Lumikai Report Reveals India's Digital Shift From A B C to A B C D E F G: Interactive Media Economy Crosses New Milestones at Insignia 2025

VMPL

New Delhi [India], November 5: India's entertainment economy has undergone one of the fastest cultural monetisation shifts globally. Where the country once paid primarily for three traditional pillars -- Astrology, Bollywood and Cricket -- the digital revolution has expanded consumer willingness to pay across seven categories: Astrology, Bollywood (OTT), Cricket (gaming), Dating and Devotion platforms, Education apps and AI tutors, Fandom and creator-driven live streaming, and Gaming. This evolution from A-B-C to A-B-C-D-E-F-G marks a defining moment in India's consumer internet landscape.

This transformation was highlighted today at Lumikai Insignia 2025, India's flagship summit for the interactive media, digital platforms, and gaming ecosystem. The event saw the launch of "Swipe Before Type - How Indians Watch. Listen. Play. Pay.", Lumikai's annual consumer intelligence report decoding behaviour shifts across video, gaming, social, live streaming, AI-based platforms and emerging content formats.

Over 100 senior leaders, founders, policymakers and global operators gathered at the summit, with representation from Amazon Prime Video, Spotify, JioStar, Intel, AMD, Stillfront, MTG, Mihira Visual Lab, and Oxmiq Labs, alongside influential Indian founders and the policy community. The discussions centered on the evolution of India's digital audiences from passive viewers to interactive participants, the deepening monetisation culture and the country's expanding role in global media and technology value chains.

The New Indian Digital Consumer

The report draws on primary research from nearly 3,000 mobile-first users, providing one of the most comprehensive views of India's interactive media consumer. It highlights a young, internet-savvy audience increasingly comfortable paying for digital services. Almost half of respondents were women, with a meaningful rise in adoption among non-metro users, who now represent more than two-thirds of the digital consumption base. Over 80 percent of consumers reported using more than 1GB of data daily, while a decisive majority prefers digital payments through UPI.

The willingness to pay has emerged as a defining shift. Forty percent of surveyed users maintain at least three active digital subscriptions, and more than half download a new mobile app every week. The study finds that recurring payments, once a hesitation point for Indian users, are now mainstream, with more than one-fifth opting for UPI autopay. This reinforces that India is not only consuming online content at scale but is also willing to transact frequently and habitually for premium experiences.

Attention Drives Revenue

India's screen time dynamics reflect a blend of global trends and uniquely domestic behaviours. Social platforms continue to dominate attention, followed by ad-supported video, OTT services and gaming. However, the nature of participation has shifted significantly from passive scrolling to active engagement, discovery and micro-transactions. Regional behavioural patterns are sharply distinct: southern markets lead gaming engagement, the north leans towards passive social consumption, western markets show balanced usage across interactive platforms, and eastern consumers favour ad-supported video.

Spending patterns correlate closely with platform category and ticket size. Higher-value transactions above ₹1,000 remain concentrated in gaming, underscoring its dominance in discretionary spending. At mid-range price points, premium video and interactive social platforms see strong wallet share, while audio leads in smaller recurring spends. The willingness to pay for entertainment access, personalisation and ad-free experiences cuts across categories, reaffirming India's readiness for scale in subscription and hybrid monetisation models.

Streaming, Social and Audio Enter Paid Growth Phase

Video streaming in India has transitioned decisively into a paid era. A majority of respondents reported paying for premium video content, either via monthly subscriptions, annual plans or telecom bundles. Short-form video remains the largest consumption format, while microdramas and spiritual content are emerging as sticky engagement categories. Seasonal sports access continues to drive spikes in platform adoption and payment activity.

Social platforms have rapidly become monetisation engines in their own right. Subscriptions for enhanced access, virtual gifting, creator commerce and in-app purchases are fuelling new revenue streams. Users today spend nearly 10 hours a week on social platforms, driven not only by entertainment but also by community, creator interaction and spiritual engagement. Astrology apps have become mainstream, with a third of respondents using them regularly, reflecting cultural continuity within a digital-first lifestyle.

Audio, once treated as niche, has broken into the mainstream digital wallet. With podcasts and audiobooks accelerating in popularity, more than one-third of users now pay for premium audio content monthly -- signalling maturation of a category long believed to lag behind video and gaming.

Gaming Goes Mass-Market and Multi-Device

Gaming remains India's standout digital success story. The report notes rising participation from women and non-metro audiences, with adoption extending beyond smartphones to gaming-capable PCs and consoles. Users typically play multiple titles concurrently, driven by social interaction, relaxation and habit loops. As real-money gaming and fantasy sports normalise from earlier peaks, casual and mid-core games have emerged as the core of India's gaming economy.

Crucially, gaming is becoming a fast-converting paid category. A third of gamers transact in-game, more than half make their first purchase within a week of installing a title, and a growing segment pays weekly. UPI powers the overwhelming majority of in-game payments, reinforcing India's friction-free digital commerce infrastructure.

New Cultural Frontiers: Anime, Micro-Drama and AI

The report highlights three rapidly growing cultural waves. Anime consumption is becoming mainstream, particularly among metro OTT audiences, with global franchises ranking among the most-watched narrative formats. Microdramas are reshaping storytelling for mobile-native viewers, delivering bite-sized emotions and engagement. AI, meanwhile, is entering everyday routines, with adoption rates in metros 2.5 times higher than in non-metros, and early traction seen in companionship, learning, productivity and creative assistance.

Leader Perspectives and Policy Lens

Industry leaders at Insignia 2025 discussed how India's entertainment ecosystem is moving from scale-at-all-costs to revenue-rich models. Panels explored India's role in global media IP creation, the next wave of gaming growth, platform M&A roadmaps and the government's role in shaping India as a design and AI leader. Emphasis was placed on developing world-class creative talent, enabling responsible innovation and strengthening India's competitiveness in digital media and future technologies.

Lumikai Leadership Commentary

Salone Sehgal, Founder & Managing Partner, Lumikai, noted that India's digital playbook cannot simply replicate global blueprints. "India has moved from three offline paid cultural pillars to seven digital monetisation categories in just five years. Understanding regional behaviours, cultural nuance and interactive consumption patterns is no longer optional -- it is fundamental to building for India and from India."

Aditya Deshpande, VP - Investments, added, "The data signals a market that is not only consuming but paying, experimenting and evolving. These are mainstream behaviours, not edge cases. This is India's interactive media decade."

About the Report

"Swipe Before Type - How Indians Watch. Listen. Play. Pay." is based on primary research across nearly 3,000 mobile users and supported by sectoral analytics. It provides category-level insights designed for product teams, startups, investors and policy stakeholders shaping the digital ecosystem. The full report is available upon request.

About Lumikai

Lumikai is India's first dedicated interactive media and gaming venture capital fund, investing at the intersection of technology, culture and entertainment. Its portfolio includes leading companies across live social entertainment, gaming, AR/VR, AI-driven learning and interactive audio. The fund aims to catalyse India's emergence as a global hub for future-forward media innovation.

More information: lumikai.com

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