As OTTs spawn family shows, is TV at the losing end?

Streaming platforms are increasingly commissioning family comedies and dramas once associated with television, using higher budgets and flexible formats.

Open up a streaming app in India today, and you might well come across a family comedy that could have easily been on television (TV). The platforms are making more of them and spending considerably more on each episode than most channels would.

Netflix's Chumbak came out in September from the same team that did TV hits Khichdi and Sarabhai vs Sarabhai. Prime Video had already had Happy Family: Conditions Apply from the same team.

The timing is critical as TV is actually making less and less money every year. Traditional TV revenue was down 9.2% in 2025 (fourth year in a row of decline), according to the Ficci-EY 2026 report. Video subscription revenue, on the other hand, was up 61% to ₹14,800 crore in the same year.

Whether that makes TV the loser is debatable. Some executives point to the format rather than the story as the reason these shows have moved to streaming. Others say the audience is going to the story on a different screen.

"Several recent OTT shows could comfortably have worked on television from a storytelling perspective, but longer episode lengths, unrestricted content tone and flexible ad-free budgets made OTT a better fit," said Rajesh Sethi, partner and leader - media, entertainment and sports, PwC India. He said it is often TV's ad-driven model and censorship rules, not the story, that keep such shows off the channel.

There are also clear structural advantages to distributing such content on OTT, according to Chandrashekhar Mantha, partner and media and entertainment leader, Deloitte India. A show can have a global release, potentially reach a significantly wider audience, benefit from digital-first monetisation models and offer viewers the convenience of on-demand, anytime viewing. As digital consumption continues to grow, these advantages make OTT an increasingly attractive home for formats that were once considered television territory primarily.

Room to experiment

"Crime or dark content was OTT's differentiator when viewing was solo and phone-first; now that OTT viewing looks like TV viewing with families and big screens, platforms are borrowing TV's oldest genre and its veteran writers, while keeping OTT's shorter, freer format," said Bhavesh Joshi, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of MovieMe.

OTT has created a strong new space for family dramas and emotionally driven narratives, agreed Mautik Tolia, managing director and CEO, Bodhi Tree Multimedia Ltd, allowing these familiar storytelling formats to connect with audiences in fresh and more flexible ways. The difference is that OTT gives creators an expanded canvas to develop stories with greater depth and detail, Tolia added. Narratives can be structured around defined arcs, allowing more focus on writing, performances, production design and technical execution.

"There are certainly OTT shows today whose characters, themes and storytelling grammar could have worked on television, particularly family comedies, relationship-driven stories and long-running narratives," agreed Sanjay Dwivedi, group CEO and chief financial officer (CFO), Balaji Telefilms. He said streaming lets creators experiment with formats, episode lengths and subjects that TV schedules may not fit.

To be sure, many also believe it's the medium of consumption that's changing, not the format itself. Audiences continue to engage with the same emotionally driven, character-led storytelling they always have -- what's shifting is which screen they choose and, increasingly, which content choices they make on that screen.

Good stories travel

Rakesh C.K., head, Sun Nxt, said it's about the same storytelling instincts finding the right home for each story and each audience. "TV will keep doing what it does best: broad, universal, appointment-viewing narratives built for a mass audience, every day. OTT's advantage is structural flexibility -- it can house a niche limited series and a long-running show side by side, and let audience response, not a programming grid, decide what succeeds," he said. The smart move is not to pick a side but to match each story to the right format and audience, and do both well, he added.

People stay drawn to stories that feel close to home and connect with what everyday life brings, agreed Arpit Mankar, head of non-Bollywood category - Shemaroo Entertainment. "The shift in viewership from TV to OTT has been driven by many factors: social media content, creator-led content, OTT stories, short video formats on social media and the rise of high-speed internet access," he said. TV-style streaming shows aren't drawing viewers from TV, he said, adding that the shift began after the pandemic and that they are helping streaming reach new demographics and regions.

Agreeing that streaming has become far more mainstream in India, and Connected TV has brought OTT back into the living room, Vishal Prabhu, creative director - strategy, White Rivers Media, said platforms are consciously broadening their programming mix. They want the reach and habit that television has traditionally enjoyed, while retaining the flexibility, personalisation and measurement that digital offers.

"Audiences ultimately respond to good content regardless of where it is distributed," said Aakash Dasgupta, director and head of IT, ReelDrama. Television offers reach and a family-viewing habit, while streaming offers choice and niche targeting, so as the two converge, creators can make stories that travel across both, he said.