Lockdown across the country has stalled work in various sectors, the broadcasting industry has however continued to experience a boom with many firsts in the COVID disruption period.
In the fourth edition of Crisis Consumption on TV and Smartphones released jointly by BARC India and Nielsen Media, total TV consumption grew by 38 per cent than the pre-COVID period (11 to 31 January 2020) to now standing at 1.2 Trillion minutes (from 4 April to 10 April).
With growth registered among all demographics and sectors, the kids sector has seen a steady increase keeping a stable position. Viewership of young audiences aged between two to 14 years, grew by 46 per cent in the last week.
This comes as no surprise since parents who are working from home and also managing their family at the same time across the country, don’t mind their kids to be glued to screens so that they can have their work done smoothly.
Since animation as a medium does not require outdoor shooting and productions, studios across the country are trying to provide fresh episodes to the kids broadcasters remotely working from home. For instance Cosmos-Maya whose three new productions are now being aired on Disney. Nickelodeon and Sony YAY! too have brought new episodes and TV movies to keep younger ones hooked.
Thus, viewership in the kids sector has grown by 43 per cent in week 14 of COVID disruption period, In West Bengal, kids sector surpassed Hindi GEC with 9 per cent growth in comparison with the pre-COVID period.
According to BARC data, between 4 to 10 April, Nick holds its top position in ‘Top Five Channels’ followed by POGO, Sonic, Cartoon Network and Sony YAY! Motu Patlu, Rudra and Chhota Bheem reigns in the list of ‘Top Five Programmes’.
Apart from content targeted to them, kids aged two to 14 years have co-viewed DD National’s rerun of the epic Ramayan with 100 per cent viewership. Mythologies have always fascinated kids who are mostly acquainted with the genre through their grandparents and senior family members.
Mahabharata retelecast on DD Bharti too has been no exception in attracting a humongous audience across different age groups, of whom 25 per cent were kids who co-viewed the classic along with older family members at home.
The numbers indicate that these habits are only going to increase, as India gets ready for Lockdown 2.0 till 3 May.