Getting Back to Business, Reveals Media Consumption Pattern
By Pickle May 29, 2020
Share:
In a clear indication that the engines of growth in the Indian economy is on the move, the ninth edition of BARC India-Nielsen joint report has signaled a drop in TV viewership and smart phone consumption in week 20 (May 16-22) compared to increased viewership in previous weeks.
During the same period, gaming, social networking, video conferencing also saw a drop from peak usage (compared to previous weeks), while shopping has begun to revive. The report captures the point that online shopping is on the rise from the smart phone usage behavior.
The overall advertising volume also rose 16 per cent in week 20 as compared to week 18 (May 2-8, 2020)
Going by a latest research report by India’s Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), the total TV viewership recorded 1 trillion viewing minutes in Week 20, is 15 per cent higher than the Pre-COVID period. However, the viewership gradually declined since week 13 (at 43 per cent peak) of the lockdown period.
The smartphone usage has seen a drop, though is still 11 per cent higher versus the pre-COVID period.
From fluctuating TV viewership to more takers for music, movies, news and kids animation, the consumption of media has seen a change, during the lockdown period. The daily TV reach in India continues to be over 600 million.
TV Tally
Going by the amount of time people are spending on television is over 4 hours, which is 7 per cent higher than the pre-COVID period. Interestingly, the total number of channels watched has seen a dip.
Although the amount of time, and number of days people spending on TV watching saw a rise in the entire country, only two states West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh saw a decline in this context, when current data was compared with the pre-COVID times.
An interesting trend appeared that by week 20, non-primetime viewership continued to operate higher, by 47 per cent, than pre-COVID levels, whereas, primetime viewership was 13 per cent lower than pre-COVID levels, owing to no original programming.
With shooting being halted, no new episodes are being aired with GEC telecasting the older episodes.
Viewership of mythology programming has also increased during the period. The trend also created history when epic and older shows like Ramayana fetched record-breaking TRPs for Doordarshan, which otherwise has massively low viewership, in pre-COVID times.
The report also stated that the consumption of Hindi as a language has grown, with mythology driving the growth — thanks to the re-runs of classic shows like “Ramayan”, “Sri Krishna” and “Mahabharat”. This week, the Hindi GEC attained an all time high viewership of four billion since 2015 in HSM (Hindi Speaking Market) Urban.
Another trend that was spotted was the comeback of English movies. English movies has shown an 83 per cent growth in the lockdown period.
OTT Overview
When it comes to OTT, the disruption caused by COVID-19 gave a big fillip to OTT platforms. While the web series kept the audience glued, the top content picked by the audience includes fiction, thriller, history, news, supernatural, and mythology.
According to the report the average time spent watching linear TV in India is 1 hour and 34 minutes, and online TV on a typical day is 1 hour and 31 minutes.
Netflix engagement over the past year in India, increased by 14 per cent points to 58 per cent. It is further strengthening its position by widening its Indian slate, and getting Bollywood biggies like Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Anushka Sharma on board.
“India’s streaming market is one of the biggest and fastest-growing in the world, and at the same time, one of the most resistant to penetration from global players,” the report said.
“The country’s video market is valued at over $700 million and is expected to grow to $2.4 billion in value by 2023, with the over-the-top (OTT) industry projected to be with the highest growth rate,” it explained.
Popular movies like Thappad and Angrezi Medium being released on this platform, following the closure of theatres, also pulled in major audience.
Advertising Arena
Advertising volume has dropped by 23% than pre-COVID time period. Going by figures, brand/ variants count was up by 5 per cent in week 20 with new brands increasing by 14 per cent in the same period. With summers setting in, Soft Drinks and Air Coolers have increased the levels of advertising the most.
Companies that increased their expenditure on ads included BYJU’s app, Amazon, Reliance, Nature Fresh, Asian paints, Airtel, India Gate rice, Netflix, Dell, among others.
Smartphone Surge
According to the BARC report, by the 20thweek of the lockdown, however, saw the highest spike in daily time spent on smartphones—at 11 per cent, in India when compared to the pre-COVID period.
Users now spend an average of 3 hours 43 minutes on their smart phones per day, while the per-day per-user data consumption has grown by 21 per cent.
