BookMyShow Stream announces new line-up for late March

The BookMyShow library, which also includes titles such as Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, Gal Gadot-starrer Wonder Woman 1984, horror-fantasy The Craft: Legacy, and Russian science fiction thriller Coma, is available for both rent and purchase for prices ranging between ₹40 and ₹600 depending on the movie. A film on rent is available for 30 days and once started, has to be finished viewing within 48 hours, while a title can be purchased for six months or even longer.

Having launched with 600 movie titles in February 2021, BookMyShow’s TVoD (transaction video-on-demand) service brings a range of Hollywood, Hindi and independent, and foreign cinema in partnership with American studios, such as Sony Pictures, Warner Bros and Universal Pictures, Indian production houses, such as Viacom18, Shemaroo, and Rajshri Productions, as well as regional content providers, such as Divo and Sillymonks, among others.

Nearly two years since Zee, BookMyShow, Shemaroo and Amazon Prime launched pay-per-view services, the model continues to remain niche in India. Media industry experts point out that these services offer limited choice of content, making it less appealing. Further, as most consumers have resumed outdoor entertainment activities and many have ongoing annual OTT subscriptions, pay-per-view, also called transaction video-on-demand (TVoD) has not emerged as a preferred mode to watch content. It is also unlikely to challenge the subscription or free model in terms of reach.

As concerns about the pandemic have lessened, consumers have largely returned to old habits. Today, Indian audiences are visiting theatres for the experience of watching a film, and most consumers already have ongoing subscriptions to all the major OTT platforms.