The influence of over the top (OTT) streaming services is growing rapidly worldwide. In this way, Paramount Global has signed a contract with Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the producers of the famous animated series 'South Park', for 1.5 billion US dollars.

The five-year deal will give Paramount Plus global streaming rights to South Park's library of all 27 seasons. Earlier, the show was available on HBO Max. According to the

agreement, 10 new episodes will be produced annually. The company believes that this will strengthen the grip of Paramount Plus in the competitive market. The deal is seen as a strategic move to compete with streaming giants like Netflix and Disney Plus.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Paramount offered to co-license the series to HBO Max and its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. However, after negotiations failed, Paramount decided to acquire the streaming rights individually.

The Wall Street Journal has mentioned that the global OTT market size will reach about 343 billion dollars in 2025. It is estimated to reach 466 billion dollars by 2030. Its annual growth rate (CAGR) is projected to be 6.3 percent. In the last three financial years, the revenue and customer base of OTT platforms have been continuously increasing.

The world's biggest streaming platforms including Netflix, Amazon, Prime Video, Disney Plus, HBO Max, and Paramount are adopting strategies to attract viewers to their platforms by spending billions of dollars. After the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of OTT platforms increased significantly.

When movie halls were closed, the audience's attraction to digital media was cut. According to Statista, the number of OTT users worldwide in 2020 was around 2 billion. Estimated to reach 3.5 billion by 2025, there are a total of 8 billion people in the world. 

With the expansion of internet access, smartphones are becoming more accessible and viewers are getting used to the attractive content of OTT, so the OTT market is being analyzed. On the contrary, the clientele of traditional means of entertainment seems to be decreasing gradually. By 2024, less than 60 percent of US households had access to traditional pay-TV and cinema services, while streaming platforms accounted for 44.8 percent of US TV usage. The growth of the

OTT service market is also interpreted as a sign of cultural change. OTT services have also become popular due to the feature of 'binge-watching' and viewing on more than one device.

OTT services are investing aggressively in creating original content and providing AI-based user experiences. For example, Netflix spent $12 billion on content production in 2023. Earnings of $10.55 billion in the first quarter of 2025 achieved an annual growth rate of 13 percent.

Amazon Prime Video has 180 million viewers. By 2027, this number is expected to increase to 250 million. Disney Plus, which has experienced some ups and downs recently, has also managed to retain 124 million subscribers. In fiscal year 2024, it had earned $10.4 billion.

AVOD (ad-supported video on demand) and FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) services are expected to grow at a rate of 13.4 percent. Average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to reach $860.73 by 2025.

The leading companies in the OTT market are dominating the world entertainment sector. Netflix has 301.6 million subscribers. Its market share in the US is 44.2 percent. Amazon Prime Video and Max (HBO Max) have a market share of 22 and 14 percent, respectively. Disney Plus and Hulu share 11 and 10 percent, while Apple TV Plus, Peacock and Paramount Plus are in the lead. A part of the growing global influence of

OTT platforms can also be estimated from the increasing audience of such platforms in Nepal. The growing reach of Saharia in OTT platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. is also proven by the advertisements found scattered across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok. Advertisements of these platforms, which do not have a special Nepal market, can be seen on social media, offering services to users from a few hundred to a thousand rupees by taking the services of a third party.