COTT reveals digital growth of News platforms in Week 26

The viewing preferences of the young demographic have been unmistakably evident in recent years, particularly millennials aged 30 and below, who are becoming prime targets for advertisers and entertainers in the Entertainment & Media industry.

Despite TV broadcasts still being pertinent, multiple stakeholders aim to tailor their strategies to the plethora of diverse online viewers. Thus, many large publishers now provide their linear content on OTT platforms; enlarging reach and availability. The same goes for news as well - live-streaming scheduled 'on-air' content to internet subscribers.

As streaming platforms become increasingly popular, publishers and advertisers must identify methods to maximize their reach. The Chrome DM panel, representing 1174.54 million internet/C&S individuals in India, uses a hybrid process of assembling online surveys and tracking content by means of digital fingerprinting technology to collect data. This report was obtained from the SDKs installed on 82,147 respondents' devices.

According to Week-26 data from COTT, Aaj Tak had the highest reach with 37.65 million viewers across all digital endpoints like YouTube, native apps, etc., while YouTube held its position at the top for most of the viewer base. Republic Bharat had 34.57 million unique viewers not far behind. Zee News, News18 India, and ABP News came in after that, accumulating 29.79 million, 29.45 million, and 26.17 million individual viewers, respectively.

The shift away from traditional cable and satellite subscription services towards online streaming options has caused a domino effect for the industry. As audiences become increasingly comfortable with cutting the proverbial cord and relying on digital outlets, revenues will undoubtedly follow suit - resulting in these platforms supplanting broadcast channels as the preferred choice amongst consumers in the foreseeable future.