Would you go to the movies more often if the OTT release took longer?

When will it be on OTT?” It’s often the first question most viewers ask when a new film drops – especially if it doesn’t feel worth a trip to the theatre. When the gap between a film’s theatrical release and OTT release is short, many prefer to wait than rush to cinemas.

“You’re telling the audience, ‘Don’t come – I’ll deliver it to your home,’” Aamir Khan had said at a session at WAVES last month, calling out what he sees as the odd nature of the current film business. “You’re killing your own business.”He’s not wrong, say exhibitors. At a time when footfalls in cinemas have gone down and films fail over a weekend, the theatrical-OTT release model can be what Aamir called “really funny.”“If I tell you – buy a car now, and if you don’t, I’ll deliver it to your home in four weeks...

Why will you come?” he asked. “It’s a very funny business model.”Would longer waits for OTT releases push more viewers to theatres? Not quite. Many moviegoers say it’s the content – not the streaming timeline that drives their decision to buy tickets.‘Extending the window won’t suddenly make me show up for something I’m not interested in’Streaming content being available at all times, and anywhere you want has really altered the relationship between the audience and the movies.

And if a film is not good enough, viewers will simply not go regardless of the gap, say moviegoers.Vishwajeet Singh, who works at a publishing house, says, “After the pandemic, most of us thought maybe there is no need to go back to the cinemas. But eventually, we all returned – for different movies. For some, it was Barbenheimer , for others a film or actor they were waiting for. If I’m unsure about a film and know it’ll be on OTT in a couple of weeks, I’d rather wait and watch it at home.

Extending the window won’t suddenly make me show up for something I’m not interested in.

But if it’s a film I’ve been waiting for, I’ll be there on day one. If I’m looking at the OTT release gap then the film is not good enough for me.”‘Content, not the OTT window, determines moviegoing choices’Moviegoers may agree with Aamir Khan’s sentiment, but moviegoing decisions are a bit more complex. Most viewers aren’t anti-theatre – they’re simply making choices based on effort and payoff.

Streaming platforms haven’t just made watching films convenient, they’ve made it entirely on the viewer’s terms. Movies are always available, skippable, and that has altered viewing patterns.Azrum Hasan, a cinegoer in his early 30s, explains “I decide based on the trailer. Do I feel compelled to spend four hours – commute, parking, tickets on this film? Or should I wait for it to come to OTT? I won’t wait for Top Gun or a Marvel movie or an SRK film.

But if it doesn’t attract me enough why would I go?” Moviegoers say for certain kinds of films, watching in the cinema is a must. For most, though, streaming is enough. Another moviegoer, Devang Maurya, who works at a hotel chain, shares, “It has often happened that when I’m in a cinema hall and a film is boring, I find myself mentally calculating how much time I could’ve saved if I were watching it on OTT.

When a movie is released, I check the OTT release date – unless it’s a film I absolutely can’t miss, I usually don’t go.

If it’s an outing with friends, then the content doesn’t really matter – we just head out and watch whatever is available.”Every movie, regardless of its performance at the box office, should follow the same window, say exhibitors“What Aamir is saying about increasing the gap is music to my ears,” said Ajay Bijli, one of the leading exhibitors, recently. Meanwhile, Raj Bansal, a veteran in the exhibition business, said, “Every movie, regardless of its performance at the box office, should follow the same window. It will allow each film the opportunity to reach its full potential, and allow audiences to trickle in.”

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