TVF’s 2025 playbook: Regional shows, movies, and an interconnected universe of stories

The Viral Fever, or TVF, known for hit shows like Panchayat and Aspirants, is expanding into Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and Bengali content while also making its theatrical debut with a Hindi movie called Vvan–Force of the Forest.

Having launched regional language shows such as Sivarapalli (in Telugu) and Shanti Kranti (in Marathi), TVF has identified the four Indian languages as key growth areas given their dominance in television viewership and advertising revenues, according to Vijay Koshy, president of TVF.

“Regional content is a big focus for us. And Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Bengali, are the four languages we have seen command a substantial chunk of the viewership and advertising pie in broadcast television,” said Koshy. 

TVF’s bigger ambition: to explore spin-offs and crossovers between films and television shows, creating an interconnected universe. Vvan, a Sidharth Malhotra-starrer co-produced by Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Motion Pictures at an estimated budget of ₹40-50 crore, is a step in that direction.

According to media consulting firm Ormax, the third season of TVF’s Panchayat was the second most-watched Hindi web series in 2024, with a viewership of 28.2 million, behind Mirzapur season three produced by Excel Entertainment.

TVF’s third season of Kota Factory with a viewership of 15.8 million and its fourth season of Gullak with a viewership of 12.1 million also figured in Ormax’s top 15 Hindi web series of 2024. 

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Koshy said eight of TVF’s properties have completed four seasons—a rare feat for an industry that is seeing video-streaming platforms reduce their budgets and trim commissioning. 

After launching 14 shows in 2024, TVS plans to release 20 shows this year. It is currently working on the fourth season of Panchayat, the fifth season of Gullak, the third season of Aspirants, the second seasons of Half CA, and a new show called Gram Chikitsalaya.

Most Indian shows streamed on platforms like Amazon and Netflix do not go beyond two or three seasons. Besides, video-streaming platforms are reducing their budgets as paid subscriptions plateau and digital advertising is yet to take off.

“There is a slowdown. The number of platforms has come down. There has been a lull for 12 months in terms of acquisitions,” Koshy said. “But our calendar is largely covered for the next 18 months. We have enough shows going into multiple seasons. Even platforms prefer doing long-term deals with us where both parties’ interests are protected.”

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TVS’ focus on IPs

While TVF enjoyed an early-mover advantage in India’s digital content creation space, it now competes with mainstream Bollywood studios such as Karan Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment, Farhan Akhtar-owned Excel Entertainment, and companies such as Banijay Asia and Abundantia Entertainment.

Which is why collaborations with streaming platforms can help, particularly for high-production-value projects that require greater investments, acknowledged Koshy.

Even so, TVF ensures that it retains its intellectual property (IP) rights by entering into licensing models with video streaming platforms—a departure from industry norms, where streaming platforms typically own content rights. 

The licensing model allows for a show to be hosted on the video streaming platform for a certain number of years while newer seasons can be renewed on a mutually agreed price. If a platform doesn’t want another season of a show, the property can move to a different service. For instance, Tripling, a show that debuted on SonyLIV, eventually moved to ZEE5.

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“We are very clear the IP is ours,” said Koshy.

“The other thing we bring to the table is our marketing ability—we have a 50 million subscriber base across our social media platforms and four YouTube channels and are able to activate our customer base for a show that launches on any of these OTTs (over-the-top, or video streaming platforms),” Koshy said. “Platforms have realised we have a community of our own and adjusted their standard operating procedure to accommodate the TVF studio.”

TVF also continues to invest heavily on YouTube content, which isn’t surprising. 

Of 25 major shows developed by TVF, 17 debuted on YouTube, including hits like Pitchers, Permanent Roommates, and Aspirants, according to Koshy. Kota Factory originally launched on YouTube before it was picked up by Netflix.