Streaming beats TV, and Telugu cinema gets a seat
MPA estimates online video took 46% of India’s content investment in 2025, but the public data stops short of saying what Telugu cinema received.
Online video accounted for an estimated 46% of India’s content investment in 2025, but the Telugu-specific share remains undisclosed.
Streaming has overtaken television in India’s content-investment split, according to Media Partners Asia. Its estimate puts online video at 46% in 2025, ahead of television’s 42%. The remaining share is not explained in the public material, because apparently even percentages now need a plot twist.
MPA also estimates that Indian users streamed 420 billion hours of online video in 2025, while India’s box office reached US$1.41 billion. Across seven Asian markets, it puts total video-content investment at US$14.8 billion in 2025 and about US$15.1 billion in 2026, describing the shift as money being “reallocated, not cut”.
That is relevant to Telugu cinema, but only up to a point. MPA says capital is moving towards streaming and local film, and that local stories are performing at the box office. It does not publish, in the material reviewed, a Telugu-specific investment share, OTT viewing figure or rights-value estimate. The detailed report and database are available through MPA’s paid service, not openly on its website.
So the headline is a market shift, not a Telugu victory lap. The numbers show where the money is moving; they do not yet say how much reached Hyderabad.