Global linear TV consumption up 24% during lockdown

Worldwide linear TV consumption has increased by almost a quarter during the ongoing global pandemic.

According to new research from Mirada’s data analytics platform LogIQ, there has been an “unprecedented rise in worldwide TV content consumption” over the past several months. The company assessed its customers’ pay TV services including izzi Telecom in Mexico and One Communications in Bermuda.

It noted that between February 1 and April 30, total linear TV consumption increased by 24%, with an 18% increase in average linear consumption between Monday and Friday. Consumption of news channels has escalated by over 80% during the period.

The firm also assessed VOD consumption across pay TV operators’ platforms, which increased by 41% (with a 32% increase in VOD consumption between Monday and Friday). Consumption of children’s content in particular has grown by 56%, with a 79% during weekdays. Children’s VoD content consumed on a tablet device increased by 122%.

Users are also more receptive to transactional video on demand (TVOD), with many film distributors opting to offer their current releases this way while cinemas are shut. Purchases of one-off items of TVOD content has jumped by 48%.

Jose Luis Vazquez, CEO of Mirada, said: ​“Many of our customers around the world implemented solidarity initiatives to keep their subscribers entertained at home as lockdowns were announced across their territories. This included opening up premium linear channels and offering more free kids and news channels, adding more content to their on-demand services and even providing generous discounts on premium content services. We therefore expected our data analytics platform to show an increase in consumption. However, our findings were truly extraordinary, particularly as TV operators might only expect to see a monthly variation in consumption of around 2%.

“We are delighted the data confirms the success of the initiatives taken by our customers, offering people more access to a variety of entertainment, which hopefully gives a welcome reprieve from the challenges of living in lockdown. It is interesting to consider the potential long-term impact recent lockdown measures will have on TV consumption, given they have introduced large numbers of consumers to pay TV services that might otherwise not have considered them.”