VOD consumption continues at 4 hrs; Chat & VOIP see highest time spent on smartphone

COVID-19 is taking up the most mind space with ~40 per cent of top 100 Google searches last week being on COVID.

The recently launched Aarogya Setu app by the Government of India has seen great traction, with 1 in 8 consumers accessing the app in Week 1 of its launch, while 8 per cent sought information from a COVID tracker website, with males showing a significantly higher incidence.

At 19 per cent, Chat and VOIP constitute the highest share of time spent on smartphone, of which female users form 22 per cent while male users form 17 per cent. This is followed by Social Networking and Utility & phone features at 15 per cent each. Video Streaming constitutes a 14 per share.

The News franchise on Digital is close to 50 per cent now, witnessing a 25 per cent increase; the surge among the 15-24 age group is higher at 30 per cent. Video News consumption has shown a huge growth of 75 per cent over the Pre-COVID period. The growth seen for Premium Audience is remarkably sharper in some areas, specifically News Apps, which have seen a surge of 83 per cent among premium audiences. The day starts with News updates, while entertainment takes over as the day progresses.

There is also massive surge of 61 per cent seen in video news, which includes TV news channels streamed on YouTube, JioTV, Hotstar, MX Player and ZEE5.

GenZ is catching up with the older audiences as far as Total News consumption spanning Apps, websites and videos is concerned. There is a 30 per cent growth in Week 4 of the lockdown period.

Meanwhile, VOD consumption continues at ~4 hours per week. Spanning across OTT content lines builds a singular growth story for YouTube. The Top 5 content for digital audiences is a mix of Fiction, History, Mythology and Supernatural. Movies and Original Series continue to clock over 50 per cent growth in time in Week 4.

The COVID-19 disruption has also given a big fillip to education apps, with time spent surging by over 30 per cent.