"Copying western playbook won’t work for OTT in India": Gourav Rakshit, Viacom18

Viacom18’s digital video-on-demand service, VOOT is the only broadcaster-owned streaming platform in India without a paywall. Star India’s Hotstar, Sony’s SonyLIV and ZEE’s Zee5 have already rolled out their subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) offerings. VOOT gets most of its traffic through the catch-up television content that broadcasts on Viacom18’s television channels. In April, they announced the launch of ‘Voot Studios’, an agency-like service armed to create and communicate content for brands. It is also planning to make a move to the SVOD space soon.

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In May, former Shaadi.com chief executive officer, Gourav Rakshit joined Viacom18 as chief operating officer, Digital Ventures to lead the roll-out of SVOD services including VOOT Kids. In an interaction with afaqs!, Rakshit spoke about the role of VOOT Studios, the current OTT space and the future of its AVOD service once it rolls out the paywall.

Here are the edited excerpts:

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