Can OTT replace Movie Theatres ?

No. OTT platforms can’t replace theatres in this world. As we understand the OTTs wait for theatrical release of any movie unlike a movie with stars, and based on the performance of the movie in the theatres the price is fixed.

?An impending question for sure. OTT platforms did exist in the pre-covid era but were on the ocean bed, the pandemic helped them to rise to the surface, almost becoming a life raft for the people to survive the pandemic. Within two years of lockdown they picked up the pace and there’s no looking back now. From movies ranging from the bygone era to the latest ones, from sitcoms, our parents used to watch or we were hooked on during our childhood, from our favourite cartoons to our superhero movies, from horror to stand-up comedy to action, covering every genre in every language, OTT wrapped everything in its fold and brought it on the tips of our fingers.??

?People like experiencing entertainment in large groups - there’s something visceral about partaking in an experience surrounded by other people. Movie theatres offer a sheer spectacle of size and volume. Even if we all had hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on our individual home theatres, it’s not the same without an audience.

Having been involved with a tonne of movies during development and testing, it’s amazing how much your impression of a movie changes if you watch it with other people. Films that everyone was convinced were doomed come off as hilarious comedies if you’re in a crowd that’s laughing, and likewise films you think are great works seem terrible if you’re in a crowd that doesn’t like it.

Another analogy - I can sit at home and watch pretty much any major sporting event anywhere in the world and get a better experience of the match than I can live in person. My view is better, the graphic treatment(s) on the screen and commentary is more informative, it’s more convenient, it’s cheaper, it’s more comfortable… and yet millions of people go to sporting events in person every year for demonstrably inferior experiences - strictly for that feeling of communion with other people.

The boom of the OTT platforms served as a major paradigm shift in the way filmmakers were approaching their stories. The focus got shifted from standard vanilla Friday releases to streaming anytime on OTT platforms. Though the rush and anticipation of Friday releases somehow vanished due to covid you got to do what you got to do. Some business is better than no business at all. Matching the content consumption speed of the millennials was hard to match but filmmakers have now evolved multifold with this generation and creating content faster than you can count your fingers.?

?Though the movie theatres are slowly gathering courage and opening up for the audience, the dominance of OTT platforms will be hard to compete with and beat. Theatre giants are leaving no stone unturned to come up with new and crazy strategies to attract their audience back to the big cinema experience by collaborating and providing larger-than-life experiences to them. Old school people are still loyal to the theatres and love watching movies on the silver screen. OTT will still score here as its audience tapping capacity is larger than theatres. Movies which are released on the OTT platforms cross at least 200 country borders in different languages, hereby reaching more a number of millennials in one go as compared to theatres.?

?As long as movie theatres can continue to capitalize on that - they should always be able to carve out a niche in the entertainment landscape. It’s true that theatres in 50 years won’t be like the ones today - but theatres today don’t occupy the space in the pop-culture landscape they did 50 years ago either.

?it’s not possible to replace the cinema by OTT. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. I think both will survive, but definitely, OTT will gain popularity more and more day by day. It’s possible that OTT may replace cable/dish TV in near future.

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