YouTube watchers in India access it via smartphones

 In what is being seen as a major revelation that should attract the attention of ad-makers and brand promoters, a whopping 90% of the viewership of YouTube in India is happening over mobile devices.

In a report released by Mindshare India and online video intelligence and analytics platform Vidooly, it has also emerged that the millennial audience remains the most active group on YouTube in India, with 70% of viewership coming from the age group 18-34.

"Over 90% of the views on YouTube were through mobile devices," the report said.

And not surprisingly, with people confined to their homes due to the lockdown, YouTube recorded a 20.5% rise in subscribers base in India as the video sharing platform garnered over 30,000 crores views in Q1 2020.

Viewership on the upswing

As per the report, the Google-owned platform has posted a 13% rise in viewership in Q1 2020 when compared with Q4 2019 and 11% rise when compared to Q1 2019. 

The report, named ‘COVID-19: Impact on Video Consumption Trends,’ also highlighted the increase in content consumption. It said the time spent by the average user rose to over 4 hours per day (from the previous 1.5 hours) since the lockdown kicked in from March 23.

The young set was the dominant group on YouTube as the viewers between 18-34 years old accounted for nearly 70% of viewership. 

Covid-19 rules here as well

Reflecting the theme of the times, Covid-19 related content has seen a surge of 98% in terms of views and 19% in terms of engagement on the platform. 

Understandably, with schools and colleges going online, the education field recorded a sharp spurt of 120% in the number of uploads since lockdown came into effect. 

Music has seen a 9% decline in consumption during the lockdown period, suggesting that viewers now have the time and mental bandwidth to consume more long form content on the platform.

Food and recipe, gaming and information have also recorded, respectively, 52%, 23% and 42% rise in viewership.

But amidst the bump in the viewership, it is also a fact that ad rates have plummeted on the platform owing to the lockdown-induced economic crisis world-over.

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