OTT platform Netflix celebrated its tenth anniversary in India on January 6 this year. India is proving to be an opportunity for the company to earn money. India has become Netflix’s biggest market outside the US. In the last five years, the company’s profit has increased from ₹20 lakh to ₹85 crore. No other OTT platform in India has even achieved this level of profit, leave alone becoming profitable.
Despite being more expensive than other OTT services, Netflix has garnered nearly 20 million subscribers in India, and content has played a key role in this success. There are two women behind this success: Bela Bajaria and Monica Shergill.
Bella Bajaria: Former Miss India USA and Miss India Worldwide
A former Miss India USA and Miss India Worldwide (1991), Bella is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of Netflix. She has been with the company since 2016 and will take over as CCO from January 2023. He is responsible for the overall planning of the content shown on Netflix.
He has the power to spend ₹1.5 lakh crore.
Bajaria’s annual budget is $18 billion (about ₹1.5 lakh crore), in which they create content in 190 countries in 50 languages. Fortune Magazine calls Bajaria the “Queen of Streaming”.
Bela’s parents are of Indian origin. She was born in London and grew up in India, Africa, England, and the United States. In 1979, when she was nine years old, her parents moved from Zambia to Los Angeles. There he opened a car cleaning workshop. Bela also worked as a cashier in the workshop on Saturdays and Sundays.
After graduating from college in 1995, she began working as an assistant at CBS. Her work was so excellent that when a company executive left the job, Bella was offered the position.
Before working at Netflix, Bella was the President of Universal Television. Time magazine included him in the list of 100 most powerful people in 2022. She has been included in the list of Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women for five consecutive years. He has served on the boards of many well-known companies.
Monica Shergill: From correspondent to vice president
Monica Shergill studied from Miranda House, Delhi. He did BA (Hons) in English in 1995. Then he started working as a correspondent and producer. She has been with Netflix for seven years and is currently the Vice President (Content), Netflix India. Monica looks after Bela’s work in India. Monica Shergill leads Netflix’s entire content library (movies, series and unscripted shows) in India.
Netflix still has a lot of potential in India
Netflix sees a lot of potential in India. According to the latest Global Entertainment and Media Outlook report by PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), the total revenue of the OTT market in India was $2.3 billion in 2024. It is projected to reach $3.5 billion in 2029.
