"Indian users mostly access news through phone": comscore APAC report

Comscore's latest report studies consumption patterns in the online news/information landscape in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region of the world. Given the current situation with the coronavirus pandemic, news/information is one of the top categories accessed by digital audiences worldwide. Currently, consumption in this category ranks higher than other popular categories such as entertainment and retail, according to the report released by comscore. The report mentions that in March 2020, APAC had most of the global news/information unique visitors, representing 60 per cent of the global audience.

The report also mentions that the time spent on consuming news and information in the APAC region, amounting to 47 per cent. Other countries were also measured in the report - North America stood at 30 per cent, whereas the number was 7 per cent for Latin America.

Though the time spent on news consumption is highest in the APAC region, China is the largest market with an information audience that is nearly 520 million members strong. This is closely followed by India which has a market size that's 395 million people strong.

It's interesting to note that in a countries like India and Indonesia, news and information access mostly happens through the mobile platforms. In these countries, the ‘mobile-only’ segment consists of individuals who access sites exclusively through mobile and these numbers are among the highest in the world; especially so for news/information. Other markets in APAC have digital populations that are spread quite evenly across the three platforms, with large combined desktop-only and multiplatform populations.

Given the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 disease, there is an increased inclination to access news and stay updated with world events. The report gives a break up of the age group that is inclined to access news, comparing it with numbers from 2019. It mentions that in the APAC region, the 25-34 age group were more inclined to access news/information in March 2019, as compared to the 35+ age group in March 2020. Younger users in markets such as Singapore and Vietnam (18- 34), used to have higher affinity towards news/information in March 2019, as compared to March 2020 where users in the 35+ age group show higher affinity towards news consumption.

Read the full report below.