In the past few days, it has been said that the Telugu cinema industry is facing headwinds on the OTT front. Several producers have been forced to reassess the budgets of their movies after Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, ZEE5 and Aha Video reportedly started quoting lower figures for digital streaming rights.
What has been unofficial has now become almost official. At an event of Nithiin's 'Extra', producer Sudhakar Reddy said that it is true that streaming platforms have started to offer lower rates. "The reality is out there in the open. For example, a Nithiin film which was getting Rs 30 Cr, might now get only Rs 25 Cr or even Rs 20 Cr. It is time for star heroes and producers to sit across the table and have a conversation," Reddy said, also suggesting that stubborn positions (not his words, though) will not help.
Sudhakar Reddy also added that the OTT deals for the year 2024 are almost closed, which means that a lot of under-production films will not find takers until 2025.
OTT platforms don't buy movies endlessly. They have a limited budget and buy, say, 12 or 15 films in a year. If this quota is over, there won't be new acquisitions. The producers have to reduce their budgets to compensate for the loss of revenue from OTT deals.
