India’s queen of television Ekta Kapoor is betting that Indian viewers walking away from appointment television will still watch long-running fiction, just on YouTube‘s terms.
In an interview with Variety, the Balaji Telefilms Ltd. joint MD, and Gunjan Soni, YouTube’s managing director for India, break down the partnership between the two companies, under which Balaji will launch five original shows spanning 200 episodes exclusively on YouTube.
Kapoor will lead the creative vision for the shows and retain ownership of the intellectual property, while YouTube provides global distribution and monetization through advertising and brand deals. The slate includes “Haq Se” Season 2, “Phir Pyar Ki Yeh Kahani Suno” and “Kehne Ko Humsafar Hai” Season 4, alongside other projects still in development. The shows are produced in 4K, with the slate rolling out over the coming festive season.
Kapoor says the shift reflects a broader change in how Indian viewers consume fiction. “YouTube has done so well in India, the way they have grown and the way people have sought it, it’s shown that the audience tastes have changed dramatically,” Kapoor says. “There is a certain amount of audience that doesn’t want … appointment viewing as much as they want comfort viewing.”
