A few years ago, if you asked other people if they were watching the news, there’s a smart chance they’ll laugh and imply that their Twitter timeline is a source of information. But the pandemic has awakened our appetite to see the news.
A new study published today through Adobe Digital Insights shows that when asked what was the maximum now that 3 months ago, the highest percentage of people, 54%, cited the news. The movies, at 48%, arrived at the time.
“It’s been watching the display behavior replaced by existing events,” says Vivek Pandya, senior analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. “The July crisis came at a time when some reopening efforts were cancelled or paused.”
The study tested more than 24 billion videos and more than 6.6 billion hours of content viewed.
Pandya says the news boom may not last in the long run: “We expect outdoor categories, news to start growing more, especially as other people look for escape tactics. The effects of our survey show that while news takes the lead, in terms of the content that other people consume the most, other categories like videos and comedy are not left behind.”
In fact, videos are popular because other people are willing to watch theatrical premieres at home. 59% of respondents said they appreciated the new opportunity.
The study also found that other people end the content at higher rates than last year.
“When we looked at the 2019 data, the final touch rates were decreasing,” Pandya says. “More and more installations came out and there was a boom in the original content. This has expanded the attention span of many other people and created a trend similar to that of the surf channel.”
Now other people have more time and, apparently, a greater attention span.
“Having to stay home, however, created an excess of time that made us more patient and more willing to immerse ourselves in the content,” Pandya says.
The pandemic has also influenced where other people get their contents. Over-the-top devices, such as Roku, have noticed that their popularity is increasing while the cell phone has plummeted.
“Last year, cell phone was higher and expansion persisted around March. We hoped that even at home, consumers would continue to consume original content and TV screens through their smartphones (whether because devices like TV were used through others at home, or simply by familiarity) “Pandya explains. “But our knowledge shows that mobile telephony has been affected. Growth will certainly return, but for now, OTT is experiencing a renaissance.”
I covered television and other media for 15 years in Media Life (RIP). Now I write and edit for corporations and magazines.