Over 50% of Live TV Viewing Come from Smart Devices

Every third smartphone user in India uses an Android-based handset to access live entertainment content online while every fifth user prefers a Symbian platform. Blackberry users claim a close third spot, garnering over 17% of the OTT viewership space.

These findings were thrown up by OTT (Over-The-Top TV) distribution platform, Ditto TV, an offering from the digital arm of Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The findings are collected from over 4.25 lac Ditto users who have downloaded the Ditto TV application to their mobiles, tablets and computers. The user data were analyzed that they procured till October 2012.

Mumbai, enjoys a 24% share of the total subscriber base watching live TV

While Mumbai retains its frontline position in terms of adoption of new technologies with 16% of the user base, overall the metro circles, with 26% of the total user base, look to be facing stiff competition from states like (rest of) Maharashtra (11%) and even Rajasthan (7%). One can safely assume that its time the metros lose their smugness of being innovators. The markets of Mumbai, Maharashtra and Gujarat together account for nearly 40% of the total user base. Interestingly, the total time spent on the content in Mumbai is double that in Delhi!

Android beats others in usage

Not surprisingly, the maximum usage happens on PCs accounting for 30% of the user base but over 50% of total usage. Android is a close runner up accounting for 25% of overall consumption. Symbian trails with 10% just behind Apple (11%).

Users prefer News over Entertainment

The Indian mobile user is not only getting smarter with his gadgets, but also with the content that he chooses to watch. With over 29 channels from across categories, such as GEC, movies, news, sports and music besides Video-On-demand available in the OTT format on devices, a varied mix of preferences was shown by the users.

GECs rule on OTT too! 43% of the total time consumed gets spent on GECs — Zee TV (20%) leads the pack followed by Sony and Sab TV. Movies at 16% are the next preferred choice dominated by Zee Cinema.News garners a very respectable 13%, with Zee News, Zee Business, Aaj Tak and Headlines in close competition.

User preferences, by their handsets

53% Apple users preferred to watch Ten Cricket, 45% Android users logged in to Zee TV while 29% BlackBerry users watched Zee TV whereas Sony followed closely behind with 28%. Symbian and PC users both had a news channel (Aaj Tak) featuring in the top 5 channels list with an average share of 6%.

Android users devote 145 minutes per month

With a mobile in every hand, consumers are finding it convenient to carry their live entertainment in their pocket rather than staying glued to their TV screens. The average Android user devotes around 145 minutes per month to watch this content. Symbian usage in India, on the other hand, is significantly higher. The Indian user clocks in over 272 minutes. Blackberry users in India spend over 116 minutes watching live content. Apple users in India while having a lower penetration still clock up an average 102 minutes. PC users in India, at a little over 457 minutes, spend significantly more time streaming live content through OTT platform; in contrast with the other platforms.

Bharti Airtel preferred over others for live TV viewing

The findings also point the way towards a future wherein users choose service providers who offer cutting-edge technology, thereby indicating the way the Indian telecom industry could be shaping up:

• Bharti Airtel, at close to 10% of the user base, is the most preferred network
• BSNL, at 6.5%, follows suit in the 2nd place
• Idea at 5.5% is the 3rd most preferred network
• Vodafone with over 4% subscribing to it, leads the Blackberry users
• Samsung cornered 47% of the Android market with Galaxy series

A very discerning Indian public was also very picky with the handset model they chose to watch their favourite content. Samsung cornered nearly 47% of the Android market with its Galaxy series, in spite of hundreds of Android-based devices in the market today. This trend is significant with the Android platform having recently overtaken the Symbian platform with a share of 42.4 per cent of the smartphone market. This might also forebode well for the Canadian manufacturer, whose popularity worldwide seems to be dropping.

The bottomline

The data speaks a lot for advertisers, service, and content providers. Advertisers might have to relook how they reach out to viewers who watch serials, movies and news on the go, and hence don't have much time to see a 1-minute ad. Advertisers and media planners might want to redesign their strategies to focus their attention on consumers who seem to be moving away from traditional TV viewing.