Special Ops Season 2 Dominates India's Streaming Landscape in 2025
In a transformative year for India's digital entertainment sector, 'Special Ops' Season 2 has been officially recognized as the most-watched streaming original of 2025, according to the comprehensive annual audience report released by Ormax Media. This achievement marks a significant milestone in the fiercely competitive over-the-top (OTT) market, where platforms are vying for viewer attention with diverse content offerings.
Record-Breaking Viewership for Espionage Thriller
The second season of the gripping espionage thriller, developed by Friday Storytellers and exclusively available on JioHotstar, captivated an estimated 29.6 million viewers throughout 2025. This remarkable viewership figure solidifies its position as the year's most popular original series, demonstrating the growing appetite among Indian audiences for high-quality, locally produced spy dramas that resonate with contemporary storytelling sensibilities.
JioHotstar's Strategic Dominance in Streaming Wars
JioHotstar's triumph with 'Special Ops' Season 2 is part of a broader pattern of success in the streaming arena. The platform secured an impressive three positions in the top 10 and four out of the top 11 most-watched streaming originals, highlighting its expanding influence in the Hindi-language streaming market. This strategic positioning reflects substantial content investments and effective audience engagement across multiple genres.
Following closely behind 'Special Ops' was JioHotstar's legal drama 'Criminal Justice: A Family Matter', a collaborative production from Applause Entertainment and BBC Studios India, which captured significant viewership to secure the second spot on the annual rankings.
Platform Diversity and Content Variety Across OTT Landscape
While JioHotstar claimed several top positions, Netflix demonstrated remarkable breadth with 20 entries in the Top 50 most-watched streaming originals for 2025. This achievement underscores Netflix's continued appeal through its extensive catalogue that blends compelling Indian originals with popular international series like 'Squid Game' Season 3 and 'Stranger Things' Season 5.
Amazon Prime Video also delivered strong performances with marquee titles including 'The Family Man' Season 3 and 'Panchayat' Season 4 ranking within the top five. The platform further reinforced its connection with Indian audiences through successful releases like 'Paatal Lok' Season 2, emphasizing the sustained demand for authentic homegrown narratives and character-driven storytelling across web series formats.
Meanwhile, Amazon MX Player demonstrated the growing strength of ad-supported platforms with 'Ek Badnaam Aashram' Season 3 Part 2 securing the third position in the overall rankings.
Beyond Scripted Drama: Reality and Animated Content Shine
The 2025 streaming landscape extended beyond traditional scripted content, with reality programming and animated series capturing substantial viewer attention. JioHotstar's 'Bigg Boss' (Hindi) Season 19 maintained significant viewership, while animated adventures like 'The Legend of Hanuman' Season 6 appealed broadly to family audiences. Other notable entries included youth-oriented series such as 'Chidiya Udd' and mystery content like 'Bhay: The Gaurav Tiwari Mystery'.
Platforms like SonyLIV contributed to content diversity with successful releases including 'Maharani' Season 4 and 'Shark Tank India' Season 4, illustrating how varied programming types are finding receptive audiences within India's rapidly expanding OTT ecosystem.
Industry Insights: Maturing Market and Audience Preferences
Industry analysts interpret the 2025 streaming results as evidence of a maturing digital entertainment market where audience behavior increasingly prioritizes quality storytelling, strong character development, and easily accessible content across multiple languages and platforms. Weekly reports throughout the year consistently showed 'Special Ops' Season 2 maintaining top positions even amidst new content releases, indicating exceptional viewer retention and sustained engagement.
The success of 'Special Ops' Season 2 exemplifies how locally produced content can achieve dominance within a globalized content ecosystem, while Netflix's extensive reach and diverse high-performing titles reinforce its continued leadership across various formats and audience segments. This dynamic landscape suggests ongoing evolution in how Indian viewers consume digital entertainment, with quality and accessibility becoming increasingly important factors in content selection.
