India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati is shaping its new streaming platform, WAVES, as a destination for family-focused content across genres like sports, culture, general entertainment, and education, its top official said.
The platform, launched in November, will offer free access to shows from its linear TV channels, alongside select curated premium content from collaborations with streaming platforms like Lionsgate and Eros. Additionally, the broadcaster is forging partnerships with intellectual property (IP) owners to feature existing content and create fresh, original programming, as it aims to cater to diverse audience preferences.
“All the linear programming will be present (on the OTT). We have also issued public notices to content producers and several of them have responded. We are tying up with those who have legacy content, they could be broadcasters or right holders, whoever has the IP, or whoever is willing to work with us to create fresh IP,” Gaurav Dwivedi, CEO, Prasar Bharati, said in an interview with Mint.
Prasar Bharati already brings a fairly wide variety of content to its broadcasting and radio network, Dwivedi said, and the same strategy would be extended to the streaming vertical as well. This would include news content, GECs (general entertainment channels), programming related to sports, culture, agriculture and so on. “Given the role we are expected to play as a public broadcaster, we must reach out to all segments of society irrespective of demographics. There would be a certain level of interest in different age groups and geographies for a particular type of content but unlike a private broadcaster or service provider who has the independence or liberty to focus only on particular segments and not produce programming for others, we cannot do that, so we will have something for everybody,” Dwivedi said.
A modern adaptation
To begin with, Fauji 2.0, a modern adaptation of the 1980s Shah Rukh Khan show Fauji and Kakbhushandi Ramayan, an epic series, shall stream on WAVES as well as Doordarshan. Other than partnerships with Lionsgate and Eros, Prasar Bharati is tying up with content producers such as Adhikari Brothers to bring their IP to the service. Films from the National Film Development Corporation, photographic material from Press Information Bureau, journals from Publications Division, documentaries from various ministries and e-games shall also be available on WAVES.
“We adhere to the broadcasting and programming code very strongly and cautiously. Our approach has always been to produce the kind of content that the entire family can watch together, and that will continue,” Dwivedi said. While the initial launch brought out programming across 10 languages, the platform will soon reach out to all the citizens of India via dubbed, subtitled or original content. Most of the linear TV programming shall be available for free, but those launched via partnerships would usually require a subscription that currently stands at ₹30 per month.
To be sure, in a crowded digital landscape dominated by global giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, Prasar Bharati’s new platform could potentially expand the reach of streaming services, particularly in rural areas. However, with a market saturated by free content on YouTube and urban-centric OTT offerings, the venture might face an uphill battle in monetizing and gaining traction, industry experts cautioned. Further, while ad-based monetization could be successful by leveraging Prasar Bharati’s existing media network, driving subscriptions may require more than just non-exclusive offerings.
“There is one substantial difference—on YouTube, there is very little curation and the content is entirely user-generated. In our case, we have a programming and broadcasting code to adhere to so the content selection process is a little more streamlined. Audiences will have to take a call on the kind of content that they choose to watch. It’s been repeatedly felt that while Indian audiences are open to international content, the general trend in the market is that people still want to look at more localized content they can immediately relate to,” Dwivedi said, referring to the potential appeal of the new platform.
