Will Audience Flock To Theatres If 8 Weeks OTT Rule Comes?

There are reports that the Telugu film industry is seriously discussing the ‘Mandatory 8 Weeks OTT Window’ rule. A committee will be formed to consult with the Producers Council and Guild. Once a decision is made, all OTT agreements made after a Pre-agreed cut-off date will have to follow the 8-week rule.

This proposal has been around for a long time, but none of the producers have agreed to it since the money from OTT is good. However, in recent times, the OTT market has declined significantly. As if that is not enough, even for big movies, rates are being linked to box office collections. The producers started relying on OTT because the movies are not doing good in theaters. It is irony that the OTTs will give rates only if they play on in theaters.

The rates given even when the films do well in theaters are not also great. We have seen Rajasaab, the producer, say in an interview that he did not get great rates even for Prabhas’ movie. So this time, bringing this rule may be a bit easier.

But now the real question is – will audiences come to theaters like before if the movie doesn’t come on OTT for 8 weeks?

It’s true that the audience are staying away from theaters because of OTT. But then, there is no such thing as audiences flocking to theaters if OTT comes late. Basically, the audience has lost the habit of coming to theaters. Previously, cinema was the only entertainment for the audience. Now there are at least 100 options. If there is nothing else, sitting at home and watching reels on YouTube and Instagram is also an option.

Now everyone is very busy. They are too busy to give their time to a movie for three hours. Even those who sit at home and watch reels have their time very valuable. Even if that means sitting at home and doing nothing, they are still busy.

A very interesting insight from the OTT industry is that if the movie is not good, then the audiences are not watching such movies on OTT either. We need to understand that the audience values their time that much.

Does that mean isn’t cinema really an entertainment option? That’s also an option. But for it to be an option, it has to pass many quality checks. Recently, trends of giving free tickets called Giveaways have started on Twitter. A producer says that some of them are not going to the theatre even after winning tickets. That means even free tickets for some movies are not exciting.

Even if uninteresting movies come to OTT after 8 weeks or even if they come to OTT for 80 weeks, it will not be of much use.

After passing all these, another test for a movie is the theatre ticket rates, Food and Beverages rates in the theatre. If a film excites well, the audience is ready to go to a movie theatre and spend. Previously, Producer Naga Vamsi in an interview asked if audience couldn’t spend 1500. Audience definitely can spend but the question is whether they are ready to spend or not.

If the movie excites, audience are okay to spend. We have seen audiences spending splurging on Premiere Tickets of big films. Otherwise, even if the tickets are given for 99 rupees or free, audience are not ready to watch.

Bottomline is the quality of movies should increase. Audiences are only ready to go to theatres for good movies. The days of taking the audience for granted are gone.

But if we ask, if the 8 Weeks OTT Window Rule is not useful. It maybe useful but not a gamechanger. The audience will watch movies in theaters only if the quality of movies has increased and if such movies are not coming to OTT sooner. Below Average movies will continue to fail no matter when they come to OTT. It is impossible for average movies to come to the theater and give collections like before COVID.