To take on Amazon, Netflix announces three original series for India

Online video streaming service Netflix has announced a slate of three new Indian original series, across genres and themes, namely Ghoul, Leila, and Crocodile.

The newly announced series will join a larger slate of original productions out of India including "Sacred Games", "Selection Day", and "Bard of Blood".

However, the US-based streaming giant has not announced any particular date for the new shows.

In India, Netflix is planning to go for aggressive expansion. At present its existing slate includes its first Indian original, the upcoming drama Sacred Games, which will be followed by cricket series Selection Day and spy caper Bard of Blood.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is expected to be in New Delhi, where he is a speaker at the Economic Times Global Business Summit that will take place on Feb 23-24.

The firm is looking all the possible area, where it can grow in India. According to Netflix new study report, Indians are second highest public bingers in the world, almost 88 percent of them prefer public bingeing.

The Video streaming major reportedly has been testing WhatsApp Business integration in India to communicate with its subscribers. The integration is largely meant for sending messages, and personalised content suggestion to subscribers through notification.

Netflix faces tough competition from Amazon Prime, which has around 10 percent of market share in the country and it is currently going ahead of Netflix.

Netflix is the world’s leading internet television network with 117 million members in over 190 countries enjoying more than 140 million hours of TV shows and movies per day, including original series, documentaries and feature films.

In addition to Netflix, Amazon, Hotstar and ALT Balaji, Viacom 18 and Zee TV have also entered digital streaming space with Voot and OZee.

Xiaomi, which is also eyeing the space, made a $300 million investment in online video provider iQiyi in 2015. It has also bought a stake in China’s largest video streaming site Youku Tudou.

As per estimates, the market is currently valued at $280 million with nearly 100 million subscribers, and it is poised to grow at 35 per cent year-on-year.

Earlier this month, Direct-to-home (DTH) platforms and cable operators had raised concerns against the all online video streaming platforms saying that they have silently captured the screens and are providing high-quality and ad-free content.

Certain broadcasters are airing same content through internet channels as through direct-to-home (DTH) platforms and cable operators, it added.