Surge in OTT platform subscriptions during India lockdown: Survey

There has been a definitive surge in Indians taking new subscription of various content streaming services and according to a new survey that came out on Wednesday, more than 75 % of Indians have purchased new subscriptions for over-the-top (OTT) platforms during the lockdown period.

The survey from market research and analysis firm Velocity MR with a small samle size of 3,000 respondents found that 73 % people stated watching Hotstar and YouTube, while Amazon Prime and Netflix saw an increase in subscription with 67% and 65%, respectively.

Social media apps such as WhatsApp (92%), YouTube (84%), and Facebook (80%) were also saw a surge in usage during the lockdown.

"As no new daily soaps are being aired during the lockdown, 80 % preferred watching movies followed by National News (65 %)," Jasal Shah, Managing Director & CEO, Velocity MR, said in a statement.

The findings showed that more than 80% of respondents use WhatsApp for video conferencing, thus, making it the top video conferencing app used during the lockdown. Skype is majorly used by salaried individuals (41%).

With more free time due to the lockdown, 52 % people found it as an opportunity to upgrade skills and enrol in online courses.

E-learning companies also saw a rise, with Byju's enrolling students at 33%, followed by Unacademy (28 %) and Udemy (28 %), said the survey.