How does web-series makes money?

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Posted: 5 years ago

Nowadays I see producers make lot of web-series but how do they make money? It's not release on a theater like movies and it's not shown on TV like TV shows. It's only shown in online but we are also able to see movies and TV shows in online but there is no guarantee that many people will watch particular web-series in online when it's not shown on TV or theater. So how something like web-series make money without showing on TV or theater?

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Ranjali

@Ranjali

Goldie

Posted: 5 years ago

I think through product placements, advertisements and channel subscriptions.

And they don't have distribution expenses and all.

Edited by Ranjali - 5 years ago

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ponymo

@ponymo

IF-Sizzlerz

+ 4

Posted: 5 years ago

An OTT platform like Prime or Netflix will pay for such shows and stream them. How can they afford? Well they make us pay to subscribe to those platforms.

I'm also curious to know the exact math behind it though.

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@krystel21

IF-Veteran Member

+ 5

Posted: 5 years ago

Most of the OTT platforms work on a subscription model which more often than not is priced different in different markets. These platforms also have people heavily investing in them so that's another source of income. OTT platforms buy rights to the shows that are made, so that's how these shows get a budget of sorts. How are views calculated and do the views mean anything (esp cause a LOT of these platforms are ad-free) is something that's not very clear. Web series these days do serve as a great platform for actors to quickly catapult into fame; you have actors like Sumeet Vyas who did films but were barely noticed but shot to fame cause of their web shows.

Also, the average young adult would rather spend time watching stuff on their streaming devices as opposed to on television, and may occasionally watch a film in theatres if there's enough hype about it. For example, when I moved into my own place with my friends around 3 years ago now, we actually signed up for a television connection. 1 year into it we realised we stopped switching on the TV and we were watching everything online, so after our contract was over we didn't even bother renewing.

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1143173

Posted: 5 years ago

Originally posted by: krystel21
Most of the OTT platforms work on a subscription model which more often than not is priced different in different markets. These platforms also have people heavily investing in them so that's another source of income. OTT platforms buy rights to the shows that are made, so that's how these shows get a budget of sorts. How are views calculated and do the views mean anything (esp cause a LOT of these platforms are ad-free) is something that's not very clear. Web series these days do serve as a great platform for actors to quickly catapult into fame; you have actors like Sumeet Vyas who did films but were barely noticed but shot to fame cause of their web shows.

Also, the average young adult would rather spend time watching stuff on their streaming devices as opposed to on television, and may occasionally watch a film in theatres if there's enough hype about it. For example, when I moved into my own place with my friends around 3 years ago now, we actually signed up for a television connection. 1 year into it we realised we stopped switching on the TV and we were watching everything online, so after our contract was over we didn't even bother renewing.

So is there hit or flop web-series? If people can watch them free in online, then why would they pay money? I watched so many movies and TV shows in online but I didn't pay a penny to watch them. Do you have to pay money to watch web-series? And are they shown on certain web-sites like voots where you have to pay money to watch TV shows?

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933142

Hibernated

Posted: 5 years ago

Do you pay for tv shows individually? No you pay for the channel and the advertisers pay for the slots.

The internet works the exact same way. It's not magic. 😆

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1134270

Hibernated

Posted: 5 years ago

The biggest strength is that web series portfolio will generate sustainable revenue in the long run. Even if Netflix stops producing content, they will still earn lots of money.

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@krystel21

IF-Veteran Member

+ 5

Posted: 5 years ago

Originally posted by: mira30

So is there hit or flop web-series? If people can watch them free in online, then why would they pay money? I watched so many movies and TV shows in online but I didn't pay a penny to watch them. Do you have to pay money to watch web-series? And are they shown on certain web-sites like voots where you have to pay money to watch TV shows?

So there are no set metrics that are made publicly available to gauge based on real time numbers how well has a show done or not. However, based on the social media reach and analytics derived from there, there is a fair understanding of which show's popular and which show isn't. Like I don't think Balaji's Apaharan ever reached the level that Sacred Games or Mirzapur did, and all of them were in a similar genre of sorts.

See, you've answered your own question right there. You yourself watch movies and TV shows on pirated sites for free, so why even keep a television subscription or go to the theatres? Sure, there are many people like that who watch stuff for free online, but there are many more who just buy a subscription (and share with friends and family btw) for the seamless streaming, lack of ads and malware, and the ability to actually download and watch this stuff offline as well.

So when it comes to OTT platforms like voot, I believe some of their shows are free but I am guessing there is some sort of a subscription model (don't live in India so cannot access voot so not much idea about their subscription model); but they come under Viacom 18 which itself is a HUGE conglomerate in itself so funding isn't an issue. Most of the shows on their platform are anyway what airs on the Viacom family's channels so its just a way of reducing piracy. I know hotstar has premium content with its streaming of the IPL and the few shows they came up with (Sarabhai S2 and some Barun Sobti thing). A lot of the popular web series' are on Netflix or Amazon Prime, and yes while you can have a one month free trial, you have to eventually end up paying for a membership. These OTT platforms don't just have web shows, but also TONNES of movies and older TV shows and even TV shows that are currently on air so one gets access to a huge library of media should they invest in a subscription plan to one or more of these sites. Also, there's the option of sharing an account with friends and family so its very common to find a few people sharing Netflix/Amazon passwords. I use my roommate's Netflix, she uses my Prime and Balaji. LOL

Piracy is everywhere, movies that release on a Friday morning have a shit print available by the end of the day. You can choose to download songs from songs.pk or invest in a gaana/spotify membership - so its essentially up to the users. Mostly, from what I know, people are moving away from piracy to streaming media on official sites, unless its literally not available anywhere.

Edited by krystel21 - 5 years ago

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1143173

Posted: 5 years ago

Originally posted by: McGorgeous
Do you pay for tv shows individually? No you pay for the channel and the advertisers pay for the slots.
The internet works the exact same way. It's not magic.😆

Internet and TV are not the same thing. I live in the United States. I pay for the American channels and international channels separately. On internet, you can watch gazillion things and you can watch anything that you want but you can't do that on TV. You can only watch the channels that you pay money for. You don't have to pay money for the movies or TV shows in online. So why only for web-series? TV shows earn money through TRP and movies earn money through box-office but what about web-series?

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1163979

Posted: 5 years ago

#10

through paid advertisements

and the hits on the Video LINK ! the more the video gets hits and likes n so on, the more the ads r placed there...YouTube started this and now hotstar netflix amazon following

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