TV viewership smartphone usage slow down as India relaxes lockdown rules
NEW DELHI : Growth in both television viewership and smartphone usage has lost pace in India as the country relaxes lockdown restrictions and people are freer to step out of home.
Television continued to lose eyeballs towards the end of the fourth phase of the covid-19 lockdown, with viewership having grown only by 15% in week nine of the post-covid disruption period. This is the fifth weekly consecutive drop as compared to the 24% increase last time, the 29% rise seen in the seventh week, after the figure stood at 31% in week six and 40% in week five.
Smartphones are not attracting consumers either, their usage having grown by only 11% in the ninth week of lockdown as compared to the pre-covid period, the figure had stood at 14% previously.
The findings are part of the ninth report by television viewership monitoring agency BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) and data measurement firm Nielsen on TV viewership and smartphone usage. BARC and Nielsen have looked at January as the pre-covid period and compared it with data mid-May.
At its peak, TV viewership was 43% higher than in the pre-covid period. Weekly viewing minutes have also gone down by 20% since then while the daily average reach has reduced by 4%. In particular, average daily reach was most impacted in West Bengal this week, going down by 5% compared to pre-covid, due to the effects of cyclone Amphan and the power cuts that ensued.
The total number of channels watched per viewer per week across the country, was 16 on an average before covid and the figure that went up to 23 at the peak of the lockdown has now come down to 19. The number of individuals watching TV all seven days of the week has dipped by 15% since the peak period. In fact, prime-time viewership is 13% lower than pre-covid levels thanks to the lack of original programming on GECs (general entertainment channels). The decline is higher in the south (18%) as compared to the Hindi-speaking markets (11%).
"People have somewhat begun to resume work and their regular lives," said Karan Taurani, an analyst with Elara Capital Ltd adding that the drop in overall TV viewership may primarily be attributed to the dip in news channel consumption as people get used to the crisis in their lives. To be sure, after peaking to 21% share of overall TV viewership, news has come down to 15% now.
Further, advertising volume has grown by 16% in the last two weeks though it remains 23% lower than the pre-covid period. In fact, a couple of brands including Vivo V19, Kia Seltos, Cadbury's 5 Star, Nivea Soft and Apple iPhoneSE started advertising only in the past week. While most categories have increased volume of advertising levels in the last two weeks, soft drinks and air coolers lead the list.
As far as smartphones go, data consumption per day per user has dipped to 5% versus the pre-covid period as compared to 21% mid-April. Given the partial relaxation of the lockdown, reopening of stores and private offices operating with limited capacity, people have lesser time on hand. However, while gaming and social networking have seen dips as compared to the initial weeks of lockdown, online shopping is all set for revival (19 minutes spent per week on an average in March versus 38 minutes now) as the government allows delivery of non-essential services.
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