable even for US/European TV as well, and yet we have to put up with astonishingly shabby ways to watch them. Even the BBC has all these restrictions around their iplayer. Hulu was a good start, but the networks have consistently been messing with it and now it is... meh. I've just given up trying to watch them. What makes this strategy work for Indian TV, but not for others?
- manaskarekar 14y ago
  The selling DVDs part may be it. If it's always freely available on Youtube to watch, why would anyone want to own DVDs? Who knows?! Edit: I just realized, India doesn't seem to have as much broadband internet penetration as the rest of the world. Where as it most definitely has a very high TV penetration. Now, we see that in a lot of countries, USA for example, people are moving away from TVs solely to video streaming. So I guess my earlier speculation of high viewership on Youtube might actually be completely wrong. It might be because the viewership on Youtube is low enough not to affect the main ratings. Maybe they will face the same problems as the rest of the world once broadband becomes a bigger deal and a much larger percentage of people stop watching TV.
  - solnyshok 14y ago
    Why would anyone want to own DVDs? And CDs. That's how I felt for the last 5 years, looking at the boxes of various physical media collecting dust in my storage room. Thrown it away couple of months ago. Now looking at the books. It might take more time, maybe 10 years, before they are gone too.
  - devdas 14y ago
    A large part of the Youtube viewership is Indians living abroad.
snambi 14y ago
Two reasons why shows are not sold in DVD in India [1] Too many channels, too many programs, no-one is interested in watching old shows again. [2] DVDs will be copied and sold in shops. I doubt even a small percentage of sale will even reach the original producers. YouTube is a better option for the producers.

magic_haze 14y ago

But the thing is, all the points you make are equally applicable even for US/European TV as well, and yet we have to put up with astonishingly shabby ways to watch them. Even the BBC has all these restrictions around their iplayer. Hulu was a good start, but the networks have consistently been messing with it and now it is... meh. I've just given up trying to watch them. What makes this strategy work for Indian TV, but not for others?

manaskarekar 14y ago
The selling DVDs part may be it. If it's always freely available on Youtube to watch, why would anyone want to own DVDs? Who knows?! Edit: I just realized, India doesn't seem to have as much broadband internet penetration as the rest of the world. Where as it most definitely has a very high TV penetration. Now, we see that in a lot of countries, USA for example, people are moving away from TVs solely to video streaming. So I guess my earlier speculation of high viewership on Youtube might actually be completely wrong. It might be because the viewership on Youtube is low enough not to affect the main ratings. Maybe they will face the same problems as the rest of the world once broadband becomes a bigger deal and a much larger percentage of people stop watching TV.
- solnyshok 14y ago
  Why would anyone want to own DVDs? And CDs. That's how I felt for the last 5 years, looking at the boxes of various physical media collecting dust in my storage room. Thrown it away couple of months ago. Now looking at the books. It might take more time, maybe 10 years, before they are gone too.
- devdas 14y ago
  A large part of the Youtube viewership is Indians living abroad.

snambi 14y ago

Two reasons why shows are not sold in DVD in India [1] Too many channels, too many programs, no-one is interested in watching old shows again. [2] DVDs will be copied and sold in shops. I doubt even a small percentage of sale will even reach the original producers. YouTube is a better option for the producers.