Covid-19 has had immediate impacts on consumption patterns and engagement across streaming and social media, with marked differences in the past month alone. To understand the recent impact of coronavirus, Conviva analyzed global streaming and social media data in its latest report.
One of the key findings of the study was that streaming was stable in March for European publishers. On a global scale, streaming jumped more than 20% as compared to two weeks prior, with the Americas contributing significantly, up nearly 27% in the same time period. The overall stability in Europe masks a number of drastic shifts in consumption patterns.
Nevertheless, coincidental launch of some streaming services from the United States such as Disney+ in March has distracted some viewers from the home-grown streaming platforms.
Meanwhile, sports consumption has collapsed. This type of content in Europe has typically accounted for 30% share of viewing, but the effect of near-universal suspension of sport in Europe has been profound. Comparing the last week of March vs. the first week, sports viewing hours were down by 91%.
In contrast, entertainment consumption rose by 39% in Europe. With its larger share of viewing, this was sufficient to cancel out the drop attributed to sports.
In line with the rest of the world, news consumption in Europe has skyrocketed. As viewers stay up to date on the latest news about the pandemic, newscasts increased over 130% and tripled its share of viewing.
Looking to the future, Conviva considers that television’s transition to the Internet will accelerate. The increase in VOD consumption is likely to indicate a longer-term shift to on-demand viewing behaviour, the company believes.
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