Test-Driving 5 Indian OTT Aggregator Platforms

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a two-part series on OTT aggregator services in India. In part 1, we broke down all you need to know about these services. Read here.

OTT aggregators fill the growing need for an intermediary between the plethora of streaming services that have proliferated in the Indian media/entertainment landscape today, and end users. However, even as established aggregators work towards optimising the consumer experience and ensuring seamless access to a multitude of streamers, unwary users could sign up for services that deliver a whole lot less than they promise.

The situation becomes murkier because many services that label themselves as "OTT aggregators" are merely redistribution agents, often not even having the rights to the content they claim to provide consumers access to.

Another tactic used by such operators is acquiring streaming platforms — directly or indirectly — from sources like internet service providers (ISPs) and coupon/gift voucher generators, even when the operator in question doesn't have any legal agreement with the specific platform to stream its content. Consumers are lured by the prospect by being able to access several platforms for very low prices.

However, when they purchase a subscription from the operator, they find they do not have access to the promised platforms after all. This is because once the OTT platforms become aware of an operator that may have illicitly procured content, they deny access to the service.

In certain cases, even ISPs themselves may not be aware when they are approached by such content distributors that they are operating illegally, or may not scrutinise too closely a deal that seems too good to be true. Ultimately, such illicit practices hurt the end consumer, ISPs in these sorts of arrangements, and bona fide OTT aggregators that pay a minimum guarantee to streaming platforms even before hosting their content.

In this scenario, we got five users across Indian cities to test-drive five OTT services and share their experiences. Here’s what they had to say about the aggregators they tried:

PLAYBOX TV | USER: Jennifer, 26, Mumbai

STARTING POINT

Right off the bat, the download was easy. The display and offerings were visually well presented. There’s a wide variety of subscription packages — monthly plans as well as a yearly subscription.

But — the options included in the monthly packages were very limited and also quite obscure… these are apps that I generally wouldn't use. Therefore, I opted for the yearly super premium package with 12 apps, for ₹1,999. Each of these had different durations [for validity]. After the purchase, the package does not have an auto-renewal option, which I was actually glad about.

BUFFERING…

What I found confusing on this platform is the availability of content. It showed some free content, but apparently, for platform-related content, one needs to buy it with the subscription.

Unfortunately though, having bought the yearly subscription, the user experience sucked. The screen went blank. After deducting the ₹1,999 — which isn’t a small sum — I did not receive a confirmation of my order. I had to wait for a couple of hours and make two rounds of calls with Playbox’s customer care executives to activate it. That spiked my anxiety a bit.

Since Playbox TV is sort of an aggregator OTT platform, the process of claiming the subscription for each of the individual streamers within it, and then downloading and making it happen on those apps was confusing and a bit annoying, to be honest.

LAST CALL

Would I opt for a service like Playbox again? Not for myself. But if I was sharing a subscription with friends or a bunch of family members, I might give it a chance again.

***

BUNDLEPLAY | Kavita, 33, Bengaluru

ENDS BEFORE IT BEGINS

I had a terrible experience with BundlePlay. The download and registration process for the app was pretty simple. But everything that followed was a sheer waste of time and effort. They created my profile and added a random picture with my name. I checked with a friend and they had a similar experience too.

The catalogue is sparse: there are Hollywood films, Bollywood films and South Indian films. When you click on any of the titles though, only the trailer plays. And this is when I click on the “Watch Now” option; there’s a separate “Trailer” button right below it.

There is an option to watch news (only NDTV and Zee News though) and when you click on the button, an error message pops up. There are some OTT/ music platforms available as well — Sony LIV, Eros Now, Epic On, Shemaroo, Gaana and Discovery+, among a few others. If you click on any of these apps, a subscription pop-up appears, that leads to — nothing!

I don’t know who the people are that gave this app 4.6 stars on Google PlayStore, because to me it looked like an absolutely bogus interface.

