YouTube Witnesses 20% Surge In Subscribers'' Base During India Lockdown

According to the study, COVID-related content has seen a surge of 98 percent in terms of views and 19 percent in terms of engagement

Mumbai: More than 1.3 billion people across India lived under lockdown for more than three weeks as the government was trying hard to prevent the spread of novel Coronavirus. But a 21-day period of confinement has not been enough to stop the spread of COVID-19 and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of lockdown till May 3. Amidst this lockdown in India, Google-owned YouTube has seen a 20.5 percent surge in subscribers'' base in the country, a new report said on Tuesday. As a primary video sharing platform, YouTube alone amassed over 300 billion views in the first quarter of this year - 13 percent more than the fourth quarter of 2019 and 11 percent more than Q1 2019, according to the report by Mindshare India and online video intelligence and analytics platform Vidooly. The companies studied the video platforms of YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. The findings showcased a steep increase in content consumption as it reported the time spent by the average user to be over four hours per day as compared to previous, 1.5 hours on social media platforms. According to the study, COVID-related content has seen a surge of 98 percent in terms of views and 19 percent in terms of engagement. According to a report to garner better engagement, brands are indulging in out-and-out marketing through Facebook and Instagram and the Indian government''s efforts in spreading awareness have gained mileage over YouTube. Subrat Kar, CEO, Co-founder Vidooly, said in a statement, "The worldwide lockdown has resulted in significant shifts in audience behavior, specifically in terms of online content consumption. In such a scenario, retention rate and watch time of videos will be the key metrics to filter and identify the best performing channels,". The report disclosed that the millennials remain the most active group on YouTube in India, with 70 percent of viewership coming from the age group 18-34. Over 90 percent of the views on YouTube were through mobile devices.