With Comicstaan, audiences have witnessed a shift in comedy shows from television to OTT platform.
Comicstaan brings together seven of India's best comedians featuring Tanmay Bhat, Kenny Sebastian, Sapan Verma, Naveen Richard, Kaneez Surkha, Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyan Rath.
There was a time when almost every TV channel had some or the other comedy show, and stand-up comedy as a genre was fast picking but they seem to be lesser in numbers now
While talking about the same Kenny Sabastian shares, "I am not an avid follower of television but the young audience (15-35) is no longer watching television. Television is still a stronghold for regional content but for mainstream urban audiences, they have migrated to YouTube and online platforms like Amazon Prime Video. Comedy is also essentially a very honest form of entertainment that relies on satire which regulated markets like TV restricts. It also attracts the same younger audiences that don't gravitate towards dated TV programmes. It's not surprising to see 10-20 million views on a single video on YouTube which is substantial and only growing".
He further adds, "TV is very restrictive while the internet (for now in India) isn't as controlling. Comedy being such an honest medium needs that kind of supportive platform. The audience (urban young audience from age 15-35) also has long discarded conventional television and prefer the convenience and variety that digital platforms provide.
Sapan Verma who's currently seen as a judge on Comicstaan also shares, "I think it's got to do with the fact that there's so much more comedy content available on the internet now. It wasn't there ten years ago. Plus it's uncensored and honest. There's political humour, social satire, observational humour, musical comedy - everything is available on online platforms like YouTube and Amazon Prime Video. TV comedy shows were fantastic a decade ago but they didn't really evolve much over the years. A lot has got to do with censorship and the limitations of TV. So when the audience can get more options and more relatable comedy on the internet, they wouldn't watch TV as much".
'Comicstaan' will be available exclusively to Prime members across 200 countries and territories.
Produced by Only Much Louder (OML) and hosted by ace comedians Abish Mathew and Sumukhi Suresh, Comicstaan is a talent hunt to discover India's next big comedic talent.
Amazon Prime Video has the largest selection of latest exclusive movies and TV shows, stand-up comedy, biggest Indian and Hollywood films, US TV series, most popular Indian international kids' shows, and award-winning Amazon Prime Originals, all available, ad-free, with a world-class customer experience.