Lockdown: How digital content consumption is impacted across several categories

India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days. How the consumers in India are adjusting to these new constraints and how digital content consumption is impacted across several categories. Neha Singh, director, syndicated client insights-ComScore, shares insights:

1. General News

While traffic to websites and mobile apps in the “General News” category was showing an increasing trend ever since news of the pandemic started, things accelerated in the second half of March 2020:

Compared with the previous week, i.e. the week of March 16-22, 2020, visits increased by 17% during the week of March 23-29, 2020;

Compared with the week of February 10-16, 2020, visits increased by 89% during the week of March 23-29, 2020.

2. Entertainment

Many consumers in India are turning to their sound systems as they spent more time indoors. As a result, visits to websites and mobile apps in the “Entertainment – Music” category increased, most sharply in the second half of the month of March 2020:

Compared with the previous week, i.e. the week of March 16-22, 2020, visits increased by 32% during the week of March 23-29, 2020;

Compared with the week of February 10-16, 2020, visits increased by 64% during the week of March 23-29, 2020.

3. Online Gaming

Another form of entertainment which has benefited from the lockdown is online gaming. Again, we are seeing that visits to websites and mobile apps in the “Online Gaming” category increased, mostly in the second half of the month of March 2020:

Compared with the previous week, i.e. the week of March 16-22, 2020, visits increased by 22% during the week of March 23-29, 2020;

Compared with the week of February 10-16, 2020, visits increased by 51% during the week of March 23-29, 2020.

4. Sports

The cancellations of nearly all mass sporting events has reverberated online.

Compared with the previous week, i.e. the week of March 16-22, 2020, visits decreased by 19% during the week of March 23-29, 2020;

Compared with the week of February 10-16, 2020, visits decreased by 80% during the week of March 23-29, 2020.