BARC India 2018 Survey analyses impact of co-viewing on TV viewership

With 98 per cent of the 197 million TV homes in the country still having access to a single TV, India watches a majority of the content together on TV, as per a recent Broadcast India Survey. The Survey also points out that this single TV home phenomena is as strong in Urban India as it is in Rural. 

The average family size of the TV owning households in India currently stands at 4.25 individuals. Of this, on an average 3.46 individuals per household prefers watching TV together. Data shows that 82 per cent of TV owning individuals in India spend 57 per cent of their time watching TV together. 

Since group viewing accounts for more than 50 per cent of the total viewership among households, the variety and choice of content that kids watch is moderated by the viewing habits of the entire family. 

While co-viewing increases during the prime time band (6-11 pm), it remains the same through the week. Interestingly, the morning time band (6.30 am – 8.30 am) also sees a spike in co-viewing. This is primarily led by News channels, which in the morning band air news stories, astrology and health stories. 

According to the Survey, majority of the co-viewing happens between adults of the opposite gender/ couples across age groups. 40 per cent of the co-viewing is seen between males (51-60 years) and females (41-50 years). Among kids, the ratio of co-viewing between siblings (brother and sister) was found to be 25 per cent. 

The Survey also stated that 30 per cent of females aged between 31 years and 40 years enjoyed spending more time co-viewing with their kids. 

As far as genres are concerned, GECs grabbed the biggest share of the pie with 52 per cent co-viewing viewership. Movies and News closely follow with 22 per cent and 8 per cent viewership, respectively. 

However, over 45 per cent of the time spent on Hindi GECs and Hindi Movies, respectively, comes from Solus viewing. Of the 197 million TV homes in the country, only 2 per cent of the homes have multi-TVs. Even Urban India has only 3 per cent of the TV homes with multi-TVs. This translates into 18 per cent of TV owning population watching TV alone. However, of the total time spent on watching TV, the contribution of Solus viewing is a healthy 43 per cent. This is significant for both content creators and advertisers for better targeting.

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