Indian Streamer ALTBalaji Launches AVOD Service With Reality Show ‘Lock Upp’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran
·2 min read

Indian streamer ALTBalaji is extending its subscription-video model with a new ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) component.

The move follows the massive success of reality show “Lock Upp,” hosted by Bollywood star Kangana Ranaut, which ALTBalaji launched as a free AVOD show in partnership with MX Player, and which has had more than 100 million views.

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ALTBalaji is a division of Indian TV czarina Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms, which has 91 original shows streaming. There are several more in the pipeline with a focus on the youth market. Over 80% of ALTBalaji’s audience is under 35 years of age.

In the first quarter of 2022, ALTBalaji is catering to a Monthly Active User base of more than 10 million and has sold 2.9 million subscriptions. It sees an audience engagement metric of 83 minutes per day. Overall, it has 35 million subscribers.

One of Kapoor’s mantras is the “massification” of content, making her shows available to as broad an audience base as possible and reaching the audience beyond the Indian metro agglomerations. Some 60% of ALTBalaji’s audience live in smaller cities and towns, outside the major city hubs of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru. The platform’s goal is to reach out to an even wider audience base, penetrating further into India’s hinterlands.

“The introduction of AVOD will not only be an added layer of advertising revenue to our existing revenue streams but will also help us drive further subscriber base via cross-sell and up-sell,” an ALTBalaji spokesperson told Variety. “We are excited about providing a further simplified and seamless experience with thousands of hours of free content for mass India.”

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