This growth is driven by metros that have alone witnessed a 19 per cent rise in time spent on smartphones per user per week.
Data collated from select VoD (video on demand) services such as Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, MX Player, Netflix, VOOT and ZEE5 shows that top movies viewed on smartphones in India in week seven (in terms of time spent on a content aggregated across all users who watched it) are Irrfan Khan-starrer Angrezi Medium on Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix original Extraction and Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Bala.
Highlights
INDIA’S FLAGSHIP FILM FESTIVAL TURNS 50
Indian Cinema’s Steady Rise on Global Stage
FDI cap of 26% for News Aggregators Under Consideration
India Unbound
20 Films That Make us Believe Freedom is Priceless
Krishna Janmashtami Special
National Education Policy: Game Changer
18 Must-See Films at Venice 2020
Ayushmann Turns Athlete
Indian Trio in Venice
Blockchain: The Future is Now
Not right time to open cinema halls: Ravi Kottarakara
Meet, ERICA. AI Actor in a SCI-FI Film
Vidya Balan Set to Shine as Shakuntala Devi
Straight Answers From Alexander Shulgin
Content is king for Saregama’s Yoodlee
Nuggets From Animation Thought Leaders
NYIFF Takes Virtual Route
From The Heart Of Disney
New Model of Filmmaking in India
My Journey: How I Did It
Animation in the Age of Art & Tech
Gaurav Banerjee: Star Unveiled
The Changemaker
COVID-19 has Accelerated Digital Shift Towards Across Sectors
No Business as Usual for Film Industry
What’s Wrong With our News Media Today ?
The Fire Inside Regina
Gaming Industry Braves Covid
Disney +Hotstar Leads the Disruption
Taapsee’s takes on OTT, Nepotism & Covid
Oscar Invites QUBE’s Senthil Kumar to be its Member at Large
What’s New Search Engine Neeva Can Do That Google Cannot?
The New Oscar Award Date April 25, 2021
India to Offer Incentive Package for Film Shoots and Co-Production
Strings of Genius
A Ray That Still Lights The Way
Best of the Cannes Official Selection 2020 Films
Most Awaited Films of India
56 Films: Cannes Reveals 2020 Lineup
The Making of Cannes 2020 Film Selection Process
Cannes Virtual Film Market Extends Earlybird Registration to June 12
Take a Look at Annecy Competition Lineup
Getting Back to Business, Reveals Media Consumption Pattern
Cannes 2020 to Announce Festival Selection Lineup on June 3
20 Work in Progress Tiltles Unveiled for Goes to Cannes
Annecy VR Works Selections for Digital MIFA Market
Film Bazaar’s Work in Progress Films from India Goes to Cannes Virtual Market
Navigating Virtual Cannes Film Market 2020
Meet the Streamers: HBO Max & Quibi Keynotes at Cannes Virtual Film Market
Dedicated Cannes XR Virtual Edition from June 24-26
Screen Moms; Best Movies to Stream on Mother’s Day
Vijay Deverakonda: The Lovable ‘Rowdy’
Sai Pallavi: Natural Beauty is a Natural Actor Too
Cannes Virtual Film Market Registration Opens May 13
COVID-19: Nuggets from Netflix’s Ted Sarandos on Filming and Safety Protocols
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is New Sensation in Netflix Original Series Never Have I Ever
The Best Movies of 2001-2019 Not Streaming in OTT Platforms
Best Movies of the New Millennium Streaming Now
Best Movies of the New Millennium Streaming Now
Best Movies of the New Millennium Streaming Now
Best Movies of the New Millennium Streaming Now
Best Movies of the New Millennium Streaming Now
Annecy Unveils Virtual Film Festival and Market in June
Roskino to Host Russian Virtual Digital Content Market from June 8
27 Rishi Kapoor Films to Stream at Home Now
Virtual Nab Show Express will Take Place May 13-14, 2020
51 International Film Festival of India, Goa ( 20 -28 November, 2020)
