Lockdown Vices: Indians Turn to TV and TikTok

While most of India is locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic, media consumption in the country is up. And that means mostly TV and TikTok, according to a survey by McKinsey and Company asking Indians about expected behavior changes in regards to media in the first two weeks of April.

60 percent of respondents said they would pass the time by watching more videos online. This will probably happen on Youtube and – given the popularity of the app in India – TikTok. The app was consistently in the top 5 of the most downloaded charts in the country since the lockdown started, according to market analysts Priori Data.

60 percent of Indians also said they would watch more TV news – not a vice per se -, while 57 percent said they would watch more TV shows and movies and 48 percent said they would be watching more glorious day time (and night time) linear broadcast TV.

Almost half of Indians said they would chat, text and engage in social media more. Reading a book or a magazine was rather unpopular (expected increase of 3 percent), as was reading print news. Indians said they expected to read 10 percent less news in print, as trips to the shops become less frequent.