The Most Watched OTT Series of 2024 Is...

Non-fiction continues to grow with the most-watched unscripted show, Bigg Boss OTT S3 getting more than half the viewership that Panchayat (S3) got.

IMAGE: Neena Gupta, Faisal Malik, Jitendra Joshi and Chandan Roy in Panchayat Season 3.

The third season of Amazon Prime Video's Panchayat, Heeramandi (Netflix) and Indian Police Force (Prime) are the three most-watched original streaming shows in Hindi.

IMAGE: Sara Ali Khan in Murder Mubarak.

Amar Singh Chamkila, Murder Mubarak (both Netflix) and Ae Watan Mere Watan (Prime Video) are the three most-watched original Hindi films on streaming.

IMAGE: A scene from B&B: Bujji and Bhairava.

B&B: Bujji and Bhairava (Prime), 90s A middle-class biopic (ETV Win) and Ms Perfect (Disney+Hotstar) are on the list for the most watched Telugu shows/films.

IMAGE: Deepika Venkatachalam, Ashwini Aanandita and Raj Ayyappa in Uppu Puuli Kaaram.

Inspector Rishi (Prime), Heartbeat, Uppu Puuli Kaaram (Disney+Hotstar) top the list in Tamil.

IMAGE: Aditi Rao Hydari, Pratibha Ranta, Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjeeda Sheikh and Richa Chadha in Heeramandi.

That and more is what Ormax Media's Streaming originals in India -- Mid Year Review -- reveals.

The report looks at the top original shows and films released from January to June 2024 on three parameters: viewership, marketing buzz, and content strength.

Viewership is estimated using primary research conducted among audiences across India at a weekly level, projected to the OTT universe.

This adds up to about 60,000 people in a year, says Shailesh Kapoor, CEO, Ormax Media. This is a jump of 20,000 as the Telugu and Tamil markets was added this year.

IMAGE: Anil Kapoor in Bigg Boss OTT S3.

The lists of the most liked shows or the ones with more buzz differ somewhat but the essential trend remains the same.

For instance, though Heermandi is number three in the list of most-watched shows, it slips to number eight in the list of most-liked shows.

Non-fiction continues to grow with the most-watched unscripted show, Bigg Boss OTT S3 getting more than half the viewership that Panchayat (S3) got.

IMAGE: Raashii Khanna and Shahid Kapoor in Farzi.

The worrying part for storytellers and studios is the decline in fiction.

The most watched fiction shows this year have lesser viewership compared to the most watched in 2023.

The most-watched Hindi original in 2023, Farzi (Amazon Prime Video) was watched by 37.1 million people.

Panchayat S3 was watched by 28.2 million people. This, despite a larger sample capturing the data.