Mumbai: India's content business is entering a new phase as tightening margins across television and streaming push creators and production houses to look beyond traditional commissioning models and build and monetize their own intellectual property, with YouTube emerging as a key destination for premium, long-form originals.

Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms partnered with YouTube to launch five long-form fiction shows, following the video-sharing platform's collaboration with Aamir Khan on the 2025 film Sitaare Zameen Par. YouTube is also in talks with other production houses for exclusive programming. Producers see the model as a way to experiment with formats while retaining IP and monetization rights, signalling a broader shift in India's content economy. Applause Entertainment and Swastik Productions also launched YouTube-led offerings.

Balaji Telefilms' tieup with YouTube is an early example of this shift. The companies are launching five premium original shows spanning 200 episodes, including Haq Se Season 2, Phir Pyar Ki Yeh Kahani Suno and Kehne Ko Humsafar Hai Season 4, with other projects under development.

The slate will be produced in 4K and made available globally. Kapoor will lead the creative vision and retain ownership of the IP, while YouTube will provide global distribution and monetization pathways through advertising and brand deals.

The partnership comes as producers increasingly look to own and build IPs rather than produce shows purely on a commissioned basis. Kapoor said the move addresses a gap between linear television and premium subscription platforms.

"Television is now catering to the older, immobile family viewer and the subscription-led apps cater to a very niche audience and a very high-paying audience which young Indians maybe sometimes can't afford," Kapoor told ET. Building fiction while owning the IP is the "need of the hour" and gives her greater risk-taking ability in storytelling, she said.

YouTube's growing presence on connected television is central to that opportunity. The platform has more than 75 million adults watching YouTube on connected TV in India, according to YouTube India managing director Gunjan Soni. The scale of connected TV is creating opportunities well beyond a single content category, Soni said.

"Connected TVs themselves have scale. When you already have 75 million-plus adults watching on the larger screen, it is creating opportunities for different players across different verticals," Soni said.

Audiences increasingly want the "best of both worlds" - on-demand viewing and premium content on larger screens, she said. Her comments point to connected TV becoming an increasingly important distribution layer for premium, long-form content.

The shift is also visible among established television personalities. Shekhar Suman, who previously hosted the talk show Movers and Shakers, has taken his new show, Shekhar Tonite, to YouTube.

"YouTube allowed us to speak directly to the audience without being restricted by time slots, programming formulas or the pressure to shape every conversation around conventional ratings," Suman said.