Hotstar has released the India Watch Report 2019 – a comprehensive study of online video consumption behaviour and trends. Based on Hotstar’s pan-India consumer base, the third edition of the report presents revelatory insights on how evolving content preferences, progressive gender shifts, and increasing accessibility continue to shape the modern Indian digital consumer.
Analysing the report, Uday Shankar, President, Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific, Chairman, Star and Disney India, said, “There is a large shift in consumption of digital content to metros, non-metros and rural areas and this indicates that it is not an upscale phenomenon but it is mass. The driver of consumption is local content and that is going to stay.”
On being asked if there is a different kind of offering for advertisers through the digital platform, Shankar answered, “We have a big presence in television and now in digital through Hotstar. Our viewers have become seamless in viewing content on TV and on small screens so the business models need to dramatically evolve in line with it. We have started offering advertisers a combined solution that straddles across TV and digital. If viewers are transiting from one platform to another, then why should the advertisers not have the same flexibility.”
Varun Narang, EVP & Chief Product Officer, Hotstar, said, “The accelerated growth of the Indian video entertainment ecosystem has had an unprecedented impact on the consumer. Today, the Indian consumer enjoys a plethora of content to choose from, has moved beyond metro cities, and is not limited by gender or language. More importantly, this growing accessibility has opened doors to new thoughts and ideas that are shaping a stereotype-defying consumer. Hotstar, with its tremendous scale and reach across the country, is well-positioned to better understand this evolving consumer, and this third edition of India Watch Report does just that. With a comprehensive look at how video streaming is evolving and the fascinating behavioral and entertainment consumption insights behind it, we’re sure the India Watch Report 2019 will make for a very interesting read.”
In 2019, men showed high affinity to family drama as women with more than 40 per cent of family drama viewers being men, breaking the long-held belief that such genres don’t appeal to men. Meanwhile, women are also consuming more of their entertainment digitally, making up 45 per cent of the total entertainment consumption online. Consumers today want a voice of their own, and the opportunity to interact with others and express themselves. As a result, online viewing is transitioning from a passive experience into an immersive and social one. During VIVO IPL 2019, 64 million viewers participated in Watch ‘N Play, twice as many as last year. It is on the back of these insights and innovative marketing solutions, that Hotstar has emerged as the preferred choice by marketers to build interesting narratives around their brands. The report details the trends shaping the Indian video streaming world.
Some key highlights from the report:
Hotstar crosses 400 million downloads, becoming one of the most downloaded apps in India
- Hotstar registered 2X installs in 2019 vs 2018 with 555 installs per minute in 2019
- 3X growth in consumption in 2019 vs 2018
Sports streaming has reached unparalleled heights
- 300 Mn+ platform reach during the VIVO IPL 2019
- 25.3 Mn Live Concurrent Viewers during the India vs New Zealand ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 semi-final
- 100 Mn reach crossed in a single day; Multiple times throughout ICC CWC 2019
Users don’t conform to stereotypes
- 63% of the total online entertainment consumption came from non-metros. Lucknow, Pune and Patna surpassed Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata in video consumption
- Men have as high affinity to family drama as women; More than 40% viewers of Family drama are men.
- 45% of total entertainment consumption came from women (3.2X growth in video consumption by women compared to last year)
- 41% of Game of Thrones viewers also watched Hindi family dramas
Regional languages travel the distance
- More than 40% video consumption came from regional content
- Tamil, Telugu and Bengali are the top regional languages. In fact, Bigg Boss Tamil is the highest watched entertainment show having beaten all the Hindi TV Shows
Breaking new grounds on old fields
- 4X growth in viewers for connected TV compared to last year
- 7X growth in consumption for connected TV compared to last year
Hotstar’s immersive and interactive game, Watch ‘N Play, recorded greater participation
- During VIVO IPL 2019, 64 Mn viewers (2X that of VIVO IPL 2018) participated in Watch ‘N Play
- 1.5X time spent by viewers who participated in Watch’N Play compared to those who didn’t, during VIVO IPL 2019
- Approximately 6 billion emojis were used during VIVO IPL 2019
- Bringing friends closer, 44 Mn comments were shared live during VIVO IPL 2019
