New Delhi, Dec. 1 -- India's video-streaming platforms are beginning to value deeper, higher-quality viewer engagement, with watch time and total minutes viewed becoming core indicators amid plateauing paid subscriptions.

As monetization gets trickier, over-the-top (OTT) content platforms are also working to earn more from each subscriber-without raising subscription prices-by blocking password sharing, as Netflix has done, and by introducing cheaper advertising-supported video-on-demand plans, like Amazon Prime Video.

"For us, watch time and user engagement are as important as subscription numbers. Without strong engagement, subscriber growth is shallow and eventually leads to churn. Users stay only if they find compelling, consistent ...