Viewers’ choice: Online content viewing spikes during pandemic times

The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically changed consumer behaviour with respect to streaming video across all age groups. Streaming video via the internet is significantly on the rise in India and the world. Indians outdo the global average of 7 hours, 55 minutes weekly viewing by at least 3 hours, taking it to 10 hours 54 minutes, according to the ‘State of Online Video 2020’ report commissioned by Limelight Networks, a provider of video delivery and edge cloud services.

As per some of the key findings, staying home drove streaming subscriptions. Nearly 47% of the world’s population have subscribed to a new streaming service in the last six months, with Indians exceeding the global average at 70%. Primarily, this is attributed to people spending more time at home due to Covid-19 (40% globally), with 43% Indians citing this as a reason. The second largest driver of new subscription purchases (25%) is availability of new content.
Among other findings, online video consumption exceeds traditional broadcast viewing. India has witnessed one of the steepest increases in online viewing as compared to traditional broadcast viewership. Indian viewers are watching 10.9 hours of online content on average, as compared to 8.7 hours of traditional broadcast viewing per week in 2020.

Then, almost half (47%) of global consumers will cancel a streaming subscription due to high prices. Indian consumers’ behaviour is consistent with the global average, with almost 46% indicating price  sensitivity. Subsequently, more than half (51%) of Indians admit to sharing login information or using someone else’s account.
Watching user-generated content has doubled over the past year to an average of four hours per week. YouTube dominates as the most-preferred platform for watching user-generated content (65%), followed by Facebook (16%). The choice of Indians is similar with varying averages, with YouTube and Facebook usage standing at 72% and 12% respectively.

“The pandemic has accelerated the demand for high-quality streaming in India and across the globe. People wish to be entertained, informed and communicate without latency issues. There is a need for reliable infrastructure to be set up, to match the increasing appetite for new and improved online experiences,” said Ashwin Rao, country director, Limelight Networks India.