Not just for OTT, people rely on digital to discover & engage with content across TV and movies: BCG-Meta Report

• Digital is the primary form of discovering content not just for young men in metropolises - even for women, small-town residents, and people over 35 years of age.
  
• Before watching something on OTT, more people from smaller towns (81%) use digital for content discovery than people from large towns (74%).
  
• Across OTT, linear TV and movies, trailers are the most sought-after source of information, followed by reviews and ratings, ad promos, and lastly, information about the celebrities.

Digital is the primary form of discovering content - not just for young men in metropolises, but also for women, small-town residents and even older millennials as per a report released by global consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and tech giant Meta on Wednesday.

The report, Seeing the Big Picture - Harnessing digital to drive M&E Growth, analyses the increasing influence of digital in driving media and entertainment consumption in India across over-the-top (OTT), linear TV (LTV), and movie studios. Digital influence implies the role of digital in content discovery, sharing and engagement, both before and after viewing content.

The BCG-Meta report is based on a survey of over 2,600 consumers across 15 towns and cities and it busts several perceptions about media consumption.

“Contrary to industry perception women, small-town residents, and people over 35 years of age have significant digital influence driving their content discovery and consumption choices,” revealed the report.

Among OTT watchers, 78% of men and 77% of women used digital to engage with the content after watching it. This number is the same for people from small towns and large towns - 72% use digital to engage with content post-watching.

Similarly, before watching something on OTT, more people from smaller towns (81%) use digital for content discovery than people from large towns (74%). In the same segment of OTT watchers, 70% of men and 66% of women used digital for content discovery.

“The prevalent view presumes that consumer behaviour across small and large towns, across gender and age groups, is vastly distinct. While this may be true for some industries, when it comes to content consumption in India, there are more similarities than distinctions,” said Shweta Bajpai, director and vertical head - media, finserv, travel, real estate and services for Meta in India.

Content is king but digital is the army behind it

When it comes to the success of a movie or show, it’s not just the content but how it’s packaged and promoted that makes a difference. And herein, digital is the way to go.

As per the report, over 60% of consumers seek information about the content before deciding to watch. And up to 80% of this research occurs online across OTT, LTV and movies. Additionally, 50% of audiences engage with content post watching, significantly even for LTV.

“Digital discovery is on the upswing, even for linear TV, with linear TV viewers increasingly seeking information and engagement online for the content they watch,” reveals the report.

As per the report, 67% of men and 65% of women use digital to discuss TV shows post watching them. This explains why the soap opera Anupamaa, one of the highest-rated Hindi TV shows currently, is often a trending topic on the microblogging platform Twitter in India.

In fact, 80% of LTV consumers point to supply-related challenges for online discovery - such as limited info about upcoming content on online platforms.

As Bajpai stated, “irrespective of where people consume content - OTT, TV or in movie theatres - they rely on digital to share, engage, and express themselves.”

Digital engagement increases watch times for viewers by up to 40%. The report revealed that 45% of the respondents who discovered a movie via digital, did so through word-of-mouth.

Shaveen Garg, managing director and partner, BCG said, “Consumers increasing time spent on digital video is well-known. But what was counterintuitive is how much digital is influencing their discovery of content, the decision to watch and engagement post watching. It’s not limited to digital-native mediums but across all content as category.”

What are consumers searching for?

Before Naatu Naatu from RRR bagged the Oscar for Best OriginalSong this year, the film reached the global audience through OTT (Netflix) and foreign theatrical releases, and dominated Twitter discussions, proving that regional cinema is going places. As per the BCG-Meta report also, 70% of respondents discuss Hindi OTT content, but marginally more, i.e. 73% discuss regional OTT content digitally post watching it.

However, the report also recognised the “limited availability of industry-generated content like BTS (behind-the-scenes)” as one of the pain points for regional content.

Additionally, for Hindi language content, users look for information on storyline on the programme’s official page. But for regional content, information on release date is the most- searched topic and influencers are the source of information.

“Regional influencers build better connect and, therefore, have high credibility,” states the report, while adding that for regional content, users often engage by following interviews or official accounts of related celebrities.

However, across the three verticals i.e. OTT, LTV and movies, trailers are the most sought after source of information, followed by reviews and ratings, ad promos, and lastly, information about celebrities.

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