Films to Watch in 2020
Christopher Nolan Films Tenet in Mumbai
A Call From Uttarakhand For Filmmakers Of The World
FFO Rolls Out Red Carpet For Foreign Filmmakers
INDIA@BERLINALE-Indian Cinema’s Voices Emerging
51st IFFI TO Mark Satyajit Ray’s Centenary Celebrations
Sailing well in Animation Waters
Infusing Life With Dubbing AT VR Films & Studios
Berlinale 2020: India’s Laila Aur Satt Geet Selected for ‘Encounters’ Section
Prateek Vats’ Eeb Allay Ooo! in Berlinale Panaroma
Berlinale Shorts: Ekta Mittal’s ‘Gumnaam Din’ to showcase of pain of separation
Berlinale Talents: Seven Indians Make It to the List
My Salinger Year is the Opening Film at 70th Berlinale
GET READY for EUROPEAN FILM MARKET 2020
BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL 2019 WINNERS
Berlinale Forum Celebrates Golden Jubilee in 2020
Berlinale 2020 Poster Unveiled
British Actor Jeremy Irons Will Be the Jury President of Berlinale 2020
Amit Khanna: The Renaissance Man
Fantastic Friend
THE MEDIA GURU-AMIT KHANNA
STRAIGHT ANSWERS FROM AMIT KHANNA
THE DEFINING DECADE -THE 1990s
10 Achievements of Amit Khanna
Reflections on Amit Khanna
Valuable Moments
India Enchants John Bailey
The Big Bachchan of Bollywood
ETERNAL SUPERSTAR: RAJINIKANTH
IFFI 50 & Fantastic-Lifetime Achievement Award to Isabelle Huppert
BACK IN BUSINESS WITH A BANG
GET THE BEST OUT OF FILM BAZAAR 2019
Transforming Hollywood from pixels to voxels
Government of India committed to Safeguard IP content: Commerce Secretary
Must do Things at AFM
Why India Attracts Foreign Filmmakers
Architect of AMAZEMENT
Pickle at MIPCOM 2019
INDIAN COMPANIES AT MIPCOM
Super Audio: Licensed to Thrill
Jungle Book Season 3 Ready
Issuance of VPL in India
Editor’s Note: 44th Toronto International Film Festival Pickle Sept 2019 Edition
The OSCAR RACE begins HERE…
Seven Indian Indie Filmmakers To Watch
Indian Cinema Of Today: A Culturally Responsive Artifact
Indie Resurgence
Indian Films At Toronto a Sparkling Quartet
IFFI Matters @ 50
Four Indian Films at the Toronto International Film Festival 2019
India Pavilion at Toronto International Film Market 2019
Made in Afghan Film ‘Hava, Maryam, Ayesha’ To Compete at Venice Festival
Keerthy Suresh: The Mahanati of Mahanati. Best Actress, National Film Award
Uttarakhand Bags National Award for Most Film Friendly State
66th National Film Awards Winners for 2018
Watan Adds Colour to Indian Independence Day
dream hampton and Brie Miranda Bryant to Feature in MIPCOM’S Women in Global Entertainment Lunch 2019
Making a Song and Dance of it
NFDC Invites Applications for Production of Films in Indian Languages; Deadline September 8, 2019
IFFI Calls for Entry for Indian Panorama in 50th Edition
Ease of Filming in India
Come, Film In Inida
Why TikTok wants to invest $1 billion in India?
Priyanka Chopra’s The Sky is Pink Set to Premiere in 2019 Toronto Internaitonal Film Festival’s Gala Section
Gitanjali Rao’s Animation Feature Bombay Rose to open Critics’ Week at Venice International Film Festival
76th Venice International Film Festival to Open With Hirokazu Kore-eda’s ‘The Truth’
Indian Cinema’s Soft Power Misses the Mark in Nirmala Sitharaman’s Maiden Budget Speech
Shahid’s Kabir Singh Becomes Top-Grossing Film of 2019
Finance Minister Proposes FDI Norm Relaxation in Media
Media & Entrtainment as Champion Sector Figures in the Economic Survey 2018-19
Glimpses of the future
IFFI Marching Towards 50th Edition
Cannes or Netflix? Is Netflix an acceptable remediation for Cannes’ decades-long little regard for Indian Cinema?
Play Small & Live Long Did Wonders for Me
104 Best Indian Films of the New Millennium
IFFI IS GETTING BIGGER
Rakesh Roshan: The Reinventor of Bollywood