***

FLIXJINI | Anshul, 35, New Delhi

TEETHING TROUBLES

First of all, I think we need to figure out what exactly an OTT aggregator offers to us. I was under the impression that this app is going to be my one-window platform for all OTT streaming services, where I pay a certain amount and everything is available to me. But that’s not the case.

The download and login were very smooth. Then a window appears with a set of streaming services and one is required to select the applications they want content from. So, once I did that, I was taken to another window which had all the movies and shows listed as per my selection. I mean, I could see no practical use of this app apart from providing a curated list of all the movies etc. on one app. But then, the app's purpose becomes quite useless considering you can just type the name of the movie on Google and get to know on what OTT platform the movie is streaming on.

SECOND IMPRESSIONS

I particularly found the interface really confusing because what if I want to select the OTT platforms that I already have an active subscription for? I couldn’t see anything that would take into consideration all those aspects. In fact, I couldn’t even spot any payment section for the aggregator platform. All the movies and shows on the list are part of one or other platform, so in order to watch them, one needs to subscribe individually to each of these platforms. I don’t know what’s the use of this aggregator app then? Overall, the ease of navigation on the app is below average; in fact it is pretty confusing in various areas.

THE GOOD

What worked for me are some of the filters this app provides. It allows the user to browse by genre, language, and other filters like "What’s Interesting", "Critically Acclaimed" movies etc. That’s something that really helps sometimes when you want to keep yourself abreast with what’s trending.

Also, there are a few movies that are available for free on this app, via some or the other OTT platform. For instance, Lootera on Disney+ Hotstar is available for free viewing here on this app. I have an active Disney+ Hotstar subscription, but I could watch the movie here without having to login separately on Hotstar. However, it is a lower resolution print; for the full HD print, one needs to login first on the streaming platform.

***

YUPPTV SCOPE | Saurav, 30, Gurugram

FALSE START

I used this product both on the web as well as on my phone, and my experience wasn’t great. The web version is very basic; there is no good interface for movies either. The news clips are either from NDTV 24X7 or Mirror Now. The entertainment channels as well as the spiritual channels that the web version offers are mostly South Indian. After I subscribed to the web version, I could watch content from other languages too, but all of this is exclusive YuppTV content.

The app is considerably smoother. There is better access to channels, and one can choose languages and the content available on those [specific] channels. It’s very well-designed and the overall navigation experience is also good. But it all falls flat because the app requires you to have a broadband connection from one of their partnered ISPs and only then can you watch anything on the app. Otherwise, you must subscribe to each OTT platform individually and then watch the content on this app. That practically serves no purpose.

So what I basically achieved after subscribing to YuppTV’s web version is complete access to YuppTV content only. I can watch Ruposhi Bangla there, so that’s one redeeming factor. And that’s it.

***

WATCHO | Abhishek, 27, Kolkata

STARTING POINT

My experience with Watcho started out rough — the app was not loading and later, my payment failed multiple times. But the Watcho team reached out to me and after hearing of my challenges, they immediately sprang into action. The issue was resolved almost overnight. As of now, the app is functioning smoothly. The design and interface are intuitive. I signed up for the ₹199 per month pack which included Lionsgate Play, Disney+ Hotstar and ZEE5. Within five minutes of making the payment, I got my login ID and password for the OTT platforms that are tagged in the package. Once you click on any of the platforms, you will be directed to its catalogue.

INTERFACE INSIGHTS

There is no 'Search' button as such, however, there is a Watcho search functionality to look up movies and TV shows. But — it doesn't yield anything useful. It is just a list of stuff that matches the search phrase. One would never know what OTT platform is associated with each of those listed items. So, invariably one has to infinitely scroll through the platform. One has access to most movies and TV shows. On platforms like Disney+ Hotstar and ZEE5, Indian content has higher visibility. However, for Lionsgate Play, one can browse through a mix of international and Indian content.

Some names have been withheld for confidentiality.

Suryasarathi Bhattacharya is a feature writer whose work stands at the intersection of culture and community.