The revolution of the streaming platforms has been one of the prominent discussions across all entertainment industries. While many producers and filmmakers were concerned about their piece of art getting screened on smaller devices, another correction has now knocked on the doors. After Bollywood, many streaming platforms have reduced their acquisition costs by 50-60% across all southern film industries.
The shifting acquisition costs in the south indian films
For the last couple of months, the correction phase has taken over the industries. “Producers of mid-budget southern films had been selling digital rights to streamers by over-quoting their film budgets and pitting one platform against another, even during the shooting period,” the content deal syndicator said, as per the Economic Times report. However, in the previous two to three months, the financial deals have been shifting. “Streaming platforms have reduced their acquisition price of mid-sized southern films by 50-60%”, the report added.
The change in crores
Previously, the films of the A-listers had deals of Rs 100-120 crore, but the cheques have been slashed in half, with the discussions being around Rs 50-60 crore. Moreover, the mid-budget films, which cost around Rs 2.5-30 crores to make, have not only been failing at the box offices, but also on the streaming platforms when subscribers refuse to watch. 2025 films such as ‘Identity’ (Malayalam), ‘Robinhood’ (Telugu), ‘Ekka’ (Kannada), and ‘Gangers’ (Tamil) have significantly failed at the theatres after their releases. “Today, streamers are buying one film from each of the four languages in a month from four from each language earlier,” an analyst from the industry said, adding that the streamer’s original films have also affected the correction. Just like Bollywood, the correction phase has begun in the Southern Indian film industry, where the entire dynamics is played from the demand-supply perspective. Moreover, the streamers are also focusing on sports and other non-film assets.
