Is Over the Top Video Platform the Game Changer over Traditional TV Channels in India? A Niche Analysis

Abstract

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the consequent national lockdown, the usage of over the top (OTT) platforms has significantly increased in India. The growing popularity of video streaming has made a substantial impact on the traditional TV channels during pandemic times. The purpose of this study is to examine the competition, coexistence and competitive superiority of OTT and TV in providing consumer satisfaction. The study adopted the niche theory to empirically measure the degree of gratification fulfilled by OTT and TV, the similarity between OTT and TV and the competitive superiority of OTT and TV across seven micro-dimensions of gratification. The data for the study has been gathered from 223 online users across India. The results of the study reflect that OTT provides a higher degree of satisfaction across all seven dimensions of gratification with the greatest difference manifested in the convenience dimension. The niche overlap measures indicated that the highest level of similarity between TV and OTT is in providing gratification in the relaxation dimension, whereas the least similarity was observed in the convenience dimensions. The competitive superiority of OTT surpassed TV in all dimensions with the greatest difference manifested in relaxation.