The company described the platform as the representation of a shared commitment to safeguarding and amplifying India’s diverse and rich cultural heritage inherent in regional dialects.
“Cultural preservation and pride in where we come from are woven into the fabric of our identity. My investment in Stage represents more than just a desire to rekindle the flames of our diverse regional dialects,” Chopra said at the event to announce the collaboration. “We will embark on a journey together to reawaken dormant languages and empower every voice, ensuring that our cultural heritage thrives in its true form through this platform,” he added.
Stage said it has over 6 million installs and over 550,000 paying subscribers so far.
“We believe in the compelling force of storytelling and the unifying potential of regional content. Neeraj Chopra’s involvement adds an impactful and relevant dimension to our mission,” said Vinay Singhal, CEO, and co-founder of Stage said in a statement.
With subscriptions plateauing and large, foreign OTT platforms controlling budgets, smaller streaming services that focus on specific regional languages or a certain genre may be at an advantage, thanks to their smaller scale.
Platforms like aha video, Planet Marathi, OM TV and others say they haven’t had to cut budgets since they started cautiously and have benefited from catering to region-specific audiences. Their hyperlocal content and slow start have given them time to evaluate the market. They believe catering to a specific niche has its own advantages. Many are looking to scale up and seek funding.
In a way, smaller players do not compete with international giants when it comes to content offerings. To battle rising prices and competition, they need to adopt tiered pricing models, offering different subscription plans with varying levels of content access and features.
