Here's Why OTT Platforms in India Prefer to Drop Web Series on a Friday

The OTT platforms have hijacked the Indian entertainment landscape in the last couple of years, and their shows are at par with the best in the world.

There are a number of factors that are taken into account to make a web series successful. One such crucial factor is to release them on a Friday.

Though many web shows drop either on Wednesday or Thursday in the Us and UK, in India, they invariably find a release date on Friday.

Aparna Acharekar, Programming Head, ZEE5, says it's because a significant portion of subscribers “binge” an entire series on a weekend.

"Most binge-viewing happens over the weekend. Most consumers have time available on Friday nights. Streaming peaks a lot on Saturday afternoon. So when we release a web show on a Friday, we ensure that it gets exposed to maximum consumers," said Aparna at the trailer launch of ZEE5's Rangbaaz Phirse.

Aparna further elaborated the method of evaluating success. While traditional TV networks rely on TRPs (Television Rating Points), OTT platforms are subscriber-based. That means that the most important economic parameter for these platforms is how much a web series or movie contributes to their ability to sign up and retain subscribers.

"It's completely simplified because everything is measurable now. We work with the 'segment of one'. We get to know how individual consumers are consuming content-- including the episodic completion rate and the season's completion rate," she said.

Aparna further said the main metric the company uses to measure success is how many hours people spent watching a particular show on the platform.

"Rangbaaz has by far been our most popular show along with Karenjit Kaur. It's episodic completion rate was also very high and we had so much pressure from our viewers to launch its second season. Therefore, we're back," said Aparna.

Rangbaaz Phirse starts streaming from December 20. Starring Jimmy Sheirgill, Gul Panag, Sharad Kelkar, Spruha Joshi, Harsh Chhaya and Sushant Singh, it is the story of a young boy who gets trapped in the world of politics and is robbed of his youth.