Time spent on smartphones rose 16% during April 25- May 1, 2020 (week 6) as opposed to pre-covid period (January 11-31, 2020), the highest usage since the COVID-19 lockdown, resulting in 1870 crore minutes on the smartphone/day in the recent week, as per the data provided by TV audience measurement body, Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) (Across Genre : All India (Urban+Rural) in collaboration with Nielsen (15-45 years, NCCS ABC, 1 L+ Towns, Android Users). Titled, ‘How are Media Habits Changing as India Enters 5th Week of Lockdown’, the report also highlights that users now spend an average of 3.54 hours on their smartphones per day, while the per-day per-user data consumption has grown by 21%.
According to the report, this growth is driven by metros that have alone witnessed a 19% rise in time spent on smartphones per user per week with the 35-44 year age group recording the maximum increase. With usage being almost four hours per day, nearly 18% of the total time spent is recorded on messaging apps, while 15% is spent on social media apps. Meanwhile, 14% is spent on video streaming apps, while gaming accounts for 10% of the total time spent in week 6.
Share of time spent has increased on gaming, education apps, social networking apps in week 6, the report reveals. Social networking apps see 48% time spent per user per week which could be attributed to the recent death of Bollywood actors Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor. Gaming apps continued their trailblazing increase with 62% followed by education apps at 52%. With virtual meetings emerging as the new top priority, video conferencing apps witnessed a whooping 485% rise in time spent. Meanwhile, calling saw 2% drop in time spent. Interestingly, growth for education apps and video conferencing apps were led by the 35-44 years age group.
Read Also: Despite 6% drop in ad volumes, the total number of brands advertising on TV rose 10% in week 17: BARC- Nielsen report
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