Only 39% Indians watch videos online daily

Online video consumption of people in India has been steadily growing. According to a new research, online video is now a part of lives of 85% of the connected consumers in India who watch them at least once a week.

People in India are consuming online video across various platforms such as video content that appears in their social feeds, free video on platforms such as YouTube along with some paid online TV subscription services as well, a Kantar TNS study called Connected Life said.

However, in terms of daily trends India is much different in comparison to the world, as only 39% connected users in India watch online videos daily in comparison to 65% globally. The reason for this are the barriers such as high data costs and poor internet connectivity in India that bars people from watching online videos on a daily basis.

YouTube is the most popular platform people to watch online videos. The report showed that free online video, such as YouTube, is watched by a large proportion of connected consumers daily, with Cambodian internet users watching the most at 94%, followed by Hong Kong (84%) and China (78%); whereas in India it is at 39%.

Two thirds (62%) of people online are also watching videos that appear on their social feed, either from brands, news sources or their friends. Connected consumers in mobile-first markets are consuming a lot of video in this way, with 93% of internet consumers in Cambodia watching social video daily, 80% in Malaysia and 69% in Vietnam.

Digital channels are allowing one in three (32%) connected consumers to access on-demand channels, allowing them to catch up on broadcast TV content online. Some are also using paid-for subscription services such as Netflix, viewed by 11% daily across the region, the report said.

People are also open to video content from brands, with 27% of connected consumers watching this on a weekly basis.

Anusheel Shrivastava, Executive Director at Kantar TNS India says, “With Jio’s launch the data rates are already seeing a drop; this along with improved availability of public WiFi will help in lowering the barriers. It may not be long before the online video landscape in India will change.”

Zoë Lawrence, APAC Digital Director at Kantar TNS says, “Online video provides brands with an opportunity to tell their story in a different way; we’re seeing a lot of brands succeed with long-format video and also great creative work that overcomes some of the challenges of video in a social feed. If the content is good enough, people will watch it. Brands now know that simply putting their TVC online will not work; they need to develop content that works well within the context of the online channel they are using.”