COVID-19: OTT and Online Gaming platflorms are soaring

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The lockdown around the world is keeping a very large population indoors. While people cannot venture out and engage in other activities, internet consumption has certainly seen a spike. Never did we think that the Entertainment industry will have to take such a break and the box office will not show numbers anymore. The OTT and online gaming platforms are killing the number of downloads and streaming whereas traditional media or out-of-home entertainment is suffering a big-time loss.

COVID 19 outbreak has changed the way we live, we think, we work, we eat: It’s a life alteration alert. Major sectors of work have been badly affected but the OTT platforms are surging to keep the audience entertained. One of the most impacted sectors has been media and entertainment (M&E). A heavily aid-dependent industry, it could have been wiped out, if not for new and emerging media platforms and shifting consumption patterns.

“There has been a perceptible increase in media consumption during the last few weeks as people have remained homebound,” KPMG states in a study.

If we closely look at the situation, the TV shows, Daily soaps, reality shows, movies are facing a dramatic fall due to COVID-19. On the contrary, subscription revenues in sub-segments like OTT, online gaming, and digital media are serving consumers with quality content and interesting game.

The download rates of apps like Ludo, Tik Tok, and subscription rate of online streaming apps have increased massively. Girish Menon, Partner and Leader – M&E, KPMG in India, says, “There could be a shifting of priorities as we progress to a new normal; the balance between work and family, wealth and well being might be re-evaluated with leisure — of which media and entertainment is a large part — playing a greater role in our lives.”

Talking about YouTube as the major platform, it is serving its best purpose. Because for every time you need a tutorial, whether it’s for cooking/dancing/painting/learning anything new. More than two-thirds of YouTube viewership came from millennials in the 18-to-34 age bracket, which remains the most active group on the platform. And, over 90 percent of video views came through mobile devices, indicating behavioral shifts in media consumption.

Subrat Kar, Co-founder, and CEO, Vidooly, says, “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.”

Social Media, Daily news, Entertaining apps, online games have now got a space to hold their audience.