Abstract

 The Indian television industry is transforming via an increasing number of OTT platforms. This shift from broadcast to OTT has given rise to research assessing the impact on the television ecosystem. With the case of Balaji Telefilms, an Indian media company, this study examines how the emergence of OTT platforms has affected the power dynamics in the television ecosphere. This study employs the Critical Political Economy framework to address the question: How do television-based media conglomerates – and by extension, television itself – negotiate the challenge of Internet-based digital media? Keeping the focus on Original Web Series, this study analyzes the transition from Balaji Telefilms to ALTBalaji, its corresponding OTT platform. I, however, argue that the Political Economy of Communication holds its ground in spite of the apparently disruptive promise of web-based platforms. Despite the Internet posing new challenges in terms of distribution networks, legacy media companies find a way to convert their prominence in the television industry into the OTT space.