News, Movies viewership taper off in Week 16; FCT on TV stable this week
As India enters Week 6 of the lockdown, BARC India & Nielsen Media explain the ‘Impact of COVID-19 on TV viewership & Smartphone Behaviour Across India’ in the 6th edition of the report. TV consumption seems to be stabilising now and stood at 1.16 trillion minutes in Week 16, a drop from last week but a growth of 31 per cent over the pre-COVID-19 period. Growth in Mega Cities is higher than growth in Rural.
News and Movies on TV have started to taper off as compared to the last few weeks, but continue to operate at 2X levels over the pre-COVID-19 period.
On the other hand, Hindi GECs in Urban HSM grew by 31 per cent over the pre-COVID-19 period, whereas strong gains for Movies and Original Series on OTT platforms continue on the Smartphone.
Key highlights of TV and Smartphone consumption during Week 5 of lockdown:
- “CORONA Virus” searches now waning – down to 32% among Top 100 Google searches
- TV consumption seems to be stabilising now - at 16 Trillion minutes this week, a drop from last week but growth of 31% over pre-COVID period - Growth in Mega Cities is higher than growth in Rural
- The new normal of around 3 hours, 40 minutes spent per day on Smartphone seems to have set in
- News and Movies on TV have started to taper off as compared to last few weeks, but continue to operate at 2X levels over the pre-COVID-19 period
- News franchise on Smartphone continues to evoke massive interest among Audiences
- Hindi GEC in Urban HSM grew by 31% over the pre-COVID-19 period, whereas strong gains for Movies and Original Series on OTT platforms continue on the Smartphone
- Drop observed in viewership as ‘Ramayan’ transitioned to ‘Uttar Ramayan’
- Heavy viewers of last year’s IPL watched just 2% of sports in the last 4 weeks (down from 20% last year) – viewership shifted to GEC, Movies, News
- Lack of Sports has pushed the Sports Audiences to more Virtual Connectedness & Gaming Apps
- FCT on TV stable this week, whereas Digital Video Ad spends (select platforms) at the lowest among last four weeks across most categories