Combating subscription overload: Dish TV and Cloud TV OS join hands

Direct-to-home television provider Dish TV's OTT platform Dish TV Watcho has announced a strategic partnership with Cloud Walker's Cloud TV OS, a smart TV operating system. This collaboration aims for a seamless viewing experience, offering access to Watcho's entertainment catalogue across 200+ smart TV brands powered by Cloud TV OS.

Through this collaboration, Watcho's diverse content library will be integrated into the OS, making it available to Cloud Walker’s expanding audience of over 18 million users across more than 6 million devices.

Watcho serves as an aggregator, providing users with access to prominent OTT platforms such as JioHotstar, SonyLIV, and ZEE5, among others, through bundled subscriptions. The partnership seeks to streamline the login process, enabling Watcho subscribers to sign in once on Cloud TV and begin streaming immediately. 

What this means

The integration of an OTT aggregator like Dish TV Watcho with a connected TV operating system represents a fundamental shift in how consumers interact with streaming content.

This integration offers a streamlined experience by embedding aggregated content discovery and access directly into the television, unlike traditional setups that require users to download, install, and log into multiple OTT applications on smart TV operating systems such as Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Samsung’s Tizen OS.

For users, this means the removal of the fragmented experience associated with navigating various applications that feature differing interfaces, login credentials, and recommendation algorithms.

Instead of remembering multiple passwords and navigating through different user interfaces for each streaming service, viewers can access a unified content library through a single login.

The technical integration also allows for more sophisticated content discovery across platforms. Rather than searching for content within siloed applications, the OS-level integration enables cross-platform recommendations, bringing content from multiple services into a single, coherent interface.

Combating subscription fatigue through bundling

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of this partnership is its potential to address subscription fatigue—a growing concern among OTT consumers facing an increasingly cluttered landscape.

"If a user were to subscribe to 20 OTT apps individually, it would cost over Rs 2,000 per month. On average, Indian consumers subscribe to three OTT apps, costing them Rs 500-600 per month. In contrast, our premium Watcho subscription is priced at around Rs 300 per month, offering significant savings," says Sukhpreet Singh, who is the chief revenue officer of Dish TV.

This bundled subscription model presents a compelling value proposition, particularly as Indian consumers become more discerning about their digital entertainment expenditure.

"Additionally, many users subscribe to an OTT app just to watch a single piece of content, leading to wasted expenditure. Our model eliminates this issue by offering a comprehensive package at a fixed monthly price, in one place," he adds.

Aiming for a frictionless user experience

The partnership marks a notable advancement in content aggregation and distribution, as Watcho's content library is now integrated into Cloud TV OS. Dish TV continues to prioritise delivering a personalised user experience.

"The existing reach of Cloud TV OS allows us to introduce our service to a massive audience," Singh highlights.

Providing an excellent user experience increases the chances of converting viewers into paid subscribers. "The key is ensuring they see value in what we offer, which could lead them to upgrade to premium subscriptions," Singh adds. 

This level of integration effectively tackles a significant challenge in the OTT landscape. Abhijeet Rajpurohit, co-founder and COO of Cloud TV, emphasises this benefit: "Our focus is to make the user experience seamless."

Upon logging into their television, the system identifies the user's active Watcho subscription and tailors the homepage to suit their preferences. 

"This eliminates the need to download multiple apps or repeatedly log in. Even for users who don't have an existing subscription, we have integrated an option to subscribe seamlessly," he adds.

AI-driven content discovery in focus

The partnership is fundamentally anchored in a strong focus on AI-driven content discovery. With the Indian OTT market becoming more saturated, discovery has become a crucial differentiator.

By leveraging Cloud TV OS's operating system capabilities alongside Watcho's recommendation engine, the collaboration aims to simplify content discovery across platforms.

"The core objective is to ensure that when viewers open their TV with Cloud TV OS and Watcho, they feel like the TV already understands their preferences," explains Singh. 

This AI-driven approach represents a paradigm shift from traditional EPG-based content discovery to a more personalised, predictive model.

Rather than focusing on specific demographic segments, the partnership adopts a device-centric targeting strategy.

"We are targeting the connected TV segment rather than focusing on specific demographics. While there will naturally be a certain cohort based on the price bracket of smart TVs, our priority is device-based targeting," says Singh.

He emphasises that the objective is to engage individuals who are actively utilising a connected TV and appreciate premium content experiences.

Market timing and growth trajectory

The collaboration comes at a pivotal moment in India's connected TV evolution. While smart TV adoption has accelerated—with an estimated 10 million smart TVs sold annually—actual connectivity remains relatively low.

This creates substantial headroom for growth as broadband penetration increases nationwide.

"The penetration of connected TVs in India is still growing, and many smart TVs are yet to be connected to the internet. With increasing broadband penetration, more TVs will become connected, driving greater content consumption. This makes it the right time to forge such partnerships," Singh points out.

Industry forecasts project that India will soon reach 100 million paid OTT subscribers, representing a massive opportunity for aggregated content platforms like Watcho. The partnership positions both companies to capitalise on this growth trajectory.

Shifting consumption patterns: From mobile to big screen

A key trend underpinning this partnership is the gradual shift in OTT consumption from mobile devices to television screens. While India's OTT revolution began as a predominantly mobile-first phenomenon, viewing habits are evolving as connected TVs become more accessible, as per Singh.

"The most relevant trend is the increasing consumption of OTT content on larger screens. Initially, most OTT content was consumed on mobile devices, but this is shifting towards televisions."

Rajpurohit adds an important insight, "Television is not just an individual consumption device—it's often used by multiple viewers, influencing content preferences. OTT platforms and operating systems need to cater to this shift by offering distinct user experiences for mobile versus TV viewing. The UI, recommendations, and content presentation must be tailored accordingly."