Post

Ultra Media’s OTT Insights Report 2025 Shows Legacy Content Driving New-Age Viewership From Don and Amar Prem to Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. and Sarfarosh, Ultra Media’s 2025 data shows how classics and modern hits are driving OTT engagement 700+ Titles Added, 250% Growth Recorded: Inside Ultra Media’s 2025 OTT Playbook Mumbai, 26 December 2025: Ultra Media & Entertainment Group has released ‘The Ultra Media OTT Insights Report 2025’, offering a comprehensive, data-led view of how Indian audiences consumed digital content this year. Based on in-depth consumption insights from Ultra Play, the report tracks shifting viewing behaviour across eras, genres, geographies and languages, highlighting how curated libraries, marquee restorations and high-intensity storytelling are shaping OTT engagement in a maturing market. The Ultra Media OTT Insights Report 2025 has been developed entirely in-house by Ultra Media & Entertainment Group, drawing on proprietary, first-party viewership data from Ultra Play. The study analyses audience behaviour, content consumption patterns and engagement metrics across eras, genres, geographies and demographic cohorts, offering a grounded view of how Indian audiences are streaming today. Built on real platform usage rather than external surveys, the report reflects Ultra Media’s long-standing expertise in content ownership, curation and programming. Ultra Play is a Hindi-language OTT platform from Ultra Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., offering over 5,000 hours of curated entertainment across 1,800+ titles. Spanning iconic classics from 1943 to today’s blockbusters, along with web series and South Indian films dubbed in Hindi, the platform blends storytelling, nostalgia and culturally rooted cinema. Anchored in its “Har Pal Filmy” philosophy, Ultra Play brings together restoration, thoughtful curation and digital distribution to make India’s cinematic heritage accessible anytime, anywhere for a multi-generational audience. Era-wise consumption patterns in 2025 clearly favoured post-2000 Hindi blockbusters, which emerged as the strongest performers on Ultra Play, capturing the largest audience share and driving the highest engagement metrics, including watch time and completion rates. Films from the 1990s followed closely, delivering strong viewership retention and repeat consumption, while classics from the 1950s to the 1970s continued to attract steady, loyal audiences—underscoring the platform’s appeal across Hindi cinema’s golden eras. Importantly, the OTT insights report highlights that classic film consumption is no longer limited to older viewers. Younger audiences, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, were observed actively discovering legacy cinema, driven by improved restoration quality, better accessibility and curated discovery. This shift signals a widening audience base for classic content, transforming nostalgia into first-time viewing rather than mere revisitation. Within the classic Hindi cinema segment (pre-1980), Don, Amar Prem, Bobby, Aradhana and Mera Naam Joker emerged as the five most-watched titles on Ultra Play in 2025, consistently outperforming other catalogue films. Among films from the 1990s and early 2000s, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Andaz Apna Apna, Tezaab, Sarfarosh, Koi… Mil Gaya, Khalnayak, Karan Arjun and Ghayal collectively delivered the highest watch time and strongest repeat viewing, forming a critical engagement backbone on the platform. Restoration emerged as a clear premium engagement lever during the year. Restored titles such as Rangeela and Sarfarosh significantly outperformed comparable mainstream catalogue films, delivering above-expected engagement and strong completion rates. Other restored films including Half Ticket, Pyaasa, Pardes and others contributed meaningfully to catalogue depth, reinforcing the strategic value of marquee restorations in driving high-intent, premium viewing. Genre-wise, action and thrillers dominated viewership on Ultra Play in 2025, accounting for 29.07% and 24.92% of total genre consumption respectively. Comedy followed at 12.83%, romantic films contributed 11.05%, while crime titles accounted for 5.68%, maintaining a focused yet loyal audience base. The data points to a strong viewer preference for fast-paced, plot-driven narratives across mass-appeal genres. Audience insights from 2025 highlight strong pan-India engagement across Ultra Play, led by metros such as Delhi and Mumbai, followed by high-performing growth markets including Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Patna. Viewership across regions showed a clear preference for post-2000 blockbusters, action-thrillers, South Indian dubbed films and legacy Hindi cinema. Demographically, the audience skewed young and male, with an 80:20 male–female ratio, and nearly 70% of total viewership coming from audiences below 44 years, led by the highly active 18–24 age group.